Brazil President Lula says G20 to debate more representative global institutions
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday urged the international community to work for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and called for better representation in global institutions like the United Nations.
Speaking at a preparatory meeting of sherpas ahead of the November G20 meeting that Brazil will host, Lula said Brazil will continue to work for a permanent ceasefire that allows humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas.
“It is essential that the international community works towards a two-state solution, living side by side in security,” he said.
Lula said the G20 group of the world’s top economies is currently the political and economic forum with the greatest capacity to positively influence the international agenda in a world marked by the resurgence of conflicts, the emergence of protectionist blocs and environmental destruction.
“We want to seriously confront the debate about the anachronism of global governance institutions, which no longer have representation,” he said, referring to the five-member permanent U.N. Security Council create din 1945.
Lula called for reform of multilateral financial institutions so debtor nations are better represented and suggested looking at international taxation mechanisms to help finance development.
Brazil’s priorities as G20 president over the next 11 months will be the fight against hunger and poverty in the world, the promotion of sustainable development and the reform of global governance institutions, he said.
Reporting by Lisandra Paragguassu and Anthony Boadle, editing by Christina Fincher, William Maclean
In a striking reminiscent event from the past, the Indian Parliament experienced a notable security breach on Wednesday, precisely 22 years after the distressing attack of December 13, 2001 Indian Parliament Turmoil
NEW DELHI – On Wednesday, a significant security breach occurred in India’s lower house of parliament when two unidentified individuals stormed the premises, coinciding with the anniversary of a deadly attack on the complex over two decades ago.
Sansad TV, the official parliamentary channel, broadcast live footage revealing one man vaulting over tables and dashing toward the speaker’s chair, prompting chaos among lawmakers attempting to restrain him. Simultaneously, another individual in the visitor’s gallery was observed releasing yellow smoke within the building.
In response to the disturbance, the parliamentary session was briefly adjourned as lawmakers evacuated the premises. Meanwhile, outside the building, two additional individuals were apprehended while chanting slogans, surrounded by the presence of law enforcement.
Upon the resumption of parliament, Om Birla, the speaker of the lower house, informed lawmakers that all four individuals had been arrested, and their possessions seized. Opposition lawmakers expressed grave concerns about the breach, with Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of India’s primary opposition Congress party, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. He questioned how two individuals managed to breach the elaborate security measures in place.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India honored the individuals who lost their lives in the aforementioned incident.
“Today, we commemorate and extend sincere tributes to the courageous security personnel who sacrificed their lives in the Parliament attack of 2001. Their valor and dedication in the midst of peril will remain indelibly etched in our nation’s collective memory,” he expressed on X.
In 2001, a devastating attack on the Indian Parliament claimed nine lives and left several others injured. The assailants, armed with AK-47 rifles, grenade launchers, pistols, and grenades, infiltrated security using a vehicle with counterfeit government labels. This act was attributed to the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba groups, both recognized as terrorist organizations by the United States. The attack had far-reaching consequences, contributing to heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in 2001.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali ends after 10 years, following the junta’s pressure to go
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The United Nations ended its 10-year peacekeeping mission in Mali on Monday following the government’s request that alleged the force was inadequate to respond to growing violent extremism in the West African nation.
“The Malian terrain was vast and difficult,” the commander of the 13,000-strong force, Maj. Gen. Mamadou Gaye, told the closing ceremony in Bamako, the capital.
The U.N. effort in Mali has been the deadliest peacekeeping mission in the world, with more than 300 personnel killed.
Landlocked Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in northern cities the following year with the help of a French-led military operation. But rebels regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies — which soon included the U.N. force.
In June, however, Mali’s junta asked the U.N. mission to leave, claiming that its “future outlook doesn’t seem to respond to the security needs” of the country. The French force left last year under pressure from the junta.
Gaye, the U.N. mission commander, expressed confidence in Mali’s security forces to resolve the security crisis.
“It’s been a very positive mission which, when all is said and done, has given us a great deal of satisfaction, even if we’d like to do more with the limited resources we have,” he said.
But many in Mali have said the peacekeeping force has brought no stability, especially in the north where rebels are fighting to expand the territories they control.
Mahamadou Bassirou Tangara, a security analyst and researcher with the Conflict Research Network West Africa, said although the peacekeepers were not successful in helping to recover lost territories, they were able to improve the capacity of Malian security forces to tackle the crisis.
