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Tag: International agreements

  • Czechs ratify defense treaty with US that makes it easier to deploy US troops in Czech territory

    Czechs ratify defense treaty with US that makes it easier to deploy US troops in Czech territory

    The Czech Republic has completed the ratification of a defense treaty with the United States that deepens military cooperation and makes it easier to deploy U.S. troops in Czech territory

    FILE – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks to US army soldiers while visiting Prague, Czech Republic, on Sept. 9, 2015. The Czech Republic has completed the ratification of an defense treaty with the United States that deepens military cooperation and make it easier to deploy U.S. troops on Czech territory. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s signature on Wednesday Aug. 16, 2023 was the final step in the ratification process of the Defense Cooperation Agreement. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

    The Associated Press

    PRAGUE — The Czech Republic on Wednesday completed the ratification of a defense treaty with the United States that deepens military cooperation and makes it easier to deploy U.S. troops in Czech territory.

    Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s signature was the final step in the ratification process of the Defense Cooperation Agreement, which had been endorsed by both houses of Parliament in July and by President Petr Pavel on Aug 1.

    The document sets a legal framework for possible deployment of U.S. troops in the country at a time of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

    Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova signed the treaty together with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington, D.C. on May 23. The U.S. has similar agreements with 24 other NATO members, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria that form the eastern flank of the alliance.

    Any deployment of U.S. forces would still need approval by the Czech government and Parliament.

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  • Iran transfers 5 Iranian-American prisoners to house arrest

    Iran transfers 5 Iranian-American prisoners to house arrest

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran has transferred five Iranian-Americans from prison to house arrest, U.S. officials said Thursday. The move comes after Tehran has spent months suggesting a prisoner swap with Washington in exchange for billions of dollars frozen in South Korea.

    Iranian officials at the United Nations confirmed the deal to The Associated Press, saying that the prisoner release “marks a significant initial step in the implementation of this agreement.”

    Iran also acknowledged that the deal involved $6 billion to $7 billion frozen in South Korea. The U.N. mission said that money would be transferred to Qatar before being sent onto Iran if the agreement goes through.

    The complicated, multinational deal comes amid months of heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. A major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf is underway, with the possibility of armed U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships traveling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil traded passes.

    It remains unclear whether the transfer of the Iranian-Americans guarantees that they will make it home. Iran in past months has overstated progress in talks, likely conducted with mediation from Oman and Qatar, on a potential trade.

    The U.S. in March called remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian that a deal for a swap was close a “cruel lie.”

    U.S.-based lawyer Jared Genser identified three of the transferred prisoners as Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz. Genser, who has represented Namazi, did not identify the fourth and fifth prisoners. The five likely will be held at a hotel under guard until they possibly leave Iran, Genser added.

    “The move by Iran of the American hostages from Evin Prison to an expected house arrest is an important development,” Genser said in a statement. “While I hope this will be the first step to their ultimate release, this is at best the beginning of the end and nothing more. But there are simply no guarantees about what happens from here.”

    Sharghi’s sister, Neda Sharghi, also acknowledged the transfer.

    “My family has faith in the work that President Biden and government officials have undertaken to bring our families home and hope to receive that news soon,” she said in a statement. “Until that point, I hope you can understand that we do not think it will be helpful to comment further.”

    Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, acknowledged the prisoners’ move to house arrest and described the negotiations for their release as “ongoing” and delicate.”

    “While this is an encouraging step, these U.S. citizens … should have never been detained in the first place,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor their condition as closely as possible. Of course, we will not rest until they are all back home in the United States.”

    It remains unclear how many Iranian-Americans are held by Tehran, which does not recognize dual citizenship.

    The three released prisoners cited by Genser whose identities are known are Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges; Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years in prison; and Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.

    Comments by U.S. officials in recent months had suggested there could be a fourth detainee in Iran, and an Iranian newspaper in August had reported there was a fifth prisoner, revealing the case amid apparent negotiations for the release.

    Iran, meanwhile, has said it seeks the release of Iranian prisoners held in the U.S.

    Iranian media in the past identified several prisoners of interest with cases tied to violations of U.S. export laws and restrictions on doing business with Iran.

    The alleged violations include the transfer of funds through Venezuela and sales of dual-use equipment that the U.S. alleges could be used in Iran’s military and nuclear programs. Iran has been enriching uranium and stockpiling it as part of its advancing nuclear program.

    The deal hinges on Iranian assets frozenin South Korean banks due to international sanctions on Tehran. Already, Tehran seized a South Korean oil tanker amid the dispute and threatened further retaliation in August.

    “Definitely Iran will not remain silent, and we have many options that could harm the Koreans and we will certainly use them,” said Fadahossein Maleki, a member of Iran’s parliament who sits on its influential national security and foreign policy committee.

    Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution. The most recent major exchange between the two countries happened in 2016, when Iran came to a deal with world powers to restrict its nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions.

    Four American captives, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, flew home from Iran, and several Iranians in the United States won their freedom. That same day, the Obama administration airlifted $400 million in cash to Tehran.

    Iran has received international criticism over its targeting of dual nationals amid tensions with the wider world. A United Nations panel has described “an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals.” The West accuses Iran of using foreign prisoners as bargaining chips in political negotiations, an allegation Tehran rejects.

    Negotiations over a major prisoner swap faltered after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal in 2018. From the following year on, a series of attacks and ship seizures attributed to Iran have raised tensions. While President Joe Biden entered office with hopes of restarting the deal, diplomatic negotiations on the accord have been stalled for a year.

    It remains unclear how any possible deal would affect Biden, who now is ordering the Persian Gulf buildup. In 2016, then-President Barack Obama received withering criticism from Republicans over that prisoner swap, though he already was nearing the end of his second term. Biden will face re-election in November 2024, potentially against Trump.

    Those in the U.S. long critical of diplomacy with Iran began questioning the deal immediately after Genser’s announcement.

    “Paying $6 billion in ransom payments means the regime will only take more hostages,” said Mark Dubowitz of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which led criticism of the Iran nuclear deal. “This has become a lucrative means of international extortion for Iran’s supreme leader.”

    That troop buildup, however, may insulate Biden from criticism from Gulf Arab nations in the Persian Gulf, who rely on American security guarantees. The U.S. also is negotiating with Saudi Arabia over potentially recognizing Israel diplomatically, a deal that may involve further guarantees about military support against Iran. That’s even as Riyadh reached a détente with Iran in March after years of tensions.

    Also long missing in Iran is retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished on the Iranian island of Kish in 2007. A 2013 Associated Press investigation revealed he had been sent on an unauthorized CIA mission. The U.S. alleges he was abducted by Iranian government agents. Iran has denied arresting Levinson or knowing his whereabouts.

    He is presumed to have died in Iranian custody. He would be 75 years old now.

    ___

    Lee reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

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  • Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system

    Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system

    Indonesian President Joko Widodo makes a speech during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Minister’s Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 14, 2023.

    Murat Gok | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

    A new regional cross-border payment system recently implemented by Southeast Asian nations could deepen financial integration among participants, bringing the ASEAN bloc closer to its goal of economic cohesion.

    The program, which allows residents to pay for goods and services in local currencies using a QR code, is now active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The Philippines is expected to join soon.

    That’s according to each country’s respective central bank.

    The move comes after the five Southeast Asian countries signed an official agreement late last year. At the recent ASEAN summit in May, leaders also reiterated their commitment to the project, pledging to work on a road map to expand regional payment links to all ten ASEAN members.

    The scheme is aimed at supporting and facilitating cross-border trade settlements, investment, remittance and other economic activities with the goal of implementing an inclusive financial ecosystem around Southeast Asia.

    Analysts say retail industries will particularly benefit amid an expected rise in consumer spending, which could in turn strengthen tourism.

