Indonesia joins BRICS foreign ministers meeting as member

Special ndonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono attends the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on Oct. 24, 2024. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono attends the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on Oct. 24, 2024. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
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Updated 27 April 2025
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Indonesia joins BRICS foreign ministers meeting as member

ndonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono attends the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on Oct. 24, 2024. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
  • BRICS accounts for about 48% of world’s population, over 37% of global economy
  • Ministerial meeting comes amid Trump’s trade tariffs on nearly all goods imported to US

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono will attend a meeting with his counterparts of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, the country’s first ministerial participation since becoming a full member of the geopolitical forum earlier this year.

Initially comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the group has expanded with the accession of Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the UAE last year, and Indonesia in January.

Morphing into the most powerful geopolitical forum outside the Western world, BRICS now accounts for about 48 percent of the world’s population and more than 37 percent of the global economy.

“The Indonesian foreign minister will encourage BRICS to play a more constructive role in maintaining peace and upholding global norms that have been mutually agreed upon,” Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“(He) will also emphasize the importance of reforming various multilateral institutions to be more inclusive, transparent, and responsive in facing various challenges in the world.” 

Brazil holds the BRICS presidency this year under the theme “Enhancing Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.” 

The two-day meeting of the group’s foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro will also cover preparations for the upcoming annual leaders’ summit, which Brazil will host in July.

The ministerial-level meeting comes amid the US’ 90-day pause on sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs, while it has raised tariffs on Chinese imports to an effective rate of 145 percent. Beijing has responded with retaliatory hikes on US exports.

The Trump administration has imposed a 47 percent tariff on Indonesian imports, raising concerns about its billions of dollars-worth exports to the US.

The intensifying trade war with the US and the impacts of Washington’s tariffs around the world will be high on the agenda of the BRICS meeting, said Dinna Prapto Raharja, founder of Jakarta-based think-tank Synergy Policies.

“It will be a big part of the agenda, how BRICS countries will respond to the US tariffs,” Raharja told Arab News on Sunday. 

Alternative payment methods in international trade and the role of the New Development Bank — a multilateral bank developed by BRICS member nations — are also likely to be discussed. 

She noted that the BRICS meeting is taking place as China urges a unified response in Southeast Asia, following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s tour to the region earlier this month.

“Indonesia must be able to choose and talk about extremely strategic matters in these negotiation processes,” Raharja said. 

Jakarta must decide on which aspects it is willing to work with the US and in which areas it is open to create alternatives with BRICS countries.

She added: “This must be decided, so that in the case of China coming into the forums with offers or even a little push for BRICS member countries to choose a certain path, Indonesia is ready.”


India’s biggest Palestine art exhibition exposes life under Israeli occupation

“The Body Called Palestine” exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, May 24, 2025. (AN photo)
“The Body Called Palestine” exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, May 24, 2025. (AN photo)
Updated 51 min 45 sec ago
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India’s biggest Palestine art exhibition exposes life under Israeli occupation

“The Body Called Palestine” exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, May 24, 2025. (AN photo)
  • 40 Palestinian artists contributed their work, including Sliman Mansour
  • ‘The Body Called Palestine’ focuses on themes of resistance, identity

NEW DELHI: From paintings and photographs to graffiti and posters, one of India’s biggest-ever showcases of Palestine-related art is now on view in central New Delhi, featuring works by Indian and Palestinian artists that highlight life under Israeli occupation.

“The Body Called Palestine” exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan — next to key government institutions —is a month-long show that will run until May 31.

Organized by the art collective Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, it features 140 works focusing on themes of resistance, identity and solidarity with Palestine. Some 40 of the contributing artists are Palestinians, 30 are Indians, and others come from places such as the US, Poland, Egypt and Sweden.

“‘The Body Called Palestine’” is the largest-ever exhibition in India on Palestine,” Amit Mukhopadhyay, the art historian who curated the show, told Arab News.

“(It is) the largest in terms of size, in terms of the number of works, in terms of the number of artists.”

Among the displayed works is “Searching for Life” by Sliman Mansour, a leading figure among contemporary Palestinian artists. Painted in 2024, it shows three women carefully brushing through the rubble. They are surrounded by destruction and fire in the background — evoking the Gaza Strip, where in the past 19 months Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of people and reduced much of the region’s cities to rubble.

“Searching for Life” — a 2024 painting by Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour features in “The Body Called Palestine” exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, May 1-31, 2025. (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust)


“The Wave,” by sculptor Abdul Rahman Katanani, is a 3-meter-high wave made from barbed wire, representing the Gaza Sea.

“Homes for The Disembodied,” an installation by Mary Tuma, shows five flowing black dresses made from one piece of chiffon — a memorial to the Palestinians displaced from Jerusalem who were unable to return to their homes before their death.

“Palestinian artists display the violence of life under occupation and subjugatory difference. The nostalgia and the desire to return to their homeland, the human emotions of alienation, loss, grief, anger, all are reflected in their artistic language and practice,” Mukhopadhyay says in his curator’s note for the exhibition.

“This expression and language of art may not be similar to any previously existing language system of the world.”

Many of the participating Palestinian artists were only able to submit their work digitally.

“Their houses and their residential areas and their villages are constantly being bombed ... It was impossible for them to send their physical works to us,” trust member Suhail Hashmi told Arab News.

It did not deter the organizers from displaying them. SAHMAT has prepared huge printouts to present them properly and include as many voices as possible.

“The world has to know, and people in India have to know, the great injustice that is being done to the Palestinian people — how barbaric this continuous, ongoing onslaught on unarmed people is,” Hashmi said.

