News
Xi and Putin confirmed for November’s G20 summit in Bali
Chinese and Russian Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have both confirmed they will attend the G20 summit on the resort island of Bali this November, according to President Joko Widodo.
“Xi Jinping will come. President Putin has also told me he will come,” Widodo told Bloomberg News in an interview, confirming their attendance for the first time.
The November summit will mark the first time that Putin, Xi and United States President Joe Biden will have met in person since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, triggering sanctions from Western countries, as well as G20 members Japan and South Korea. China has avoided condemning the attack, or joining the sanctions, which took place days after Beijing and Moscow announced a “no limits” partnership.
A longtime adviser to the Indonesian President also confirmed Putin and Xi would attend the summit.
“Jokowi told me that Xi and Putin are both planning to attend in Bali,” Andi Widjajanto, who heads the National Resilience Institute, told Reuters news agency.
The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Widodo had discussed preparations for the G20 summit in a phone call on Thursday without confirming that the Russian leader would attend. Another official, familiar with the situation, told Bloomberg that Putin plans to attend the meeting in person.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.A trip to Bali would be significant given it would be Xi’s first time outside China since the start of the pandemic, in early 2020.
China has maintained a strict zero-COVID policy that has all but sealed its borders, and Xi is preparing to secure an unprecedented third term as President during the congress of the ruling Communist Party, which is expected to take place in late October or early November.
Chinese officials are also thought to be making plans for a meeting in Southeast Asia between Xi and US President Joe Biden, who will also be in Bali, according to Wall Street Journal, amid rising tension between the two countries.Beijing, this month, held large-scale military drills around self-ruled Taiwan and cut off cooperation with the US over issues, including climate, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island, which Beijing claims as its own.
As head of the G20 this year, Indonesia has faced pressure from Western countries to withdraw its invitation to Putin because of the invasion of Ukraine, which he has called a “special military operation”.
Indonesia has also invited Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Bali summit.Widodo has sought to position himself as a mediator, and, at the end of June, travelled first to Moscow and then to Kyiv to meet both Presidents and urge an end to the war.This week, he said both countries have accepted Indonesia as a “bridge of peace”.
Source: Al Jazeera
By Norman Palihawadane
The Sri Lanka Navy brought 25 Indonesian fishermen safely ashore at the Colombo Port on Thursday (24), following a multi-agency rescue operation after their fishing trawler capsized south of Sri Lanka.
The fishermen were aboard the Indonesian-flagged fishing trawler KM Garuda Jaya VI, which capsized on September 22 while in the Australian Search and Rescue Region, leaving the crew in distress at sea.
The merchant vessel MV Moonstone responded to the distress situation and rescued all 25 fishermen from the sea. The vessel subsequently alerted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo about the incident and the rescued crew.
Following the distress alert, the Navy coordinated with MRCC Colombo and deployed two naval craft to bring the survivors safely to shore, with the assistance of relevant authorities.
The 25 fishermen were transferred to the Colombo Port, where they were provided with humanitarian assistance by the Navy.They were subsequently handed over to the Indonesian Embassy in Sri Lanka for further arrangements and onward action.
Former Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd. Chairman Udeni Jayaratne Dassanayake was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) yesterday over alleged irregularities in the recruitment of casual workers.
According to CIABOC, its investigating officers arrested Dassanayake at around 9.25 am in connection with the recruitment of casual labourers during 2023 and 2024.
The Commission alleged that the workers had been recruited in excess of the approved cadre and outside the prescribed recruitment procedure of Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd.
CIABOC further alleged that Rs. 34,438,650.42 had subsequently been paid as salaries to the workers recruited through the alleged irregular process.
The Commission said the payments had resulted in an undue benefit to the employees concerned and alleged that Dassanayake had committed an offence of corruption in connection with the recruitments and subsequent salary payments.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama yesterday ordered the remand of Lakmanthi Hettiarachchi, wife of former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena, until October 6 over an alleged attempt to bribe a court employee.
Hettiarachchi was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) yesterday morning for allegedly offering Rs. 50,000 to an office assistant attached to the Colombo High Court.
According to CIABOC, the alleged bribe was offered in an attempt to influence the imposition of a suspended prison sentence on Gunawardena.
The Magistrate issued the remand order after considering submissions by CIABOC officials and lawyers representing Hettiarachchi.
CIABOC is conducting further investigations into the alleged bribery attempt.
The case follows the Colombo High Court sentencing Gunawardena to 16 years’ rigorous imprisonment in June after finding him guilty of several corruption charges.
Navy brings 25 Indonesian fishermen ashore after trawler capsizes
Former Mineral Sands Chairman arrested over recruitment irregularities
Sarana Gunawardena’s wife remanded over alleged bribe
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