Philippine president to raise South China Sea issue during Beijing visit

Philippine president to raise South China Sea issue during Beijing visit
Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during a press conference during the EU-ASEAN summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels on December 14, 2022. (AFP/File)
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Updated 30 December 2022
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Philippine president to raise South China Sea issue during Beijing visit

Philippine president to raise South China Sea issue during Beijing visit
  • Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will make his first state visit to China next week
  • Nations set to establish direct communication on disputed territory

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will raise the territorial dispute in the South China Sea with Beijing during his visit there next week, the foreign affairs ministry said on Thursday.

The South China Sea is a strategic and resource-rich waterway claimed by China almost in its entirety, but other countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, have overlapping claims.

The Philippines has filed hundreds of diplomatic protests against China’s activity in the region in the past few years, after an international tribunal in The Hague dismissed Beijing’s sweeping claims to the waterway in 2016.

But Chinese vessels continue to be spotted in areas claimed by the Philippines, known as the West Philippine Sea, and new military facilities and airstrips have also been developed there.

Marcos will make his first state visit to Beijing from Jan. 3-5.

“The president wants a peaceful and stable situation in the West Philippine Sea and will continue to uphold our country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights during his meetings with Chinese leaders,” Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Nathaniel Imperial told reporters during a press briefing at the presidential palace.

“To avoid miscalculation and miscommunication in the West Philippine Sea, both sides have agreed to sign an agreement establishing communication, direct communication, between the foreign ministries of both countries at various levels.”

The deal to establish a hotline, he added, would be signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, who will accompany Marcos on the trip, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

Imperial said that the Philippine president was also expected to pursue investment and trade cooperation talks, including joint oil and gas exploration, which were initiated by Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok in November.

The planned hotline on the South China Sea, is seen as a good development in the long-standing dispute.

“Communication is always good as long as it is meaningful,” said Bill Hayton, a fellow with the Asia-Pacific Program at Chatham House, who specializes in the South China Sea dispute.

“The problem is that China tends to regard communication as a one-way street.”

But Stephen Cutler, an international security expert and former FBI attache at the US embassy in Manila, said that establishing the direct line showed a possible shift in Beijing’s stance.

“I think it’s a way that China is realizing that they’re not doing a good job of managing relations within the international community. And the hotline is one of the ways to do that,” he told Arab News.

“What I like about the way the Philippines is approaching their relationships, unlike some past administrations, this one seems to be standing tall and standing straight. They’re not bending the knee. They’re not kowtowing to the Chinese and they’re expecting to be treated as peers.”

Marcos’ immediate predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, adopted a Beijing-friendly approach, partly in an attempt to distance the Philippines from the US, its key defense ally and former colonial master.

During his presidential campaign, Marcos, who took office in June, committed to continuing the warm relations ushered in by Duterte, but not at the expense of sovereignty.


India tells Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats by Oct. 10

India tells Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats by Oct. 10
Updated 17 sec ago
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India tells Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats by Oct. 10

India tells Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats by Oct. 10
  • FT says India had threatened to revoke diplomatic immunity of those diplomats told to leave who remained after Oct. 10
  • Canada says Indian government agents had a role in June murder in Canada of a Sikh separatist leader

India has told Canada that it must repatriate 41 diplomats by Oct. 10, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Ties between India and Canada have become seriously strained over Canadian suspicion that Indian government agents had a role in the June murder in Canada of a Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who India had labeled a “terrorist.”
India has dismissed the allegation as absurd.
The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the Indian demand, said India had threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of those diplomats told to leave who remained after Oct. 10.
Canada has 62 diplomats in India and India had said that the total should be reduced by 41, the newspaper said.
The Indian and Canadian foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said earlier there was a “climate of violence” and an “atmosphere of intimidation” against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.


