CANADA
Kovrig visited second time
Diplomats have visited former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig for the second time since his arrest in China a month ago. Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, on Thursday provided no further details on how Kovrig was being treated. He and entrepreneur Michael Spavor were on Dec. 10 detained on allegations of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security” of China. The arrests came after Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) was on Dec. 1 arrested in Canada at the request of the US, which wants her extradited to face charges that she misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran. She is out on bail in Canada awaiting extradition proceedings. Canada said that it would continue to seek further access to Kovrig and Spavor.
CROATIA
Israeli plane deal flops
Plans to buy used F-16 jets from Israel failed over a lack of US approval for the sale, Minister of Defense Damir Krsticevic said on Thursday after talks with an Israeli delegation. Croatia in March agreed to buy 12 used F-16s from Israel to replace its Russian-made MiG-21s. However, Washington objected to the sale of the US-made jets because it wants the removal of electronic system upgrades that Israel added, in a rare defense dispute between the close allies, Croatian officials said. “Israel has officially informed the defense ministry that ... it unfortunately cannot get an adequate approval of the US to deliver F-16 planes,” Krsticevic told reporters. The agreement between Israel and Croatia was not signed and Zagreb would suffer no financial damages, he added.
UNITED KINGDOM
N Ireland funds marked
The government yesterday announced hundreds of millions of pounds in funding “to support peace in Northern Ireland” after Brexit, continuing for another seven years a shared initiative with Ireland and the EU. The government said that it would commit about ￡300 million (US$381.73 million) to the “Peace Plus” plan, which is to run from 2021 until 2027. The scheme to promote economic and social progress in Northern Ireland and the border region of Ireland started in 1995 and ends in 2020. “This funding will help deliver vital projects on both sides of the Irish border, supporting cooperation and reconciliation and ensuring that generations to come grown up in a more peaceful and stable society,” Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley said. The EU has set out its plan for ￡109 million of funding — subject to final budget approval — for the “Peace Plus” plan, Bradley’s office said.
MEXICO
Sea Shepherd ship attacked
The Sea Shepherd environmental group on Thursday published a video allegedly showing an attack by about two dozen small fishing boats on the vessel Farley Mowat in Mexico’s Gulf of California. Fishermen in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, have long complained about environmentalists trying to protect the vaquita marina, the world’s smallest and most endangered porpoise. Sea Shepherd said that fishers Wednesday threw lead weights and tried to douse the Farley Mowat and waters around it with gasoline. The video shows that some of the fishing boats carried gill nets, even though they are banned within the reserve designed to protect the vaquita. The vaquita is nearing extinction due to gill nets set illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China.
POLAND
Huawei employee arrested
A Chinese employee of Huawei Technologies Co and a Polish cyberbusiness specialist have been arrested on allegations of spying, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported yesterday. Security services had searched the local offices of Huawei, as well as the Polish offices of telecoms firm Orange, public TV channel TVP said. “The Chinese national is a businessman working in a major electronics company... The Pole is a person known in circles associated with cyberbusiness,” special services deputy head Maciej Wasik told PAP. The pair are to be held for three months, PAP reported, citing the spokesperson for the head of special services. The Polish national was a former agent of the internal security agency, TVP said.
INDIA
Pollution program launched
A program to rein in dangerous pollution levels in more than 100 cities was launched on Thursday, but drew immediate criticism from environmentalists, who said it lacks a clear framework. The National Clean Air Program (NCAL) aims to cut pollution in the 102 worst affected cities by 20 to 30 percent by 2024. Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Harsh Vardhan said he believed it would substantially improve air quality. The plan aims to push through cuts in industrial emissions and vehicular exhaust fumes, introduce stringent rules for transport fuels and biomass burning, and reduce dust pollution. It would also upgrade and increase monitoring systems. Its launch, put back from last year due to bureaucratic delays, coincides with the annual peak of pollution levels in the north. Greenpeace senior campaigner Sunil Dahiya welcomed the program, but said it lacked focus and ambition. “We hoped that the NCAL would be much stronger, would provide sector-wise targets, specific targets for the cities and mention a strong legal backing to take action against non-implementation,” he said.
INDIA
Army gay sex ‘unacceptable’
Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that gay sex and adultery would not be tolerated in the army’s ranks, months after a Supreme Court ruling struck down colonial-era prohibitions against homosexuality and infidelity. “In the army, it is not acceptable,” Rawat told reporters when asked about the court verdicts. “The army is conservative. The army is a family.” The estimated million-strong army and other armed forces are governed by their own laws that restrict certain constitutional rights enjoyed by civilians. Under the Army Act, homosexuality and adultery are punishable offenses with jail terms of up to 10 years. There are no figures on homosexuality in the armed forces, but media reports show that the army is increasingly concerned with adultery.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
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