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☆ Kremlin denies Olympics disinformation campaign, calls Microsoft allegation slanderous
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends the 8th Russian-Chinese EXPO and the 4th Russian-Chinese Forum on Interregional Cooperation in Harbin, China, May 17, 2024. Sergei Bobylyov | Via ReutersThe Kremlin denied an allegation that it is waging a disinformation campaign against France, its president and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, or MTAC, said Sunday that "Russia is ramping up malign disinformation campaigns against France, French President Emmanuel Macron, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and this summer's Olympic Games in Paris." On Tuesday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov characterized the MTAC's accusations against Russia as slander, news agency RIA Novosti reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Ukraine's losses are eight times higher than those of Russia during an interview with Chinese media.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Sergei Bobylyov, Emmanuel Macron, Peskov, Macron, Vladimir Putin, Ludovic Marin Organizations: Interregional Cooperation, Reuters, Kremlin, France, Microsoft, International Olympic Committee, IOC, RIA Novosti, Olympic Games, Russian, NATO, Afp, Getty Locations: Russian, Harbin, China, Paris, Russia, France, Ukraine, Belarusian

☆ African leaders spearhead efforts to tackle terrorism across the continent
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Abuja, Nigeria CNN —African leaders discussed anti-terrorism solutions on the continent during a high-level security summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja Monday amid a rise in terror attacks. According to the African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT), Africa witnessed an average of eight terror-related incidents and 44 daily casualties in 2023. Nigeria’s National Security Adviser and organizer of the summit, Nuhu Ribadu, emphasized the urgent need to combat terrorism in Africa. Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the chair of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, urged the proper establishment and strengthening of a regional standby military force. “The moment has come to work out an all-encompassing Continental Strategic Plan of Action to effectively fight against terrorism across Africa,” Faki said.

Persons: Ribadu, ” Ribadu, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Faure Gnassingbe, African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, ” Faki, Tinubu, Faki, Africa’s Organizations: Nigeria CNN —, African Center, Research, Terrorism, Nigeria’s National Security, West African, ECOWAS, United Nations, African Union Commission Locations: Abuja, Nigeria, Nigerian, Africa, Africa’s, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togolese

☆ ‘Heart-breaking’: Refugees once detained offshore by Australia warn the UK government not to push through its Rwanda policy
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Antoinette Radford | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The policy enjoys bipartisan political support in Australia, with both the coalition and Labor governments backing offshore detention. And on face value, the UK’s proposed offshore detention policy follows a similar model to that of Australia. Australia’s own offshore detention policy has been heavily criticized and fraught with controversy – but still seems to exert considerable appeal for some UK politicians. Another difference between two nations stems from the fact Australia does not have a human rights charter, Tubakovic said. She notes that the UK is still bound by human rights obligations, particularly as a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Persons: CNN — “, Behrouz Boochani, “, ”, Boochani, Mostafa Azimitabar –, –, ” Azimitabar, Rwanda Bill, Dan Kitwood, Rishi Sunak, Tony Abbott, Jonas Gratzer, Alexander Downer, Downer, Tamara Tubakovic, “ It’s, Tubakovic, David Gray, ” Tubakovic Organizations: CNN, Kurd, European, of Human, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, Labor, Refugee Council of Australia, ‘, Conservative, English Channel, UK Border Force, University of Melbourne, University of Oxford, Human Rights, of Human Rights, UN, Reuters Locations: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Iran, Indonesia, Australia, Nauru, Manus, Melbourne, United Kingdom, Rwanda, England, Britain, British, France, Sydney

So when Banegas fled gang threats in Honduras once more in 2021, he set his sights not on the United States, but Mexico. He gets along with his Mexican coworkers, he said, and he's proud his six-month-old son, David, is a Mexican citizen. 'VERY SOLID OPTION'A decade ago, a few hundred people annually received asylum in Mexico. The vast majority of migrants who enter Mexico continue north toward the U.S., posing challenges for the Biden administration. U.S., Mexican and U.N. officials have called for regional cooperation to help migrants resettle in places such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia, aiming to reduce illegal migration to the U.S.

