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ROME – President Joe Biden sought to smooth over relations with Americas oldest ally on Friday, acknowledging that the U.S. had been “clumsy” in its handling of a weapons agreement that led France to lose a multibillion-dollar contract and has fueled French anger for weeks.

“It was not done with a lot of grace,” Biden said, sitting beside French President Emmanuel Macron in their first face-to-face meeting since the U.S.-French rift erupted in September. He added that “what happened was, to use an English phrase . . . clumsy.”

Biden suggested that he had not realized the French would be blindsided by America’s agreement to share nuclear submarine technology with Australia, a move that cost France a lucrative contract to provide its own submarines to Australia. “I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not coming through,” Biden said.

That effort at relationship repair capped a hectic day in Rome for Biden, who traveled across the ancient city via an 85-vehicle motorcade, calling on various top officials here ahead of Saturday’s meeting of the Group of 20 major economic powers.

A highlight for Biden was a 90-minute audience with Pope Francis, who, Biden told reporters, told him he’s “a good Catholic” and affirmed that he should be allowed to receive Communion. Conservative bishops in the United States have said the president’s support for abortion rights should disqualify him from accepting the sacrament.

The president is hoping to use his second trip abroad to reassert American leadership on the global stage, while showing a domestic audience that international cooperation can lead to concrete benefits like defeating the coronavirus and curtailing greenhouse emissions.

The G-20 meeting, which will be immediately followed by a climate summit in Glasgow expected to draw more than 100 world leaders, will provide time for Biden to establish a personal rapport with foreign allies, many of whom he has not yet met face-to-face amid changing regimes and pandemic restrictions. European partners in particular have been shaken by Biden’s early moves, including a messy Afghan withdrawal, an extension of Trump-era tariffs and the delayed lifting of a coronavirus-related travel ban.

The summits this weekend and next week are notable in part for their absences: Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are not coming in person, so Biden will not have a chance to engage directly with either adversary.

A central element of Biden’s foreign policy has been an effort to shift the focus of the Western alliance toward confronting China, and a senior administration official said Biden and Macron on Friday spent a “fair amount of time talking about the challenge posed by the rise of China.” The official, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters.

Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis went on far longer than expected, White House officials said, citing that as evidence that two men have a strong rapport. Both leaders have taken over from conservative leaders and shifted decisively in a liberal direction, leading to hostility from various groups including U.S. bishops.

A senior administration official said Francis urged Biden to help developing countries get coronavirus vaccines and to “accelerate our ambition” on reducing carbon emissions, the main purpose of Biden’s meetings in Glasgow next week.

Biden’s second trip abroad comes as his domestic agenda is in a delicate phase. He delayed his flight to Italy on Thursday to plead with fellow Democrats to back a deal that would deliver on promises to mitigate climate change, shore up the social safety net and rebuild roads and bridges.

Biden hopes to use climate and tax measures in the deal, which remained in limbo Friday, as a catalyst to spur broad international agreements. While Biden’s domestic challenges could play into his effectiveness as a global leader, his success or failure abroad – particularly at next week’s climate summit – could, in turn, resonate at home.

Biden, who rarely attends more than one public event a day, spent Friday driving through Rome’s narrow, winding streets, moving from one Italian palace to the next. Meetings included separate talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

But the most anticipated meeting was the conciliatory talk with Macron. Biden was technically on French territory as he met with Macron at the French Embassy to the Holy See, a carefully choreographed move intended to elevate their meeting beyond a typical bilateral conversation.

When the Biden administration in September agreed to share nuclear submarine technology with Australia, that effectively overrode an earlier deal for Canberra to buy $66 billion worth of diesel-powered submarines from France.

Macron’s government said at the time that the unexpected move raised fundamental questions about the future of transatlantic security cooperation, and France briefly recalled its ambassador from Washington.

Two subsequent phone calls between Macron and Biden appeared to calm tensions, and French officials have taken a more restrained tone since. But the French presidential office has continued to emphasize that it expects concrete steps to rebuild trust between France and the United States.

