News Story: 1,000 soldiers on standby in Philippines for "national day of protest"

MANILA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine military has put over 1,000 soldiers on standby in case some groups try to disrupt the rally scheduled on Thursday to commemorate the martial law that former President Ferdinand Marcos imposed in 1972.

Military spokesman Col. Vic Tomas said on Wednesday that the soldiers are on call to help the police in maintaining peace and order when some 10,000 protesters are expected to take to the streets on Thursday, a day Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared as a "national day of protest."

Sept. 21 this year marks the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by former President Marcos, who ruled the country for two decades from 1965 to 1986.

Police Director Oscar Albayalde, the chief of the Philippine National Police in the National Capital Region, said security measures are in place for the planned rally, noting that 600 members of the civil disturbance management contingent are also on standby.

At the same time, 400 anti-riot policemen will be posted to guard the U.S. embassy in Manila. Another 100 policemen will be deployed around the gates leading to the Malacanang presidential palace where Duterte holds office.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Massive protests held in Japan to mark second anniversary of controversial security laws

TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Over 10,000 people rallied here on Tuesday to protest against the controversial security laws that were enacted by the parliament two years ago and the government's attempts to revise the pacifist Constitution.

The protesters gathered in front of parliament buildings Tuesday night, holding banners written with slogans such as "Scrap the new security laws and the conspiracy laws" and "Abe shall step down."

Kazuo Shii, head of the Japanese Communist Party, said that the new security laws enacted two years ago could drag Japan into a dangerous place and shall be scrapped.

He also criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's possible decision to dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap general election, saying that the prime minister's move was aimed at fleeing from accusations.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Duterte warned on martial law talk as protests set

Philippines President Duterte

By Jess Diaz

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s talk of imposing martial law nationwide is just a “scare tactic” to stifle political dissent, leftist congressmen said yesterday.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said if any saboteurs would join the massive protest rally on Sept. 21, they would most likely be state agents “out to create chaos and justify the declaration of martial rule.”

He warned that this was what dictator Ferdinand Marcos did to justify the declaration of martial law on Sept. 21, 1972.

“Floating the idea of a nationwide state of martial law is a tactic designed to scare our people and reduce the number that would participate in and join the massive rally on Sept. 21, the anniversary of the declaration of martial law,” Zarate said. 

“The organizers of the protest, particularly the Movement Against Tyranny, would not allow infiltrators or saboteurs among their ranks that would sabotage the peaceful gathering,” he added.

Rep. Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers said the martial law statements of Duterte and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana “are intended to counter the growing opposition to Duterte’s increasingly tyrannical rule, cow citizens outraged by the rising death toll due to tokhang and martial law in Mindanao, and dissuade them from participating in rallies.”

Tinio also warned that Duterte is laying the basis for declaring martial law nationwide.

“He is insidiously conditioning the public to accept that ‘massive protests’ and ‘fighting in the streets’ are sufficient justification for declaring martial law, conveniently ignoring that the Constitution allows for martial law only in cases of invasion or rebellion,” he said.

Tinio added that next week’s planned protest actions could not be considered invasion or rebellion. He also urged people to join rallies against extrajudicial killings and “rising tyranny.”

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Bangladesh Protests Myanmar Airspace Violations as Tensions Mount Over Rohingya

WASHINGTON — Bangladesh is protesting a violation of its airspace by helicopters and drones from Myanmar, as tensions between the two countries escalate over a massive influx of Rohingya Muslim refugees into Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's foreign ministry summoned the charge d'affaires of Myanmar's embassy in Dhaka and warned the airspace violations could lead to “unwarranted consequences.”

This is the third time in three weeks that Bangladesh has summoned Myanmar's envoy as the refugee crisis of the Rohingya grows.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday that the number of Rohingya refugees who have fled across the border to Bangladesh has climbed to 391,000.

Rohingya refugees say Myanmar's military and members of the Buddhist majority have attacked their villages in northern Rakhine state, forcing them to flee. There are reports of villages being burned to the ground and the military deliberately targeting civilians, but access to the region is limited, so the reports can't be independently verified.

News Story: Protestors Chant ‘Death to America’ Amid Leaflet Outcry

By Karim Amini

Residents of Qarabagh district of Kabul on Tuesday staged a protest demonstration in the district against the blasphemous leaflet drop by US forces in Parwan, Kapisa and Kohdaman district of Kabul province and called for the prosecution of those involved. 

Many protesters waved Afghan flags, however a number of Taliban flags were also seen. 

The protestors blocked Kabul-north highway for three hours and chanted the slogan ‘death to America’.

“We are prepared to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our religion,” said one protestor Hekmatullah Haqmal.

