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Opinion
Adelle Chua, Editor Joyce Pangco Pañares, Issue Editor
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EDITORIAL
POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE
PILIPINX POETRY ABOUT ’PUNYETANG’ POLITICS
PROPORTION
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T’S a good thing the Palace shot down a Quezon City lawmaker’s proposal to declare tomorrow, January 30, a holiday so that Filipinos can stay home and watch the Miss Universe pageant from the comfort of their living room. People will probably be watching from anywhere they are because these days you don’t need to be seated in front of your television set at home to see anything, real-time. You can be at your office, in school, in a moving vehicle— anywhere. But that is not even the point. Rep. Winston Castelo’s proposal betrays a misplaced sense of what is important and what should be secondary. We do not dispute that the holding of the pageant here brings us some cheer. This
is sorely needed—at a time when we can no longer trust those who are mandated to protect us, and when it appears human life is a commodity with a value that varies depending on where one is on the social ladder. The pageant may also do something to convince the rest of the world that terror threats and killings notwithstanding, the Philippines remains a country worth visiting. But calling off work and school for the occasion is, at best, silly. Think of the lessons to be missed and productive work to be foregone—and for what? Then again, Castelo may just be taking a cue from his President who famously said he did not want his day to end when he was visited last week by the dozens of attractive women vying for the title. The same President also said he was envious of the just-inaugurated US President because the latter was a billionaire and had a statuesque woman for a wife. This obsession with pageants is understandable but must be tempered with proportion. When the winners are announced and when the candidates return to their respective homes, what we would be left with are the same ugly realities that we sought to forget for a while in our zeal to surround ourselves with beauty.
NORTHERN California-based poet and editor Eileen Tabios has released a spunky collection of verses that add to the literature of the Philippine diaspora. Titled “Puñeta: Political Pilipinx Poetry,” the 36-page chapbook gathers poems written by 16 USbased Filipinos about politics, race, identity, homeland, and other issues that concern immigrants and those born in the US of Philippine heritage. Thanks to Eileen for using my artwork “Salitang Makulay: Puñeta” as the cover illustration for this book. The artwork was an embroidered piece I created for the Chromatext Rebooted art show that ran from Nov. 6, 2015 to Jan. 15, 2016 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The show, curated by Krip Yuson and Jean Marie Syjuco for the Philippine Literary Arts Council, featured the works of around 120 writers and artists. Eileen acquired my work immediately upon seeing it from a photo Krip posted on Facebook, and I am moved that she liked it enough to live with it, and now to use it as the cover of this anthology. Some of the poets whose works are in this book even want the design on t-shirts to wear to this year’s Association of Writers and Writing Programs event! Now that would be something interesting to see. From the poems in the collection, here’s Michelle Bautista’s “Flow.” It starts: “Hear playful moon in this sacred space. Our afflictions, its laughter of paradise, fire jutting out of a deep pulse. Crafted warriors, sliding, struck upon fire and water, earth and air. Hear guardians in corners split heavy hollow resonance. Touch earth and air. Red bamboo above flows…” It seems to me more a song, a mood piece with a narrative open to the reader’s interpretation. Jose Padua’s “Headhunters” tells of a “man in a barrel” wood carving from the Philippine highlands that he had in his home as a child. It’s a poem about negotiating one’s identity—of growing up Filipino in the US, and handling interactions with the country’s privileged race: “…we’re looking at you, we’re paying attention to your moves, your strange exotic speech and your skin / a color you can only see in our teeth and our eyes when we look / at you and smile. We’re nice and kind and polite and we like / to cook and entertain, but cross us and there’s no way for you / to know if it’s daytime or nighttime or heaven or hell and time for us to start collecting heads again.” In truth, this awareness of racism is a common feeling among Filipinos in the US, particularly for immigrants with their different accents, gestures, and other traits that set them apart as “not from around here,” “not one of us .” Why “Pilipinx”? This is a spin-off from the term “Latinx” (pronounced “lateen-ex”), which refers to people from
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TROPHIES LONG STORY SHORT ADELLE CHUA
THE Internet is abuzz with comparisons of how Barack and Michelle Obama behave differently from their successors Donald and Melania Trump. Whereas the Obamas appear to genuinely enjoy each other’s company and treat each other with respect and
trust—that, or they are such great actors—the first images of the current US President and First Lady point to anything but a loving, respectful relationship between husband and wife. Social media point to body language, using clips and GIFs to show the not-
so-subtle clues. For example, when the Trumps came to the White House to meet the Obamas, Mr. Trump got out of the car and proceeded to the shake hands with them, leaving his wife to get out on her side of the car, walk around the back of it and then ascend the steps on
her own. By the time she got to the top of the step, her husband was already on his way into the building. Both Obamas then welcomed her and put their hands on her back as if to prop her up. Mrs. Trump handed Mrs. Obama a Turn to B2
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PUTIN HAS A CONSTITUTION TO SELL SYRIA
CAN TRUMP WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE?