Macron met Biden at the steps of the Villa Bonaparte, a grand, three-story, pale yellow mansion tucked within a walled compound in the heart of Rome.

The pair went inside the building and briefly allowed reporters to listen to remarks. Biden heaped praise on France, saying that “we have no older” ally and that the country is an “incredible, valued partner” of the United States.

Macron suggested that the relationship had improved. “We clarified together what we had to clarify,” Macron said as reporters were ushered out. “Now what’s important is to be sure that such a situation will not be possible for our future.”

Several hours after the meeting, the two leaders released a three-page statement that outlined broad areas of agreement, including a U.S. recognition of “the importance of a stronger and more capable European defense.” Macron has been eager to bolster a European defense system that would not be as dependent on the United States.

French officials in recent weeks have voiced frustration with Australia and Britain as well, since Britain was included in the submarine deal that angered the French.

After a phone call Thursday between Macron and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the Élysée Palace released a statement saying that the derailment of the submarine deal “broke the relationship of trust between our two countries.”

“It is now up to the Australian Government to propose tangible actions that embody the political will of Australia’s highest authorities to redefine the basis of our bilateral relationship,” the statement from the French presidential palace added.

Friday’s Biden-Macron meeting came less than six months before presidential elections in France that are increasingly unpredictable. The rise of potential far-right candidate Éric Zemmour has upended calculations within Macron campaign headquarters, as some polls now show him effectively tied with longtime far-right leader Marine Le Pen behind Macron.

A major theme of the campaign message from both Le Pen and Zemmour has been the ostensible decline of the French nation under Macron and some of his predecessors.

In a speech last week, Zemmour suggested that France needed to escape “the shadow” of big powers, namely the United States. He cited the derailed Australian-French submarine deal as evidence of the flawed transatlantic relationship, and he blasted the European Union’s diplomacy as “at best condemned to paralysis, at worst to submission to the United States.”

Zemmour’s U.S. skepticism is falling on fertile ground in France. A Pew Research Center survey this year found that only 31 percent of French respondents said the United States reliably considers the interests of countries like theirs in its international policy decisions.

Macron has sought to balance French skepticism of the United States with the country’s reliance on Washington. In a speech last month, he urged Europeans to “come out of their naivete” on the world stage and assert their independence from the United States.

But in the same speech, Macron acknowledged the United States as “a great historical ally and an ally in terms of values. And that will remain the case.”

Macron’s balancing act may be a reflection of France’s capabilities as a military power that remains a leading force in some ways, including in West Africa, but relies heavily on alliances on other fronts.

Within Europe, France’s security strategy is largely based on its alliances within NATO and the E.U., alliances that have long depended on the United States.

Now France is among several European countries pushing for the continent to pursue “strategic autonomy” from the United States, both out of a fear that a Trump-like leader might return to power, and an anxiety that even traditional American figures like Biden have become more inward-looking.

Published : October 30, 2021

By : The Washington Post

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RICHMOND, Va. – Donald Trump will headline an election-eve tele-rally Monday night for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin and other Republicans, according to a Trump ally leading a bus tour meant to whip up support for a ticket thats run hot and cold on the 45th president.

“They need us to win, and that’s why we’re doing this teleconference,” said John Fredericks, a talk radio host and Trump’s former Virginia chairman, who two weeks ago arranged for the former president to phone in to a GOP rally in suburban Richmond.

Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford

It was not clear that Youngkin wants Trump, who lost Virginia by 10 points last year, to further inject himself into the race – a neck-and-neck battle with Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former governor who has been raising money off the prospect of a Trump-led rally.

Youngkin’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the plan Fredericks described. Earlier in the week, when both Trump and his spokesman Taylor Budowich separately teased that former president might travel to Virginia to stump for Youngkin in person, Youngkin’s spokesman declined to comment.

