Biden says will visit Vietnam ‘shortly’

WASHINGTON, DC – US President Joe Biden said Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) he would travel to Vietnam “shortly” as part of an effort to improve ties with Hanoi, as Washington seeks to counter China’s influence in the region.

“I’m going to be going to Vietnam shortly because Vietnam wants to change our relationship and become a partner,” Biden said during remarks in New Mexico.

“We find ourselves in a situation where all these changes around the world are taking place at a time we have an opportunity ... to change the dynamic,” he added.

The United States and Vietnam have increasingly close trade links, while both share concern over China’s growing strength in the region.

Friction has been increasing for years between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, over China’s sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Washington and Hanoi pledged in April to upgrade diplomatic ties when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stopped over on his way to a

Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers’ meeting in Japan.

“We think this is an auspicious time to elevate our existing partnership,” Blinken told reporters during the visit with Vietnamese leaders.

“We’ve had for the last 10 years this comprehensive partnership that has created an incredibly strong foundation of cooperation across many different areas. As a result, we think this is a good moment to go even further.”

Blinken also attended a ground-breaking for a new US embassy in Hanoi.

And in March, Biden spoke with the head of Vietnam’s ruling Communist party, Nguyen Phu Trong.

Washington has, however, bristled over human rights concerns in Vietnam, with Blinken saying he continued “to underscore how future progress on human rights is essential to unleashing the full potential of the Vietnamese people.”

The South China Sea, the longtime center of tensions between China and Vietnam, is seen as a powder keg, and many fear a miscalculation or accident could ignite a military conflict. AFP

BEIJING—China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia this week, Beijing said Wednesday as it seeks to build ties in the region.

Wang, who returned to the post last month after the unexplained disappearance of predecessor Qin Gang, will travel to the three countries from Thursday to Sunday, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

“China hopes to strengthen strategic communication with the three Southeast Asian countries through this visit,” the foreign ministry said.

Cambodia has become one of China’s strongest allies in the region under the rule of outgoing ruler Hun Sen, receiving huge sums of Chinese investment.

But the flood of Chinese money has brought problems, including a rash of casinos and online scam operations staffed by foreign workers.

China’s relations with Southeast Asia have been complicated by self-proclaimed control over most of the South China Sea despite competing claims from nations including Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Maritime disagreements have pitted some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) against Beijing and boosted sympathy for US opposition to China’s growing assertiveness. Others have backed Beijing. AFP

Pakistan parliament to dissolve for polls

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Pakistan’s parliament was due to be dissolved Wednesday, ushering in a technocrat-led interim government to oversee an election that will not include the country’s most popular politician, Imran Khan. The country has been in political turmoil since the former international cricket star was booted from power in April last year, culminating in his being jailed for graft at the weekend following a months-long crackdown on his party.

By law, elections should be held within 90 days of parliament’s dissolution, but the outgoing government has already warned they are likely to be delayed.

The unlikely coalition between the country’s usually feuding dynastic parties -- which came together to kick out Khan -- has won little popular support during its 18 months at the helm of the world’s fifth-most populous country.

The economy is still in the doldrums despite a new International Monetary Fund bailout, with crippling foreign debt, soaring inflation and widespread unemployment from factories made idle because they lack foreign currency to buy raw materials.

“Economic decisions are invariably tough and often unpopular, requiring a government with a longer tenure to effectively implement them,” said Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency think tank. AFP

El Nino could imperil Australia’s Barrier Reef

SYDNEY—Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could deteriorate if warming ocean temperatures spark another mass coral bleaching event later this year, the country’s top marine science body said Wednesday.

Sections of the reef had been showing promising signs of recovery until a bleaching event in 2022 turned swathes of the vibrant coral a sickly, pale white.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science said that, although the reef’s condition had stabilized during a “relatively mild” summer in 2023, it remained in a precarious position.

Institute research director David Wachenfeld said the reef was at “increased risk with climate change driving more frequent and severe bleaching events”.

Australia’s weather bureau has said it is “likely” an El Nino weather pattern will develop over the country in the coming weeks, bringing warmer ocean temperatures to the Pacific -- and the renewed risk of coral bleaching.

Globally, the average ocean temperature has been topping seasonal heat records on a regular basis since April.

Wachenfeld said the reef was “only one large-scale disturbance away from a rapid reversal of recent recovery.”

Australia was given a brief reprieve earlier this year when a team of United Nations experts left the fading wonder off a list of heritage sites considered “in danger.” AFP

Norway to fine Meta nearly $100,000 per day for defying ban

OSLO—Norway’s data protection agency said Tuesday it would start fining Facebook and Instagram owner Meta nearly $100,000 per day for defying a ban on using users’ personal information to target ads.

The Norwegian watchdog, Datatilsynet, said Meta would be fined one million kroner ($97,000) per day, starting August 14.

Tobias Judin, head of Datatilsynet’s international department, said the fine related to a decision made on July 14, where the agency had temporarily “imposed a ban on behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram.”

“Meta’s behavioral advertising entails intrusive surveillance of its users, negatively impacting their right to data protection and freedom of information,” Judin told AFP in an email, adding that there were many vulnerable groups on the platforms, such as “young people, the elderly and people with cognitive disabilities.”

“We are also concerned that sensitive personal data may be used for advertising purposes. We have therefore found that Meta’s practices are contrary to data protection law,” Judin continued.

Datatilsynet announced the ban on July 17 and originally said that Meta had until August 4 to take corrective measures.

“The coercive fine is issued because Meta has not yet complied with our ban,” Judin said.

The social media giant said last week it intends to ask users in the European Union, EEA (European Economic Area) and Switzerland to give their consent before allowing targeted advertising on its networks.

European regulators in January had dismissed the previous legal basis -“legitimate interest” -- Meta had used to justify gathering users’ personal data for targeted advertising.

Judin said this was a “positive change—but personal data continues to be processed unlawfully in the interim.”

A spokesman for Meta told AFP the company was appealing the decision by the Norwegian watchdog, saying they believed they had already committed to the consent the authority was asking for. AFP