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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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After a contentious round of last-minute negotiations, President Trump’s budget bill has passed in the Senate, squeaking by thanks to Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Three Republicans joined Senate Democrats in voting “no” on the bill, which gives tax cuts to the rich and makes historic cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a slim majority, for a final vote before Trump’s July 4 deadline. Citizen groups, including the grassroots political organization Indivisible, are calling on Americans, particularly those living in Republican and swing districts, to contact their House representatives and urge them to vote against the bill. “It’s not a done deal,” says Indivisible’s co-founder and co-executive director Ezra Levin. “They do not have the votes.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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A pack of cigarettes in Laos costs as little as 32 U.S. cents, thanks to a secret deal between the Lao government and British tobacco giant, Imperial Brands.
In a new report, The Examination, a news site that focuses on global health threats, looks into who benefited from the 2001 deal and how an agreement capping excise taxes has hit government revenues in the Southeast Asian nation and kept the price of cigarettes among the lowest in the world. That’s had serious public health consequences for Laos, which has very high rates of smoking.
Radio Free Asia’s Mat Pennington spoke with Jason McLure, an investigative journalist with The Examination who reported the story. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
RFA: Can you tell us about the deal?
Jason McLure: This story is about a deal that dates to 2001 when the communist government of Laos was privatizing the country’s state tobacco monopoly. Now, what they did instead of having an open tender … they basically invited Imperial Brands and a local company called ST Group, run by a local businessman named Sithat Xaysoulivong, to bid on this. And ultimately what the Lao government decided to do was to form a joint venture with Imperial Brands and Mr. Sithat Xaysoulivong and his ST Group.
Now, the way this was done was very unusual and it also highlighted some very close political connections between Mr. Xaysoulivong and the Lao government at the time.
RFA: So who really benefited from this? And what was the fiscal impact for the Lao government? Did they lose revenue?
McLure: The way the deal was structured was the Lao government retained 47% of the tobacco monopoly and Imperial Brands, this British tobacco giant, got 34%. The remaining 19% of the company was owned by this offshore company called S3T which, we know and learned was owned partly by Imperial Brands and partly by Mr. Sithat Xaysoulivong who, as it happened, was an in-law of the Lao prime minister at the time, Bounnhang Vorachit. So there was clearly some familial relationship involved. And ultimately this deal paid $28 million over basically two decades to the former prime minister’s in-law. And this had big consequences for the Lao government. One tobacco control group did a study of the consequences of this deal on public health, and what they found was that the Lao government missed out on $143 million in tobacco tax revenue and that is because one provision of this tobacco contract capped cigarette excise taxes and essentially left Laos with some of the cheapest cigarettes in the world.
RFA: How much is a packet of cigarettes in Laos?
McLure: The cheapest brands of cigarettes in Laos cost about 7,000 kip. That’s about 32 U.S. cents. So, we were able to look at WHO (World Health Organization) data from all around the world and find that basically these are some of the very cheapest cigarettes in the world.
RFA: So what have been the health impacts of this?
McLure: So the health impacts, they really have been significant in Laos. As in many other Asian countries, relatively few women smoke, but somewhere around 37 to 40% of men smoke. So there’s a very high smoking rate there. It’s one of the highest in the world, at least among men. And this is in part a direct consequence of these very cheap cigarettes that are a consequence of this 25-year contract that was signed back in 2001.
Now, there’s a lot of data, a lot of research from tobacco control researchers and public health researchers that show the best way to cut smoking rates to get people to quit smoking, or especially to prevent them from starting to smoke, is to increase the price of cigarettes. And the way that governments can do this is by increasing tobacco excise taxes. Now, this 25-year contract in Laos absolutely prevented the Lao government from doing that.
RFA: And as we know, Laos is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and it doesn’t have a very well-developed health system. So you can see what the sort of impacts would be.
McLure: That’s right. One of my colleagues visited one of the government hospitals in Laos, and she interviewed people who were there with smoking-related diseases. And the treatment was extremely expensive. And even for many people who have common smoking-related diseases like emphysema or lung cancer … particularly people in the countryside, people in villages, any form of radiation or chemotherapy or treatments like that are going to be out of reach.
