KUALA LUMPUR: Southeast Asian nations must accelerate regional economic integration, diversify their markets and stay united to tackle the fallout from global trade disruptions resulting from sweeping US tariff hikes, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Sunday.
Mohamad, opening a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also reiterated the bloc’s call to warring parties in Myanmar to cease hostilities in a deadly civil war that has killed thousands and displaced millions of people since a 2021 government takeover by the military.
“ASEAN nations are among those most heavily affected by the US-imposed tariffs. The US–China trade war is dramatically disrupting production and trade patterns worldwide. A global economic slowdown is likely to happen,” Mohamad said. “We must seize this moment to deepen regional economic integration, so that we can better shield our region from external shocks.”
ASEAN countries, many of which rely on exports to the US, are reeling from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration ranging from 10 percent to 49 percent. Six of the association’s 10 member nations were among the worst-hit with tarrifs ranging from 32 percent to 49 percent.
ASEAN unsuccessfully sought an initial meeting with the US as a bloc. When US President Donald Trump last month announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs, countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam swiftly began trade negotiations with Washington.
The meeting of foreign ministers preceded a planned ASEAN leaders’ summit Monday in Malaysia, the bloc’s current chair. A summit is expected to follow on Tuesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
ASEAN’s unity is crucial as the region grapples with impacts of climate change and disruption from the malevolent use of artificial intelligence and other unregulated techologies, Mohamad said, adding that ASEAN’s centrality will be tested by external pressure, including a superpower rivalry.
“External pressures are rising, and the scope of challenges has never had higher stakes,” he said. ““It is therefore crucial that we reinforce the ties that bind us, so as to not unravel under external pressures. For ASEAN, unity is now more important than ever.”
ASEAN members have refused to take sides, engaging the US and China, which are both key regional trading and investment partners.
ASEAN remained committed to help war-torn Myanmar, which is recovering from a March earthquake that killed more than 3,700 people, Mohamad said.
Myanmar’s military leaders were barred from attending ASEAN meetings after refusing to comply with ASEAN’s peace plan, which includes negotiations and delivery of humanitarian aid.
“We call on the stakeholders in Myanmar to cease hostilities, and to extend and expand the ceasefire, to facilitate the long and difficult path toward recovery,” Mohamad said.
Myanmar’s crisis has challenged the credibility of ASEAN, which has been hampered by its long-held policy of non-interference in each other’s affairs.
After informal consultations with bloc members, Mohamad said Saturday that ASEAN has to step up efforts as Myanmar’s problems had spilled over borders with a growing number of refugees fleeing to neighboring nations and rising transborder crime.
Malaysia’s efforts now focus on de-escalation of violence and greater access to humanitarian aid, but he said plans for political dialogue between the conflicting parties would be challenging due to a “trust deficit.”
ASEAN must deepen integration and stay united to tackle US tariffs, Malaysia says
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ASEAN must deepen integration and stay united to tackle US tariffs, Malaysia says

- ASEAN countries, many of which rely on exports to the US, are reeling from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration
- ASEAN unsuccessfully sought an initial meeting with the US as a bloc
Slightly radioactive Fukushima soil is used at Japanese prime minister’s office to prove safety

- Officials say the soil meets safety standards set by the Environment Ministry and the International Atomic Energy Agency
- The government hopes this move will reassure the public of its safety as it seeks to reduce the massive volume of contaminated soil stored near the nuclear plant
This is the first soil to be used, aside from experiments, since the 2011 nuclear disaster when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a cataclysmic meltdown following an earthquake and tsunami that left large amounts of radioactive materials spewing out from the facility, polluting surrounding areas.
The government is desperate to set people’s minds at ease about recycling the 14 million cubic meters of decontaminated soil, enough to fill 11 baseball stadiums, collected after massive clean-ups and stored at a sprawling outdoor facility near the Fukushima plant. Officials have pledged to find final disposal sites by 2045.
The Environment Ministry said the 2 cubic meters, now at Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s office complex in Tokyo, will be used as foundation material in one section of the lawn garden, based on the ministry’s safety guidelines endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The soil does not include any from inside the plant.
Despite assurances, there has been much public unease. The government has already been forced to scrap a plan to experiment using some of the soil in flower beds at several public parks in and around Tokyo following protests.
One dead, three missing after South Korea landslide

- Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to ‘evacuate immediately to a safe area’
- South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared
SEOUL: A landslide triggered by torrential rain killed at least one person in South Korea, the national fire agency said Saturday.
Three people were also missing after the landslide buried two houses in a village in southern Sancheong county, officials said, as heavy rain continued to pound the country.
“At least three people have been reported missing and we have recovered one body,” an official at Sancheong county fire station said.
The official said that one person in their twenties, and a couple in their seventies were reported missing.
Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to “evacuate immediately to a safe area.”
The county has a population of some 34,000 people.
South Korea typically experiences monsoon rains in July, but the country’s southern regions saw some of the heaviest hourly downpours on record this week, official weather data showed.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Saturday at least four people have been killed in rain-related accidents and more than 7,000 forced to evacuate their homes.
South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared and the death toll usually relatively low.
Scientists say climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and frequent.
The country endured record-breaking rains and flooding in 2022 which killed at least 11 people.
Former South Korea president Yoon indicted again as martial law investigation continues