A Trump adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the event had not been formally announced, on Friday confirmed Trump plans to take part in the tele-rally, which Bloomberg News first reported based on an anonymous source, or on the details Fredericks shared with The Washington Post. Fredericks said Trump, a frequent guest on his radio show, will formally announce the event on his program Monday morning, if not before.

Fredericks said it would be an enormous teleconference, with Trump on the line along with “thousands and thousands” of his Virginia supporters.

“It’s going to be the biggest phone rally in the history of Virginia,” Fredericks said. “The Republican ticket cannot win without Trump’s voter base in Virginia fully engaged and turned out on game day. … We need a huge Election Day turnout, and the only person to put them over the top in Virginia is President Donald J. Trump. Period.”

Youngkin, on a tightrope as he tries to woo Trump fans without alienating moderates in the state’s vote-rich suburbs, had earlier embraced the former president as he sought the GOP nomination – praising Trump by name and indulging Trump’s false claim that President Biden stole the White House.

Since then, Youngkin has tried to shake any explicit association with Trump while still leaning into the culture-war themes popular with the ex-president’s fans, including opposition to critical race theory, an academic concept for studying race that is not actually part of Virginia’s K-12 curriculum.

Trump, who endorsed Youngkin after he won the nomination in May, has not seemed content to let him pivot away. Trump has repeatedly weighed in on the race, at times on Fredericks’s show. In an appearance with Fredericks in September, Trump warned that Youngkin risks losing the Virginia governor’s race by not fully embracing the Make America Great Again movement.

“The only guys that win are the guys that embrace the MAGA movement,” Trump said then. “When they try to go down a railroad track … ‘Oh, yeah, love Trump. Love Trump. OK, let’s go, next subject.’ When they do that, nobody, they don’t – they never win. They never win. They have to embrace it.”

Bob Holsworth, a veteran Richmond political observer, said Trump seems to be walking a fine line of his own when it comes to Youngkin.

“Trump’s playing a double game, too – wanting to take credit if (Youngkin) gets elected and distancing himself if he doesn’t,” Holsworth said.

Like Trump, Fredericks has seemed intent on keeping Youngkin from spinning too far from the ex-president’s orbit. As Youngkin and McAuliffe started rolling across the state on rival bus tours, Fredericks started barnstorming with his own “Take Back Virginia Bus Tour.”

He says it is unaffiliated with any campaign, but the radio interviews he’s done along the way have tended to focus on Youngkin. At a stop in the suburban battleground of Chesterfield County earlier this week, Fredericks’s guest was state Sen Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, the self-described “Trump in heels” who told listeners she has been working closely with Youngkin’s campaign to foil what she said were plots by Democrats to steal Tuesday’s election. Youngkin’s team, which has deployed Chase as an official campaign surrogate, declined to comment on Chase’s claims or the bus tour.

On Friday, former Trump chief strategist Stephen Bannon is scheduled to join Fredericks when the bus stops at GOP headquarters in Loudoun County. Bannon’s appearance in that Northern Virginia swing territory comes with considerable risk of alienating swing voters, given that a U.S. House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection considers him a key witness. He has been defying the committee’s subpoena.

Two weeks ago, Bannon headlined the Richmond-area rally that Trump phoned into, where participants pledged allegiance to an American flag said to have flown in Washington ahead of the insurrection. Youngkin did not attend, saying he had a conflict, but he had publicly thanked Fredericks in advance for arranging the event and provided him with campaign signs to hand out. Youngkin later tried to distance himself from it, saying it was “weird and wrong” to make a pledge to that flag.

Fredericks said he is inviting Youngkin to join Trump on the call Monday night.

“If he wants to be governor of Virginia,” Fredericks said, “he will.”

Published : October 30, 2021

By : The Washington Post

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WASHINGTON – Regulators on Friday authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old, a watershed moment celebrated by parents yearning for a return to normal life but viewed with ambivalence and outright skepticism by others worried about the potential risk of unknown side effects.