    Regional connectivity is considered crucial to reduce the region’s reliance on external currencies like the U.S. dollar for cross-border transactions, particularly among businesses. The greenback’s strength in recent years has resulted in weaker ASEAN currencies, which hurts those economies since the majority of the bloc’s members are net energy and food importers. 

    “The system will forgo the U.S. dollar or the Chinese renminbi as intermediary,” said Nico Han, a Southeast Asia analyst at Diplomat Risk Intelligence, the consulting and analysis division of current affairs magazine The Diplomat.

    A unified cross-border digital payment system will “foster a sense of regionalism and ASEAN-centrality in managing international affairs,” he added. “This move becomes even more crucial in light of escalating tensions among major global powers.”

    How it works

    By connecting QR code payment systems, funds can be sent from one digital wallet to another.

    These digital wallets effectively act as bank accounts but they can also be linked to accounts with formal financial institutions.

    For instance, Malaysian tourists in Singapore can make a payment with Malaysian ringgit funds in their Malaysian digital wallet when making a transaction. Or, a Malaysian worker in Singapore can send Singapore dollar funds in a Singaporean digital wallet to a recipient’s wallet in Malaysia. 

    Fees and exchange rates will be determined by mutual agreement between the central banks themselves.

    For now, a region-wide system like this doesn’t exist in other parts of the world but down the road, the Bank of International Settlements, based in Switzerland, hopes to connect retail payment systems across the world using QR codes and mobile phone numbers.

    “The ASEAN central banks’ effort is innovative and novel,” said Satoru Yamadera, advisor at the Asian Development Bank’s Economic Research and Development Impact Department.

    “In other regions like Europe, retail payment connection via credit and debit cards is more popular while China is well-known for advanced QR code payment, but they are not connected like the ASEAN QR codes,” he continued.

    Economic benefits

    QR payments don’t impose fees on cardholders and merchants. They also boast of better conversion rates than those set by private payment processors like Visa or American Express.

    Micro enterprises as well as small- and medium-sized businesses, or SMBs will emerge as winners from regional payment connectivity, experts say. According to the Asian Development Bank, such companies account for over 90% of businesses in Southeast Asia.

    “SMBs can avoid the expenses associated with maintaining a physical point-of-sale system or paying interchange fees to card companies,” explained Han from Diplomat Risk Intelligence.

    Marginalized individuals from low-income backgrounds also stand to benefit. As the payment system works via digital wallets and doesn’t require a traditional bank account, it can be used by the unbanked population.

    “The system has the potential to improve financial literacy and wellbeing for the underbanked population,” Han noted.

    Chinese tourist numbers in Thailand are down but they are spending more, hospitality company says

    ASEAN’s new system will also enable merchants and consumers to build a robust payment history, and provide valuable data for credit scoring, said Nicholas Lee, lead Asia tech analyst at Global Counsel, a public policy advisory firm.

    “That’s particularly advantageous for unbanked and underbanked segments of the population, who traditionally lack access to such credit assessment data.”

    Moreover, “increased non-cash transactions would allow policymakers to capture transaction data and trade flow more effectively, assuming these data are accessible,” said Lee.

    “This, in turn, could lead to better economic forecasting and policymaking.”

    Currency pressure ahead

    While strengthening payment connectivity within the region has the potential to reduce payment friction and accelerate digital transition, it could inadvertently put pressure on certain currencies, particularly the Singapore dollar.

    “The potential scenario of the [Singapore dollar] emerging as a de facto reserve currency within the region poses a challenge that ASEAN states will need to confront,” said Lee.

    We see the biggest opportunities in Indonesia, says Dubai-based supply chain firm

    “With the [Singapore dollar’s] strength and stability, both international and regional businesses may opt to hold more of their working capital in [Singapore dollars], relying on the new payment network for efficient currency conversion,” he explained. 

    If that happens, it could weaken the purchasing power of other currencies in the region and result in higher imported inflation if central banks don’t intervene.

    In such a scenario, authorities may feel the need to impose capital restrictions in order to protect their respective currencies, which could undermine the very purpose of establishing a regional payment network.

    Regulations pose another challenge.

    Central banks will have to address security and fraud issues, plus undertake the task of educating the public to embrace the new payment system, said Han.

    “These factors can collectively contribute to a time-consuming process,” he warned.

    This kind of coordinated action will require strong political will from regional leaders and it remains to be seen if ASEAN members can come together to successfully implement such an ambitious venture.

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  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Russian defense minister on military cooperation

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Russian defense minister on military cooperation

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss military issues and the regional security environment, state media said Thursday as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of an armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.

    The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim and Shoigu talked Wednesday in the capital, Pyongyang, and reached a consensus on unspecified “matters of mutual concern in the field of national defense and security and on the regional and international security environment.”

    During the meeting, Shoigu conveyed to Kim a “warm and good letter” signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, KCNA said. The report did not specify the military matters that were discussed.

    In a rare case of diplomatic opening since the start of the pandemic, North Korea invited delegations from Russia and China to attend the events marking the armistice of July 27, 1953. While the truce left the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war, the North still sees it as a victory in the “Grand Fatherland Liberation War.”

    KCNA said Kim also took Shoigu to an arms exhibition that showcased some of North Korea’s newest weapons and briefed him on national plans to expand the country’s military capabilities. Photos from the exhibition showed Kim and Shoigu walking near a row of large missiles mounted on launcher trucks.

    Some of the weapons in the images appeared to be intercontinental ballistic missiles that the North has flight-tested in recent years as it pursues an arsenal that can pose a viable threat to the continental United States. Kim and Shoigu also walked past what were possibly new surveillance and attack drones that had not been publicly announced by the North.

    Lee Sung Joon, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a briefing that the South Korean military was analyzing the military assets shown in the North Korean photos but did not share specific assessments.

    North Korea has been aligning with Russia over the war in Ukraine, insisting that the “hegemonic policy” of the U.S.-led West forced Moscow to take military action to protect its security interests. The Biden administration has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia to aid its fighting in Ukraine, although the North has denied the claim.

    When asked about the possibility that Shoigu’s visit was to discuss importing weapons from North Korea, John Kirby, the White House’s National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, didn’t answer directly but said it was clear Putin is reaching out to other countries for support in fighting his war in Ukraine.

    “Mr. Putin knows he’s having his own defense procurement problems, his own inventory problems, that his military remains on the back foot, and he’s trying to shore that up,“ Kirby said.

    The North Korean festivities were widely expected to be capped later Thursday by a giant military parade in Pyongyang, where Kim could showcase his most powerful, nuclear-capable missiles. State media, however, had not confirmed plans for a military parade.

    Some experts say North Korea sees U.S. confrontations with China and Russia over regional influence and the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to break out of diplomatic isolation and insert itself into a united front against Washington. Both Moscow and Beijing have been derailing U.S. efforts to strengthen U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea over its flurry of missile tests since 2022.

    The last time North Korea invited foreign government delegates for a military parade was in February 2018, when it held a low-key event that excluded Kim’s ICBMs. North Korea at the time was initiating diplomacy with Seoul and Washington as Kim attempted to leverage his nukes for badly needed economic benefits.

    Those efforts led to a summit between Kim and then-U.S. President Donald Trump that June, but the diplomacy collapsed after their second meeting in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of their nuclear capabilities.

    Kim has since ramped up the development of the nuclear arms that he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival while berating “gangster-like” U.S. sanctions and pressure.

    Beijing’s delegation to North Korea is headed by mid-level official Li Hongzhong, a politburo member of China’s ruling Communist Party.

    KCNA said senior North Korean officials led by Choe Ryong Hae, chairman of the standing committee of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, held a reception for Li’s delegation in Pyongyang on Wednesday at which they honored Chinese soldiers who died while fighting alongside the North Koreans during the war.

