Top ministers from 21 economies ringing the Pacific Ocean gathered in Chile to convene high-level talks on free trade and global security as university students clashed with police to protest the summit and weekend visit of US President George W. Bush.
Police in Chile's second-biggest city of Valparaiso used tear gas and water trucks Tuesday to disperse scores of masked protesters who threw Molotov cocktails and burned an American flag.
Authorities said one police officer and two television cameramen were injured. At least two demonstrators were detained.
More demonstrations against the annual APEC forum are planned throughout the week, including a government-authorized march tomorrow through the streets of Santiago.
APEC foreign ministers and trade ministers were to hold meetings yesterday and today on issues ranging from fighting terrorism and corruption to a proposal to create a free trade area that would link the Americas to Asia. Leaders gather on Saturday and Sunday.
The ministers are under some pressure from the APEC Business Advisory Council, or ABAC, which recently proposed creating a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific that would stretch from China to California and from Australia to Chile's southern tip.
The group asked APEC leaders to establish a task force to study the issue, but a trade zone spanning the Pacific Ocean would take years to create.
Experts say the FTAAP zone won't be taken seriously until the APEC nations decide on a framework for actual negotiations. Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬), a top Taiwanese trade official, said ministers are sure to discuss the idea but said it's unclear what the world leaders will decide.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
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