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Jill Biden in UK for King Charles’ coronation, visits No. 10

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Jill Biden in UK for King Charles’ coronation, visits No. 10

Jill Biden in UK for King Charles’ coronation, visits No. 10

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has celebrated the athletic grit of wounded service members with Prince Harry, discussed the value of early childhood education with Princess Kate and sipped tea poured by Queen Elizabeth II.

Now the first lady is back in London for another royal engagement. President Joe Biden has dispatched his wife to represent the United States at Saturday’s coronation of King Charles III, the late queen’s eldest son. No American president has ever attended a British coronation.

While in London, she’s engaging in a bit of soft diplomacy before the big event. Her first stop in Friday’s drizzle was a familiar place: No. 10 Downing St., for her first meeting with Akshata Murty, the wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Murty greeted Biden with an embrace and a kiss on each cheek. “Welcome, welcome!” she said, before turning to shake hands with Finnegan Biden, one of the first lady’s granddaughters.

Afterward, Jill Biden and Murty met at the Downing Street residence with military veterans and their families participating in a health and wellness program.

The sun had come out by the time the pair arrived at the cafeteria at Charles Dickens Primary School in the Borough area of London to meet with students who were wearing golden paper crowns as they participated in coronation-related activities. She told them to “have fun tomorrow.”

The first lady will also visit the U.S. Embassy to greet staff before ending her day at a reception the king is hosting at Buckingham Palace.

On Saturday, Jill Biden will represent the United States at the coronation at Westminster Abbey, seated among several hundred heads of state, royals from other nations and other guests who were invited to watch Charles and his wife, Camilla, be crowned king and queen. Afterward, she will attend a reception hosted by U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley.

Jill Biden will also mingle at a luncheon Sunday hosted by Sunak and Murty at their Downing Street residence before her flight back to Washington.

President Biden has received some criticism for skipping the coronation, though the White House cites the precedent of a U.S. president never attending for his decision.

But the president and Charles are hardly strangers. They have chatted each other up at global climate events since Biden took office, and during the queen’s funeral last year. They also spoke in April when Biden called to say he was sending the first lady to the coronation, and the president expressed interest in meeting with the king in the United Kingdom at a future date, the White House said at the time.

First ladies often stand in for presidents when they can’t be present.

“I love seeing the first lady as our representative and I would have been thrilled for any first lady to attend,” said Lindsay Reynolds, who was first lady Melania Trump’s White House chief of staff. “I don’t think it is a slight in any way for the president to not be attending.”

Jill Biden was just 2 years old when Charles’ mother, Elizabeth, was crowned in June 1953. The queen held the throne for seven decades until her death last September at age 96.

The first lady tweeted before her flight Thursday that “it’s an honor to represent the United States for this historic moment and celebrate the special relationship between our countries.”

Most modern-era first ladies, including Jill Biden, have engaged with members of the British royal family because the late queen had met every American president since Eisenhower, except for Lyndon Johnson.

Biden was the 13th and final U.S. leader to meet the queen. They saw each other when he visited England in 2021 with his wife to participate in a Group of Seven world leader summit. At the time, the queen also invited the Bidens to have tea with her at Windsor Castle.

Jill Biden told The Associated Press in a telephone interview after the queen’s death that sitting in her living room was like being with one’s grandmother.

“And she said, ‘Let me pour the tea,’ and we said, ‘No, no, let us help,’ and she said ‘Oh, no, no, no, I’ll get this. You sit down,’” the first lady said. “And it was just a very special moment with a very special woman.”

During that trip, she and Prince William’s wife, Kate, met for the first time at a preschool in southwest England where they participated in a roundtable discussion on the role of early childhood education in life outcomes. They also learned about caring for bunny rabbits.

The first lady also has met William’s brother, Prince Harry, several times through their work and support of military veterans. She has joined Harry for the Invictus Games, an athletic competition he founded for wounded or sick military veterans.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Edit Shasi Kumar

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the AP NEWS. Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

 

King Charles’s coronation draws apathy, criticism in former colonies

Diplomat Times
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King Charles’s coronation draws apathy, criticism in former colonies

King Charles’s coronation draws apathy, criticism in former colonies

LONDON (AP) — When King Charles III is crowned on Saturday, soldiers carrying flags from the Bahamas, South Africa, Tuvalu and beyond will march alongside British troops in a spectacular military procession in honor of the monarch.

