Australia to create $1.75b fund to invest in South-east Asian projects - The Straits Times

Australian PM Anthony Albanese (right) with Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong during the 2024 Asean-Australia Special Summit on March 5. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

MELBOURNE – Australia said on March 5 it would set up a A$2 billion (S$1.75 billion) finance facility to boost trade and investment in South-east Asia as it looks to deepen ties in a region where many are also searching for ways to live with a more assertive China.

The fund will focus on clean energy and infrastructure and provide loans, guarantees, equity and insurance.

Australia will also tip in an extra A$140 million to extend an existing programme which advises the region on infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the fund, which was recommended in 2023 by Australia’s envoy to the region, in a speech on March 5 to business leaders at the Asean summit in Melbourne.

“Australia and South-east Asia must together face this moment with a sense of optimism and urgency,” he said. “Because while there is so much untapped potential, there is no unlimited time. We must act together, and we must act now.”

Two-way trade between Australia and Asean states passed US$178 billion (S$239.2 billion) in 2022, greater than Japan or the United States, Mr Albanese said.

Australia is hosting the Asean summit, which marks the 50th anniversary of its ties to the bloc, amid growing recognition in Canberra that the region needs to be cultivated at a time when China’s increasing assertiveness is reshaping the Indo-Pacific.

Stances on China across the 10-member bloc range from wary to warm.

Philippine Prime Minister Ferdinand Marco Jr told an audience in Melbourne on March 4 that his country would grow its security ties with the US and resist when China ignores its maritime rights in the South China Sea.

However, at a joint press conference with Mr Albanese hours earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim criticised growing “China-phobia” in the West.

Asked by reporters about China’s push to join regional trade group the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Mr Albanese and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said any decision would be by consensus.

Beijing has long sought to join the 12-member CPTPP, which includes Singapore, Britain and Japan, but faces opposition from some members including Australia over its coercive trade policies. REUTERS

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• Australia
• Anthony Albanese
• Asean

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2024-03-05 00:10:00Z
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Climbers to pay US$13 fee on popular Mount Fuji trail - CNA

"After COVID restrictions were lifted, we started seeing more people. We want them to dress appropriately for the mountain and be well prepared," Toshiaki Kasai, an official at the local government, told AFP.

"We will ask visitors to monitor social media for up-to-date information about the daily visitor count," he added.

Each summer, reports in Japanese media describe tourists climbing Mount Fuji with insufficient mountaineering equipment.

Some sleep on the trail or start fires for heat, while many attempt to reach the 3,776m summit without breaks and become sick or injured as a result.

The active volcano has three other main routes that will remain free to climb.

But the Yoshida Trail - accessed from Tokyo relatively easily - is the preferred choice for most holidaymakers, with around 60 per cent of climbers choosing that route, according to official data.

Mount Fuji is about two hours from central Tokyo by train and can be seen for miles around.

The mountain has been immortalised in countless Japanese artworks, including Hokusai's world-famous "Great Wave".

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2024-03-05 07:29:06Z
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Trump to stay on Colorado ballot after win at US Supreme Court - CNA

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court handed Donald Trump a major victory on Monday (March 4) as he campaigns to regain the presidency, overturning a judicial decision that had excluded him from Colorado's ballot under a constitutional provision involving insurrection for inciting and supporting the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

The justices unanimously reversed a Dec 19 decision by Colorado's top court to kick Trump off the state's Republican primary ballot on Tuesday after finding that the US Constitution's 14th Amendment disqualified him from again holding public office.

Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov 5 US election. His only remaining rival for his party's nomination is former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Trump was also barred from the ballot in Maine and Illinois based on the 14th Amendment, but those decisions were put on hold pending the Supreme Court's ruling in the Colorado case.

Trump's eligibility had been challenged in court by a group of six voters in Colorado - four Republicans and two independents - who portrayed him as a threat to American democracy and sought to hold him accountable for the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

The plaintiffs were backed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group.

The ruling came on the eve of Super Tuesday, the day in the US presidential primary cycle when the most states hold party nominating contests. As lawsuits seeking to disqualify Trump cropped up across the country, it was important for his candidacy to clear any hurdles to appear on the ballot in all 50 states.

The Supreme Court resolved the Colorado ballot dispute speedily, a timeline that stands in contrast to its slower handling of Trump's bid for immunity from criminal prosecution in a federal case in which he faces charges for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Trump's trial has been put on hold awaiting the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision - a benefit for him as he campaigns against Biden.

