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Beijing continues to stonewall efforts to address its well-documented abuse of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit widened to the highest level in more than two years in July as businesses likely front-loaded imports in anticipation of higher tariffs on goods, suggesting trade could remain a drag on economic growth in the third quarter. While the surge in imports reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday would subtract from gross domestic product, it was an indication of strong domestic demand and inconsistent with financial market fears of a recession. "The July trade data suggest that net trade will weigh on third-quarter GDP growth, but that is hardly cause for concern when it reflects the continued strength of imports, painting a better picture of domestic demand than renewed recession fears would suggest," said Thomas Ryan, North America economist at Capital Economics. The trade gap increased 7.9% to $78.8 billion, the widest since May 2022, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said. The government revised the trade data from January through June 2024 to incorporate more comprehensive and updated quarterly and monthly figures. Imports increased 2.1% to $345.4 billion. Goods imports rose 2.3% to $278.2 billion, the highest since June 2022. They were boosted by an increase in capital goods, which increased $3.3 billion to a record high, mostly reflecting computer accessories. Imports of industrial supplies and materials, which include petroleum, increased $2.8 billion. There were also rises in imports of nonmonetary gold-finished metal shapes. President Joe Biden's administration has announced plans to impose steeper tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, batteries, solar products and other goods. The government said last week a final determination will be made public in the "coming days." There are also fears of even higher tariffs on Chinese imports should former President Donald Trump return to the White House after the November 5 election. The politically sensitive goods trade deficit with China increased $4.9 billion to $27.2 billion. Exports to China fell $1.0 billion while imports advanced $3.9 billion. "Imports of goods from China increased, which shows how difficult it will be to direct U.S. manufacturers away from their dependence on lower-cost goods originating from China if that is what Congress and political candidates wish to do," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS. Exports gained 0.5% to $266.6 billion. Goods exports climbed 0.4% to $175.1 billion. Exports of motor vehicles, parts and engines decreased $1.7 billion to the lowest since June 2022. Consumer goods exports fell $800 million. Exports of capital goods surged $1.8 billion to a record $56.1 billion, boosted by semiconductors. The goods trade deficit increased 6.9% to $97.6 billion after adjusting for inflation.

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Seoul — South Korea says it has detected suspected trash-carrying balloons launched by North Korea, in the latest round of a Cold War-style psychological warfare between the war-divided rivals.  The metropolitan government of Seoul, South Korea's capital, issued text alerts Wednesday saying that objects likely to be North Korean balloons were spotted in regions north of the city. It advised people to stay indoors and beware of objects dropping from the sky. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the direction of winds suggested that the balloons could drift into the northern part of Gyeonggi Province, near Seoul. It advised people to report to the police or military if they see fallen balloons and not to touch them.  There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.  North Korea in recent weeks has flown thousands of balloons toward the South to drop waste paper, cloth scraps and cigarette butts, in what it described as a retaliation against South Korean civilian activists flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and the third-generation ruler Kim Jong Un.  Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. Officials said the balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt.  South Korea, in response to the North Korean balloons, has activated its front-line loudspeakers to blast broadcasts of propaganda messages and K-pop songs.  The tit-for-tat Cold War-style campaigns are adding to the tensions fueled by North Korea's growing nuclear ambitions and the South's expansion of joint military exercises with the United States. 