For some, the scene will affirm the ties that bind Britain and its former colonies. But for many others in the Commonwealth, a group of nations mostly made up of places once claimed by the British Empire, Charles’ coronation is seen with apathy at best.

In those countries, the first crowning of a British monarch in 70 years is an occasion to reflect on oppression and colonialism’s bloody past. The displays of pageantry in London will jar especially with growing calls in the Caribbean to sever all ties with the monarchy.

“Interest in British royalty has waned since more Jamaicans are waking to the reality that the survivors of colonialism and the holocaust of slavery are yet to receive reparatory justice,” the Rev. Sean Major-Campbell, an Anglican priest in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, said.

The coronation is “only relevant in so far as it kicks us in the face with the reality that our head of state is simply so by virtue of biology,” Major-Campbell added.

READ MORE : Queen Elizabeth II has died at 96. Here’s what happens next for the throne, currency, and more.

As British sovereign, Charles is also head of state of 14 other countries, though the role is largely ceremonial. These realms, which include Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, represent a minority of the Commonwealth nations: most of the 56 members are republics, even if some still sport the Union Jack on their flags.

Barbados was the most recent Commonwealth country to remove the British monarch as its head of state, replacing Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, with an elected president in 2021. The decision spurred similar republican movements in neighboring Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize.

Rosalea Hamilton, an advocate for changing Jamaica’s constitution to get rid of the royals, said she was organizing a coronation day forum to engage more Jamaicans in the process of political reform.

The timing of the event is meant to “signal to the head of state that the priority is to move away from his leadership, rather than focus on his coronation,” Hamilton said.

Two days ahead of Charles’ crowning, campaigners from 12 Commonwealth countries wrote to the monarch urging him to apologize for the legacies of British colonialism.

Among the signatories was Lidia Thorpe, an Australian senator, who said Thursday that Charles should “begin a process of repairing the damage of colonization, including returning the stolen wealth that has been taken from our people.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who will attend the coronation and join in an oath of allegiance to the king, favors ditching the monarchy, though he has ruled out holding a referendum during his currrent three-year term.

“I want to see an Australian as Australia’s head of state,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Buckingham Palace said last month that Charles supported research into the historical links between Britain’s monarchy and the transatlantic slave trade. The king takes the issue “profoundly seriously,” and academics will be given access to the royal collection and archives, the palace said.

In India, once the jewel of the British Empire, there’s scant media attention and very little interest in the coronation. Some people living in the country’s vast rural hinterlands may not have even heard of King Charles III.

“India has moved on,” and most Indians “have no emotional ties with the royal family,” Pavan K. Varma, a writer and former diplomat, said. Instead, the royals are seen more like amusing celebrities, he said.

And while the country still values its economic and cultural ties with the European country, Varma pointed out that India’s economy has overtaken the U.K.’s.

“Britain has shrunk globally into a medium-sized power,” he said. “This notion needs to be removed, that here is a former colony riveted to the television watching the coronation of Prince Charles. I don’t think this is happening in India.”

Since gaining independence in 1947, India has moved to shed the vestiges of British imperialism. The statue of King George V that used to stand near the India Gate monument in New Delhi was moved in the 1960s to Coronation Park. Once the scene of celebrations honoring Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and George V, the park is now a repository for representations of former monarchs and officials of the British Raj in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led a renewed push to reclaim India’s past and erase “symbols of slavery” from the country’s time under the British crown. His government has scrubbed away colonial-era street names, some laws and even flag symbols.

“I don’t think we should care much about (the royals),” Milind Akhade, a photographer in New Delhi, said. “They enslaved us for so many years.”

In Nairobi, Kenya, motorcycle taxi driver Grahmat Luvisia was similarly dismissive of the idea of following the coronation on TV.

“I will not be interested in watching the news or whatever is happening over there because we have been mistreated back then by those colonizers,” he said.

Herman Manyora, a political analyst and journalism professor at the University of Nairobi, said memories of Britain’s harsh response to the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s are still raw.

Many Kenyans will not watch the coronation “because of the torture during colonialism, because of the oppression, because of detentions, because of killings, because of the alienation of our land,” Manyora said.

Experts say that despite its flaws, historical baggage and fraying edges, the Commonwealth still holds appeal, especially for poorer nations. Gabon and Togo, which are former French colonies with no colonial links to Britain, became the association’s newest members last year. Most observers believe countries like Jamaica that want an elected head of state are likely to retain their memberships.

