WASHINGTON: An American warship sailed through waters off the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Thursday, in the latest challenge to Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims in the region.
Guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the Spratly Islands,” the US Seventh fleet said in a statement.
“This freedom of navigation operation ... upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Vietnam, and Taiwan,” it added.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.
The region is believed to have valuable oil and gas deposits.
Further angering those countries, and the US, Beijing has moved aggressively to build reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes.
The move came amid a rise in US-China tensions over the coronavirus epidemic, in which Washington has accused Beijing of hiding and downplaying the initial outbreak detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
Relations between both countries have been strained on multiple levels since Donald Trump took office in 2017. A trade war launched by Trump has infuriated Beijing, as did his authorization of a $1.3 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which China considers a rebel province.
US warship sails by China-claimed Spratly Islands
https://arab.news/nhd84
US warship sails by China-claimed Spratly Islands
- Guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain ‘asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the Spratly Islands’
Parade for Israel in NYC focuses on solidarity this year as Gaza war casts a grim shadow
- Israel faces growing international criticism over its offensive in Gaza, at a huge cost in civilian lives
NEW YORK: Marchers chanted for the release of hostages in Gaza on Sunday at a New York City parade for Israel that drew thousands of people under heightened security.
The parade came almost eight months after the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the deadliest in Israel’s history. The annual parade in the past was dubbed “Celebrate Israel,” but organizers said the exuberant atmosphere would be toned down this year given the war and hostages still being held in captivity in Gaza, as well as outbursts of antisemitism worldwide.
People chanted “Bring them home now!” and waved Israeli flags as they marched along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan for what this year is being called “Israel Day on Fifth.” Crowds of spectators and hundreds of police officers lined the route, and steel barricades were installed along the sidewalk.
“Especially this year, after Oct. 7, it’s especially important to have this show of unity,” said Rena Orman, a Bronx native who attended as part of Mothers Against College Antisemitism. “Everybody wants hostages back. Everyone wants this to end. No one is cheering for this. Everyone wants peace.”
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said earlier this week that the event would focus on solidarity, strength and resilience.
“This is not a mood of confetti and music,” Treyger said. “This is more of a mood of unwavering, ironclad solidarity with hostages to bring them home, and also our unwavering love and pride in our Jewish identity.”
The parade, which is in its 59th year, kicked off at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday and was expected to draw more than 40,000 participants, including Israeli dignitaries, New York elected officials, celebrities and some of the hostages’ families.
There was never a thought of canceling the parade this year, Treyger said, despite what he termed an astronomical rise in antisemitism.
“This is a moment that we have to meet,” he said.
But there was significant security.
New York Police Department officials said Friday they plan to implement measures typically used for high-profile events such as New Year’s Eve and July 4. That includes drones, K-9 units, bike patrols, fencing and barriers and designated entry points for spectators all along the parade route.
Backpacks, large bags and coolers will be prohibited. Spectators will have to pass through metal detectors and only be allowed to line the east side of Fifth Avenue, with police blocking off the west side.
City officials stressed Friday there were no specific or credible threats to either the parade or the city and any protesters have the right to demonstrate so long as its done peacefully.
“We’re not going to allow any unlawfulness and any disruption of any celebration of one’s heritage in this city,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a security briefing.
The parade represents the first large-scale Jewish event in the city since the war started, although there have been roughly 2,800 protests in the city, with about 1,300 of them related to the conflict, the Democrat said.
Israel faces growing international criticism over its offensive in Gaza, at a huge cost in civilian lives. Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in the besieged territory have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Australia seeks military talks with China, ties with Philippines
- “The substantive request that we had out of the meeting with China was to grow the defense dialogue,” Marles told Reuters
SINGAPORE: Australia has asked for military talks with China and is comfortable growing closer to the Philippines, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit.
China and the Philippines are locked in confrontation in the disputed South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to shoals in waters that Manila says are well within its exclusive economic zone.
