source: philstar.com
BEIJING (AP) - China said Friday that its maritime defense forces recently staged three days and nights of exercises in the South China Sea, a disputed, resource-rich region where tensions are rising.
The drills involved a total of 14 patrol boats, landing craft and submarine hunting boats, along with two military aircraft, the official People's Daily newspaper said. It said the exercises were aimed at refining anti-submarine, replenishment and island defense capabilities in order to better respond to any future sudden crisis.
The vast South China Sea and its island groups form one of Asia's most politically sensitive regions, with China, Vietnam and the Philippines trading diplomatic barbs recently over overlapping territorial claims. Vietnam's navy conducted live-firing exercises Monday after accusing Chinese boats of disrupting oil and gas exploration in its waters.
The People's Daily said naval forces participated alongside units from nominally civilian agencies that are tasked with overseeing China's interests at sea.
The paper did not say exactly when or where the exercises took place, although a graphic accompanying the story implied they were held near the Spratly Islands, where China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam all maintain garrisons.
In addition, the military's official Liberation Army Daily newspaper reported that an exercise was held on June 6 in which amphibious vehicles — most likely tanks — were successfully offloaded from ships onto a South China Sea island. No other details were given, and it was unclear whether the exercise was among those the People's Daily reported.
China claims the entire South China Sea and all its island groups, but maintains garrisons on only a few atolls, islets and partially submerged coral reefs.
The report of the exercises follows the dispatch Wednesday of one of its largest maritime patrol ships on a first-ever visit to Singapore, a voyage in which it will transit the South China Sea.
The Haixun-31 was due to stay in the Southeast Asian city-state for two weeks of exchanges on search and rescue, anti-piracy and port management operations.
source: Bang | pep.ph
Prince William and Duchess Catherine are to meet "Hollywood's elite" during their upcoming visit to the U.S.
The royal couple—who married at London's Westminster Abbey on April 29—will walk the red carpet at the inaugural BAFTA Brits to Watch ceremony at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles on July 9, an event which is planned to highlight emerging British talent.
Nigel Lythgoe, So You Think You Can Dance judge and chairman of BAFTA in Los Angeles, said: "Being given the opportunity of meeting Hollywood's elite will provide a highly significant and beneficial moment for them."
During their time in California from July 8-10, William and Catherine will also be attending a meet-and-greet with senior U.S. politicians at the Consular General's Los Angeles residence, as well as visiting an arts-based program, which assists disadvantaged and homeless children.
The couple—who will be staying at an undisclosed location during their visit—will attend a polo match to benefit the American Friends of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry, with the 28-year-old prince taking part and Kate handing out prizes.
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, the couple's press secretary, told USMagazine.com: "The tour will be a double act, but there will be occasions when the couple will separate, such as walkabouts."
source: gmanews.tv
The youth should exercise more caution in using social networking sites in light of the stabbing and robbing of actor-director Ricky Rivero allegedly by a Facebook friend, the National Youth Commission (NYC) said Wednesday.
“It’s very easy to be friendly and outgoing on Facebook. You lose all inhibitions, hindi ka mahiyain, and you can be a whole new different person online. But you have to be careful [with] the people you’re befriending; you can’t really tell a person’s character based on his or her profile page," said NYC chairperson Leon Flores III in a statement.
Flores also gave a piece of advice to young Internet users who want to personally meet their online friends through “eyeball" activities. “Magpasama kayo sa isang kaibigan at makipagkita sa mataong lugar," he said.
Rivero identified his attacker as Hans Ivan Ruiz, a person he met through Facebook. Ruiz is facing charges of robbery and frustrated murder.
In a report on GMA News’ “24 Oras" following the alleged robbery and frustrated murder of Rivero, security experts enumerated tips to avoid falling prey to criminals on social networking sites.