By Leonid Bershidsky RUSSIA, a country not known for strict constitutionalism, has offered
Syria’s warring sides a draft constitution that will probably get rejected. But the document sheds light on Russia’s goals in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation. Russia presented the draft constitution to the Syrians last week, at the peace talks it co-sponsored with Turkey in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The immediate reaction from the opponents of President Bashar Al-Assad was not encouraging: They pointed out to the Russians that, after US administrator Paul Bremer’s less-than-stellar tenure in Iraq, Syrians wouldn’t put much stock in foreign attempts to lay down the law for them. But Moscow says it doesn’t want the belligerents to accept its proposals wholesale: All it’s doing, according to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, is offering a basis for discussion. “We are convinced by the experience of the last five years that unless specific proposals are put on the table, we may never start specific work,” Lavrov said. That sounds reasonable, but it’s also a well-tested Russian tactic in freezing— rather than resolving—conflicts in wartorn countries. In May 2015, the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine presented their proposals on Ukrainian legislation that, in their view, could bring about the country’s reunification. They demanded self-government, the right to maintain an armed “people’s militia,” permission to maintain close ties with Russia, and a constitutional amendment that would keep Ukraine neutral, precluding its membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The amendments did not seem to be the work of eastern Ukraine’s “people’s republics,” which are ostensibly run by local thugs; they clearly came from Moscow. The Kremlin’s plan was for Kiev to reject the proposals so the outside world would conclude that it, not Moscow, was the problem. That was indeed what happened, allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to claim to Western leaders and anyone else who would listen that Kiev wouldn’t compromise to end the war. No one in the West publicly agreed with that, but US and European officials have pressured Ukrainians in private meetings to show more flexibility. As for the stalled conflict, it continued to undermine Ukraine’s stability at a negligible cost to Russia. To Putin, the straightest path to a more controllable, obedient Ukraine was one of attrition. The Syrian rebels probably didn’t have the time to follow the Ukraine crisis, and to them, any proposals coming from Moscow are tainted and suspect. An out-of-hand rejection, however, puts them in a Ukraine-style situation. Despite Moscow’s claims that it wants final resolution, it may be satisfied with a trademark frozen conflict, in which Russia more or less runs the part of the country that remains under Assad’s rule and Turkey does the best it can with the rebel-held part, taking on the burden of fighting the Islamic State on the ground with occasional Russian support when it’s in Moscow’s interest. That would give Putin a much-needed bargaining chip with President Donald Trump, who hopes Russia will help the US end threats from IS and other terrorists. Though such an overarching goal would have little to do with the content of the Russian-drafted constitution, the document itself is also noteworthy because it paints the ideal Syria as seen from Moscow. Bloomberg
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box, a present, and the latter did not seem to know what to do with it. She was frowning, but now it is being interpreted as a frown upon seeing another woman treated the way the former was treated. When Mrs. Trump walked to the platform of the Capitol just before the swearing in and took her place next to her husband, he merely looked at her. They did not speak to each other. In contrast, Barack Obama took Michelle’s hand and kissed it. During the inaugural dance, it was as if Melania was pulling her body away from her husband’s. She smiled when he looked her way but descended into a frown when he was not facing her. All this is speculation, of course, but if we go by the context offered by these images, it would appear that the woman is repulsed and disgusted by her husband. *** There is a rather patronizing article
British Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump meet beside a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 27, 2017 in Washington, D.C. AFP
By Bloomberg Editorial Board to arise as the Brexit talks adventure in Iraq wrecked Blair’s a benefit nonetheless. Since WITH Britain poised to quit the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May needs all the friends she can get. That helps explain her visit Friday to the White House, President Donald Trump’s first from a foreign head of state. The question is, what’s in it for him? Like so much else in the Trump era, this rapprochement is both unpredictable and, especially for the UK, hazardous. But if the President is so inclined, he could use a productive relationship with the Prime Minister to show that he can cooperate as well as confront. May’s main purpose is to show that Britain can succeed internationally without being part of the EU. Frictions over trade with Europe are sure