    Li said in a speech at the event that China is ready to promote the “sound and stable” development in relations with the North, KCNA said.

    Analysts say Kim sharing the center stage with Shoigu and Li at a military parade would be a key accomplishment he could show to his domestic audience as well as a statement of defiance toward the United States.

    On Wednesday, Shoigu also held talks with North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam that were aimed at “strengthening cooperation between our defense departments,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

    KCNA reported that at a reception hosted by Kang, Shoigu praised the North Korean People’s army under the leadership of Kim, saying it “has become the strongest army in the world.” Russian media reports did not include that comment.

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  • Chinese and Russian officials to join North Korean commemorations of Korean War armistice

    Chinese and Russian officials to join North Korean commemorations of Korean War armistice

    SEOUL, South Korea — Russia and China are sending government delegations to North Korea this week for events marking the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.

    The visits suggest North Korea is further opening up after years of pandemic isolation and is eager to showcase its partnerships with authoritarian neighbors in the face of deepening nuclear tensions with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.

    North Korea’s state media said Wednesday that a Russian delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday evening, where they were greeted by senior North Korean officials including Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam. Shoigu’s ministry said the delegation’s visit will help strengthen relations and mark “an important stage” in the development of bilateral cooperation.

    China’s ruling Communist Party is also sending a midlevel official, Li Hongzhong, in hopes of restoring exchanges between the allies.

    North Korea has been preparing huge celebrations of the anniversary that are likely to be capped off by a military parade in the capital, Pyongyang, where leader Kim Jong Un could showcase his most powerful, nuclear-capable missiles designed to target neighboring rivals and the U.S.

    Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim and his top defense and foreign policy officials visited two cemeteries, including one for Chinese troops who died while fighting alongside North Korea during the war.

    Kim expressed gratitude for the Chinese soldiers who dedicated their lives to repel imperialist aggression, calling them “martyrs” who would be “immortal in the hearts of the Korean people.”

    North Korea launched the Korean War, an unsuccessful attempt to conquer its southern rival. No peace treaty ending the conflict has ever been signed, and the border between the Koreas remains one of the most tense in the world. The North still celebrates the armistice as a victory in the “Grand Fatherland Liberation War.”

    The conflict brought in forces from the newly created People’s Republic of China, aided by the then-Soviet air force, while South Korea, the U.S. and troops from various countries under the direction of the United Nations battled to repulse the invasion.

    The visits by Russian and Chinese delegations mark only the second known time foreign government officials were invited to enter North Korea since the start of the pandemic, following the arrival of Chinese ambassador to Pyongyang Wang Yajun in March, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.

    North Korea had spent the first two years of the pandemic in a self-imposed lockdown to shield its poor health care system. But since last year, the country has gradually reopened trade with China to improve its dismal economy.

    “For now, it’s premature to say whether or not North Korea further opens its borders in the future, but considering their measures to ease virus controls and signs that they are preparing to send athletes to international sporting events again, it’s possibly only a matter of time,” the South Korean ministry said in a statement to The Associated Press.

    The anniversary comes during a time of heightened tensions in the region as the pace of both North Korea’s weapons tests and the United States’ military exercises with South Korea have intensified in a tit-for-tat cycle.

    Some experts say North Korea might ramp up its weapons tests around the anniversary of the armistice on Thursday, July 27. North Korea has conducted three separate rounds of missile firings since last week, apparently in protest of the United States sending naval vessels — including a nuclear-armed submarine — to South Korea in a show of force.

    Since the start of 2022, North Korea has test-fired around 100 missiles as Kim exploits the distraction created by Russia’s war on Ukraine to accelerate the expansion of the nuclear-capable weapons he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.

    North Korea has also been aligning with Russia over the war in Ukraine, insisting that the “hegemonic policy” of the U.S.-led West has forced Russia to take military action to protect its security interests. The Biden administration has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia to aid its fighting in Ukraine, although the North has denied the claim.

    Both Moscow and Beijing have been thwarting U.S. efforts to strengthen U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea over its flurry of missile tests.

    When asked whether Washington had any concerns about China and Russia showing support for North Korea with the visits, Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson at the State Department, called for Beijing and Moscow to play a more constructive role in defusing tensions and bringing Pyongyang back to dialogue.

    “They can use their influence over (North Korea) to encourage them to refrain from threatening, unlawful behavior, behavior that will not just incite tensions in the immediate region but also the region broadly,” he said.

    Li is a member of the party’s high-level Politburo and a deputy chairperson of the ceremonial parliament, giving him national office, but not the level of status that would convey a full-bore expression of Chinese backing for North Korea at an ambiguous time in relations.

    China was invited to send a “high-level delegation” to attend commemorative activities in North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing Tuesday.

    “We believe the visit will be conducive to promoting the sound and stable development of (bilateral) relations, contributing to regional peace and stability, and creating conditions for a political settlement of the (Korean) peninsula issue,” Mao said.

    China has joined United Nations sanctions against North Korea over its missile and nuclear programs but remains its most important economic and political ally. Little is known about discreet contacts between the two, but Beijing has long been committed to preventing the collapse of North Korea’s three-generation-old Kim regime.

    Dangerous and uncertain factors resulting from a collapse could include a wave of refugees crossing into China, a scramble for control of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and the sudden presence of South Korean and American troops along China’s border.

    Kim has visited China in past years, while Chinese leader Xi Jinping traveled to the North in 2019 in what was seen as partly an effort to use their ties to leverage concessions from the U.S. and its allies on their security arrangements in the region.

    Such visits came to a halt as an increasingly isolated and impoverished North Korea closed its borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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  • Israeli doctors walk off the job, more strikes may be looming after a law weakening courts passed

    Israeli doctors walk off the job, more strikes may be looming after a law weakening courts passed

    JERUSALEM — Thousands of Israeli doctors walked off their jobs, labor leaders threatened a general strike and senior justices rushed home from a trip abroad on Tuesday, a day after the government’s approval of a law that weakens the country’s Supreme Court. Critics say the legislation will erode the system of checks and balances.

    Four leading Israeli newspapers covered their front pages in black ink — an ominous image paid for by an alliance of high-tech companies. The only words on the pages were in a line at the bottom: “A black day for Israeli democracy.”

    Monday’s vote — on the first of a series of measures that make up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s divisive judicial overhaul — reverberated across the country. It came despite seven months of fierce popular resistance, Netanyahu’s promises of an eventual compromise and a rare warning against the overhaul from Israel’s closest ally, the United States.

    The bill was unanimously passed by the governing coalition, which includes ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties, after the opposition stormed out of the house shouting “Shame!”

    Opponents say they are not done fighting and civil rights groups submitted petitions to the Supreme Court, calling for the new law to be overturned. Protests again roiled the country’s streets.

    “These protests are not going anywhere, especially because the government has clearly stated that this is just phase one,” said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. “This is the most widespread and significant democratic awakening in the history of the country. Clearly, it won’t end.”

    Hundreds of thousands of people fanned out in Tel Aviv overnight, burning tires, setting off fireworks and waving Israeli flags. In Jerusalem, mounted police and water cannons spraying foul-smelling liquid cleared protesters from a main highway. At least 40 people were arrested by police in protests around the country.

    Videos showed police officers dragging protesters by the hair and neck, beating people until they bled and violently pushing them back with batons. At least 10 officers were assaulted and injured, police said.

    Israel is now hurtling into uncharted territory against the specter of further social and political unrest. Thousands of officers in the military reserves have announced they will no longer turn up for voluntary service — a blow that could undermine the country’s operational readiness. High-tech business leaders are considering relocation.

    On Tuesday, Moody’s issued a report warning of “significant risk” if divisions within the country continue as Netanyahu’s government presses ahead with the overhaul, “with negative consequences for Israel’s economy and security situation.”