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JAKARTA — Pope Francis urged Indonesia to live up to its promise of “harmony in diversity” and fight religious intolerance on Wednesday, as he set a rigorous pace for an 11-day, four-nation trip through tropical Southeast Asia and Oceania that will test his stamina and health. Despite the grueling itinerary, an energetic Francis joked and laughed his way through a packed first full day in Indonesia, meeting with outgoing President Joko Widodo and other Indonesian officials at the presidential palace and then greeting Catholic priests, nuns and seminarians at Jakarta’s main cathedral in the afternoon. Cannons boomed as Francis joined Widodo on the veranda of the palace along with President-elect Prabowo Subianto. A marching band, stiff-legged troops and children in traditional Indonesian dress welcomed the first pope to visit in 35 years. In his remarks to officials, Francis compared Indonesia's human diversity to the archipelago’s 17,000 islands. He said each one contributes something specific to form “a magnificent mosaic, in which each tile is an irreplaceable element in creating a great original and precious work.” And yet, Francis warned that such diversity in a country with the world's largest Muslim population can also become a source of conflict — an apparent reference to episodes of intolerance that have flared in recent years in Indonesia as well as a broader concern about conflicts raging around the world. “This wise and delicate balance, between the multiplicity of cultures and different ideological visions, and the ideals that cement unity, must be continuously defended against imbalances,” Francis said. Political leaders, he said, had a particular role to play but he also assured Widodo of the Catholic Church’s commitment to increasing interreligious dialogue. “This is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence,” he said. Regionally, the internal conflict in Myanmar has forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, where thousands have fled overcrowded, violent camps to countries including Indonesia. Farther afield, Indonesia has regularly condemned Israel’s war with the militant Hamas group in Gaza and Widodo thanked Francis for the Vatican's support for Palestinian civilians. “War will not benefit anyone, war will only bring suffering and misery to the common people,” Widodo said. “Therefore let us celebrate the differences that we have. Let us accept each other and strengthen tolerance to realize peace, to realize a better world for all humanity." Francis arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday to kick off the longest, farthest and most difficult trip of his pontificate, given his myriad health problems. At 87, he uses a wheelchair, has regular bouts of bronchitis and has had multiple surgeries for intestinal problems. By the trip’s end on Sept. 13, Francis will have flown 32,814 kilometers (20,390 miles) and visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore — one of the longest papal trips ever in terms of days on the road and distances traveled. Francis appeared in good form Wednesday, showing his trademark sense of humor even as he had to stand for long periods and had multiple transfers from his wheelchair to chairs and the car. His dry wit never let up: To Widodo and Indonesian dignitaries, he praised Indonesia’s relatively high birthrate while lamenting that in the West, “some prefer a cat or a little dog.” To a private meeting with his fellow Jesuits he quipped at the end that “The police have come to take me away.” To priests and nuns he warned against greed, saying “the devil enters through your pockets.” That said, Francis' prepared remarks were shorter than usual in a possible bid to spare him the strain of speaking for long periods. In the afternoon, Francis met with Indonesian clergy and nuns in Jakarta’s Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral for his traditional pep talk to the local church. Catholics make up just 3% of Indonesia's population of 275 million, but the country is home to the world’s largest Catholic seminary and has long been a top source of priests and nuns for the Catholic Church. Addressing the priests, nuns and lay church leaders, Francis continued the theme of encouraging greater fraternity among people of different faiths and cultures. “This is important, because proclaiming the Gospel does not mean imposing our faith or placing it in opposition to that of others, but giving and sharing the joy of encountering Christ always with great respect and fraternal affection for everyone,” he said. Sister Rina Rosalina was chosen to address the pope, and offered some constructive criticism of the inordinate amount of time it takes for the Vatican to approve Indonesian-language translations of his official texts. "Holy Father, we are always trying to learn from you. Unfortunately, due to distance and language barriers, sometimes we have difficulties studying the documents issued from Rome," she said, drawing knowing nods from the pope. Outside the cathedral, several hundred well-wishers gathered to greet the pope, including at least one boy dressed as a tiny pope. They waved Indonesian and Holy See flags and children played traditional bamboo instruments. The location of the cathedral is symbolically important for Indonesia's push for interfaith and intercultural harmony — it is located across from the country's main Istiqlal mosque and connected to it by an underground “Tunnel of Friendship," which Francis is to visit on Thursday with the mosque's grand imam. While Francis wants to highlight Indonesia’s tradition of religious tolerance, the country’s image as a moderate Muslim nation has been undermined by flare-ups of intolerance. In 2021, a militant Islamic couple blew themselves up outside a packed Catholic cathedral on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island during a Palm Sunday Mass, injuring at least 20 people. Amnesty International said it hoped Francis' visit would encourage an end to acts of intolerance and discrimination against minority groups and truly promote a respect for religious freedom that is enshrined in the country's constitution. In a statement, Amnesty noted that from January 2021 to July 2024, there were at least 123 cases of intolerance, including rejection, closure or destruction of places of worship and physical attacks. “The pope’s visit has an important role to play in encouraging Indonesia to end intolerance and discrimination against all minority groups,” said Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia.