“Countries, whether they benefit or not, feel like they need to have this closeness to Britain as an economic entity,” said Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University. “As much as there will be still be some dissent — (Charles) is not as popular as his mother — it’s all about the economics.” ___

Myers Jr. reported from Kingston, Jamaica. Pathi reported from New Delhi. AP writers Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa; Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi, Kenya; and Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed to this report.

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the AP NEWS. Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

Brighton vs Man United: Mac Allister’s late penalty earns Brighton win over United

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Brighton vs Man United: Mac Allister’s late penalty earns Brighton win over United

Brighton vs Man United: Mac Allister’s late penalty earns Brighton win over United

When it comes to Alexis Mac Allister’s career highlights, nothing will ever quite compare to winning a World Cup.

Converting a 99th-minute penalty to beat Manchester United in the Premier League won’t be too far down the Argentina midfielder’s list of feats, though.

Mac Allister demonstrated the composure of a world champion by dispatching a penalty into the top corner with virtually the last kick of the game to earn Brighton a 1-0 win over United on Thursday.

In the last of the allotted five minutes of stoppage time, United defender Luke Shaw patted the ball away with his raised hand after a corner was swung in from the right.

The referee awarded the spot kick after being told to look at the incident on the pitchside monitor, and Mac Allister kept his cool.

READ MORE : Suns grind out win in Kevin Durant’s home debut

“Of course, I was a little bit nervous, as always,” said Mac Allister, who was one of Argentina’s unlikely stars in its run to a third World Cup title late last year in Qatar. “It was the last minute, everyone is going to talk about it.

“But I’m happy every time I have the opportunity to score a goal, so really happy for the team.”

Brighton earned partial revenge for its loss to United in a penalty shootout in the FA Cup semifinals 12 days earlier and moved into sixth place, eight points behind fourth-place United having played one game less in the race for Champions League qualification.

United stayed two points behind third-place Newcastle and four points ahead of Liverpool, which has played one more game.

“There is now a real chase,” Shaw said. “People around us are picking up points. But it’s in our hands.”

Shaw said he got a “little nudge” as he jumped to attempt to head away the ball, but accepted “the hand shouldn’t be there.”

“I own up to it, it cost us the game,” the England left back said.

The dramatic end of the match brought back memories of a meeting between Brighton and United at the Amex Stadium in 2020, which was decided by a converted penalty from United’s Bruno Fernandes in the 10th minute of stoppage time.

This time, Brighton was on the right side of a late penalty, scoring its latest-ever goal in the Premier League and the latest ever against United in the competition.

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi felt a sense of justice after his team’s impressive display at Wembley Stadium last month.

“Both games I think we played better than United,” De Zerbi said.

Just like in their FA Cup meeting, both teams created plenty of chances at the Amex but found the goalkeepers in top form.

Brighton coach Roberto de Zerbi, who lost to United in the FA Cup, was more upbeat than his opposite number as his team close in on the chance to play European football after a stellar campaign in the top flight.

United’s David De Gea made the standout save even if he knew little about it, with Kaoru Mitoma’s early effort striking the face of the Spain goalkeeper to shake him up for a few minutes.

At the other end, Brighton’s Jason Steele produced almost identical saves to deny first Marcus Rashford and then Anthony Martial in the first half before a second half that the hosts edged without ever looking like scoring before Mac Allister’s clinching penalty.

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the AP NEWS. Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

SCO Summit Goa: Jaishankar welcomed the foreign ministers of the SCO member countries, Pakistan FM Bilawal Bhutto also reaches

Shasi Kumar
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SCO Summit Goa: Jaishankar welcomed the foreign ministers of the SCO member countries, Pakistan FM Bilawal Bhutto also reaches

Jaishankar welcomed the foreign ministers of the SCO member countries, Pakistan FM Bilawal Bhutto also reaches

Diplomat Times(Goa)- The meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers has started on Friday in Panaji, Goa. Prior to the meeting, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar welcomed the foreign ministers of the SCO member countries. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has also reached India to attend this meeting.

The Indian Foreign Minister received the Pakistani Foreign Minister ahead of the foreign ministers’ meeting on Friday.

Pakistani Foreign Minister arrived in Goa on Thursday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s meeting. On Thursday evening, a dinner program was organized in honor of the foreign ministers of the SCO member countries. During this, the foreign ministers greeted each other. According to media reports, both the leaders shook hands but its photographs have not been revealed.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India since 2011

Hina Rabbani Khar met her Indian counterpart SM Krishna in Delhi 12 years ago, but circumstances were different then. India and Pakistan were experiencing a limited thaw, and trying to boost trade. Pakistan’s relationship with the US was in a crisis. “The diplomatic moment back then was ripe for attempts at rapprochement. It’s a different story today,” Michael Kugelman of The Wilson Centre, an American think-tank, says.

