SEOUL: The influential sister of North Korea’s leader warned Tuesday that her country is ready to take “quick, overwhelming action” against the United States and South Korea, a day after the US flew a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber in a demonstration of strengthen against the North.
Monday’s US-South Korean training involving the B-52 bomber over the Korean Peninsula was the latest in a series of drills between the allies in recent months. Their militaries are also preparing to revive their largest field exercises later this month.
Kim Yo Jong didn’t elaborate on any planned actions in her statement, but North Korea has often test-launched missiles in response to US-South Korean military drills because it views them as an invasion rehearsal.
“We keep our eye on the restless military moves by the US forces and the South Korean puppet military and are always on standby to take appropriate, quick and overwhelming action at any time according to our judgment,” Kim Yo Jong said in the statement carried by state media.
“The demonstrative military moves and all sorts of rhetoric by the US and South Korea, which go so extremely frantic as not to be overlooked, undoubtedly provide (North Korea) with conditions for being forced to do something to cope with them,” she said.
After Monday’s training, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the B-52’s deployment demonstrated the allies’ decisive capacities to deter North Korean aggressions. The US deployed a long-range US B-1B bomber or multiple B-1Bs to the peninsula a few times earlier this year. Last month, the US and South Korea also held a simulation in Washington aimed at sharpening their response to North Korean nuclear threats.
Last Friday, the South Korean and US militaries announced they would conduct a computer-simulated command post training from March 13-23 and restore their largest springtime field exercises that were last held in 2018.
The allies had canceled or scaled back some of their regular drills since 2018 to support now-dormant diplomacy with North Korea and guard against the COVID-19 pandemic. But they’ve been restoring their exercises after North Korea last year conducted a record number of missile tests and openly threatened to use its nuclear weapons in potential conflicts with its rivals.
In a separate statement Tuesday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the flyover of the US B-52 bomber a reckless provocation that pushes the situation on the peninsula “deeper into the bottomless quagmire.” The statement, attributed to the unnamed head of the ministry’s foreign news office, said “there is no guarantee that there will be no violent physical conflict” if US-South Korean military provocations continue.
North Korea often unleashes fiery rhetoric in times of heightened animosities with the United States and South Korea. Possible steps North Korea could take include a nuclear test or the launch of a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile targeting the mainland US, observers say.
Last month, Kim Yo Jong threatened to turn the Pacific into the North’s firing range. In her statement Tuesday, she said North Korea would consider a possible US attempt to intercept a North Korean ICBM a declaration of war. She cited a South Korean media report saying the US military plans to shoot down a North Korean ICBM if it’s test-launched toward the Pacific.
All known North Korean ICBM tests have been made at steep angles to avoid neighboring countries, and the weapons landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
South Korea on Monday took a step meant to ease a thorny history dispute with Japan in what was seen as an effort to boost the trilateral Seoul-Tokyo-Washington security cooperation. The step involves a plan that uses local funds to compensate Koreans who performed forced labor during Tokyo’s colonial rule, but without requiring require Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations.
US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Monday praised the leaders of South Korea and Japan, saying the two came to understand that “potential of collaboration into the future is more important and have a greater value and realizing you have to deal with historic issues.”
Kim Jong Un’s sister warns Pyongyang ready to act against US, South Korea
https://arab.news/w8rrk
Kim Jong Un’s sister warns Pyongyang ready to act against US, South Korea
- North Korea often unleashes fiery rhetoric in times of heightened animosities with the United States and South Korea
- Kim Yo Jong: ‘We are always on standby to take appropriate, quick and overwhelming action at any time according to our judgment’
France blocks fake Ukraine war recruitment website
The site has now been taken down by French services, a government source, who asked not to be named, told AFP without giving further details on the nature of the operation.
The site, which is now inaccessible, said 200,000 French people were invited to “enlist in Ukraine,” with immigrants given priority.
A link to the site — that resembled the French army’s genuine recruitment portal — had been posted on X, formerly Twitter, the French defense ministry said.
“The site is a fake government site,” the ministry said, also on X, “and has been reposted by malevolent accounts as part of a disinformation campaign.”
The ministry did not name any suspects in the website spoof, but a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the site bore “the hallmarks of a Russian or pro-Russian effort as part of a disinformation campaign claiming that the French army is preparing to send troops to Ukraine.”
French President Emmanuel Macron angered the Russian leadership last month by hardening his tone on the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, refusing to rule out sending ground troops and insisting Europe had to do all that was needed for a Russian defeat.
Similar recent examples of disinformation posts included pictures of French army convoys wrongly presented as moving toward the Ukrainian border, the official said.
The fake website invited potential recruits to contact “unit commander Paul” for information about joining.
