Myanmar lawyers face harassment, intimidation in junta courts: HRW

This photo taken on February 15, 2021, shows Khin Maung Zaw (C), a lawyer representing detained Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted president Win Myint, speaking to the media outside Dekhina district court in Naypyidaw. (AFP)

AFP
June 08, 2023

Since it seized power more than two years ago, Myanmar's junta has arrested tens of thousands in a sweeping and bloody crackdown on dissent

BANGKOK: Myanmar lawyers defending political detainees in junta-run courts are being harassed and even jailed by military authorities, Human Rights Watch said Thursday, warning that intimidation was forcing many to stop taking cases.

Since it seized power more than two years ago and plunged the country into turmoil, the junta has arrested tens of thousands in a sweeping and bloody crackdown on dissent.
Rights groups say the military has used the courts to throttle opponents including democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi and former president Win Myint, who were jailed for lengthy terms by closed-door courts.

Defense lawyers working in “special courts” set up by the junta to try political crimes face harassment, intimidation and threats from authorities, HRW said in a report based on interviews with 19 lawyers.

“In the courtroom, I now have to worry about not getting myself detained rather than speaking the truth,” one Yangon-based lawyer told the watchdog.

“Everyone at the court knows who I am... The junta can detain me at any time, and they can and will make up any reasons they want.”

HRW cited the case of attorney Ywet Nu Aung, who was reportedly detained as she left a hearing where she was representing a former chief minister and member of Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

She was accused of helping to provide financial support to anti-junta militias and later sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor.

Lawyers are regularly barred from communicating privately with clients ahead of hearings, HRW said, and in an overcrowded legal system, some had taken on hundreds of cases.

“Sometimes cross-examination doesn’t even happen,” another lawyer told HRW.
“It’s near impossible to challenge what they (the prosecution) present as evidence, and we never get to have a defendant released on bail.”

All 19 lawyers told HRW they had experienced “intimidation and surveillance by junta authorities.”

“Few have been willing to put themselves at risk of further surveillance and intimidation and many have stopped taking cases,” HRW said.

More than 23,000 people have been arrested by the junta since the coup in February 2021, according to a local monitoring group.

Last year, a junta-controlled court ordered the execution of a former NLD lawmaker along with a prominent activist over allegations of “terrorism” — Myanmar’s first use of capital punishment in decades

Brazil delays key Indigenous land rights trial

AFP
Wed, June 7, 2023

Indigenous Brazilians demonstrate in Brasilia June 7, 2023 against the 1988 time limit for recognizing certain Indigenous lands (Evaristo SA)

Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday postponed a critical trial over Indigenous ancestral land rights as demonstrators protested in the capital.

The case -- which began in 2021 and has been called "the trial of the century" for the country's native peoples -- could remove protected status for some native lands, opening them up to agribusiness and mining.

Hundreds of Indigenous people from all over the country have camped in Brasilia this week in anticipation of the trial, which had been set to begin Wednesday.

The delay came when one of the judges asked for more time to review the case, which asks whether the government should recognize protected Indigenous lands where the current inhabitants were not living when the country's 1988 constitution was adopted.

So far, three of 10 judges have voted on the case -- one in favor of the 1988 cut-off, or against the native peoples, and two with the opposite opinion.

Now, the court has 90 days to set a new date for the vote to proceed.

The matter revolves around the Brazilian constitution's protection of Indigenous lands.

The agribusiness lobby argues those protections should apply only to lands whose inhabitants were present there in 1988, when the constitution was adopted.

Indigenous rights activists argue the constitution mentions no such time limit, and that native inhabitants have often been forced from their ancestral lands.

Members from 20 different ethnic groups, along with the Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara, were present at the court Wednesday.

The trial's deferral is "emotionally draining" for Brazilian communities waiting for an answer, Daniel Pataxo, a leader of the Pataxo people in northeastern Bahia state said.

"It ends up being a lack of respect for us as human beings," the 38-year-old, who traveled to Brasilia for the trial, told AFP outside the court, where dozens of Indigenous people had gathered.

