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Xi and Lula call for peace in Ukraine, ceasefire in Gaza

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China's President Xi Jinping, left, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend a welcoming ceremony at the Alvorada palace in Brasilia on Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)
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China's President Xi Jinping speaks during a joint press conference with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after a meeting at Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Nov. 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 21 November 2024
AFP
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Xi and Lula call for peace in Ukraine, ceasefire in Gaza

  • China-Brazil roadmap for mediating peace has been endorsed by Russia — an ally of China — but rejected by Ukraine and its Western backers
  • Xi’s state visit to Brasilia showcased closer relations between the biggest economies in Asia and Latin America
Updated 21 November 2024
AFP

BRASILIA: Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged “more voices” to end the Ukraine war and a ceasefire in Gaza, as he conducted a state visit to Brazil’s capital, Chinese state media said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva echoed those points as he met with Xi in a red-carpet welcome in Brasilia, and stressed a joint roadmap for peace in Ukraine that they are proposing.
“In a world plagued by armed conflicts and political strife, China and Brazil put peace, diplomacy and dialogue first,” Lula said.
Xi said he wanted to see “more voices committed to peace to pave the way for a political solution to the Ukraine crisis,” the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
He also called for “a ceasefire and an end to the war at an early date” in Gaza, the agency said.
On Ukraine, the China-Brazil roadmap for mediating peace has been endorsed by Russia — which is China’s ally — but rejected by Kyiv and its Western backers.
The Chinese president’s appeal for a halt to fighting in Gaza — where Israel is pressing an offensive against Hamas — echoed one he and the other G20 leaders made during a summit held Monday and Tuesday in Rio.
That summit’s joint statement called for a “comprehensive” ceasefire in both Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel is also waging an offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council held a vote on a resolution calling for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, but it was vetoed by Israel’s ally the United States.

Shrinking US influence
Xi’s state visit to Brasilia showcased closer relations between the biggest economies in Asia and Latin America, which analysts said also reflected shrinking US influence.
The two leaders signed 35 cooperation accords on areas including agriculture, trade, technology and environmental protection.
Xi said China-Brazil relations “are at their best in history” and the two countries are now “reliable friends,” according to Xinhua.
Lula said he believed the growing Brazil-China ties “will exceed all expectations and pave the way for a new phase of bilateral relations.”
He added that he looked forward to welcoming Xi to Brazil again next July for a BRICS summit.
The Chinese leader figured prominently at the G20 summit, and at an APEC one held last week in Peru — in contrast with outgoing US President Joe Biden, who cut a spectral figure.
Fellow leaders looked past Biden, politically, to the coming US presidency of Donald Trump, which starts January 20.
“Xi Jinping is clearly looking to fill the vacuum that will come following the election of Trump, who does not value multilateralism,” Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations expert at Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank, told AFP.

Brazil's balancing act

China is Brazil’s biggest trading partner, with two-way commerce exceeding $160 billion last year.
The South American agricultural power sends mainly soybeans and other primary commodities to China, while the Asian giant sells Brazil semiconductors, telephones, vehicles and medicines.
Since returning to power in early 2023, Lula has sought to balance efforts to improve ties with both China and the United States.
A visit to Beijing this year by Vice President Geraldo Alckmin was seen as paving the way for Brazil to potentially join China’s Belt and Road Initiative to stimulate trade — a central pillar of Xi’s bid to expand China’s clout overseas.
But there was no announcement in that direction during Xi’s visit. Instead both leaders spoke of finding “synergies” between that Chinese program and Brazil’s own infrastructure development program.
South American nations that have signed up to Beijing’s initiative include Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
One of the accords signed Wednesday was on Brazil opening its market to a Chinese satellite company, SpaceSail, that competes with Starlink, founded and run by South African-born US billionaire Elon Musk, which already covers remote Brazilian regions.
Musk has a turbulent history with Brazil, whose courts forced his social media platform X to comply with national laws against disinformation.
 

Topics: Xi Jinping Brazil Ukraine Gaza Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

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UN: Nearly 40% of 3.4 million displaced in Myanmar are children

Updated 21 sec ago
AFP
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UN: Nearly 40% of 3.4 million displaced in Myanmar are children

  • Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021
  • The fighting, as well as severe climate events like Typhoon Yagi, have had a ‘devastating impact’ on children
Updated 21 sec ago
AFP
WASHINGTON: Children made up nearly 40 percent of the more than 3.4 million people in Myanmar displaced by civil war and climate change-driven extreme weather, the UN agency for children said Thursday.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021 and launched a crackdown that sparked an armed uprising against the junta’s rule.
The Southeast Asian nation was also battered by Typhoon Yagi in September, triggering major floods that killed more than 400 people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
“The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is reaching a critical inflexion point, with escalating conflict and climate shocks putting children and families at unprecedented risk,” UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban said in a statement on Thursday.
“Over 3.4 million people have been displaced across the country, nearly 40 percent of whom are children.”
The junta is battling widespread armed opposition to its 2021 coup, and its soldiers have been accused of bloody rampages and using air and artillery strikes to punish civilian communities.
The fighting, as well as severe climate events like Typhoon Yagi, have had a “devastating impact” on children, Chaiban said, leaving them displaced, vulnerable to violence and cut off from health care and education.
He said seven children and two other civilians were killed on November 15 in a strike that hit a Kachin church compound where children were playing football.
Myanmar’s northern Kachin state is the homeland of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of the various ethnic minority armed groups that hold territory in the north and are battling the junta.
At least 650 children have been killed or wounded in violence in the country this year.
Minors also made up about a third of the more than 1,000 civilian casualties from land mines and explosive remnants of war, according to Chaiban.
“The increasing use of deadly weapons in civilian areas, including airstrikes and land mines hitting homes, hospitals, and schools, has severely restricted the already limited safe spaces for children, robbing them of their right to safety and security,” he said.
Eleven people were killed last week when a teashop in Myanmar was hit by a military air strike in the town of Naungcho in northern Shan state, a local ethnic armed group said.

Philippine woman saved from Indonesia death row ‘elated’

Updated 21 November 2024
AFP
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Philippine woman saved from Indonesia death row ‘elated’

  • Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin
  • Her family and supporters said she was innocent and had been set up by an international drug syndicate
Updated 21 November 2024
AFP

INDONESIA: A Philippine woman sentenced to death in Indonesia on drug charges said Thursday that she was “elated” to be returning home, after a deal brokered between the two nations.
Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin and later sentenced to death by firing squad.
The mother-of-two’s case sparked an uproar in the Philippines, with her family and supporters saying she was innocent and had been set up by an international drug syndicate.
On Wednesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said she would be handed over to Manila following years of “long and difficult” negotiations.
“I am very elated to hear there is an opening chance for my hope to return home and be with my family,” Veloso said in a written statement read by the prison warden Evi Loliancy on Thursday.
“I’m grateful and would like to thank everybody who keeps making efforts so I can return to my country,” she said.
The 39-year-old said she would utilize skills she has learned in prison, including local cloth-dying techniques, to earn money for herself and her family.
Veloso’s family maintained that she was duped into signing up for a non-existent job abroad as a domestic worker and was not aware the suitcase given to her by the recruiter contained hidden drugs.
The Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for Veloso in 2015 after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking in a case in which Veloso was named as a prosecution witness.
Indonesia’s law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said President Prabowo Subianto had “approved the transfer,” which is expected to happen next month.
Philippine leader Marcos on Wednesday posted a message thanking his Indonesian counterpart.
He said Veloso’s “story resonates with many: a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life.”

Topics: Philippines

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ASEAN defense chiefs discuss regional security with US, China and other partner nations

Updated 21 November 2024
AP
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ASEAN defense chiefs discuss regional security with US, China and other partner nations

  • The US and China have been working to improve frayed military-to-military communications
  • ASEAN meetings come as member nations are looking warily toward the change in American administrations
Updated 21 November 2024
AP

VIENTIANE, Laos: Southeast Asian defense chiefs met Thursday with China, the United States and other partner nations in Laos for security talks, which come as Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance in its claim to most of the South China Sea is leading to more confrontations.
The closed-door talks put US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in the same room a day after Dong refused a request to meet with Austin one-on-one on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meetings.
The US and China have been working to improve frayed military-to-military communications and Austin said he regretted Dong’s decision, calling it “a setback for the whole region.”
The ASEAN meetings come as member nations are looking warily toward the change in American administrations at a time of increasing maritime disputes with China. The US has firmly pushed a “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy under outgoing President Joe Biden and it is not yet clear how the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump will address the South China Sea situation.
In addition to the United States and China, other nations attending the ASEAN meeting from outside Southeast Asia include Japan, South Korea, India, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.
The meetings with the ASEAN dialogue partners were also expected address tensions in the Korean Peninsula, the Russia-Ukraine war, and wars in the Middle East.
Before heading to Laos, Austin concluded meetings in Australia with officials there and with Japan’s defense minister. They pledged to support ASEAN and expressed their “serious concern about destabilizing actions in the East and South China Seas, including dangerous conduct by the People’s Republic of China against Philippines and other coastal state vessels.”
Along with the Philippines, ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with China in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely as its own territory.
Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are the other ASEAN members.
As China has grown more assertive in pushing its territorial claims in recent years, it and ASEAN have been negotiating a code of conduct to govern behavior in the sea, but progress has been slow.
Officials have agreed to try to complete the code by 2026, but talks have been hampered by thorny issues, including disagreements over whether the pact should be binding.
Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed repeatedly this year, and Vietnam in October charged that Chinese forces assaulted its fishermen in disputed areas in the South China Sea. China has also sent patrol vessels to areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as their exclusive economic zones.
Another thorny regional issue is the civil war and humanitarian crisis in ASEAN member Myanmar. The group’s credibility has been severely tested by the war in Myanmar, where the army ousted an elected government in 2021, and fighting has continued with pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic rebels.
More than a year into an offensive initiated by three militias and joined by other resistance groups, observers estimate the military controls less than half the country.
Myanmar military rulers have been barred from ASEAN meetings since late 2021, but this year the country has been represented by high-level bureaucrats, including at the summit in October.
At the defense meetings, the country is represented by Zaw Naing Win, director of the Defense Ministry’s International Affairs Department.
Meetings on Wednesday also discussed military cooperation, transnational haze, disinformation, border security and transnational crimes such as drugs, cyberscams and human trafficking, Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Thanathip Sawangsang said.

