World News

(Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended the country’s top anti-corruption official to pave way for an inquiry by a parliamentary group into her ability to hold office, the government said on Thursday.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, a constitutionally mandated anti-graft official, was appointed in 2016 by Ramaphosa’s predecessor Jacob Zuma. She is seen as allied to Zuma’s faction within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, which is opposed to Ramaphosa’s faction, a claim she has denied.

Her tenure has been marred by allegations she drove an anti-Ramaphosa campaign and she has been widely criticised for losing several high-profile court judgements.

The development comes after the president asked Mkhwebane in March to provide him with reasons not to suspend her, after a parliamentary committee decided to continue with its motion to remove her.

On Wednesday, a statement issued by the Public Protector said Mkhwebane had received unfair criticism and has also been accused by the media and politicians of “targeting” certain members of the executive branch of government and getting involved in party politics.

The South African parliament had in 2020 begun proceedings to oust her amid criticism of her record in office.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by James Macharia Chege and Chris Reese)

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By Trevor Hunnicutt, Daina Beth Solomon and Matt Spetalnick

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a proposed new U.S. economic partnership with Latin America aimed at countering China’s growing clout as he kicked off a regional summit marred by discord and snubs over the guest list.

Hosting the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, Biden sought to assure the assembled leaders about his administration’s commitment to the region despite nagging concerns that Washington, at times, is still trying to dictate to its poorer southern neighbors.

The line-up of visiting heads of state and government in attendance was thinned down to 21 after Biden excluded Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, prompting Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and several other leaders to stay away in protest.

“We have to invest in making sure our trade is sustainable and responsible in creating supply chains that are more resilient, more secure and more sustainable,” Biden told a gala opening ceremony.

Biden is seeking to present Latin American countries with an alternative to China that calls for increased U.S. economic engagement, including more investment and building on existing trade deals.

However, his “Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity,” which still appears to be a work in progress, stops short of offering tariff relief and, according to a senior administration official, will initially focus on “like-minded partners” that already have U.S. trade accords. Negotiations are expected to begin in early fall, the official added.

Biden outlined his plan as he launched the summit, which was conceived as a platform to showcase U.S. leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling record levels of irregular migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But his agenda has been undermined by the partial boycott by leaders upset at Washington’s decision to cut out its main leftist antagonists in the region.

As a result, Biden found himself welcoming a larger-than-normal contingent of foreign ministers sitting in for their national leaders as the arriving dignitaries walked one-by-one up a red carpet flanked by a military honor guard.

U.S. officials hope the summit and a parallel gathering of business executives can pave the way for greater cooperation as governments grappling with higher inflation work to bring supply chains stretched by the COVID-19 pandemic closer to home.

Biden also used his speech to preview a summit declaration on migration to be rolled out on Friday, calling it “a ground-breaking, integrated new approach” with shared responsibility across the hemisphere. But he provided few specifics.

Even as Biden deals with priorities such as mass shootings, high inflation and the Ukraine war, the U.S. official said the president is seeking to press the administration’s competitive goals against China with the launch of the new partnership for the region.

The U.S. plan also proposes to revitalize the Inter-American Development Bank and create clean energy jobs

Still, the administration appeared to be moving cautiously, mindful that an initiative that promotes jobs abroad could face U.S. protectionist pushback.

CHINA’S CHALLENGE

The challenge from China is clearly a major consideration.

China has widened the gap on the United States in trade terms in large parts of Latin America since Biden came into office in January 2021, data show.

An exclusive Reuters analysis of U.N. trade data from 2015-2021 shows that outside of Mexico, the top U.S. trade partner, China has overtaken the United States in Latin America and increased its advantage last year.

“The best antidote to China’s inroads in the region is to ensure that we are forwarding our own affirmative vision for the region economically,” the administration official said.

Biden’s aides have framed the summit as an opportunity for the United States to reassert its leadership in Latin America after years of comparative neglect under his predecessor Donald Trump.

But diplomatic tensions broke into the open this week when Washington opted not to invite the three countries it says violate human rights and democratic values.