In his address during the SCO meeting, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar raised the issue of terrorism and indirectly targeted Pakistan.

Jaishankar said that terrorism continues to wreak havoc. We strongly believe that terrorism cannot be justified in any way and it must be stopped. This includes cross-border terrorism and all other forms of terrorism. The basic objective of the SCO meeting is to combat terrorism.

“Focus remains on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquility in the border areas,” he tweeted after the meeting.

Jaishankar also said he had a “comprehensive review of bilateral, global and multilateral cooperation” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

READ MORE : PM Modi Landed in Samarkand to take part in the SCO Summit

S Jaishankar also said that reforms and modernization of SCO were also discussed. India has been demanding for a long time that English be made the third official language of the SCO, to enable more in-depth discussions among the English-speaking member states. India also sought support from member countries in favor of its demand.

ABOUT THE SCO

The Shanghai Five group was created on 26 April 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai by the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

On 24 April 1997 the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow, Russia.[6] On 20 May 1997 Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed a declaration on a “multipolar world”.

When India become part of SCO ?

Pakistan, India and Iran received observer status at the 2005 SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan on 5 July 2005. India and Pakistan became full members of the Shanghai Cooperative Organization in 2017.

SCO Summit Goa 2023 Agenda

Agenda at Shanghai Cooperation Organization (#SCO) Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa:

1.Bilateral talks between foreign ministers

2.Preparation for the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State

3.The issue of SCO expansion (granting member status to 🇮🇷Iran and possible acceleration of 🇧🇾 Belarus joining the group)

4. Granting status of #SCO Dialogue Partners to Bahrain, Kuwait, Myanmar, Maldives and UAE

5. Coordinate foreign policies to promote the role of the United Nations 🇺🇳 in ensuring credible global security and sustainable economic growth.

By Shasi Kumar for DT  Writer Dr. Sang Won Park contributed to this report. Some input from BBC 

 

Ukraine denies Russian claim Kyiv sent drones to hit Kremlin

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Ukraine denies Russian claim Kyiv sent drones to hit Kremlin

Ukraine denies Russian claim Kyiv sent drones to hit Kremlin

AP (KYIV)- Russia claimed it foiled an attack by Ukrainian drones on the Kremlin early Wednesday, calling it an unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin and promising retaliation for what it termed a “terrorist” act. The Ukrainian president denied it, saying: “We don’t attack Putin or Moscow.”

Putin wasn’t in the Kremlin at the time and was at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.

There was no independent verification of the purported attack, which Russia authorities said occurred overnight but presented no evidence to support it. Questions also arose as to why it took the Kremlin hours to report the incident and why videos of it also surfaced later in the day.

READ MORE : Ukraine demands emergency UN meeting over Putin nuclear plan

A video posted overnight on a local Moscow news Telegram channel, shot from across the river from the Kremlin, appeared to show smoke rising over the buildings. It wasn’t possible to ascertain its veracity. According to text accompanying the footage, residents of a nearby apartment building reported hearing bangs and seeing smoke around 2:30 a.m.

Another video on social media, which looks to be taken from across Red Square, appears to show the moment a drone explodes in a flash of fire above the roof of the Senate Palace in the Kremlin, near a flagpole flying the Russian tricolor, with debris falling on the roof. It also was not possible to independently verify this footage.

The Kremlin said Russian military and security forces had stopped the drones before they could strike. Nobody was hurt, it added. Its official website said debris from the drones fell on the Kremlin grounds without damage.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on an unannounced visit to Helsinki for talks with the leaders of five Nordic countries, denied any role.

“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We’re defending our villages and cities,” he said at a news conference.

Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the claims could provide a pretext for Russia “to justify massive strikes on Ukrainian cities, on the civilian population, on infrastructure facilities.”

The Pentagon is looking into the alleged attacks, according to a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

American intelligence officials also were looking into the Russian claims but had not yet made a determination, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing assessment.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Washington at a World Press Freedom Day event, said he had seen the reports but “I can’t in any way validate them. We simply don’t know.”

He added: “I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt. So let’s see. We’ll see what the facts are and it’s really hard to comment or speculate on this without really knowing what the facts are.”