“When we were fighting for our freedom, people all over the world supported our struggle. It is important for us to support anybody, anywhere in the world, fighting for freedom and the right to live peacefully. And the more people know what is going on, there will be at least some reaction.”

Vijendra Vij, an Indian artist who has contributed to the exhibition, based his work on the Palestinian poetry of Taha Muhammad Ali, Khaled Juma, Ghassan Zaqtan and others who have been translated into Hindi.

A painting by Indian artist Vijendra Vij features in “The Body Called Palestine” exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, May 1-31, 2025. (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust)



“When I read the poetry of all these poets, they recall the people, places and experience of left-behind homes, trees, fruits, flowers, the earth, the sea, the sky, colors and scents. Even after decades of hard work and attainment of comfort and professional success, the enduring connection to Palestine remains unbroken. That is behind the inspiration of (my) work,” he said.

The works have generally received emotional responses, with fear and anger followed by thoughtful observation.

“If you look at some of the works that are quite graphic, you see a bit of fear, you fear for yourself, and you also feel extremely despondent about how people are actually going through those situations,” said Saurabh Wasan, an art manager in Delhi.

“Exhibitions like this are very important and very much needed ... in whatever small way, we’re kind of keeping their voices going. Their voices are still being heard.”


Macron’s office downplays plane incident with wife

Macron’s office downplays plane incident with wife
Updated 26 May 2025
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Macron’s office downplays plane incident with wife

Macron’s office downplays plane incident with wife
  • Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi circulated rapidly online

HANOI: French President Emmanuel Macron’s office on Monday downplayed an incident in which his wife appeared to push his face away as he arrived in Vietnam to begin a Southeast Asian tour.

Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening shows Macron’s plane door opening to reveal him.

His wife Brigitte’s arms emerge from the left of the open doorway, she places both hands on her husband’s face and gives it a shove.

The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. She remains concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language.

The couple proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband’s offered arm.

The video clip circulated rapidly online, promoted particularly by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader.

Macron’s office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine.

A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple’s harmless “squabble.”

Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident.

“It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around,” the second source told reporters.

“It’s a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists,” the source added, blaming pro-Russian accounts for negative comments about the incident.

Vietnam is the first stop on an almost week-long tour of Southeast Asia for Macron where he will pitch France as a reliable alternative to the United States and China.

He will also visit Indonesia and Singapore.


Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry
Updated 26 May 2025
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Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

HELSINKI: Finland’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had summoned the Russian ambassador over suspicions that two Russian military aircraft violated its airspace last week.
Finland, which dropped decades of military non-alignment to join NATO in 2023, following Russia’s fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine, has a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia.
The defense ministry reported on Friday there had been a suspected airspace violation off the coast of Porvoo, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital, Helsinki.
It said an investigation into the incident was ongoing.
“The foreign ministry of Finland has today summoned the ambassador of Russia and requested an explanation regarding the suspected violation of airspace,” the ministry said in a post on X.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland of repercussions since it joined NATO.
Last week, Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP that Finland was “closely monitoring and assessing Russia’s activities and intentions.”
He was commenting after the New York Times published satellite images appearing to show an expansion of Russian military infrastructure near the border.
Hakkanen said in an email that Russia’s moves “to strengthen its armed forces have not come as a surprise to Finland.”
Helsinki has increased its military investments and preparedness since joining NATO.
In April, it announced it would boost defense spending to at least three percent of GDP by 2029 and reform its defense forces to tackle security threats.


UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender
Updated 26 May 2025
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UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender
  • Mammadli risks up to eight years behind bars on smuggling charges, which rights groups claim are bogus

GENEVA: Four UN special rapporteurs on Monday demanded the release of Azerbaijani rights defender and climate advocate Anar Mammadli, who has been in detention for more than a year.
Mammadli was detained on April 29, 2024. His arrest was one of a series which critics said undermined Azerbaijan’s credibility as a host of the United Nations COP29 climate change conference in November last year.
Mammadli chaired the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, which reported irregularities during the February 2024 presidential elections in the tightly controlled, oil-rich nation.
His arrest also came after he participated in events at the UN Human Rights Council, the special rapporteurs said in a statement.
“Defending human rights should never be considered a crime,” the experts said.
“There are serious concerns that Mammadli’s detention and prosecution may be in retaliation for his human rights work and his engagement with UN mechanisms,” they said.
Mammadli risks up to eight years behind bars on smuggling charges, which rights groups claim are bogus.
“Civic participation, independent election monitoring, and cooperation with international mechanisms are the foundation of democratic societies,” the experts said.
“Criminalizing these activities undermines the rule of law.”
The statement was issued by the special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, on freedom of peaceful assembly, the right to freedom of opinion and on health.
They called on Azerbaijan to respect due process, guarantee Mammadli’s fundamental rights and provide him with appropriate medical care.
They also urged Baku to end all forms of intimidation against rights activists.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not speak for the United Nations itself.


A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements
Updated 26 May 2025
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A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

VIENNA: A court in Vienna on Monday acquitted former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his government, reversing a verdict from last year in which Kurz was given a suspended prison sentence.
A panel of judges at Vienna’s upper state court acquitted Kurz after a short appeal hearing, the Austria Press Agency reported.
The case centered on Kurz’s testimony to an inquiry that focused on the coalition he led from 2017, when his conservative Austrian People’s Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, until its collapse in 2019.
Prosecutors accused the 38-year-old of having given false evidence in June 2020 regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the state’s role in some companies, and the appointment of his former close confidant Thomas Schmid to its leadership.
In February 2024, Kurz was found guilty of making false statements about the appointment of the company’s supervisory board, though not about that of Schmid. He was given an eight-month suspended sentence.