    Netanyahu said the credit rating company’s assessment was “a momentary response, when the dust clears, it will be clear that the Israeli economy is very strong.”

    The overhaul also threatens to strain ties with the Biden administration, jeopardize Israel’s new alliances with Arab states and deepen the conflict with the Palestinians, analysts say.

    “I think this country is going to either split into two countries or be finished altogether,” said Yossi Nissimov, a protester in a tent city set up by demonstrators outside of the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem.

    The vote on the law came just hours after Netanyahu was released from the hospital, where he had a pacemaker implanted, adding another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events.

    The Israeli Medical Association, which represents nearly all of the country’s doctors, said they would strike en masse Tuesday across the country, with only emergencies and critical care in operation.

    “The vast majority of physicians know they will not be able to fulfill their oath to patients under a regime that does not accept the role of reason,” said Hagai Levine, chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health. He was referring to the law passed Monday, which prevents the Supreme Court from using the standard of “reasonableness” to strike down government decisions.

    “This overhaul will damage the public health and the health care system in Israel,” Levine said, adding that already over 1,000 physician members have asked to be transferred abroad since the law passed.

    Israel’s largest labor union, the Histadrut, which represents some 800,000 workers, said Tuesday that it would convene in the coming days to plan a nationwide general strike.

    The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Esther Hayut, along with five other senior justices, cut short a trip to Germany in order to deal with the crisis, the court said. The justices were expected to land home on Tuesday night, a day earlier than expected, to discuss petitions against the overhaul.

    But any move by the court to strike down Netanyahu’s new law could lead to a constitutional crisis and put the justices on an unprecedented collision course with the government.

    Supporters of the judicial overhaul say the powers of unelected judges should be curbed to boost the powers of elected officials.

    Opponents say it will undermine Israeli democracy and erode the country’s only check on majority rule in a system where the prime minister governs through a coalition in parliament — in effect giving him control over the executive and legislative branches of government.

    As a result, the Supreme Court plays a critical oversight role. On Tuesday, for instance, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara appealed to the top court to scrap a law passed earlier this year that strips her of the power to remove the prime minister from office.

    Netanyahu responded to the court, saying it shouldn’t intervene in the matter.

    Protesters also fear that the overhaul is fueled by the personal grievances of Netanyahu, who is currently on trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

    While protesters represent a wide cross section of society, they come largely from the country’s secular middle class. Netanyahu’s supporters tend to be poorer, more religious and live in West Bank settlements or outlying rural areas.

    The judicial overhaul has laid bare Israel’s social and religious divisions, said Israeli historian Tom Segev.

    “This is the beginning of a whole plan to change the basic values of society,” he said.

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  • Maine aims to restore 19th century tribal obligations to its constitution. Voters will make the call

    Maine aims to restore 19th century tribal obligations to its constitution. Voters will make the call

    Voters in Maine will likely be the ones to decide whether to restore long removed language about the state’s obligations to Native American tribes to printed versions of its constitution

    ByPATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

    FILE – Clarissa Sabattis, Chief of the Houlton Band of Maliseets, foreground, and other leaders of Maine’s tribes are welcomed by lawmakers into the House Chamber in this March 16, 2023 file photo, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. Voters in Maine will likely be the ones to decide whether to restore long removed language about the state’s obligations to Native American tribes to printed versions of its constitution. The Maine Legislature is poised to give its final approval on Tuesday, July 25 to a proposal to restore the language that requires Maine to honor treaties the state inherited from Massachusetts when it became its own state more than two centuries ago. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, files)

    The Associated Press

    PORTLAND, Maine — Voters in Maine will likely be the ones to decide whether to restore long removed language about the state’s obligations to Native American tribes to printed versions of its constitution.

    The Maine Legislature is poised to give its final approval on Tuesday to a proposal to restore the language that requires Maine to honor treaties the state inherited from Massachusetts when it became its own state more than two centuries ago. The language has always applied, but was removed from printed versions of the constitution in 1876.

    Statewide voters would have to approve of the change to the constitution for it to take place. The date of the referendum has not yet been set.

    The restoration of the language to the printed constitution would improve transparency and illuminate Maine’s debts to Native American tribes, said Democratic House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross. The language is not in the official online version of the Maine Constitution either, though it can be read elsewhere, such as in the Maine State Library.

    “For decades, the history of the state’s treatment of the Wabanaki people has been concealed and disregarded – even in our most formal and guiding documents,” Ross said. “Transparency is critical to truly have an elected government that decides on how we live, what the norms of our society are, and ultimately who gets to participate.”

    Lawmakers easily approved the proposal earlier in the legislative session and are scheduled to take a final vote on Tuesday, which could be the final day of the session.

    The language compels Maine to “assume and perform all the duties and obligations of” Massachusetts upon becoming a state, which it did in 1820. It does not make reference to specific obligations.

    Lawmakers are preparing to send the constitutional change to voters at a time when tribes in the state are seeking greater autonomy. The legislature voted in June to let most federal laws apply to Wabanaki tribes in a move designed to put them on equal footing with other federally recognized tribes in the U.S.

    Democratic Gov. Janet Mills opposed that proposal and vetoed it, saying she feared it could lead to lawsuits. Mills also opposed the restoration of the treaty language to the printed constitution. Her office said in testimony that the change had the potential to create confusion.

    Tribal groups have urged passage of the restoration of the language and characterized it as overdue. John Dieffenbacher-Krall, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, said in testimony that restoration “would make our Maine Constitution more transparent increasing the likelihood current and future residents of this state do understand the obligations of the State of Maine to the Wabanaki Nations.”

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  • An American soldier is detained by North Korea after crossing its heavily armed border

    An American soldier is detained by North Korea after crossing its heavily armed border

    SEOUL, South Korea — An American soldier crossed the heavily armed border from South Korea into North Korea, U.S. officials said Tuesday. He went “willfully and without authorization,” the U.S. military said, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years at a time of heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

    There were no immediate details about why or how the soldier crossed the border or whether he was on duty. The five U.S. officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of a public announcement.

    The American-led U.N. Command overseeing the area tweeted earlier Tuesday that the detained soldier was on a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom. The soldier purposefully separated himself and ran away from the rest of the group, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment. The official added that it’s “not normal” for active duty service members to go on such tours.

    The U.S. military in South Korea also said in a statement that he “willfully and without authorization” crossed the military demarcation line into North Korea.

    It said that he is believed to be in North Korean custody and that the U.N. Command is working with its North Korean counterparts to resolve the incident. North Korea’s state media didn’t immediately report on the border crossing.

    Cases of Americans or South Koreans defecting to North Korea are rare, though more than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea to avoid political oppression and economic difficulties since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

    Panmunjom, located inside the 248-kilometer-long (154-mile-long) Demilitarized Zone, has been jointly overseen by the U.N. Command and North Korea since its creation at the close of the Korean War. Bloodshed and gunfire have occasionally occurred there, but it has also been a venue for numerous talks and is a popular tourist spot.

    Known for its blue huts straddling concrete slabs that form the demarcation line, Panmunjom draws visitors from both sides who want to see the Cold War’s last frontier. No civilians live at Panmunjom. In the past, North and South Korean soldiers faced off within meters (yards) of each other.

    Tours to the southern side of the village reportedly drew around 100,000 visitors a year before the coronavirus pandemic, when South Korea restricted gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19. The tours resumed fully last year. During a short-lived period of inter-Korean engagement in 2018, Panmunjom was one of the border sites that underwent mine-clearing operations by North and South Korean army engineers as the Koreas vowed to turn the village into a “peace zone” where tourists from both sides could move around with more freedom.

    In November 2017, North Korean soldiers fired 40 rounds as one of their colleagues raced toward the South. That soldier was hit five times before he was found beneath a pile of leaves on the southern side of Panmunjom. He survived and is now in South Korea.