The purported drone attack would be a significant escalation in the 14-month conflict, with Ukraine taking the war to the heart of Russian power.

Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews, said, “It certainly wasn’t an attempt to assassinate Putin, because he doesn’t sleep in the roof and he probably never sleeps in the Kremlin.”

The Kremlin claimed the attack was planned to disrupt Victory Day, which Russia celebrates in Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Peskov said the parade would go on as scheduled.

Before the news about the alleged attack broke, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin issued a ban on using drones in the Russian capital, with an exception for those launched by authorities. He gave no reason for the ban, saying only it would prevent the “illegal use of drones that can hinder the work of law enforcement.”

Zelenskyy was in Finland seeking greater firepower for his armed forces as they figure out how to dislodge Russian troops from occupied areas of Ukraine.

Both Ukraine and Russia reportedly have experienced ammunition shortages after a winter of long-range shelling and missile strikes. Kyiv has been pressing its allies for more as officials consider when to start driving Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory they occupy.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s counteroffensive is coming “very soon.”

At the same time, Russia plans to continue talks with the U.N. and other parties to an wartime agreement on facilitating Black Sea agricultural shipments, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said ahead of talks on Friday.

Earlier Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed new consultations between Russia and the U.N. on access of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to the world market would be held in Moscow.

Signed in July and renewed twice, the deal freed Ukrainian grain shipments that were held up in the country’s blockaded ports last year. The deal expires May 18 unless Russia agrees to its renewal.

By DAVID RISING, Jari Tanner in Helsinki, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed.

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the AP NEWS. Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

US sprinter, Olympic medalist Tori Bowie dies at 32

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US sprinter, Olympic medalist Tori Bowie dies at 32

US sprinter, Olympic medalist Tori Bowie dies at 32

AP-Tori Bowie, the sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, has died. She was 32.

Bowie’s death was announced Wednesday by her management company and USA Track and Field. No cause of death was given.

“USATF is deeply saddened by the passing of Tori Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion,” USA Track and Field CEO Max Siegel said in a statement. “A talented athlete, her impact on the sport is immeasurable, and she will be greatly missed,”

Growing up in Sandhill, Mississippi, Bowie was coaxed into track as a teenager and quickly rose up the ranks as a sprinter and long jumper. She attended Southern Mississippi, where she swept the long jump NCAA championships at the indoor and outdoor events in 2011.

Bowie turned in an electric performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she won silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. She then ran the anchor leg on a 4×100 team with Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix and English Gardner to take gold.

READ MORE : Jerry Springer, talk show host and former Cincinnati mayor, dies at 79

A year later, she won the 100 meters at the 2017 world championships in London. She also helped the 4×100 team to gold.

Bowie was taken in by her grandmother as an infant after she was left at a foster home. She considered herself a basketball player and only reluctantly showed up for track, but Bowie was a fast learner, becoming a state champion in the 100, 200 and long jump before going to college.

Her first major international medal was a 100-meter bronze at worlds in 2015. After winning, she said, “my entire life my grandmother told me I could do whatever I set my mind to.”

In a post on Twitter, Icon Management included a picture of Bowie holding up her hands in the shape of a heart. The management company wrote: “We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister. Tori was a champion…a beacon of light that shined so bright! We’re truly heartbroken and our prayers are with the family and friends.”

By PAT GRAHAM for AP NEWS and AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed to this report.

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the AP NEWS. Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

UN envoy says Sudan’s warring sides agree to negotiate

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UN envoy says Sudan’s warring sides agree to negotiate

UN envoy says Sudan’s warring sides agree to negotiate

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s warring generals have agreed to send representatives for negotiations, potentially in Saudi Arabia, the top U.N. official in the country said Monday, even as the two sides clashed in the capital of Khartoum despite another three-day extension of a fragile cease-fire.

If the talks come together, they would initially focus on establishing a “stable and reliable” cease-fire, Volker Perthes told The Associated Press. However, he warned of challenges in holding the negotiations.

A string of temporary truces over the past week has eased fighting only in some areas while fierce battles have continued elsewhere, driving civilians from their homes and pushing Sudan further into disaster.

Humanitarian groups have been trying to restore the flow of help to a country where nearly a third of the population of 46 million relied on international aid even before the explosion of violence. The U.N. food agency on Monday said it was ending the temporary suspension of its operations in Sudan, put in place after three of its team members were killed in the war-wrecked Darfur region early in the fighting.

