News

Opposition lawmakers say they will seek to impeach José Jerí over undisclosed meetings in Lima’s Chinatown
’s interim president, José Jerí, has denied lying to the country and claimed he was the victim of a plot to discredit him amid a growing political scandal over his secretive meetings with Chinese businessmen.
Jerí, 39, who took office in October after his predecessor Dina Boluarte was forced out, told a congressional oversight committee on Wednesday that he had been the target of a smear campaign designed to destabilise the country ahead of elections in April.

Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, who led Tiananmen Square vigils, are accused of inciting subversion
The national security trial of three pro-democracy activists who organised an annual memorial in Hong Kong to mark the Tiananmen Square massacre opened on Thursday, in another landmark case brought under the Beijing-imposed law that has practically crushed protests in the semiautonomous Chinese city.
, and are charged with inciting subversion under Hong Kong’s . Their trial is one of the most high-profile national security cases to be heard in Hong Kong since Beijing . The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment if convicted. The law has a near-100% conviction rate.

Taiwan’s domestic gridlock is revealing a deep-seated fracture over how the island should defend itself and how much it can depend on the United States.

Prime Minister Mark Carney got a standing ovation in Davos for starkly describing the end of Pax Americana. He is looking for new allies to help his country survive it.

Prime minister’s reported trip follows approval by UK government for Beijing to build new embassy in London


Keir Starmer will reportedly visit China next week after controversial plans for Beijing to build a vast embassy in London were approved by his government.
The UK prime minster will lead a delegation of blue-chip British companies, according to Reuters. The same firms, which include BP, HSBC, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls-Royce were also said to be among those who will join a revamped “UK-China CEO council”.

The president wants to bring to the US tiny vehicles, like those commonly seen on the streets of Japan.

Amnesty International deeply concerned for scores of people ‘walking around in search of assistance’
Thousands of people, including suspected victims of human trafficking, are estimated to have been released or escaped from scam compounds across Cambodia over recent days, after growing international pressure to crackdown on the multibillion-dollar industry.
The Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh said it had received reports from 1,440 of its nationals who had been released from scam centres, while large queues of Chinese nationals were also seen outside the Chinese embassy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government approved plans for a massive new Chinese Embassy near Tower Bridge, angering critics who fear it will enable spying.

For years, Beijing has struggled to gain a foothold in Greenland, in part because of US and Danish unity. Trump’s fraying of that alliance could create the opening it needs
According to Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, China and Russia must be having a “” about Donald Trump’s plans for Greenland, which Kallas says will divide Nato.
But according to Trump, his plans are motivated by a desire to counter the very threat that Kallas identified. “World peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

As climate and geopolitics shocks bite, countries are rebuilding food buffers. The UK clings to neoliberal ideas while households pay the price
across much of the world is changing. But not in Britain. That may be a costly mistake as the prices of essentials rise because of the climate emergency, geopolitical tensions and the fragility of just-in-time supply chains. Many capitals are now reviving their strategic food reserves. European nations such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany are rebuilding stocks dismantled after the cold war. Climate shocks have led to Egypt and Bangladesh boosting similar programmes. Countries such as Brazil and Indonesia – sensitive to the food needs of their vast populations – are also expanding their reserves.
The UK, by contrast, has no substantial public food reserves. Its strategy rests almost entirely on global markets and private intentions – an approach shaped by decades of liberalised trade. Even in the event of war, the official advice focuses on households essentials. In Britain’s view, food security is about prices, not scarcity of supply.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our section, please .

Dan Jarvis answers questions in the Commons over the decision to approve a new ‘super-embassy’

Jack Straw, a former Labour foreign secretary, has praised Keir Starmer for the way he is handling Donald Trump. While some opposition parties want Starmer to be more confrontational, Straw told Times Radio that would be a mistake. He said:
The best approach [to handling Trump] that I know of is the one that’s being adopted by our prime minister, Keir Starmer. It’s very hard. It’s very frustrating. I’m sure there have been occasions where Sir Keir has said things to himself in the shaving mirror about Mr Trump that he would not wish to be repeated. But he is an example of how to handle Donald Trump. It is infinitely better than challenging Trump’s ego, to which there is no limit, trying to work around him.
And up to now, the Starmer approach to Trump has succeeded, not least in the fact that, until this latest outburst on Greenland, we did have a much better deal on tariffs than, say, the European Union has had.
The treaty has been signed with the Mauritian government. So I can’t reverse the clock on that. The treaty has been signed. Parliament has a kind of enabling function on treaties. It’s not like a traditional piece of legislation. So it can’t unwind the treaty having been signed.

Critics expected to mount legal challenge to plans for vast complex at Royal Mint Court amid security concerns
The communities secretary, Steve Reed, has given permission for China to build a vast new embassy near the Tower of London after spy chiefs told him that the risks to UK national security could be controlled and dealt with.
The decision paves the way for Keir Starmer to visit Beijing in the coming weeks – though local residents plan to the decision, potentially delaying the development by months or years.