The Food and Drug Administration’s emergency action cleared the first pediatric coronavirus vaccine in the United States – a two-shot regimen administered three weeks apart. The dose, 10 micrograms, is one-third of that used for adolescents and adults. In a clinical trial of 5- to 11-year-olds, the vaccine was almost 91% effective at preventing covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. The vaccine’s safety was studied in about 3,100 children who received the shot and had no serious side effects, the agency said.

“Vaccinating younger children against COVID-19 will bring us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy,” FDA acting commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. “Our comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of the data pertaining to the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness should help assure parents and guardians that this vaccine meets our high standards.”

The issue of safety was a main focus of regulators and their advisers partly because the vaccine has been linked to rare cases of cardiac side effects in another group – male adolescents and young men. The symptoms of the side effects – myocarditis and pericarditis, which are inflammation of the heart muscle and lining, respectively – tended to be mild and treatable, doctors say.

The FDA authorization is the latest step by the Biden administration to extend the reach of vaccines in hopes of taming a dangerous and vexing virus. The inoculation of adults, which began last December, recently entered a new phase, with booster shots for all three vaccines used in the United States available for many. About 28 million children are in the newly eligible group of 5- to 11-year-olds.

But the process of getting vaccines cleared for younger school-age children has been fraught, with members of the FDA’s outside advisory committee expressing some angst and disagreements during a vociferous public debate this week. In the end, the panel voted 17 to 0, with one abstention, to recommend the vaccine, agreeing with the FDA that the shot’s known and potential benefits outweighed the known and potential risks – the criteria for an emergency authorization.

The discussion about the shot is expected to resume Tuesday when the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is scheduled to meet to recommend how to use the vaccine. After CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signs off, probably on the same day, providers, including pediatricians and pharmacists, will be able to begin administering the vaccine.

The debate over the shot points up the complexities of making decisions involving vaccines, which are nearly always intended for healthy people. Covid poses special challenges because “while children are at lower risk of bad outcomes, they are not at no risk,” said Holly Fernandez Lynch, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania.

About 1.9 million children 5 to 11 years old have been infected, and at least 146 have died, according to federal health officials. Those infected are vulnerable to “long-haul covid,” with lingering symptoms including fatigue, brain fog and respiratory problems, and a serious but rare condition called MIS-C, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which can cause inflammation of the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain and other organs.

In addition, Lynch said, there are other types of side effects that go beyond the strictly physical: “When children have exposures, they have to stay home from school and parents have to miss work.”

Parents’ uncertainty about the vaccine was captured in a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation that found only 27% of parents are planning to get their children vaccinated right away. A slightly larger group said they don’t intend to have their children vaccinated. About one-third said they will “wait and see.”

Trishan Arul, chief executive of a digital health company who lives in Cincinnati, said he plans to have his 7-year-old daughter vaccinated as soon as possible. But he is having second thoughts about his 10-year-old son.

“We may want to wait a little bit” until there is more information about the myocarditis risk for younger boys, he said. The complication did not show up in the trial, which was too small to detect such rare side effects. Arul said he might wait for a pediatric version of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has not been linked to the cardiac ailment.

Pediatrician Elizabeth Meade at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle said she is convinced the vaccine is “highly safe and highly effective,” and is eager to have her 7-year-old daughter vaccinated so the family can resume normal activities. But she acknowledged the decision is difficult for many parents.

“It’s one thing to make a medical decision for ourselves and a different thing to make it for our kids,” she said.

Jennifer Su, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said she tells worried parents that the chance of developing myocarditis or other side effects from the vaccine is much lower than harm from covid and that she strongly recommends the shot.

The safety issue was on full display this week when the FDA’s outside advisers reviewed the pediatric vaccine. Many members wanted all younger children to get the shot while others suggested it should be reserved for children at high risk of severe covid, and urged the CDC to narrow its use.