“MINUSMA (the mission) was here not to fight but to be a kind of bridge between the national army and some of the rebels” in the pursuit of peace, Tangara said.
There are growing concerns that U.N. peacekeeping operations are increasingly becoming unwelcome in parts of Africa, where a majority of the missions operate. In September, Congo requested the withdrawal of the U.N. mission trying to contain violence in the country’s east.
Last week, the U.N.’s top peacekeeping official defended the organization’s missions worldwide but noted limited funds to finance operations.
___
Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria contributed
Putin visits a shipyard to oversee the commissioning of new Russian nuclear submarines
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday traveled to a shipyard to attend the commissioning of new nuclear submarines, a visit that showcased the country’s nuclear might amid the fighting in Ukraine.
Putin’s trip to the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk in Russia’s northwestern Archangelsk region comes three days after he declared his intention to seek another six-year term.
Putin announced his decision to run in the March 17 presidential election, which he is all but certain to win, while speaking to soldiers who fought in Ukraine after a Kremlin award ceremony — a setting that underlined his focus on the military action in Ukraine.
Monday’s visit to Sevmash, where Putin oversaw raising the navy’s flag on the newly built Emperor Alexander III and the Krasnoyarsk nuclear submarines, also appeared to emphasize his focus on bolstering Russia’s nuclear forces amid the tensions with the U.S. and other NATO allies over Ukraine.
Putin has cast his decision to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 as a response to what he described as Western efforts to threaten Russia and undermine its security, while Ukraine and its allies have denounced the action as an unprovoked act of aggression.
Speaking at the shipyard, Putin pledged to carry out plans to modernize the Russian navy.
The Emperor Alexander III is the seventh Borei-class atomic-powered submarine to enter service. Each of them is armed with 16 nuclear-tipped Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Putin announced that three more such submarines are under construction. They are part of Russia’s nuclear triad, which also includes land-based nuclear missiles and nuclear-armed strategic bombers.
The Krasnoyarsk is a nuclear-powered submarine of the new Yasen type. It’s armed with cruise missiles and torpedoes, and is designed to hunt for enemy submarines and is also capable of attacking ground targets. Putin said that another five Yasen-class submarines are being built.
At Sevmash, Putin also visited the Admiral Kasatonov frigate of Russia’s Northern Fleet, one of the most advanced ships of the Russian navy that is armed with new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.
In inaugural speech, Argentina’s Javier Milei prepares nation for painful shock adjustment
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — It wasn’t the most uplifting of inaugural addresses. Rather, Argentina’s newly empowered President Javier Milei presented figures to lay bare the scope of the nation’s economic “emergency,” and sought to prepare the public for a shock adjustment with drastic public spending cuts.
Milei said in his address to thousands of supporters in the capital, Buenos Aires, that the country doesn’t have time to consider other alternatives.
“We don’t have margin for sterile discussions. Our country demands action, and immediate action,” he said. “The political class left the country at the brink of its biggest crisis in history. We don’t desire the hard decisions that will need to be made in coming weeks, but lamentably they didn’t leave us any option.”
South America’s second largest economy is suffering 143% annual inflation, the currency has plunged and four in 10 Argentines are impoverished. The nation has a yawning fiscal deficit, a trade deficit of $43 billion, plus a daunting $45 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund, with $10.6 billion due to the multilateral and private creditors by April.
“There’s no money,” is Milei’s common refrain. He repeated it Sunday to explain why a gradualist approach to the situation, which would require financing, was not an option.
But he promised the adjustment would almost entirely affect the state rather than the private sector, and that it represented the first step toward regaining prosperity.
“We know that in the short term the situation will worsen, but soon we will see the fruits of our effort, having created the base for solid and sustainable growth,” he said.
Milei, a 53-yearold economist, rose to fame on television with profanity-laden tirades against what he called the political caste. He parlayed his popularity into a congressional seat and then, just as swiftly, into a presidential run. The overwhelming victory of the self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” in the August primaries sent shock waves through the political landscape and upended the race.
Argentines disillusioned with the economic status quo proved receptive to an outsider’s outlandish ideas to remedy their woes and transform the nation. He won the election’s Nov. 19 second round decisively — and sent packing the Peronist political force that dominated Argentina for decades. Still, he is likely to encounter fierce opposition from the Peronist movement’s lawmakers and the unions it controls, whose members have said they refuse to lose wages.