Yangon, Myanmar — Myanmar's embattled junta chief has warned civilians in territory recently captured by ethnic minority armed groups to prepare for military counterattacks, state media reported on Wednesday. The military has lost swaths of territory near the border with China in northern Shan state to an alliance of armed ethnic minority groups and "People's Defence Forces" battling to overturn the junta’s 2021 coup. The groups have seized a regional military command and taken control of lucrative border trade crossings, prompting rare public criticism by military supporters of the junta's top leadership. Junta troops "will... launch counterattacks," junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said on Tuesday in the Shan state capital Taunggyi, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar. He accused the alliance of using "administrative buildings and innocent civilians as human shields," according to the newspaper. "Therefore, the people residing in towns and villages where the terrorists unlawfully occupied should be aware of security so as not to face exploitation." The junta is battling widespread armed opposition and its soldiers are accused of bloody rampages and using air and artillery strikes to punish civilian communities. It announced this week that the three main ethnic minority armed groups battling the military in Shan state had been officially declared "terrorist" organizations. The declaration will not affect the fighting against the Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA); however, those found supporting or contacting them can now face legal action. The alliance and PDF groups have battled closer to the second city of Mandalay, home to around 1.5 million people and the military's central command. Opponents of the military launched a rocket attack on Mandalay on Tuesday, damaging buildings and wounding one person, local media reported, in a rare attack on an urban area. An opinion piece in Wednesday's Global New Light of Myanmar criticized the military's recent losses in Shan state. "Who would have thought that Lashio would fall," it said, referring to a Shan town of 150,000 people that was captured last month. "Who would then give the definite assurance that nothing will happen to whatever you own in Mandalay?" "Once the artillery shells started to rain down upon the city, it would be too late to move out of the city in an orderly manner," it said.

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Islamabad — An American diplomat has condemned the Taliban’s new morality law in Afghanistan, warning that it “aims to complete the erasure of women from public life.” Rina Amiri, the United States special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights, posted on social media late Tuesday that she raised concerns about the law during her recent meetings with counterparts in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “My message was clear: Our support for the Afghan people remains steadfast, but patience with the Taliban is running out,” Amiri wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The way to legitimacy domestically & internationally is respecting the rights of the Afghan people.” The U.S. warning comes days after the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, enacted the contentious decree that orders Afghan women not to speak aloud in public and cover their bodies and faces entirely when outdoors. The 114-page, 35-article law also outlines various actions and specific conduct that the Taliban government, called the Islamic Emirate, considers mandatory or prohibited for Afghan men and women in line with its strict interpretation of Islam. The legal document empowers the Ministry for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, which the Taliban revived after coming back to power in August 2021, to enforce it strictly. Enforcers are empowered to discipline offenders, and penalties may include anything from a verbal warning to fines to imprisonment. The law requires them to prevent “evils” such as adultery, extramarital sex, lesbianism, taking pictures of living objects and befriending non-Muslims. Official Taliban media quoted Akhundzada this week as ordering authorities to “rigorously enforce” the new vice and virtue decree across Afghanistan “to bring the people closer to the Islamic system.” The law was enacted amid extensive restrictions on Afghan women's education and employment opportunities. Since regaining power three years ago, the Taliban have prohibited girls ages 12 and older from continuing their education beyond the sixth grade and restricted women from seeking employment, except in certain sectors such as health. Afghan females are not allowed to visit parks and other public places, and a male guardian must accompany them on road trips or air travel. The United Nations promptly responded to the new law last month, condemning it as a “distressing vision" for the impoverished country's future and urging de facto authorities to reverse it. The Taliban government, which is officially not recognized by any country, has dismissed U.N.-led foreign criticism as offensive. Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesperson, asserted that “non-Muslims should first educate themselves about Islamic laws and respect Islamic values” before expressing concerns or rejecting the law. “We find it blasphemous to our Islamic Sharia when objections are raised without understanding it,” he said.