Rebuffed in his demand that all countries must be invited, Lopez Obrador said he would stay away, deflecting attention from the U.S. administration’s goals and toward regional divisions.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the choice by some leaders not to attend reflected their own “idiosyncratic decisions” and that substantive work would still be accomplished.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the United States lacked “moral authority” to lecture on democracy and thanked Lopez Obrador for his “solidarity.”

The leaders of Guatemala and Honduras, two of the countries that send most migrants to the United States, also stayed home, raising questions about the significance of the coming joint migration declaration.

Still, leaders from more than 20 countries, including Canada, Brazil and Argentina, are attending the summit, hosted by the United States for the first time since its inaugural session in 1994.

Biden will use a meeting on Thursday with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to talk about climate change and will also discuss the topic of “open, transparent and democratic elections” in Brazil.

Bolsonaro, a populist admirer of Trump who has had chilly relations with Biden, has raised doubts about Brazil’s voting system, without providing evidence, ahead of October elections that opinion polls show him losing to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Daina Beth Solomon, Matt Spetalnick, Dave Graham, Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland and Dave Sherwood; writing by Matt Spetalnick and Dave Graham; Editing by Grant McCool and Richard Pullin)

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Parts of Shanghai began imposing new lockdown restrictions on Thursday, with residents of sprawling Minhang district forced to stay home for two days in a bid to control COVID-19 transmission risks.

Minhang, home to more than 2 million people, will conduct nucleic acid tests for all residents on June 11, and restrictions will be lifted once the testing is completed, the government said on its WeChat account.

Shanghai reported four new confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, all in zones already under quarantine. None of the new cases were in Minhang district.

Shanghai emerged from a two-month city-wide lockdown last week, but some residential compounds have been sealed off again as authorities continue to pursue a “dynamic zero-COVID” policy aimed at shutting down transmission chains as soon as possible.

Several street-level government authorities have issued notices saying residents will be subject to two days of confinement and another 12 days of rigorous testing starting from Thursday.

According to notices from at least three neighbourhoods in Shanghai, residents will be subject to five rounds of compulsory tests ending on June 23, and will be kept indoors until Saturday.

Zhao Dandan, the vice-head of Shanghai’s health commission, told a briefing on Tuesday that the city would continue to implement restrictions even in areas that had not been identified as “high risk”.

“Based on the assessment of the epidemic prevention and control trends, related measures will be adjusted dynamically,” he said. “We hope the public will continue to understand and cooperate.”

The restrictions have triggered protests among residents, and business groups have also said the ongoing preoccupation with “zero-COVID” could lead foreign companies to reconsider their presence in Shanghai.

“One of the major issues facing foreign business is the level of uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 restrictions,” said Alexandra Hirst, senior policy analyst with the British Chamber of Commerce in China.

“This unpredictability, and increased risk, is resulting in many businesses delaying, reducing or withdrawing entirely from the Chinese market,” she said.

(Reporting by David Stanway; Additional reporting by Martin Pollard in Beijing; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday elected former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu as its candidate to run for president in elections scheduled for February 2023.

President Muhammadu Buhari steps down next year after leading Africa’s most populous country and top oil exporter for the maximum eight years allowed by the constitution.

Tinubu, 70, who was in charge of Nigeria’s commercial capital from 1999 to 2007, defeated 13 other candidates including Buhari’s deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in the APC primaries.

Tinubu’s supporters erupted into song and dance at Eagle Square, an outdoor parade ground in the capital Abuja where the voting took place.

A wily political operator, Tinubu built a strong support base during his eight years as governor of Lagos. Since stepping down, he has remained highly influential, with many of his loyal proteges in powerful positions in government and business.

Supporters portray him as an effective administrator with a knack for picking bright, committed technocrats to get jobs done.

Critics denounce him as a godfather figure who doles out lucrative contracts and plum jobs to his friends and is not above sending out street thugs to intimidate opponents if he fails to get his way. He rejects that description.

(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Estelle Shirbon and James Macharia Chege)

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TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian lawyers and judges held a small protest outside the capital’s courts Wednesday as part of their weeklong strike following the president’s dismissal of 57 judges.

President Kais Saied’s removal of the judges was the latest sign of growing interference in the judiciary as he tightens his grip on power. Critics accused Saied of staging a coup in July 2021 after he sacked the government and took on executive powers.