Topics: ASEAN US China

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American and Australian tourists die, raising toll to 4 in Laos alcohol poisoning incident

Updated 21 November 2024
AP
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American and Australian tourists die, raising toll to 4 in Laos alcohol poisoning incident

  • The two Australian women fell ill on November 13 after a night out drinking with a group
  • They are believed to have consumed drinks tainted with methanol
Updated 21 November 2024
AP

VIENTIANE, Laos: An Australian teenager has died after drinking tainted alcohol in Vang Vieng, Laos, Australia’s prime minister said Thursday, and the US State Department confirmed an American also died in the same party town, bringing the death toll to four in the poisoning incident.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament that 19-year-old Bianca Jones had died after being evacuated from Laos for treatment in a Thai hospital. Her friend, also 19, remains hospitalized in Thailand.
Meantime, the State Department confirmed that an American tourist had also died, but said it had no further comment out of respect to the families.
“This is every parent’s very worst fear and a nightmare that no one should have to endure,” Albanese told lawmakers, adding “we also take this moment to say that we’re thinking of Bianca’s friend Holly Bowles who is fighting for her life.”
The two Australian women fell ill on Nov. 13 after a night out drinking with a group. They are believed to have consumed drinks tainted with methanol, which sometimes used as the alcohol in mixed drinks at disreputable bars and can cause severe poisoning or death.
New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday one of its citizens was also unwell in Laos and could be a victim of methanol poisoning. Denmark’s Foreign Ministry, when asked about the poisoning incident, said Wednesday that two of its citizens had died in Laos but would not provide further details.
“We have updated our travel advisory for Laos to note that there have been several cases of suspected methanol poisoning after consuming alcoholic drinks,” New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said. “Travelers are advised to be cautious about consuming alcoholic beverages, particularly cocktails and drinks made with spirits that may have been adulterated with harmful substances.”

Topics: Laos

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US charges billionaire Gautam Adani with defrauding investors, hiding plan to bribe Indian officials

Updated 21 November 2024
AP
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US charges billionaire Gautam Adani with defrauding investors, hiding plan to bribe Indian officials

  • Gautam Adani, 62, was charged with securities fraud in an indictment unsealed Wednesday 
  • Several other people connected to Adani, his businesses and the project were also charged
Updated 21 November 2024
AP

NEW YORK: An Indian businessman who is one of the world’s richest people has been indicted in the US on charges he duped investors in a massive solar energy project in his home country by concealing that it was facilitated by alleged bribery.
Gautam Adani, 62, was charged in an indictment unsealed Wednesday with securities fraud and conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud.
He is accused of defrauding investors who poured several billion dollars into the project by failing to tell them about more than $250 million in bribes paid to Indian officials to secure lucrative solar energy supply contracts.
Several other people connected to Adani, his businesses and the project were also charged.
Gautam Adani is a power player in the world’s most populous nation. He built his fortune in the coal business coal in the 1990s. His Adani Group grew to involve many aspects of Indian life, from making defense equipment to building roads to selling cooking oil.
In recent years, Adani has made big moves into renewable energy.
Last year, a US-based financial research firm accused Adani his company of “brazen stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud.” The Adani Group called the claims “a malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations.”
The firm in question is known as a short-seller, a Wall Street term for traders that essentially bet on the prices of certain stocks to fall, and it had made such investments in relation to the Adani Group.

Topics: Gautam Adani India

Latest updates

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ASEAN defense chiefs discuss regional security with US, China and other partner nations
American and Australian tourists die, raising toll to 4 in Laos alcohol poisoning incident

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