RFA: So what does Imperial Brands say about this?
McLure: During our reporting, we reached out to Imperial Brands to ask them about this contract and specifically to ask why they decided to include an in-law of the prime minister at the time as part of this contract. And what they told us was that, for one thing, they said they comply with all regulations and generally behave in an ethical manner. But they didn’t respond to the substance of our questions. We asked them as well about why this contract was kept secret for so long. The contract, in fact, itself, contained a secrecy provision. They told us that this type of confidentiality is normal in such commercial arrangements.
RFA: And did the Lao government respond at all to any of your inquiries or Mr. Sithat Xaysoulivong or Mr. Bounnhang Vorachit?
McLure: Unfortunately, the Lao government, Mr. Vorachit, Mr. Sithat, even the current Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, they did not respond to our inquiries for this story.
RFA: I understand that this isn’t a problem that’s totally isolated to Laos, that major tobacco companies have reached deals with authoritarian countries and other nations.
McLure: That’s right. You know, what’s really a little bit unusual about this deal is that we were able to get the documents that showed exactly how the payments flowed from the Lao tobacco company and Imperial to the in-law of Laos’ then prime minister. But we’ve seen that British American Tobacco, another one of the tobacco giants, has been involved in dealings with the North Korean regime in violation of U.S. sanctions. In fact, they agreed to pay more than $620 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department as a result of that.
RFA: So what’s the future of this agreement in Laos? I understand that it’s coming up to its term now.
McLure: Well, that is an interesting question because this is a 25-year agreement that was signed in 2001. It will expire next year. Now, the government of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has already informed Imperial that they won’t be renewing this agreement again. However, they did leave the door open to negotiating a new agreement with the same tobacco company. We’ll see if that comes to pass and whether or not any insiders like Mr. Sithat, the in-law of former Prime Minister Vorachit, are involved. One thing that we do know is that Mr. Sithat is also close to the family of the current Prime Minister Sonexay. So it remains to be seen. Ultimately, what we’ve been told is that the current prime minister will be the one making the decision. And as we’ve seen, this could have huge impacts on the future of smoking in Laos and on Laos’ public health.
The Examination is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates global health threats. Their investigative report was supported in part by a grant from the Pulitzer Center.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Mat Pennington for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan – U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington and Beijing were in talks on tariffs, expressing confidence that the world’s two largest economies would reach a deal over the next three to four weeks.
The U.S. and China are waging a tit-for-tat trade battle, which threatens to stunt the global economy, after Trump announced new tariffs on most countries. Specifically, the U.S. has imposed tariffs up to 145% on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with tariffs reaching 125% on American goods.
“We are confident that we will work out something with China,” he said during a late Thursday afternoon executive order signing in the Oval Office.
“Top officials” in Beijing had reached out to Washington “a number of times” said Trump, adding that the two sides have had “very good trade talks” but that more remained, though he offered no evidence of any progress.
Asked about timing on any agreement, Trump said: “I would think over the next three to four weeks.”
Trump declined to say if he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He also declined to say whether he would raise further the current tariffs he has imposed on Chinese imports but said: “I may not want to go higher, or I may not want to even go up to that level. I may want to go to less, because, you know, you want people to buy.”
Trump also expressed confidence that the sale deal of Chinese social media app TikTok he seeks would be forthcoming.
“We have a deal for TikTok but it is subject to China so we will delay it until this thing gets worked out,” he said, adding that the deal would not take more than “five minutes” to finalize after discussions take place.
Trump said earlier in April that China’s objections to new U.S. tariffs stalled a deal to sell off TikTok and keep it operating in the United States.
Trump administration officials have been working on an agreement to sell the U.S. assets of the popular social media app, owned by China-based ByteDance, to an American buyer, as required by a bipartisan law enacted in 2024. But this also requires China’s approval.
Trump’s remarks came a few hours after China’s commerce ministry said it had been maintaining working-level communication with its U.S. counterparts.
“China’s position has been consistent – it remains open to engaging in economic and trade consultations with the U.S. side,” commerce ministry spokesperson He Yongqian said.