Persons: Walter Banegas, Daniel Becerril, Banegas, Long, he's, David, Biden, Giovanni Lepri, Arturo Rocha, Jose Medina Mora, Fernando Hernandez, Kaitlyn, Hernandez, Daina Beth Solomon, Laura Gottesdiener, Christian Plumb, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: Pace, REUTERS, Rights, United, Pace Industries, UNHCR, U.S, ASK, Thomson Locations: Honduras, Mexico, Saltillo , Mexico, Rights SALTILLO, Mexican, Saltillo, Honduran, United States, United Nations, Michigan, U.S, Haiti, Venezuela, El Salvador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Texas, Monterrey, Chang's, Mexico City

☆ Foreign ministers of S.Korea, China, Japan to discuss trilateral summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan will meet for talks in South Korea on Sunday, South Korea's foreign ministry said on Friday, as the three countries seek to hold their first leaders' summit in four years. The meeting of foreign ministers, which will take place in the South Korean port city of Busan, is also the first such meeting since 2019. "The foreign ministers plan to exchange views extensively on the direction of development of trilateral cooperation including preparations for a ninth trilateral summit, and regional and global issues," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement. The talks come as South Korea and Japan have seen improving ties and also deepening security cooperation with the United States amid concerns over China's growing regional influence. Beijing has previously warned that U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with South Korea and Japan could increase tension and confrontation in the region.

Persons: Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim Keon, Issei Kato, Hyonhee, Ed Davies, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Tokyo International, REUTERS, Rights, Sunday, South Korean, South, Thomson Locations: Korean, Tokyo, Japan, Rights SEOUL, South Korea, China, Busan, United States, Beijing, North Korea

☆ Some Migrants Are Swapping Their American Dream for a Mexican One
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

So when Banegas fled gang threats in Honduras once more in 2021, he set his sights not on the United States, but Mexico. He gets along with his Mexican coworkers, he said, and he's proud his six-month-old son, David, is a Mexican citizen. The vast majority of migrants who enter Mexico continue north toward the U.S., posing challenges for the Biden administration. U.S., Mexican and U.N. officials have called for regional cooperation to help migrants resettle in places such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia, aiming to reduce illegal migration to the U.S. (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City and Laura Gottesdiener in Saltillo; Editing by Christian Plumb and Suzanne Goldenberg)

Persons: Laura Gottesdiener, Beth Solomon, Walter Banegas, Banegas, Long, he's, David, Biden, Giovanni Lepri, Arturo Rocha, Jose Medina Mora, Fernando Hernandez, Kaitlyn, Hernandez, Daina Beth Solomon, Christian Plumb, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: United, Pace Industries, UNHCR, U.S, ASK Locations: Beth Solomon SALTILLO, Mexico, Mexican, Saltillo, Honduran, Honduras, United States, United Nations, Michigan, U.S, Haiti, Venezuela, El Salvador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Texas, Monterrey, Chang's, Mexico City

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Leaders Retreat during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Loren Elliott Acquire Licensing RightsSAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday urged Asia-Pacific economies to work together to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) brings change for the better, not to abuse workers or limit potential. Addressing the final session of a two-day summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco, Biden said he had briefly discussed AI with Chinese President Xi Jinping in talks on the sidelines of APEC on Wednesday. The steps, he said, included committing to ensuring the security of AI systems before releasing them to the public, watermarking AI-generated content to show it has been generated by artificial intelligence and minimizing the risk AI systems posed to society, such as by promoting bias or discrimination. Meanwhile, Washington was expanding grants for AI research in key areas like healthcare and climate change, he said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Loren Elliott, Biden, Xi Jinping, we've, Xi, David Brunnstrom, Don Durfee, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Economic Cooperation, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Asia, APEC, Wednesday, Thomson Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California, U.S, Pacific, San Francisco, United States, Washington

☆ A Tangle of Rules to Protect America’s Water Is Falling Short
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Dionne Searcey | Delger Erdenesanaa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +18 min

UNCHARTED WATERS A Tangle of Rules to Protect America’s Water Is Falling Short The Times asked all 50 states how they manage groundwater. California’s State Water Resources Control Board provides a list of some 85 firms that help clients who have questions about water rights there. Irrigated acres 0 10 100 200 thousand 1987 2017 MISSOURI MISSOURI ARKANSAS ARKANSAS MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI LOUISIANA LOUISIANA Irrigated acres 0 10 100 200 thousand 1987 2017 MISSOURI MISSOURI ARKANSAS ARKANSAS MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI LOUISIANA LOUISIANA Irrigated acres 0 10 100 200 thousand 1987 2017 MISSOURI MISSOURI ARKANSAS ARKANSAS MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI LOUISIANA LOUISIANA Irrigated acres 0 10 100 200 thousand 1987 2017 MO. “When Tennessee pumps groundwater, it is pumping water located within its own territory,” the 2021 ruling said. One practical problem The Times’s research identified is that state water authorities are often small operations relative to their sprawling responsibilities and the growing danger of aquifer damage.

