NUSA DUA, Indonesia: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on the Indonesian island of Bali on Thursday preparing for a G20 gathering that will be his first face-to-face meeting with the fiercest critics of his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting runs until Friday in host country Indonesia, which has this year grappled with the tough balancing act of running a global summit buffeted by geopolitical pressures and a global food crisis blamed on the Ukraine war.
There was tight security on Thursday as foreign diplomats descended on the tropical island for a meeting where the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be front and center.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her country and like-minded nations would use the G20 meeting to highlight the impact of the war.
“We will be making very clear collectively our views about Russia’s position and Russia’s behavior,” she said.
Thursday’s welcome dinner will be the first time President Vladimir Putin’s long-serving foreign minister Lavrov will be up close with the most vocal opponents of the Ukraine invasion, which Moscow has called a “special military operation.”
Lavrov planned to meet some G20 counterparts on the sidelines of the summit, Russian news agency TASS reported, but ministers including Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have ruled out separate meetings with Lavrov.
The Group of 20 includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine and imposed sanctions, but also countries like China, Indonesia, India and South Africa that have been more muted in their response.
Some US and European officials have stressed the gathering would not be “business as a usual,” with a spokesperson for the German foreign minister saying G7 countries would coordinate their response to Lavrov.
In 2014, the G7 excluded Russia from the G8 over its annexation of Crimea.
Top officials from Britain, Canada and the United States walked out on Russian representatives during a G20 finance meeting in Washington in April.
Despite early talk of boycotting subsequent G20 meetings, some analysts say Western nations may have decided it would be counterproductive to cede the floor to Russia.
A senior US State Department official said on Thursday it was important to maintain a focus on what Indonesia had set out for its G20 presidency and “not let there be any disruptions or interruptions to that.”
Discussion of energy and food security are on the agenda in the two-day meeting, with Russia accused of stoking a global food crisis and worsening inflation by blockading shipments of Ukrainian grain. Russia has said it ready to facilitate unhindered exports of grain.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi discussed with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the need to protect regional stability and solve global issues related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“The solidity of the voices of developing nations are needed to stop the war, and to reintegrate food exports of Ukraine and Russia into the global supply chain,” Indonesia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Trying to leverage Indonesia’s neutrality, President Joko Widodo undertook an ambitious peace-brokering mission last week, visiting Kyiv and Moscow to meet his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts.
Russia attends G20 meeting set to be dominated by Ukraine conflict
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Russia attends G20 meeting set to be dominated by Ukraine conflict
- The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting runs until Friday in host country Indonesia
- Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be up close with the most vocal opponents of the Ukraine invasion
Anger in Germany after Elon Musk backs far right
The tech billionaire posted the message over a video commentary that criticized the leader of Germany’s CDU party Friedrich Merz, on course to become the next chancellor, for his refusal to work with the AfD.
The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) has enjoyed a surge in the polls, and is currently second-placed, but mainstream parties have ruled out cooperating with it.
While the German government refused to be drawn on the comments by Musk, set to be “efficiency czar” under US President-elect Donald Trump, politicians from major parties reacted with outrage.
“It is threatening, irritating and unacceptable for a key figure in the future US government to interfere in the German election campaign,” Dennis Radtke, an MEP for the center-right CDU, told the Handelsblatt daily.
Germans are set to go to the polls on February 23 after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition last month in a row over the budget.
Musk was a “threat to democracy in the Western world,” Radtke added, accusing the world’s richest man of turning X, previously called Twitter, into a “disinformation slingshot.”
Alex Schaefer, a lawmaker from Scholz’s center-left SPD party, said Musk’s post was “completely unacceptable.”
“We are very close to the Americans, but now bravery is required toward our friend. We object to interference in our election campaign,” Schaefer told the Tagesspiegel daily.
The AfD however celebrated Musk’s praise in its own X message, which said “millions of people have long recognized this — and the number is growing.”
The German government was reluctant to be drawn into commenting on Musk’s post, with a spokeswoman telling a regular press conference in Berlin that “freedom of expression also applies to X.”
But the spokeswoman, Christiane Hoffmann, added the government was worried about “how X has developed in recent years, especially since Elon Musk took over.”
Despite such concerns, the government had decided not to close their accounts on the platform as it remained “an important medium for reaching and informing people,” she said.
It is not the first time Musk has weighed in on German politics.
Last month he tweeted in German that “Olaf is a fool” after the collapse of Scholz’s government.
