Philippine president summons China envoy over sea confrontation

China’s foreign ministry defended the Chinese coastguard’s actions towards a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has summoned China’s ambassador to convey his “serious concern” following reports that a Chinese coastguard vessel had engaged in dangerous manoeuvres and used a “military-grade” laser to impede a Philippine ship in the South China Sea.

The president’s office said that China’s ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian was called to a meeting on Tuesday afternoon during which Marcos Jr criticised the behaviour of China’s coastguards on February 6 near Second Thomas Shoal, which is known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.

Marcos Jr addressed “the increasing frequency and intensity of actions by China against the Philippine Coast Guard and our Filipino fishermen in their bancas [small fishing vessels], the latest of which was the deployment of a military-grade laser against our Coast Guard vessels,” the president’s office said.

China had engaged in “acts of aggression” in the South China Sea, the Philippine foreign ministry said on Tuesday, which were “disturbing and disappointing”, ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza said.

The harassment by China of a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship while on a resupply mission to troops based at Ayungin Shoal threatened the sovereignty and security of the Philippines, the ministry said.

China’s use of a high-powered laser had temporarily blinded the ship’s crew, according to the PCG, and the Chinese ship had engaged in dangerous activities that could have caused a collision.

Reuters reported that the Chinese ambassador to Manila said after the meeting with Marcos Jr that he had discussed the implementation of an agreement between the two countries on managing maritime differences at sea, which was reached during the Philippine leader’s recent visit to China.

Asked to respond to the claims of aggressive actions made by Manila, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that his country’s coastguard had acted in a “professional and restrained” manner towards the Philippine ship, and denied the version of events as conveyed by Philippine officials.

“At present, the relevant waters are calm overall,” Wang Wenbin said at a news briefing.

Wang also accused the Philippines and the United States – a close ally of Manila – of engaging in “pure political drama” in taking a case to the international court of arbitration which ruled in 2016 that China had no legal basis for its territorial claim to almost the entire South China Sea.

He said that China would not be intimidated by the US, which also accused China of “provocative and unsafe” conduct in attempting to disrupt the delivery of supplies to the Philippine troops.

“The US invokes its Mutual Defence Treaty with the Philippines at every turn in an attempt to intimidate China, but it will not weaken our resolve and will to safeguard China’s legitimate and lawful rights and interests,” Wang added.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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Japan warns China of airspace violation as spy balloons suspected

 Japan’s defence ministry ‘strongly suspects’ Chinese surveillance balloons entered Japanese airspace three times since 2019.

Japan has warned China that violations of its airspace by surveillance balloons were “totally unacceptable”, as new information emerged that unidentified aerial objects that had entered Japanese airspace in recent years were likely Chinese spy balloon flights.

“As a result of further investigation of specific balloon-shaped flying objects that were confirmed in Japan’s airspace in the past, it is strongly suspected that they were unmanned surveillance balloons from China,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Wednesday.

Japan’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that it “strongly suspects” Chinese surveillance balloons had entered Japanese territory at least three times since 2019.

The ministry also said that it had “strongly demanded China’s government confirm the facts” of the incident and “that such a situation not occur again in the future”.

“Violations of airspace by foreign unmanned reconnaissance balloons and other means are totally unacceptable,” the ministry added.

Japan’s government is now considering relaxing requirements on the use of weapons by its armed forces in order to defend against intrusions of its airspace, the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.

Relaxing the rules on engagement would allow Japan to shoot down aerial objects that violate its airspace. Currently, Japanese forces can only open fire in cases of legitimate self-defence or to avoid clear and present danger, Kyodo news agency reported.

Beijing hit back on Wednesday, saying Japan lacked proof to support its accusations.

“Japan is making groundless accusations and smearing China without conclusive evidence. We are resolutely opposed to that,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters.

Japan’s reassessment of past intrusions into its airspace has heightened since the United States shot down a Chinese balloon this month and briefed officials from 40 nations about the object, including Japan.

In the wake of the incident, the US military adjusted radar settings to detect smaller objects and discovered three more unidentified craft that US President Joe Biden also ordered shot down – one over Alaska, another over Canada and the third over Lake Huron off Michigan.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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UK accused of crimes against humanity over Chagos

 The UK has been accused of crimes against humanity in its refusal to allow a group of islanders to return to the Chagos archipelago, half a century after they were forced off the island by British troops.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said reparations should be paid to generations of people affected by the decision to depopulate the remote islands, deep in the Indian Ocean.

