PERU
Congress ousts president
The Peruvian Congress voted early yesterday to remove deeply unpopular president Dina Boluarte from office as a crime wave grips the South American nation and quickly replaced her with Peruvian Congress President Jose Jeri, 38. Lawmakers had set up a debate and impeachment trial late on Thursday in the 130-member unicameral Congress after voting to accept four requests for a vote to remove Boluarte from office over what they said was her government’s inability to stem crime. They requested that Boluarte come before them shortly before midnight to defend herself, but when she did not appear they immediately voted to oust her. In short order, 124 lawmakers voted just past midnight to impeach Boluarte. There were no votes against the effort. The turn of events came just hours after a shooting at a concert in the capital, Lima, inflamed anger over crime roiling the country.
Photo: EPA
SWEDEN
EU urged to act on assets
Minister of Finance Elisabeth Svantesson said the EU must move ahead with a proposal to deploy frozen Russian central bank assets for Ukraine, given a lack of other options. “We will do whatever it takes to get all countries on board” with the plan, she told reporters yesterday ahead of a meeting with EU peers in Luxembourg. “As the war is continuing, also some countries are more restrictive and don’t want to do as much as Sweden and the Nordic and Baltic states” to finance Ukraine, she added. EU ministers are continuing to advance work on a so-called “reparation loan” that would mobilize up to 185 billion euros (US$214 billion) of frozen assets currently held in Brussels-based Euroclear, a clearing house, to cover Kyiv’s budgetary holes and finance some of its military needs. The plan is legally complex because the EU wants to avoid directly seizing the funds in a bid to avert reputational damage on its financial system and the euro, along with court challenges. The bloc’s leaders are expected to discuss the plan at a summit at the end of this month, and the European Commission could come forward with a legal proposal on the “reparation loan” shortly after if there’s enough political backing.
SYRIA
Minister visits Lebanon
Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad al-Shibani arrived in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, yesterday in what observers say could mark a breakthrough in relations between the two neighbors, which have been tense for decades. Al-Shibani held talks with his Lebanese counterpart, Joe Rajji, and was expected to meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. It was the first high-profile Syrian visit to Lebanon since insurgent groups overthrew then-Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government in December last year. Lebanon and Syria have been working to rebuild strained ties, focusing on the status of about 2,000 Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, border security, locating Lebanese nationals missing in Syria for years and facilitating the return of Syrian refugees. Following their meeting, al-Shibani and Rajji announced that the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council had been suspended and all dealings would be restricted to official diplomatic channels. Created in 1991, the council symbolized Syria’s influence over Lebanon. Its role declined after Syria’s 2005 withdrawal, the assassination of then-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and the 2008 opening of the Syrian Embassy in Beirut, which marked Syria’s first official recognition of Lebanon as an autonomous state since it gained independence from France in 1943.
READINESS: According to a survey of 2,000 people, 86 percent of Swedes believe the country is worth defending in the event of a military attack Swedes are stocking up on food items in case of war, as more conflict in Europe no longer feels like a distant possibility, and authorities encourage measures to boost readiness. At a civil preparedness fair in southwest Stockholm, 71-year-old Sirkka Petrykowska said that she is taking the prospect of hostilities seriously and preparing as much as she can. “I have bought a camping stove. I have taken a course on preservation in an old-fashioned way, where you can preserve vegetables, meat and fruit that lasts for 30 years without a refrigerator,” Petrykowska said. “I’ve set aside blankets for warmth, I
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
IN THE AIR: With no compromise on the budget in sight, more air traffic controllers are calling in sick, which has led to an estimated 13,000 flight delays, the FAA said Concerns over flight delays and missed paychecks due to the US government shutdown escalated on Wednesday, as senators rejected yet another bid to end the standoff. Democrats voted for a sixth time to block a Republican stopgap funding measure to reopen government departments, keeping much of the federal workforce home or working without pay. With the shutdown in its eighth day, lines at airports were expected to grow amid increased absenteeism among security and safety staff at some of the country’s busiest hubs. Air traffic controllers — seen as “essential” public servants — are kept at work during government shutdowns, but higher numbers
RSS