Noting that the unilateral imposition of tariffs was entirely initiated by the U.S. side, she quoted an old Chinese saying “It is the doer of the deed who must undo it” to urge the U.S. to correct its approach.
“We urge the U.S. to immediately cease its maximum pressure tactics, stop coercion and intimidation, and resolve differences with China through equal dialogue on the basis of mutual respect,” she said.
Nvidia chief’s visit to China
Jensen Huang, chief executive of U.S. chipmaker Nvidia, said on Thursday that China was a “very important market” for his company after the U.S. imposed a ban on sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to the country.
“We hope to continue to cooperate with China,” Huang said in a meeting with Ren Hongbin, head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, cited by China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV.
Huang arrived in Beijing earlier in the day at the invitation of the trade organization.
His visit comes at a time when the U.S. imposed restrictions on the export of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China, tightening its grip on advanced AI technology trade with Beijing as part of Washington’s strategy to pressure China amid an ongoing tariff battle.
Nvidia said Tuesday it was notified by the U.S. government on April 9 that exporting its H20 chips to China would now require government approval. It separately said that the restriction would remain in place indefinitely.
While the H20 chip has relatively modest computing power, it has other features that make it suitable for building high-performance computing systems.
The U.S. government reportedly based its decision on concerns that the H20 chips could be used in or adapted for Chinese supercomputers. Until now, the H20 was the most advanced artificial intelligence chip legally exportable to China.
The H20 chip gained attention following its use by DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, which in January unveiled a cost-effective and competitive AI model trained using the chip.
Huang reportedly met DeepSeek founder, Liang Wenfeng, in Beijing, to discuss new chip designs for the AI company that would not trigger the new U.S. bans.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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BANGKOK—The company at the vanguard of plans to mine deep sea metals used in electric vehicle batteries has surrendered a third of its Pacific Ocean exploration area after a breakdown in cooperation with the island nation of Kiribati, paving the way for China to add to its regional foothold in the contentious industry.
The Nasdaq-traded The Metals Company, or TMC, said in a U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filing it terminated, effective mid-January, an agreement with a Kiribati state-owned company that gave it exploration rights to a 74,990 square kilometer (28,950 square mile) area of seabed in the northeastern Pacific.
The termination appears to be at the instigation of Kiribati, one of the 19 countries exercising rights over sea bed in a vast area of international waters in the Pacific regulated by the International Seabed Authority, or ISA, a U.N. body.
Kiribati’s Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources said on Monday it held talks last week with China’s ambassador to “explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep ocean resources.”
Mining of the potato-sized metallic nodules that carpet swathes of the sea bed is touted as a source of minerals needed for green technologies, such as electric vehicles, that would reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Skeptics say such minerals are already abundant on land and warn that mining the sea bed could cause irreparable damage to an ocean environment that is still poorly understood by science.
It has been a divisive issue in the Pacific, where some economically lagging island nations see deep sea mining as a potential financial windfall that could lift living standards and reduce reliance on foreign aid while other island states are strongly opposed.
A polymetallic nodule from the seabed is displayed at a mining convention in Toronto, Canada on Mar. 4, 2019. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)Kiribati told the ISA in June last year that exploration of its area hadn’t progressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and “operational difficulties with its technical partner,” DeepGreen Engineering, a subsidiary of TMC.
An ISA report on Kiribati’s progress toward deep sea mining said it had indicated it was looking for a new partner.
Industry in trouble?
The new path for Kiribati comes as environmental groups raise fresh questions about the viability of an industry that has long promoted a renewable energy narrative to deflect criticism.
Amid a general retreat by large corporations from commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, TMC and other deep sea mining companies have shifted to emphasizing national security, defense and mineral supply security as benefits of the industry, said Greenpeace deep sea mining campaigner, Louisa Casson.
The shift has come, she said, after some battery and car manufacturers said they didn’t want to use deep sea minerals and as an evolution in battery technology could reduce the need for some of the minerals in deep sea nodules.
Casson said this was clouding the outlook for deep sea miners and TMC’s surrender of a third of its exploration area was “another sign of a stuttering industry.”
“The self-styled industry frontrunner is crumbling. The last weeks have repeatedly shown that the deep sea mining industry is failing to live up to its hype and downsizing plans before it’s even started,” Casson said.
