SEOUL: A nuclear-powered US submarine made a port call in South Korea on Tuesday in a show of force amid concerns that North Korea may mark the foundation of its military with a missile launch or a nuclear test, defying US and Chinese pressure.
The port call by the USS Michigan came as a US aircraft carrier strike group steams for Korean waters and as the top nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan, and the United States were to meet in Tokyo to discuss the North’s refusal to give up its nuclear program.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshide Suga, told a media briefing that China’s nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, would also hold talks with Japanese Foreign Ministry officials on Tuesday. A ministry source said Wu was likely to meet his Japanese nuclear counterpart on Wednesday.
Matching the flurry of diplomatic and military activity in North Asia, the State Department in Washington said on Monday US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would chair a special ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea on Friday.
Tillerson, along with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford, would also hold a rare briefing for the entire US Senate on North Korea on Wednesday, Senate aides said.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump called for tougher new UN sanctions on Pyongyang, saying the North was a global threat and “a problem that we have to finally solve.”
“The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable,” Trump told a meeting with the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russia, at the White House. “The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
South Korean and US officials have feared for some time that a sixth North Korean nuclear test could be imminent. Speculation has grown that such a test, or another long-range missile launch, could coincide with the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the North’s Korean People’s Army on Tuesday.
The official China Daily said on Tuesday it was time for Pyongyang and Washington to take a step back from harsh rhetoric and heed the voices of reason calling for a peaceful resolution.
“Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the UN sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership,” the newspaper said in an editorial.
“They are at once perilously overestimating their own strength and underestimating the hazards they are brewing for themselves,” it said.
In a phone conversation with Trump on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all sides to exercise restraint.
Two Japanese destroyers conducted exercises on Monday with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group that is headed for waters off the Korean peninsula, sent by Trump as a warning to the North.
The South Korean military is also planning to conduct joint drills with the carrier group.
As those drills continued, the USS Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday, the US Navy said. The nuclear-powered submarine is built to carry and launch ballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
As well as his military show of force, Trump has also sought to pressure China to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbor.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally, has in turn been angered by Pyongyang’s belligerence, as well as its nuclear and missile programs.
Regardless, North Korea has carried out nuclear and missile tests in defiance of successive rounds of United Nations sanctions.
Angered by the approach of the carrier group, which could arrive within days, North Korea said the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson was “an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade.”
“The United States should not run amok and should consider carefully any catastrophic consequence from its foolish military provocative act,” Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a commentary.
US submarine makes South Korea port call, North remains defiant
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US submarine makes South Korea port call, North remains defiant
Filipino activists and fishermen sail in 100-boat flotilla to disputed shoal guarded by China
- Philippine coast guard and navy deploy one patrol ship each to keep watch from a distance on the activists and fishermen
- China effectively seized the Scarborough Shoal, a triangle-shaped atoll with a vast fishing lagoon, in 2012
The Philippine coast guard and navy deployed one patrol ship each to keep watch from a distance on the activists and fishermen, who set off on wooden boats with bamboo outriggers to assert Manila’s sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal. Dozens of journalists joined the three-day voyage.
Activists and volunteers, including a Roman Catholic priest, belonging to a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito — Tagalog for This is Ours — planned to float small territorial buoys and distribute food packs and fuel to Filipino fishermen near the shoal, organizers said, adding they were prepared for contingencies.
“Our mission is peaceful based on international law and aimed at asserting our sovereign rights,” said Rafaela David, a lead organizer. “We will sail with determination, not provocation, to civilianize the region and safeguard our territorial integrity.”
In December, David’s group with boatloads of fishermen also tried to sail to another disputed shoal but cut short the trip after being tailed by a Chinese ship.
China effectively seized the Scarborough Shoal, a triangle-shaped atoll with a vast fishing lagoon ringed by mostly submerged coral outcrops, by surrounding it with its coast guard ships after a tense 2012 standoff with Philippine government ships.
Angered by China’s action, the Philippine government brought the disputes to international arbitration in 2013 and largely won with a tribunal in The Hague ruling three years later that China’s expansive claims based on historical grounds in the busy seaway were invalid under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The ruling declared the Scarborough Shoal a traditional fishing area for Chinese, Filipino and Vietnamese fishermen. In the past, fishermen have anchored in the shoal to avoid huge waves in the high seas in stormy weather.
China refused to participate in the arbitration, rejected the outcome and continues to defy it.
