Beijing confirms Chinese trawler hit Philippine boat

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Beijing confirms Chinese trawler hit Philippine boat

ASEAN+ June 15, 2019 15:37

By Agence France-Presse
Manila

Beijing confirmed Saturday that a Chinese vessel hit a Philippine fishing boat in a collision which has increased tensions in the disputed South China Sea, but denied claims it was a “hit and run”.

The Chinese trawler sailed away after the incident Sunday near Reed Bank that sank the fishing boat, sparking outrage from Philippine authorities and media.

While President Rodrigo Duterte has largely set aside the once tense stand-off with China over the resource-rich waterway, many in the Philippines bristle at Beijing’s actions in the sea.

The Chinese embassy in Manila said the crew of trawler Yuemaobinyu 42212 “bumped into” the Philippine boat and then left due to safety fears.

“The Chinese captain tried to rescue the Filipino fisherman, but was afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats,” the statement said.

It went on to say the incident was not a “hit-and-run”, as some Philippine authorities had claimed, because the trawler “confirmed the fishermen from the Filipino boat were rescued”.

However, the 22 fishermen told a very different story, saying they had spent hours in the water awaiting help.

They were eventually picked up by a Vietnamese boat and brought home Friday aboard a Philippine navy vessel.

The Philippine coast guard has started an investigation of the incident which Duterte’s spokesman branded as “outrageous and barbaric”.

Duterte has yet to make any public comment but he recently criticised China’s assertive stance over the sea.

“I love China… but it behoves upon us to ask, ‘Is it right for a country to claim the whole ocean?'” he said in a speech last month.

Manila’s Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said this week that he had lodged a diplomatic protest with China over the sinking.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Thursday called the incident “an ordinary maritime traffic accident”.

Geng said it was irresponsible for the Philippines to “politicise the incident without verification”.

Competing claims over the South China Sea are a point of regional contention because trillions of dollars of goods pass through it, and rich petroleum reserves are thought to sit deep beneath its waters.

Reed Bank, an area claimed by Manila and Beijing, is within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and far from China’s nearest major landmass.

Manila won a key 2016 ruling against China’s claims in the waterway, but Duterte opted to set it aside in exchange for Chinese investments.

Opposition politicians as well as segments of the public and media charge that Duterte has bartered away Philippine sovereignty with little to show in return.

Hong Kong govt suspends divisive extradition bill

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a press conference at the government headquarters in Hong Kong on June 15, 2019. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a press conference at the government headquarters in Hong Kong on June 15, 2019. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

Hong Kong govt suspends divisive extradition bill

ASEAN+ June 15, 2019 14:59

By Agence France-Presse
Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s embattled leader on Saturday said a divisive bill that would allow extraditions to China would be “suspended” in a major climbdown from her government after a week of unprecedented protests.

The city’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam has come under huge pressure to abandon the controversial legislation, including from her own political allies and advisers.

“The government has decided to suspend the legislative amendment exercise, restart our communication with all sectors of society, do more… work and listen to different views of society,” Lam told reporters Saturday.

“We have no intention to set a deadline for this work and promise to report to and consult members of the legislative council panel on security before we decide on the next step forward.”

The international finance hub was rocked by the worst political violence since its 1997 handover to China on Wednesday as tens of thousands of protesters were dispersed by riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

As criticism mounted, signs also emerged of a growing discomfort among Communist Party leaders in Beijing, and Lam held her press conference Saturday at the same government complex that was besieged by protesters earlier in the week.

The South China Morning Post said Lam held an emergency meeting on Friday night with her advisers while Chinese officials were also meeting in the nearby city of Shenzhen to map a way out of the impasse.

Tensions were running high with protest organisers planning another mass rally on Sunday.

Lam, who is appointed by a committee stacked with Beijing loyalists, had previously refused to consider abandoning the bill, despite months of criticism from business and legal bodies — and a record breaking rally on Sunday where organisers said more than one million protesters hit the streets.

“I feel deep sorrow and regret that the deficiencies in our work and various other factors have stirred up substantial controversies and disputes in society following the relatively calm periods of the past two years,” Lam said.

‘Lost credibility’

On Friday she found herself facing growing calls from within her own political camp to reverse course and tamp down spiralling public anger — including from hardline pro-Beijing lawmakers.

“Shouldn’t (we) cool the citizens down? I think to postpone it for a little bit is not a bad thing. At this moment, the government should self-examine,” Ann Chiang, a hardcore pro-Beijing lawmaker, told i-Cable News.

