Biden, Xi Jinping to meet in Peru amid Trump trade threats

Welcome to World Brief, where we look at the upcoming Biden-Xi meeting at Peru, New Zealands widespread protests against a controversial bill and diplomacy in the Russia–Ukraine war.

Last dance

Just months before leaving office, U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Lima, Peru on Saturday in what is expected to be the two leaders' meeting. last meeting as presidents.

Welcome to World Brief, where we look at the upcoming Biden-Xi meeting at Peru, New Zealands widespread protests against a controversial bill and diplomacy in the Russia–Ukraine war.

Just months before leaving office, U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Lima, Peru on Saturday in what is expected to be the two leaders' meeting. last meeting as presidents.

Saturday's talks, taking place on the sidelines of this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, will mark the third time the two leaders have met during Biden's presidency. But new uncertainty will hang over this weekend's meeting, as Beijing prepares for the return of President-elect Donald Trump and his threats of more aggressive policies. trade war.

Don't expect any major announcements from this meeting; American officials have already said that the focus is not on deliverables or other outcomes, but on laying the groundwork for a smooth transition. Biden has demonstrated that our two countries can and must manage our differences and prevent competition from escalating into conflict or confrontation by maintaining open lines of communication and advancing cooperation in areas of common concern, a senior official said of the US administration during a press briefing with journalists: speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with guidelines established by the White House.

This meeting will reflect on the progress made to date and we hope to continue to ensure that these channels work properly for law enforcement and law enforcement. [military-to-military] in particular, what we consider essential to support the stability of relations in the coming period, the official added.

Trump is almost certain to take a more mercantilist approach to U.S.-China relations, as Chief Executive Lili Pike has written, and he has threatened to raise tariffs on all Chinese imports of up to 20%. 60 percent.

This tough attitude toward China is also reflected in the personnel Trump has appointed to his cabinet. He chose staunch China hawks, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mike Waltz, to serve as secretary of state and national security adviser, respectively; Rubio's nomination will require Senate confirmation. Trump also wants to be arch protectionist Robert Lighthizerwho served as U.S. trade representative during Trump's first term, only to return as trade czar.

China, meanwhile, is preparing for a second Trump presidency, as Lizzi C. Lee, an expert on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, has written. Foreign policy. While Trump's first term caught Beijing off guard, four years of navigating tariffs, technology restrictions and trade tensions have given Chinese President Xi Jinping and his advisers a better understanding of the US president's playbook, a -she writes.

On Friday, Xi criticized any attempt to turn away from globalization. speech » which he wrote but which was spoken by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at the APEC summit in Lima. Blocking economic cooperation under various excuses and dividing an interdependent world goes back to history, according to the speech.

---

Maori Rights in New Zealand. More than 10,000 people have joined a march to New Zealand's parliament to protest a bill that has alarmed the country's Maori community. The controversial legislation, known as the Treaty Principles Bill, would reinterpret the British crowns. founding treaty with the Maori people, which aims to repair the harm caused to the Maori during colonization and has long formed the basis of the country's laws.

By reinterpreting this founding text, the bill undermine special rights granted to the Maori people. The legislation was introduced by the right-wing partywho says that the bill pushes equal rights. But the proposed legislation is widely unpopular and has stoked concern and anger within New Zealand's Maori community, which makes up approximately 17 percent of the entire population of the country.

Maori legislators protested the bill in Parliament on Thursday by performing a traditional ceremonial hakaa dance on the floor of the chamber. After the protest, MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke was suspended from Parliament for 24 hours.

Rare phone call. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on Friday for the first time since December 2022, according to German officials. During the phone call, Scholz condemned Russia's war of aggression and pressed Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine and end the war, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said. said. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, more than two and a half years ago.

The Chancellor urged Russia to be willing to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace and underlined Germany's unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression as well. long as necessary. said. He added that Scholz spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before calling Putin and that he planned to do so so again after the Friday phone call. In his speech Friday evening, Zelensky said the call opened Pandora's box and undermined efforts to isolate Putin.

Reinforced forces. As Israeli forces continue their bombardments southern LebanonIsrael plans to issue 7,000 draft opinions to ultra-Orthodox Jews to boost enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces. Israel's ultra-Orthodox population, also known as Haredim, accounts currently for more than 12 percent of the country's total population. Anyone required to enlist must receive an order. We are at war, former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a job on on the draft opinions.

---

South African authorities have spent much of the week in a standoff with hundreds of people believed to be working illegally and hiding in what type of mine?

A. Gold
B. Diamond
C.Graphite
D. Copper

---

Some people are afraid of flying, others, including your writer today, are afraid of heights. Some even fear bananas. Leaked emails have revealed that Sweden's Gender Equality Minister, Paulina Brandberg, feels extreme terror when she sees along yellow fruita fear so severe that her staff must ensure that wherever she goes, there are no bananas. One email asks to ensure no bananas are allowed on the premises, while another asks that there be no trace of bananas.

It's a kind of allergy, you could say, Brandberg told the Swedish tabloid. The Expresswho reported the emails. This is something I get professional help for. In since-deleted posts on X from 2020, she admitted to having such a fear, calling it the craziest phobia in the world.

---

A. Gold.

Mining still constitutes a significant part of the South African economy. Coal mining alone employs about 90,000 people, Sam Matthews Boehmer wrote in June.

To take the rest of FP's weekly international news quiz, click here or sign up to be alerted when a new quiz is published.