Earlier on Sunday, Milei was sworn in inside the National Congress building, and outgoing President Alberto Fernández placed the presidential sash upon him. Some of the assembled lawmakers chanted “Liberty!”
Afterward, he broke tradition by delivering his inaugural address not to assembled lawmakers but to his supporters gathered outside — with his back turned to the legislature. He blamed the outgoing government for putting Argentina on the path toward hyperinflation while the economy stagnated, saying the political class “has ruined our lives.”
“In the last 12 years, GDP per capita fell 15% in a context in which we accumulated 5,000% inflation. As such, for more than a decade we have lived in stagflation. This is the last rough patch before starting the reconstruction of Argentina,” he said. “It won’t be easy; 100 years of failure aren’t undone in a day. But it begins in a day, and today is that day.”
Given the general bleakness of Milei’s message, the crowd listened attentively and cheered only occasionally. Many waved Argentine flags and, to a lesser extent, the yellow Gadsden flag that is often associated with the U.S. libertarian right and which Milei and his supporters have adopted.
“Economically, we are just like every Argentine, trying to make it to the end of the month,” said Wenceslao Aguirre, one of Milei’s supporters. “It’s been a very complicated situation. We hope this will change once and for all.”
As Milei takes office, the nation wonders which version of him will govern: the chainsaw-wielding, anti-establishment crusader from the campaign trail, or the more moderate president-elect who emerged in recent weeks.
As a candidate, Milei pledged to purge the political establishment of corruption, eliminate the Central Bank he has accused of printing money and fueling inflation, and replace the rapidly depreciating peso with the U.S. dollar.
But after winning, he tapped Luis Caputo, a former Central Bank president, to be his economy minister and one of Caputo’s allies to helm the bank, appearing to have put his much-touted plans for dollarization on hold.
FILE – Supporters of presidential candidate Javier Milei gather outside his campaign headquarters after his opponent conceded defeat in the presidential runoff election, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 19, 2023. Milei will be inaugurated as the new president of Argentina on Sunday, Dec. 10. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Milei had cast himself as a willing warrior against the creep of global socialism, much like former U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he openly admires. But when Milei traveled to the U.S. last week, he didn’t visit Mar-a-Lago; rather, he took lunch with another former U.S. leader, Bill Clinton.
He also dispatched a diplomat with a long history of work in climate negotiations to the ongoing COP28 conference in Dubai, Argentine newspaper La Nacion reported, despite having insistently rejected humanity’s involvement in global warming. And he backtracked on plans to scrap the nation’s health ministry.
And during his inaugural address, he directed some comments to the political class, saying that he has no intention to “persecute anyone or settle old vendettas,” and that any politician or union leader who wants to support his project will be “received with open arms.”
His moderation may stem from pragmatism, given the scope of the immense challenge before him, his political inexperience and need to sew up alliances with other parties to implement his agenda in Congress, where his party is a distant third in number of seats held.
He chose Patricia Bullrich, a longtime politician and first-round adversary from the coalition with the second most seats, to be his security minister, as well as her running mate, Luis Petri, as his defense minister.
Still, there are signs that Milei has not given up his radical plans to dismantle the state. Already he has said he will eliminate multiple ministries, including those of culture, environment, women, and science and technology. He wants to meld the ministries of social development, labor and education together under a single ministry of human capital.
Following his inaugural address, Milei traveled in a convertible to the presidential palace. Later on Sunday he is scheduled to swear in his ministers and meet with foreign dignitaries.
Prominent far-right figures will be among them: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán; the head of Spain’s Vox party, Santiago Abascal; former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Bolsonaro-allied lawmakers, including his son.
Milei reportedly sent a letter inviting Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after calling the leftist “obviously” corrupt last month during a televised interview and asserting that, if he became president, the two would not meet.
Lula dispatched his foreign minister to attend Milei’s inauguration.
Also joining was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made his first visit to Latin America as Kyiv continues to court support among developing nations for its 21-month-old fight against Russia’s invading forces. Zelenskyy and Milei shared a close exchange just before the inaugural address and held a bilateral meeting later in the day.
___
Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro. AP writer Almudena Calatrava contributed from Buenos Aires.
