THREE Nobel Peace prize-winning organizations, including a Japanese group of atomic bombing survivors, have urged US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach an agreement towards ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Nihon Hidankyo made the call in a letter released for Monday’s start of a UN conference on nuclear nonproliferation in New York. “As Nobel Peace laureates, we urge you to meet with one another to reach an agreement on total nuclear disarmament,” the three organizations said in the letter addressed to Trump and Putin.
“The current climate surrounding nuclear weapons is the most volatile in decades,” they said, adding, “This is the moment to show the world the courageous and visionary leadership that is needed” and “All that’s required is political will.” — Kyodo

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

GREENLAND’S freshly elected prime minister begins his first official visit to Denmark on Sunday as US President Donald Trump eyes the Danish autonomous territory.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen leads Greenland’s new coalition government, after his centre-right Democrats party won a legislative election in March. It will be his first visit to Denmark since taking office.
It also follows a visit to the Arctic territory by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in early April, when she told the United States “you cannot annex another country”.
“First and foremost, I will resume discussions with the Prime Minister about the geopolitical situation and cooperation,” Nielsen said in a statement this week, referring to Frederiksen.
“It is important that we make plans for our future cooperation in these times,” he added.
Tensions between the United States and Denmark have soared after Trump repeatedly said he wanted to take control of the resource-rich Arctic island. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte believes he has no case to answer at the International Criminal Court, his daughter said on Sunday (Mar 23), and is confident he has a strong legal argument.

Sara Duterte, vice-president of the Philippines, told reporters her father was now in better health after appearing fatigued and dazed at his first hearing at the ICC.

"He's very confident about the legal arguments. He's very confident ... that what they did was wrong and there is no case to begin with," Duterte told reporters.

The 79-year-old former president faces a charge of crimes against humanity tied to his "war on drugs" in which thousands were killed.

He is currently in a detention centre in The Hague, awaiting a confirmation of charges hearing on Sep 23, where he will have the opportunity to contest the accusations against him.

Duterte was bundled into a plane in Manila and brought to the Hague via Dubai, appearing barely awake at his initial hearing two days later.

But his daughter, who said she saw him on Saturday, said: "He feels better now and thankfully the doctors and the nurses are taking good care of him."

She had previously revealed that her father's main complaint was the Dutch food served in the centre.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/duterte-no-case-answer-icc-daughter-sara-5019311

BRAZIL’S president starts a four-day state visit to Japan on Monday, accompanied by a 100-strong business delegation as US tariffs push the countries to nurture trade ties elsewhere.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba are also expected to discuss the joint development of biofuels ahead of November’s COP30 UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon.
In talks on Wednesday, the leaders will reportedly restate their commitment to free trade following US President Donald Trump’s levies on steel and other imports.
“Everyone who was talking about free trade is now practising protectionism,” Lula, 79, said ahead of his departure. “I think this protectionism is absurd,” he told Japanese media.
Brazil is the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada, shipping four million tonnes of the metal in 2024.
Lula and Ishiba will likely agree to regular leaders’ visits and to establishing strategic dialogue on security and other matters, Japanese media reported.
The pair may also affirm the importance of the rules-based international order, a phrase often used to make a veiled dig at Chinese foreign policy. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

GREENLAND’S prime minister, Mute Egede, accused Washington on Monday of interfering in its political affairs by sending a US delegation to the Danish territory, which is coveted by US President Donald Trump.
Egede said US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz would visit Greenland this week, along with Usha Vance, the wife of US Vice-President JD Vance. Usha Vance was to attend a dogsled race with her son.
Greenlandic media reports said the delegation also included US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former mining executive. They showed images of two US Hercules planes on the tarmac at Nuuk airport as part of an advance security team despatched to the vast Arctic island.
Speaking to Greenlandic daily Sermitiaq, Egede said the “only purpose of the visit was a demonstration of power, and the signal should not be misunderstood”.
Since returning to power in January, Trump has insisted he wants the United States to take over Greenland for what he says are national security purposes.
He has refused to rule out the use of force to achieve that aim. Greenland — which is seeking to emancipate itself from Copenhagen — and Denmark itself have both repeatedly rebuffed Trump, insisting that only Greenlanders can decide their future. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on Ukraine’s continued attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, despite the partial ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump.

"How the US will handle this deranged terrorist scum going forward, and how they will manage to corral them back into some kind of stall and direction—this is a big question," Zakharova told Russian media.

Just hours after the Putin–Trump conversation, the Ukrainian regime reportedly launched a drone attack on oil facilities in Kavkazskaya village, in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, during the night of March 19. Debris from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) damaged a pipeline between fuel storage tanks, igniting a fire that continues to burn.

Source: Suptnik

GERMANY has reopened its embassy in Damascus after a 13-year closure, Syrian media reported on Thursday, coinciding with a visit by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Baerbock’s trip, her second to Syria since the collapse of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, saw the reopening of the diplomatic mission. German media, citing Baerbock, reported that a small number of diplomats, fewer than 10, will be stationed at the reopened embassy.
During her visit, Baerbock held high-level meetings with Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, foreign affairs chief Asaad Al-Shaibani, and representatives of Syrian civil society. Baerbock also toured the heavily damaged Jobar neighbourhood in Damascus, a district that bore the brunt of the country’s civil war. Germany closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012 when the country’s brutal civil war began. — Xinhua

ကိုးကား : The Global New Light of Myanmar

Photo: DW

WASHINGTON, March 17 

 A federal judge on Monday gave the Trump administration a Tuesday deadline to provide details about plane loads of Venezuelans it deported despite orders not to, in a brewing showdown over presidential power.

President Donald Trump claims the deported Venezuelans are members of the prison gang Tren de Aragua, which he designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The White House on Saturday published a Trump proclamation that invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to declare the gang was conducting irregular warfare against the U.S.

Source: Reuters

A HIGH-STAKES meeting between US and Ukrainian delegations started in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah came about two weeks after a US-Ukraine minerals deal was called off. US military assistance to Ukraine was also suspended after US President Donald Trump and then visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelen-
sky were embroiled in a rare shouting match at the White House.
Attending the meeting are US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
The Ukrainian delegation includes Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, and Zelensky’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Pavlo Palisa.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and National Security Advisor Musaed Al Aiban are attending the meeting.
The Ukrainian president arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday and left earlier on Tuesday after meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. — Xinhua

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Hamas on Sunday reiterated the need to start the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire negotiations and allow relief supplies to enter Gaza.

A delegation from the Hamas leadership met with the Egyptian side in Cairo, where issues were discussed “in a positive and responsible spirit,” especially the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the exchange of prisoners in various stages, Hamas said in a statement.
The delegation stressed the need to adhere to the terms of the agreement and called for an immediate start of the second phase of negotiations, the reopening of border crossings, and the unrestricted entry of aid into Gaza, the statement said.

A three-phase Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, took effect on Jan. 19. However, negotiations for the second phase remain stalled after the initial 42-day phase expired on March 1.

 Source: Xinhua