Elsewhere in Brazil, roadblocks were set up by Indigenous people in at least three different states Wednesday, authorities said.

Last week, the lower chamber of Congress passed a bill in favor of the 1988 time limit, in a blow to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who campaigned on protecting Indigenous rights.

Brazil counts nearly 800 Indigenous territories, though around a third of them have yet to be officially defined, according to the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (FUNA).

Environmentalists say protecting Indigenous reservations is one of the best ways to stop the destruction of the Amazon, a critical resource in the race to curb climate change.

rsr-mel/app/ag/caw/dw

Brazilian Amazon Deforestation Falls 31% Under Lula

By AFP - 

Agence France Presse

June 7, 2023

Aerial view of a burnt area in Labrea, southern Amazonas State, 

Brazil, on September 17, 2022

MICHAEL DANTAS

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 31 percent in the first five months of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration versus the same period last year, officials said Wednesday.

Satellite monitoring detected 1,986 square kilometers (767 square miles) of forest cover destroyed in Brazil's share of the world's biggest rainforest from January to May, down from 2,867 square kilometers for the same period in 2022, according to the national space agency's DETER surveillance program.

The figures from space agency INPE were welcome news for environmentalists pinning their hopes on veteran leftist Lula, who took office on January 1 vowing to fight for zero illegal deforestation after a surge in clear-cutting and fires in the Amazon under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).

Under Bolsonaro, an ally of Brazil's powerful agribusiness sector, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by more than 75 percent versus the previous decade.

Lula marked World Environment Day on Monday by announcing a sweeping new plan to combat deforestation, with hundreds of targets and objectives, including the immediate seizure of half the territory being illegally exploited for logging, farming, mining or other activities on protected lands.

"Brazil plays a major role in the balance of our planet's climate, largely thanks to the Amazon," Lula said.

"Preventing deforestation in the Amazon also helps reduce global warming."

Experts say the new government's real test on deforestation will start in the coming months, with the onset of drier weather in the Amazon from around July -- typically peak season for deforestation and forest fires.

The Lula administration has suffered a series of setbacks on the environment this week at the hands of Brazil's Congress, in which conservative foes of Lula hold the majority.


Last week, lawmakers passed bills cutting the powers of the environment and Indigenous-affairs ministries and dramatically curbing the protection of Indigenous lands.

Vaquitas still exist, but barely: sea 'panda' survey

AFP
Wed, June 7, 2023 

About a dozen vaquitas were spotted on a recent scientific expedition in the Gulf of California (Handout)

The vaquita, a small porpoise on the verge of extinction, is still hanging in there, said scientists Wednesday who had spotted about a dozen specimens of Mexico's "panda of the sea" on an expedition in May.

The vaquita is the smallest of all porpoises, similar to dolphins but with shorter beaks and more rounded bodies.

They perish in nets used to illegally catch totoaba, large fish whose swim bladders -- organs used to control buoyancy -- are believed in China to hold medicinal powers.

Scientists conducting a survey of the vaquita's endemic range in the Gulf of California off Mexico's north coast -- spotted between 10 and 13 of the porpoises last month, they reported Wednesday.

"We estimated that the sightings included 1-2 calves and there was a 76 percent probability that the total number seen, including calves, was between 10 and 13 individuals," said a report issued by the NGO Sea Shepherd spearheading vaquita conservation efforts.

"Since the search was in a small portion of the vaquita's historical range, 10-13 is considered a minimum estimate of the number of vaquitas left," it added.

This was about the same number estimated in October 2021.

According to the latest report, all vaquitas sighted in May "appeared to be healthy."

The vaquita is considered the world's most threatened cetacean -- the group of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Grey-colored porpoises, vaquitas are called "pandas of the sea" for the rings around their eyes.

They grow to about 55 kilograms (120 pounds) and 1.5 metres (five feet) in length.

Elusive by nature, the vaquita is difficult to observe, and little is known about their reproductive life and longevity.