In the Colorado dispute, the justices agreed to take up the case a mere two days after Trump filed his appeal, fast-tracked arguments and issued the written opinion in just over two months.

The justices in the immunity case in December declined a bid to speed up resolution of the matter before a lower court had weighed in, then last week agreed to take up the matter after lower courts had ruled - setting arguments to take place in late April, a much longer timeline.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority includes three Trump appointees. Not since ruling in the landmark case Bush v. Gore, which handed the disputed 2000 US election to Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore, has the court played such a central role in a presidential race.

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2024-03-04 17:11:27Z
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China's economy of 'great concern' as annual political meeting to kick off - CNA

FOCUS ON ECONOMY

But Lou on Monday struck a bullish tone, saying Beijing's leaders had "ample confidence" that the economy would rebound.

"China has more favourable conditions than challenges in its economic development," he insisted.

"The underlying trend of a rebound in the economy and long-term growth remains unchanged," he said.

But, he added, Premier Li Qiang would not be holding a press conference at the end of the NPC, in a break with decades-long tradition.

Li had used the briefing last year to warn that Beijing's modest growth goals would be "no easy task".

China is also set to double down on national security, with analysts expecting it to increase its military budget, second only to the United States.

Beijing revised a law dramatically expanding its definition of espionage last year and conducted raids on a string of big-name consulting, research and due diligence firms.

The legislature's top body also approved a broad and vaguely worded revision to the country's state secrets law in the run-up to the NPC.

Lynette Ong, a professor at the University of Toronto, told AFP there would "be continued emphasis on security".

"I don't expect any major policy change such as important structural reforms that will change the course of economic trajectory," she added.

On paper, the NPC wields little actual power.

All major decisions will have been made weeks before in closed-door meetings of the Communist Party, far from the international media's cameras.

But the topics that are up for discussion and the tone of the speeches allow for key insights into what's keeping China's rulers up at night, analysts say.

"Balancing security with the need to keep the economy ticking over while other issues are worked out is at the centre of policymaker's minds," said Diana Choyleva, chief economist at Enodo Economics.

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2024-03-04 06:00:19Z
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One-fifth of Mekong river fish species face extinction: Conservation groups - CNA

About 19 per cent of the 1,148 or more fish species in the Mekong are heading towards extinction, said the conservationists' report – The Mekong's Forgotten Fishes – adding that the number may be higher as too little is known about 38 per cent of the species to gauge their conservation status.

Among those facing extinction are 18 species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, including two of the world's largest catfish, the world's largest carp and the giant freshwater stingray.

"Some of the largest and rarest fish ... anywhere on earth occur on the Mekong River," Hogan said.

Fish depletion in the Mekong - which accounts for over 15 per cent of the world's inland catch, generating over US$11 billion annually - could harm food security for at least 40 million people in the Lower Mekong basin whose livelihood depends on the river, the report said.

Hogan said it was "not too late" for countries in the delta to coordinate efforts to reverse the adverse impacts on the fish population.

"If we take action, collectively take action, to develop the river sustainably, there’s still hope," he said.

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2024-03-04 00:47:00Z
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Yemen's Houthis say they will continue sinking British ships - CNA

CAIRO: Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis vowed on Sunday (Mar 3) to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of UK-owned vessel Rubymar.

The US military confirmed on Saturday that the UK-owned vessel Rubymar had sunk after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Yemeni Houthi militants on Feb 18.

"Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain's bill," Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister in the Houthi-led government, said in a post on X.

"It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza."

Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's military actions in Gaza.

Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

The US and Britain began striking Houthi targets in Yemen in January in retaliation for the attacks on Red Sea shipping.

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2024-03-03 12:36:10Z
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PM Lee to visit Melbourne for Singapore-Australia Annual Leaders' Meeting, ASEAN special summit - CNA

"The summit will reaffirm the longstanding and substantive relations between ASEAN and Australia, and discuss ways to deepen and expand cooperation, especially in the green and digital economies," said PMO.

"The leaders will exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, and on how to continue working with Australia in building an open, inclusive, and stable region."

Mr Albanese said building Australia’s links with Southeast Asia is "a priority" for his government.

"Australia sees ASEAN at the centre of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous region. Strengthening our relationship ensures our shared future prosperity and security," he said, adding that he looked forward to welcoming his counterparts.

Mr Lee will be accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, as well as officials from PMO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During Mr Lee's absence, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will be Acting Prime Minister.

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2024-03-03 09:00:59Z
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