JAKARTA: Top Southeast Asian diplomats will on Monday review their regional bloc’s stalled peace plan for Myanmar with frustration growing with its ruling military’s failure to end violence more than two years after it seized power in a coup.
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting in Jakarta, capital of chair Indonesia, this week to discuss Myanmar, a code of conduct for the South China Sea, the region’s economy, transnational crime and other issues.
Myanmar is a member of ASEAN though its military rulers have been excluded from top bloc meetings since they ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering violent opposition to their rule.
ASEAN has agreed on a peace plan, known as its five-point consensus, that calls for an end to violence and dialogue among all parties but the generals have paid little more than lip service to it.
“As mandated by the leaders, we would conduct a comprehensive review on the ‘five PC’ implementation and prepare a recommendation for our leaders’ deliberation,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in opening remarks, referring to the five-point plan.
“ASEAN can only steam forward in full power if we can ensure a peaceful and lasting solution in Myanmar,” she said.
The crisis in Myanmar has raised questions about the effectiveness and unity of a group founded at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.
ASEAN has for decades operated under the principle of not interfering in each other’s internal affairs and reaching agreement by consensus, but that has left it struggling to help resolve problems like Myanmar, unable to press the generals beyond barring them from its high-level meetings.
Indonesia, which has urged unity amid growing skepticism of the bloc’s credibility, has been conducting behind-the-scenes efforts to find a solution to Myanmar’s turmoil but has little to show for its effort.
ASEAN leaders are due to gather in Jakarta later in the week along with leaders and top from partner countries such as the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and others.
US President Joe Biden will not be attending. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Asian American vice president, will be taking his place.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang is due to attend.
ASEAN diplomats meet to review stalled Myanmar peace plan
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ASEAN diplomats meet to review stalled Myanmar peace plan
- ASEAN foreign ministers are meeting in Jakarta, capital of chair Indonesia, this week to discuss Myanmar
- Myanmar is a member of ASEAN though its military rulers have been excluded from top bloc meetings
DR Congo, Burundi thwart Rwanda on regional bloc presidency
- Presidency of the 11-nation ECCAS had been due to pass to Kigali
- Rwanda is accused of helping M23 rebels fighting DR Congo government
MALABO, Equatorial Guinea: Rwanda was blocked Saturday from taking the rotating presidency of the central African economic bloc because of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The presidency of the 11-nation Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) had been due to pass to Kigali, but at a heads of state and government meeting, DR Congo and Burundi objected.
“The conference postponed to another time the transfer of the rotating acting presidency of the community to the Republic of Rwanda and consequently decided to keep His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as acting president of the community for an additional year,” a communique said.
One ECCAS official described the atmosphere between Rwanda and DR Congo’s representatives at the meeting in Equatorial Guinea’s capital Malabo as “tense.”
The Congolese contingent said “if Rwanda took the presidency, they would not be able to travel to Rwanda for community activities or events,” the official added on condition of anonymity.
“Burundi is also on the same path.”
Diplomatic ties between Kinshasa and Kigali are fraught, with the Congolese government accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group that has taken swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC since the start of the year.
Neighbouring Burundi has sent more than 10,000 soldiers since 2023 to help the Congolese army fight the M23 and other armed groups operating in the conflict-wracked region.
On Thursday, Qatari mediators presented the DRC government and the M23 group “a peace proposal” to end the conflict, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
Immigration authorities extend activity in Los Angeles area amid street protests
- One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
LOS ANGELES: US immigration authorities extended activity in Los Angeles area on Saturday in the wake of protests at an federal detention facility and a police response that included tear gas, flash-bangs and the arrest of a union leader.
Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street, some jeering at authorities while recording the events on smartphones.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman announced through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”
One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
The boulevard was closed to traffic as US Border Patrol circulated through the area. ICE representatives did not respond immediately to email inquiries about weekend enforcement activities.
Arrests by immigration authorities in Los Angeles come as President Donald Trump and his administration push to fulfill promises to carry out mass deportations across the country.
On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested more than 40 people as they executed search warrants at multiple locations, including outside a clothing warehouse where a tense scene unfolded as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement on Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to protests.
“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said in a statement. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”
Protesters gathered Friday evening outside a federal detention center in Los Angeles where lawyers said those arrested had been taken, chanting “set them free, let them stay!”
Other protesters held signs that said “ICE out of LA!” and led chants and shouted from megaphones. Some scrawled graffiti on the building facade.
Federal agents executed search warrants at three locations, including a warehouse in the fashion district of Los Angeles, after a judge found there was probable cause the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the US Attorney’s Office.
Advocates for immigrant rights say people were detained Friday by immigration authorities outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop.
Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences’ if he backs Democratic candidates
- The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies
BRIDGEWATER, N.J.: President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.
Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, “I would assume so, yeah.”
“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump continued. “You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.”
The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk’s businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.
