Trump to leave G7 early after warning of Iran attack
US President Donald Trump was leaving a Group of Seven summit early today as he hinted of greater involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict after issuing an ominous warning for the capital Tehran to evacuate.
After a day of speaking with G7 leaders at a Canada summit about the need for
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Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
Decoding PNG Leader Marape's Discussions With President Macron
Analysis - The recent series of high-level agreements between Papua New Guinea and France marks a significant development in PNG's geopolitical relationships, driven by what appears to be a convergence of national interests. The "deepening relationship" is less about a single personality and more about a calculated alignment of economic, security, and diplomatic priorities with PNG, taking full advantage of its position as the biggest, most strategically placed player in the Pacific. An examination of the key outcomes reveals a partnership of mutual benefit, reflecting both PNG's strategic diversification and France's own long-term ambitions as a Pacific power. A primary driver is the shared economic rationale. From Port Moresby's perspective, the partnership offers a clear path to economic diversification and resilience. But many in PNG have been watching with keen interest and asking: how bad does PNG want this? While Prime Minister James Marape offered France a Special Economic Zone in Port Moresby (SEZ) for French businesses, he also named the lookout at Port Moresby's Variarata National Park after President Emmanuel Macron drawing the ire of many in the country. The proposal to establish a SEZ specifically for French industries is a notable attempt to attract capital from beyond PNG's traditional partners. This is strategically coupled with securing the future of the multi-billion-dollar Papua LNG project. Macron's personal undertaking to work with TotalEnergies to keep the project on schedule provides crucial stability for one of PNG's most significant economic ventures. For France, these arrangements secure a major energy investment for its national corporate champion and establish a stronger economic foothold in a strategically vital region between Asia and the Pacific. In the area of security, the relationship addresses tangible needs for both nations. PNG is faced with the immense challenge of monitoring a 2.4 million square kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone, making it vulnerable to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The finalisation of a Shiprider Agreement with France provides a practical force-multiplier, leveraging French naval assets to enhance PNG's maritime surveillance capabilities. This move, along with planned defence talks on air and maritime cooperation, allows PNG to diversify its security architecture. For France, a resident power with territories like New Caledonia and French Polynesia, participating in regional security operations reinforces its role and commitment to stability in the Indo-Pacific. The partnership is also a vehicle for elevating diplomatic influence. Port Moresby has noted the significance of engaging with a partner that holds permanent membership on the UN Security Council and seats at the G7 and G20. This alignment provides PNG with a powerful channel to global decision-making forums. The reciprocal move to establish a PNG embassy in Paris further cements the relationship on a mature footing. The diplomatic synergy is perhaps best illustrated by France's full endorsement of PNG's bid to host a future United Nations Ocean Conference. This support provides PNG with a major opportunity to lead on the world stage, while allowing France to demonstrate its credentials as a key partner to the Pacific Islands. This deepening PNG-France partnership does not exist in a vacuum. It is unfolding within a broader context of heightened geopolitical competition across the Pacific. The West's view of China's rapid emergence as a dominant economic and military force in the region has reshaped the strategic landscape, prompting traditional powers to re-engage with renewed urgency. The United States has responded by significantly increasing its diplomatic and security footprint, a move marked by Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Port Moresby to sign the Defence Cooperation Agreement. Similarly, Australia, PNG's traditional security partner, is working to reinforce its long-standing influence through initiatives like the multi-million-dollar deal to establish a PNG team in its National Rugby League (NRL), a soft-power exercise reportedly linked to security outcomes. This competitive environment has, in turn, created greater agency for Pacific nations, allowing them to diversify their partnerships beyond old allies and providing a fertile ground for European powers like France to assert their own strategic interests. A strong foundation for the relationship is a shared public stance on environmental stewardship. The agreement on the need for rigourous scientific studies before any deep-sea mining occurs aligns PNG's national policy with a position of environmental caution. This common ground extends to broader climate action, where France's commitment to conservation in the Pacific resonates with PNG's status as a frontline nation vulnerable to climate change. This alignment on values provides a durable and politically important basis for cooperation, allowing both nations to jointly advocate for climate justice and ocean protection. For the Papua New Guinea economy, this deepening partnership with France is critically important as it provides high-level stability for the multi-billion-dollar Papua LNG project and creates a direct pathway for new investment through a proposed SEZ for French businesses. Furthermore, by moving to finalise a Shiprider Agreement to combat illegal fishing, the government is actively protecting a vital economic resource. For Marape's credibility in local politics, these outcomes are tangible successes he can present to the nation as he battles a massive credibility dip in recent years. Securing a personal undertaking from the leader of a G7 nation, gaining support for PNG to host a future UN Ocean Conference, and enhancing national security demonstrates effective leadership on the world stage. This allows him to build a narrative of a competent statesman who, through "warm, personal relationships", can deliver on promises of economic opportunity and national security whilst strengthening his political standing at home.