“There’s never been a better time for governments to take decisive action to protect the ocean from this faltering, risky industry.”
TMC’s chief executive, Gerard Barron, did not respond to a request for comment.
Other signs of the industry’s troubles, Casson said, include a Norwegian deep sea mining company halving its small workforce due to lack of financing and another miner, Impossible Metals, delaying mining trials planned for early 2026.
Closer China ties
A presentation TMC gave to investors in February said preliminary results of its research into the environmental effects of deep sea mining were “encouraging.”
Based on mining tests TMC conducted, marine life returns to the seabed after a year and sediment plumes generated by the giant machines that hoover up the nodules are released at depths deeper than tuna fisheries, it said.
Research not linked to the industry, meanwhile, has shown that the site of a deep sea mining test in 1979 has not recovered more than 40 years later.
China’s President Xi Jinping and Kiribati’s President Taneti Maamau (left) attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Jan. 6, 2020. (Jason Lee/Reuters)The permanent secretary of Kiribati’s ocean resources ministry, Riibeta Abeta, didn’t respond to questions.
The low-lying atoll nation of some 120,000 people in Micronesia has cultivated closer ties to China in the past decade while its relations with traditional donors New Zealand and Australia have become strained. It’s part of a tectonic shift in the region as China uses infrastructure and aid to challenge U.S. dominance.
China last month signed agreements including cooperation on deep sea mining with the semiautonomous Cook Islands in the South Pacific, angering its traditional benefactor New Zealand.
The Cook Islands has an abundance of polymetallic nodules within its exclusive economic zone and doesn’t require ISA approval to exploit them.
The Cook Islands hopes for an economic windfall but some of its citizens are concerned about environmental damage and the mining industry’s influence in their country including public relations efforts in schools and funding for community organizations.
Aside from Kiribati, The Metals Company has agreements with Tonga and Nauru to explore and eventually mine their areas in the Clarion Clipperton Zone—the ISA-administered seafloor in the northeastern Pacific.
Its work with Nauru appears to be the furthest advanced. This month, TMC said it was finalizing an application to the ISA for approval to begin mining in the area allocated to Nauru, a 21-square kilometer island home to 10,000 people.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Stephen Wright for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Indonesia is expected to ratify an agreement with Vietnam on the demarcation of their exclusive economic zones next month, settling a decade-long dispute in overlapping waters, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto said.
Jakarta and Hanoi reached an agreement on the boundaries of the zones, called EEZs, in December 2022 after 12 years of negotiations. They had been locked in disputes over overlapping claims in waters surrounding the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.
For the agreement to take effect, it needs to be ratified by both of their parliaments.
“We hope that our parliament will ratify it in April, after Eid al-Fitr, and their legislature is also expected to ratify it soon,” Prabowo told Vietnamese leader To Lam, who visited Jakarta this week.
Vietnam and Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country by population, elevated bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Lam’s visit, reflecting their closer cooperation.
Prabowo also said that he planned a reciprocal state visit to Vietnam soon, when he would sign an implementing agreement with his Vietnamese hosts, adding that he was confident that the deal would “bring prosperity to both our peoples.”
Fishing boats and houses at Baruk Bay port on Natuna island, in Riau Islands province, on Sept. 22, 2023. (BAY ISMOYO/AFP)RELATED STORIES
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Clear demarcation of maritime zones
The shared waters north and east of Natuna Islands saw intense confrontations between the law enforcement agencies of both Vietnam and Indonesia over the activities of Vietnamese fishermen. Indonesia accused them of unlawful encroachment and illegal fishing, and it detained and destroyed dozens of Vietnam’s fishing boats.
The two countries began negotiating on EEZ delimitation in 2010 and were engaged in more than a dozen rounds of talks before reaching an agreement.
An EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and seabed, and a clear demarcation would help avoid misunderstanding and mismanagement, said Vietnamese South China Sea researcher Dinh Kim Phuc.
“The promised ratification of the agreement on EEZs sends a positive signal from both security and economic perspectives,” Phuc said. “Among the latest achievements in the bilateral relations, this in my opinion is the most important one.”