Females are believed to have a single calf every two years or more, according to conservation group WWF.

Vaquitas drown when they get entangled in gillnets -- vertical sheets of netting used to catch fish -- and cannot surface to breathe.

First discovered as a species only in 1958, vaquita numbers plummeted by 92 percent from 1997 to 2005, according to scientists.

The vaquita is listed as "critically endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species -- the last category before extinction in the wild.

In 2019, UNESCO added the Gulf of California to its list of World Heritage in Danger due to fears of imminent vaquita extinction.

Priests in Bolivia 'saints by day, demons by night': alleged victim

José Arturo Cárdenas
Wed, June 7, 2023 

Bolivian Pedro Lima, a former trainee Catholic clergyman, has told AFP of decades of 'hell' suffered by victims of paedophile priests (Aizar RALDES)

A Bolivian former seminarian who says he was the victim of a vast sex abuse network in the Catholic Church has told AFP of decades of "hell" meted out to children by men of the cloth.

Pedro Lima said not only minors but also adults like himself who were training to become priests were subject to abuse in the South American country, often by clergymen who arrived from Spain.

The 54-year-old, who has lived in Paraguay since 2011 where he works as a blacksmith, returned home last month to give evidence in a vast investigation into child predation at schools countrywide, including a boarding school for poor, rural kids in Cochabamba.

"The children lived through hell," he recounted of things he said he saw. "These abusive priests were saints by day, demons by night."

At the center of the latest scandal is a Spanish priest by the name of Alfonso Pedrajas, who died in 2009 after decades of service as a Church teacher in Bolivia starting in 1971.

In his journal, recently discovered and published by a newspaper, Pedrajas confessed to having harmed dozens of people, possibly as many as 85. He also noted that senior clergy had known about his crimes and kept quiet.

Lima, who said he had encountered Pedrajas personally, claims he was expelled from the Jesuit order in 2001, while studying to become a priest, for reporting abuse.

Since then, he has compiled a list of alleged wrongdoers, most of them now dead.

"It wasn't only one priest, there is a structure of priests who helped and supported each other so this (abuse) could continue to happen," he told AFP.

Priests heard young victims' complaints, then rebuked them and expelled them from school, Lima alleged.

He said he, too, was a victim, but declined to go into detail given the "pain" it causes him.

"Those types of acts that have been committed against other people have been also perpetrated against me," Lima said.

- 'Brainwashed' -

Spanish priest Jordi Bertomeu, a top sex crimes investigator for Pope Francis, has been investigating the claims in Bolivia, a country of 12 million people who are mostly Catholic.

According to Lima, the aggressors "brainwashed" vulnerable children who were made to believe they were "the bad guys and worthless."

The Bolivian Episcopal Conference, which last month admitted having been "deaf" to the suffering of victims of pedophile priests, declined to comment on Lima's specific allegations.

Since the revelations in the diary, Bolivian prosecutors have opened cases against priests including Pedrajas and three others from Spain: Luis Maria Roma, Alejandro Mestre and Antonio Gausset.

All four are deceased, but there are other accused still alive.

Several alleged victims have come forward in recent weeks in the capital La Paz, in Cochabamba, Tarija in the south and Santa Cruz in the east.

A recent investigation by Bolivian newspaper Pagina Siete finding at least 170 alleged victims.

Bolivian President Luis Arce has written to Pope Francis to ask for any files on sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests in the South American country.

Lima, for his part, is seeking "full reparation" from the Church.

There are "broken people, totally, whose lives were destroyed by the aggression, people who have ended up needing psychiatric (treatment)," Lima said, though he himself came through it OK.

"The damage is great."

Thousands of reports of pedophilia within the Catholic Church have surfaced around the world in recent years.