Arrests of pro-Palestine student protesters were rights violations, New York City mayoral candidate tells Arab News
- Zohran Mamdani urges ‘one set of rules’ for all city’s people
- Majority of New York Democrats want ‘end to the genocide’
CHICAGO: New York Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who is running for mayor of the city, has vowed to reverse the policies he claims Mayor Eric Adams imposed that punished pro-Palestine student protesters last spring.
More than 1,000 students were arrested and injured during a citywide police crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters, while those supporting Israel were reportedly not targeted.
Many of the pro-Palestinian students were expelled from their universities or denied graduation because of the protests over 10 days last April.
Mamdani, who led a hunger strike in front of the White House last November to push for a Gaza ceasefire resolution, said that an American mayor should apply the law and morality equally to all the city’s people.
“It’s a position I hold as a reflection of consistency no matter the issue. It is one that is in line with the positions I hold when it comes to my own constituents.
“What I mean by that is I think New Yorkers are tired of politicians who speak out of both sides of their mouths, who have one set of rules for one set of people and then another set of rules for another set of people,” Mamdani said Thursday.
He added: “I think it’s time that we simply believe in the same things for all people. So, if we say that we believe in freedom and justice and safety and liberty, then how can we continue to draw the line at Palestinians?
“We know that the more you draw a line, the easier it gets to draw that line for more and more people, and the more you will end up justifying that which you might have previously considered to be unjustifiable.”
Mamdani said that if elected in the June 24, 2025, Democratic primary election, he would “treat everyone equally.”
“I think it absolutely extends also into policies and day-to-day impacts for New Yorkers, with one example to me being that as Democrats, we often rightfully talk about how guns on elementary school campuses, middle school campuses, high school campuses make that campus more unsafe.
“And we ridicule this Republican notion that the answer to gun violence is simply more armed officers on those sites of education,” Mamdani said.
“And yet when it comes to student organizing in support of policy and human rights, there were far too many elected officials in New York City who were supportive of the mayor’s decision to send the NYPD (New York Police Department) into Columbia and CUNY (City University of New York) campuses.
“And it is my belief in the necessity of consistent politics that leads me to say I will not be sending the police in to respond to an encampment of the like that we saw in the previous school year.
“Because the act of doing so actually made students far less safe than they were even prior to that, because one officer discharged their weapon in the course of that mission.
“And that is but a moment away from a student being killed by the NYPD. And I think it made it very crystal clear to me as to why we tend to oppose these things and why we need to do so no matter what the issue is.”
Mamdani said that mayor Adams, pro-Israel legislators and elected officials mischaracterized the student protests to justify both their defense of Tel Aviv and the assault on the protesters.
“I think it’s a mischaracterization of New Yorker sentiments. I think that a majority … especially of New York Democrats, want to see an end to the genocide, want to see a ceasefire.”
He said many have taken “umbrage at having a mayor who has refused to call for a ceasefire for more than a year, who has justified the killing of children, who has had meetings with billionaires, who have urged him to send in the police.”
Mamdani claimed that Adams had previously visited Israel “with a promise to increase cooperation with settlement leaders there.”
Mamdani said he has been attacked because of his insistence to stand up to one morality and one rule of law, denying that he is “antisemitic” or “anti-Israel.”
He fears that the damage caused by Tel Aviv’s actions, including the expansion of the Jewish-only settler movement, would prevent the two-state solution which is a part of the Democratic Party’s foreign policy on Israel and Palestine.
Mamdani insisted many New York voters who are Jewish defend Palestinian lives. “There is a large and beautiful Jewish population across New York City, and it is also like any other religions, politically diverse.
“And many of the acts of civil disobedience and protests that I’ve been a part of over the last year calling for a ceasefire, calling for an arms embargo, have in fact been led by Jewish New Yorkers.
“Thousands of Jewish New Yorkers. I’m proud to have been endorsed by Jewish Voice for Peace Action as the first-ever municipal candidate that they have endorsed in their history as an organization.”
Mamdani said he could win the election with his policies which include helping residents face the city’s “cost of living crisis.” If elected, he would provide universal and free childcare.
In addition, he would freeze the rent of more than 2 million New Yorkers in rent-stabilized apartments; and eliminate the fare on all city buses and make them faster (currently they are the slowest in the nation).
He would also lower the cost of groceries by piloting city-owned stores; and institute a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to public safety.
In 2020, Mamdani was the first South Asian man and only third Muslim elected to the New York State Assembly representing western Queens, New York.
He is the first Muslim elected official to run for mayor or any citywide office in New York City. He identifies both as a “socialist,” which he defines as serving all citizens justly and legally, and as a member of the Democrat Party.
If he wins the Democratic Party nomination, he will represent the party in the general election in November 2025.