The defense ministry and government cyber units are investigating, ministry staff told AFP.
The French government has recently stepped up efforts to denounce and fight what it says are Russian disinformation and destabilization campaigns aimed at undermining French public support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Indonesian medics in Gaza ‘shocked’ by scale of humanitarian catastrophe
- Team of 11 Indonesian doctors, surgical nurses are part of emergency medical team in Gaza
- Medics say they ‘won’t be able to forget’ views of death and destruction
JAKARTA: Indonesian medics who are on an emergency mission in Rafah say they are shocked at the scale of human catastrophe in Gaza, as they witness the worst scenes of suffering they have ever seen.
A team of 11 Indonesian doctors and surgical nurses organized by the Jakarta-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee entered Gaza last week as part of an emergency deployment led by the World Health Organization.
They are now working at a number of health facilities in Rafah, a city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge and Israel’s deadly bombings have increased.
“They are certainly shocked. These are medics who usually work in ordinary settings and are suddenly thrown into such heartbreaking scenes,” Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C’s executive committee, told Arab News on Thursday.
In Gaza, the medical volunteers not only witness the death and injury from Israeli attacks but also famine.
“They see the extent of people fighting to get food, or they see children fighting over scraps of meals to give to their family,” Murad said. “Their consciences are being sliced open as they bear witness to these scenes that they won’t be able to forget in their lives.”
Israeli attacks, which began in October, have killed more than 32,500 Palestinians and wounded 74,000 others, while over 1 million people in Gaza are at risk of imminent famine as Israel continues to block aid to the besieged strip.
The team of Indonesian medics is part of a larger emergency medical deployment led by the WHO and composed of members from different countries. It includes orthopedic physicians and surgical nurses to help victims of Israeli attacks who suffer injuries from bombings, missile attacks and gunshots.
They have been struggling with the limited amount of medicines and surgical equipment in the besieged territory.
“The medical sector in Gaza is extremely overwhelmed because of the number of victims and the fact that the number of doctors and health services available are inadequate,” Murad said.
“They handle war victims with traumatic burn injuries, and many patients have to undergo amputation as well.”
Israel has continued to bomb Gaza and block crucial humanitarian aid, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in the strip during Ramadan.
A day after the council’s ceasefire resolution was passed, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
At Philippines’ maximum-security prison, longing for family reunion fills Ramadan prayers
- New Bilibid Prison in Metro Manila has one of the largest prison populations in the world
- It grants Muslim inmates exceptions to help them observe religious duties during the fasting month
MANILA: At 2 a.m. lights are usually still off at the largest Philippine prison, but the rules are less strict during the month of Ramadan, when Muslim inmates need to wake up earlier to perform their religious duties.
They prepare for early morning prayers and sahoor, the meal they consume before starting their daily fast.
“This is what we have been doing since the start of the month of Ramadan. Alhamdullilah we can continue,” said Yacob, an imam at the prison’s maximum-security compound mosque.
“Ramadan for us is when we can relax ourselves, our hearts, and be at peace. And we are very grateful to our government because here in the Philippines there is respect for religious freedom. We can practice our faith.”
The New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, has one of the largest prison populations in the world, housing more than 27,000 people. More than half of them, including 700 Muslim inmates, are in the maximum-security compound.
Yacob told Arab News that Muslim inmates have been observing the same way they have always done it.
At 4 p.m., they get together at the prison kitchen to prepare for iftar.
“We made a request to use the kitchen, which was also granted,” he said, adding they faced no difficulties in religious observance.
“Our only major challenge is that during Ramadan everyone needs to be with their loved ones, their children, because that is the spirit of Ramadan.”
Convicted of a deadly bomb attack in 2002, Yacob is a native of Zamboanga Sibugay in Mindanao, the southern island that is home to most Filipinos who profess Islam in the predominantly Catholic country.
Many other Muslim inmates also come from the same region, which until 2014 was at the heart of a four-decades-long separatist struggle.
Zainal, a 48-year-old from Marawi, was imprisoned 20 years ago on murder charges.
He prays that one day he and other inmates will be given the chance to observe Ramadan again at home.
“That’s our top priority, to be with our family specially during this time,” he said.
“I hope we will be forgiven.”
The prison is maintained by the Bureau of Corrections under the Philippine Department of Justice.
The bureau’s director, Gregorio Catapang Jr., told Arab News it was part of its adherence to religious freedom to grant Muslim inmates exemptions during the fasting month. It means they are allowed to receive more food items from relatives, observe different schedules to consume meals, and more freedom of movement.
“The maximum compound is divided into four quadrants or sectors. And they are not allowed to move between sectors or quadrants for security sectors. But during Ramadan they are free to do so,” he said.