Pope Francis has pledged an "all-out battle" against clerical abuse, holding an unprecedented summit on the issue in 2019 and enacting reforms that include new obligations to report clerical child abuse and cover-ups.

jac-vel/dga/ltl/mlr/caw

POOR HAITI

Following 4.9 magnitude quake, 'humanitarian needs in Haiti are huge'

04:58
Video by: Tom Burges WATSON

Issued on: 08/06/2023 -

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.9 struck southern Haiti early Tuesday, killing at least four people and injuring 36 others, authorities said. The quake struck before dawn near the southwestern coastal city of Jeremie at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. For more on the

Earthquake kills several people in Haiti following deadly floods

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.9 struck southern Haiti early Tuesday, killing at least four people and injuring 36 others, authorities said.

Issued on: 07/06/2023 -

01:32

People drive past damaged buildings in Jeremie, Haiti, after an earthquake hit western Haiti. An earthquake shook parts of western Haiti on Tuesday, killing at least four people and injuring more than two dozen others, civil protection authorities said. 

Text by:NEWS WIRES|

Video by: Fraser JACKSON

The quake struck before dawn near the southwestern coastal city of Jeremie at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“I thought the whole house was going to fall on top of me,” Eric Mpitabakana, a World Food Program official in Jeremie, told The Associated Press by phone.

Two homes collapsed in the quake, and a key route that connects Jeremie and Les Cayes was blocked, according to Haiti's Civil Protection Agency.

Three of the fatal victims were from the same family and were found under a collapsed house where rescuers were searching for more people, Frankel Maginaire, with Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency in Jeremie told the AP.

He said that several children were hospitalized with injuries they received after they panicked and ran.

A crowd of people gathered around one home that collapsed as they tried to search for survivors in the rubble. They carried out at least one victim wrapped in a sheet.

Mpitabakana said things fell around his house and that he and other colleagues are contemplating sleeping outdoors if there are strong aftershocks.

“There were so many people out on the street, and a lot of panic,” he recalled of the moments after the quake struck.

Claude Prepetit, a geologist and engineer with Haiti's Bureau of Mines and Energy, told Radio Caraibes that smaller earthquakes that occurred earlier this year in southern Haiti led to the bigger one that struck Tuesday.

The earthquake struck almost two years after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southern Haiti and killed more than 2,200 people, with Les Cayes sustaining the most damage. Some people who lost their homes last August are still living in camps.

Allen Joseph, a program manager with global aid organization Mercy Corps, said in a phone interview that schools, banks and other institutions in Jeremie remained closed on Tuesday and that rescue teams had been searching for survivors in the rubble earlier.

He said the organization was still evaluating the situation to determine what help might be needed.

“There was a lot of panic,” he said. “Everyone was rushing to get outside...The neighbors were yelling, ‘Go, go, go!’"

Paul Pierre, a driver for a nongovernmental organization based in Jeremie, told the AP in a phone interview that he was barely waking up when he felt the house rocking.

“Everyone ran outside with their children, their babies,” he said. “There were some houses that collapsed.”

Pierre said he remained calm and sought shelter until the earth stopped moving, adding that he's used to earthquakes.

In 2010, a magnitude 7 quake near the densely populated capital, Port-au-Prince, killed at least 200,000 people and caused widespread devastation to buildings.

Tuesday's earthquake comes as Haiti struggles to recover from heavy floods over the weekend that killed at least 51 people, injured 140 and flooded nearly 31,600 homes. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has requested international assistance.

“Disasters keep hitting Haiti, left and right,” said Dr. Didinu Tamakloe, Haiti director for Project Hope, a U.S. aid organization. “People have not had sufficient time to recover from previous disasters, only to be hit by flash floods, an earthquake and landslides in a matter of days.”

(AP)

In Kenya, lions are speared to death as human-wildlife conflict worsens amid drought

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI and DESMOND TIRO

June 6,2023

The male lion named "Loonkiito", one of Kenya's oldest wild lions who was killed by herders in May 2023, is seen in Amboseli National Park, in southern Kenya on Feb. 20, 2023. Recent lion killings highlight the growing human-wildlife conflict in parts of east Africa that conservationists say has been exacerbated by a yearslong drought. (Philip J. Briggs/Lion Guardians via AP, File)

MBIRIKANI, Kenya (AP) — Parkeru Ntereka lost almost half of his goat herd to hungry lions that wandered into his pen located near Kenya’s iconic Amboseli national park.

