MYANMAR
Chief meets Li in Kinmin
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) on the civil war roiling his country, state media said yesterday, during his first visit to China since seizing power in a 2021 coup. Min Aung Hlaing told Li at a meeting in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming that the military was ready for peace if armed groups would engage, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported. The junta is reeling from a major rebel offensive last year that seized a large area of territory, much of it near the border with China. China has been a major arms supplier to the junta and provided Myanmar with political backing even as other countries shun the generals over their brutal crackdown on dissent. However, Beijing is concerned about the chaos unfolding on its doorstep, in particular the growth of online scam compounds in Myanmar, run by and targeting Chinese citizens. Last month, a blast targeted the Chinese consulate in Mandalay. There were no casualties, but Beijing issued a furious rebuke.
ISRAEL
Deportation law passed
The parliament yesterday passed a law that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations. The law, which was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61 to 41 vote, but is likely to be challenged in court. It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members’ attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.” They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of between 7 and 20 years.
JAPAN
US Steel deal done soon
Nippon Steel yesterday said that it still expects to close its takeover of US Steel this year, despite opposition from both US President Joe Biden and US president-elect Donald Trump. Ahead of the US election, Trump vowed to block the deal worth more than US$14 billion. A Nippon Steel earnings presentation yesterday said that “the transaction is expected to close in... calendar year 2024” pending a US national security review. “Now that the election is over, we believe that there can be constructive discussions about this deal,” vice chairman Takahiro Mori said. US Steel has said that the Nippon deal is needed to ensure sufficient investment in its Mon Valley plants in Pennsylvania, the earliest of which dates to 1875.
AUSTRALIA
PM vows social media ban
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday vowed to ban children aged 16 and younger from social media, saying the pervasive influence of platforms like Facebook and TikTok was “doing real harm to our kids.” The tech giants would be held responsible for enforcing the age limit and face hefty fines if regulators notice young users slipping through the cracks, Albanese said. Canberra is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world’s strictest measures aimed at children. The new laws would be presented to state and territory leaders this week, before being introduced to parliament later this month. Once passed, the tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban.
A string of rape and assault allegations against the son of Norway’s future queen have plunged the royal family into its “biggest scandal” ever, wrapping up an annus horribilis for the monarchy. The legal troubles surrounding Marius Borg Hoiby, the 27-year-old son born of a relationship before Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s marriage to Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, have dominated the Scandinavian country’s headlines since August. The tall strapping blond with a “bad boy” look — often photographed in tuxedos, slicked back hair, earrings and tattoos — was arrested in Oslo on Aug. 4 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the previous night. A photograph
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
IVY LEAGUE GRADUATE: Suspect Luigi Nicholas Mangione, whose grandfather was a self-made real-estate developer and philanthropist, had a life of privilege The man charged with murder in the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare made it clear he was not going to make things easy on authorities, shouting unintelligibly and writhing in the grip of sheriff’s deputies as he was led into court and then objecting to being brought to New York to face trial. The displays of resistance on Tuesday were not expected to significantly delay legal proceedings for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was charged in last week’s Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, the leader of the US’ largest medical insurance company. Little new information has come out about motivation,
‘MONSTROUS CRIME’: The killings were overseen by a powerful gang leader who was convinced his son’s illness was caused by voodoo practitioners, a civil organization said Nearly 200 people in Haiti were killed in brutal weekend violence reportedly orchestrated against voodoo practitioners, with the government on Monday condemning a massacre of “unbearable cruelty.” The killings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, were overseen by a powerful gang leader convinced that his son’s illness was caused by followers of the religion, the civil organization the Committee for Peace and Development (CPD) said. It was the latest act of extreme violence by powerful gangs that control most of the capital in the impoverished Caribbean country mired for decades in political instability, natural disasters and other woes. “He decided to cruelly punish all
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