James Hildreth Sr., chief executive of Meharry Medical College, said he wanted to make sure that those who really need it, including children of color, could get the vaccine. “But to be honest, the best way to protect the health of some kids would be to do nothing at all because they’re going to be just fine,” he said.

Another member of the committee, Eric Rubin, editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and an adjunct professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in an interview this week he believes the vaccine will benefit children – but not as much as it has helped adults.

“So in that situation, we worry more about side effects” because the benefits are not as large, he said. “They are kids. The stakes are high.”

Ultimately, however, the panel endorsed the shot without a single “no” vote.

Federal officials and some experts said it was highly unlikely the CDC would recommend any limits involving which children could get the vaccine. Any parents who want a shot for their child should be able to get one, they said.

In a call with reporters Friday, Peter Marks, who oversees vaccines at the FDA, underscored the point, noting that at least one-third of children who are hospitalized with covid do not have identifiable risk factors, making it important to make the vaccine broadly available.

“Everyone 5 to 11 is still at risk of serious disease,” agreed Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA advisory committee. “I don’t think [the CDC] will layer it.”

Offit said there is always some uncertainty in trying to predict side effects that are so rare they show up only when vaccines are used in vast numbers of people.

“You go with the best data you have and hope you made the right decision,” he said. “A decision not to release the vaccine is also a decision, one to let children potentially get infected and potentially die.”

Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert at Baylor College of Medicine, said he was concerned that the FDA advisers, in debating the vaccine so vociferously, were “damning [the vaccine] with faint praise.”

“It’s great that people are seeing the sausage being made,” he said, but some of the skeptical comments “could chill the acceptance of some parents of the vaccine.”

But Paul Spearman, director of infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and a member of the FDA advisory committee, said the debate was “just part of the process . . . that is what we are supposed to do, dig in deeper.” Spearman did not take part in the meeting because he has worked on coronavirus vaccines, including Pfizer-BioNTech’s.

He said he was confident doctors would be able to persuade the wavering “wait-and-see” parents to get their children vaccinated. “This group needs to see that their trusted health-care providers are in favor of it and that kids are doing great after they get it,” he said.

The effectiveness data for the authorization came from an ongoing trial with about 4,700 children 5 to 11 years old who received the lower dose of the vaccine, the agency said. The FDA compared their immune responses to those of participants 16 to 25 years old who had received the adult dose in a previous study, and found the responses were comparable.

The trial was considered too small to detect rare complications, so the FDA produced an extensive analysis to try to determine the risk of cardiac side effects in children 5 to 11 years old. It compared the estimated number of covid-related illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths that would be prevented by the vaccine with the number of predicted myocarditis cases, hospitalizations and deaths caused by the vaccine.

Under most scenarios, the vaccine’s benefits outweigh its risks. The only exception was when the virus was circulating at very low levels. Even then, the agency said, the benefits might very well outweigh the risks because covid is so much more dangerous than vaccine-induced myocarditis.

The FDA officials, in the call with reporters, tried to assuage parental fears about the potential of long-term side effects, including on their children’s fertility.

“There is no evidence that there is an adverse effect on fertility” from the vaccine, Marks said. “And there is no reason why one would suspect” that mRNA vaccines such as those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna would harm fertility. He emphasized that the FDA and the CDC have several systems for monitoring vaccine safety for all age groups.

The FDA officials also said that although covid cases are declining, there could be a resurgence in cold weather and parents should not delay getting their children vaccinated.

As the release date for the pediatric vaccine approaches, anti-vaccine activity has exploded. FDA officials and members of the advisory committee report being deluged with emails and phone calls from people urging them to reject the vaccine and threatening lawsuits if they didn’t. “I’m getting ugly, virulent emails,” Rubin said.

On the other end of the spectrum, Piper Ryan, 46, is eager to get the vaccine for her 9-year-old son, Teague. He has been playing tennis and having outdoor play dates, but still is taking virtual classes at home. With the winter holidays approaching, they are both anxious for Teague to get his first dose.