Two weeks ago, Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships used water cannons on Philippine coast guard and fisheries boats patrolling the Scarborough Shoal, damaging both craft.
The Philippines condemned the Chinese coast guard’s action on the shoal, which lies in the Southeast Asian nation’s internationally recognized exclusive economic zone. The Chinese coast guard said it took a “necessary measure” after the Philippine ships “violated China’s sovereignty.”
The Chinese coast guard has also reinstalled a floating barrier across the entrance to the shoal’s vast fishing lagoon, the Philippine coast guard said. The Philippine coast guard removed a similar barrier in the past to allow Filipinos to fish there.
In addition to the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the territorial disputes.
Chinese coast guard ships had also ventured into waters close to Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in the past, sparking tensions and protests, but the Southeast Asian nations with considerable economic ties with China have not been as aggressively critical against Beijing’s increasingly assertive actions.
The Philippines has released videos of its territorial faceoffs with China and invited journalists to witness the hostilities in the high seas in a strategy to gain international support, sparking a word war with Beijing.
The increasing frequency of the skirmishes between the Philippines and China has led to minor collisions, injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged supply boats in recent months. It has sparked fears the territorial disputes could degenerate into an armed conflict between China and the United States, a longtime treaty ally of the Philippines.
Indonesia floods kill 58 as rescuers race to find missing
- Rescuers said many of the retrieved bodies were found in or around nearby rivers after locals were swept away by the deluge of volcanic material, mud and rain that tore through neighborhoods
Tanah Datar, Indonesia: Indonesian rescuers raced Wednesday to find dozens of people still unaccounted for after flash floods and cold lava flow that inundated neighborhoods and swept away houses over the weekend left 58 people dead.
Hours of torrential rain on Saturday caused mud and rocks to flow into districts near one of Indonesia’s most active volcanos, sweeping away dozens of houses and damaging roads and mosques.
“Based on the latest data... the number of people who died is 58,” national disaster agency chief Suharyanto said in a statement Wednesday.
He added that 35 people remained missing — up from local rescuers’ figure of 22 on Tuesday — and 33 people were injured.
Rescuers said many of the retrieved bodies were found in or around nearby rivers after locals were swept away by the deluge of volcanic material, mud and rain that tore through neighborhoods.
Cold lava, also known as lahar, is volcanic material such as ash, sand and pebbles carried down a volcano’s slopes by rain.
Heavy equipment was deployed to clear debris from the areas worst hit by flooding, which has affected transport access in six districts, said Suharyanto, who goes by one name.
More than 3,300 people have been forced to evacuate from affected areas.
To aid the rescue effort, authorities on Wednesday deployed weather modification technology, the term Indonesian officials use for cloud seeding.
In this case, it is being used in a bid to make clouds rain earlier so the rainfall’s intensity is weakened by the time it reaches the disaster-struck area.
Indonesia is prone to landslides and floods during the rainy season.
In 2022, about 24,000 people were evacuated and two children were killed in floods on Sumatra island, with environmental campaigners blaming deforestation caused by logging for worsening the disaster.
Trees act as a natural defense against floods, slowing the rate at which water runs down hills and into rivers.
Biden administration is giving $1 billion in new weapons and ammo to Israel, congressional aides say
Biden administration is giving $1 billion in new weapons and ammo to Israel, congressional aides say
- The package being sent includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the aides said
- Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, three congressional aides said Tuesday.
It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be announced by the administration since it put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold earlier in the month. The administration has said it paused that earlier transfer to keep Israel from using the bombs in its growing offensive in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The congressional aides spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an arms transfer that has not yet been made public.
The package being sent includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the aides said.
There was no immediate indication when the arms would be sent. Israel is now seven months into its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the plans to move the package.
House Republicans were planning this week to advance a bill to mandate the delivery of offensive weaponry for Israel. Following Biden’s move to put a pause on bomb shipments last week, Republicans have been swift in their condemnation, arguing it represents the abandonment of the closest US ally in the Middle East.
The White House said Tuesday that Biden would veto the bill if it were to pass Congress. The bill also has practically no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But House Democrats are somewhat divided on the issue, and roughly two dozen have signed onto a letter to the Biden administration saying they were “deeply concerned about the message” sent by pausing the bomb shipment.
In addition to the written veto threat, the White House has been in touch with various lawmakers and congressional aides about the legislation, according to an administration official.