READ MORE : South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomes Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde

The World Food Program will resume food distribution in four provinces — al-Qadaref, Gezira, Kassala and White Nile — working in areas where security permits, Executive Director Cindy McCain said. The numbers of those needing help will “grow significantly as fighting continues,” she said. “To best protect our necessary humanitarian workers and the people of Sudan, the fighting must stop.”

A day earlier, the International Committee of the Red Cross flew in a planeload of medical supplies to bring some relief to hospitals overwhelmed by the mayhem.

Direct talks, if they take place, would be significant progress since fighting erupted on April 15 between the army and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces. For much of the conflict, army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and RSF commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo have appeared determined to fight to the end.

Their power struggle has put millions of Sudanese in the line of gun battles, artillery bombardments and airstrikes. Tens of thousands have fled Khartoum and other cities, and more than two-thirds of hospitals in areas with active fighting are out of service, with fighters looting the dwindling supplies.

At least 436 civilians have been killed and more than 1,200 injured since the fighting began, according to figures on Monday by the Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks civilian casualties. As of a week ago, the Sudanese Health Ministry had counted at least 530 people killed, including civilians and combatants, with another 4,500 wounded, but those figures haven’t been updated since.

Since Saturday, the United States has been conducting daily evacuation of American civilians from Sudan. On Monday, the third U.S.-assisted evacuation convoy of American citizens and permanent U.S. residents arrived in Port Sudan on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

The U.S. had “a handful” of consular officials at the Sudanese port, helping the American civilians get onto ferries or Saudi or U.S. Navy ships to get to safety across the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia.

The State Department said Monday it has helped roughly 700 people — U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or local workers at the now-shuttered U.S. Embassy — out on the bus convoys. It says it has assisted about another 1,000 Americans in getting out of Sudan.

Explosions and gunfire echoed in parts of Khartoum and its neighboring city, Omdurman, on Monday, residents said, hours after the two sides committed to the 72-hour cease-fire extension.

Atiya Abdalla Atiya, Secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate, said there was fighting early Monday in different area s in Khartoum, including the military’s headquarters, the Republican Palace, and the international airport. There were also clashes in the upscale neighborhood of Kafouri, he said.

Many Khartoum hospitals remained out of service or inaccessible because of the fighting, while others have been occupied by the warring factions, particularly the RSF, he said.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned Monday of many more fleeing Sudan. “If violence doesn’t stop we will see more people forced to flee Sudan seeking safety,” he wrote on Twitter.

The eruption of fighting capped months of worsening Burhan-Dagalo disputes as the international community tried to work out a deal for establishing civilian rule.

“We all saw the enormous tensions,” Perthes said. “Our efforts to de-escalate did not succeed.” He said he had been warning repeatedly that “any single spark” could cause the power struggle to explode.

Perthes warned of a “major humanitarian crisis” as people were running out of food and fresh water in Khartoum and the fighting damaged water systems.

A real cease-fire is vital to getting access to residents who are trapped in their homes or injured, he said. “If we don’t get a stable cease-fire … the humanitarian situation will be even worse.”

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the AP NEWS Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

Associated Press writers Nick El Hajj in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report

G-7 Hiroshima Summit ; ministers agree on 5 principles to govern AI Risks

Shasi Kumar
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G-7 Hiroshima Summit ; ministers agree on 5 principles to govern AI Risks

G-7 Hiroshima Summit ; ministers agree on 5 principles to govern AI Risks

Diplomat Times (Tokyo)- Ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations agreed Saturday on five principles for developing agile forms of governance for emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in light of the rapid spread of AI chatbot use worldwide.

The digital and technology ministers, who began a two-day meeting in the Gunma Prefecture city of Takasaki, northwest of Tokyo, also agreed on the urgent need to promote debate on standards for the responsible use of AI.

The five principles of the rule of law, due process, democracy, respect for human rights and harnessing opportunities for innovation will be included in a joint communique to be released at the end of the meeting, which comes ahead of a G-7 summit next month in Hiroshima.

READ MORE : Japan PM Kishida to visit South Korea in early May for summit with Yoon

“While advancement of AI technologies can make business of the government and the private sector more efficient and more productive, it could create unexpected challenges to democracy,” Japan’s Digital Minister Taro Kono said at the opening session.

The fast-moving pace of AI development has highlighted the need for international standards to govern the technology, with many countries stepping up regulations on the use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT over privacy concerns.