- The new charges include obstruction of the exercise of others’ rights by abuse of authority, ordering the deletion of records and blocking the execution of arrest warrants
- The impeached and deposed former leader has been jailed at Seoul Detention Center since earlier this month
SEOUL: South Korea’s jailed ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on additional charges on Saturday as a special prosecutor continues investigating him for his short-lived declaration of martial law in December.
The new charges include obstruction of the exercise of others’ rights by abuse of authority, ordering the deletion of records and blocking the execution of arrest warrants, the prosecutor’s office said in a briefing.
Yoon has been on trial on charges of insurrection, which is punishable by death or life imprisonment, facing additional charges since the special prosecutor was appointed in June to take over the cases against him.
Yoon has denied all wrongdoing. His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges.
The impeached and deposed former leader has been jailed at Seoul Detention Center since earlier this month, and a court earlier this week rejected his request to be freed from detention.
Cuba ends maximum age limit of 60 for presidential candidates

- Communist-ruled island’s restriction of two five-year presidential terms and minimum age of 35 for candidates were left unchanged
- Cuba’s current president, 65-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, was elected in 2018 and then re-elected in 2023
HAVANA: Cuba scrapped the maximum age limit of 60 for its presidential candidates as part of a constitutional reform approved Friday by parliament.
The communist-ruled island’s restriction of two five-year presidential terms and minimum age of 35 for candidates were left unchanged.
The measure, approved by the Council of State, imposes no age limits on people “in the full exercise of their physical and mental faculties, with... loyalty and revolutionary trajectory,” national assembly president Esteban Lazo said.
Former president Raul Castro, who at age 94 still holds a seat in the assembly, was the first to vote for the reform that will be on the books for the 2028 presidential elections.
Cuba’s current president, 65-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, was elected in 2018 and then re-elected in 2023. No favored successor has been publicly designated.
The inclusion of term and age limits in the 2019 constitution marked a radical shift after the six decades in which Fidel Castro and his brother Raul were in power.
In 2016, Fidel had to hand over the reins to his brother due to health problems. He died later that year, after nearly half a century leading Cuba.
Raul Castro officially became president in 2008, at the age of 76. In 2021, he retired as Communist Party first secretary, handing over power to Diaz-Canel.
The nation of nearly 10 million people is suffering its worst economic crisis in three decades, with shortages of all kinds of supplies, power outages, and unprecedented emigration.
El Salvador frees jailed Venezuelan migrants in US prisoner deal

- The 252 men were accused – without evidence – of being gang members and flown to the notorious ‘anti-terror’ jail last March
- On Friday, after months of legal challenges and political stonewalling, the men arrived at an airport near Caracas
MAIQUETIA, Venezuela: Hundreds of Venezuelans swept up in Donald Trump’s immigration dragnet were abruptly freed from a maximum security Salvadoran jail and sent home as part of a prisoner swap Friday, ending a months-long high-profile ordeal.
The 252 men were accused – without evidence – of being gang members and flown to the notorious CECOT “anti-terror” jail last March.
There, they were shackled, shorn and paraded before cameras – becoming emblematic of Trump’s immigration crackdown and drawing howls of protest.
On Friday, after months of legal challenges and political stonewalling, the men arrived at an airport near Caracas.
The Trump administration said they were released in exchange for 10 Americans or US residents held in Venezuela, and an undefined number of “political prisoners.”
“Today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on social media.
The migrants’ return to Venezuela sparked tearful celebrations from family members who had heard nothing from them in months.
“I don’t have words to explain how I feel!” said Juan Yamarte. “My brother (Mervin) is back home, back in Venezuela.”
Mervin’s mother said she could not contain her happiness. “I arranged a party and I’m making a soup,” she said.
The men had been deported from the United States under rarely used wartime powers and denied court hearings.
Exiled Salvadoran rights group Cristosal believes that just seven of the 252 men had criminal records.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro thanked Trump for “the decision to rectify this totally irregular situation.”
In the United States, families were also excited to see their loved ones return. One had been imprisoned for nearly a year.
Global Reach, an NGO that works for wrongly detained Americans, said one of the men freed was 37-year-old Lucas Hunter, held since he was “kidnapped” by Venezuelan border guards while vacationing in Colombia in January.
“We cannot wait to see him in person and help him recover from the ordeal,” it quoted his younger sister Sophie Hunter as saying.
Uruguay said one of its citizens, resident in the United States, was among those liberated after nine months in Venezuelan detention.
Another plane arrived at Maiquetia airport earlier Friday from Houston with 244 Venezuelans deported from the United States and seven children who Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said had been “rescued from the kidnapping to which they were being subjected.”
The children were among 30 who Caracas says remained in the US after their Venezuelan parents were deported.
Clamping down on migrants is a flagship pursuit of Trump’s administration, which has ramped up raids and deportations.
It has agreed with Maduro to send undocumented Venezuelans back home, and flights have been arriving near daily also from Mexico, where many got stuck trying to enter the United States.
Official figures show that since February, more than 8,200 people have been repatriated to Venezuela from the United States and Mexico, including some 1,000 children.
The Venezuelans detained in El Salvador had no right to phone calls or visits, and their relatives unsuccessfully requested proof of life.
Bukele had CECOT built as part of his war on criminal gangs, but he agreed to receive millions of dollars from the United States to house the Venezuelans there.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have denounced the detentions as a violation of human rights.