Meanwhile, in a message for the Roman Catholic observance of the 45th World Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI warned Internet users against the danger of “self-indulgence" by constructing “a false image of oneself" on the Internet. — With Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News
source: reuters.com
MISRATA, Libya - Libyan rebels edged slowly beyond their western stronghold of Misrata towards Tripoli, but faced supply shortages after shelling from Muammar Gaddafi forces hit a key refinery in the city.
A Reuters photographer in Misrata joined rebel units as they pushed their front several kilometres (miles) west to the outskirts of Zlitan, a neighbouring town controlled by Gaddafi's forces.
Any fighting over Zlitan would bring the rebellion closer to the capital Tripoli, the Libyan leader's stronghold which lies 200 km (124 miles) west of Misrata.
A doctor in a field hospital to the west of Libya's third largest city said two rebels had been killed and a dozen wounded after the two sides traded heavy artillery fire.
Rebels from Misrata say tribal sensitivities prevent them from attacking Zlitan, and they are instead waiting for local inhabitants to rise up.
Late on Monday, six rockets hit generators at the refinery near Misrata port leaving them heavily damaged. An engineer on site said it was unclear how long it would take to repair.
The fighting east of Tripoli came during a lull in NATO bombardment of the Libyan capital. State television reported the alliance had bombarded targets in Al Jufrah in the centre of the country.
A rebel spokesman in Zintan, in the rebel-held Western Mountains range southwest of Tripoli, said the town had been quiet after being subjected to its heaviest bombardment by pro-Gaddafi forces in several weeks on Sunday.
"Today has been the quietest day for Zintan in three months, although we started to hear in the evening loud blasts coming from the east." he said. "We buried (on Monday) the 10 martyrs who were killed after Sunday's clashes."
Zawiyah quiet
Fighting flared at the weekend in the town of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital -- clashes the rebel leadership said were a sign that the momentum in the four-month-old conflict was shifting their way.
But on Monday, a rebel spokesman in Zawiyah who had been giving accounts of the fighting was no longer reachable by telephone. The main highway west from Tripoli, which had been closed because of the fighting, appeared to have re-opened.
Gaddafi has said the rebels are criminals and al Qaeda militants. He has described the NATO military intervention as an act of colonial aggression aimed at grabbing Libya's oil.
Western governments say they believe it is only a matter of time before Gaddafi's 41-year rule ends under the weight of NATO military intervention, sanctions and defections.
NATO member Germany became the latest country to recognize the rebel council based in the second city of Benghazi as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, giving heavyweight support to leaders poised to run the country if Gaddafi falls.
France, Qatar, Italy and the United Arab Emirates have already recognized the Transitional National Council.
"We share the same goal -- Libya without Gaddafi," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Benghazi.
In the latest diplomatic shuffling to add pressure on Gaddafi, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged African leaders to abandon him.
Gaddafi has styled himself the African "king of kings" and over the years won support from many African states in exchange for financial help and generous gifts. Most countries on the continent have been lukewarm towards the rebels.
"Your words and your actions could make the difference... (in ending this situation) ...and allowing the people of Libya to get to work writing a constitution and rebuilding their country," Clinton said in a speech to the African Union in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. — Reuters
source: Chris Buckley | Reuters
BEIJING - China vehemently opposes external powers meddling in territorial disputes over the South China Sea, the main military newspaper said on Tuesday, after Vietnam asked for international help to defuse tensions over the potentially resource-rich region.
The warning in the Liberation Army Daily coincided with exercises conducted by Vietnam's military along its central coast, and follows a weekend statement by Hanoi welcoming efforts by the international community, including the United States, to help resolve the disputes.
China and Vietnam have hurled accusations at each other for weeks over what each sees as intrusions into its territorial waters by the other in a swath of ocean crossed by key shipping lanes and thought to hold large deposits of oil and gas.
Such accusations are not uncommon between China, Vietnam and the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which are also involved in long-standing maritime disputes in the South China Sea, but this bout of tension has run longer than usual.
The commentary in the Liberation Army Daily repeated Beijing's warning that other "unrelated" countries should back off, adding the Chinese military's weight to that message.
"This dispute must be resolved peacefully through friendly consultations between the two parties involved," the paper said.