The 56-year-old’s loss made headlines in the east African country as it led to the spearing to death of six lions in retaliation by the Maasai people, who have co-existed with wild animals for centuries.

The killings highlighted the growing human-wildlife conflict in parts of east Africa that conservationists say has been exacerbated by a yearslong drought.

At the same time, the predator population within the parks has increased. Hunger and thirst can send them into communities.

Ntereka said losing 12 goats is a huge loss for his large family.

“I sell these livestock in order to afford school fees. I don’t know how I will afford secondary school fees for some of my children,” said the father of eight.

The Big Life Foundation, which runs conservation programs in the area, has been offering compensation to herders who lose their livestock to predators.

But the compensation does not match the market rate for cows, goats and sheep.

Herder Joel Kirimbu said compensation should match the market rate.

“Cows are expensive and can cost as much as 80,000 Kenyan shillings ($577) each. One cannot compare 80,000 shillings to 30,000 shillings. We receive very little compensation. That is why we become angry and despite receiving compensation, we come out and kill the lions,” he told The Associated Press.

Rosi Lekimankusi, a mother of five, said 13 of her goats were killed by lions in the same village, Mbirikani in Kajiado County, just 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the capital, Nairobi.

“This is a big loss for us because my husband and I have no other jobs,” she told The Associated Press while standing outside her goat pen.

Her biggest fear is that such lion attacks will become even more common in her Maasai village that borders Amboseli national park.

The Big Life Foundation, which has run the compensation program for 20 years, said it cannot afford to pay the market price but asserted that the amount cannot be disregarded because it at least expresses solidarity with herders for their loss.

“It could be a little just to make sure your anger goes down but its better than nothing,” said Daniel Ole Sambu, who coordinates the foundation’s Predator Protection Program.

He said the foundation also gives the community scholarships for local children and support for medical facilities.

The human-wildlife conflict often makes headlines in Kenya, where tourism plays an important role in the economy.

Last month, one of Kenya’s oldest lions, Loonkiito, was speared to death as it wandered out of the Amboseli national park in search for food.

The Kenya Wildlife Service said it is working on lasting solutions that would address the conflict while protecting both humans and wildlife.

Ntereka, the herder who lost almost half his goats, lives in fear of another lion attack.

“Since the olden days, we believed that when a lion invades your home and eats your cows, it will still return even after 10 years. It will never forget that your home was once a source of food,” he said.

DEFENDING PAST GAINS

Protests in France as unions make last-ditch bid to resist higher retirement age

By OLEG CETINIC and ANGELA CHARLTON

June 7,2023

France protests against pension reform resume

Workers returned to the streets in Paris as they sought to reignite resistance to the pension reform that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.


PARIS (AP) — French union activists marched on the headquarters of the Paris Olympics and slowed traffic at the capital’s Orly Airport with strikes Tuesday as they sought to reignite resistance to a higher retirement age.

But the last-ditch effort drew fewer followers than at the height of the movement earlier this year, and even some union leaders seemed ready to move on.

President Emmanuel Macron’s move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 — and force the measure through parliament without a vote — inflamed public emotions and triggered some of France’s biggest demonstrations in years. But the intensity of anger over the pension reform has ebbed since the last big protests on May 1, which more than 500,000 people attended in Paris alone, and since the measure became law in April.

As part of Tuesday’s actions, a third of flights were canceled at Paris’ Orly Airport because of strikes, and about 10% of trains around France were disrupted. Around 250 marches, rallies and other actions were planned around the country to mark the 14th day of national protest since January over the pension 

A small group of activists with the hard-left CGT union pushed their way into the headquarters of the 2024 Olympics in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, chanting anti-Macron slogans.

In Paris, mild tensions flared near a restaurant in the Left Bank as individuals engaged in minor vandalism of bus shelters and threw objects at police. Police quickly dispersed the crowds.