Persons: don’t, Matthew Staver, ”, Christopher Neel, Chris Scheuring, Reba Epler, Mira Rojanasakul, “ We’re, Andrew Sheeley, Mike Parson, Jeff Roberson, Dave Owen, Ron Wyden, who’s, “ We’ve, Ryan Gordon, Mark Rogers, Gabriel Eckstein, Jeremy Manley, Cody Smith, Jake Parrish, Sharon Megdal, Elizabeth Cisar, “, ’, Dr, Gordon, Ariz, Rebecca Noble Organizations: Times, MISSOURI TEXAS, VERMONT, New York Times, The New York Times, Oklahoma Water Resources Board, California Farm Bureau, Nationwide, Arup, Water Resources Control, Congress, MISSOURI MISSOURI ARKANSAS, Missouri Department of Natural, Associated Press, UC Law San, Energy, Power, WASHINGTON, Maine Geological Survey, United States Geological Survey, United States Supreme, Associated, Texas, M University, Staff, State Engineer’s Office, Yakima Herald -, Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona, Joyce Foundation, The New York Locations: America’s, . TEXAS MISSOURI VERMONT, MISSOURI, MISSOURI TEXAS VERMONT, VERMONT, TEXAS MISSOURI, MISSOURI TEXAS, Oklahoma, Kansas, . Oklahoma, California, American, Wyoming, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Great, Mississippi, Missouri , Arkansas, Louisiana, MISSOURI MISSOURI ARKANSAS ARKANSAS MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI LOUISIANA LOUISIANA, . LA, LA, Missouri, Missouri Department of Natural Resources . Missouri, Ozark, States, Kentucky, Vermont, Oregon, In Texas, United States, WASHINGTON ARKANSAS, ARKANSAS WASHINGTON, Maine, Tennessee, Memphis, Muleshoe , Texas, When Tennessee, Minnesota, Blaine, ’, Laramie County, Sunnyside, Wash, Yakima, Yakima Herald - Republic, Colorado, Maryland, In Illinois, Illinois, ”, Arizona, Phoenix, In Kansas, Washington, Hope

☆ Peace talks in the Middle East will take time to resume, World Bank chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

MARRAKESH, MOROCCO - OCTOBER 13: Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, speaks during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco on October 13, 2023. Ajay Banga told CNBC that the onset of the Israel-Hamas war has thrown nascent normalization talks off course, making regional cooperation much more difficult. The president of the World Bank on Tuesday said that it will be some time before progress toward a more peaceful Middle East can resume in earnest. Banga was speaking at the Future Investment Initiative Institute conference in Riyadh, where business leaders are gathered to discuss economic and investment prospects of the Middle East region. The World Bank chief said that the conflict could have ramifications not only for the region, but also for the wider global economy — most notably for energy markets.

Persons: Ajay Banga, Abu Adem Muhammed, Banga, CNBC's Dan Murphy, I'm, Kristalina Georgieva Organizations: World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, Anadolu, Getty, CNBC, World Bank, Future Investment Initiative Institute, Palestinian, Israel Locations: MARRAKESH, MOROCCO, Marrakesh, Morocco, Israel, Riyadh, East, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Banga, Russia, Ukraine

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives U.S. President Joe Biden at Al Salman Palace upon his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 15, 2022. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took his first phone call from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as Riyadh tries to prevent a broader surge in violence across the region. "Normalisation was already considered taboo (in the Arab world) ... this war only amplifies that," Saudi analyst Aziz Alghashian said. Asked about Raisi's call with the crown prince, a senior U.S. State Department official said Washington was in "constant contact with Saudi leaders". "The Saudis are still convinced the region, and Saudi Arabia itself, needs to shift toward regional cooperation and economic development.

Persons: Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Joe Biden, Ebrahim Raisi, Israel, Normalisation, Aziz Alghashian, Abraham, Jake Sullivan, Washington, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Raisi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Antony Blinken, Alex Vatanka, Aziz El Yaakoubi, Matt Spetalnick, Humeyra Pamuk, Tom Perry, Michael Georgy, Edmund Blair Organizations: Al, Saudi Royal Court, REUTERS, U.S, Hamas, normalisation, Saudi, Abraham Accords, United Arab Emirates, U.S . National Security, White, Saudi Foreign, Reuters, U.S . State Department, Middle East Institute, Thomson Locations: Saudi, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Bandar, Iran RIYADH, Israel, Palestinian, Iran, Riyadh, U.S, East, Gaza, Gulf, Iranian, Palestine, Yemen, Lebanese, Tehran, Washington