"Therefore, China resolutely opposes any country unrelated to the South China Sea issue meddling in disputes, and it opposes the internationalization of the South China Sea issue."
Tensions between China and the United States intensified last year after the Obama administration became embroiled in the South China Sea dispute, stressing Washington's support for a collective solution.
This year Sino-U.S relations have steadied, and Washington has so far been more muted about the issue. Beijing insists on handling the disputes over the region on a one-on-one basis rather than multilaterally, a strategy some critics have described as "divide and conquer".
The Liberation Army Daily comes under the control of China's ruling Communist Party and its Central Military Commission, and although commentaries in the paper do not amount to government policy, they are carefully vetted to reflect official thinking.
Military drills
Last year, as chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam sought to internationalize the South China Sea disputes and succeeded in putting it on the agenda at a regional security forum, much to China's displeasure.
The Liberation Army Daily commentary accused Vietnam of stirring up tensions by conducting the exercises in part of the exclusive economic zone it claims in the sea.
"These actions to exaggerate and exacerbate conflict will not help solve the South China Sea problems," the paper said.
"The country concerned should stop its unilateral actions to expand and make more complicated the South China Sea dispute, and no longer make untruthful and irresponsible statements."
A Vietnamese military source confirmed the live-fire drills were underway. Vietnam's military newspaper, in turn, accused China at the weekend of creating disputes "through provocative actions (and) hostilities aimed at its neighbors."
Vietnam's prime minister also issued a decree outlining the terms of a possible military draft, a move experts said was a signal from the communist authorities that the country it was prepared to defend its interests.
"Vietnam is speaking to two audiences. It's speaking to a domestic audience where it is under pressure to be shown to be taking steps to deal with China. The other is to China," Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy, told Reuters. (Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Hanoi; Editing by Ron Popeski and Miral Fahmy)
source: gmanews.tv
UNITED NATIONS – North Korea, which has vehemently denied accusations that it sank a South Korean warship, is calling for a new joint investigation by both Koreas "to verify objectively the truth of the incident."
In a letter to the Security Council dated Tuesday and obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, North Korea's UN Ambassador Sin Son Ho called for "high-level military talks" between the two Koreas. He also reiterated the North's call for its own inspection team to be sent to the site of the sinking near the tense Korean sea border.
Sin urged the council to "take measures" to help realize these talks before it deals with the results of the international investigation led by South Korea which concluded that North Korea torpedoed the 1,200-ton Cheonan in March, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
South Korea sent a letter to the Security Council on June 4 asking the UN's most powerful body to respond to the sinking "in a manner appropriate to the gravity of North Korea's military provocation."
Since then, the council has been holding consultations on a response.
North Korea has warned that its military forces will respond if the Security Council questions or condemns the country over the sinking.
South Korea's U.N. Ambassador Park In-kook, in a letter to the council dated Wednesday which also was obtained by AP, responded to the North's proposal saying the ship sinking is a violation of the 1953 Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and should be discussed by the U.N. Command's Military Armistice Commission, which oversees the truce.
He said the commission has twice — on Saturday and Sunday — proposed to North Korea that generals meet to discuss the attack, but the North "has thus far declined to attend these talks."
"If North Korea has a genuine intention to discuss this matter in military channel, it should respond positively to this proposal," Park said.
The South Korean envoy again urged the Security Council "to meet its responsibility to address this issue in an expeditious and credible manner."
UN diplomats familiar with contacts on possible council action said China, the North's closest ally, is opposed to a third round of sanctions against Pyongyang and is also against any direct condemnation of North Korea for the incident. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the consultations are private, said South Korea wants the council to condemn North Korea.
Park reiterated that the conclusion that a North Korean torpedo sank the Cheonan "was based on material evidence obtained through the scientific and objective investigation, carried out by experts from Australia, Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Republic of Korea."
US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, asked at a briefing Wednesday about North Korea's U.N. request, said the South Korean-led international investigation assembled evidence that "points clearly to North Korea and a North Korean torpedo."