The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies. As a major government contractor, Musk’s businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Trump has already threatened to cut Musk’s contracts, calling it an easy way to save money.
The dramatic rupture between the president and the world’s richest man began this week with Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” pending on Capitol Hill. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a “disgusting abomination.”
Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office, and before long, he and Musk began trading bitterly personal attacks on social media, sending the White House and GOP congressional leaders scrambling to assess the fallout.
As the back-and-forth intensified, Musk suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein.
Vice President JD Vance in an interview tried to downplay the feud. He said Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after Trump, but called him an “emotional guy” getting frustrated.
“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said.
Vance called Musk an “incredible entrepreneur,” and said that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was “really good.”
Vance made the comments in an interview with ” manosphere” comedian Theo Von, who last month joked about snorting drugs off a mixed-race baby and the sexuality of men in the US Navy when he opened for Trump at a military base in Qatar.
The Vance interview was taped Thursday as Musk’s posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns.
During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk’s claim that Trump’s administration hasn’t released all the records related to Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them.
Vance responded to that, saying, “Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.”
“This stuff is just not helpful,” Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance.
“It’s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.”
Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Musk’s ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump’s first term.
The bill would slash spending and taxes but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“It’s a good bill,” Vance said. “It’s not a perfect bill.”
The interview was taped in Nashville at a restaurant owned by musician Kid Rock, a Trump ally.
Thousands of demonstrators march through Rome to call for an immediate end to the war in Gaza
- Protesters held a banner reading “Stop the massacre, stop complicity!” at the start of the march
- Up to 300,000 people participated in the rally organized by the leftist opposition to ask the government for a clear position on the conflict in Gaza
ROME: Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Rome on Saturday against the war in Gaza in a protest called by Italy’s main opposition parties, who accuse the right-wing government of being too silent.
Protesters held a banner reading “Stop the massacre, stop complicity!” at the start of the march, which moved peacefully through the center of Rome amid a massive display of rainbow, Palestinian and political party flags.
The protest attracted a diverse crowd from across the country, including many families with children. According to organizers, up to 300,000 people participated in the rally organized by the leftist opposition to ask the government for a clear position on the conflict in Gaza.
“This is an enormous popular response to say enough to the massacre of Palestinians and the crimes of (Israeli leader Benjamin) Netanyahu’s government,” the leader of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, told reporters at the march.
“There is another Italy that doesn’t remain silent as the Meloni government does,” she said, referring to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni was recently pushed by the opposition to publicly condemn Netanyahu’s offensive in Gaza, but many observers considered her criticism too timid.
”(The Italian government) is not reacting despite an abnormal massacre, despite an absolutely cruel and inappropriate reaction. The (Italian) government remains silent,” said Nadin Unali, a Tunisian demonstrator at the march.
Earlier this week, the Italian premier urged Israel to immediately halt its military campaign in Gaza, saying its attacks had grown disproportionately and should be brought to an end to protect civilians.
Israel faces mounting international criticism for its offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza during a humanitarian crisis.
Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, with experts warning that many of its 2 million residents are at high risk of famine.
The war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 hostages. They are still holding 56 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive.
Since then, Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians in its military campaign, primarily women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures.
German justice minister condemns attacks on judges after asylum ruling
- It is a key duty of free courts to determine whether the law is being respected
- Hubig, from the Social Democrat party, said in the joint statement that attacks on judges’ independence “strike at the basic values of our constitution”
BERLIN: German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has condemned “alarming” attacks on judges who earlier this week delivered a ruling challenging a key plank of the government’s immigration crackdown.
Hubig said in a statement together with the justice ministers of Germany’s federal states that “we condemn such attacks on the judicial system and on judges’ independence.”
The Berlin judges’ association said on Wednesday that two of its members had been “defamed and threatened” after handing down their decision on Monday.
In that ruling, the judges found that the pushback of three Somali asylum seekers to Poland on May 9 had been illegal.
Hubig, from the Social Democrat party, said in the joint statement that attacks on judges’ independence “strike at the basic values of our constitution.”
“It is a key duty of free courts to determine whether the law is being respected,” the statement read.
Straight after entering office early last month, the government under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz introduced a policy of refusing undocumented migrants — including almost all asylum seekers — entry at Germany’s borders.
The court said that the three Somalis should not have been sent back to Poland before it had been determined which state was responsible for processing their claim under the EU’s so-called “Dublin” system.
Nevertheless, Merz said that the government would continue the policy, a central part of his promised crackdown on immigration.
He and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, both from the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, point to the fact that the judgment technically only applied to the three
Somalis and said the government can successfully defend the policy in any further court action.
Merz insists that a tougher immigration policy is essential to halt the growth of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which achieved a record score of over 20 percent in February’s general election.
However, some in the center-left SPD, the junior partner in Merz’s coalition, have expressed unease at the pushbacks and doubts over their legality.