“It will also serve as a valuable precedent for ASEAN countries to settle maritime disputes between them via peaceful means,” the researcher added.
I Made Andi Arsana, a maritime law specialist at Gadjah Mada University, said the agreement clarifies fishing rights in the South China Sea.
“With a clear EEZ boundary, cross-border management and law enforcement become more straightforward,” Arsana said. “Before this, both countries had their own claims, making it hard to determine whether a fishing vessel had crossed the line. Now, with a legally recognized boundary, it’s easier to enforce regulations and address violations.”
He likened the situation to dealing with a neighbor without a fence.
“It’s difficult to say whether they’ve trespassed or taken something from your property,” he said.
“But once the boundary is set, we can confidently determine whether someone is fishing illegally in our waters.”
China has yet to comment on the Indonesian president’s statement. Both Vietnam’s and Indonesia’s EEZs lie within the “nine-dash line” that Beijing prints on its maps to demarcate its “historical rights” over almost 90% of the South China Sea.
Pizaro Gozali Idrus in Jakarta contributed to this article.
Edited by Mike Firn.
BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA and BenarNews Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan is in the process of negotiating a new arms deal worth billions of dollars with the United States, Reuters news agency reported, citing unidentified sources.
Meanwhile, the top US military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Adm. Samuel Paparo, has warned that Chinese military drills around Taiwan were actually “rehearsals” for an attack on the island.
Three sources familiar with the situation, who wished to stay anonymous due to the sensitivity of the topic, told Reuters that Taipei was “in talks with Washington” about an arms purchase worth between US$7 billion and US$10 billion and that the package could include coastal defense cruise missiles and high mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS.
Taiwan’s ministry of defense declined to confirm the news but said Taipei was committed to strengthening national defense.
Defense ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang told reporters in Taipei that all defense budgets follow government policy and that plans would be disclosed to the public when they had been finalized.
There was no confirmation from Washington either.
There remains still a large backlog of arms sales from the U.S. to Taiwan. According to the Cato Institute think tank, the backlog is valued at US$21.95 billion, mostly of traditional weapons such as tanks and aircraft.
At the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japan Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and South Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul “emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community,” they said in a joint statement.
They said their countries supported Taiwan’s “meaningful participation” in appropriate international organizations, and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues, and “opposed any attempts to unilaterally force or coerce changes to the status quo.”
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The top commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command warned at a security forum in Hawaii last week that China’s increased military activity around Taiwan were not exercises but “rehearsals for the forced unification of Taiwan to the mainland.”
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Samuel Paparo attends the International Military Law and Operations Conference, in the Philippines, Aug. 27, 2024. (REUTERS/Lisa Marie David) (Lisa Marie David/Reuters)“We’re very close to that [point] where on a daily basis the fig leaf of an exercise could very well hide operational warning,” Adm. Samuel Paparo said.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, has been conducting regular military drills around Taiwan, especially at the times of heightened tensions on the island such as major political events or during visits by senior U.S. officials.
Between Jan. 28 and Feb. 12, the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command held so-called combat patrols with aircraft and warships around Taiwan, the same time as U.S. Navy destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and oceanographic survey ship USNS Bowditch made a north-to-south passage through the Taiwan Strait.
Paparo said that the U.S. must move quickly to close military capability gaps with China.
“Our magazines run low. Our maintenance backlogs grow longer each month … We operate on increasingly thin margins for error,” he said, calling for reforms of the Pentagon’s procurement system.
The Taiwanese ministry of national defense, meanwhile, stated that the island’s army “will continue to work hard to build up the army and prepare for war, and enhance asymmetric deterrence capabilities.”
The ministry said in a statement to the media that it would “use joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods to closely monitor the dynamics of the sea and airspace around the Taiwan Strait, and dispatch appropriate troops to respond, and have the ability, determination and confidence to ensure national defense security.”
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown hopes to have “an opportunity to talk” with the New Zealand government to “heal some of the rift”.
Brown returned to Avarua on Sunday afternoon (Cook Islands Time) following his week-long state visit to China, where he signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” to boost its relationship with Beijing.
Prior to signing the deal, he said that there was “no need for New Zealand to sit in the room with us” after the New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister raised concerns about the agreement.