But Japan’s emphasis on generative AI’s potential utility means the government has so far taken a more cautious stance toward regulation than Europe and the United States.

Last month, Italy imposed a temporary ban on the use of ChatGPT, citing concerns over unauthorized collection of personal data, but authorities have since lifted the ban.

In addition to opposing uses that would undermine democratic values, the G-7 ministers are aiming to adopt an action plan to promote the responsible use of AI, calling for broad stakeholder participation in developing international standards.

Digital ministers are additionally aiming to establish an international framework for Data Free Flow with Trust, a concept proposed by Japan at the World Economic Forum annual summit in 2019 to facilitate economic growth on a global scale through free data flows across borders with trusted, interoperable governance.

While Japan has already signed bilateral agreements in digital trade with the European Union, United States and Britain, the DFFT framework seeks to take this to the multilateral level.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the ministers are also expected to adopt a separate action plan for internet governance, addressing issues such as fake news and other forms of disinformation seen, for example, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The unjustified war of aggression by Russia in Ukraine has resulted in both online and offline attacks on digital infrastructure, reminding us once again of the importance of resilient digital infrastructure and a free and open internet,” Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said.

The ministers also discussed constructing secure network infrastructure to support emerging and developing countries and promoting collaboration to improve the connectivity of undersea cables.

Digital and technology ministers from the Group of Seven industrial countries attend the first day of a two-day meeting in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on April 29, 2023. Photo : Kyodo

On the fringes of the meeting, Matsumoto and Germany’s Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, Volker Wissing, signed a memorandum of cooperation detailing their plans to continue working together in information and communication technology policy, including digital infrastructure beyond 5G.

The two countries have been conducting high-level dialogue in the digital arena since 2016 with the aim of stimulating innovation in the economy and promoting a secure framework for global digital governance.

The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union. Japan holds the rotating G-7 presidency for the first time since 2016.

This year’s meeting is jointly chaired by Kono, Matsumoto, and Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura.

Ministers from India and Indonesia, this year’s respective hosts of meetings of the Group of 20 major economies and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as Ukraine, have been invited to the meeting.

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the KYODO NEWS Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

(Reporting by Donican Lam in Tokyo and Kwang Ho in South Korea; Editing by  Shasi Kumar)

Japan PM Kishida to visit South Korea in early May for summit with Yoon

Um Kwang Ho
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Japan PM Kishida to visit South Korea in early May for summit with Yoon

Japan PM Kishida to visit South Korea in early May for summit with Yoon

Diplomat Times (Tokyo)- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering visiting South Korea in early May to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol, officials said, reciprocating a Tokyo visit by the South Korean leader last month.

If realized, Kishida’s trip to South Korea would be the first by a Japanese premier in five years. Both governments are working on a plan for Kishida to visit on May 7 and 8, the sources said, an apparent bid to promote better relations ahead of the May 19-21 Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.

Kishida and Yoon agreed to improve Tokyo-Seoul relations, which soured in recent years to the worst level in decades, and visit each other’s countries more often during their talks in March in Tokyo.

Japan and South Korea have long been at odds over issues related to Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula before and during World War II, such as wartime labor for Japanese companies.

Kishida has invited Yoon to the summit of the G-7 industrialized nations and the leaders plan to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the gathering in the western Japan city.

A Japanese government official and another official from a Group of Seven government said the meeting was expected before Kishida hosts a G7 summit from May 19.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency said on Saturday the two will meet around May 7 or 8, citing multiple unnamed Japanese and South Korean diplomatic sources.

Their aim will be to confirm the two neighbors’ strengthening of cooperation over North Korea ahead of the Hiroshima G7 summit, Kyodo said.

READ MORE: Japanese PM Fumio Kishida makes surprise visit to Poland

Asked about reports of the bilateral summit, Kishida said in remarks broadcast by public network NHK that nothing concrete had been decided.

An answering machine at Japan’s foreign ministry on Saturday said no one was available over the weekend.

An answering machine at Japan’s foreign ministry on Saturday said no one was available over the weekend.

Ties between Japan and South Korea, long strained by issues including war time compensation and trade, have been improving in recent months in the face of North Korea’s frequent missile launches and China’s more muscular role on the global stage.

The two sides agreed to revive shuttle diplomacy when Yoon met with Kishida in Tokyo in March, the first Japan visit by a South Korean president in 12 years.