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
No King's Protest In Guam Demands Protection Of Democracy And Equal Rights
, RNZ Pacific Guam Correspondent Chanting under the midday sun and holding signs that read 'No Kings in America' and 'In Solidarity with Los Angeles,' more than a dozen residents and visitors gathered in northern Guam on Saturday to join a national day of protest opposing what organisers describe as authoritarian overreach by President Donald Trump's administration. The rally is part of a broader grassroots mobilisation across the United States, marking the first 'No Kings' protest held in a US territory. "We've seen hundreds of new events on the No Kings Day map since the weekend," said Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the groups behind the "day of defiance" to the Guardian. "We've seen hundreds of thousands of people register for those events." A website for the protest cites Trump's defying of the courts, mass deportations, attacks on civil rights, and slashing of services as reasons for protest. Demonstrators in Guam, where American citizens lack federal voting rights, used the opportunity to call attention to both local concerns and nationwide threats to democratic institutions. "We're on the front lines trying to save our democracy," said Diane Thurber, an assistant professor at University of Maryland Global Campus, Guam. "And everything that happens in America, happens to Guam first." "If we don't stand up and speak out, who's going to stand up for us?" said Guam Public Auditor, BJ Cruz, adding that Guam is still fighting for many rights that citizens in the continental U.S. already have. "I learned that the Big Beautiful Bill - a big ugly Bill - did not include our request for RECA compensation. And we were downwind. So, we've got to stand up and tell everybody we're here." The demonstration also drew teachers, visitors, and local union leaders who expressed alarm over Project 2025, a sweeping blueprint championed by Trump allies and supporters to consolidate executive power and dismantle federal agencies. It was published by The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank, ahead of Trump's 2024 election victory. Critics say the project threatens fundamental civil liberties, including the right to protest, birthright citizenship, and public education. Sophia Underwood, a US history teacher on island, said it's become increasingly difficult to teach students about constitutional principles while witnessing what she described as the erosion of democratic norms. "He's probably the most, I would say, anti-constitutional president we've had," she said. Underwood said a lot of her students rely on TRIO programs and Pell grants to pursue a college education. "And seeing that [President Trump] is defunding higher education, those are the things that really bind all of us with the people that are in the continental US." Guam residents are US citizens who cannot vote for president and lack full voting representation in Congress, despite having one of the highest US military enlistment rates per capita and are federal taxpayers. Demonstrators highlighted this contradiction as a central point of frustration. "We couldn't even vote for this joker, but yet here he is," said Tim Fedenko, a longtime Guam resident and local teachers' union president. He pointed out Guam's straw poll results from the last election, which voted for Kamala Harris as president. "Give us a voice, right? But they don't want to give the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa or Guam a vote. It's because they're scared of the brown vote." Others travelled from off-island to join the protest, including 74-year-old political activist Taynay Matsumoto, who is visiting Guam with family. A former delegate for District three in Georgia at the Democratic Convention, Matsumoto said her activism is motivated by concern for her grandchildren's future. "I'm worried that if my 16 [year-old] got pregnant, I don't want anybody to know, she should be able to have an abortion, that's her right," she said. "Use your power as a person. It's very powerful. And Trump wants you to think that you don't have it, that he as all of it. Those are lies." Despite Guam's geographic isolation, protesters emphasised the interconnectedness of national policy decisions and their local impacts like federal budget cuts to stalled compensation for Cold War-era nuclear fallout. "This administration is anti-everything that I'm for," Underwood said. "Even though we're far away, we still have the same fears. Being a teacher, I'm concerned about the Department of Education, right? And the arts being affected." Local grassroots group Prutehi Guåhan organised the demonstration, and said "Prutehi Guåhan joins the "No Kings" movement to resist fascism, ongoing war crimes in Palestine, and violence against immigrant communities and protesters in Los Angeles and elsewhere." "We're the first No Kings rally in the country," BJ Cruz said, adding, "And we're in solidarity with the rest of the country, and hopefully they'll stand up for us eventually."
NZ Herald
2 hours ago
- NZ Herald
G7 urges Middle East de-escalation as Trump exits summit early
G7 leaders have called for 'de-escalation' in the Middle East, starting with the Israel-Iran conflict, as US President Donald Trump hastily left the group's summit. Trump, who was making his return to the international diplomatic calendar, departed the gathering in the Canadian Rockies a day early as ally Israel pounded
