UR MAG

By Kyu-seok Shim and Joyce Lee

SEOUL, Feb 23 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held summit talks in Seoul on Monday with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio ‌Lula da Silva, where they agreed to expand cooperation in sectors including trade, key ‌minerals, technology and culture.

The leaders plan to elevate the bilateral relationship into a strategic partnership, and for the countries to ​work together to support stability on the Korean Peninsula, Lee said.

"Peace, built on conditions where conflict isn't needed, is the strongest form of security," the South Korean president told a joint press conference.

The leaders oversaw the signing of 10 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) spanning trade and industrial policy, core minerals, digital economy ‌including AI, agriculture, health and biotech, ⁠small-business exchanges and joint policing against cybercrime, narcotics and other transnational threats.

In earlier remarks, Lee said the two sides adopted a four-year action plan to ⁠map out concrete steps for expanding bilateral cooperation, from strategic minerals to defence and space industries, as well as food security.

Brazil is South Korea's largest trading partner in South America, making economic cooperation a ​key part ​of the agenda.

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Lula said Brazil holds large rare-earth reserves ​and has substantial nickel deposits, and ‌that his government hoped to attract investment from South Korean companies.

In a message posted to X earlier in the day, Lee welcomed Lula, who is in Seoul for his first state visit in 21 years, pointing out the similarities in their backgrounds.

"As a former child labourer, you proved with your whole life that democracy is the most powerful tool for social and economic progress," Lee wrote.

"I ‌support your life, your struggle and your achievements, which ​will remain forever in the history of global democracy."

The leaders, ​who first met at the G7 ​summit in Canada last year and later at the G20 summit in South ‌Africa, appear to have bonded over shared experiences ​of childhood factory work and ​workplace injuries.

The talks took place in South Korea's presidential Blue House, the first large-scale official welcome ceremony to be held since Lee moved his office back to the building.

A ​state banquet is scheduled for ‌Monday evening where barbecue dishes and Brazilian bossa nova pieces are due to be ​performed by a Korean jazz band alongside a children's choir, Lee's office said.

(Reporting by ​Kyu-seok Shim and Joyce LeeEditing by Ed Davies)

By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret

Police stand guard as twelve pro-democracy activists appeal their convictions and sentences in a landmark national security case at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building, in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by 12 pro‑democracy activists and upheld their jail terms on Monday in a national security case that critics say highlights the China-ruled city's crackdown ‌on dissent.

The appeal stems from the "Hong Kong 47" case, where many leading pro-democracy activists and politicians were arrested en masse in early ‌2021 and charged with conspiracy to commit subversion. Following marathon legal proceedings, most of the democrats were eventually sentenced in late 2024 to between 4 and 10 years' imprisonment, with two ​others acquitted.

Rights groups and some countries, including the U.S. and Britain, condemned the case as persecution of Hong Kong's political opposition and called for the immediate release of all those arrested.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was "deeply concerned" that Australian citizen Gordon Ng had lost his appeal, noting Canberra has "expressed our strong objections to Chinese and Hong Kong authorities on the continuing broad application of national security legislation".

Judges Jeremy Poon, Derek Pang and Anthea Pang wrote in their ‌judgment that the defendants were part of a conspiracy ⁠conceived, advocated and pursued by legal scholar Benny Tai to produce a "constitutional mass destruction weapon" aimed at toppling the constitutional order in Hong Kong.

'WHAT CRIMES HAVE THEY COMMITTED?'

The case centred on an unofficial "primary election" organised by the democrats in ⁠mid-2020 to select the strongest candidates for a legislative council election.

The prosecution alleged that the democrats were conspiring to win a majority in order to paralyse the government by indiscriminately vetoing the city's annual budget in a bid to force Hong Kong's leader to resign.

The 11 democrats who lost appeals against their convictions included former ​lawmakers ​Helena Wong, Lam Cheuk-ting, Raymond Chan and "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung; former district councillors Clarisse ​Yeung, Kalvin Ho and Tat Cheng; and activists Gwyneth Ho, ‌Owen Chow, Winnie Yu, Gordon Ng.

The democrats, and one other activist, Prince Wong, also failed in their appeals against their sentences, with the exception of Gwyneth Ho who only appealed her conviction.

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After hearing the result, the defendants appeared calm and waved to their families and supporters.

"What crimes have they committed?" said Chan Po-ying, the wife of activist Leung Kwok-hung, after the ruling, echoing the arguments of some defence lawyers that legislators in Hong Kong were free to vote against any bills and veto the budget as a lawful "check and balance" under the city's mini-constitution.

ACQUITTAL OF DEMOCRAT UPHELD

Despite the international criticism, Hong ‌Kong and Beijing insist the democrats received a fair trial, and say a China-imposed ​national security law in 2020 helped restore order to Hong Kong after mass pro-democracy protests ​the year before.

The judges said any plan to veto the budget ​indiscriminately, regardless of its content or merits, was "clearly an abuse of the power (of legislators)".

The judges, however, dismissed an appeal by ‌the Department of Justice against the acquittal of barrister Lawrence ​Lau, saying he had never openly and ​directly advocated for the vetoing of the budget, like the others.

Lau told reporters he was "happy" with the result.

So far, 18 of the 45 convicted democrats have been released after serving their jail terms.

"By failing to overturn these wrongful convictions and sentences today, the court has ​missed a critical opportunity to correct this mass injustice," ‌said Fernando Cheung, a spokesman for Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas.

"Peaceful opposition to a government is not a crime, and all ​remaining jailed members of the Hong Kong 47 should be released immediately and unconditionally."

(Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret in ​Hong Kong, Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch King Willem-Alexander is swearing in a new minority Dutch coalition government Monday led by the Netherlands' youngest-ever prime minister, who will have to use all his bridge-building skills to pass laws and see out a full four-year term in office.

Netherlands Politics

Rob Jetten, 38, heads athree-party administrationmade up of his centrist D66, the center-right Christian Democrats and the center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. Together, the parties hold only 66 of the lower house of parliament's 150 seats. That means he will have to negotiate with opposition lawmakers to find support for every piece of legislation his government wants to pass.

That is likely to be tough with the biggest opposition bloc, the newly merged Green Left and Labor Party, already expressing strong objections to Jetten's plans to cut health care and welfare costs.

Opposition leader Jesse Klaver said Friday in a message on X that under the new government's plans, "ordinary people will have to pay hundreds of euros more, while the wealthiest are not asked to contribute anything extra." He added: "We are taking responsibility to adjust these plans. This must change."

Jetten and his team of ministers will formally accept their new roles when they are sworn in by the king at his palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague. They will then pose for a traditional photo of the new Cabinet on the steps of the palace before getting down to work with their first Cabinet meeting in the afternoon.

How we got here

Jettennarrowly wonan Oct. 29 election, taking the same number of seats as anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom, but with slightly more votes. The final result was decided by a count of postal ballots.

The snap election was forced when Wilders, who won the previous election,withdrew his ministersfrom the four-party right-wing coalition his party led in June last year. Outgoing premier Dick Schoof, whose 11-month-old administration was one of the shortest-lived governments in Dutch political history, has been caretaker leader ever since.

The new prime minister's foreign policy wish list

Jetten wants to usher in a new era of consensus in the Dutch parliament, after years of factional bickering across the splintered political spectrum.

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He is also looking for a reset of the Netherlands influential role in the European Union, which was widely seen as having eroded under the previous government.

Jetten, who has in the past voiced criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump, told The Associated Press last month that one of the first things he will do after taking office is "talk to my colleagues in Europe to see what role the Dutch can play again in strengthening the European cooperation."

But he also underscored the importance of ties with the United States, a major trading partner for the Dutch economy.

Jetten has pledged to maintain strong Dutch support for Ukraine as it battles against Russia's four-year-old invasion.

Who's who in Jetten's Cabinet

The ministers' posts in the new Cabinet are shared between Jetten's party and his coalition partners.

The new foreign minister is Christian Democrat Tom Berendsen. He is expected to seek to rejuvenate the Netherlands' position in Europe having previously served as the leader of his party's bloc in the European Parliament.

One name that is not changing is the finance minister — Eelco Heinen retains the job he held in the previous administration, where he was seen as a steady hand on the government's purse strings.

Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, a former justice minister and leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, moves to the defense ministry where she will oversee moves to beef up the nation's military.

Bart van den Brink, a Christian Democrat, has been tapped to be minister for asylum and immigration policy and is expected to continue moves by the previous government to rein in migration and speed up procedures for handling asylum applications.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Desmond Bane scored 36 points and Paolo Banchero added 16 points and eight assists as the Orlando Magic held on for a 111-109 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.

Magics Clippers Basketball

Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Tristan da Silva scored 13 for the Magic, who improved to 5-2 since Feb. 5.

Kawhi Leonard shrugged off an ankle injury to score 37 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 21 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Clippers, who are 4-5 since Feb. 2. Mathurin missed a 3-point attempt to win the game at the buzzer.

Jordan Miller had 14 points for the Clippers.

Leonard exited Friday's loss against the Los Angeles Lakers with an ankle sprain. Mathurin was playing in his fifth game for the Clippers after he was acquired at the trade deadline from the Indiana Pacers.

Orlando won despite going 8 of 23 from 3-point range, two games after setting a franchise record with 27 3-pointers in a victory at Sacramento. Jalen Suggs missed his second consecutive game for the Magic with back spasms.

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In a tight game throughout, Leonard gave the Clippers a 107-105 lead with 3:03 remaining on a jumper from the top of the key. The Magic took charge from there as Bane hit a jumper to tie the score and then made a layup with 1:28 left for a 109-107 advantage.

As the Clippers missed four consecutive shots, Orlando went up 111-107 on a fast-break dunk from Banchero with 40 seconds left.

Bane tried to pad the Magic's lead with eight seconds remaining but had his shot blocked inside by rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser. Mathurin then raced down the floor only to miss a 25-footer as time expired.

Up next

Magic: At the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Clippers: Host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/nba

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel joined the American men's hockey players in the locker room Sunday for a rowdy celebration ofwinning the gold medalin the Winter Olympics.

Trump-Election Conspiracists

While he was in Milan, the U.S. Secret Serviceshot and killed an armed manwho had driven into Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's resort in Florida. Hours later, around the time the game against Canada was headed into overtime, Patel posted on X that the FBI was "dedicating all necessary resources in the investigation."

Videos shared on social media showed a pumped-up Patel drinking beer from a bottle and spraying the rest around the locker room. After one of the players draped his gold medal around Patel's neck, he joined the players as they jumped up and down.

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"There was a threat at the president's residence at MAL, Americans in Mexico are facing major threats by cartel members, Nancy Guthrie is still missing, and our FBI Director thinks he's a frat bro?!," Xochitl Hinojosa, the spokeswoman for former Attorney General Merrick Garland said on X.

Patel responded to the criticism by posting that he was "extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys."

The FBI director had defended his official trip to Italy by saying he was going to meet with Italian law enforcement officials and Americans helping to provide security at the Olympics. He posted pictures this week of his visit to the Milan Joint Operations Center, which he said was charged with protecting the security of American athletes and all those who traveled to Milan for the Winter Games. He also posted a photo of his meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Italy.