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South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible

South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible
People attend a rally in central Seoul calling for immediate expulsion of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on March 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 17 March 2025

South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible

South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible
  • The eight-member Constitutional Court continued deliberations well into the third week
  • Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the Democratic Party-controlled parliament in December

SEOUL: South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party on Monday urged the country’s Constitutional Court to swiftly rule on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, saying keeping the country waiting is “irresponsible” and deepening social division.
As the eight-member court continued deliberations well into the third week, political tensions have surged between those who demand Yoon’s ouster for declaring a short-lived martial law in December and supporters who want him reinstated.
The court had wrapped up arguments on February 25, where Yoon said his martial law declaration was needed to root out “anti-state” elements but he never intended to fully impose emergency military rule.
“The country and the people have come to the breaking point,” a Democratic Party leadership member Kim Min-seok said. “We wait for the court’s responsible decision. Further delay is not normal and irresponsible,” he told a party meeting.
In 2017, former president Park Geun-hye was removed from office 11 days after the final arguments in the Constitutional Court in her impeachment trial.
South Koreans have gathered in huge numbers in the capital Seoul supporting and backing the conservative leader’s removal, saying the delay has been frustrating and made confusion worse.
Yoon was impeached by the Democratic Party-controlled parliament in December for violating his constitutional duty. He committed acts that are a grave threat to rule of law and more than disqualify him from office, the impeachment motion said.
Yoon is on a separate criminal trial on charges of leading insurrection, which is punishable by death or life in prison.
The fallout of Yoon’s martial law declaration has widened the rifts between the conservatives and liberals and those in the public, adding stress on institutions and putting much of the government policy making in limbo.
Some of the country’s top military commanders have been taken off duty and face criminal trials for their roles in the martial law decree. Arguments in the trial of former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun on insurrection charges begin on Monday.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was briefly acting president after Yoon was impeached and suspended from power on December 14, has also been impeached and the country is now led by the Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.


Trump tariffs would hit Hungary hard despite warm relations with MAGA-friendly Orbán

Updated 19 sec ago

Trump tariffs would hit Hungary hard despite warm relations with MAGA-friendly Orbán

Trump tariffs would hit Hungary hard despite warm relations with MAGA-friendly Orbán
“The entire possibility for Hungary to export to America would be essentially eliminated,” Péter Virovácz, chief analyst at ING Hungary, said
When Trump began imposing tariffs on EU exports earlier this year, the cost of Taste Hungary’s shipments tripled, Bánfalvi said

BUDAPEST: Hungary’s populist prime minister has spent years building a close political relationship with US President Donald Trump and aligning himself with the MAGA movement.

But despite Viktor Orbán’s success in gaining favor with the culturally conservative and nationalist wing of Trump’s administration, his country is poised to be among those hard hit by Trump’s tariffs against the European Union.

Trump earlier this month announced he would levy tariffs of 30 percent against Mexico and the EU beginning Aug. 1 — a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and the 27-member EU, of which Hungary is a member.

As a small, export-oriented economy with major automobile, pharmaceutical and wine industries — some of the main categories of products Europe exports to the US — Hungary will be particularly vulnerable to Trump’s tariffs.

The duties “would put the Hungarian economy in a very, very difficult situation, because then the entire possibility for Hungary to export to America would be essentially eliminated,” Péter Virovácz, chief analyst at ING Hungary, told The Associated Press.

‘Not the best way to make money’

Hungary’s largest trading partners are other EU countries like Germany, Italy and Romania, as well as China, but many Hungarian companies export their goods across the Atlantic. Outgoing trade to the United States represents around 15 percent of all Hungarian exports to countries outside the EU.

One such enterprise, a Budapest-based company specializing in Hungarian wine, said it will likely cease doing business in the US altogether if the 30 percent duty is levied on its products.

“If it’s really going to be 30 percent, then there is no more shipment ... We might just call it a day at the end of the year,” said Gábor Bánfalvi, co-owner of Taste Hungary.

Bánfalvi’s company has been shipping around 10,000 bottles of premium Hungarian wine per year to the US for about half a decade. With a base in Washington D.C., it exports a range of red and white wines to clients in numerous US states including specialty wine shops and bars.

Until now, “it’s been a thin profit margin, but it’s been fine because we want Hungarian wine to be available” to US consumers, Bánfalvi said.

“Then came 2025,” he said.

When Trump began imposing tariffs on EU exports earlier this year, the cost of Taste Hungary’s shipments tripled, Bánfalvi said — price hikes he had to build into the sticker price of the wine. The imposition of 30 percent tariffs would make exporting “unsustainable.”

“You just start to think, why are we doing this? Is it really worth it? It’s just not the best way to make money,” he said.

In total, the value of EU-US trade in goods and services in 2024 amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion.)

Doubts that political ties could soften the blow

Hungary’s government, a vocal proponent of Trump’s “patriotic” foreign policy prioritizing national interests, has acknowledged that the tariffs would present a challenge. But, careful not to criticize the Trump administration, it has instead blamed the EU, a frequent target of Orbán’s scorn, for failing to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with Washington.