Voter turnout plunges below 30% in Hong Kong election after rules shut out pro-democracy candidates
HONG KONG (AP) — Voter turnout plunged below 30% in Hong Kong’s first district council elections since new rules introduced under Beijing’s guidance effectively shut out all pro-democracy candidates, setting a record low since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
According to official data on Monday, 27.5% of the city’s 4.3 million registered voters cast ballots in Sunday’s polls — significantly less than the record 71.2% who participated in the last elections held at the height of anti-government protests in 2019. The pro-democracy camp won those polls in a landslide victory, in a clear rebuke of the government’s handling of the protests.
Beijing loyalists are expected to take control of the district councils after Sunday’s elections, with results showing big pro-government parties winning most directly elected seats.
“The newly elected district councilors come from diverse backgrounds,” Hong Kong leader John Lee said. “They will make the work in the districts more multidimensional … better aligning with the interests of the citizens.”
The district councils, which primarily handle municipal matters such as organizing construction projects and public facilities, were Hong Kong’s last major political bodies mostly chosen by the public.
But under new electoral rules introduced under a Beijing order that only “patriots” should administer the city, candidates must secure endorsements from at least nine members of government-appointed committees that are mostly packed with Beijing loyalists, making it virtually impossible for any pro-democracy candidates to run.
An amendment passed in July also slashed the proportion of directly elected seats from about 90% to about 20%.
Many prominent pro-democracy activists have also been arrested or have fled the territory after Beijing imposed a harsh national security law in response to the 2019 protests.
Critics say the low voter turnout reflects the public sentiment toward the “patriots” only system and the government’s crackdown on dissent.
The previous record low for participation in the council elections since the handover to Chinese rule was 35.8% in 1999.
The electoral changes further narrowed political freedoms in the city, following a separate overhaul for the legislature in 2021. Following those changes, turnout in the last legislative election two years ago plunged to 30% from 58% in 2016.
Lee on Sunday said the council elections were the “last piece of the puzzle” in implementing the principle of “patriots” administering the city.
Beijing’s top office for Hong Kong affairs on Monday said the council elections helped promote the “enhancement of democracy.”
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the Chinese government believed the newly elected members would be able to “serve as a good link” between the city’s government and the people of Hong Kong.
Government officials have downplayed turnout as a measure of the overhaul’s success, but stepped up efforts to promote the polls. Lee’s administration held carnivals, an outdoor concert and offered free admission to some museums to encourage voting.
Kenneth Chan, professor at Hong Kong Baptist University’s government and international studies department, said the low turnout was not the result of political apathy or a coordinated boycott, but rather “a widespread political disengagement by design” under the revised rules, with most people understanding that they were “disinvited.”
“The record low turnout must be hugely humiliating for the government and its allies given the unprecedented propaganda campaigns and ubiquitous mobilization,” he said.
John Burns, an honorary professor of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong, said a turnout of about 28% indicated a “lack of legitimacy” for the elections and the new councils to some extent.
Burns anticipated the “narrow range of patriots” in the new councils were likely to consult like-minded people, and that might keep the government out of touch with people’s true concerns and opinions.
“This can lead to instability,” he said. “It can lead to a government not understanding people’s expectations when it makes policy. The government needs the active cooperation of all citizens to implement policies.”
Sunday’s elections were extended by 1.5 hours because of a failure in the electronic voter registration system. Multiple politicians said the glitch would affect their chances of winning because some residents gave up voting before authorities implemented a contingency plan.
David Lok, chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, refused to comment on the turnout and said it was unclear whether some voters were unable to cast ballots due to the system failure.
“I can’t rule out this possibility,” he said. “If they can’t vote due to our errors, I feel remorseful.”
Leaders of Guyana and Venezuela to meet this week as region worries over their territorial dispute
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — As the leaders of Guyana and Venezuela prepare to meet this week to address an escalating dispute over a region rich in oil and minerals, Guyana’s president said he is coming with “goodwill’ but insisted that his country be respected and the case be heard at the International Court of Justice.
President Irfaan Ali spoke to reporters late Sunday, while his security detail wore shirts reading “ESSEQUIBO BELONGS TO GUYANA.”
The dispute over Essequibo, which represents two-thirds of Guyana and borders Venezuela, worsened after Venezuela held a referendum earlier this month on whether to claim sovereignty over the region located near massive oil deposits.
Venezuela maintains that Essequibo was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and it rejects the border drawn by international arbitrators in 1899 when Guyana was under British rule.
Guyana’s president is scheduled to meet Thursday with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro behind closed doors on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent. Invited to the talks are leaders including Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva.