Ryan, who lives in Great Falls, Va., said she wants to host Thanksgiving dinner with her extended family this year – it would be their first holiday gathering since the pandemic began. But Ryan said she would feel comfortable inviting out-of-state relatives only if her son had some protection against the virus.

“As soon as it is authorized, we’re absolutely going to get him vaccinated,” Ryan said.

Published : October 30, 2021

By : The Washington Post

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008168

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The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 13.14 million across Southeast Asia, with 30,486 new cases reported on Friday (October 29), higher than Thursday’s tally at 30,327. New deaths are at 334, decreasing from Thursday’s number of 539. Total Covid-19 deaths in Asean are now at 277,698.

Cambodia’s Tourism Minister announced that the country recorded about 2.42 million domestic tourists, of whom more than 2.26 million were citizens and about 160,000 foreign nationals, in the first eight months of this year. This is a decrease of about 90%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. 

The decline in the number of tourists has had a significant impact on the operation of the tourism business. As of August 31, a total of 3,915 businesses closed or suspended operations, affecting 53,534 people employed in the tourism sector.

Meanwhile, Malaysia will procure Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for children in the country as the US Food and Drug Administration has recommended the vaccine for those between the ages of five to 12. Health minister added that they will also look at other options like Sinovac, whereas schools would be able to reopen safely as 82.4 per cent of the nation’s adolescents were partially vaccinated and 62 per cent fully vaccinated.
 

Published : October 30, 2021

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008130

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Years of conflict have taken a grave toll on Yemens economy and infrastructure. Besides the hunger crisis, the war-torn country also has over 15 million people lacking access to clean drinking water, and the situation is only getting worse.

Children carry plastic water barrels to a charity water tap in Sanaa, Yemen on Oct. 28, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

Children carry plastic water barrels to a charity water tap in Sanaa, Yemen on Oct. 28, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

A Yemeni boy carries two plastic water barrels near a charity water tap in Sanaa, Yemen on Oct. 28, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

Yemeni children fill plastic barrels with water near a charity water tap in Sanaa, Yemen on Oct. 28, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

A Yemeni boy fills plastic barrels with water near a charity water tap in Sanaa, Yemen on Oct. 28, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

Published : October 29, 2021

By : Xinhua

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The framework seeks to impose new taxes on the largest corporations and the wealthiest Americans to raise revenue of around 2 trillion dollars over a decade to fully pay for the social spending plan.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a framework for a 1.75-trillion-U.S.-dollar social spending package following weeks of intensive negotiations with congressional Democrats.

The so-called Build Back Better Framework includes 555 billion dollars in clean energy and climate investments, 400 billion dollars in funding for child care and free preschool, 200 billion dollars in child tax & earned income tax credits, and 150 billion dollars in investments for affordable housing, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.

The framework seeks to impose new taxes on the largest corporations and the wealthiest Americans to raise revenue of around 2 trillion dollars over a decade to fully pay for the social spending plan.

If passed, the framework will impose a 15 percent minimum tax on corporate profits for firms with earnings over 1 billion dollars reported to shareholders, and a 1 percent surcharge on corporate stock buybacks, according to the fact sheet.

The framework would also apply a 5 percent surtax rate on individual incomes above 10 million dollars and an additional 3 percent surtax on incomes above 25 million dollars.

The framework is far smaller than Biden’s original 3.5-trillion-dollar proposal, and it has not been written into legislative language yet.

“No one got everything they wanted, including me, but that’s what compromise is. That’s consensus,” Biden said in remarks at the White House before departing for a week of summits in Europe.

“Given half a chance, the American people have never ever, ever, ever left the country down, so let’s get this done,” Biden said, urging Congress to pass both the social spending package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

It’s not clear whether the framework would pave the way for the House of Representatives to approve the 1.2-trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill that was passed by the Senate earlier this year.