Dozens of lawyers and activists gathered on the steps of the Palace of Justice in Tunis to denounce Saied’s actions. Some shouted “Down with the coup,” and others chanted, “Judicial authority, no police orders.”

Several lawyers told The Associated Press they would continue their opposition to the president’s actions, which include ditching Tunisia’s 2014 constitution to rule instead by decree.

Last week, Saied justified his actions by listing a long series of accusations with scant evidence against dozens of judges, ranging from alleged corruption and the illegal amassing of wealth to protecting terrorists and sexual harassment.

Hundreds of judges unanimously voted over the weekend to hold a sit-in and strike. They accused the president of ignoring the constitution and removing judges without “recourse to disciplinary procedure.”

Courtrooms across the North African country have been closed since Monday. Anas Hamadi, president of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates, said 99% of judges participated on the first day of the strike. The protest will continue until the dismissed jurists are reinstated, Hamadi said.

In response, Saied ordered judges’ salaries to be reduced in accordance with the number of strike days.

Saied conferred on himself sweeping powers last year, measures the president claimed were needed to “save the country from imminent peril” and to fight widespread corruption.

Earlier this year, he replaced Tunisia’s Supreme Judicial Council. The council had been a key guarantor of judicial independence since the country’s 2011 revolution, which deposed a longtime autocratic leader and introduced democratic reforms.

Under pressure from Tunisia’s allies, who are concerned about democratic backsliding in the country, Saied laid out a roadmap that foresees organizing a July 25 referendum on political reforms and a Dec. 17 parliamentary election.

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BERLIN (AP) — The German government wants to temporarily keep additional coal-fired power plants on stand-by for almost two years to stave off a possible electricity shortage in case natural gas supplies from Russia are suddenly reduced, officials said Wednesday.

Germany is trying to wean itself off Russian gas due to the war in Ukraine, and expects to finish doing so in 2024. But the government fears that Moscow might cut off supplies suddenly in response to the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by Western nations, including Germany.

A draft law agreed by Cabinet would ensure that coal-fired plants previously scheduled for closure remain in functional condition.

Germany already has several other coal and oil-fired plants on stand-by that can be activated in an emergency.

Government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said the decision was important “in light of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the tense situation on the energy markets.”

“The goal of completing the phaseout of coal in Germany ideally by 2030, and the climate targets, remain in place,” she said.

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Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.

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BAMAKO (Reuters) -The West African regional bloc ECOWAS said on Tuesday that it regretted a decision by Mali’s interim government to extend the transition back to civilian rule by 24 months while negotiations between the two sides were ongoing.

Mali’s ruling junta, which first came to power in an August 2020 coup, issued a decree on Monday fixing the 24-month timetable, to be counted from March 2022.

The 15-member Economic Community of West African States has been pushing for a shorter extension of at most 16 months. ECOWAS imposed stiff sanctions in January after the junta said it would not organise democratic elections the following month as initially planned.

“ECOWAS regrets that while negotiations are still ongoing to reach a consensus, the Malian Authorities took this decision on the transition,” the bloc said in a statement.

It said an ECOWAS negotiator would continue to engage Malian authorities to reach a “mutually agreed timeline”.

Heads of state from ECOWAS member countries met over the weekend in Ghana, where they agreed not to lift sanctions against Mali unless the junta proposed a shorter transition. They are expected to hold another summit before July 3.

(Reporting by Fadimata Kontao; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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By Daina Beth Solomon, Ted Hesson and Matt Spetalnick

LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has pooled $3.2 billion in corporate pledges aimed at addressing some of the economic factors driving migration from Central America, her office said on Tuesday, lending impetus to measures to be discussed at the Summit of the Americas this week.

The new commitments from U.S. companies, including Visa Inc and apparel maker Gap Inc , were announced a day before President Joe Biden formally opens the Los Angeles gathering, which has been marred by controversy over the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Biden’s decision to cut out Washington’s three main leftist antagonists in Latin America on the grounds of human rights and democratic shortcomings prompted Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and several other leaders to stay away, threatening to undercut Biden’s summit agenda.