move forward. Closer trade relations with the US, ideally in the form of a new free-trade agreement, would be valuable in themselves but would also show that quitting the EU can be the start of new era of global engagement for the UK. From Britain’s point of view, moreover, a close friendship with the US comes naturally. Culturally and historically, the UK is as much a mid-Atlantic country as part of Europe. British prime ministers have long cultivated close ties with the US. Yet this “special relationship” (as the Brits like to call it) hasn’t always redounded to their benefit. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher got on famously well, but Tony Blair’s incautious and unqualified support for George W. Bush’s
PILIPINX...
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countries colonized by Romance-language speaking countries Spain and Portugal. Pilipinx/Filipinx (they are interchangeable) is a gender-neutral (and all-gender-encompassing) alternative to F/Pilipino/a. However, usage of the term here in the US, as I’ve noticed, sticks with ‘P’ to decolonize the term, because, the reasoning goes, ‘F’ was not, as far as it is known, a phonic (letter sound) in the pre-colonial language. To clarify, Pilipinx refers to ethnicity, not race. In the US, Filipinos and Indonesians are both classified as Asians or belonging to the Asian race, but Filipinos are not Indonesian. I’d like to see the “x” adapted for other at The Huffington Post called ‘Melania, Are You Okay?’ It was written in the second person, directly addressing the first lady, asking her questions about how she must be feeling and what thoughts she might be having as the spectacle of her husband’s presidency has begun. During the campaign, Americans and the rest of the world saw the way Mr. Trump regarded women. He was quite the character, really. He was given to calling women names like “fatty,” or saying they were “nasty.” He reportedly groped or assaulted women—and then bragged about how they just allowed him to do that given his stature. Mrs. Trump later on came to her husband’s defense, saying this was no longer the man she knew now, and that what he uttered was simply locker-room talk. You know how boys can be, she seemed to say in an interview. She was not convincing. *** A trophy is something you’d like to be seen with to increase people’s
reputation. Trump’s recklessness poses great political risks for May. Her speech in Philadelphia on Thursday showed she’s aware. Praising the US, she talked about the responsibilities of global leadership and the need to defend liberty and human rights, traditional themes that aren’t exactly Trumpian. Making “America First” consistent with an enlightened conception of global leadership isn’t high on Trump’s list of priorities, and it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be open to persuasion. May will therefore need to keep a judicious distance. Nonetheless there’s a chance that a continuation of the special relationship could help both nations. A US-UK trade deal would offer a smaller benefit for the US than for Britain, but
similar ethnic terms to render them genderneutral and thus more inclusive and less divisive. Perhaps we might say, “Ilocanx”, “Kinarayx”. Words such as “Igorot” and “Ifugao” are gender-neutral and would not require such modification. Such a practice could be seen as a form of political correctness. In this era of Trump, political correctness is coming under attack from conservatives, and certainly exaggerated manifestations of it are humorless, irritating, and abusive. But political correctness was developed for a reason—to minimize offense and offensiveness based on race, creed, abilities, and other differences that do not minimize nor take away from our common shared humanity, and to reduce the need for defense and defensiveness against bigots, racists,
When you’re a billionaire and your wife is beautiful... regard of you. Believe it or not, it’s 2017 and there remain societies, families and individuals who believe they must get themselves “trophy wives” to boost their stock and to prove they have really come a long way. A “trophy wife” is beautiful, fairly educated, docile, beautiful, devoted, always smiling, and beautiful. She is always ready to stand by her man however much of a fool he shows himself to be. She makes allowances for his shortcomings, even boorish behavior, because he is so important, and busy, and in need of her understanding. If they have kids, she is most likely an “ideal mom” as well— aware of and involved in her children’s activities in school and outside it. Her family is her life.