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Responding to reporters for the first time since signing the China deal, he said: “I haven’t met the New Zealand government as yet but I’m hoping that in the coming weeks we will have an opportunity to talk with them.
“Because they will be able to share in this document that we’ve signed and for themselves see where there are areas that they have concerns with.
“But I’m confident that there will be no areas of concern. And this is something that will benefit Cook Islanders and the Cook Islands people.”
He said the agreement with Beijing would be made public “very shortly”.
“I’m sure once the New Zealand government has a look at it there will be nothing for them to be concerned about.”
Not concerned over consequences
Brown said he was not concerned by any consequences the New Zealand government may impose.The Cook Islands leader is returning to a motion of no confidence filed against his government and protests against his leadership.
“I’m confident that my statements in Parliament, and my returning comments that I will make to our people, will overcome some of the concerns that have been raised and the speculation that has been rife, particularly throughout the New Zealand media, about the purpose of this trip to China and the contents of our action plan that we’ve signed with China.”
1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver was at the airport but was not allowed into the room where the press conference was held.
The New Zealand government wanted to see the agreement prior to Brown going to China, which did not happen.
A spokesperson for New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Brown had a requirement to share the contents of the agreement and anything else he signed under the 2001 Joint Centenary Declaration.
‘Healing some of the rift’
Brown said the difference in opinion provides an opportunity for the two governments to get together and “heal some of the rift”.“We maintain that our relationship with New Zealand remains strong and we remain open to having conversations with the New Zealand government on issues of concern.
“They’ve raised their concerns around security in the Pacific. We’ve raised our concerns around our priorities, which is economic development for our people.”
Brown has previously said New Zealand did not consult the Cook Islands on its comprehensive strategic partnership with China in 2014, which they should have done if the Cook Islands had a requirement to do so.
He hoped people would read New Zealand’s deal along with his and show him “where the differences are that causes concern”.
Meanwhile, the leader of Cook Islands United Party, Teariki Heather, said Cook Islanders were sitting nervously with a question mark waiting for the agreement to be made public.
Cook Islands United Party leader Teariki Heather stands by one of his trucks he is preparing to take on the planned protest. Image: Caleb Fotheringham/RNZ Pacific “That’s the problem we have now, we haven’t been disclosed or told of anything about what has been signed,” he said.
“Yes we hear about the marine seabed minerals exploration, talk about infrastructure, exchange of students and all that, but we haven’t seen what’s been signed.”
However, Heather said he was not worried about what was signed but more about the damage that it could have created with New Zealand.
Heather is responsible for filing the motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
The opposition only makes up eight seats of 24 in the Cook Islands Parliament and the motion is about showing support to New Zealand, not about toppling the government.
“It’s not about the numbers for this one, but purposely to show New Zealand, this is how far we will go if the vote of no confidence is not sort of accepted by both of the majority members, at least we’ve given the support of New Zealand.”
Heather has also been the leader for a planned planned today local time (Tuesday NZ).
“Protesters will be bringing their New Zealand passports as a badge of support for Aotearoa,” he said.
“Our relationship [with New Zealand] — we want to keep that.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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We continue our coverage of the long-awaited Gaza ceasefire by going to Jerusalem to speak with Israeli activist Gershon Baskin, who has experience negotiating with Hamas, including during this latest conflict. Baskin says while it’s heartening to see captives returning home, the ceasefire agreement is “a bad deal” because of how fragile it is. “Hamas would not have agreed to enter into this two- or three-phase deal without having guarantees … that in fact the war would end,” says Baskin. “But we don’t know that, because Netanyahu has given alternative promises to members of the government that Israel reserves the right to return to war.”