“We are very confident that good sense will prevail,” Ali said. “We want peace, but we must be respected.”
He stressed that Guyana will not negotiate with Venezuela, insisting that the case be heard by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands as planned.
“The world is behind us,” he said.
When asked if the U.S. has committed any military aid, Ali said he signed an advanced defense agreement with the U.S. to ensure that “major training programs and exercises” will continue.
“We also are talking to many other partners,” he said, without details. “We don’t want any conflict. We don’t want any war.”
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told reporters Monday that “any decision must be mutual” and asserted that the dispute cannot be settled by the world’s court. He characterized the scheduled meeting as a “profound success” for Maduro, arguing that the Venezuelan president has long insisted on the need for dialogue between the countries.
In a video posted Sunday on social media, Gil said he met with his counterpart in Guyana and noted, “We are always in favor of dialogue between both countries to solve this controversy.”
Gil said he also has met with the presidents of CELAC — the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States — and Caricom, a Caribbean trade bloc.
In a statement Saturday, Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said the leaderships of CELAC and Caricom believe there is “the urgent need to de-escalate the conflict and institute an appropriate dialogue.”
Gonsalves noted that Ali agreed to discuss the controversy with Maduro despite Guyana’s Parliament unanimously instructing him not to do it.
“Let us all resolve to make this historic gathering a successful one,” Gonsalves said. “So much is at stake for our Caribbean and Latin American civilization.”
WHY IS THE BORDER UNDER DISPUTE?
Venezuela says it was the victim of a land theft conspiracy in 1899, when Guyana was a British colony and arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States decided the boundary. The U.S. represented Venezuela in part because the Venezuelan government had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain.
Days before Guyana Defence Force (GDF) helicopter wiThe Guyana Defence Force (GDF) minutes ago announced that it has lost contact with its GDF BELL 412 Helicopter (8R-AYA) approximately 30 miles east of Arau on the country’s western borders there were 3 crew members and 4 passengers were missing near Arau border.
___
Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela contributed.
Egyptians vote for president, with el-Sissi certain to win
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians began voting Sunday in a presidential election in which President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi faces no serious challenger and is certain to win another term, keeping him in power until 2030.
The election has been overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Almost all Egyptians’ attention has been on the war on their country’s eastern borders and the suffering of Palestinian civilians in the coastal enclave.
The three-day vote, beginning Sunday, is also taking place amid a staggering economic crisis in Egypt, a country of 105 million people in which nearly a third live in poverty, according to official figures. The crisis stems from mismanagement of the economy but also from the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, which rattled the global economy.
El-Sissi faces three other candidates: Farid Zahran, head of the opposition Social Democratic Party; Abdel-Sanad Yamama, chairman of Wafd Party; and Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party.
An ambitious young presidential hopeful, Ahmed Altantawy, dropped out of the race after he failed to secure the required signatures from residents to secure his candidacy. He blamed his failure on what he said was harassment by security agencies of his campaign staff and supporters.
El-Sissi voted at a polling center in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis as soon as the polls opened at 9 a.m. He made no comment before leaving the center.
Other candidates, also cast their ballots Sunday morning, including Zahran, who wore the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarf as he voted Sunday morning in a Cairo polling station, and Omar.
Local TV stations aired scenes outside polling centers, with women and children, mostly el-Sissi supporters, seen waving Egyptian flags.
The vote runs for three days, starting Sunday, with a runoff scheduled for Jan. 8-10 if no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, according to the National Election Authority, a judicial-chaired body that runs the electoral process.
Egyptian expatriates cast their ballots on Dec. 1-3.
Ahead of the vote, the interior ministry, which oversees police forces, deployed thousands of troops across the country to secure the election.
More than 67 million people are eligible to vote, and authorities are hoping for a high turnout to give the election legitimacy.
A career military officer, el-Sissi was first elected as president in mid-2014, a year after he, as defense minister, led the military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president amid widespread street protests against his one-year rule.
El-Sissi was reelected in 2018 for a second, four-year term. He faced only one challenger, a little-known politician who joined the race at the last minute to spare the government the embarrassment of a one-candidate election after several hopefuls were forced out or arrested.
In 2019, constitutional amendments, passed in a general referendum, added two years to el-Sissi’s second term, and allowed him to run for a third, six-year term.
