Category: WORLD

Washington, Dec 11 (IANS) US President Joe Biden called President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff approach “a major mistake.”

“He seems determined to impose steep universal tariffs on all imported goods brought to this country on the mistaken belief that foreign countries will bear the cost of those tariffs rather than the American consumer,” Biden said in a speech at the Washington-based think tank Brookings Institution.

“Who do you think pays for this? I believe this approach is a major mistake. I believe we have proven that approach is a mistake over the past four years,” said Biden.

In the speech, the outgoing US President reflected on the economy he inherited from Trump and his administration’s work following the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency.

He also criticised Trump’s economic plan, warning that it means “another tax cut for the very wealthy.”

“(By) all accounts, the incoming administration is determined to return the country to another round of trickle-down economics and another tax cut for the very wealthy that will not be paid for or, if paid for, is going to have a real cost,” Biden said.

At a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also expressed concerns about Trump’s proposal to impose widespread import tariffs, warning that it could hinder progress in reducing inflation and lead to higher costs for both consumers and businesses.

In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump said he would fulfil a campaign promise to levy tariffs on imports from the United States’ major trading partners, saying that tariffs “cost Americans nothing.”

–IANS

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Bandar Seri Begawan, Dec 11 (IANS) Brunei’s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah has chaired board meetings of the country’s key energy companies, urging united efforts to face future challenges, local media reported.

The 413th Board of Directors Meeting of Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BSP) and the 191st Board of Directors Meeting of Brunei Shell Marketing Sdn Bhd (BSM) took place at the Brunei Prime Minister’s Office building on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting the official media Pelita Brunei.

The Sultan chaired the meetings and emphasised the need for strong leadership, along with technical expertise, unwavering commitment, and a united effort across the Brunei Shell Joint Venture and BGC to face future challenges, according to the report.

At the meeting, the participants discussed critical areas such as operational performance, safety, finance, and human resource development, as well as setting the strategic direction of BSP and BSM for the coming years.

Brunei is an important oil and gas producer in Southeast Asia.

–IANS

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Havana, Dec 11 (IANS) Cuba denounced as a “theft of Cuban trademarks” a new US law which secured Bacardi’s Havana Club rum trademark in the American market amid a lengthy legal battle.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs categorically rejects the so-called ‘Law to Not Recognise Stolen Trademarks in the United States,’ recently signed by the President of the United States,” read an official statement released by Cuba’s foreign ministry on Tuesday.

Bacardi, a Bermuda-based privately-held spirits company, left Cuba in 1959 and is the sole seller of the Puerto Rico-made Havana Club-branded rum in the US market, reports Xinhua news agency.

For over 20 years, the Cuban government has been in legal disputes with Bacardi over rights to the trademark in the US market, to which Cuba-made Havana Club rum has been denied access due to the US systemic trade embargo, economic blockade, and financial sanctions since 1962.

The statement claimed that the legislation, recently signed by US President Joe Biden, is “a new unilateral coercive measure that reinforces the blockade against the Cuban economy.”

“This law deals another blow to the international system of industrial property protection and confirms the United States’ disregard for institutions of international law,” the statement said, adding that it violates both the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

The ministry characterised the legislation as effectively granting “a license for piracy, paving the way for the theft of legitimately registered Cuban trademarks in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.”

–IANS

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Seoul, Dec 11 (IANS) South Korean former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun attempted to take his own life while being held at a detention facility on charges of insurrection, but he is currently in stable condition, the justice ministry said on Wednesday.

Kim was found trying to hang himself with a rope made from tying together innerwear inside a bathroom at the Seoul Dongbu Detention Centre in eastern Seoul at 11:52 p.m. on Tuesday, shortly before a court issued a warrant to arrest him, Yonhap news agency reported quoting the ministry.

“There was an immediate dispatch to restrain him,” the ministry said. “The medical team’s treatment showed he was in stable condition with no abnormalities, and he is currently being held under normal conditions.”

Kim was placed under formal arrest early Wednesday on charges of helping President Yoon Suk Yeol stage an insurrection through his short-lived imposition of martial law last week.

Prosecutors suspect the then-defence minister proposed the declaration of martial law to Yoon and ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly compound and the National Election Commission headquarters.

By law, those who participate in plotting an insurrection are punishable by death, life imprisonment or a prison term of at least five years.

Shin Yong-hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told a parliamentary legislation committee meeting that Kim is being held in a protective cell following the attempt on his own life.

Rep. Jung Chung-rai of the main opposition Democratic Party, who chairs the committee, suggested the former defence minister may have taken the extreme measure after feeling “wronged” that the prosecution was targeting him, not Yoon, over the alleged insurrection.

Justice Minister Park Sung-jae dismissed the notion

“I don’t think so,” he said during the meeting. “I don’t have a basis for this, but someone who tried to commit suicide likely had various reasons, and there is no way for me to know.”

Kim was brought in for further questioning by prosecutors at the detention centre later Wednesday.

–IANS

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Seoul, Dec 11 (IANS) South Korea’s former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun attempted to take his own life while being held at a detention facility on charges of insurrection, but he is currently in stable condition, the justice ministry said on Wednesday.

Kim was found trying to hang himself with a rope made from tying together innerwear inside a bathroom at the Seoul Dongbu Detention Centre in eastern Seoul at 11:52 p.m. on Tuesday, shortly before a court issued a warrant to arrest him, Yonhap news agency reported quoting the ministry.

“There was an immediate dispatch to restrain him,” the ministry said. “The medical team’s treatment showed he was in stable condition with no abnormalities, and he is currently being held under normal conditions.”