Confident that his right-wing populist policies would help win him favor with Trump’s administration, Orbán said in an interview in April that while tariffs “will be a disadvantage,” his government was negotiating “other economic agreements and issues that will offset them.”

But Péter Krekó, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, expressed doubt that political affinities could play a meaningful role in mitigating damage to Hungary’s economy caused by Trump’s trade policy.

“The unquestionably good bilateral relations simply cannot compensate for the trade conflicts between the EU and the US, and as a consequence, Hungary will suffer the tariffs the same way that the EU will,” Krekó said. “Mutual nationalisms cannot be coordinated in a way that it is going to be a win-win situation.”

Car manufacturing and pharmaceuticals

Virovácz, the economist, pointed out that Hungary is home to numerous automobile factories for major automakers like Audi and Mercedes. The manufacturing of cars and motor vehicle parts represents an “overwhelming majority” of the country’s total exports, he said.

Pharmaceuticals make up an even larger share of Hungarian exports to the United States — an industry on which Trump this month threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs. That “will essentially kill European and thus Hungarian exports to America,” Virovácz said.

“It’s impossible for tariffs to be levied on EU products but not on Hungarian ones,” he said. “A theoretical option is that Trump could somehow compensate Hungary because he’s on good terms with the Hungarian political leadership, but if that only starts happening now, it’s way too late.”

Krekó, the political analyst, said Trump’s administration “gives practically nothing for free. If Hungary ... cannot fulfill the interests of the US, then I think Hungary is not going to receive gifts.”

“Hungary just doesn’t have the cards, to use Trump’s terminology,” he added.

India, UK sign multibillion-dollar free trade deal

India, UK sign multibillion-dollar free trade deal
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer shake hands
Updated 1 min 12 sec ago

India, UK sign multibillion-dollar free trade deal

India, UK sign multibillion-dollar free trade deal
  • FTA expected to boost bilateral trade by more than 60 percent from current $54 billion
  • About 99 percent Indian goods will get duty-free access to the UK market

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed on Thursday a long-awaited free trade agreement with the UK, which will see tariffs cut on goods and increase market access for both countries.

Modi arrived in London on Wednesday evening to meet his British counterpart Keir Starmer and witness the official signing of the deal by India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in the Great Hall of Chequers in Aylesbury.

“This agreement is not merely an economic partnership, but a plan for shared prosperity. On one hand, Indian textiles, footwear, gems and jewelry, seafood and engineering goods will get better market access in the UK. New opportunities will be created in the UK market for India’s agriculture produce and processed food industry,” Modi said during a joint press conference with Starmer.

“For India’s youth, farmers, fishermen, and the MSME sector, this agreement will prove especially beneficial. On the other hand, for the people and industry of India, products made in the UK, such as medical devices and aerospace parts, will become available at accessible and affordable prices.”

A deal-in-principle was announced by Modi and Starmer in late May.

Launched in January 2022, the FTA negotiations between India and the UK were set to conclude the same year, but despite more than a dozen formal rounds, talks have stalled over issues such as tariffs, rules of origin and mobility for services professionals.

Under the new pact, about 99 percent of Indian goods will get duty-free access to the UK market.

It will also halve import duties on UK-produced whiskey and gin from 150 percent, followed by a further decrease to 40 percent in a decade. Tariffs on automobiles will be reduced from 100 percent to 10 percent.

The services part of the deal eases the movement of professionals — from independent practitioners such as yoga instructors, musicians and chefs, to business visitors, investors, contractual service providers and intra-corporate transferees. It also extends work and residence rights to their partners and dependent children

While the pact’s opponents cited concerns that it could undercut British workers, Starmer said after its signing that it “will bring huge benefits to both of our countries, boosting wages, raising living standards and putting more money in the pockets of working people” and that it “is good for jobs, it is good for business, putting tariffs and making trade cheaper, quicker and easier.”

Current bilateral India-UK trade stands at about $54 billion, according to UK Department for Business and Trade data, with UK exports to India estimated at $21.7 billion and imports at $32.4 billion.

Anupam Manur, professor of economics at the Takshashila Institution, told Arab News that the FTA is expected to increase it by more than 60 percent in the next decade.

“The free trade deal with the UK is extremely significant for India, which would result in a $34 billion boost in bilateral trade,” he said.

“From India’s point of view, it stands to gain on both counts; greater choice of products at lower prices due to lower import rates, and free market access to a large, advanced economy.”

India has free trade agreements with more than 10 countries, including Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with South Korea, Japan and the UAE.

It is also in talks with the EU to conclude an FTA by the end of 2025, and with Australia, with an interim deal signed in 2022 and a full one under negotiation.

At the same time, the US is threatening tariffs on India; it wants broader access to several key sectors, including agriculture, automobiles, steel and aluminium — a concession New Delhi resists. Without a deal, Indian exports could face a 26-27 percent “reciprocal” tariff imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, starting Aug. 1.