    The most famous incident at Panmunjom happened in August 1976, when two American army officers were killed by ax-wielding North Korean soldiers. The U.S. officers had been sent to trim a 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) tree that obstructed the view from a checkpoint. The attack prompted Washington to fly nuclear-capable B-52 bombers toward the DMZ to intimidate North Korea.

    Panmunjom also is where the armistice that ended the Korean War was signed. That armistice has yet to be replaced with a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically in a state of war. The United States still stations about 28,000 troops in South Korea.

    There have been a small number of U.S. soldiers who went to North Korea during the Cold War, including Charles Jenkins, who deserted his army post in South Korea in 1965 and fled across the DMZ. He appeared in North Korean propaganda films and married a Japanese nursing student who had been abducted from Japan by North Korean agents. He died in Japan in 2017.

    But in recent years, some American civilians have been arrested in North Korea after allegedly entering the country from China. They were later convicted of espionage, subversion and other anti-state acts but were often released after the U.S. sent high-profile missions to secure their freedom.

    In May 2018, North Korea released three American detainees — Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song — who returned to the United States on a plane with then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a short-lived period of warm relations between the longtime adversaries. Later in 2018, North Korea said it expelled American Bruce Byron Lowrance. Since his ouster, there have been no reports of other Americans detained in North Korea before Tuesday’s incident.

    The 2018 releases came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was engaged in nuclear diplomacy with then-President Donald Trump. The high-stakes diplomacy collapsed in 2019 amid wrangling over U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea.

    Their freedoms were a striking contrast to the fate of Otto Warmbier, an American university student who died in 2017 days after he was released by North Korea in a coma after 17 months in captivity. Warmbier and other previous American detainees in North Korea were imprisoned over a variety of alleged crimes, including subversion, anti-state activities and spying.

    The United States, South Korea and others have accused North Korea of using foreign detainees to wrest diplomatic concessions. Some foreigners have said after their release that their declarations of guilt were coerced while in North Korean custody.

    Tuesday’s border crossing happened during tensions over North Korea’s barrage of missile tests since the start of last year. A U.S. nuclear-armed submarine visited South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades in deterrence against North Korea.

    ___

    Copp reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • China and ASEAN agree to try to conclude nonaggression pact on sea feud in 3 years

    China and ASEAN agree to try to conclude nonaggression pact on sea feud in 3 years

    JAKARTA, Indonesia — China and Southeast Asian nations agreed Thursday to try and conclude within three years a long-delayed nonaggression pact aimed at preventing the frequent territorial spats in the busy South China Sea from turning into a major armed conflict.

    China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed Thursday during a meeting between the 10-nation bloc’s foreign ministers and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to guidelines to complete their code of conduct negotiations before fall 2026, a Southeast Asian diplomat involved in the meetings told The Associated Press.

    The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authority to discuss the issue publicly ahead of the official announcement of the agreement.

    China and four of ASEAN’s member states — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — along with Taiwan have been locked in a decades-long territorial standoff in the disputed waterway, a key passageway for global trade that is believed to be sitting atop vast undersea deposits of oil and gas.

    The contested territory has long been feared as an Asian flashpoint and has become a sensitive front in the U.S.-China rivalry in the region.

    A joint working group by China and ASEAN “should endeavor to conclude the negotiation of an effective and substantive code of conduct, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, within a 3-year timeline or earlier,” according to the guidelines, a copy of which was seen by the AP.

    The guidelines called for more meetings between the two sides and the start of negotiations for the most contentious issues, including whether the regional code should be legally enforceable and its geographical scope.

    Washington lays no territorial claims in the South China Sea but has said that freedom of navigation and overflight and the peaceful resolution of the disputes were in the United States’ national interest. It has challenged China’s expansive territorial claims in the region and Beijing has angrily reacted by warning the U.S. to stop meddling in what it calls a purely Asian dispute.

    China and ASEAN signed a nonbinding 2002 accord that called on rival claimant nations to avoid aggressive actions that could spark armed conflicts, including the occupation of barren islets and reefs, but violations have persisted.

    About 10 years ago, China turned seven disputed reefs into what have become missile-protected chain of islands in the Spratlys, the most hotly contested part of the South China Sea, sparking alarm from rival claimant states and the U.S. and its allies. With tensions rising, ASEAN and China had agreed to negotiate for a code of conduct. But the talks were delayed for years, including during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and because of major differences between China and rival claimant states.

    Chinese negotiators have proposed that the code of conduct restrict the presence and activities of foreign forces in the disputed waters. Southeast Asian diplomats have said that U.S. allies involved in the talks were opposed given their stance that Washington serves a crucial role as a counterweight to Beijing in the region.

    ___

    Associated Press journalist Edna Tarigan contributed to this report.

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  • Biden adviser says US is pressing for the release of reporter who has spent 100 days in Russian jail

    Biden adviser says US is pressing for the release of reporter who has spent 100 days in Russian jail

    White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has been in contact with Russian officials to press for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich

    ByAAMER MADHANI Associated Press

    White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Friday, July 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

    The Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday said the U.S. has been in contact with Russian officials to press for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as Friday marked the 100th day of the journalist being detained by the Russian government.

    Sullivan said he also spoke with Gershkovich’s family representatives and Wall Street Journal officials on Friday about the status of the case and the administration’s efforts to win the reporter’s release.

    The Kremlin earlier this week suggested that it was open to a possible prisoner exchange that could involve Gershkovich, but it underscored that such talks must be held out of the public eye.

    “I do not want to give false hope,” Sullivan told reporters. “What the Kremlin said earlier this week is correct. There have been discussions. But those discussions have not produced a clear pathway to a resolution, and so I cannot stand here today and tell you that we have a clear answer to how we are going to get Evan home.”

    The U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, on Monday was allowed to visit Gershkovich for the first time since April.

    Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip. He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions. A Moscow court last week upheld a ruling to keep him in custody until Aug. 30.

    Gershkovich and his employer deny the allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained. His arrest rattled journalists in Russia. Authorities there have not provided any evidence to support the espionage charges.

    White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the U.S. stance that the detention of Gershkovich was baseless. She reiterated the administration’s call for the immediate release of Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a Marine Corps veteran who has been detained in Russia on espionage charges for four years.

    “Our message to Evan and Paul is this: Keep the faith. We won’t stop until you are home,” Jean-Pierre said.

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  • Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained US reporter Evan Gershkovich

    Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained US reporter Evan Gershkovich

    The Kremlin is holding the door open for contacts with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich

    Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 22, 2023. Gershkovich, a reporter detained on espionage charges in Russia, appeared in court Thursday to appeal his extended detention. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

    The Associated Press

    MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Tuesday held the door open for contacts with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held out of the public eye.

    Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Gershkovich, who has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage, and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in U.S. custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow and Washington have touched on the issue.

    “We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject, but we don’t want them to be discussed in public,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “They must be carried out and continue in complete silence.”

    He didn’t offer any further details, but added that “the lawful right to consular contacts must be ensured on both sides.”

    The U.S. Ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, on Monday was allowed to visit Gershkovich for the first time since April. The U.S. Embassy did not immediately provide more information.

    The 31-year-old Gershkovich was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip to Russia. He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions. A Moscow court last week upheld a ruling to keep him in custody until Aug. 30.

    Gershkovich and his employer deny the allegations, and the U.S. government declared him to be wrongfully detained. His arrest rattled journalists in Russia where authorities have not provided any evidence to support the espionage charges.

    Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Daniloff was released 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s U.N. mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.

    Dunaev was extradited from South Korea on the U.S. cybercrime charges and is in detention in Ohio. Russian diplomats were granted consular access to him on Monday for the first time since his arrest in 2021, Nadezhda Shumova, the head of the Russian Embassy’s consular section, said in remarks carried by the Tass news agency.