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Dhaka, Bangladesh — Bangladeshi security forces have launched an operation to recover thousands of guns, including those seized during deadly unrest that led to the ouster of autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, police said on Wednesday.   Weeks of student-led demonstrations escalated into mass protests, with Hasina fleeing by helicopter to neighboring India on August 5 after 15 years in power.   Police had tried to stem the protests with gunfire but protesters responded by storming and looting police stations, when weapons were seized.   Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is now leading an interim government after Hasina's fall.   More than 3,700 weapons of different types had been recovered during an amnesty to surrender guns that ended on Tuesday.   However, more than 2,000 weapons, including rifles, are missing, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition and hundreds of tear gas canisters and stun grenades.   "Those arms which have not been submitted to the police stations within the deadline... the looted arms will be considered illegal," senior police official Enamul Haque Sagor told AFP.   The army and police, as well as other security force units including the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Ansar forces, are taking part in the weapons sweep.   Two former top police officers have also been detained in connection to the violent suppression of the protests and have been placed on remand, Dhaka deputy police commissioner Obaidur Rahman said.   Both men face accusations of murder, although formal charges have not yet been made.    They include former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who quit a day after Hasina fled and has been taken into custody, Dhaka Metropolitan Police said in a statement late on Tuesday.   Police said he had "expressed his willingness to surrender — due to a case against him — while he was under army custody."   He was placed under remand for eight days on Wednesday, Rahman said.     Another top officer, AKM Shahidul Haque, who had been police chief from 2014 to 2018, was detained on Tuesday and placed on remand for seven days, Rahman said.   More than 600 people were killed in the weeks leading up to Hasina's ouster, according to the preliminary report of a United Nations rights team that said the toll was "likely an underestimate."   Many of those killed were hit by police fire. 

Geneva — Workers have seen their slice of the global income pie shrink significantly over the past two decades, swelling inequality and depriving the combined labor force of trillions, the U.N. said Wednesday.  The United Nations' International Labor Organization said that the global labor income share — or the proportion of total income in an economy earned by working — had fallen by 1.6 percentage points since 2004.  "While the decrease appears modest in terms of percentage points, in 2024 it represents an annual shortfall in labor income of $2.4 trillion compared to what workers would have earned had the labor income share remained stable since 2004," the ILO said in a report.  The study highlighted the COVID-19 pandemic as a key driver of the decline, with almost half of the reduction in labor income share taking place during the pandemic years of 2020-2022.   The global crisis exacerbated existing inequalities, particularly as capital income has continued to concentrate ever more among the wealthiest, it said.  "Countries must take action to counter the risk of declining labor income share," Celeste Drake, the ILO deputy director-general, said in a statement.  "We need policies that promote an equitable distribution of economic benefits, including freedom of association, collective bargaining and effective labor administration, to achieve inclusive growth, and build a path to sustainable development for all."  Deepening inequality The ILO stressed that technological advances, including automation, were a key driver of the declines in labor income share.  "While these innovations have boosted productivity and output, the evidence suggests that workers are not sharing equitably from the resulting gains," the U.N. labor agency said.  It voiced particular concern that the artificial intelligence boom risked deepening inequality further.   "If historical patterns were to persist... the recent breakthroughs in generative AI could exert further downward pressure on the labor income share," the report said, stressing "the importance of ensuring that any benefits of AI are widely distributed".  The ILO found that workers currently rake in just 52.3 percent of global income, while capital income — earned by owners of assets like land, machines, buildings and patents — accounts for the rest.  Since capital income tends to be concentrated among wealthier individuals, the labor income share is widely used as a measure of inequality.  It also helps measure progress towards the U.N. sustainable development goal aimed at significantly reducing inequality between and within countries between 2015 and 2030.  "The report indicates slow progress as the 2030 deadline approaches," ILO said.  The report also emphasized the stubbornly high incidence of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET).  Since 2015, the global percentage has slipped slightly, from 21.3% to 20.4% this year.  But there are major regional differences, with a third of youth in Arab states and nearly a quarter in Africa falling into the NEET category.   The report also highlighted a large gender gap, with the global NEET incidence among young women standing at 28.2% — more than double the 13.1% seen among young men. 