“The trade deal with the UK eases the pressure on the Indian side to sign a hastily negotiated deal with the US ... This also acts as a template for how a good trade deal is done without looming deadlines and threats,” Manur said.

“A trade deal with the UK, Australia and the EU will signal to the US administration that India is not desperate for a deal, but will instead negotiate on its own terms.”


Indonesia arrests and sentences foreign nationals in separate cases of drug smuggling

Indonesia arrests and sentences foreign nationals in separate cases of drug smuggling
Updated 24 July 2025

Indonesia arrests and sentences foreign nationals in separate cases of drug smuggling

Indonesia arrests and sentences foreign nationals in separate cases of drug smuggling
  • The sentences were considered lenient as Indonesia typically hands out severe punishments for drug smuggling

DENPASAR: Indonesian authorities said they recently arrested a Brazilian man and a South African woman accused of smuggling cocaine, while a court sentenced two groups of foreigners to prison on drug charges.
The sentences were considered lenient as Indonesia typically hands out severe punishments for drug smuggling, including the death penalty.
A 25-year-old Brazilian man, identified by the initials YB, was arrested July 13 shortly after arriving from Dubai and charged with carrying 3,086 grams (6.8 pounds) of cocaine in his suitcase and backpack at Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport, said Made Sinar Subawa, head of the Eradication Division at Bali’s Narcotic Agency.
The same day, customs officers seized 990 grams (2.1 pounds) of cocaine they say was being carried in the underwear of a 32-year-old South African woman, identified as LN, Subawa said.
In Denpasar District Court on Thursday, judges sentenced a group of three British nationals to one year in jail for drug offenses after a charge that could carry the death penalty was dropped.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 28, and his partner Lisa Ellen Stocker, 29, were arrested Feb. 1 after customs officers found 993 grams (2.2 pounds) of cocaine worth an estimated 6 billion rupiah ($368,000). The drugs were hidden among sachets of powdered dessert mix.
Two days later, authorities arrested Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, after a delivery of the drugs arranged by police.
During their June trial, defense lawyers argued their clients were unaware the food given to them in England contained cocaine. The three-judge panel handed down one-year prison terms for each defendant minus time served, making them eligible for release in seven months.
Separately, an Argentine woman was sentenced to seven years and a British man received a five-year sentence with a fine of 1 billion rupiah ($61,380) on charges of smuggling cocaine to Bali.
Eleonora Gracia, 46, was arrested in March at Bali’s airport with 244 grams (0.5 pounds) of cocaine. Authorities alleged she handed over the cocaine to Elliot James Shaw, 50, during a police sting operation at a Bali hotel.
About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, according to Ministry of Immigration and Corrections data. Indonesia’s last executions of a citizen and three foreigners were carried out in July 2016. The country has upheld a moratorium on execution since 2017.
President Prabowo Subianto has moved to repatriate several high-profile foreign inmates, all sentenced to death or life in prison for drug offenses, back to their home countries since he took office in October.
A British woman, Lindsay Sandiford, now 69, has been on death row in Indonesia for more than a decade. She was arrested in 2012 with 3.8 kilograms (8.4 pounds) of cocaine in her luggage.
Serge Atlaoui, an ailing Frenchman, returned to France in February after Jakarta and Paris agreed to repatriate him on “humanitarian grounds.”
Indonesia took Mary Jane Veloso off death row and returned her to the Philippines in December. In the same month, the government sent to Australia the five remaining members of a drug ring known as the “Bali Nine.”


China, EU vow to ‘step up efforts to address climate change’

China, EU vow to ‘step up efforts to address climate change’
Updated 24 July 2025

China, EU vow to ‘step up efforts to address climate change’

China, EU vow to ‘step up efforts to address climate change’
  • Chinese and European leaders reiterate that it is crucial that all countries step up efforts to address climate change

BEIJING: China and the European Union vowed on Thursday to "step up" action to address climate change, according to a joint statement released as Beijing hosted the bloc's leaders for a one-day summit.
Chinese and European leaders "reiterate that in the fluid and turbulent international situation today, it is crucial that all countries... step up efforts to address climate change", the statement said.


UN says Taliban committing ‘rights violations’ against Afghan returnees

UN says Taliban committing ‘rights violations’ against Afghan returnees
Updated 24 July 2025

UN says Taliban committing ‘rights violations’ against Afghan returnees

UN says Taliban committing ‘rights violations’ against Afghan returnees

KABUL: A United Nations report published Thursday said Taliban authorities were committing human rights violations, including torture and arbitrary detention, against Afghans forced to return by Iran and Pakistan.

“People returning to the country who were at particular risk of reprisals and other human rights violations by the de facto (Taliban) authorities were women and girls, individuals affiliated with the former government and its security forces, media workers and civil society,” the UN said in a statement accompanying the release of the report.

“These violations have included torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and threats to personal security.”