“It is better for the US to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible, the US has killed thousands of our brothers since it started the war in Afghanistan sixteen years ago,” said another protestor Saifurrahman Habibi.

“The US has repeatedly insulted our religious values, we can never pardon such blasphemous acts,” said protestor Ghulam Jailani. 

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Policeman killed, another injured as militants attack police post in Indian-controlled Kashmir & Indian troops kill militant in Indian-controlled Kashmir gunfight

Policeman killed, another injured as militants attack police post in Indian-controlled Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- A policeman was killed and another wounded Saturday after militants attacked a police party in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The attack was carried out in the evening near bus stand in Anantnag town, about 52 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"This evening militants attacked a police party with gunfire which left a policeman dead on spot and his colleague wounded," a police spokesman at police control room, Anantnag told Xinhua. "The wounded policeman has been removed to hospital."

The attack triggered panic in the entire township, as people were seen fleeing from the spot to safer locations and shopkeepers pulling down shutters of their shops.

Read the full story at Xinhua

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Indian troops kill militant in Indian-controlled Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- A militant of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) was killed Saturday in a fierce gunfight with contingents of police and Indian army in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The gunfight between militants and government forces broke out at village Reben-Rafiabad in Baramulla district, about 55 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Today a militant was killed in a gunfight triggered with police and Indian army at Reben-Rafiabad," a senior police official posted in Sopore told Xinhua.

Police said the search and cordon in the area was launched on specific intelligence information suggesting presence of militants.

Reports said Indian army or police have not suffered any damage in the stand-off.

Authorities have snapped internet service in the district, fearing it would mobilize people to stage protests in and around the area.

The slain militant was identified as a local cadre of the HM.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Opposition criticizes Moon for highlighting tentativeness of THAAD deployment

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition Liberty Korea Party accused President Moon Jae-in on Saturday of sending the wrong signal that the U.S. THAAD missile defense system can be withdrawn at any time, a day after Moon said this week's deployment of additional launchers is only tentative.

South Korea has installed the four additional THAAD launchers in the southeastern town of Seongju, completing the deployment of a full six-launcher battery, despite fierce protests from villagers and liberal-leaning critics.

On Friday night, Moon issued a statement asking for people's understanding, saying the deployment was the best possible decision he could take in the current situation in order to protect the lives and safety of the people from North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

Moon also said, however, that the deployment is tentative and a final decision on whether to keep the battery permanently stationed will be made after a thorough assessment of the battery's impact on the environment.

The opposition party criticized Moon for highlighting the deployment's tentativeness.

"President Moon only repeated the words 'tentative deployment,'" Rep. Kang Hyo-sang, spokesman for the conservative LKP, said in a briefing. "This is a double play that sends the signal that THAAD can be pulled out at any time."

Kang said the decision to deploy THAAD was the only praiseworthy thing the Moon administration has done so far, but Friday's statement from Moon was full of excuses toward anti-THAAD forces and China, which has strongly protested the deployment.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: How Very Nobel! Myanmar's Suu Kyi Keeps Her Peace Prize Despite Rohingya Crisis

Aung San Suu Kyi

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has firmly ruled out any possibility of revoking the Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi's Peace Prize, despite mounting international pressure and outcries of protest from fellow Peace Prize winners against Rohingya Crisis.

This week, hundreds of thousands of people signed an online petition to revoke the Peace Prize of Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi over her government's treatment of the Rohingya Muslims.

The change.org petition to take back Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize has gathered over 380,000 signatures, reflecting a seething outrage over a security sweep by Myanmar forces in Rakhine State following a series of deadly ambushes by Rohingya militants.

"The de-facto ruler of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi has done virtually nothing to stop this crime against humanity in her country," the petition said.

Recently, the growing list of voices calling on Aung San Suu Kyi to do more to protect Myanmar's Muslim minority, who they believed to be persecuted, was joined by fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureates Malala Yousafzai and Desmond Tutu.

News Report: Clashes Between Residents, Police Erupt in S Korea Over THAAD Deployment

South Korean local residents are protesting against the deployment of US THAAD missile systems. However, the recent protests evolved into clashes with police, local media reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Hundreds of residents of South Korea's North Gyeongsang Province took to the streets to protest against the deployment of four additional US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile systems in the province, but the protests evolved into clashes with police, local media reported Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Seoul announced the deployment of four additional US THAAD missile systems in North Gyeongsang Province following the recent nuclear test by Pyongyang. The THAAD systems will be deployed on Thursday at a new base in Seongju, 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Seoul.

News Report: Myanmar's Suu Kyi Slams 'Fake News' About Rohingya Crisis

Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi responded to growing international criticism of her government by slamming "fake news” reports about the plight of the country’s Rohingya Muslims.