Kim was placed under formal arrest early Wednesday on charges of helping President Yoon Suk Yeol stage an insurrection through his short-lived imposition of martial law last week.

Prosecutors suspect the then-defence minister proposed the declaration of martial law to Yoon and ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly compound and the National Election Commission headquarters.

By law, those who participate in plotting an insurrection are punishable by death, life imprisonment or a prison term of at least five years.

Shin Yong-hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told a parliamentary legislation committee meeting that Kim is being held in a protective cell following the attempt on his own life.

Rep. Jung Chung-rai of the main opposition Democratic Party, who chairs the committee, suggested the former defence minister may have taken the extreme measure after feeling “wronged” that the prosecution was targeting him, not Yoon, over the alleged insurrection.

Justice Minister Park Sung-jae dismissed the notion

“I don’t think so,” he said during the meeting. “I don’t have a basis for this, but someone who tried to commit suicide likely had various reasons, and there is no way for me to know.”

Kim was brought in for further questioning by prosecutors at the detention centre later Wednesday.

–IANS

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Seoul, Dec 11 (IANS) South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said Wednesday he has invoked the authority to conduct a parliamentary probe into President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law last week.

Woo also called for the prompt formation of a special committee to handle the parliamentary investigation, Yonhap news agency reported.

Woo told reporters that a parliamentary probe is needed to secure a “public testimony” from Yoon over the December 3 imposition of martial law.

A parliamentary official said the Assembly plans to conduct the probe as swiftly as possible given the severity of the situation.

–IANS

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Montevideo, Dec 11 (IANS) Uruguay’s 2023 national census counted 3,499,451 inhabitants, 2.5 percentage points higher than the 2011 one, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported.

Despite the growth, the number of children per woman fell from 1.8 to 1.7, according to the census. And there were 31,385 births registered in the country and 34,678 deaths last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We are with a negative population growth, unless immigration compensates, or we are already losing population,” INE director Diego Aboal said, adding that Uruguay reported “a drop of 18,000 births” in the last eight years.

According to the census, the number of foreign residents settling in Uruguay has grown by 4 per cent since 2011.

Montevideo, the capital city, is still the most populous city with a population of 1,302,954, or 37 per cent of Uruguay’s total.

–IANS

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Manila, Dec 11 (IANS) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday said it has approved a grant of $25.45 million to help the Solomon Islands develop sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient water supply and sanitation services.

The Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project is implementing high-priority components of the government’s water and sanitation sector plan to increase access to piped supply and sanitation services, enhance hygiene awareness, promote water conservation, and improve fecal sludge management, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ADB said the latest additional financing will help meet cost overruns incurred from the growing cost of goods and works, which have increased significantly since March 2020.

The ADB, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility, and the European Union are funding the 125-million-dollar project.

–IANS

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San Francisco, Dec 11 (IANS) US Alaska Airlines announced a new strategic plan to offer at least 12 nonstop global destinations with long-haul widebody aircraft from Seattle by 2030.

Dubbing Seattle a “new global gateway,” Alaska said it will begin offering nonstop flights from Seattle to Tokyo in May and Seoul in October, Xinhua news agency reported.

“There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of Alaska Air Group,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement. “Now, with the combination with Hawaiian Airlines, we will transform our business and solidify our competitive advantage for years to come.”

The Alaska Air Group, based in SeaTac, includes subsidiaries Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, McGee Air Services and the recently acquired Hawaiian Airlines.

Tokyo and Seoul were first on the list because Hawaiian Airlines was already in those two markets. While Alaska already flies Boeing 737 MAXs to Mexico and Central America, Hawaiian flies across the Pacific Ocean, using long-haul widebody jets to reach destinations in Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Alaska also updated its 2027 financial targets Tuesday to include 1 billion USD in profits and earnings per share of at least $10. It expects full year 2025 earnings per share to reach $5.75.

For the three months between July and September this year, the most recent financial information available, Alaska reported $3 billion in revenue and $236 million in profit, which amounts to $1.84 per share.

The commercial side of the business will drive the vast majority of its anticipated profit growth, the company said, with an estimate that it will bring in an additional $800 million in revenue over the next three years.

–IANS

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United Nations, Dec 11 (IANS) The United Nations stands against any violation of the territorial integrity of Syria, a UN spokesperson said, after Israel seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad government.

When asked about media reports that recently the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted 320 Syrian military targets, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said at a daily press briefing, “It is very clear that we stand against any violation of the territorial integrity of Syria. We are against these types of attacks.”

In the wake of the fall of al-Assad’s government, Israel ramped up its military operation in Syria, launching airstrikes against military weaponry and seizing control of a demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights, Xinhua news agency reported.

Dujarric said that the United Nations continues to consider Golan Heights to be the occupied territory of Syria. “I think we were very clear about the violation of the disengagement agreement following the IDF occupation of the buffer zone,” he added.

“I think this is a turning point for Syria. It should not be used by its neighbours to encroach on the territory of Syria,” the spokesperson said.

It should be used by all those in the region and beyond to support the Syrian people, so they can choose their own path, so they can work on a transition that is Syrian-led, Syrian-owned, and inclusive, he said.

Geir Pedersen, special envoy of the UN secretary-general for Syria, on Tuesday urged Israel to cease its military operations in Syria, emphasising the urgent need to halt all conflicts across the Middle East.

“A very troubling development is that we are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory,” Pedersen said. “This needs to stop.”

–IANS

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