Thousands gathered along the embankments of the Seine River near the gold-domed Invalides monument before setting off on their march to southeast Paris. The peaceful crowd waved union flags, banged drums and chanted to demand the withdrawal of the pension law and a lower retirement age.

In the western city of Rennes, union activists marched on train tracks before being turned back by police, according to local public broadcaster France Bleu.

Macron says the pension reform was needed to finance the pension system as the population ages. Unions and left-wing opponents say the changes hurt poorer workers and have argued for higher taxes on the wealthy and employers instead.

The outgoing head of the moderate CFDT union, Laurent Berger, said that after Tuesday’s actions, “we will continue to contest the retirement reform, but it will take on a different form.”

CGT chief Sophie Binet told reporters at the Paris march that other protests are ’’probable,” but she too said it was time to talk about other issues such as working conditions or tax fraud by companies.

Organizers of Tuesday’s protests hope to rally support before a possible parliamentary debate on Thursday on a bill that is seeking to repeal the new retirement age.

Legislators from centrist opposition group LIOT proposed the bill to put back the retirement age to 62. But it has already met challenges before it reaches the parliamentary floor. While Macron’s centrist party doesn’t have a majority in the National Assembly, it has allied with the conservative Republicans party to push back the opposition’s efforts.

Protests in France as unions make last-ditch bid to resist higher retirement age

By OLEG CETINIC and ANGELA CHARLTON
June 6,2023

PARIS (AP) — French union activists marched on the headquarters of the Paris Olympics and slowed traffic at the capital’s Orly Airport with strikes Tuesday as they sought to reignite resistance to a higher retirement age.

But the last-ditch effort drew fewer followers than at the height of the movement earlier this year, and even some union leaders seemed ready to move on.

President Emmanuel Macron’s move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 — and force the measure through parliament without a vote — inflamed public emotions and triggered some of France’s biggest demonstrations in years. But the intensity of anger over the pension reform has ebbed since the last big protests on May 1, which more than 500,000 people attended in Paris alone, and since the measure became law in April.

As part of Tuesday’s actions, a third of flights were canceled at Paris’ Orly Airport because of strikes, and about 10% of trains around France were disrupted. Around 250 marches, rallies and other actions were planned around the country to mark the 14th day of national protest since January over the pension reform.

A small group of activists with the hard-left CGT union pushed their way into the headquarters of the 2024 Olympics in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, chanting anti-Macron slogans.

In Paris, mild tensions flared near a restaurant in the Left Bank as individuals engaged in minor vandalism of bus shelters and threw objects at police. Police quickly dispersed the crowds.

Thousands gathered along the embankments of the Seine River near the gold-domed Invalides monument before setting off on their march to southeast Paris. The peaceful crowd waved union flags, banged drums and chanted to demand the withdrawal of the pension law and a lower retirement age.

In the western city of Rennes, union activists marched on train tracks before being turned back by police, according to local public broadcaster France Bleu.

Macron says the pension reform was needed to finance the pension system as the population ages. Unions and left-wing opponents say the changes hurt poorer workers and have argued for higher taxes on the wealthy and employers instead.

The outgoing head of the moderate CFDT union, Laurent Berger, said that after Tuesday’s actions, “we will continue to contest the retirement reform, but it will take on a different form.”

CGT chief Sophie Binet told reporters at the Paris march that other protests are ’’probable,” but she too said it was time to talk about other issues such as working conditions or tax fraud by companies.

Organizers of Tuesday’s protests hope to rally support before a possible parliamentary debate on Thursday on a bill that is seeking to repeal the new retirement age.

Legislators from centrist opposition group LIOT proposed the bill to put back the retirement age to 62. But it has already met challenges before it reaches the parliamentary floor. While Macron’s centrist party doesn’t have a majority in the National Assembly, it has allied with the conservative Republicans party to push back the opposition’s efforts.  