“We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the President’s ability to deploy US security assistance consistent with US foreign policy and national security objectives,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week, adding that the administration plans to spend “every last cent” appropriated by Congress in the national security supplemental package that was signed into law by Biden last month.
Court probing Ukraine, Gaza wars vows to defy threats
- Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry
- In May of last year Russia put Kahn on its list of wanted persons after the court issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin for his role in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as part of the war
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The International Criminal Court prosecutor said Tuesday he will not be intimidated by threats as his office probes possible war crimes in Ukraine and Gaza.
During a UN Security Council meeting on his probe into war crimes in Libya, prosecutor Karim Khan was challenged by the ambassadors of Russia and Libya, who criticized what they called his inaction as Israel wages war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“One wonders if the effectiveness of the ICC on this track is affected by the fact that a new bipartisan bill has been submitted to the US Congress to sanction ICC officials involved in investigating not only the US but also its allies,” said the Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzia.
Nebenzia was alluding to news reports that a bill to this end has been submitted to the US Congress.
Khan responded by citing what he said were threats against him and his office to make him halt his probes.
“We will not be swayed, whether it’s by warrants for my arrest or the arrest of elected officials of the court by the Russian Federation, or whether it’s by other elected officials in any other jurisdiction,” Khan said.
In May of last year Russia put Kahn on its list of wanted persons after the court issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin for his role in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as part of the war.
In early May Kahn’s office said on X that the court’s “independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the court or against court personnel.”
It did not say where the threats are coming from.
“Such threats, even not acted upon, may constitute an offense” against the ICC’s “administration of justice,” the office warned, calling for an end to such activity.
The court made this comment after US and Israeli media reports which suggested the ICC prosecutor could issue warrants against Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders.
“We have a duty to stand up for justice, to stand up for victims,” Kahn said Tuesday.
“And I am fully cognizant that there are Goliaths in this room. There are Goliaths with power, with influence” he said.
He added: “We have something called the law. All I can do is say that we will stand up to the best of our ability. We will stand up by the law with integrity with independence.”
Sweltering heat across Asia was 45 times more likely because of climate change, study finds
ENGALURU, India: Sizzling heat across Asia and the Middle East in late April that echoed last year’s destructive swelter was made 45 times more likely in some parts of the continent because of human-caused climate change, a study Tuesday found.
Scorching temperatures were felt across large swaths of Asia, from Gaza in the west — where over 2 million people face clean water shortages, lack of health care and other essentials due to Israeli bombardment — to the Philippines in the southeast, with many parts of the continent experiencing temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) several days in a row.
The study was released by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists, who use established climate models to quickly determine whether human-caused climate change played a part in extreme weather events around the world.
In the Philippines, scientists found the heat was so extreme it would have been impossible without human-caused climate change. In parts of the Middle East, climate change increased the probability of the event by about a factor of five.
“People suffered and died when April temperatures soared in Asia,” said Friederike Otto, study author and climate scientist at Imperial College in London. “If humans continue to burn fossil fuels, the climate will continue to warm, and vulnerable people will continue to die.”
At least 28 heat-related deaths were reported in Bangladesh, as well as five in India and three in Gaza in April. Surges in heat deaths have also been reported in Thailand and the Philippines this year according to the study.
The heat also had a large impact on agriculture, causing crop damage and reduced yields, as well as on education, with school vacations having to be extended and schools closed in several countries, affecting thousands of students.
Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam broke records for their hottest April day, and the Philippines experienced its hottest night ever with a low of 29.8 degrees Celsius (85.6 degrees Fahrenheit). In India, temperatures reached as high as 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit). The month was the hottest April on record globally and the eleventh consecutive month in a row that broke the hottest month record.
Climate experts say extreme heat in South Asia during the pre-monsoon season is becoming more frequent and the study found that extreme temperatures are now about 0.85 degrees Celsius (1.5 Fahrenheit) hotter in the region because of climate change.
Internally displaced people, migrants and those in refugee camps were especially vulnerable to the searing temperatures, the study found.
“These findings in scientific terms are alarming,” said Aditya Valiathan Pillai, a heat plans expert at New Delhi-based think tank Sustainable Futures Collaborative. “But for people on the ground living in precarious conditions, it could be absolutely deadly.” Pillai was not part of the study.
Pillai said more awareness about heat risks, public and private investments to deal with increasing heat and more research on its impacts are all necessary to deal with future heat waves.
“I think heat is now among the foremost risks in terms of personal health for millions across the world as well as nations’ economic development,” he said.