But others have warned against Lam bending to the protesters.

“If the government caves in to violence and external influences, in the long run that would also make Hong Kong ungovernable,” pro-Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip told reporters.

Opposition to the extradition bill has united an unusually wide cross section of Hong Kong.

Protest organisers had been calling for a full withdrawal of the bill, not a postponement.

James To, a lawmaker from the city’s pan-democrat camp, called on Lam to step down.

“The credibility of our chief executive has already been written off, it’s a kind of government that cannot have any credibility to rule anymore,” he told reporters Friday.

Beijing has vocally supported the bill and earlier this week threw its full support behind the Lam administration, calling protesters “rioters”.

But it has since sought to distance itself as public anger spiralled.

“The central government gave no instruction, no order about the… amendment,” Lu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to Britain, told the BBC.

“This amendment was initiated by the Hong Kong government.”

On Friday night, thousands of parents gathered in a park in the heart of the city’s commercial district to condemn the use of rubber bullets and tear gas against predominantly young protesters on Wednesday.

Y. Chan, a 50-year-old mother of two, said she was outraged watching the scenes unfold.

“It’s calling for all mothers who had enough already of what happened the other day,” she told AFP. “My kids were out there also that day. And although I want them to be safe, want them to be at home, but this is their home. They are defending it.”

Myanmar doctor-turned-model hits back at ban over revealing photos

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Myanmar doctor-turned-model hits back at ban over revealing photos

Breaking News June 15, 2019 14:48

By Agence France-Presse
Yangon

A Myanmar doctor and model who had her medical licence revoked for posting lingerie photos of herself blasted the government for “interfering” with personal freedoms, vowing Saturday to appeal against the medical council’s decision in a deeply conservative country.

Nang Mwe San frequently updates her Facebook — the main mode of online communication in Myanmar — with photos of herself dressed in swimsuits and lingerie, mimicking US model Kendall Jenner’s sheer outfits, as well as form-fitting Myanmar traditional wear.

But while the country’s youth have embraced modern clothing and pop culture, attitudes are slow to evolve and the conservative society still frowns on any depictions of overt sexuality.

Her risque outfits ran afoul of the Myanmar Medical Council, who issued her a letter dated June 3 revoking her license for “her dressing style which is against Myanmar culture and tradition”.

The notice came after a warning in January, making her promise to take down the Facebook posts, Nang Mwe San said, which she signed but did not comply with.

The 29-year-old, who worked for five years as a general practitioner before pursuing a modelling career in 2017, said there are no specific restrictions on dress code in medical ethics.

“I am not dressed like that when I am treating patients,” Nang Mwe San said, adding that this was “unacceptable” and she plans to appeal the council’s decision within the month.

“I don’t think they should interfere with personal freedoms and it is not their business,” she said, adding that she still hopes to return to medicine in the future.

Myanmar currently faces a “critical shortage” of trained health workers, according to the World Health Organization.

The medical council members could not be reached for comment.

But local netizens had plenty to say, with some harpooning her for criticising a lack of human rights and democracy in Myanmar.

“Human rights is not about exposing your body,” said commenter Shwe Thu Razza. “You should maintain Myanmar culture.”

But others came down on the model’s side.

“What she wears… outside of work should not matter to her profession,” said Swa Win Kyaw.

Cannabis edibles expected on the market in Canada by year’s end

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Cannabis edibles expected on the market in Canada by year’s end

Breaking News June 15, 2019 08:17

By Agence France-Presse
Ottawa

Canada expects to start sales of cannabis-infused edibles by mid-December, while prohibiting pot products that might appeal to children such as gummy bears or lollipops, the government announced Friday.

The new regulations — which follow last year’s legalization of recreational cannabis use — will come into effect on October 17. They will also apply to cannabis extracts and topicals.

However, officials told a media briefing that the new products are not expected to hit stores before mid-December as this relatively new industry takes off slowly and adjusts to consumer tastes.

“The amended regulations are the next step in our process to reduce the risks to public health and safety from edible cannabis, cannabis extracts and cannabis topicals and displace the illegal market for these products in Canada,” the government’s point man on cannabis, Bill Blair, said in a statement.

Under the new regulations, cannabis-infused food or drink will not be permitted to contain more than 10 milligrams of THC — the principal psychoactive compound in cannabis. For extracts and topicals the maximum will be 1,000 mg per package.