"We don't think, at this point, that another investigation is warranted," he said. "We think the result is clear and compelling."
Crowley said discussions were continuing at the UN "about an appropriate and timely response to this provocative action."
"At this point, we think it's more important for North Korea to be accountable and to cease its provocative behavior and to seek better relations with its neighbors," he said. — AP
source: gmanews.tv
LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's father is withdrawing his request to receive more than $15,000 a month from his late son's estate.
A court filing says Joe Jackson is dropping his bid to receive a monthly allowance in favor of pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit over his son's death.
Joe Jackson filed a lawsuit in federal court on Friday against Dr. Conrad Murray, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death.
The Jackson family patriarch was omitted from his son's will, but in November sought a stipend to pay his monthly expenses.
The filing was first reported Monday by the celebrity website TMZ.
Joe Jackson's filing indicates he may renew his request for a stipend later if necessary. — AP
source: gmanews.tv
McALLEN, Texas — Texas police have arrested a man accused of fatally beating his 2-year-old stepdaughter when she wouldn’t stop crying as he watched a World Cup game.
McAllen police say 27-year-old Hector Castro is expected to be charged Monday with murder.
Police Chief Victor Rodriguez says Castro told investigators that the toddler wouldn’t stop crying while he was trying to watch the U.S.-Ghana matchup on Saturday.
Rodriguez says the child was severely beaten and suffered several broken ribs. Police said a screw or bolt was forced down her throat in an apparent attempt to make it look like she choked to death.
Four other children in Castro’s apartment were placed with social workers.
McAllen is near the U.S.-Mexico border at the southern tip of Texas. - AP
source: abs-cbnnews.com
World champion boxer Manny Pacquiao was sworn in as congressman of Sarangani province on Monday, vowing to be even more effective in government than he is in the ring.
Trading his gloves for a traditional barong, Pacquiao was among local officials who took their oaths of office in the capital of Sarangani province where he knocked out an entrenched political clan in the May 10 elections.
"I will be more effective in politics than in boxing," he told the crowd of 3,000 after the ceremonies.
The 31-year-old fighter said he would work on improving infrastructure, medical services and security during his three-year term in parliament.
Before his oath-taking, Pacquiao transferred from the Nacionalista Party (NP) of defeated presidential bet Manny Villar to the Liberal Party of President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
“Susuportahan natin yung administrasyon na uupo ngayon, si Noynoy, dahil maganda rin naman ang hangarin niya at para din naman sa kababayan natin,” Pacquiao explained to reporters on Sunday.
Pacquiao said he even spoke with NP standard-bearer Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar, Jr. to explain his decision. The 7-division world champion endorsed Villar's bid for the presidency in the May 10 polls.
He also said that he moved to the LP because he wants to make sure that the influx of projects in Sarangani Province will continue.
Pacquiao paid a courtesy call to Aquino last May at the President-elect’s home along Times Street in Quezon City where they talked about the problems of Sarangani Province as well as the power crisis in Mindanao. (Read: Manny Pacquiao vows support for Noynoy Aquino)
The Filipino boxing superstar, however, did not say when he will take his oath as a member of the LP.
Serve the people
Pacquiao, meantime, also spoke to his political allies on Sunday to remind them about the real reasons why there were elected—to serve the people of Sarangani Province and fulfill the promises they made during the campaign period.
His inauguration, which began at 9 a.m. on Monday, was held at the Sarangani Provincial Capitol grounds. He took his oath alongside other elected officials of the province.
He said he would thank former Sarangani Province Rep. Erwin Chiongbian. Pacquiao defeated the former congressman’s brother, Roy, in the May 10 elections.
The world-renowned boxing champion also mentioned that he will continue the programs of the former administration. He is also looking forward to making his promises happen.
Pacquiao finished his 10-day executive coaching course last Friday, receiving his Development Legislation and Governance course certificate from the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in Ortigas, Pasig City. (Read: Pacquiao finishes 10-day course, now ready for Congress)
Continue to fight
Pacquiao, who is regarded as a national hero in the boxing crazy Philippines, has said he can continue to fight even while serving as a legislator.
