Veteran Ishiba to become Prime Minister after being elected as President of Japan’s ruling party

Veteran Ishiba to become Prime Minister after being elected as President of Japan’s ruling party
Considered a defense policy expert, Ishiba has proposed an Asian version of the Nato military alliance and a more equal Japan-US security alliance. (AFP)
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Veteran Ishiba to become Prime Minister after being elected as President of Japan’s ruling party

Veteran Ishiba to become Prime Minister after being elected as President of Japan’s ruling party
  • Earlier, the two frontrunners had defeated seven other candidates to set up the final showdown

TOKYO: ISHIBA Shigeru, a veteran politician who has tried to become Prime Minister of Japan on several occasions, succeeded at the fifth attempt on Friday as he was elected President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Ishiba, 67, won a runoff with TAKAICHI Sanae, a conservative who was vying to become Japan’s first female leader, picking up 215 votes to 194.

Earlier, the two frontrunners had defeated seven other candidates to set up the final showdown.

“I will do my utmost to believe in the people, to speak the truth with courage and sincerity, and to make this country a safe and secure place where everyone can live with a smile on their face once again,” he said in a short speech.

Ishiba, a former defense minister with an unusually blunt attitude for a Japanese politician, is seen as more progressive than Takichi, a close ally of former Prime Minister ABE Shinzo.

The election took place after Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio decided to step down following a finance scandal within the party that undermined his leadership.

Ishiba previously held the powerful post of Secretary-General of the LDP as well as the agriculture portfolio. He was supported in his bid to become a politician by controversial former Prime Minister TANAKA Kakuei, who stepped down after the Lockheed Scandal. Ishiba became an MP at the young age of 29, representing the district of Tottori, where his father had been governor.

As Defense Minister, Ishiba was regarded as a “hawk,” but has taken progressive stances on other issues, such as allowing a female to become Emperor. He has also suggested that Japan might need to carry out a preemptive strike against North Korea and hasn’t ruled out Japan pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.


UN urges tighter control on arms to Haiti as death toll mounts

UN urges tighter control on arms to Haiti as death toll mounts
Updated 5 sec ago
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UN urges tighter control on arms to Haiti as death toll mounts

UN urges tighter control on arms to Haiti as death toll mounts
  • At least 3,451 people have been killed since January, according to a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
NEW YORK: Haiti has seen nearly 13 people killed on average each day this year, according to data from a United Nations report on Friday, which urged tighter controls on arms trafficking among other measures as a gang war drives a worsening humanitarian crisis.
At least 3,451 people have been killed since January, according to a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published days before a UN mandate for a security force to support Haitian police is set to expire.
“No more lives should be lost to this senseless criminality,” commissioner Volker Turk said in a statement.
Haiti initially requested the mission in 2022 and it was approved a year ago, but just a fraction of the troops promised by a handful of nations has deployed and funding remains scant. Haiti has asked the UN to consider turning it into a formal peacekeeping mission to secure stable funds and capacity.
Turk said it was clear the mission needs “adequate and sufficient equipment and personnel to counter the criminal gangs effectively and sustainably, and stop them spreading further and wreaking havoc on people’s lives.”
The mission’s first deployment in June prompted gangs to recruit large numbers of children into their ranks, the report said. In addition, close to 100 children have been killed so far this year — some in gang attacks and other in police operations, the report said.
Violence has spread beyond the capital, fueled by arms trafficking, primarily from the United States but also from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, which has persisted despite an international arms embargo.
The report said poorly monitored airspaces, coastlines and porous borders were allowing gangs to obtain high-caliber weapons, drones, boats and “a seemingly endless supply of bullets.”
The number of people internally displaced by the violence has almost doubled in the last six months to over 700,000, while some 1.6 million people are estimated to be facing emergency food insecurity, the worst level before famine.

One-third of British Muslims avoid discussing faith post-riots: Survey

One-third of British Muslims avoid discussing faith post-riots: Survey
Updated 9 min 36 sec ago
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One-third of British Muslims avoid discussing faith post-riots: Survey

One-third of British Muslims avoid discussing faith post-riots: Survey
  • Number has increased since far-right riots broke out nationwide in July
  • ‘People in leadership positions should be more understanding of British-Muslim concerns,’ expert tells Arab News

London: Around a third of British Muslims avoid discussing their faith, a new study has shown, with fewer prepared to talk about Islam since far-right riots broke out across the UK in July, leading to what one expert calls a “sense of nervousness” in parts of the country’s Muslim community.