☆ Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon falls 66% in August
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In the first eight months of the year, INPE's figures showed, deforestation has fallen a cumulative 48% from the same period of 2022. Brazil last month hosted a major rainforest summit, where eight Amazon nations agreed to a list of unified environmental policies and measures to bolster regional cooperation but failed to agree on a common goal for ending deforestation. "We are experiencing a new moment, with more assertive policies and greater political will in favor of the Amazon," WWF-Brasil's director, Mariana Napolitano, said. But more is still needed, including traceability and transparency in the trade of livestock, gold and other commodities, she added. Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Peter Frontini; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bruno Kelly, Marina Silva, INPE, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula, Bolsonaro, Mariana Napolitano, Gabriel Araujo, Peter Frontini, Jonathan Oatis, Sandra Maler Organizations: REUTERS, Environment Ministry, Thomson Locations: Uruara, Para, Brazil

BELEM, Brazil, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Eight Amazon nations agreed to a list of unified environmental policies and measures to bolster regional cooperation at a major rainforest summit in Brazil on Tuesday, but failed to agree on a common goal for ending deforestation. The failure of the eight Amazon countries to agree on a pact to protect their own forests points to the larger, global difficulties of forging an agreement to combat climate change. Bolivia and Venezuela are the only Amazon countries not to sign onto a 2021 agreement among more than 100 countries to work toward halting deforestation by 2030. But tensions emerged in the lead up to the summit around diverging positions on deforestation and oil development. Fellow Amazon countries also rebuffed Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro's ongoing campaign to end new oil development in the Amazon.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Marcio Astrini, Lula, Luis Arce, Mauro Vieira, Ricardo Stuckert, Gustavo Petro's, Petro, Alexandre Silveira, Silveira, Jake Spring, Steven Grattan, Brad Haynes, Rosalba O'Brien, Jason Neely, Peter Graff, Aurora Ellis, Richard Chang Organizations: Climate, Reuters, Bolivian, Brazil's, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, REUTERS, Amazon, Brazil's Energy, United Nations, Thomson Locations: BELEM, Brazil, Brazilian, Belem, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela

[1/2] Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meets with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (not pictured) before a summit with presidents of South America to discuss the re-launching of the regional cooperation bloc UNASUR, in Brasilia, Brazil, May 29, 2023. "We won't decide anything at tomorrow's meeting, it is just about discussing possibilities," Lula told a news conference on Monday with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, on his first visit to Brazil in eight years. Lula said the leaders did not have to recreate a new Unasur but could come up with a different sort of organization. Maduro is hoping the South American countries will unite in calling on the United States to lift its sanctions against Venezuela, which he and Lula assailed at their news conference. "The aim of this initiative is to unite all the countries of the region once again," she told reporters on Friday.

☆ Venezuela's Maduro meets Lula on first visit to Brazil since 2015
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Brazil's former hard-right President Jair Bolsonaro had banned Maduro from entering Brazil when he took office in 2019, a measure that Lula lifted when he returned to power this year. Lula and Maduro met at the presidential palace and were scheduled to sign agreements in the early afternoon. Among the issues on their agenda was a large debt Venezuela has run up with Brazil's National Development Bank, Brazilian officials said. Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad was due to meet with Maduro and Lula, they added, and the president of state-run oil company Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates. The organization floundered when several South American countries elected right-wing governments, creating diplomatic fissures on the continent.

☆ China-Central Asia Summit: Ukraine war weakens Russian influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Xi will present visiting Central Asian leaders with “a series of proposals” on the long-term development of ties and sign agreements, Chinese officials said this week. It is “of great interest to Central Asia nowadays to cooperate with China as one of its important alternative markets,” he added. However, Khitakhunov said, Central Asian leaders would be just as keen to have discussions about trade, investment and joint projects with Western players like the European Union. Central Asian countries have also seen and cracked down on popular protests and unrest in recent years. Like China, Central Asia leaders have typically avoided condemning Russia in forums like the UN, for example abstaining on major General Assembly resolutions calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.

☆ Pacific meetings, defence pact, to go ahead in Papua without Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Biden had been expected to meet with 18 leaders from the region's main bloc, the Pacific Islands Forum, and sign a defence cooperation agreement with PNG on Monday. PNG Prime Minister James Marape is expected to announce details of the defence pact with the United States on Thursday, his office told Reuters. Fiji said Pacific leaders would hold discussions with Modi on regional cooperation. The chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, said the regional meeting had originally been organised between the Pacific countries and India, and his plans to travel to PNG were unchanged. Biden will arrange another summit of Pacific island leaders this year after the disappointment caused by his cancellation of the PNG visit, his national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday.