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SINGAPORE — Indonesia has looked this week to boost trade ties with African nations during a summit in Bali, although many leaders from the continent stayed away, instead opting to visit China for a high-profile forum in Beijing. Representatives from 29 African nations headed to the Indonesian resort island, well-short of the 47 countries that were represented during the inaugural Indonesia-Africa forum in 2018. Despite this, the Southeast Asian country is hoping to have sealed $3.5 billion worth of business deals from the three-day forum, according to President Joko Widodo. As the summit concluded Tuesday, some of the delegates headed to Beijing to join a larger representation of African leaders for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Fifty African countries are slated to be represented at the forum in the Chinese capital, which takes place every third year. "Between Indonesia and China, the major African leaders chose China to be present at," said Christophe Dorigne-Thomson, an Indonesia-based foreign affairs academic. "That doesn't mean that the collaboration with Indonesia and the forum does not have important discussions and important outcomes. But symbolically, for sure, the choice was made for China," Dorigne-Thomson told VOA. Relations between Indonesia and the African continent date back to at least 1955, when former Indonesian President Sukarno hosted the Asian-Africa conference in the city of Bandung. Most of the African states represented were newly independent. "Jakarta can boast history and a legacy of relationship that stretches back to the Bandung Conference," said Elina Noor, senior fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Indonesia has really sought to leverage on that historical relationship to recall the spirit of Bandung - it's part of the theme at this year's Indonesia-Africa forum," Noor told VOA. While the historical ties have allowed for decades of solid relations, Dorigne-Thomson says Indonesia's interest in Africa increased when President Joko Widodo took office in 2014, adding that "the main focus is on the economy." The Indonesian government said that roughly $600 million of deals were signed during the inaugural Indonesia-Africa summit in 2018. This year, they have targeted nearly six-times that amount as they look to boost economic links with African countries. "There seem to be some concrete MOU's (memorandum of understanding) and letters of intent, like Indonesia's aircraft industry signing deals with several countries and the oil companies also signing deals," said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, senior researcher at Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency. Despite these agreements, Anwar said she's "not sure whether the $35 billion target will be realized," largely because of the lack of procedures to track the various deals and ensure they are developed and concluded in the years ahead. Announcements from the summit include an agreement between Indonesia's Energi Mega Persada and Guma Africa Group for a gas project in South Africa that could be worth up to $900 million. The project is aimed at increasing gas supplies to South Africa and Mozambique, with the two companies also agreeing to develop a new gas power plant. Such eye-catching deals generate a lot of attention, but, according to Noor, much of the business at this summit comes in the form of smaller agreements. "On the Indonesian side, a lot of the businesses in the country comprise micro, small and medium enterprises,'' Noor told VOA. ''I think it's particularly important that we keep this in mind, because a lot of the headlines tend to just focus on the large corporations." Though deal-making at this summit presents Indonesia opportunities to expand its export markets, the country is also looking to secure import deals with African nations to boost lithium supplies. The Southeast Asian nation has a booming nickel industry but needs lithium as another key component for assembling and producing batteries for electric vehicles. "Africa is an ideal partner due to its wealth of critical minerals, which Indonesia seeks to access. Indonesia's rapid industrialization also creates a growing demand for African commodities," said Sharyn Davies, director of the Herb Feith Indonesia Centre at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Opening new trade avenues with Africa also provides Indonesia with a chance to diversify away from traditional trading partners including the US and China. As tensions continue to simmer between the world's two biggest economies, Davies believes that Africa could be "a way for Indonesia to sidestep from picking sides between China and the US." While the main focus of the Bali forum was business, politics was also at play. President Widodo has looked to enhance Indonesia's standing on the international stage, promoting his country as a voice of the Global South. "Indonesia is not a follower in the Global South movement; it's been very much one of the founding members," Anwar, the researcher in Indonesia, told VOA. "The difference is that Indonesia also stresses the importance of, not just South-South cooperation, but also North-South cooperation. Indonesia sees itself as a bridge builder."

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