the countries’ bilateral trade in goods and services is roughly balanced, and since Britain’s exporters aren’t cheating (as Trump might see it) by exploiting cheap labor, this could be the kind of good deal the President claims to favor. In other areas, too, the Brits have something to offer. Defense cooperation is already close, and May echoed Trump in saying that Europe’s other governments should keep their promise to spend two percent of gross domestic product on defense. Intelligence-sharing is another area of mutual benefit. On these and other matters, May might even be able to help Trump realize a truth (if not a fact) that he seems to resist: The US has a lot to gain from its friendships and alliances.
sexists, and others who hurt those who are not holders of the same type of privileges they possess, often through an accident of birth and no merit of their own. Using the “x” to defang insensitive terms would help shift society to a mindset of acceptance, harmony, and community, because language influences thinking. Words have power. And the words in “Puñeta: Political Pilipinx Poetry” are powerful and empowering. (Available as an e-book or print-on-demand copy at www.moriapoetry.com/locofo.html and www.lulu.com.) Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @ jensdecember
But she has time to pamper herself, too. She can shop for whatever she wants. She goes to the gym and sees her friends for brunch or coffee regularly. She goes on date nights with the husband and sometimes hosts gatherings for their friends or his colleagues. Isn’t her man just enviable? For instance, some people imagine Mr. Trump must be in heaven— because he is a billionaire and his wife is so beautiful. *** Truth is, there is neither genuine pride nor happiness to be derived from trophies. The trophy possessor will be revealed as unhappy and superficial. You don’t really need to bother how people regard you—and happiness is not found in what you acquire, anyway. It is what you already have within. You can work hard and achieve esteem from your colleagues, provide material comforts to your family and
get yourself a beautiful, agreeable life partner so you can be the talk and envy of all your friends. But these are just appearances. As for the “trophy”—well there must be no trophy to begin with. One person does not and should not own or be under another. Partnership is being able to be yourself and freely express your thoughts. It is being respected as an equal, not somebody to be possessed or controlled or dictated upon. It is to be genuinely cared for—not just when you suit their purposes. And, of course, you do the same. We started with Melania Trump but this is about the millions of women and girls who may be seen for less than who they actually are by a society that still says the “essence of a woman” (since it’s pageant season) is to serve their men, make them happy and affirm their success. Nobody needs trophies. Refuse to be one, and vehemently. adellechua@gmail.com
World BANGLADESH RAIL HERO DIES SAVING A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER DHAKA—A Bangladesh railway employee was hit and killed by a train after saving a mother and daughter from being run over, an official said Saturday. Railroad maintenance worker Badal Mia, 58, was on duty in the capital Dhaka on Friday when he noticed a woman and five-year-old girl trying to cross the track as an inter-city train approached them at full speed, divisional railway manager Arif-uz Zaman said. “Mia jumped and pushed them away from the track. He managed to save both of them. But he was run over by the train as he tried to jump away from the track,” Zaman told AFP. “He died on the spot. It’s shocking for us to lose a colleague like this but Mia has set an example of gallantry and true heroism,” he said. The father of eight was only a few months away from his retirement, local media reported. Fatal railway accidents are common in the south Asian country where some 40 percent of around 2,500 rail crossings are unmanned. In the last six years, at least 152 people were killed in railway accidents, official figures show. AFP