Progressive House Democrats have held up the Senate-passed bill for months, demanding a vote on the larger social spending plan.

Published : October 29, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008128

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The Security Council members called on Sudans military authorities to restore the civilian-led transitional government on the basis of the constitutional document and other foundational documents of the transition.

The Security Council on Thursday demanded the release of detained civilian leaders and the restoration of the civilian-led transitional government in Sudan.

In a press statement, the members of the Security Council expressed serious concern about Monday’s military takeover in Sudan, the suspension of some transitional institutions, the declaration of a state of emergency, and the detention of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other civilian members of the transitional government.

The council members called for the immediate release of all those who have been detained by the military authorities, and in this regard, took note of the reported return of Prime Minister Hamdok to his residence.

File photo shows Sudan

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They also called on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and refrain from the use of violence, and emphasized the importance of full respect for human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

The council members called on Sudan’s military authorities to restore the civilian-led transitional government on the basis of the constitutional document and other foundational documents of the transition. They urged all stakeholders to engage in dialogue without preconditions in order to enable the full implementation of the constitutional document and the Juba Peace Agreement, which underpin Sudan’s democratic transition.

The council members expressed their solidarity with the people of Sudan and affirmed their readiness to support efforts to realize Sudan’s democratic transition, in a manner that achieves the hopes and aspirations of the Sudanese people for an inclusive, peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous future. They underscored that any attempt to undermine the democratic transition process in Sudan puts at risk Sudan’s security, stability and development. They reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and national unity of Sudan.

The council members expressed their strong support for regional and sub-regional efforts and underscored the importance of their continued engagement in Sudan.

They expressed their intention to continue to closely monitor the situation in Sudan.

Published : October 29, 2021

By : Xinhua

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The conflict between France and Britain over fishing rights continues to escalate as France threatens retaliatory measures including preventing British fishing boats from disembarking at ports and increasing border and sanitary checks on British goods.

The dispute over fishing rights between Britain and France has escalated as France threatens retaliatory measures against Britain’s fishing industry and the broader trade. It is a fresh sign the sector with tiny economic value continues to exert outsized influence on their post-Brexit relations.

On Wednesday evening, France said it was preparing sanctions, and some measures could be imposed from next Tuesday unless enough progress is made in its fishing row with Britain. The move came after France complained only half of the licenses needed were given to French fishing boats to operate in British territorial waters.

Measures unveiled by France include preventing British fishing boats from disembarking at ports, increasing border and sanitary checks on British goods, tightening security checks on British boats and increasing checks on trucks going to and from Britain. Media speculates further measures could include cutting electricity supplies to the British Channel island of Jersey, as France previously threatened in May.

Photo taken on Oct. 11, 2020 shows British boats during sunrise at Shoreham Docks, Britain. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

“France’s threats are disappointing and disproportionate, and not what we would expect from a close ally and partner,” a British government spokesperson said in a statement.

“The measures being threatened do not appear to be compatible with the trade and cooperation agreement (TCA) and wider international law, and, if carried through, will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response. We will be relaying our concerns to the EU Commission and French government,” the spokesperson said.

Britain insisted it has granted 98 percent of licence applications from EU vessels to fish in its waters. British media said since Dec. 31, 1,673 EU vessels have been licensed for fishing, of which 736 were French.

Photo taken on Oct. 11, 2020 shows a British fishing boat at Shoreham Docks, Britain. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

Britain’s Brexit Minister David Frost said Britain will be seeking urgent clarification of the French plans and will consider what further action is necessary.

Post-Brexit fishing row between Britain and France started earlier this year after the British Channel island of Jersey’s government introduced a new licensing system requiring French boats to show fishing history in Jersey’s waters to obtain future permits. It led to both sides dispatching navy vessels to monitor the situation in Jersey’s waters in May.

Fishing is politically sensitive to both Britain and France. It is a thorny issue during the time-consuming Brexit talks, with the EU linking British financial firms’ access to its market with their fishermen’s rights to operate in British waters.