The UK’s Foreign Office has responded by repeating its “deep regret” about the manner in which people were removed from the islands in the late 1960s and early 70s. But it stressed that “we categorically reject the characterisation of events” as crimes against humanity.

The HRW report comes as the UK is facing growing international condemnation for holding on to what it calls the “British Indian Ocean Territory,” with the UN’s International Court of Justice ruling that the continuing British occupation of the archipelago is illegal.

The UN General Assembly has also voted, overwhelmingly, in favour of the islands being returned to Mauritius.

“The UK is today committing an appalling colonial crime, treating all Chagossians as a people without rights. The UK and the US, who together expelled the Chagossians from their homes, should provide full reparations for the harm they have caused,” said HRW’s senior legal adviser, Clive Baldwin.

The UK insisted on keeping hold of the Chagos islands when it negotiated Mauritius’s independence in 1968. Mauritian officials have since accused the UK of “blackmailing” them into relinquishing the territory.

The UK had already entered into secret talks with the US to lease one of the islands, Diego Garcia, to Washington for use as a military base.

Today the Foreign Office insisted that base “helps to keep people in Britain, the region and around the world safe, combatting some of the most challenging threats to international peace and security, including those from terrorism and piracy, and responding to humanitarian crises”.

But with all but a handful of nations now backing Mauritius’s claim, the UK has now entered into negotiations about the sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago.

Jagdish Koonjul, Mauritius’s UN ambassador, described those talks as “constructive”, and his government welcomed the HRW report, saying: “Justice must be done.”

Mauritius insists the US can continue to keep its base on Diego Garcia, and that it will commit to resettling “any individuals of Chagossian origin” on their home islands.

Source: BBC

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Sergei Furgal: Ex-Russian regional governor jailed in murder cases

 A former governor from Russia’s Far East has been sentenced to 22 years in jail for murder and attempted murder in a controversial court case in Moscow. Sergei Furgal insists he is innocent and says the trial against him was motivated by politics.

He was elected governor of Khabarovsk region in 2018, unexpectedly beating the Kremlin’s preferred candidate. His detention in July 2020 caused widespread anger among locals.

The judge in Luberetsky Court near the capital ruled that Furgal, 52, must serve his sentence in a high-security prison after a jury found him guilty on two charges of murder and one of attempted murder.

The killings, said the prosecution, were linked to rivalry between Furgal and other businessmen in 2004 and 2005.

The ex-governor – who won office as a candidate for the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) – struggled to contain his emotions in the courtroom after the sentence was read out, shouting “Do you have no shame?” at the judge. His lawyers say they will appeal.

When he was first arrested, residents in the city of Khabarovsk took to the streets in huge numbers – some estimates put the figure as high as 50,000. Such demonstrations are rare in Russia and took the Kremlin by surprise.

Furgal’s supporters claimed that the criminal case against him was politically motivated – punishment for daring to beat the Kremlin’s candidate in elections.

Experts say his landslide victory was the result of a massive anti-Moscow vote. As governor, he was tough-talking, and some say more popular even than President Vladimir Putin.

Contract killings of business rivals were common in Russia, especially in the 1990s and the early 2000s, when Furgal was a successful businessman.

However, the case is more likely to be linked to his unique position – as a popular local politician who didn’t show absolute loyalty to the Kremlin.

“Furgal may well have been involved in shadowy business in the past, but so too were many of the other regional leaders whom Putin has been happy to support,” Russia expert Mark Galeotti told the BBC. “It seems clear that this was essentially a political move: once the Kremlin decided Furgal had to go, they looked for whatever excuse they could use.”

The Khabarovsk protest movement in 2020 was unusual for two reasons. Firstly, it was grassroots-based: meaning the authorities could not simply arrest the ringleaders.

Secondly, it was focused on a single local issue – the arrest of the governor – making it very difficult for the Kremlin to pin the blame on the West or on “foreign forces” – as is the usual tactic.

But in the weeks that followed, arrests were made, and the demonstrators were eventually silenced or pushed off the streets.

President Putin appointed a new governor, Mikhail Degtyaryov, who also represents the LDPR. Mr Degtyarov, though, is a Kremlin loyalist and recently became a vocal supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Source: BBC

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AKA shot dead: Top South African rapper killed with friend

One of South Africa’s leading rappers, popularly known as AKA, has been shot dead outside a restaurant in the coastal city of Durban. Kiernan Forbes was killed along with his close friend, the chef and entrepreneur Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane.