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  • Pope’s peace envoy arrives in Moscow after the short-lived Wagner rebellion

    Pope’s peace envoy arrives in Moscow after the short-lived Wagner rebellion

    ROME — Pope Francis’ peace envoy arrived in Moscow on Tuesday in hopes of helping find “a solution to the tragic current situation” of the war in Ukraine, weeks after making a preliminary visit to Kyiv, the Vatican said.

    The mission by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace initiatives, comes as the Kremlin is reeling from the weekend armed rebellion led by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. Russia has since dropped charges against Prigozhin and others who took part in the brief mutiny.

    Details of Zuppi’s itinerary weren’t immediately clear. When he visited Kyiv earlier this month, he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In Moscow, one likely visit would be paid to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leader Patriarch Kirill has strongly supported the war.

    The Vatican has said Zuppi is hoping to find “paths of peace” in his shuttle missions.

    On the Moscow leg, Zuppi was accompanied by an official from the Vatican secretariat of state. His car was seen arriving at the Moscow embassy Tuesday evening, according to footage aired on Italian state-run RAI television, which said he was expected to have meetings with religious and possibly political figures in the coming days.

    He is due to remain in Moscow until Thursday, which is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul — an important day for both Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

    “The principle aim of the initiative is to encourage gestures of humanity that can contribute to favor a solution to the tragic current situation and find paths to a just peace,” the Vatican statement said.

    Zuppi, 67, is the archbishop of Bologna, president of the Italian bishops conference and a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace mediation initiatives through his longtime affiliation with the Sant’Egidio Community. Through the Rome-based charity, Zuppi helped mediate the 1990s peace deals ending civil wars in Guatemala and Mozambique, and headed the commission negotiating a cease-fire in Burundi in 2000, according to Sant’Egidio.

    A pastor in Francis’ style and considered “papabile” — having the qualities of a future pope — Zuppi was tapped by Francis in May.

    The Argentine Jesuit pope has repeatedly expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people and called for peace, but he has refrained from calling out Russia or President Vladimir Putin by name.

    The Vatican has a tradition of quiet diplomacy and not taking sides in conflicts, in hopes of helping forge peaceful outcomes.

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  • UN members adopt first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas

    UN members adopt first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas

    UNITED NATIONS — Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas on Monday, with the U.N.’s chief hailing the historic agreement as giving the ocean “a fighting chance.”

    Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause and then stood up in a sustained standing ovation when Singapore’s ambassador on ocean issues, Rena Lee, who presided over the negotiations, banged her gavel after hearing no objections to the treaty’s approval.

    Oceans produce most of the oxygen we breathe and absorb carbon dioxide, which makes them increasingly critical in reducing carbon emissions that fuel global warming. Yet, currently only 1% of the vast ocean areas are protected.

    A treaty to protect biodiversity in waters outside national boundaries, known as the high seas, covering nearly half of earth’s surface, had been under discussion for more than 20 years, but efforts repeatedly stalled until March. That’s when delegates to an intergovernmental conference established by the U.N. General Assembly agreed on a treaty which was then subject to legal scrutiny and translated into the U.N.’s six official languages.

    The new treaty will be opened for signatures on Sept. 20, during the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly, and it will take effect once it is ratified by 60 countries.

    The treaty will create a new body to manage conservation of ocean life and establish marine protected areas in the high seas. It also establishes ground rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial activities in the oceans.

    Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told delegates that the adoption of the treaty comes at a critical time, with the oceans under threat on many fronts.

    Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and ocean currents, raising sea temperatures, “and altering marine ecosystems and the species living there,” he said, and marine biodiversity “is under attack from overfishing, over-exploitation and ocean acidification.”

    “Over one-third of fish stocks are being harvested at unsustainable levels,” the U.N. chief said. “And we are polluting our coastal waters with chemicals, plastics and human waste.”

    Guterres said the treaty is vital to address these threats and he urged all countries to spare no efforts to ensure that it is signed and ratified as soon as possible, stressing that “this is critical to addressing the threats facing the ocean.”

    The treaty also establishes principles to share “marine genetic resources” discovered by scientists in international waters, a key demand of developing countries who insisted that the fruits of such discoveries could not be solely controlled by richer countries with money to finance expeditions to look for potentially new lucrative ingredients for medicine and cosmetics.

    After the treaty’s approval, the Group of 77, the U.N. coalition of 134 mainly developing nations and China, called it “an exceedingly important day for biodiversity,” praising their successful struggle to achieve benefit-sharing in the final text as well as funding to help implement the treaty when ratified.

    The Alliance of Small Island States, some of whose members fear that climate change and rising seas can obliterate their countries, said they have been championing a treaty for decades, and its adoption will have far-reaching implications “on our livelihoods, cultures and economies.”

    But Russia said it “distances itself from the consensus on the text of the agreement” which it called “unacceptable,” saying it “undermines the provisions of the most important acting international agreements, including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

    Sergey Leonidchenko, who heads the Russian Mission’s legal section, told delegates the treaty “does not reach a reasonable balance between conserving and sustainably using the resources of the ocean.” As an example, he said, “checks and balances against politicizing marine conservation areas have not made it into the text.”

    The treaty’s adoption follows a separate historic accord reached by world governments in Montreal in December that includes a commitment to protect 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030, known as 30 by 30.

    Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance representing over 50 non-governmental organizations and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, praised countries “for moving one step closer towards putting this political accord into action in the water.”

    “Countries must now ratify it as quickly as possible to bring it into force so that we can protect our ocean, build our resilience to climate change and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people,” she said.

    Greenpeace’s Chris Thorne called the treaty “a win for all life on this planet.”

    “The science is clear, we must protect 30% of the oceans by 2030 to give the oceans a chance to recover and thrive,” he said.

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  • Malaysia, Indonesia end 18-year sea border disputes, vow to cooperate in defending palm oil industry

    Malaysia, Indonesia end 18-year sea border disputes, vow to cooperate in defending palm oil industry

    Malaysia and Indonesia have signed agreements to end longstanding sea border disputes and vowed to bolster cooperation to fight “highly detrimental discriminatory” measures against palm oil

    In this photo released by Malaysia’s Department of Information, Indonesian president Joko Widodo, center, is greeted by representatives from Malaysian government upon the arrival at KLIA international airport in Sepang, Malaysia Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (Malaysia’s Department of Information via AP)

    The Associated Press

    PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia — Malaysia and Indonesia signed agreements Thursday that ended longstanding maritime border disputes and vowed to bolster cooperation to fight “highly detrimental discriminatory” measures against palm oil.

    Visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim witnessed the signing of two landmark treaties on the delimitation of the nations’ territorial seas in parts of the Straits of Malacca and the Sulawesi Sea. Other signed pacts included plans to improve border crossings, strengthen border trade and promote investment.

    “After 18 years of negotiations … praise be to God, it has finally been resolved,” Widodo told a joint news conference, in reference to the sea treaties.

    Widodo arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday accompanied by his wife and Cabinet ministers after a short visit to Singapore. His two-day visit reciprocates Anwar’s trip to Indonesia in January, shortly after Anwar took office.

    In a joint statement after their meeting, the leaders said the signing of the treaties will provide a strong foundation for future maritime boundary negotiations. They pledged to resolve other land boundary issues by June 2024.

    The two leaders also reiterated their stand to cooperate closely to battle the European Union’s “highly detrimental discriminatory measures” against palm oil. They urged the EU to work toward a “fair and equitable resolution.”

    “We will speak in one voice to defend the palm oil industry,” Anwar told the news conference.