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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We host a roundtable on the planned Gaza ceasefire with former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy of the U.S./Middle East Project, Gazan analyst Muhammad Shehada of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and journalist Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News. We discuss how incoming President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff pressured Israel to accept the deal and what it reveals about the outgoing Biden administration’s refusal to use its own leverage for the same end. “Joe Biden could have ended this long ago,” and that he chose not to “exposes the utter moral rot that existed within the Biden White House,” says Scahill. Still, our guests say it’s unlikely that the ceasefire announcement signifies true relief for Palestinians beset by Israel’s genocidal violence. Levy says Netanyahu is already working to renege on the deal and continue a war that has helped him retain his political power, while Shehada warns that all signs point to the continued subjugation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories in conditions “more painful than the war.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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We host a roundtable on the planned Gaza ceasefire with former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy of the U.S./Middle East Project, Gazan analyst Muhammad Shehada of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and journalist Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News. We discuss how incoming President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff pressured Israel to accept the deal and what it reveals about the outgoing Biden administration’s refusal to use its own leverage for the same end. “Joe Biden could have ended this long ago,” and that he chose not to “exposes the utter moral rot that existed within the Biden White House,” says Scahill. Still, our guests say it’s unlikely that the ceasefire announcement signifies true relief for Palestinians beset by Israel’s genocidal violence. Levy says Netanyahu is already working to renege on the deal and continue a war that has helped him retain his political power, while Shehada warns that all signs point to the continued subjugation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories in conditions “more painful than the war.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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By Daniel Perese of Te Ao Māori News
Māori politicians across the political spectrum in Aotearoa New Zealand have called for immediate aid to enter Gaza following a temporary ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
The ceasefire, agreed yesterday, comes into effect on Sunday, January 19.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand welcomed the deal and called for humanitarian aid for the strip.
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Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer … “This ceasefire must be accompanied by a global effort to rebuild Gaza.” Image: Te Pāti Māori “There now needs to be a massive, rapid, unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.“
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer echoed similar sentiments on behalf of her party, saying, “the destruction of vital infrastructure — homes, schools, hospitals — has decimated communities”.
“This ceasefire must be accompanied by a global effort to rebuild Gaza,” she said.
Teanau Tuiono, Green Party spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, specifically called on Aotearoa to increase its aid to Palestine.
‘Brutal, illegal Israeli occupation’
“[We must] support the reconstruction of Gaza as determined by Palestinians. We owe it to Palestinians who for many years have lived under brutal and illegal occupation by Israeli forces, and are now entrenched in a humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions,” he said.“The genocide in Gaza, and the complicity of many governments in Israel’s campaign of merciless violence against the Palestinian people on their own land, has exposed serious flaws in the international community’s ability to uphold international law.
“This means our country and others have work to do to rebuild trust in the international system that is meant to uphold human rights and prioritise peace,” said the Green MP.
With tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in the 15 month war, negotiators reached a ceasefire deal yesterday in Gaza for six-weeks, after Hamas agreed to release hostages from the 7 October 2023 attacks in exchange for Palestinian prisoners — many held without charge — held in Israel.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said this deal would end the “incomprehensible human suffering”.
“The terms of the deal must now be implemented fully. Protection of civilians and the release of hostages must be at the forefront of effort.
“To achieve a durable and lasting peace, we call on the parties to take meaningful steps towards a two-state solution. Political will is the key to ensuring history does not repeat itself,” Peters said in a statement.
Tuiono called it a victory for Palestinians and those within the solidarity movement.
“However, it must be followed by efforts to establish justice and self-determination for Palestinians, and bring an end to Israeli apartheid and the illegal occupation of Palestine.
“We must divest public funds from illegal settlements, recognise the State of Palestine, and join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, just as we joined Ukraine’s case against Russia.”
Ngawera-Packer added that the ceasefire deal did not equal a free Palestine anytime soon.
“We must not forget the larger reality of the ongoing conflict, which is rooted in decades of displacement, violence, and oppression.
“Although the annihilation may be over for now, the apartheid continues. We will continue to call out our government who have done nothing to end the violence, and to end the apartheid.
“We must also be vigilant over these next three days to ensure that Israel will not exploit this window to create more carnage,” Ngarewa-Packer said.
Republished from Te Ao Māori News
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Gaza is entering its second winter under attack from Israel, and talks to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas appear to have stalled yet again. For more on efforts to end the war and secure the release of captives on both sides, we speak with veteran Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin, who has acted as a backchannel to Hamas leaders in the current and previous conflicts. “We need to put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the agenda again and make sure this is the last war we fight,” says Baskin.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