The pair are thought to have been on their way to a nightclub for a performance as part of Forbes’ birthday celebrations when they were shot.

The motive of the killing is being investigated.

Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda has told the BBC that the rapper and his friend were walking to their car when they were approached by two armed men who shot them at close range.

The assailants then fled the scene on foot.

Police have said they don’t want to speculate on whether the murders were a result of a hit but said that possibility cannot be ruled out.

Forbes began his musical career as part of the rap group Entity before he launched his solo career, winning several awards in South Africa for his music.

He was also celebrated internationally, with several nominations for a Black Entertainment Television (BET) Award in the US and an MTV Europe Music Award.

Hours before his death, the 35-year-old posted on social media about his upcoming album, Mass Country, which is set for release later this month.

Forbes’ parents have paid tribute to him in a statement posted on one of his social media accounts.

“To us, Kiernan Jarryd Forbes was a son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend, most importantly father to his beloved daughter Kairo,” they wrote.

“To many, he was AKA, Supa Mega, Bhova and the many other names of affection his legion of fans called him by. Our son was loved and gave love in return.”

Motsoane, who was also AKA’s former manager, has been described on social media as “a true gentleman”.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and shootings are not uncommon.

The charity Gun Free South Africa, which works to reduce gun violence in the country, estimates that 30 people are murdered in the country with guns daily.

Source: BBC

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Turkey-Syria Earthquake: Newborn Baby Pulled From Collapsed Building

 

A newborn girl has been saved by rescuers from beneath the rubble of a building in northwest Syria that was destroyed by an earthquake on Monday.

Her mother went into labour soon after the disaster and gave birth before she died, a relative said. Her father, four siblings and an aunt were also killed.

Dramatic footage showed a man carrying the baby, covered in dust, after she was pulled from debris in Jindayris.
A doctor at a hospital in nearby Afrin said she was now in a stable condition.
The building in which her family lived was one of about 50 reportedly destroyed by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Jindayris, an opposition-held town in Idlib province that is close to the Turkish border.

The baby’s uncle, Khalil al-Suwadi, said relatives had rushed to the scene when they learned of the collapse.
“We heard a voice while we were digging,” he told AFP news agency on Tuesday. “We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord [intact], so we cut it and my cousin took her to hospital.”

Paediatrician Hani Maarouf said the baby had arrived at his hospital in a bad condition, with “several bruises and lacerations over all her body”.
“She also arrived with hypothermia because of the harsh cold. We had to warm her up and administer calcium,” he added.

She was photographed lying in an incubator and connected to a drip, as a joint funeral was held for her mother Afraa, father Abdullah and her four siblings.
They are among 1,800 people known to have been killed by the earthquake in Syria, according to the Damascus-based government and the White Helmets, whose volunteer first responders operate in opposition-held areas.

Another 4,500 people have been killed in Turkey, where the epicentre was.
The White Helmets have so far reported 1,020 deaths, but they have warned that figure is expected to “rise dramatically”.
“Time is running out. Hundreds still trapped under the rubble. Every second could mean saving a life,” they tweeted on Tuesday.

“We appeal to all humanitarian organisations and international bodies to provide material support and assistance to organisations responding to this disaster.”
The UN has vowed to use “any and all means” possible to get aid to people in the north-west, but it has said that deliveries have been halted temporarily due to damaged roads and other logistical issues.
It has also urged governments not to politicise aid delivery when so many are in desperate need.

A UN Security Council agreement authorises the use of just one border crossing for deliveries from Turkey into the north-west. All other deliveries are meant to go via Damascus, although in the past the government has facilitated only a small amount of “cross-line” aid.
Even before the earthquake struck, 4.1 million people in the north-west – most of them women and children – were relying on humanitarian aid to survive.

Source: BBC

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Death Toll From Turkey-Syria Earthquakes Surpasses 16,000

 The death toll from the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday is now at least 16,035, according to authorities.

In Syria, the total number of fatalities is at least 3,162, including 1,900 in rebel-held areas in the northwest, according to the “White Helmets” civil defense group. Some 1,262 deaths have been recorded in government-controlled parts of the country, according to Syrian state media.

In Turkey, the toll has risen to at least 12,873, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) said on Thursday.

Aid agencies have warned the toll is likely to rise significantly higher, especially in Syria, as search and rescue teams sift through the rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings amid freezing weather conditions, faced with the risk of aftershocks.
Tens of thousands of people have been reported injured across the region, according to officials.

Source: CNN

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