JAPAN
Import curbs must stop: G7
The G7 industrial powers yesterday called for the “immediate repeal” of import curbs on Japanese food products, a reference to China’s restrictions after the nation began releasing wastewater from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The G7 trade ministers, in a statement after a weekend meeting in Osaka, did not mention China, but they also denounced what they consider its rising economic coercion through trade. “We deplore actions to weaponize economic dependencies and commit to build on free, fair, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationships,” the 10-page statement said.
KAZAKHSTAN
Dozens die in mine fire
The nation was in mourning yesterday after 36 people died in a fire at an ArcelorMittal mine, the worst such disaster in years which has prompted the nationalization of the company’s local affiliate. The Ministry of Emergency Situations said at 10am that “the bodies of 36 miners were found and 10 workers were still being sought.” However, the chances of finding them alive are “very low,” rescuers said the night before, due to the lack of ventilation in the mine and the force of Saturday’s explosion, which spread over 2km. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev traveled to the scene on Saturday and ordered that cooperation with ArcelorMittal be “brought to an end.” Speaking to victims’ relatives at the Karaganda mine in the country’s center, Tokayev called ArcelorMittal “the worst enterprise in Kazakhstan’s history in terms of cooperation with the government.” The Kazakh government and the steel giant announced a preliminary agreement to “transfer ownership of the [local] firm in favor of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov said.
CHINA
Defense forum begins
The Beijing Xiangshan Forum, the nation’s biggest annual show of military diplomacy, started yesterday, although China is still missing a defense minister, who typically hosts this event. Beijing hopes to use the forum to promote President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) vision and draw developing countries closer, as it faces increased coordination between the US and its allies to curtail its military ambitions. Russia is being given center stage at the forum. Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu was initially listed as the first guest speaker at today’s opening ceremony, but as of last night, his name was not on the agenda. The US Department of Defense has sent a delegation led by Xanthi Carras, China country director in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense.
MYANMAR
Former minister charged
Former minister for information Ye Htut has been arrested and charged with encouraging dissent against the military, the junta said yesterday, the latest in a series of high-profile arrests. In a statement, the junta information team said the 64-year-old had been detained on Saturday evening in connection with “spreading wrong information on social media.” “U Ye Htut was arrested last night and charged under section 505 (a),” a security source said. Section 505 outlaws any action deemed to undermine the military. The law carries a maximum jail term of three years. His arrest comes a week after pro-junta Telegram channels accused him of exposing the address of a retired military officer on social media.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
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