Aung San Suu Kyi said on Wednesday that global outrage over the government’s treatment of the local Rohingya Muslims was being fueled by "a huge iceberg of misinformation.”

Her statement followed the United Nations’ call for an end to the government crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, which has already forced about 146,000 people to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

The conflict between Myanmar’s Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, widely dismissed in Myanmar as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, erupted in Rakhine state in late August prompting a wave of protests across the world over what has been dubbed the disproportionate use of force by the government.

News Story: Additional THAAD launchers to be deployed Thursday - villagers

SEONGJU, South Korea, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. military will deploy additional missile interceptor launchers to its base in a southern town early Thursday despite strong opposition from residents and activists, according to local villagers.

The residents' group in Seonju said Wednesday they have confirmed the information through various channels about the planned deployment of four launchers of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system at 2 a.m. on Thursday, in addition to two that are already installed.

"We think the authorities will notify the residents of the THAAD launcher installation plan this evening," the group said.

They oppose the deployment, arguing the THAAD battery could turn the village, some 300 kilometers south of Seoul, into a military target, and that electromagnetic waves emanating from its powerful radar could cause health and environmental problems.

Signs of the imminent deployment were detected in the morning when some 360 police troops -- much more than the usual 200 staff -- were dispatched to the THAAD deployment site apparently to prepare for possible clashes with protesters.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: S Korean Court Rejects Residents Claim to Invalidate Allocation for THAAD Land

A court in Seoul has dismissed local residents' claim to suspend the government's decision to allocate land for the US THAAD missile system.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A court in Seoul has dismissed local residents' claim to suspend the government's decision to allocate land for the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system.

The Seoul Administrative Court turned down their request for suspension, saying the state land may be used for military purposes, Yonhap news agency reported.

In April, 396 citizens filed an administrative claim against the provision of a former golf course in Seongju County in South Gyeongsang Province for THAAD deployment, claiming that it violates the law on state-owned land. They also asked the court to suspend the land provision pending the trial.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Report: Indonesia Urging Myanmar to Prevent Further Rakhine Violence

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi is in Myanmar for meetings Monday with leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the country's military commander and national security adviser to discuss the ongoing crisis in Rakhine state.

The U.N. refugee agency says 87,000 Rohingya have fled from Rakhine to neighboring Bangladesh since an eruption of violence late last month. The influx has left aid agencies struggling to keep up with demands for supplies and medical care.

Marsudi said he wanted to discuss security issues and “our proposals in details, including our intention to send more humanitarian assistance to people in Rakhine.”

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Marsudi would urge the Myanmar government to prevent further violence, and that the foreign minister would travel on to Bangladesh to prepare humanitarian aid for those who have fled.

News Story: Indian troops kill 2 militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two militants were killed Monday in a fierce gunfight with contingents of police and Indian army in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The gunfight between militants and government forces broke out at Sopore in Baramulla district, about 52 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"This morning a gunfight triggered in Chak Brath village between militants and joint contingents of police and army. During the fierce exchange of fire two militants were killed," a senior police officer posted in Sopore told Xinhua.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Environment ministry to conditionally consent to THAAD deployment

SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- The Ministry of Environment has decided to conditionally consent to the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, removing the last administrative hurdle to its full operation fiercely opposed by local residents and activists, sources said Monday.

The environment ministry is known to have reached the decision after reviewing the result of the defense ministry's environmental impact survey of the site of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the sources said.

The environment ministry is set to make a formal announcement Monday afternoon, they added.

The Ministry of National Defense released last month the result of its survey of electromagnetic radiation and noise from THAAD at a former golf course in Seongju, some 300 km southeast of Seoul, amid strong protests from county residents and activists.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: Pakistan - Trump's Afghan Policy 'Hostile and Threatening'

Ayesha Tanzeem

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution Wednesday strongly denouncing President Donald Trump’s new policy on Afghanistan and calling his and General John Nicholson’s statements on Pakistan “hostile and threatening.”

President Trump had some of the harshest words for Pakistan when he announced his new policy on Afghanistan and South Asia on August 21.

“We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists we are fighting,” he said in a speech.

Soon after, in an interview with an Afghan TV channel, the top U.S. military commander in Kabul, General Nicholson said the U.S. is "aware of the presence" of Taliban leaders in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar, and that they should not "sleep in peace."

News Story: S.Korean protesters crave THAAD pullout ahead of defense chief's visit to Washington

SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korean protesters on Monday expressed strong demand for the pullout of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system from their home country ahead of Defense Minister Song Young-moo's visit to Washington this week.

A group of anti-THAAD activists and residents living near the deployment site gathered outside the U.S. embassy in central Seoul, holding a press conference to demand the removal of the U.S. missile shield from the South Korean territory and urge the United States to stop pressuring South Korea for further deployment.