Boxing promoters are working to arrange a bout between Pacquiao and American Floyd Mayweather in November, to settle once and for all the fighters' claim to be the best fighter, pound-for-pound, of their generation.
Negotiations for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight fell through earlier this year when the American insisted on Olympic-style random drug testing, which the Filipino rejected as too intrusive before a bout.
His winnings from boxing as well as his commercial endorsements last year made Pacquiao the world's sixth-highest paid athlete, with earnings of $40 million, according to Forbes magazine. – With reports from Jay Dayupay, ABS-CBN News SOKSARGEN, and AFP
source: gmanews.tv
WASHINGTON – The US has driven al-Qaeda into hiding and undermined its leadership, but is struggling to oust its primary sympathizer, the Taliban, from Afghanistan, the nation's spymaster said Sunday.
CIA Director Leon Panetta's assessment comes as President Barack Obama advances a risky new war plan that relies on 98,000 US troops to prop up the Afghan government and prevent al-Qaeda from returning. No longer overseeing the commander in chief's mission is Gen. Stanley McChrystal, sacked this past week in a stunning shake-up in US military leadership after his critical comments about the White House.
"We're seeing elements of progress, but this is going to be tough," Panetta told ABC's "This Week."
He said al-Qaeda's evolving attack strategy increasingly relies on operatives without any record of terrorism involvement or those already in the US As for Osama bin Laden, Panetta said it's been years since the US had good intelligence about his whereabouts.
Panetta estimated there are fewer than 100 al-Qaeda militants operating inside Afghanistan, with the rest hiding along Pakistan's mountainous western border. He said US drone strikes and other spy operations have helped to "take down" half of al-Qaeda's senior leaders.
"We are engaged in the most aggressive operations in the history of the CIA in that part of the world, and the result is that we are disrupting their leadership," Panetta said.
At the same time, Panetta offered a less upbeat assessment of the US fight against the Taliban, the anti-US insurgency operating inside Afghanistan's borders.
When asked whether the Taliban has grown stronger since Obama took office, Panetta said the Taliban was acting more violent and being more aggressive in "going after our troops," including its use of roadside bombs.
There is progress, he said, even if it's "slower than I think anyone anticipated."
As challenges in Afghanistan remain, the political clock is ticking. Many of Obama's most ardent Democratic supporters on Capitol Hill have said they are wary that more US troops and money can solve the problem.
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said troops should begin pulling out in July 2011, as Obama promised, because the Afghans must get the message that they need to take responsibility for their country.
Levin, D-Mich., said he even would like to see a major military operation in Kandahar delayed until more Afghans can join the fight. He estimated fewer than 9,000 Afghan forces are operating in Kandahar — a fraction of those needed to take control of the city known as the Taliban's spiritual heartland.
"If we want to succeed, the Afghans have got to succeed," he said.
Other Democrats suggested they are sympathetic to the complexities Obama faces.
The Taliban have "been running these areas for years now, and the idea we're going to walk in and they're going to run away, I think, was never contemplated," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. "This is a tough fight, unfortunately."
Republicans said their biggest concern was that the 2011 deadline was set in stone. Obama has said troops will begin to pull out then, but that the pace and size of the withdrawal will depend upon conditions on the ground.
GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, who's influential on military matters, said his other major concern is the ailing effort by civilians to improve governance in Afghanistan.
One reason cited for McChrystal's firing was the discord between him and his civilian advisers.
Gen. David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, has been named McChrystal's replacement.
Graham said he wants to know if Petraeus will work better with Afghan President Hamid Karzi and Richard Holbrooke, who is special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We've got a dysfunctional relationship between the military-civilian components" and that relationship is "essential to winning a counterinsurgency," Graham said.
On a separate issue, Panetta said that the CIA had no choice but to hire the company once known as Blackwater for $100 million to provide security in Afghanistan.