Hunter Biden to plead not guilty to gun charges

Hunter Biden to plead not guilty to gun charges
Updated 7 min 24 sec ago
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Hunter Biden to plead not guilty to gun charges

Hunter Biden to plead not guilty to gun charges
  • Presidential son facing three felony charges stemming from his 2018 purchase of a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver
  • The younger Biden has not been charged with any crimes related to his foreign business dealings, however,

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter is to appear in federal court in Delaware on Tuesday and is expected to plead not guilty to charges of illegally possessing a handgun.
Hunter Biden, 53, is facing three felony charges stemming from his 2018 purchase of a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver.
Biden is charged with two counts of making false statements for claiming on forms required for the gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time.
He faces a third charge, based on the same statements, that he illegally possessed the gun – which he had for only 11 days in October 2018 – before it was gotten rid of.
Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has informed the court that the president’s son plans to plead not guilty at Tuesday’s 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) arraignment at a federal courthouse in Wilmington, the hometown of the Bidens.
Lowell had also asked Judge Christopher Burke to allow Biden, who lives in California, to appear by video instead of in person but the request was denied.
“The defendant should not receive any special treatment in this matter,” Burke wrote in his ruling.
In July, a deal with federal prosecutor David Weiss – which would have erased the gun charges while Biden pleaded guilty to two tax charges and avoided prison – fell apart.
That led to Weiss filing the three felony gun possession charges against Biden.
If convicted, Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice such offenses, if not accompanied by other charges, are seldom punished by any jail time.
Weiss, who was elevated to special counsel for the Biden probe after the plea deal fell through, in the meantime has signaled that he is still investigating Biden on possible tax charges.
Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China while his father was vice president under Barack Obama have been a constant target of Republicans.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, bowing to pressure from the party’s hard right, authorized the launch last month of an impeachment investigation into the president.
The younger Biden has not been charged with any crimes related to his foreign business dealings, however, and no credible evidence has emerged so far that his father was involved in anything illegal.
Hunter Biden is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction. His legal woes threaten to cast a shadow over his father’s campaign for reelection next year.
The 80-year-old president has stood firmly by his only surviving son throughout his personal and legal struggles, saying in an interview earlier this year that Hunter has “done nothing wrong.”
“I trust him. I have faith in him,” Joe Biden said.


Mali troops redeploy toward rebel stronghold: Security officials

Mali troops redeploy toward rebel stronghold: Security officials
Updated 17 min 36 sec ago
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Mali troops redeploy toward rebel stronghold: Security officials

Mali troops redeploy toward rebel stronghold: Security officials
  • Kidal lies more than 1,500 kilometers from the capital Bamako and hundreds of kilometers from the cities of Gao and Timbuktu

DAKAR: The Malian army began redeploying troops on Monday toward the northern rebel stronghold of Kidal, two security officials said, amid a resumption of hostilities in the region.

“As part of the reorganization of our arrangements in the north, we have begun the redeployment of our forces in the northeastern region of Kidal,” a Mali military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

A convoy left the northern city of Gao, which lies 300 kilometers southwest of Kidal, early Monday, the source added.

Another security official said the convoy was made up of 119 vehicles and was currently stopped on the road to the north of Gao.

National security chiefs made the deployment decision at a meeting late on Sunday, he added.

Kidal is a crossroads region in the north that is not under the control of the Malian state but of a coalition of predominantly Tuareg groups called the Coordination of Azawad Movements.

Since the end of August, the north of Mali has seen a resumption of hostilities by the CMA and an intensification of militant attacks against the army. The fact that Kidal is still controlled by the ex-rebels continues to pose a sovereignty issue and remains a source of irritation for Bamako, including for the junta. Junta leaders have made re-establishing state control across the whole country one of their main messages.

Kidal lies more than 1,500 kilometers from the capital Bamako and hundreds of kilometers from the cities of Gao and Timbuktu.

It is a crucial stopover between Mali and Algeria.

When an insurrection broke out in 2012, the region was one of the first in Mali to fall into the hands of the rebels.

It was taken over by the CMA in 2013 following military intervention by France, and has remained in their hands despite a 2014 attempt by the Malian army to regain control.

In 2015, the rebels signed the so-called Algiers peace agreement with pro-government armed groups and the state.

The 2012, insurrection paved the way for armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda to conquer most of the north, triggering France’s intervention and plunging the Sahel into war that has left thousands dead.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant alliance now operates over large swathes of the north and center of Mali as well as on the outskirts of the capital Bamako.