Under his watch, authorities have launched a major crackdown on dissent. Thousands of government critics have been silenced or jailed, mainly Islamists but also prominent secular activists, including many of those behind the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The economy has become a headache for el-Sissi’s government which initiated an ambitious reform program in 2016. The program, supported by the International Monetary Fund, has aimed to reverse longstanding distortions in the country’s battered economy.
It included painful authority measures like subsidy cuts and the flotation of the local currency. In return, Egypt received a series of loans from the IMF, and recognition from the west.
However, such austerity measures sent prices soaring, exacting a heavy toll on ordinary Egyptians.
The war in Ukraine has added to the burdens as the Middle Eastern nation has run low on foreign currency needed to buy essentials like fuel and grain. Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer and has traditionally imported most of its grain from Ukraine and Russia.
Putin is visiting the UAE and Saudi Arabia, seeking to bolster Moscow’s Mideast clout
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in a lightning tour intended to raise Moscow’s profile as a Middle East power broker, even as his war in Ukraine grinds on.
Putin landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, that is hosting the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks. It was his first trip to the region since before the coronavirus pandemic and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at the start of his talks with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Putin offered to discuss energy cooperation, the conflict in the Middle East and the “Ukrainian crisis.” He praised the current state of Russia’s relations with the UAE and congratulated the country for hosting the COP28 climate talks.
Putin, who has limited his foreign travel since sending troops into invade Ukraine, visited China in October and made several trips to former Soviet nations in recent months. He faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over the war in Ukraine.
Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia has signed the ICC founding treaty, meaning they don’t face an obligation to detain Putin over the warrant accusing him of being personally responsible for the abductions of children from Ukraine during the war. Putin skipped a summit in South Africa amid speculation he could be arrested on arrival.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s foreign minister, met a smiling Putin after he bounded down the stairs of his presidential plane. Four Su-35 fighter jets of the Russian air force had escorted it all the way from Russia, landing at Abu Dhabi’s commercial airport, since Al-Dhafra Air Base is a major U.S. military hub in the region.
Although the UAE is a U.S. ally, it has close ties with Russia. It greeted Putin at Abu Dhabi’s Qasr al-Watan palace with a 21-gun salute and a flyby of UAE military jets trailing smoke in the colors of the Russian flag.
“I’m happy to meet you again,” Sheikh Mohammed said as he sat with Putin. He later issued a statement saying they discussed “the importance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to ensure stability and progress.”
The pageantry in the Emirates, which relies on the U.S. as its major security partner, highlights the UAE’s expansive business ties to Russia that have expanded since grinding Western sanctions targeted Moscow. Russian commentators have said the UAE is a key avenue for Russia to skirt the sanctions.
After Putin’s arrival in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman exchanged a strong handshake and smiles as they walked to their meeting.
Putin said Russia-Saudi relations have “reached a level they never saw before.” He declared that “it’s very important to exchange information and assessments of what’s going on in the region.”
Mohammed, in turn, noted Russian-Saudi cooperation had helped strengthen security in the Middle East, adding that “our future political interaction and cooperation will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the global situation.”
After talks involving officials from both countries, Putin and Mohammed also spoke one on one over dinner to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and “other sensitive issues on the international agenda,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are key participants in international efforts to negotiate a settlement to the Israel-Hamas war. Putin has close personal ties with both rulers.
Putin has sought to boost Russia’s profile as a power broker in the conflict in the Middle East and challenge Washington, casting the war as a failure of U.S. diplomacy. He has suggested Moscow could be a mediator, thanks to its friendly ties with both Israel and the Palestinians.
Putin is set to continue his diplomacy Thursday by hosting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the Kremlin.
The Israel-Hamas war remains a major concern for the Mideast, particularly the UAE, which reached a diplomatic recognition with Israel in 2020. Recent attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels also threatens commercial shipping in the Red Sea as Iran’s nuclear program continues its rapid advances since the collapse of the 2016 nuclear deal.
Russia is part of OPEC+, which is a group of cartel members and other nations that have managed production to try and boost crude oil prices. Last week, the group expanded some output cuts into next year and brought up-and-coming oil supplier Brazil into the fold. Benchmark Brent crude traded Wednesday around $77 a barrel, down from nearly $100 in September, over concerns about a weakening economy.
Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Putin and Mohammed discussed the cooperation under OPEC+ during Wednesday’s talks, noting their countries’ responsibility for stabilizing the global oil market.