    The EU introduced a new law this year banning the import of commodities linked to deforestation, a move that is expected to hit Malaysia and Indonesia. The two countries, which jointly account for 85% of global palm oil output, reportedly sent a joint mission to Brussels last week to try and resolve the matter with the EU.

    Jokowi said the two countries also agreed to set up a mechanism to better protect Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, without giving details. Indonesians make up the bulk of over two million foreign workers in Malaysia, mostly in plantations, industries and as maids.

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  • White House wants to engage Russia on nuclear arms control in post-treaty world

    White House wants to engage Russia on nuclear arms control in post-treaty world

    WASHINGTON — The White House is ready to have talks with Russia without preconditions about a future nuclear arms control framework even as it is enacting countermeasures in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend the last nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries.

    White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will make clear the Biden administration’s desire for talks on building a new framework during an address to the Arms Control Association on Friday, according to two senior administration officials who previewed the address on the condition of anonymity.

    Putin announced in February he was suspending Russia’s cooperation with the New START Treaty’s provisions for nuclear warhead and missile inspections amid deep tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Russia, however, said it would respect the treaty’s caps on nuclear weapons.

    The officials said that Sullivan would underscore that the U.S. remains committed to adhering to the treaty if Russia does but will also “signal that we are open to dialogue” about building a new framework for managing nuclear risks once the treaty expires in February 2026.

    The officials said that the Biden administration is willing to stick to the warhead caps until the treaty expires. Figuring out details about a post-2026 framework will be complicated by U.S.-Russia tension and the growing nuclear strength of China.

    China now has about 410 nuclear warheads, according to an annual survey from the Federation of American Scientists. The Pentagon in November estimated China’s warhead count could grow to 1,000 by the end of the decade and to 1,500 by around 2035.

    The size of China’s arsenal and whether Beijing is willing to engage in substantive dialogue will impact the United States’ future force posture and Washington’s ability to come to any agreement with the Russians, the officials said.

    U.S.-Chinese relations have been strained by the U.S. shooting down a Chinese spy balloon earlier this year after it crossed the continental U.S.; tensions about the status of the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own; U.S. export controls aimed at limiting China’s advanced semiconductor equipment; and other friction.

    The White House push on Moscow on nuclear arms control comes the day after the administration announced new countermeasures over Russia suspending participation in the treaty.

    The State Department announced Thursday it would no longer notify Russia of any updates on the status or location of “treaty-accountable items” like missiles and launchers, would revoke U.S. visas issued to Russian treaty inspectors and aircrew members and would cease providing telemetric information on test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The United States and Russia earlier this year stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data required by the treaty.

    The treaty, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers and provides for on-site inspections to verify compliance.

    The inspections have been dormant since 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions on resuming them were supposed to have taken place in November 2022, but Russia abruptly called them off, citing U.S. support for Ukraine.

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  • US retaliates for Russia’s suspension of New START treaty by revoking visas of nuclear inspectors

    US retaliates for Russia’s suspension of New START treaty by revoking visas of nuclear inspectors

    OSLO, Norway — The Biden administration is retaliating for Russia’s suspension of the New START nuclear treaty, announcing Thursday it is revoking the visas of Russian nuclear inspectors, denying pending applications for new monitors and canceling standard clearances for Russian aircraft to enter U.S. airspace.

    The State Department said it was taking those steps and others in response to Russia’s “ongoing violations” of New START, the last arms control treaty remaining between the two countries, which are currently at severe odds over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    “The United States is committed to full and mutual implementation of the New START treaty,” it said. “Consistent with that commitment, the United States has adopted lawful countermeasures in response to the Russian Federation’s ongoing violations of the New START treaty.”

    The department said the visa revocations and application denials, as well as a U.S. decision to stop sharing information on the status or locations of missiles and telemetry data on test launches with Russia, were consistent with international law because of Russia’s actions.

    The U.S. will, however, continue to notify Russia when it conducts test launches, it said, adding that the steps it was taking were reversible provided Moscow returns to compliance with the treaty.

    Russia suspended its participation in New START in February in a move that the U.S. said was “legally invalid.” Immediately afterward Moscow curtailed its adherence to the accord.

    Allowing inspections of weapons sites and providing information on the placement of intercontinental and submarine-based ballistic missiles and their test launches are critical components of New START, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010.

    In March, the U.S. announced that it and Russia had stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data. The U.S. had said it wanted to continuing such sharing but stopped after Moscow informed Washington that it would not share its data.

    Despite being extended shortly after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, New START has been severely tested by Russia’s war in Ukraine and has been on life support for since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Russia would no longer comply with its requirements.

    The treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The agreement envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance.

    The inspections went dormant in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions on resuming them were supposed to have taken place in November 2022, but Russia abruptly called them off, citing U.S. support for Ukraine.

    The State Department said Russia had been told of the countermeasures ahead of time and also advised that Washington is still interested in keeping the treaty alive.

    “The United States remains ready to work constructively with Russia on resuming implementation of the New START Treaty,” it said.

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  • Russia extends arrest of US journalist Evan Gershkovich by 3 months, his parents barred from hearing

    Russia extends arrest of US journalist Evan Gershkovich by 3 months, his parents barred from hearing

    MOSCOW — A Russian court on Tuesday extended the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months in a closed-door hearing emblematic of the secrecy that has marked the case against the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying charges.

    Gershkovich, a 31-year-old American citizen, was ordered held until Aug. 30. He had been arrested in March on espionage charges on a reporting trip in Russia. He, his employer and the U.S. government have denied the charges.

    Tuesday’s pre-trial hearing wasn’t announced in advance, and the entire case has been wrapped in secrecy.

    Russian authorities haven’t detailed what — if any — evidence they have gathered to support the espionage charges.

    Various legal proceedings have been closed to the media. No details immediately emerged about whether Gershkovich attended Tuesday’s hearing or what was said. Tass said the session was closed because the reporter was accused of possession of “secret materials.”

    One Russian news agency, Interfax, quoted a court official as saying Gershkovich’s parents — themselves Soviet emigres living in New Jersey — were visiting Moscow and had been admitted to the court building but not into Tuesday’s hearing. The U.S. State Department said at least one U.S. Embassy official attended the hearing.

    Gershkovich’s arrest has rattled journalists in the country and drawn outrage in the West.

    The U.S. government has declared Gershkovich to be “wrongfully detained” and demanded his immediate release. He’s being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison.

    U.S. Embassy officials were allowed to visit Gershkovich once in prison since his arrest in Yekaterinburg on March 29, but Russian authorities have denied two more recent requests to see him.

    State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington, “We once again call on Russia to comply with their obligation to provide consular access to him.” He added that the charges against Gershkovich “are baseless and we continue to call for his immediate release as well as for the immediate release of Paul Whelan.”

    Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, is serving a 16-year espionage sentence in a remote Russian prison. The retired U.S. Marine was detained in 2018. Whelan and Washington deny he spied in Russia.

    The Biden administration had hoped to secure Whelan’s release during negotiations on a prisoner exchange that eventually freed American basketball star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison last December.

    Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring U.S.-Russian tensions over the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine.

    In a statement after Tuesday’s hearing, the Wall Street Journal said: “While we expected there would be no change to Evan’s wrongful detention, we are deeply disappointed. The accusations are demonstrably false, and we continue to demand his immediate release.”

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  • US to sign new security pact with Papua New Guinea amid competition with China

    US to sign new security pact with Papua New Guinea amid competition with China

    PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — The United States is scheduled to sign a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it continues to compete with China for influence in the Pacific.

    Papua New Guinea’s location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. It was the site of fierce battles during World War II, and with a population of nearly 10 million people, it’s the most populous Pacific Island nation.

    The State Department said the new agreement would provide a framework to help improve security cooperation, enhance the capacity of Papua New Guinea’s defense force and increase regional stability.