Panetta said the company, now known as Xe Services, underbid others by $26 million and that a CIA review concluded that the contractor had cleaned up its act.
Blackwater guards are accused of opening fire on unarmed civilians in Baghdad in 2007, killing 17 people. A federal grand jury has indicted five Blackwater officials on conspiracy weapons and obstruction of justice charges.
Panetta says Moyock, N.C.-based Xe does not engage in actual CIA operations, but instead helps secure agency bases in war zones. Seven CIA employees, including security contractors, were killed in a suicide bombing in Khost, Afghanistan, in December.
Levin appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," Reed was on CNN's "State of the Union" and Graham spoke on "Fox News Sunday." — AP
By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea blared propaganda broadcasts into North Korea on Tuesday after a six-year halt and Pyongyang said its troops were bracing for war as tensions spiked on the divided peninsula over the sinking of a warship.
One Seoul-based monitoring agency reported that North Korea's leader ordered its 1.2 million-member military to get ready for combat after South Korea blamed the North for a March 26 torpedo strike that sank the warship Cheonan and killed 46 sailors. South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report.
The South's restarting of psychological warfare operations — including radio broadcasts into the North and placing loudspeakers at the border to blast out propaganda — were among measures the government announced Monday to punish Pyongyang. The South is also slashing trade and denying permission to North Korean cargo ships to pass through South Korean waters.
A team of international investigators concluded last week that a torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore apart the Cheonan. The sinking was one of the South's worst military disasters since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The North flatly denies involvement and has warned such retaliation would mean war. It has threatened to destroy any propaganda facilities installed at the heavily militarized border.
On Tuesday, the North's military claimed dozens of South Korean navy ships violated the countries' disputed western sea border earlier this month and threatened to take "practical" military measures in response, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
South Korea's military had no immediate response other than to say that North Korea routinely makes similar accusations.
North Korea is already subject to various UN-backed sanctions following earlier nuclear and missile tests. The latest steps announced by Seoul were seen as among the strongest it could take short of military action.
The US has thrown its full support behind South Korea's moves and they are planning two major military exercises off the Korean peninsula in a display of force intended to deter future aggression by North Korea, the White House said. The US has 28,500 troops in South Korea.
South Korea also wants to bring North Korea before the UN Security Council over the sinking. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he expects the Security Council to take action against North Korea, but China — North Korea's main ally and a veto-wielding member of the Security Council — has so far done little but urge calm on all sides.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev talked with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday and said he "understands well" about South Korea's moves and will try to give an "appropriate signal" to North Korea over the sinking, according to Lee's office.
South Korea's military resumed radio broadcasts airing Western music, news and comparisons between the South and North Korean political and economic situation late Monday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The military also planned to launch propaganda leaflets by balloon and other methods on Tuesday night to inform North Koreans about the ship sinking.
In coming weeks, South Korea also will install dozens of propaganda loudspeakers and towering electronic billboards along the heavily armed land border to send messages urging communist soldiers to defect to the South. The North warned Monday it would fire at any propaganda facilities installed in the Demilitarized Zone.
On Tuesday, North Korean state media cited the powerful National Defense Commission as saying the North's soldiers and reservists were bracing to launch a "sacred war" against South Korea.
Seoul-based North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said in a report Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last week ordered his military to get ready for combat.
The group, citing unidentified sources in North Korea, said the order was read by Gen. O Kuk Ryol, a Kim confidant, and broadcast on speakers installed in each house and major public sites throughout the country Thursday, hours after the multinational report blaming Pyongyang for the sinking was issued in Seoul.
The South Korean military said they have not obtained any indications of unusual activity by North Korea's military.
On Tuesday, the presidential Blue House said officials were reviewing whether South Korea should resume calling North Korea its "main enemy" in formal defense documents for the first time in six years.
Also Tuesday, about 30 conservative activists rallied in Seoul, burning North Korean flags and tearing down photos of Kim Jong Il. —AP
Manila Time