The corporate pledges form a major part of Biden’s plan to address “root causes” of migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, a region known as the Northern Triangle. Curbing irregular migration is a top priority for Biden at a time when record numbers of people are trying to enter the United States at the Mexican border.

Republicans, who hope to take control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in the November mid-term elections, have fiercely criticized the Democratic president for reversing the restrictive immigration policies of former Republican President Donald Trump.

The latest funding commitments announced by Harris exceed $1.9 billion, adding to $1.2 billion in pledges made in December. They are intended to create jobs, expand access to the internet and bring more people into the formal banking system, officials said.

Biden, who travels to Los Angeles on Wednesday to open the summit with a policy speech, will promote a new economic “partnership” for the Western Hemisphere building on existing trade agreements, U.S. officials said. He also plans to preview a “declaration” to be announced on Friday that officials say will include specific commitments from leaders to address the problem.

Even as he grapples with pressing concerns such as mass shootings, high inflation and the Ukraine war, the Democratic president wants to use the summit to repair Latin America relations damaged under Republican predecessor Trump, and to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

But the dispute over the guest list has raised questions about prospects for meaningful agreements.

U.S. efforts to stem migration from the Northern Triangle have been hampered by corruption, with projects likely worth millions shelved and some private sector engagement stalled.

Further complicating matters, the presidents of Guatemala and Honduras have signaled they will not attend the summit and will instead send other officials. It was unclear whether El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, would attend; the White House’s official guest list shows his foreign minister as head of the delegation.

Several thousand migrants, many from Venezuela, set off from southern Mexico on Monday on a journey to the United States border timed to coincide with the summit.

At least 6,000 people, according to Reuters witnesses, left the city of Tapachula, near Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

CORPORATE PLEDGES

The latest corporate pledges include $270 million from Visa focused on bringing 6.5 million people into the formal banking system, and $150 million from Gap to increase materials sourced from the region.

The other firms span a variety of sectors, including auto parts, agriculture, telecommunications and digital services.

A CEO summit running parallel to the leaders’ gathering could yield commitments for further investment in economically troubled Latin America, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and is struggling to recover.

Harris also announced an initiative with the private sector that aims to connect 1.4 million women to the financial system and train more than 500,000 women and girls in job skills.

Despite friction over summit invitations, most leaders in the Americas plan to attend. White House officials insist the controversy will blow over and the event – the first hosted by the United States since the first such gathering in 1994 – will be a success.

But before heading to the summit, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, in a newspaper op-ed, accused the United States of being “inconsistent, if not contradictory” for refusing to invite Communist-ruled Cuba and leftist-led Venezuela and Nicaragua while engaging with non-democratic governments in other regions such as Southeast Asia.

(Reporting by Daina Solomon and Matt Spetalnick in Los Angeles and Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Dave Graham and Humeyra Pamuk in Los Angeles and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by Grant McCool and Leslie Adler)

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(Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday that Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin, the country’s top electoral authority, committed “rape against Brazilian democracy” by meeting with foreign diplomats to brief them on upcoming elections in the country.

Last month, Fachin, head of Brazil’s Electoral Court (TSE), invited international organizations to send observers to monitor the October elections, which Bolsonaro has criticized, asserting that the electronic voting machines are not reliable. His government opposed the invitation of European Union observers.

(Reporting by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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BERLIN (AP) — A Catholic diocese in Germany said Tuesday that a former priest has been convicted in a church trial of sexually abusing a minor over several years almost three decades ago.

The man, who wasn’t identified, was ordered to pay an unspecified fine for the crimes committed between 1986 and 1993, the diocese of Limburg said in statement. It didn’t immediately respond to queries about the amount of the fine.

While financial payouts have been included in confidential settlements between the church and victims of abuse, the announcement of a financial penalty against a priest as a result of a canonical investigation is unusual.

The male victim had filed a complaint about the abuse in 2018 following the publication of a study into sexual abuse within the church.

German prosecutors declined to open an investigation because the alleged crimes had passed the 20-year statute of limitations, but church authorities launched a probe.

After receiving a dossier from the diocese, the Vatican asked it to open criminal proceedings.

The diocese said that the church now considers the man to be a convicted sex offender. It said the man would have been defrocked as part of his conviction, but he left the priesthood during the trial.

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