Qatar nominated to represent Asia-Pacific region in Bureau of Conference of Parties to Stockholm Convention
DOHA: The Asia-Pacific Group, within the Conference of the Parties on Chemicals and Hazardous Waste Management, has nominated the State of Qatar as its representative in the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
The nomination came during the Conference of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, held in Geneva.
This nomination reflects the active role played by the State of Qatar on the international stage in protecting the environment and promoting the sustainable management of chemicals and waste.
It also embodies its firm commitment to implementing the provisions of international environmental agreements and its active participation in their implementation mechanisms.
This achievement is a qualitative addition to Qatar's journey in international environmental work, enhances its position in global environmental forums, and confirms the international community's confidence in its competence and ability to effectively contribute to achieving the objectives of the Stockholm Convention and supporting global efforts to achieve sustainable development.
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Al Jazeera
14 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
South Korea's snap presidential election 2025: All you need to know
Voters in South Korea are choosing a new president to replace Yoon Suk-yeol who was impeached and removed from office over his brief and ill-fated martial law bid in December. The snap election on June 3 is pivotal, with implications for South Korea's democratic future, as well as its ties with China, the United States and its nuclear armed neighbour, North Korea. The winner – who will serve a single term of five-years – faces the task of addressing the fallout from the martial law decree, which lasted six hours but unleashed political chaos, including mass protests, a riot at a court and three caretaker leaders in six months. The new president will also have to tackle a deepening economic downturn and manage tariff negotiations with the US, which has imposed a 25 percent levy on key exports such as steel, aluminium and automobiles. Here's what you need to know about the June 3 poll: There are six candidates on the ballot, but the main contenders are Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DP), and Kim Moon-soo of the governing conservative People Power Party (PPP). Lee, 61, a human rights lawyer-turned-politician, is the clear frontrunner. A Gallup Korea poll on May 28 showed 49 percent of respondents favoured the liberal candidate, while 36 percent said they would vote for Kim, 73, a staunch conservative who served as labour minister in Yoon's government. Trailing in third place is Lee Jun-seok of the conservative New Reform Party, at 9 botched martial law bid has cast a shadow over the race. It put Lee, who lost the last election to Yoon in 2022, back on track for the presidency. The leader of the opposition was instrumental in foiling the president's plan. On December 3, when Yoon declared martial law – in a bid to quash the Democratic Party-dominated parliament, which he portrayed as 'anti-state' and a 'den of criminals' – Lee rushed to the National Assembly and climbed the walls of the building to avoid the hundreds of armed troops deployed there. He livestreamed his exploit, urging supporters to come to the parliament and prevent the arrest of legislators. Despite the troop blockades, enough legislators managed to make it to the parliament and vote to end martial law. The assembly went on to impeach Yoon on December 14. 'This election would not have happened if not for the declaration of martial law by Yoon Suk-yeol and his impeachment,' said Youngshik Bong, research fellow at Yonsei University in Seoul. 'These issues have sucked in all others like a vortex. Everything else is marginal.' On the campaign trail, Lee has pledged to bring to justice anyone involved in Yoon's failed bid and has also promised to introduce tighter controls on the president's ability to declare martial the opposition leader, has also proposed constitutional changes to introduce a four-year, two-term presidency – at the moment, South Korean presidents are only allowed a single term of five years. Lee has also argued for a run-off system for presidential elections, whereby if no candidate secures 50 percent of the popular vote, the top two candidates take on each other in a second round. 'A four-year, two-term presidency would allow for a midterm evaluation of the administration, reinforcing responsibility,' he wrote on Facebook, calling for a constitutional amendment to enable the change. 'Meanwhile, adopting a run-off election system would enhance the legitimacy of democratic governance and help reduce unnecessary social conflict.' The PPP's Kim has accepted Lee's proposals for a constitutional amendment to allow a two-term presidency, but has suggested shortening each term to three martial law bid, however, has left the PPP in crisis and disarray. Infighting plagued the embattled party as it tried to choose the impeached president's successor. Although Kim won the party primary, its leaders tried to replace him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. On the eve of the party's campaign launch, they cancelled Kim's candidacy, only to reinstate him after party members opposed the move. Bong, at Yonsei University, said the infighting as well as divisions in the conservative camp over Yoon's decree has cost it support. 'Kim Moon-soo has not set his position clearly on the martial law declaration,' Bong said. 'He has not distanced himself from the legacy of Yoon, but at the same time, he has not made it clear whether he believes the declaration of martial law was a violation of the constitution. So the PPP has not really had enough energy to mobilise its support bases.' Still, Kim appears to have eroded what was a more than 20 percent point gap with Lee at the start of the campaign. But he has failed to convince the third placed contender – Lee Jun-seok – to abandon his bid and back the PPP to improve its chances. The New Reform Party's Lee, who is 40 years old, said on Tuesday there would be 'no candidate merger' with 'those responsible for the emergency martial law'. Although policy debates have taken a backseat, the outcome of the election could reorient South Korea's approach towards North Korea. The two neighbours are technically in a state of war as the Korean War of 1950-1953 ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, and ties between them are at a new low. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for rewriting his country's constitution to scrap the longstanding goal of unifying the war-divided nations and described Seoul as an 'invariable principal enemy'. Pyongyang has also severed communication lines, and the two countries have clashed over balloons and drones carrying rubbish and propaganda. Lee of the Democratic Party has promised to ease tensions if elected, including by restoring a military hotline, and committed to maintaining the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula. Kim, however, has backed Yoon's hardline approach, promising to secure 'pre-emptive deterrence' through tools such as ballistic missiles and the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons. He has said he would also seek a path for the country to pursue nuclear armament by securing the right to reprocess nuclear fuel, a key step towards building atomic weapons. The two candidates also differ in their approach to the US, the country's most important security ally, and to China, its biggest trading partner. Lee, who espouses what he calls a pragmatic foreign policy, has said it is crucial to maintain South Korea's alliance with the US and pursue security cooperation with Japan. However, he has pledged to prioritise 'national interests' and said there's 'no need to unnecessarily antagonise China or Russia'.Kim, meanwhile, has questioned Lee's commitment to the US-South Korea alliance, and has promised to hold an immediate summit meeting with US President Donald Trump if elected to discuss tariffs. 'I have a very friendly and trusting relationship,' with the US leader, Kim has said. He has also indicated a willingness to discuss sharing more of the cost of stationing US troops in the country, something Trump has demanded for years. Lee Sung-yoon, board member of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, described the policy differences between the rival camps as 'immutable' and referred to earlier comments by the Democratic Party's Lee, because of which some view him as being soft on China and Russia. 'In the past, Lee has said South Korea should not get involved in China's posture towards Taiwan, and just say thank you to both Beijing and Taiwan and stay out of the conflict. He has said of the trilateral defensive drills among US, Japan and South Korea as 'a defence disaster' and an 'extremely pro-Japanese act'. And more than once he has said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy incited Russia to invade because he was a political novice who said unfortunate things.' The analyst said Lee has – over the course of the election campaign – tried to walk back some of his statements in a bid to appeal to more moderate voters. However, 'I would venture to guess that people sitting in the councils of power in Washington, DC, or Tokyo or in Kyiv, Ukraine, are not overly jubilant at the prospect of a Lee administration,' he said. Koreans overseas have already cast their ballots, and early voting took place on Thursday and Friday. Large numbers of people turned out for the early vote, including the two frontrunners. According to the National Election Commission, some 44.4 million people in the country of 52 million are eligible to vote. On election day, which is a public holiday, polling stations will open at 6am (22:00 GMT) and close at 8pm (20:00 GMT). Counting will begin immediately and the winner will be known that evening or in the early hours of the following day. The candidate who receives the most votes will be deemed the winner, even if they don't win 50 percent of the votes.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
US defence chief warns of China threat as Beijing's top brass skip summit
Singapore – Of the many military officials darting across the lobby of Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel this weekend, there has been one significant absence. China's Defence Minister Dong Jun skipped the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, with Beijing sending a delegation of lower-ranking representatives instead. It was the first time since 2019 that China has not dispatched its defence minister to the high-level dialogue on regional defence, except when the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beijing's decision raised eyebrows in Singapore, coming at a time of heightened tensions between China and the United States – the world's two biggest superpowers. Dong's absence meant there was no face-to-face meeting with his US counterpart, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who had the floor to himself on Saturday when he told the defence forum that the military threat posed by China was potentially imminent. 'It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,' Hegseth told delegates in Singapore. Pointing to China's regular military drills around Taiwan as well as increasingly frequent skirmishes in the South China Sea, Hegseth said Beijing was proactively harassing its neighbours. 'There's no reason to sugar-coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,' Hegseth said. He also pointed to China's growing military assertiveness as a reason for Asian nations to boost their defence spending, pointing to Germany, which has pledged to move towards spending 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence. 'It doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defence in the face of an even more formidable threat,' Hegseth said. The defence chief also looked to reassure Asian allies that Washington was committed to Asia Pacific security despite strained ties in recent months as US President Donald Trump targeted some close allies with hefty trade tariffs. 