“I always tell them: Before anything else you have to find your God ... Their religion will help them in their reformation.”
During Ramadan, access to the mosque is also granted outside the regular hours.
Datucan, who has been imprisoned on drugs-related charges, has been trying to keep himself focused on intense prayer and good deeds.
“We also avoid thinking or talking bad,” he said. “Ramadan is really the most sacred time for us.”
He remembers God and keeps thinking about all those who are dear to him.
“I want my family to be safe and far from harm,” he said.
“For all those who are imprisoned we have the same hope: to get out of this situation, to be free. I hope we will have a second chance, too. We will wait. It will come at the right time.”
Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal’s custody extended until April 1 in graft case
- Delhi CM Kejriwal was arrested in connection with corruption allegations related to city’s liquor policy
- Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party says case is fabricated, politically motivated against him by Indian government
NEW DELHI: An Indian court extended the custody of opposition leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal until April 1 on Thursday in a graft case related to the national capital territory’s liquor policy, local media said.
India’s financial crime-fighting agency arrested Kejriwal last week in connection with corruption allegations related to the city’s liquor policy and he was remanded to its custody until Thursday, weeks before India begins voting in general elections on April 19.
Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) says the case is fabricated and politically motivated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and his Bharatiya Janata Party deny political interference and say law enforcement agencies are doing their job.
All the main leaders of AAP were already imprisoned in the case before Kejriwal was arrested.
Terming his arrest a “political conspiracy,” Kejriwal, 55, told reporters outside court on Thursday that “the public will respond to this.”
Speaking in court later, he said the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has arrested him, aims to crush AAP.
ED lawyers told the court that they needed Kejriwal in custody for another seven days as he was “deliberately not cooperating” and needed to be interrogated further.
Kejriwal’s arrest has sparked protests in the national capital and the nearby northern state of Punjab, which is also governed by AAP, over the last few days.
Dozens of AAP supporters were detained on Tuesday as they attempted to march to Modi’s residence to demand his release.
Some AAP workers protesting and distributing leaflets to commuters outside a busy metro station in central Delhi were also detained on Thursday.
“This is the time when we campaign (for elections), our leaders are being put in prison, arrested ... they (federal government) are stopping us from campaigning, (but) nobody can stop us from winning,” a protester told news agency ANI.
A joint rally of the ‘INDIA’ alliance, consisting of more than two dozen political parties including AAP, is planned in the capital on Sunday to protest against the arrest.
The issue has also drawn international attention with the US and Germany calling for a “fair” and “impartial” trial in the case, causing New Delhi to tell Washington and Berlin that India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary and that they should stay away from its internal affairs.
China says Philippine ‘provocations’ cause of South China Sea tensions
- ‘China will not allow the Philippines to do whatever it wants, and has responded in a reasonable and forceful manner’
- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: ‘We will not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience
BEIJING/MANILA: China on Thursday blamed Philippine actions for recent rising tension between the two sides in the hotly contested South China Sea.
“The provocations by the Philippine side are the direct cause of the recent heating up of the South China Sea issue,” a statement from the defense ministry read, adding: “China will not allow the Philippines to do whatever it wants, and has responded in a reasonable and forceful manner.”
The Philippines will implement countermeasures proportionate and reasonable against “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks” by China’s coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Thursday.
“We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience,” Marcos said on Facebook.
He did not specify what the countermeasures would include.
The Philippines has been furious in the past year over what it calls repeated aggression by China’s coast guard and allied fishing vessels around disputed features located inside Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
The latest flare-up occurred last week, when China used water cannon to disrupt another Philippine resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal for soldiers posted to guard a warship intentionally grounded on a reef 25 years ago.
China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, has accused the Philippines of encroaching on its territory and says it took necessary measures against the vessels.
China warned the Philippines on Monday to behave cautiously and seek dialogue, saying their relations were at a “crossroads” as confrontations between their coast guards over maritime claims worsened tensions.
Marcos said he met his defense and security officials and has been in communication with “friends in the international community.”
“They have offered to help us on what the Philippines requires to protect and secure our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction while ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Marcos said.
The deterioration in relations with China come at a time when Marcos seeks to deepen defense ties with the United States. He has increased US access to Philippine military bases and joint exercises have been expanded to include sea and air patrols over the South China Sea, vexing Beijing.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to a 1951 mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and criticized as “dangerous” China’s actions at the Second Thomas Shoal.
In a phone call on Wednesday with his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro, Austin “reaffirmed the ironclad US commitment to the Philippines” which it said was undertaking a lawful resupply mission.
The Philippine-US treaty binds both countries to defend each other if under attack and includes coast guard, civilian and military vessels in the South China Sea.