FIVE INDIAN SOLDIERS TRAPPED UNDER SNOW SRINAGAR, India—Five Indian soldiers were trapped under heavy snow in Kashmir on Saturday just days after another 20 people were killed by avalanches in the disputed territory, a military spokesman said. The soldiers were approaching a border post in Machil, northwest of the main city of Srinagar along the Line of Control that divides the territory with Pakistan, when the track they were following caved in, Col. Rajesh Kalia told AFP. “Rescue operations to retrieve the trapped soldiers is going on,” the army spokesman said. Another 15 Indian soldiers died when a patrol and two camps were hit by avalanches in the north of the territory, that is also claimed by Pakistan, on Wednesday. It took rescuers two days to retrieve their bodies from under tons of snow. Five civilians were also killed this week, including four members of a family when an avalanche ripped through their home as they slept. A lone survivor was rescued. Dozens of Indian and Pakistani soldiers lose their lives due to avalanches almost every winter along the LoC. Indian-administered Kashmir has been witnessing one of the most severe winters in recent decades, with heavy snow across the territory and temperatures dropping to minus seven degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit). Authorities have issued avalanche warnings and advised residents in mountainous areas not to venture out. Police last week evacuated 80 villagers from Waltengoo Nar in the south of the territory where dozens were killed after a series of avalanches hit the area in 2005. AFP
SOYUZ ROCKET PLACES SPANISH SATELLITE INTO SPACE CAYENNE, France—A Russian-built Soyuz rocket blasted off from French Guiana and successfully placed into orbit a Spanish telecommunications satellite, the French launch company Arianespace said. It said the rocket took off from the Guiana Space Center Saturday aftenoon). The Hispasat 36W-1 satellite that was placed into geostationary orbit is the first to be built using Europe’s new SmallGEO platform developed by Germany’s OHB System AG under the European Space Agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems programme, Arianespace said. It “will provide a wide range of communications services for continental Europe, the Canary Islands and South America.” It was the first launch of the year by Arianespace, which plans a total of 12 throughout 2017. AFP
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FEARS GROW OVER JIHADIST CYBER THREAT L
ille, France—Jihadists have yet to shut down a power grid, paralyse a transport network or banking system or take over a key industrial site from afar, but experts say the threat of such a cyber attack should be taken seriously. Analysts fear that while extremist groups may not have the necessary skills themselves, they could hire someone else to wreak havoc. “Digital attacks with major impacts are unlikely in the short term,” said Guillaume Poupard, head of France’s digital security service ANSSI, speaking to AFP at an international cyber security conference in Lille, France. “However, that could change very fast. Our real fear, and we may already be there, is that they will use mercenaries, people who
will do anything for money,” Poupard said. The Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups are so far using the internet mainly for propaganda and recruitment purposes. “The skills are complex, though not at the level of a nuclear weapon,” Poupard said. “With a few dozen people, a little money, but not that much, you can be effective.” Earlier this month, Europol director Rob Wainwright also warned of the use of digital mer-
cenaries by jihadist groups at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Even if they don’t have access to the capabilities, they can simply buy it on the darknet (a hidden internet realm of encrypted websites), where there is an enormous trade in cyber criminal technology,” Wainwright said at a panel discussion on “Terrorism in the Digital Age.” “That said, attacking the critical national infrastructures at least of most countries is... not easily done, and it’s something that is not as immediate and showy as firing automatic weapons in a theater or in public,” he added. Data pirates and cyber criminals from several countries, often linked to organized crime, offer their services on the darknet. Given the anonymity of the sites, some may help jihadists without