Australia has stepped up its presence in the region and a joint amphibious exercise with the Philippines at Palawan island in August was Australia’s biggest outside its own borders last year.
Australia has also said its recent encounters with China’s military fell short of being safe and professional, and Marles said he discussed the issue with Chinese defense chief Dong Jun on the sidelines of the conference on Saturday.
“The substantive request that we had out of the meeting with China was to grow the defense dialogue,” Marles told Reuters.
“We really want to get it ultimately back to where it was before it was stopped, and that would be at the level of our chiefs of defense force and our secretaries of defense meeting annually.”
Marles also held talks with Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue.
“We definitely think that this is a moment where our relationship with the Philippines is really being taken to a level it’s never been before, and we very much welcome that,” said Marles.
“What we’re now seeing is a strategic dimension to that relationship being put in place, and that’s something that we greatly welcome, and we see this as growing even further.”
Maldives to ban Israelis to protest Gaza war
- President Mohamed Muizzu has “resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” a spokesman for his office said in a statement
The Maldives, a tiny Islamic republic of more than 1,000 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded sandy white beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.
President Mohamed Muizzu has “resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” a spokesman for his office said in a statement, without giving details of when the new law would take effect.
Muizzu also announced a national fundraising campaign called “Maldivians in Solidarity with Palestine.”
The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and moved to restore relations in 2010.
However, normalization attempts were scuttled following the toppling of president Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.
Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been putting pressure on Muizzu to ban Israelis, as a sign of protest against the Gaza war.
Official data showed the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives dropped to 528 in the first four months of this year, down 88 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.
In response to the ban, an Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman urged citizens to avoid travel to the Maldives.
“For Israeli citizens staying in the country, it is recommended to consider leaving, since if they fall into distress for any reason, it will be difficult for us to help,” the spokesman added.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,439 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Chile joins developing nations rallying behind genocide case against Israel at international court
- President Borice said he was appalled by the humanitarian devastation in Gaza
SANTIAGO: Chile has joined a group of nations supporting a genocide case against Israel filed last year at the International Court of Justice.
President Gabriel Boric said in a speech to lawmakers Saturday that he was appalled by the humanitarian devastation in Gaza, especially against women and children. He accused the Israeli army of using "indiscriminate and disproportional" force.
“These acts demand a firm and permanent response of the international community,” the president said.
South Africa last year accused Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention. Israel has strongly rejected the claim and has argued that the war in Gaza is a legitimate defense against Hamas militants for their Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.
Chile is home to the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East, with a population of around 500,000, many of them descendants of Christian Arab immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. They took root in the South American country as small retail traders but have since gained prominence in business and politics. One of the country's most popular soccer teams is Palestino, whose white, black, green and red uniforms match the colors of the Palestinian flag.
Chile joins a group of mostly developing countries including Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia that has rallied behind South Africa's petition.
Boric, a leftist former student leader, has balanced condemnation of Hamas' attack with fierce criticism of Israel's military offensive, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
Fire at Russian oil refinery has caused deaths and injuries, officials say
- Regional governor said the fire was not caused by a Ukrainian drone strike
The regional governor said the fire was not caused by a Ukrainian drone strike and investigators opened a criminal case on suspicion of negligence.
The fire near the city of Ukhta in Russia’s northwestern Komi Republic left at least three people injured, Komi’s emergencies ministry said. Regional investigators said that the fire also caused deaths, but did not specify how many. They did not say whether the fire had yet been extinguished.
“Today a fire occurred at an oil refinery facility in the city of Ukhta during scheduled technical work by a contractor, resulting in deaths and injuries,” the investigative department wrote on Telegram.
Investigators have opened a criminal case into possible negligence at the oil refinery.
Regional Gov. Vladimir Uyba said that the fire was not related to a drone strike. In recent months, Russian refineries and oil terminals have become priority targets of Ukrainian drone attacks, part of stepped-up assaults on Russian territory.
Local officials did not specify which company the refinery belongs to, but images published by the local emergencies ministry show the logo of oil giant Lukoil.