    At a breakfast meeting on Monday, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said his country faced significant security challenges, from skirmishes within the country to illegal fishing boats that lit up the night like skyscrapers.

    “We have our internal security as well as our sovereignty security issues,” Marape said. “We’re stepping up on that front to make sure our borders are secure.”

    But the agreement sparked student protests in the second-largest city, Lae. And many in the Pacific are concerned about the increasing militarization of the region.

    Last year, the nearby Solomon Islands signed its own security pact with China, a move that raised alarm throughout the Pacific. The U.S. has increased its focus on the Pacific, opening embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, reviving Peace Corps volunteer efforts, and encouraging more business investment.

    But some have questioned how reliable a partner the U.S. is in the Pacific, particularly after President Joe Biden canceled his plans to make an historic stop in Papua New Guinea to sign the pact. Biden would have become the first sitting U.S. president to visit any Pacific Island country, but he ended up canceling to focus on the debt limit talks back at home.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled in Biden’s place, arriving in Papua New Guinea early Monday. In response to news of Blinken’s impending visit, China warned against the introduction of “geopolitical games” into the region.

    The U.S. visit was timed to coincide with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate.

    New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who met with Marape for breakfast was also due to meet with Blinken in Papua New Guinea, said he welcomed the greater U.S. interest in the region.

    But he also drew a distinction to his own nation’s efforts.

    “We are not interested in the militarization of the Pacific,” Hipkins said. “We are interested in working with the Pacific on issues where we have mutual interest. Issues around climate change. And we’re not going to be attaching military strings to that support.”

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  • Polls open in Greece’s first election since international bailout spending controls ended

    Polls open in Greece’s first election since international bailout spending controls ended

    ATHENS, Greece — Polls have opened in Greece’s parliamentary election, the first since the country’s economy ceased to be subject to strict supervision and control by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during its nearly decade-long financial crisis.

    The two main contenders in Sunday’s vote are conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 55, a Harvard-educated former banking executive, and 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, who heads the left-wing Syriza party and served as prime minister during some of the financial crisis’ most turbulent years.

    Although Mitsotakis has been steadily ahead in opinion polls, a newly introduced electoral system of proportional representation makes it unlikely that whoever wins the election will be able to garner enough seats in Greece’s 300-member parliament to form a government without seeking coalition partners.

    The winner of Sunday’s election will have three days to negotiate a coalition with one or more other parties. If that fails, the mandate to form a government is then given to the second party. But deep divisions between the two main parties and four smaller ones expected to enter parliament mean a coalition will be hard to come by, making a second election likely on July 2.

    The second election would be held under a new electoral law which makes it easier for a winning party to form a government by giving it a bonus of up to 50 seats in parliament, calculated on a sliding scale depending on the percentage of votes won.

    A total of 32 parties are vying for votes, although opinion polls have indicated only six have a realistic chance of meeting the 3% threshold to gain seats in parliament.

    Greece’s once-dominant socialist Pasok party is likely to be at the center of any coalition talks. Overtaken by Syriza during Greece’s 2009-2018 financial crisis, the party has been polling at around 10%. Its leader, Nikos Androulakis, 44, was at the center of a wiretapping scandal in which his phone was targeted for surveillance.

    Pasok would be vital in any coalition deal, but Androulakis’ poor relationship with Mitsotakis, who he accuses of covering up the wiretapping scandal, mean a deal with the conservatives is unlikely. His relationship with Tsipras is also poor, accusing him of trying to poach Pasok voters.

    The far-right Greeks Party, founded by a jailed former lawmaker with a history of neo-Nazi activity, was banned from participating by the Supreme Court. His former party, Golden Dawn, which rose to become Greece’s third largest during the financial crisis, was deemed to be a criminal organization.

    In the run-up to the election, Mitsotakis had enjoyed a double-digit lead in opinion polls, but saw that erode following a rail disaster on Feb. 28 that killed 57 people after an intercity passenger train was accidentally put on the same rail line as an oncoming freight train. It was later revealed that train stations were poorly staffed and safety infrastructure broken and outdated.

    The government was also battered by a surveillance scandal in which prominent Greek politicians, including Androulakis, and journalists discovered spyware on their phones. The prime minister said he had not been aware of the tapping of Androulakis’ phone, and that he wouldn’t have allowed it had he known. But the revelations deepened mistrust among the country’s political parties at a time when consensus may be badly needed.

    Tsipras has campaigned heavily on the rail disaster and wiretapping scandal.

    In power since 2019 elections, Mitsotakis has delivered unexpectedly high growth, a steep drop in unemployment and a country on the brink of returning to investment grade on the global bond market for the first time since it lost market access in 2010, at the start of its financial crisis.

    Debts to the International Monetary Fund were paid off early. European governments and the IMF pumped 280 billion euros ($300 billion) into the Greek economy in emergency loans between 2010 and 2018 to prevent the eurozone member from going bankrupt. In return, they demanded punishing cost-cutting measures and reforms that saw the country’s economy shrink by a quarter.

    A severe recession and years of emergency borrowing left Greece with a whopping national debt that reached 400 billion euros last December and hammered household incomes, which will likely need another decade to recover.

    The other three parties with realistic chances of parliamentary seats are Greece’s Communist Party, or KKE, led by Dimitris Koutsoumbas; the left-wing European Realistic Disobedience front (MeRA25), led by Tsipras’ flamboyant former finance minister; and the right-wing Elliniki Lysi, or Greek Solution, headed by Kyriakos Velopoulos.

    The KKE, a staple of Greek politics, has seen a steady core of support around 4.5%-5.5% over the past decade, while Varoufakis’ party has been polling at just over the 3% parliamentary threshold. Velopoulos’ party elected 10 lawmakers in 2019 and looks set to enter parliament again.

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  • US inks modest trade deal with Taiwan in show of support in the face of pressure from China

    US inks modest trade deal with Taiwan in show of support in the face of pressure from China

    The United States has reached a modest trade agreement with Taiwan

    ByPAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer

    FILE – U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai listens to a reporter’s question at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan Thursday, April 20, 2023, in Tokyo. The U.S. has reached a modest trade agreement with Taiwan, signaling Washington’s support for the island democracy as it comes under increasing pressure from China. The first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade announced Thursday, May 18, 2023, is expected to set the stage for a bigger deal later — “a robust and high-standard trade agreement,’’ U.S. Trade Representative Tai said. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

    The Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — The United States has reached a modest trade agreement with Taiwan, signaling Washington’s support for the island democracy as it comes under increasing pressure from China.

    The first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is expected to set the stage for a bigger deal later — “a robust and high-standard trade agreement,’’ U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said.

    The initiative announced Thursday will, among other things, cut red tape at customs and reduce waiting times for U.S. businesses bringing products to Taiwan. It also commits the U.S. and Taiwan to adopting measures to combat bribery and other forms of corruption and to encouraging more trade involving small- and medium-sized businesses.

    The agreement does not require approval from the U.S. Congress. But there is broad bipartisan support in Washington for Taiwan, an island of 23 million that split from China when the communists took over the mainland in 1949 and has since developed into a prosperous democracy. Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade Chinese province and has long demanded that it reunify.

    Relations between the United States and China – the world’s two biggest economies – have deteriorated in recent years. The United States accuses China of predatory economic practices and has criticized Beijing’s crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong and Muslim region of Xinjiang and its bullying of neighbors, including Taiwan, over territorial claims.

    “Beijing is likely to complain about this announcement, but its words will fall on deaf ears in Washington as negotiations continue” with Taiwan, said Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former U.S. trade negotiator.

    Taiwan is the world’s leading producer of computer chips. The United States last year bought $105 billion worth of goods and services from Taiwan, making it the 10th-biggest source of U.S. imports. American exports to Taiwan came to nearly $55 billion, making it America’s 15th-biggest foreign market.

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