It will appear more sensitive given the French presidential elections next April and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s eagerness to demonstrate his country’s control of its own waters after Brexit.

Adam Parsons, Europe Correspondent for Sky News, said Emmanuel Macron has an election next year and knows that sticking up for fishermen plays well with voters in northern France. Boris Johnson, always casting his own eye on public opinion, is well aware that fishing rights became a totemic topic among many Brexit voters.

Neither side wants to be seen to back down too readily. But a resolution will require cool heads, gentle diplomacy and level-headed thinking — France’s decisions to go public with its threats may not help that process, according to Parsons.

Patrick Martin-Genier, professor of Paris Institute of Political Studies, told media that the TCA was signed between the EU and Britain, not France and Britain. “In other words, EU countries must be united on fisheries. The French government has made several attempts to secure the support of EU countries, but Brussels has so far been careful not to add fuel to the fire, only previously expressing regret at the limited number of fishing licenses granted.”

France has pushed the EU to increase pressure on Britain over the fishing rights dispute. The Guardian reported earlier this month that 14 EU member states, including France, Belgium, Ireland and Spain, are preparing to issue a joint declaration accusing the British government of risking “significant economic and social damage” to their fishing communities.

Fresh fish are seen at a fish market of the old port in Marseille, France, Sept. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Published : October 29, 2021

By : Xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008124

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“We all support the expansion of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in the vast Asia-Pacific space,” Putin said.

 Russia and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on Thursday to step up cooperation to build “a peaceful, stable and sustainable region.”

“We all support the expansion of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in the vast Asia-Pacific space,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the fourth Russia-ASEAN summit via video link.

“We now have real opportunities to intensify cooperation between Russia and ASEAN, including with regard to strengthening stability and security, post-pandemic economic recovery, stimulating trade, and expanding humanitarian contacts,” he said.

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In a joint statement following the summit, Russia and the ASEAN members agreed to explore possible practical cooperation on issues of mutual interest among ASEAN, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

They pledged to seek synergies in development strategies to promote regional connectivity.

Both sides agreed to increase efforts to boost maritime connectivity and develop sustainable and resilient infrastructure logistics and port management.

They also voiced support for a sustainable economic recovery in the region and closer people-to-people exchanges.

During the summit, Russia and ASEAN adopted a 103-point Comprehensive Plan of Action aimed at implementing mutually beneficial cooperation for the period 2021-2025.

In the plan, ASEAN and Russia set out priorities and measures to be undertaken by both sides to strengthen partnership across a wide range of areas, including the political-security, economic, socio-cultural and development cooperation.

In addition, Russia and the ASEAN member states issued a statement on cooperation against illicit drugs trafficking. They reaffirmed the shared commitment to address and counter the world drug problem through effective and sustained actions at the national and international levels.

Published : October 29, 2021

By : Xinhua

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008122

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The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 13.11 million across Southeast Asia, with 30,327 new cases reported on Thursday (October 28), higher than Wednesday’s tally at 30,234. New deaths are at 539, increasing from Wednesday’s number of 536. Total Covid-19 deaths in Asean are now at 277,362.

Indonesian government announced that all visitors entering the country via air, land or sea channels must take a Covid-19 test via PCR method no matter which place in the country they are planning to visit. The regulation aims to prevent a new wave of outbreak before the new year holidays. Indonesia reported 723 new cases and 34 deaths on Thursday, bringing cumulative cases in the country to 4,242,532 patients and total 143,333 deaths.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s public health ministry on Thursday lifted the stay-home order that has been implemented in 44 townships, 20 of which are in Yangon region, after new infections have shown declining trend. Authorities likely continue to require people to wear facemasks in public, as well as practice personal hygiene and maintain a physical distance of 2 meters. A nationwide 8pm-4am curfew likely remains in place, with a shorter 10pm-4am curfew in Yangon.
 

Published : October 29, 2021

By : THE NATION