 

 

Japan, Australia, US to fund undersea cable connection in Micronesia to counter China’s influence

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

June 6,2023

U.S. President Joe Biden, from left, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a Quad meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit, at the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima, western Japan, on May 20, 2023. Japan announced Tuesday, June 6, 2023, that it joined the United States and Australia in signing a $95 million undersea cable project that will connect East Micronesia island nations to improve networks in the Indo-Pacific region where China is increasingly expanding its influence. 

(Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan announced Tuesday that it joined the United States and Australia in signing an agreement on a $95 million undersea cable project that will connect East Micronesia island nations to improve networks in the Indo-Pacific region where China is increasingly expanding its influence.

The approximately 2,250-kilometer (1,400-mile) undersea cable will connect the state of Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia, Tarawa in Kiribati and Nauru to the existing cable landing point located in Pohnpei in Micronesia, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Japan, the United States and Australia have stepped up cooperation with the Pacific Islands, apparently to counter efforts by Beijing to expand its security and economic influence in the region.

In a joint statement, the parties said the next steps involve a final survey and design and manufacturing of the cable, whose width is about that of a garden hose. Completion is expected around 2025.

The announcement comes just over two weeks after leaders of the Quad, a security alliance of Japan, the United States, Australia and India, emphasized the importance of undersea cables as a critical component of communications infrastructure and the foundation for internet connectivity.

“Secure and resilient digital connectivity has never been more important,” Matthew Murray, a senior official in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said in a statement. “The United States is delighted to be part of this project bringing our region closer together.”

NEC Corp., which won the contract after a competitive tender, said the cable will ensure high-speed, high-quality and more secure communications for residents, businesses and governments in the region, while contributing to improved digital connectivity and economic development.

The cable will connect more than 100,000 people across the three Pacific countries, according to Kazuya Endo, director general of the international cooperation bureau at the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Wisconsin Senate OKs bills targeting unemployment benefits

June 6,2023

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin residents looking for work would face stricter requirements to qualify for unemployment benefits under a package of Republican-authored bills that received final approval in the Legislature on Wednesday.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed nearly identical legislation in his first term, and it’s likely he will do the same this time around for the five measures the Republican-controlled Senate passed along party lines.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said he hopes Evers changes his mind after voters in April approved a non-binding ballot question that said able-bodied adults should have to look for work to receive government assistance.

Unemployment recipients in Wisconsin already must perform four work-search activities each week. Under one of the bills approved on Wednesday, employers would be able to report recipients who decline or don’t show up to an interview. People who have been reported multiple times and don’t have good reasons for declining or missing interviews could have their benefits rescinded.

Another bill would enact stricter identity verification checks for unemployment benefits.

Major conservative business groups, including the state chamber of commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Opportunity Solutions Project have endorsed many of the bills, while local unions and Democrats oppose them.

Mexico’s foreign minister plans to step down to pursue presidential bid

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Tuesday he will resign his position next week to dedicate himself to seeking the nomination of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party to be its presidential candidate in next year’s election.

Ebrard is among three leading aspirants for the presidential nomination of the ruling Morena party.

For months, Ebrard has been juggling his foreign policy duties and pre-campaign activities. At an event in a Mexico City hotel Tuesday, surrounded by supporters, Ebrard said he will resign Monday, June 12 “to dedicate myself fully with happiness and resolve to defend the plan headed by our president.”

The other leading contenders for the party’s nomination are Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and Interior Minister Adán Augusto López.

The party plans to choose its nominee through an internal poll. López Obrador has said he will stay out of the decision, but his comments are watched closely for any sign of favoritism. A fourth member of the party, Sen. Ricardo Monreal, is also seeking the nomination.

López Obrador met with the pre-candidates Monday in an effort to maintain party unity, the president said in his daily news conference Tuesday.

Whomever Morena chooses as its candidate is expected to be the frontrunner in next year’s presidential election.

The party advanced its national status Sunday, when its candidate won the governorship in the State of Mexico, the country’s most populous state.

López Obrador continues to enjoy high approval ratings more than four years into his six-year term.