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Quad ministers agree to build port NEW DELHI: The foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the US agreed to jointly build a port in Fiji and signed pacts covering critical minerals and energy security, as they sought to inject fresh energy into their grouping known as the Quad. The brief meeting between the countries’ top diplomats – Australia’s Penny Wong, India’s S. Jaishankar, Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio – was the third such gathering of the Quad since September 2024. The group unveiled its first joint infrastructure project, a port in Fiji. “We are going to be partnering on issues of port infrastructure, in particular in response to insufficient port capacity in the Pacific Islands, we are announcing plans to work with Fiji,” Rubio said. The four-nation group had lost some momentum last year after failing to hold a leaders’ summit, amid tensions between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Washington’s tariffs and other matters. He said the group agreed to launch an initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security and a critical minerals framework. A joint statement from the four countries said they remained “seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea” as well as the “militarisation of disputed features” in the South China Sea. They also condemned attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Middle East and said they were opposed to the imposition of tolls, stressing on safety and uninterrupted flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. China said yesterday cooperation between countries should contribute to regional peace, stability and prosperity, and should not target any third party. “We also do not support the formation of exclusive cliques or bloc confrontation. No cooperation should undermine mutual trust and cooperation among regional countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a news conference. – Reuters Bid to block Samsung union vote SEOUL: A Samsung Electronics union representing the conglomerate’s consumer electronics workers said yesterday it has asked a court to block a vote on a pay deal that primarily benefits their colleagues in the company’s chip divisions. The government-mediated agreement reached last week, which averted an 18-day strike by 48,000 workers, provides huge bonuses for workers in Samsung’s memory chip division, which has seen profits soar amid the AI boom. Voting by unionised workers began on Friday and is due to conclude today. They are widely expected to ratify the deal. The Samsung Electronics Co Union (SECU), which has about 13,000 members, mostly from the company’s smartphone, TV and home appliances divisions, said it had taken legal action after being told it had no right to join the vote. Disagreements had caused the SECU to leave the negotiating team. Negotiations were led by the Samsung Electronics Labour Union, which said more than 90% of its 57,290 members who are eligible to vote had cast their ballot. A small group of shareholders has also announced that they will sue if the deal is ratified by union members, arguing that parts of the agreement were unlawful unless they were approved by shareholders. – Reuters

LAS VEGAS: K-pop sensations BTS, the boy band that recently returned to the world stage after military service, scored the top honour of artiste of the year on Monday at the fan-voted American Music Awards in Las Vegas. The group also claimed best male K-pop artiste and song of the summer for the single Swim . BTS prevailed in a high-powered artiste of the year category that included Taylor Swift, winner of the most AMAs of any musician over her career, as well as Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, Lady Gaga and others. “We made it once again!” BTS member RM told screaming fans inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. BTS won the same honour in 2021. “Our biggest thanks and gratitude, as always, goes to the armies all over the world,” RM said, referring to the nickname for BTS fans. “You have stood by us for the past 13 years.” The red-carpet gala, which aired live on CBS and Paramount, opened with members of BTS in a pre-recorded performance of Hooligan from a recent Vegas concert. BTS went on hiatus in 2022 when all seven members took part in South Korea’s mandatory military service. In March, they returned with their fifth studio album Arirang . The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for two weeks, a first for a K pop group or artiste. In other AMA wins for K-pop, the song of the year award went to EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the voices behind the fictional group HUNTR/X and Golden , the upbeat tune from the Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters . The trio won three AMAs in total. o Band wins artiste of the year, best male K-pop artiste, Song of the Summer trophies Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18 year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged new conference, his eyes red with tears. The 47-year-old former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognised sports figures, had been released by police early yesterday, according to the reports. Tokyo Metropolitan Police declined to comment when contacted by AFP. The team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Because of my family matters, I have caused great concern and trouble for many baseball fans, to those involved in professional baseball, and to my company,” Abe said. “I have also tarnished the name of the manager of the long-established Giants, and I am filled with a profound desire to offer my deepest apologies,” he said. Abe reportedly told investigators that he was trying to mediate a fight between his daughters, aged 18 and 15, Kyodo said.

BTS accepts the Song of the Summer Award for Swim . – AFPPIC

rock/alternative song for Back to Friends . “I wrote this song when I was 19 and depressed all by myself in my bedroom,” he said on stage. “So being here, I never would have expected that.” Billy Idol, an icon of 1980s rock, received a lifetime achievement honour. The 70-year-old reflected on starting a career in punk rock in 1976. “We thought it may last only about six months, let alone 50 years,” Idol said before performing rousing versions of Eyes Without a Face and Dancing with Myself . – Reuters

Katseye, a girl group with members from four countries, also took home three awards including new artiste of the year. Swift had been the leading nominee, with eight nods including album of the year for The Life of a Showgirl and song of the year for The Fate of Ophelia . She did not win in any of the categories and did not attend the event. Carpenter, also a no-show, earned album of the year for Man’s Best Friend and two other awards. Twenty-year-old indie musician Sombr scored three trophies including best

Top Japan baseball manager resigns TOKYO: The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his teenage daughter. He allegedly had been drinking and became furious after his older daughter talked back to him. He was arrested at home in front of his daughters and wife, Kyodo said.

His 18-year-old daughter reported the incident to a child protective service after consulting with ChatGPT, she said in a letter read by his agent at the press conference. In her letter, she denied media reports that she had been beaten. “This was the first time I had such a major quarrel with my father, and after consulting ChatGPT, I learned that there was a child consultation centre where I could seek advice anonymously, so I decided to call. “I told them I didn’t know what to do and asked for advice, but without anyone asking what I wanted or how I hoped things would be handled, it ended with the police being notified.” She said she was “shocked” when officers arrived and she broke down in tears when her father was taken away. “I am deeply reflecting on the fact that I caused such a commotion and that the situation became so serious. I am truly sorry,” she said. She said she wrote the letter of her own volition, and her father said such a letter was unnecessary. Giants president Toru Kunimatsu earlier issued a statement saying violence could not be tolerated. – AFP

Abe apologising at a news conference in Tokyo yesterday. – JIJI PRESS/AFPPIC