☆ Probe of OAS chief draws members' push for ethics reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Matt Spetalnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The OAS Permanent Council approved the document by consensus, but Mexico took the opportunity to criticize Secretary General Luis Almagro, saying he should have resigned and could not be trusted. The findings of the probe, launched late last year following a whistleblower's complaint, were laid out in a 121-page report distributed to member-states on Monday. It was founded 75 years ago to promote regional cooperation, but in recent years has struggled with ideological divisions among its 34 members. The resolution called on OAS officers to present "proposals for the further updating of the Code of Ethics and the Staff Regulations of the Organization." Luz Elena Banos Rivas, Mexico's OAS ambassador and a frequent critic of Almagro, said he should have resigned after admitting to the relationship.

☆ Israel refills the Sea of Galilee, supplying Jordan on the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Ari Rabinovitch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A bay at the Sea of Galilee can be seen in northern Israel, January 23, 2023. The Sea of Galilee, whose waters Christians believe Jesus walked upon, is Israel's main reservoir and a big tourist draw. It feeds the Jordan River that flows south to the Dead Sea. The national water carrier is empty at the moment, undergoing seasonal repairs and upgrades. At one junction in northern Israel, engineers work on a pipe more than large enough for them to stand inside.

His centre-left Social Democrats, the Greens and liberal Free Democrats, have had to wrangle to reach compromises, sometimes delaying decisions. Some European allies say the focus on domestic challenges and internal politicking have distracted Berlin from regional cooperation and especially the key German-French motor that traditionally drives the European Union. Relief measures worth hundreds of billions of euros have helped Scholz's coalition stave off serious social unrest due to soaring energy prices in the wake of the Ukraine war, but recent polls suggest it has lost its majority. MIXED MESSAGESTo be sure, Germany's allies have welcomed the Zeitenwende after years of warning the country of complacency on security. The government may for example not reach the NATO spending goal until 2025, a spokesman said this week.

☆ Colombia wants Biden admin. to grant temporary legal status to its citizens in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia wants the Biden administration to grant temporary legal status to its citizens now living in the United States, noting its own efforts to address regional migration by hosting 2 million Venezuelans who fled their homes. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, he asks President Joe Biden to grant Colombians already in the U.S. a form of temporary status called Deferred Enforced Departure. It is unclear how many Colombians are living in the United States without legal status. Murillo Urritia said there are nearly 2 million Colombians living in the United States, without elaborating on their immigration status. The Biden administration has extended temporary status for some countries and added Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Cameroon and Venezuela, reversing a Trump-era trend to cut back on protections for those already in the United States.

It was in China's interest to make its "best efforts" to induce North Korea to denuclearise, he said. North Korea's tests overshadowed multiple gatherings this month of international leaders, including the Group of 20 conference in Bali, where Yoon pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations. China is South Korea's largest trading partner, as well as a close partner of North Korea. South Korea, Japan, and the United States have agreed to share real time information for tracking North Korean ballistic missile tests. Now Japan faced more and more threats from North Korea’s missile programme, including tests that overfly Japanese islands, Yoon said.

Lula's team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That includes pushing for rich nations with high greenhouse gas emissions to pay poor nations for historic damage the climate. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow for renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change. Lula environmental advisor Izabella Teixeira said she felt the mood about Brazil has shifted at COP27 from previous summits. "When I come to COP and meet people after the election of President Lula, there is hope," she said.

An EU official said Lula would also meet on Wednesday with EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans. Last month, Lula defeated right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who oversaw mounting destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to host the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil. His team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. They said other countries know Brazil will soon have a Lula government that has promised to take the issue more seriously than Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change.

☆ Biden says won't veer into conflict with China, as first summit ends in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Addressing the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, Biden said the United States would compete with China and speak out over its human rights record, but stressed the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait and ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. On China, Biden told the summit that "the United States will compete vigorously.... while keeping lines of communication open and ensuring competition does not veer into conflict," the White House said in a statement. Eighteen countries accounting for half the global economy attended Sunday's East Asia Summit, including the ASEAN nations, Japan, South Korea, China, India, the United States, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. "The United States and its NATO allies are trying to master this space," Lavrov told a news conference in Phnom Penh. Like ally the United States, Australia's ties with China have also deteriorated in recent years.

☆ Russia's Lavrov says West seeking to militarise southeast Asia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday said the West was "militarising" southeast Asia in a bid to contain Russian and Chinese interests, setting the stage for a confrontation between Russia and Western leaders at the G20 summit in Bali. Lavrov will head Russia's delegation to the summit - the first such meeting since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February - after the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was too busy to attend. "The United States and its NATO allies are trying to master this space," Lavrov told reporters. Putin portrays Russia and China as the leaders of a global rebellion against the post-Soviet global dominance of the United States and the West. The United States casts China and Russia as the two main global threats.

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