'America is proud to be back in the Indo-Pacific, and we're here to stay,' he said, opening his speech. Some analysts were quick to play down the severity of Hegseth's warnings about China. 'Short of a very few countries, not many in this part of the world see China as an imminent threat and would up their [defence] spending,' said Dylan Loh, assistant professor in the public policy and global affairs programme at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. In previous years, the Shangri-La Dialogue had provided a rare platform for meetings between Chinese and US officials in the more informal surroundings that the summit could offer. The structure of the schedule also allowed Beijing's military chiefs to directly respond to the keynote speech from the US defence secretary and to present their narrative to other members of the Asia Pacific. Beijing has remained tight-lipped on the reason for Defence Minister Dong's absence from the forum, fuelling an information void that has been filled by speculation. One theory is that China did not want to send a high-profile delegate to the event at such a sensitive time as Beijing navigates the tariff war with the Trump administration. 'Any sort of faux pas or comments that may go off script can be picked up and picked apart or misconstrued,' said Loh, of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. 'So the question is why take the risk when US-China relations are at a very delicate point at this moment,' Loh told Al Jazeera. The Shangri-La Dialogue weekend has not always been the easiest occasion for Chinese defence ministers. In recent years, they have faced difficult questions from their counterparts in other countries, who are unhappy with Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the Asia Pacific region. Loh said this could be another factor in Dong's absence from the high-profile event. 'Any Chinese defence minister coming to Singapore now will be exposing himself and the country to political risk,' he said. 'Themes like the South China Sea and possibly Taiwan will emerge, which makes China a convenient target,' Loh added. Dong was appointed as China's defence minister in late 2023, after his predecessor, Li Shangfu, was removed from office. Less than a year into the job, there was speculation surrounding Dong's new position following media reports that he was under investigation as part of a wider investigation into corruption in the Chinese military. Beijing denied the reports, with the minister continuing to maintain a public profile despite the allegations. There has also been intense scrutiny of China's military, following reports of an apparent purge of top-level officials by President Xi Jinping. One of Beijing's most senior generals, He Weidong, was missing from a high-profile political meeting in April, adding to rumours surrounding a possible restructuring in the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Ian Chong, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie China research centre, said such speculation could be a factor in Dong's no-show in Singapore. 'Because of the domestic turmoil with China's senior military, they perhaps don't want to, or the PLA itself feels that it's not in a position to send somebody senior,' Chong told Al Jazeera. Announcing Dong's absence at a news conference before the summit, Chinese military spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang maintained that communication channels were still open between defence officials in Washington and Beijing. 'China places great importance on US-China military ties, and is open to communication at different levels,' Zhang said.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Sentence for ex-Goldman banker in 1MDB case ‘too short': Malaysian minister
Malaysia's Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani has called a two-year prison sentence for a former Goldman Sachs banker implicated in the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal too lenient. On Thursday, New York judge Margo Brodie sentenced German-born banker Tim Leissner, a former chairman for Goldman Sachs in Southeast Asia, to two years in prison for his role in the scandal. Leissner, who previously pleaded guilty to US bribery and money laundering counts, faced a maximum sentence of 25 years. During sentencing, Brodie described Leissner's conduct as 'brazen and audacious'. Visibly emotional as he read out a statement in court, Leissner offered a 'sincere apology to the people of Malaysia' and said he 'deeply regret[s]' his actions. Ghani, chairman of the 1MDB asset recovery taskforce, said on Friday that Leissner should have been given the maximum jail sentence as he was 'one of the masterminds' of the scheme, which saw billions of dollars in public money siphoned off Malaysia's investment fund. The 1MDB fund was created as a vehicle to attract foreign investment for energy and infrastructure projects in Malaysia, but was pilfered by officials and bankers. Malaysian and US authorities estimate that around $4.5bn was stolen in total, in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials, including former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was jailed in 2022. In 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering counts in relation to his role in the scandal, including paying roughly $2bn in bribes to foreign officials and splitting another $1bn in kickbacks with others in the scheme. A US Department of Justice spokesperson said he will begin serving a 24-month sentence in September. US prosecutors had called for leniency due to the 'extraordinary' assistance he had provided the probe. Leissner served as the star witness in the 2022 trial of his former colleague and Goldman Sachs Managing Director Roger Ng. Judge Brodie sentenced Malaysian national Ng to 10 years' imprisonment in March 2023 for, among other crimes, 'conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled' from 1MDB and paying more than $1.6bn in bribes. Leissner also provided details regarding the involvement of Low Taek Jho, the Malaysian financier known as 'Jho Low', who stands accused of stealing billions from the fund but remains at large.
