BANGKOK  — Southeast Asian leaders on Sunday called for a swift agreement on a code of conduct for the South China Sea based on international law, while demanding an immediate halt to fighting in Myanmar and inclusive peace talks to end its civil war.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chairman’s statement represents the consensus from meetings ended on Friday of the 10-member ASEAN in Laos, which included diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India and South Korea.

Confrontations have been rising in disputed waters of the South China Sea between China, which claims sovereignty over almost all the vital waterway, and ASEAN members including the Philippines and more recently Vietnam.

The rows have raised risks of an escalation that could eventually involve the United States, which is bound by treaty to defend the Philippines if it is attacked.

The sea, where $3-trillion worth of trade passes annually, was been a major point of contention at the ASEAN meetings, particularly with Russia and China objecting to a reference to the 1982 United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea, a US official said.

The ASEAN statement called for confidence-building measures that could “reduce tensions and the risk of accidents, misunderstandings and miscalculation” in the South China Sea.

It cited “positive momentum” in talks on a maritime code that could help settle disputes. China and ASEAN agreed on this in 2002, but the formal process of creating one did not start until 2017.

The bloc “looked forward to the early conclusion of an effective and substantive” code of conduct that is “in accordance with international law,” including the UN convention, the statement said.

On Myanmar’s spiraling war, ASEAN called for “an immediate cessation” of violence and the creation of a “conducive environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogue” that is “Myanmar-owned and -led.”

The war between ASEAN member Myanmar’s military government and an expanding armed resistance is a major concern for the bloc, which has made little progress on a five-point peace plan, unveiled months after the 2021 coup that brought the junta to power.

Some 18.6 million people, more than a third of Myanmar’s population, are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.

ASEAN welcomed Thailand’s initiative to host informal talks on Myanmar, possibly joined by other ASEAN members, later this year. — Reuters

HIROSHIMA, Japan — Almost eight decades after an atomic bomb devastated her home town of Hiroshima, Teruko Yahata carries the scar on her forehead from when she was knocked over by the force of the blast.

The U.S. bombs that laid waste to Hiroshima on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, and to Nagasaki three days later, changed the course of history and left Ms. Yahata and other survivors with deep scars and a sense of responsibility toward disarmament.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to the Nihon Hidankyo group of atomic bomb survivors, for its work warning of the dangers of nuclear arms, has given survivors hope and highlighted their work still ahead, Ms. Yahata and others said.

“It felt as if a light suddenly shone through. I felt like I could see the light,” the 87-year-old said on Saturday, describing her reaction to hearing about the award.

“This feels like the first step, the beginning of a movement toward nuclear abolition,” she told Reuters at the site of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

She was just 8 years old and in the back garden of her home when the bomb hit. Although her house was 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the hypocenter, the blast was strong enough to throw her several meters back into her house, she said.

Seventy-nine years later, and a day after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the survivors the prize, a long line formed outside the museum, with dozens of foreign and Japanese visitors queuing up to get in.

A bridge leading into the memorial park was decorated with a yellow sheet and other handmade signs against nuclear weapons. Campaigners gathered signatures for nuclear abolition from those passing by.

Nihon Hidankyo, formed in 1956, has provided thousands of witness accounts, issued resolutions and public appeals, sent delegations to the United Nations and peace conferences, and collected signatures advocating nuclear disarmament.

Ms. Yahata, who is not a Nihon Hidankyo member, said it was that drive to gather signatures that finally paid off after bearing little fruit for most of a century.

“It’s this amount of sadness and joy that led them to this peace prize. I think it’s something very meaningful,” she said.

Nihon Hidankyo’s co-chair, Toshiyuki Mimaki, said he felt the award meant more responsibility, adding that most atomic bomb survivors were more than 85 years old.

“Rather than feeling purely happy, I feel like I have more responsibility now,” he told Reuters, sitting in a Hidankyo office in Hiroshima in front of a map showing the impact of the bomb on the city.

In rural areas the group is on the verge of falling apart, the 82-year-old said. “The big challenge now is what to do going forward.” — Reuters

PARIS — Credit ratings agency Fitch revised France’s outlook to “negative” from “stable” on Friday, citing increases in fiscal policy and political risks.

“This year’s projected fiscal slippage places France in a worse fiscal starting position, and we now expect wider fiscal deficits, leading to a steep rise in government debt towards 118.5% of GDP by 2028,” Fitch said in a statement, while maintaining France’s rating at “AA-.”

France’s public finances have sharply deteriorated this year as tax income fell short of expectations and spending exceeded them, leaving French debt at risk of a ratings downgrade.

The government presented a 2025 budget on Thursday that aims to reduce the hole in the public finances by 60 billion euros ($65.5 billion) through spending cuts and tax hikes focused on the wealthy and big companies.

“The 2025 budget that we just presented reflects the government’s determination to put the public finances on a better path and get debt under control,” Finance Minister Antoine Armand said in a statement.

Fitch said that high political fragmentation and a minority government complicate France’s ability to deliver on getting its public finances on a sounder footing. — Reuters