The last visit to South Korea by a Japanese premier was in February 2018, when then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Bilateral ties hit their lowest point in decades after South Korea’s Supreme Court in 2018 ordered two Japanese firms to compensate Korean plaintiffs for alleged forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule of the peninsula.

U.S. President Joe Biden this week praised Yoon’s efforts toward improving relations with Japan during a visit by Yoon to Washington. Biden, Yoon and Kishida are to meet on the sidelines of the Hiroshima summit, according to Japanese media reports.

North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said a U.S.-South Korea agreement this week about the need to shore up South Korean security will worsen the situation, according to state media KCNA.

North Korea is convinced it must further perfect a “nuclear war deterrent” as a result, Kim was quoted as saying.

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the REUTERS and KYODO NEWS Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland and Kentaro Sugiyama in Tokyo and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Shasi Kumar, Kwang Ho)

 

Hong Kong’s economy is recovering, but its freedoms are not

Marietta Reformado
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Hong Kong’s economy is recovering, but its freedoms are not

Hong Kong’s economy is recovering, but its freedoms are not

Diplomat Times (Hong Kong)- Like most people in Hong Kong, taxi driver Leung Tat-chong says it feels like the city is recovering after years of protests, crackdowns and pandemic restrictions, while it also has changed forever.

He’s earning almost as much as he did before the pandemic. But, Leung said, the city has been divided since the 2019 protests, in which hundreds of thousands of people marched, and many battled police, in opposition to a government they saw as a proxy for Beijing.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the city welcomed more than 2 million visitors in the month of March. Crowds of art collectors and dealers spilled across two floors of a convention center at the Art Basel Hong Kong fair in late March. Excited chatter returned to a dim sum shop at the high-speed rail terminus.

Yet Leung sometimes doesn’t turn on the radio in his cab because the news or a public affairs program could get his customers cursing. A supporter of the government, he watches what he says in front of friends to avoid starting fights.

READ MORE : Canada kick out Chinese companies from lithium mining

Living in Hong Kong today means juggling contradictory feelings. In 20 interviews, many said that when they focus on business indicators and everyday life, they see a recovery gathering pace after years of travel restrictions. But when it comes to anything political, the openness and freedoms that were once hallmarks of the Chinese-ruled former British colony seem permanently gone.

Following the 2019 protests, Beijing declared “patriots must run Hong Kong,” increasing its loyalists’ control over elections and imposing a National Security Law that criminalized many forms of dissent. The government of Hong Kong used that law to arrest former opposition lawmakers and activists who participated in an unofficial primary election.

Hong Kong’s government says things are back to normal, a message delivered in a tourism-promotion campaign it calls “Hello Hong Kong.”

Economic indicators seem to support that message: retails sales are up, the country’s GDP is growing and unemployment is a low 3.1%. In the first quarter of the year, the city received 4.41 million visitors, about 12 times more than the previous quarter, and about 30% of pre-pandemic levels.

Anne Kerr, the chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said more U.K. firms are inquiring about setting up shop in Hong Kong.

A survey by The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong in the first two months of 2023 showed its members are “cautiously optimistic” about business. Among those with headquarters in Hong Kong, 61% planned to remain for the next three years, up from 48% last year. But 9% plan to move, compared to 5% last year.

Local artist Wong Ka-ying said cultural life is recovering, too. At Art Basel, she saw a rise in emerging artists, independent art spaces and cultural activities, offering her more exposure and opportunities.

Hong Kong used to have a vibrant tradition of street politics, from massive marches to local issues. But Cyrus Chan, one of the march organizers, said police told organizers that they could have just 100 people. Participants were warned against wearing all black, as many protesters did during the 2019 protests. They also discussed their slogans with police in advance.

Chris Tang said “some people” who likened the numbered tags to dog leashes or the armbands Nazis forced upon Jews were stirring hatred against the government — a red flag to many activists under the sedition law. Chan had previously made the Nazi analogy on a radio show.

“Those who say the city will go back to the old days … are lying. Everyone knows it’s impossible,” Chan said.

Weeks later, a former leader of a now-disbanded pro-democracy union withdrew his plan to hold a Labor Day march, his co-applicant said Wednesday. The National Security Law prevented disclosure of further details, he told the applicant.

Leung, the taxi driver, agreed that a part of Hong Kong will never come back. But life must go on.

“As an ordinary person, I can’t do anything about politics,” he said. “I will just keep living my simple and unadorned life.”

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the AP NEWS Diplomat Times holds no responsibility for its content.

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