Putin’s visit comes after a parade of Western leaders including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and others backing Ukraine spoke at COP28.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and U.S. Agency for International Development administrator Samantha Power made a point to tour Ukraine’s pavilion at COP28.
Speaking to journalists later, Kerry said after being asked about Putin: “Other than you’re mentioning him here, I’d sort of forgotten he might be coming to the region.”
“I think by virtue of what he’s done in Ukraine, his presence may encourage people to do what Europe has done, which is the most rapid move to a different kind of fuel as a result of his actions,” Kerry said. “He’s single handedly accelerated the transformation of Europe more than anybody else by weaponizing gas.”
Ukrainians on hand for the COP28 event expressed outrage over Putin being in the country at the same time they described him as committing environmental crimes in their country.
“It is extremely upsetting to see how the world treats war criminals, because that’s what he is, in my opinion,” said Marharyta Bohdanova, a worker at the Ukrainian pavilion at the COP28 climate summit, wiping away tears. “Seeing how people let people like him in the big events, … treating him like a dear guest, is just so hypocritical in my opinion.”
Tourists in France could be fined for smoking in public: Where else has strict laws on lighting up?
The country has just introduced a ban on smoking in some public areas as part of a comprehensive anti-tobacco plan.
PARIS (EURONEWS) – France has announced it is banning smoking on beaches as part of a wider campaign to help people quit.
By the first half of 2024, the four-year ‘plan anti-tabac’ will also see lighting up prohibited outside of schools and in government-owned forests and green areas.
There are already 7,200 tobacco-free zones in France designated by local councils. These include woodland in southern France which are at a high risk of wildfires.
Authorities have not yet released details on how the ban will be enforced and if fines will be issued for transgressors.
Which Latin Countries ban smoking in public places ?
Mexico bans smoking in all public places, Mexico has completely banned cigarette smoking in all public places – including at hotels and beaches.
Mexico isn’t the only country with strict smoking laws. Ireland, Greece, Hungary and Malta already have similar restrictions in place.
Last year, Costa Rica also banned smoking in all public places including bars, restaurants and bus stops. The rule of thumb is, if you are exposing a stranger to second-hand smoke, you probably can’t smoke there.
But even if smoking in public is legal, in many countries there are some specific areas where you could face a fine for lighting up.
Previously the smoking ban only applied to public transport, bars, workplaces and restaurants. From 15 January, the government has expanded the legislation to include all indoor and outdoor public spaces such as hotels, resorts, beaches, parks and anywhere that children might gather.
The only legal place to smoke tobacco in Mexico is inside private homes or private outdoor spaces.
The country now has one of the world’s strictest anti-tobacco laws. Tourists who smoke could face fines of between $50 and $300 (€46 and €277) for lighting up in public, according to Reuters. Those who refuse to cooperate with the ban could also face up to 36 hours in jail.
Regulations around electronic cigarettes and vapes have also been tightened. These devices can’t be imported, sold or used in public spaces in Mexico.
Last year, Costa Rica also banned smoking in all public places including bars, restaurants and bus stops. The rule of thumb is, if you are exposing a stranger to second-hand smoke, you probably can’t smoke there. But even if smoking in public is legal, in many countries there are some specific areas where you could face a fine for lighting up.
Some cities such as Barcelona have also banned smoking on beaches to stop cigarette butt littering. More than 100 of the country’s 3,514 beaches introduced a ban on 1 July last year including the Costa del Sol and Balearic islands.
The popular French Ski resort of Les Gets has also banned smoking from its entire communal area to keep cigarette butts from polluting the environment.
Which countries have strict laws for electronic cigarettes?
For anyone thinking they can get around restrictions by avoiding cigarettes, there are also destinations with strict rules in place for vapes and electronic cigarettes.
Vaping in public spaces is illegal in Colombia and Iran. In Turkey, it is illegal to purchase an e-cigarette. Possessing an e-cigarette in Singapore could land you a fine of $2,000 (€1395).
Australia requires you to have a prescription to have electronic cigarettes that contain nicotine – you could face huge fines if you are caught. Some states even give prison sentences for importing e-liquid with nicotine in it.
And some countries have also banned e-cigarettes and vapes entirely including Argentina, Brazil and Nepal. Vaping has been banned in Qatar since 2014 and breaking the law could land you with a fine of up to €2,467 or three months in prison.
Tourists using e-cigarettes in Thailand could also face up to 10 years in prison or fines of 30,000 baht (€836).
