13/08/2025

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Xi: China, Brazil can model ‘self-reliance’ for South

Scientist’s remains found on glacier 66 years on LONDON: The remains of a British meteorologist who died in an Antarctic expedition in 1959 have been recovered six decades later from a glacier, the British Antarctic Survey said on Monday. They were identified by DNA-testing as those of Dennis “Tink” Bell, who died aged 25 when he was working for the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, which became the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the UK’s polar research institute. Bell died on Admiralty Bay on King George Island, located 120km off the coast of Antarctica on July 26, 1959. He was stationed on the island for a two year assignment at a small UK research base. Bell and three other men had set out to climb and survey a glacier, when he fell through a crevasse – a deep chasm in the ice. His body was never recovered. The remains, which were exposed by a receding glacier, were found on Jan 19 by a team from the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station. “This discovery brings closure to a decades-long mystery and reminds us of the human stories embedded in the history of Antarctic science,” said BAS director Jane Francis. The bone fragments were carried to the Falkland Islands by the BAS Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough , and then brought to London for DNA testing. Alongside his remains, the Polish team also found over 200 personal items including radio equipment, a flashlight, ski poles, an inscribed wristwatch and a Swedish-brand knife. Bell’s brother David Bell, who lives in Australia, said the discovery after 66 years left him and his sister “shocked and amazed”. “Dennis was the oldest of three siblings and was my hero as he seemed to be able to turn his hand to anything,” said his brother. Francis said the confirmation of the remains “is both a poignant and profound moment for all of us at British Antarctic Survey”. Bell “was one of the many brave ... personnel who contributed to the early science and exploration of Antarctica under extraordinarily harsh conditions.” – AFP

o Call to oppose unilateralism, protectionism

sustainable planet”, according to Xinhua. Xi added that “all countries should unite and firmly oppose unilateralism and protectionism”, Xinhua reported – a thinly veiled reference to US tariffs. A statement by the Brazilian presidency said the phone call lasted about an hour, during which time Lula and Xi discussed a range of topics including the war in Ukraine. “Both agreed on the role of the G20 and BRICS in defending multilateralism,” the statement said, referring to the Group of 20 major economies and a bloc of emerging powers. The leaders also “committed to expanding the scope of cooperation in sectors such as health, oil and gas, digital economy and satellites”, the statement said. Beijing has worked in recent years to court Latin America as a way of countering Washington – historically the most influential major power in the region. China has surpassed the United States as Brazil’s largest trading partner, and two-thirds of Latin American countries have signed up to Xi’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive. Lula conducted a five-day state visit to China in May, when he told a forum for cooperation between Beijing and Latin America that his region did not want to “start a new Cold War”. – AFP

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping told his Brazilian counterpart yesterday the two countries could set an example of “self-reliance” for emerging powers, as trade and geopolitical challenges mount. The two leaders have both sought in recent months to present their countries as staunch defenders of the multilateral trading system – in stark contrast with US President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught. Xi’s call with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva yesterday came just hours after Trump announced another 90-day pause to blistering tariffs on China. It also followed indications from Lula last week he planned to speak with the leaders of India and China to consider a coordinated response to US trade measures. Xi told Lula that ties between China and Brazil are now at an all-time high, according to Xinhua news agency. He said China would “work with Brazil to set an example of unity and self-reliance among major countries in the Global South” and “jointly build a more just world and more

Xi and Lula at a meeting last year. China-Brazil ties are at an all-time high. – AFPFILEPIC

France adopts law upholding ban on controversial insecticide PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron signed into law a modified Bill that bars a bee killing pesticide from being reintroduced after a petition signed by more than two million people. The legislation has been at the heart of a major debate in France and sparked a student initiated petition that was wildly successful. The court said that the insecticides known as neonicotinoids posed“risks to human health”and was unconstitutional as it undermined the right to live in a balanced and healthy environment as guaranteed in the country’s environmental charter.

Commentators have said it may be a sign of exasperation with deadlock in a hung parliament and a desire to have a greater say in political matters. After the ruling, Macron had said he intended to quickly enact the law and rejected further parliamentary debate. The controversial legislation has been dubbed the Duplomb law, after its author, Laurent Duplomb, a senator for the right-wing Republicans party. French Health Minister Yannick Neuder has called for a European reassessment of the impact of acetamiprid on human health. – AFP

Banned in France since 2018, acetamiprid is legal in the European Union and proponents say French farmers need it to help them compete with their European counterparts. The main farmers’ union has railed against the court ruling. The petitioners said their frustration went beyond environmental concerns.

Critics of the Bill, adopted last month in a fractured lower house of parliament, say it was rushed through without proper debate. The law was published in the official journal yesterday after the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest court, struck down the provision on the reintroduction of acetamiprid.

Plastic pollution treaty talks grind on GENEVA: Talks on sealing a landmark treaty to tackle the global scourge of plastic pollution were still stuck in second gear on Monday, with time running out to bridge the chasm between the most ambitious countries and oil-producing states. The talks have focused on topics ranging from the design of plastic to waste management, production, financing for recycling, plastic reuse and funding waste collection in developing countries.

France’s Ecological Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said the treaty would have to be legally binding and address all stages of plastic’s life cycle. “Every minute, 15 tonnes of plastic are released into the ocean, or nearly eight million tonnes per year! That’s nearly 800 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower!” she said on X. “Complacency and a laissez-faire attitude can no longer be an option.” The treaty is set to be settled by universal consensus but with countries far apart, observers said the lowest-ambition countries are comfortable not budging. Some environmental NGOs are urging the ambitious majority to push for a vote instead. Claire Arkin, spokeswoman for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, told AFP: “By calling for a vote, it would make this minority of countries who block the whole process realise they would lose it – and force them to make compromises.” – AFP

The 184 countries meeting at the United Nations in Geneva have little more than three days left to reach an agreement. One African negotiator predicted the talks would conclude with a treaty by tomorrow’s deadline, even if it did not contain very much. “We haven’t worked for three years to come away with nothing,” they said. Some countries held informal talks on Sunday’s nominal day off to try to get things moving but nothing emerged that paved the way for a game-changing shift on Monday. The first week of talks fell behind schedule and failed to produce a clear text, with states deeply divided at square one: the purpose and scope of the treaty they started negotiating two and a half years ago. Another diplomat said some informal discussions on the sidelines were now “moving very fast” and could produce answers that could then go forward for formal agreement.

Canadian artist, activist and photographer Benjamin Von Wong’s The Thinker’s Burden takes shape in front of the UN Offices in Geneva to spur negotiators to close a treaty on plastic pollution. – AFPPIC