One lawmaker of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party claimed last week that the U.S. side called on South Korea to deploy four more THAAD launchers to the THAAD site by this Thursday.

On April 26, two mobile launchers and other THAAD elements were transported in the middle of night to a former golf course in Seongju county, North Gyeongsang province.

After the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s tests in July of what it called an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered the temporary installation of the four launchers though his office said the final decision would be made after completing an environmental impact assessment.

A THAAD battery is composed of six mobile launchers, 48 interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar and the fire and control unit.

Read the full story at Xinhua

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Story Quote: "Following the DPRK's ICBM tests last month, President Moon ordered the further deployment of THAAD launchers, but an ICBM is not a direct threat to the South Korean territory as it has a range of at least 5,500 km. 

The protesters insisted that Moon's order of the further THAAD deployment was made under the pressure from the U.S. government, saying the THAAD deployment will make South Korea become a missile defense outpost to protect the U.S. and Japan."

PacificSentinel: Exactly what part of Mutual Defense dont they understand, the USA protects South Korea, South Korea is required to do the same for the USA, that's how a Military Alliance works.

News Story: S.Korean peace activists demand to stop war game with U.S. for dialogue with DPRK

SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korean peace activists on Monday demanded to stop the ongoing joint war game with the United States for dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the war game kicked off earlier in the day.

A group of peace activists, affiliated with 13 advocacy groups, held a press conference outside the presidential Blue House, saying the DPRK's nuclear and missile tests would be stopped through dialogue only when the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) joint military exercise is stopped.

The UFG computer-assisted simulation exercise began earlier in the day, mobilizing about 17,500 U.S. soldiers and some 50,000 South Korean troops. The U.S.-South Korea joint war game will last till the end of this month.

The DPRK has denounced the war game as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion. Pyongyang tended to test-fire missiles or conduct provocation to show its force in response to the U.S.-South Korea military drills.

The activists said both Pyongyang and Washington should stop intimidating each other as the war of words created the crisis of war on the Korean Peninsula, claiming the first suspension of the South Korea-U.S. joint war games to launch talks with the DPRK.

The DPRK test-launched what it called an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) twice in July. It was followed by the exchange of belligerent rhetoric between Pyongyang and Washington, which escalated tension on the peninsula.

Some local experts claimed the halt of the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises in exchange for the suspension of the DPRK's further provocation, in a bid to open talks for the denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Another group of peace activists held a press conference in central Seoul to demand the suspension of the ongoing UFG joint military exercise.

They said the war exercise and the mobilization of U.S. strategic assets should be stopped to peacefully resolve the peninsula issue, citing the halt of the U.S.-South Korea war game in 1992 that led to the launch of the inter-Korean talks and the joint declaration of the Korean Peninsula denuclearization between the two sides.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Thousands Protest Against Political Activists Imprisonment in Hong Kong

2014 Umbrella Movement protests

Thousands of people went out onto the streets of Hong Kong to protest against prison sentences for student political activists for their role in 2014 protests, known as the Umbrella Movement, The Straits Times reported Sunday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — On Thursday, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal sentenced Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow to 6, 8 and 7 months in jail respectively.

It's the first time since Umbrella Movement that Hong Kong's opposition groups made high-profile calls for unity, and look at the results: pic.twitter.com/BCv7KbAXDV

— Elson Tong (@elson_tong) August 20, 2017

News Story: Okinawa criticizes central gov't for backing flights of accident-prone Ospreys

TOKYO, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga on Monday expressed his dissatisfaction at the central government for allowing accident-prone Osprey aircraft to fly in Japan just days after a fatal crash off the coast of Australia.

In a meeting with newly-appointed Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera in Okinawa's capital of Naha, Onaga said that Japan backing the United States' decision for the tilt-rotor planes to be flown here was not in the interests of protecting people's lives.

"The response was extremely disappointing from the viewpoint of protecting the lives of the people in the prefecture and in the country," Onaga was quoted by local media as telling Onodera.

Onaga's remarks follow Okinawa Deputy Governor Moritake Tomikawa on Aug. 8 lodging a strong protest with U.S. forces for flying an Osprey in Japan's southernmost prefecture.

Tomikawa's protest came on the heels of the central government requesting a halt to flights, following the crash in Australia on Aug. 5, which killed three U.S. Marines.

Onodera, for his part, told Onaga that the transport plane is "very important for our country's security" and promised Onaga that he would repeatedly implore the U.S. to fly the planes safely.

The U.S. Marine Corps on Wednesday decided the Ospreys were safe to be flown following an investigation.

Read the full story at Xinhua