realizing it. “In fact, that’s our fear,” Poupard said. “It’s no so much that IS can quickly develop cyberattacks but that they will be able to go through intermediaries.” Speaking in Davos, retired Pakistani general Raheel Sharif said cyber terrorism is a real threat. “As technology improves, the possibility exists that someone can hack into a very sophisticated system and control that resource in such a way as to do maximum damage somewhere.” Most developed countries are steadily boosting their defenses against the cyber threat, be it terrorism, crime or espionage. “Terrorist groups that currently use the internet for planning, propaganda and recruitment purposes could become full players in the cyber arena,” French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. AFP
ROUGH RIDER. Jess Lockwood competes in the PRB Frontier Communications Sacramento Clash at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. AFP
US ‘RESISTANCE’ MOVEMENT COALESCES ON TWITTER
FOREST INFERNO. Chilean soldiers patrol the streets of Llico, 250 km south of Santiago during a forest fire. Raging forest fires in central Chile have killed 11 people, displaced thousands and destroyed entire villages. AFP
WASHINGTON—A social media “resistance” movement is taking shape against the Trump administration, inspired by the new president’s efforts to control information. It began after the deletion of tweets and data from official US accounts and websites which proved embarrassing to the new president, including government reports on climate change, which have been challenged by President Donald Trump. Some took to Twitter with “alternative” handles – claiming to be federal employees exercising their free speech rights – and he resistance mushroomed into a movement. The seeds of rebellion were first planted by the National Park Service, which came under fire from the new administration for its photos comparing crowd size at Trump’s inauguration to the event eight years earlier with Barack Obama. After those tweets were deleted, tweets from one national park’s account – which according to some reports came from a former employee – offered
links to climate change studies, and when those were removed, a new @AltNatParkSer sprung up and amassed 1.2 million followers in a matter of days. The account is described as “The Unofficial #Resistance team of US National Park Service.” “We don’t want any trouble. We just want to keep peer-reviewed ‘factually accurate’ climate science flowing out of US institutions,” the group said in one of its first tweets. Over the next few days, dozens of “rogue” or “alt” Twitter accounts emerged, including @RogueNOAA (for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), @RogueNASA (for the space agency) and @alt_fda for the Food and Drug Administration. Another account called AltEPA (@ActualEPAFacts), with more than 150,000 followers, aims to offer data which might be suppressed by the Environmental Protection Agency. “He can take our official Twitter but he’ll never take our FREEDOM,” the account says. AFP
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017 Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor
World
/ Joyce Pangco-Pañares, Issue Editor
mst.daydesk@gmail.com
CHINA QUESTIONS EU’S NEW STEEL TAXES
GOOD LUCK. An Ethnic Malaysian-Chinese devotee burns joss-sticks at the Thean Hou temple decorated with red lanterns in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the Lunar New Year, marking the start of the Year of the Rooster. AFP
TRUMP: NO VISAS FOR 7 MUSLIM COUNTRIES W
ASHINGTON—US President Donald Trump signed a sweeping new executive order to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough new controls on travelers from seven Muslim countries.
DRESSED TO KILT. Miss World 2016 Lucy Kerr walks the runway during a fashion show in New York City. AFP
Making good on one of his most controversial campaign promises, and to the horror of human rights groups, Trump said he was making America safe from “radical Islamic terrorists.” “This is big stuff,” he declared at the Pentagon, after signing an order entitled: “Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.” Trump’s decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established. These new protocols will “ensure that those approved for refugee admission do not pose a threat to the security and welfare of the United States.” In addition, it specifically bars Syrian refugees from the United States indefinitely, or until the President himself decides that they no longer pose a threat. Meanwhile, no visas will be issued for 90 days to migrants or visitors from seven mainly-Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. During the suspensions of the refugee and visa programs, new rules will be devised for what Trump as called the “extreme vetting” of applicants’ backgrounds.