In a study published by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life, 34 percent of 2,835 Muslims surveyed on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 agreed with the statement “I have avoided telling people about my faith in the last four weeks,” marking a 10 percent increase from the previous month.

Sixty percent also felt that the British media portray some religions “more negatively than others,” while 41 percent felt that all religions were painted in a bad light by the press in the past month.

In addition, 47 percent of respondents said they believed there should be more religion covered by the media in the UK.

Dr. Jake Scott, director of IIFL, said in a statement: “These statistics point to a desire amongst British Muslims to see a more balanced discussion on religion in the UK media, as well as more representation for Islam in that discussion.

“Following the riots and disturbances of the summer, it is clear that Muslims in Britain feel less safe and secure sharing their faith with others, whilst a majority see the media as playing a role in spreading a negative perception of faith, both in general and in particular.”

Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, told Arab News that British Muslims had experienced similar trends in the aftermath of major terrorist incidents including 9/11 and the 2005 London bombings.

Many felt “in some ways intimidated … because of a belief that many in the British population didn’t really understand Islam, didn’t understand or empathize in any way with British Muslims, and were collectively blaming them for the crimes of others,” he said.

“I think that what we see now with the dreadful, horrible, far-right riots this summer is a return to a sense of nervousness in the British-Muslim community.

“We’ve seen a lot of Islamophobia, a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment. We’ve had senior British politicians indulging in that, including, and in particular I’m afraid, within the Conservative Party where Islamophobia is a real problem, including among leadership candidates in the current election.

“I think this is really the backdrop as to why British Muslims are perhaps feeling somewhat nervous.”

Doyle said there is a perception that media coverage of religion in the UK is increasingly influenced by secularism, which has led to the ignoring or “belittling” of people of faith.

“British Muslims do feel that there’s an Islamophobic climate. We know also, of course, the British-Jewish community is very nervous at the increase in antisemitism, anti-Jewish sentiment and hate crimes as well.

“So all of this does go into a bigger picture, and I think it’s something that those in public life, those in the media, those in politics need to … take careful note of.”

Doyle was skeptical, however, that an increase in religious coverage in the British media, or greater public knowledge of Islam, would dampen xenophobic sentiments generally.

“I think a lot of it is caught up in an anti-immigrant, nativist approach,” he said. “Many go for British Muslims, but actually this is merely code for British Asians or British Arabs — anybody who isn’t white Anglo-Saxon.

“So I think a lot of it is actually not so much to do with the religion itself, though some of it no doubt is, but actually antagonism to the other, to people who aren’t part of what the far right would like to see as native British people, native British culture.

“I think this is far more what’s at stake here. So I think you could get more religion in the media. I don’t think it would address that.”

In order to reverse the trend of British Muslims feeling that they cannot discuss their religion, or feel that they are targets of the media, Doyle said: “It requires people in leadership positions in public life — in politics, media — to be more understanding of British-Muslim concerns, not to buy into that narrative of the far right that somehow British Muslims aren’t properly British.”

He added: “It’s also important that we ensure that British Muslims are able to access all areas of British public life.

“I think there’s been a lot of positive moves in that direction — we have a Muslim mayor of London and so forth. We’ve had British Muslims in the Cabinet.

“Such moves, where qualified people are able to get the highest offices regardless of their background, identity and faith, I think that’s absolutely vital.”


Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades

Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades
Updated 43 min 7 sec ago
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Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades

Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades
  • Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around neighboring Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages

MANILA: The Philippines said on Friday it will evacuate 11,000 citizens from Lebanon the moment Israeli forces cross the border to launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah.
Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around neighboring Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages.
Israel has rejected a US-backed 21-day ceasefire call, and its military chief has told soldiers to prepare for a possible ground offensive.
“A ground invasion will lead to mandatory repatriation,” Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said at a press conference in Manila, adding the plan was to move thousands out of the country via the sea.
He did not provide other details.
Manila had earlier urged Filipinos to leave Lebanon before airlines stopped flying to Beirut but most of its citizens did not heed the call, Filipino diplomats said.
Millions of Filipinos work overseas — with large numbers concentrated in the Middle East — due to limited job opportunities at home. Around 90 percent of those working in Lebanon are women migrant domestic workers.
“To some of them, getting killed in war is preferable to starving to death,” de Vega said, adding there have so far been no Filipino casualties from the Israeli air campaign against Hezbollah.
After Israel’s war with Hamas erupted last year following the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack, Manila began voluntary repatriations of its citizens from the areas affected by the fighting.
The conflict has since spilled into Lebanon, with Israel’s ongoing bombardments in the country raising fears of an all-out regional war in the Middle East.
So far, only 500 Filipinos have taken up the government’s offer to leave Lebanon, De Vega said.
Filipino ambassador to Beirut Raymond Balatbat said 196 Filipinos have fled southern Lebanon, where the Israeli campaign has been concentrated.
Most Filipinos working in the country are based in central Lebanon around Beirut, he added.
Anthony Mandap, consul-general at the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv, said there are no plans as of now to repatriate some 30,000 Filipinos working in Israel.


Trump, Starmer meet for two-hour New York dinner: reports

Trump, Starmer meet for two-hour New York dinner: reports
Updated 27 September 2024
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Trump, Starmer meet for two-hour New York dinner: reports

Trump, Starmer meet for two-hour New York dinner: reports

LONDON: Keir Starmer met Donald Trump in New York for a two-hour dinner, the first meeting for the new British Prime Minister and the former US President, media reports said on Friday.
Trump, the Republican nominee in November’s US election, hosted the Labour Party leader at Trump Tower on Thursday, the BBC, The Guardian and The Daily Mail reported.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Trump told reporters: “I actually think he’s very nice. He ran a great race. He did very well. It’s very early. He’s very popular.”
Starmer won a landslide election victory in the UK’s July general election, ousting the Conservatives after 14 years in power.
Starmer said it was important for him to meet both candidates in the US election but that “diary challenges” meant it had not been possible to schedule a meeting with Vice President and Democrat nominee Kamala Harris.
“We’ve now got the opportunity to meet Trump, which is good,” he said.
Trump and Starmer were also joined by Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has made scathing remarks about Trump in the past.
In 2018, Lammy called Trump “a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath.”
However, Lammy was more diplomatic earlier this year, saying in a speech that Trump’s “attitude to European security is often misunderstood.”
Starmer has taken a neutral stance on the US election, although experts say a Trump presidency could pose difficulties, particularly with doubts over the Republican’s support for NATO and Ukraine.
Starmer was in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly.


Comoros FM accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza

Comoros FM accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza
Updated 27 September 2024
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Comoros FM accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza

Comoros FM accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza
  • ‘Our country extends its full support to the brotherly people of Palestine,’ Mbae Mohamed tells UN General Assembly — Expresses ‘great concern’ over Sudan civil war, urges ‘all parties’ to ‘protect the civilian populati

WASHINGTON: Mbae Mohamed, the foreign minister of Comoros, on Thursday said his country fully supports the Palestinian people’s quest of independence and freedom from the Israeli occupation, and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

“The indiscriminate killing of Palestinians by Israel is the purest form of genocide perpetrated by Israeli forces in Gaza which we condemn, and there’s an urgent need to end it,” Mbae Mohamed told the UN General Assembly.

He urged the international community to act immediately to bring a halt to Israel’s war on Gaza, adding that more than 41,000 Palestinians — including women and children — have been killed, and most buildings and civilian infrastructure in the enclave have been completely destroyed.

“Our country extends its full support to the brotherly people of Palestine, and we call on the international community to act for an immediate ceasefire and rapid resumption of deliveries of humanitarian assistance,” Mohamed said.

Comoros also views the situation in the occupied West Bank with “great concern” as Israeli settlers and army units use extreme violence against Palestinians there, he added.

More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since last October, according to the UN.

Mohamed said Comoros supports a fair and lasting solution to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, rooted in international law and relevant UN resolutions that call for a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital.

He “applauded” the UNGA’s overwhelming vote in May calling on the Security Council to grant Palestine full UN membership while enhancing its rights and privileges.

Mohamad, whose nation is a member of the Arab League and the African Union, said Comoros is greatly concerned about the civil war in Sudan that has killed thousands and displaced around 10 million people, according to UN figures.

“The situation in Sudan is of great concern to us, and we call on all parties to exercise restraint and to protect the civilian population from the atrocities of war,” he said.