World
Solomon Islands leader hits back at criticism of deepening security ties with China
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The leader of Solomon Islands on Monday hit back at criticism of his nation’s deepening security ties with China, saying the United States and Australia had nothing to fear.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made the remarks at a news conference in the capital Honiara after returning from a visit to China, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials.
Sogavare said that while in China, he signed nine agreements and memorandums, including a police cooperation plan.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is holding talks with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing as the U.S. seeks to restore contacts with China that were disrupted by disputes over trade, Taiwan, human rights and territorial claims.
China’s economic growth missed forecasts in the second quarter of the year amid a slowdown in consumer spending and weakening global demand.
On the heels of a trip to Beijing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is back in Asia for a series of Group of 20 finance minister meetings in India.
China has criticized a German government call for reducing dependency on Chinese products as a form of protectionism.
He said the plan “enhances cooperation on law enforcement and security matters with a commitment by China to provide support as needed” to strengthen the capacity of police law enforcement in the Pacific nation.
The new agreements come after the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China last year, raising fears of a military buildup in the region. The U.S. has countered with diplomatic moves of its own, including opening an embassy in the Solomon Islands.
The Solomon Islands switched allegiance from the self-ruled island of Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, threatening the close ties with the U.S. that date to World War II.
Both the U.S. and Australia have raised concerns about the secrecy of the new police plan.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters she had asked about the plan when she met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Jakarta last week.
Wong said Australia wants more transparency and takes the view that “security is best provided for within the Pacific family.”
At the news conference, Sogavare accused the U.S. and Australia of being “un-neighborly” by criticizing the police plan.
“This is nothing but interference by foreign states into the internal affairs of Solomon Islands,” Sogavare said.
He said China’s plan to help the police complemented existing Australian and New Zealand police programs in his nation.
“Australia and the United States should not fear China’s police support to Solomon Islands,” Sogavare said.
Home to 700,000 people and lying about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Australia, Solomon Islands has been one of China’s biggest successes in a campaign to expand its presence in the South Pacific.
China’s Foreign Ministry earlier said that Sogavare’s visit to Beijing would “inject new momentum” into relations and “deepen mutual political trust.”
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3 bodies found in search for US and Australian surfers who mysteriously vanished in Mexico
Three bodies have been discovered in a popular Mexican tourist area where an American and two Australians suddenly vanished last week having been on an apparent camping and surfing trip, the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement late on Friday.
American Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, as well as Australian brothers Callum Robinson, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, were last seen on April 27, the Baja California state prosecutor’s office previously announced. They did not show up at their planned accommodation last weekend.
Investigators discovered three bodies dumped in a pit while searching for the trio on Friday, although officials have not confirmed if the bodies are those of the missing men.
2 AMERICANS FOUND DEAD IN HOTEL ROOM IN MEXICO’S BAJA CALIFORNIA
Forensic tests on the remains will be conducted by a state laboratory, which will allow for positive identification of the bodies, the prosecutor’s office said in its statement.
Investigators continue to search the rugged area where the bodies were found for additional evidence, the statement added.
The bodies were found in a rugged hillside area in Baja California near the popular tourist town of Ensenada, about 90 minutes south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Video from the scene shows rescuers installing ropes to enter the pit where the bodies were discovered. The site is seen cordoned off by police while a navy boat was also visible in the sea nearby.
The site where the bodies were discovered near the township of Santo Tomás was near the remote seaside area where the missing men’s tents and the burned-out Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck were found Thursday on a remote stretch of coast.
It is unclear what types of injuries the victims suffered or how they died.
“There is a lot of important information that we can’t make public,” María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the chief state prosecutor said.
Baja California prosecutors said Friday that three people had been arrested and charged with a crime equivalent to kidnapping. It was unclear if they might face more charges.
Ensenada Mayor Carlos Ibarra Aguiar said in a news release that a 23-year-old woman had been detained with drugs and a cellphone that had a wallpaper photo of one of the missing men, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Officials didn’t specify how the three people were connected to the investigation, saying only that some were directly involved and others indirectly.
LUXURY RESORT SHUTTERS IN MEXICO’S BAJA CALIFORNIA AFTER MYSTERIOUS DEATHS OF 2 AMERICANS
Investigators said that a missing persons report was filed 48 hours after the men were last seen, although the prosecutor’s office began investigating as soon as posts began circulating on social media.
María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the chief state prosecutor, said that while drug cartels are active in the area, she said, “all lines of investigation are open at this time. We cannot rule anything out until we find them.”
The Baja California Attorney General’s Office has said that it has maintained contact with the FBI and relatives of the victims, through consular agencies.
On Wednesday, the missing Australians’ mother, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page an appeal for help in finding her sons and noted that Callum is diabetic.
The Australian media reports that Jake is a doctor, while Callum lives in San Diego and is a member of Australia’s national lacrosse team.
The State Department’s travel advisory lists Baja California under its “reconsider travel” category due to crime and kidnapping.
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez— from the Baja peninsula. Authorities say they were victims of highway bandits.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
German social democrats promise not to join forces with the right
German social democrats spoke out against far right violence amid declining support after an attack on Friday night that hospitalised Saxony top candidate for the EU elections Matthias Ecke.
Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Europe held a democracy congress in Berlin as a show of force against the far right that is gaining traction across Europe.
SPD has been polling at a historical low following an economically rocky few years, but the party is now ramping up efforts to win back support after violent far-right attacks continue to increase.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged voters not to vote for far-right parties.
“Democracy is threatened by such things, and therefore, accepting them with a shrug of the shoulders is never an option. We must stand together against it,” he said.
Scholz also warned against further right wing attacks, and added, “that this is directed against local politicians and mayors in small towns and cities. Democracy is threatened by such things,” pointing to an attack on a 28-year-old campaigner for the Greens, that appears to be by the same group.
Ecke is currently in hospital awaiting surgery for his injuries.
Speeches, lead by European social democratic leader Stefan Loefven and the centre-left candidate to head the European Commission, Nicolas Schmit, saw politicians vow not to collaborate with far-right parties if coalitions needed to be built.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party condemned the attack on Ecke.
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