Some exceptions will be made for members of “religious minorities,” which – in the countries targeted by the decree – would imply favorable treatment for Christians. Civil liberties groups and many counterterror experts condemned the measures, declaring it inhumane to lump the victims of conflict in with the extremists who threaten them. “’Extreme vetting’ is just a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims,” said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Romero argued that, by choosing countries with Muslim majorities for tougher treatment, Trump’s order breaches the US Constitution’s ban on religious discrimination. Ahmed Rehab, director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group would mount legal challenges to fight the order “tooth and nail.” Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel peace laureate who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, said she was “heartbroken.” She urged Trump not to abandon the world’s “most defenseless children and families.” AFP
US, MEXICAN LEADERS DISCUSS PROPOSED WALL MEXICO CITY—Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and US President Donald Trump sought to tone down diplomatic tensions over the Republican’s planned border wall, agreeing to seek a resolution to the thorny dispute. One day after the spat boiled over, with Peña Nieto cancelling a trip to Washington next week in response to Trump’s insistence that Mexico pay for the barrier, the two leaders held an hour-long phone conversation. Trump described the talks as “very friendly” while the two governments issued a nearly similar statement saying it was “constructive and productive.”
The discussion capped a week that saw relations between the neighboring nations plunge into the biggest diplomatic crisis in decades as Peña Nieto vowed that Mexico will never pay for the border barrier. While Trump and Peña Nieto “recognized their clear and very public differences” about who should pay for the wall, they agreed to “resolve these differences as part of a comprehensive discussion on all aspects of the bilateral relation,” the statement said. But the Mexican government’s version of the statement included a line missing from the White House text: “The
presidents also agreed for now to no longer speak publicly about this controversial issue.” Trump and Peña Nieto spoke about the US trade deficit with Mexico, “the importance of the friendship between our nations” and the need for the neighbors to work together to curb drug and weapons trafficking, the statement said. The presidents instructed their teams to continue the dialogue, but there was no indication that they would reschedule their own meeting any time soon. Speaking at a press conference during talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington, Trump said he had a
“very good relationship” with Peña Nieto. The US leader said he looked forward to renegotiating trade deals and other aspects of US relations with Mexico. “As you know, Mexico with the United States has outnegotiated us and beat us to a pulp through our past leaders. They’ve made us look foolish,” he said, noting that the US has a $60 billion trade deficit with Mexico. Trump wants to renegotiate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. Both Trump and Mexican officials have threatened to pull out of the pact if they fail to get a good deal. AFP
BEIJING—Beijing has accused the European Union of “protectionist” behaviour after Brussels imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel products, as it seeks to protect struggling steel makers in Europe. The EU Commission said it would impose taxes of between 30.7 percent and 64.9 percent on certain Chinese steel products, which it says are being sold at a loss in Europe. The measure, which also applies to Taiwan, is part of an EU push against China – which makes more than half the world’s steel – for allegedly flooding global markets in violation of international trade agreements. But China’s commerce ministry said the EU move was in breach of World Trade Organization rules and vowed to “take necessary measures to defend the fair rights” of Chinese companies. “Imprudently taking protectionist measures is just another attack on international trade,” a ministry official said Friday in a statement. The targeted products are used to join steel pipes and tubes, and are commonly used in industries such as food processing and shipbuilding as well as energy and construction. AFP
VETERAN BRITISH ACTOR JOHN HURT DIES AT 77
John Hurt played Mr. Ollivander in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.’ LONDON—Oscar-nominated British actor John Hurt, known for his roles in “Elephant Man” and “Harry Potter,” has died aged 77 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, reports said Saturday citing his agent. The versatile actor, who played Mr. Ollivander in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and in two other films in the series, also starred in the movie adaptation of George Orwell’s novel “1984.” He also played the role of Kane in “Alien,” who dies when the creature dramatically bursts from his chest. He was twice nominated for an Oscar, in the best supporting actor category for his performance in the 1978 film “Midnight Express” as Max, a British man imprisoned in Turkey, and for his starring role in “Elephant Man” two years later. He received a BAFTA award for “Midnight Express” as well as a Golden Globe in the best actor in a supporting role category. Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood paid tribute to the actor, writing on Twitter: “Very sad to hear of John Hurt’s passing. It was such an honor to have watched you work, sir.” Among many tributes to flood in following news of his death, American actor Chris Evans described Hurt as “remarkable.” Born on January 22, 1940 in Chesterfield, central England, Hurt first began his career as a teacher of drawing. AFP