In the northeast, groups affiliated to Daesh have extended their hold over almost all of the Menaka region.

The insurgency that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

Following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, the Malian junta pushed out France’s anti-rebel force in 2022.

Northern Mali has seen a series of attacks on the army in recent weeks which coincides with the ongoing withdrawal of the UN stabilization force MINUSMA.

MINUSMA has been handing over its camps to Malian authorities, but the separatists claim they should be returned to their control.

The UN mission has still to vacate its camp at Kidal and two other sites further north by the end of December.

Mali’s junta chief Col. Assimi Goita, speaking on the anniversary of the West African nation’s 1960 independence from France last month, pledged to retake control of the country from militant groups and rebels.


Ex-Nigerian oil minister faces bribery charges

Ex-Nigerian oil minister faces bribery charges
Updated 02 October 2023
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Ex-Nigerian oil minister faces bribery charges

Ex-Nigerian oil minister faces bribery charges
  • Diezani Alison-Madueke is the second high-profile Nigerian politician to face prosecution in Britain in recent years

LONDON: A former Nigerian oil minister appeared in court in London on Monday charged with receiving bribes in the form of cash, luxury goods, flights on private jets and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was Nigeria’s minister for petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015, during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, she spoke only to give her name, date of birth and address. She was not asked to formally enter a plea, although her lawyer Mark Bowen told the court she would be pleading not guilty.

She is the second high-profile Nigerian politician to face prosecution in Britain in recent years, following James Ibori, a former state governor who was convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2012 and received a 13-year jail sentence. Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer but it suffers from systemic corruption in the political class which has hampered development and prevented its oil wealth from benefitting wider society.

Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in 2015, shortly after stepping down as minister, and was charged in August with six bribery offenses. She has spent the past eight years on police bail, living in St. John’s Wood, an expensive area of London.

The charges against her, read out in court, all related to events alleged to have taken place in London.

Prosecutor Andy Young said she was alleged to have accepted a wide range of advantages in cash and in kind from people who wanted to receive or continue to receive the award of oil contracts which he said were worth billions of dollars in total.

The advantages included a delivery of £100,000 ($121,620) in cash, the payment of private school fees for her son, and the use and refurbishment of several luxurious properties in London and in the English countryside.

They also included the use of a Range Rover car, payment of bills for chauffeur-driven cars, furniture, and purchases from the upmarket London department store Harrods and from Vincenzo Caffarella, which sells Italian decorative arts and antiques.


Pakistan launches anti-polio vaccine drive targeting 44m children

Pakistan launches anti-polio vaccine drive targeting 44m children
Updated 02 October 2023
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Pakistan launches anti-polio vaccine drive targeting 44m children

Pakistan launches anti-polio vaccine drive targeting 44m children
  • 350,000 health workers will be going door-to-door to administer vaccine drops to children amid security

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year Monday in an effort to inoculate 44 million children under the age of 5 amid signs the country was close to eradicating the disease.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar launched the five-day vaccination campaign in the capital, Islamabad, and urged parents in a televised address to cooperate with the 350,000 health workers who are going door-to-door to administer vaccine drops to children.

The campaign was taking place under heavy security. The government deployed police and security forces to ensure the safety of the inoculation drive workers.

Vaccine providers and the police assigned to protect them have been attacked during past anti-polio campaigns, which militants falsely claimed were a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

Pakistan has registered two new polio cases since January, a blow to the goal of eradicating a disease that affects the nervous system and can cause severe paralysis in children.

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio continues to threaten the health and well-being of children.

Pakistan came close to eradicating polio in 2021, when only one case was reported, and last year reported about two dozen cases.

The cases so far this year were reported from northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban rulers last week launched a four-day polio vaccine drive targeted at children under 5. The health ministry said 11 million children were inoculated.

In 2022, only two polio cases were reported from Afghanistan, raising hopes for the eradication of disease. Five cases have been reported so far this year.

Before taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban had barred UN-organized vaccination teams from doing door-to-door campaigns in parts of the country under their control. The group apparently was suspicious the team members could be spies for the previous government or the West.