SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday the city-state would work with Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, as well as partners like the United Nations, to push Myanmar’s military rulers to implement a stalled peace plan.
He was speaking after meeting visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Lee said the leaders regretted the lack of progress on a peace plan led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Myanmar, which has been gripped by violence and unrest since a coup in February 2021 that upended a decade of democratic reforms.
“Singapore will continue working with Indonesia and ASEAN members, plus ASEAN’s partners like the UN, to push for the full implementation of the five-point consensus,” he said, referring to the peace plan that Myanmar’s top general agreed to with ASEAN.
Indonesia currently chairs the 10-member ASEAN bloc.
In addition, Singapore and Indonesia would work together on developing renewable energy, their leaders announced.
The agreement was among several memorandums of understanding signed by the two countries, including Singapore sharing knowledge that could support the development of Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara.
Singapore PM: We will work with Indonesia, ASEAN, UN to push Myanmar peace plan
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Singapore PM: We will work with Indonesia, ASEAN, UN to push Myanmar peace plan
- Leaders regret the lack of progress on a peace plan led by the ASEAN on Myanmar
- Myanmar has been gripped by violence and unrest since a coup in February 2021
Icy cold snap grips swaths of Europe, disrupting travel
- Large parts of the country were covered in snow, including regions close to the North Sea, where thick layers of snow have become increasingly uncommon
AMSTERDAM: Freezing weather gripped swaths of Europe on Tuesday, with snow and icy conditions forcing the cancelation of hundreds of flights in the Netherlands and leading to the deaths of five people on French roads.
All domestic rail services in the Netherlands were suspended early on Tuesday after an IT outage compounded disruption across the country’s rail network. Trains began running in parts of the country after 0900 GMT, but problems persisted in the region around Amsterdam, a popular tourist destination.
High-speed Eurostar services to Paris from Amsterdam were either canceled or running late. At the city’s Schiphol airport, over 400 flights were canceled, most of them by the Dutch unit of Air France-KLM as the winter weather crippled traffic at one of Europe’s main transit hubs for a fifth day.
Spanish national Javier Sepulveda was stuck at Schiphol trying to get back to his home in Norway for the third day. He said he started queuing at the KLM help desk at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday and that six hours later he was still not close to reaching the front of the line.
“I can only describe the situation ... as chaotic, insane,” the 39-year-old said.
In Germany, temperatures fell well below minus 10 degrees Celsius in the south and east early on Tuesday.
Large parts of the country were covered in snow, including regions close to the North Sea, where thick layers of snow have become increasingly uncommon. Meteorologists forecast a storm to hit the country on Friday, with heavy snowfall expected in the north and east.
In France, a prolonged cold snap saw freezing temperatures overnight after snow across the Paris region and large parts of the country on Monday. Six small airports were shut in the west and north of France but no cancellations were anticipated at Paris’ two main airports.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot urged people to travel as little as possible on the roads and to work from home, warning that thawed snow which subsequently re-froze overnight made for dangerous road conditions.
Five people have been killed in road accidents linked to the freezing conditions since Monday, BFMTV and other French media reported. In Paris, bus services were chaotic as services resumed following their suspension on Monday.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the Meteorological Office on Monday said winter weather hazards could continue throughout the week for most of the country. It issued an amber warning, its second-most severe after red, for snow in central Scotland.
Heavy snow and rain have also caused havoc across the Western Balkans this week, closing roads, cutting power and causing rivers to flood. A woman died in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on Monday after a tree overburdened with wet snow fell on her.