Mamdani bids to replace incumbent Adams who faces multiple charges of bribery and campaign offenses.
Adams is alleged to have committed the offences over a decade while mayor and as the president of the Brooklyn borough.
He was elected New York City mayor in November 2021 having defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Joe Biden cancels another $4.28 billion in US student loans
- Actions are a part of Biden’s effort to fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to deliver debt relief to millions of Americans
The Biden administration on Friday canceled another $4.28 billion in student debt for nearly 55,000 public service workers, the US Department of Education said in a statement.
Friday’s action brings the total public service student loans forgiven to about $78 billion for nearly 1.1 million workers, the department said.
The White House said separately that this brings the total number of all individuals who have been approved for student debt relief under President Joe Biden to nearly 5 million people.
The actions are a part of Biden’s effort to fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to deliver debt relief to millions of Americans before he leaves office in January.
US charges ‘Chinese agent’ over political influence
- Yaoning “Mike” Sun arrested near LA on charges he acted as agent for foreign government while getting involved in local politics
- Asked about the charges on Friday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware of the details in the case you mentioned”
LOS ANGELES, United States: China’s ruling Communist Party used an agent in California to influence state politics, US prosecutors said Thursday as they unveiled criminal charges against a Chinese national.
FBI agents arrested Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, at his home in Chino Hills, near Los Angeles, on charges that he acted as an agent for a foreign government while getting involved in local politics.
The complaint claims Sun served as the campaign manager and close confidante for an unnamed politician who was running for local elected office in 2022.
During the campaign, he is alleged to have conspired with Chen Jun — a Chinese national sentenced to prison last month for acting as an illegal agent of Beijing — regarding his efforts to get the politician elected.
The US Department of Justice said Chen discussed with Chinese government officials how they could influence local politicians, particularly on the issue of Taiwan.
China considers the self-ruled island of Taiwan part of its territory.
Beijing — which has said it would never rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control — has been accused of using local influence campaigns, among other tactics, to sway global opinion on the issue.
Charging documents say after the local politician won office in late 2022, Chen instructed Sun to prepare a report on the election to be sent to Chinese government officials, who expressed their thanks for his work.
“The conduct alleged in this complaint is deeply concerning,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.
“We cannot permit hostile foreign powers to meddle in the governance of our country.”
Sun was charged with one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
He also faces one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of five years.
Asked about the charges on Friday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware of the details in the case you mentioned.”
But spokesman Lin Jian said “China never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries.”
“The international community sees clearly who is actually wantonly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said during a regular briefing.
Germany FM warns of new Syria violence ahead of Turkiye visit
- Her trip to Ankara comes almost two weeks after Islamist-led rebels overthrew Syrian president Bashar Assad
- She warned Syria must not become “the plaything of foreign powers or an experiment for radical forces”
BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against the threat of “new violence” in Kurdish-held northern areas of Syria as she left for a visit to neighboring Turkiye on Friday.
Her trip to Ankara comes almost two weeks after Islamist-led rebels overthrew Syrian president Bashar Assad, sparking popular jubilation but also concern about new turmoil.
“Those who want peace in the region must not undermine the territorial integrity of Syria,” she said in a statement.
Syria’s future is “hanging by a thread,” said Baerbock, who was set to meet her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan as well as members of the large Syrian refugee community on her one-day visit.
Before leaving Berlin, Baerbock said that people in the Kurdish-held northern Syrian border town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, were “holding their breath again” in fear of “new violence.”
Turkiye has thousands of troops in northern Syria and also backs a proxy force there which has engaged in ongoing clashes with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed and Kurdish-led force.
Ankara sees the SDF as an extension of its domestic nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and said on Thursday that it would continue to push for Kurdish fighters in northern Syria to disarm.
The SDF on Thursday accused Turkiye and allied fighters of not respecting a ceasefire around the northern town of Manbij and encouraged residents to “take up arms against the (Turkish) occupation.”
Also on Thursday, thousands of people in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli demonstrated in support of the SDF and chanted against “Turkiye’s attack” in the region.
Baerbock said that Syria’s reconstruction and the return of refugees “can only work if people have no more fear of persecution.”
“This should also be in the interest of the Turkish government, as more than three million Syrian refugees live in Turkiye.”
She warned that Syria must not become “the plaything of foreign powers or an experiment for radical forces.”
Germany has also urged Israel to abandon plans to step up settlement in the occupied and annexed Golan Heights at the southwestern edge of Syria.
Israel seized the demilitarised zone there after Assad fell and launched hundreds of strikes on Syria to destroy the former government’s military assets.