New consumers, however, are being urged to look for cannabis food or drink products containing only 2.5 mg of THC or less.

Health Canada explained that the effects of ingested cannabis may take up to two hours to be felt — versus seconds to minutes for inhalation. Pot is also stronger when ingested.

Producers and distributors also cannot make health or dietary claims, and cannot combine or even associate pot products with alcoholic beverages — so cannabis beer, which a handful of companies are developing, would not be allowed.

An estimated 5.4 million Canadians have purchased cannabis since it became legal on October 17, 2018, including more than 600,000 who tried it for the first time, according to the government statistical agency.

US quarantines 5,200 migrants over mumps and chicken pox exposure

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US quarantines 5,200 migrants over mumps and chicken pox exposure

ASEAN+ June 15, 2019 08:15

By Agence France-Presse
Washington

US authorities said Friday they had placed 5,200 detained migrants into quarantine, mainly over exposure to mumps, linking a surge in cases to a recent outbreak of the contagious disease in Central America.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official told AFP that as of June 13 almost 4,300 detainees were being confined across 39 facilities for exposure to mumps, more than 800 for exposure to chicken pox, and about a hundred for both.

The first confirmed case of mumps among ICE detainees was reported on September 7, 2018 and since then the figure has grown to 334, the official added.

Nathalie Asher, ICE’s executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations, said that 75 percent of the current detention population came directly from the border, while the others were detained within the US.

Given this, and recent outbreaks of mumps in Central America, “the preponderance of evidence points to the major influx at our Southwest border being, at minimum, a significant contributing factor of these occurrences,” she said.

“The impact is significant in the short and long term,” she said, including longer detentions and delayed removals.

The number in quarantine represent about a tenth of the approximately 52,000 ICE detainees overall.

The agency was giving exposed asymptomatic detainees measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines and quarantining them for 25 days from the last incubation period, it said.

Mumps is a contagious disease with symptoms such as puffy cheeks and a tender, swollen jaw as well as fever, muscle aches and loss of appetite.

Most people make a full recovery within two weeks but in rare cases there can be severe complications.

The US has been experiencing its own sporadic mumps outbreaks in the past several years, which scientists believe might be linked to the vaccine’s waning immunity over time and the need for a booster shot at the age of 18.

Cases fell dramatically after the two-MMR dose program was introduced in 1989, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with only a few hundred reported annually for several years thereafter.

But they have been on the rise again since 2006, with more than 6,000 cases in 2006, 2016 and 2017.

There have been 1,002 cases reported this year from January 1 to May 24.

US unhappy about UN counterterror envoy’s Xinjiang visit

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US unhappy about UN counterterror envoy’s Xinjiang visit

ASEAN+ June 15, 2019 06:59

By Agence France-Presse
Washington

The United States on Friday lodged a protest with the United Nations over what it called a “highly inappropriate” visit by its counterterrorism czar to China’s restive Xinjiang region, saying it could serve to legitimize Beijing’s crackdown on Muslim minorities.

The world body said Thursday that Vladimir Voronkov, the under-secretary general for counterterrorism, was on a visit to China. UN sources said that trip included a stop in Xinjiang.

Chinese authorities have placed an estimated one million people, mostly ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, in internment camps, which Beijing downplays as “vocational education centers” needed to combat extremism.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan called UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday to express his “deep concerns,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

“Such a visit is highly inappropriate in view of the unprecedented repression campaign underway in Xinjiang against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslims,” the statement said.

Sullivan told Guterres that “Beijing continues to paint its repressive campaign against Uighurs and other Muslims as legitimate counterterrorism efforts when it is not,” the spokeswoman added.

“The UN’s topmost counterterrorism official is putting at risk the UN’s reputation and credibility on counterterrorism and human rights by lending credence to these false claims.”

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet asked Beijing in December for permission to carry out a fact-finding mission in Xinjiang, but has been left waiting.

On Thursday, China’s new ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Chen Xu, said the UN high commissioner for human rights would visit when “we can find a time which is convenient to both sides.”

Biden, Sanders to face off as 1st Democratic debate line-up set

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Biden, Sanders to face off as 1st Democratic debate line-up set

Breaking News June 15, 2019 06:57

By Agence France-Presse
Washington

The Democratic Party on Friday announced its line-ups for the debut debate of the 2020 presidential cycle — a crowded, two-night affair that will see frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders square off in a highly anticipated match-up.

Twenty Democrats will take the stage in prime time on June 26 and 27 in Miami — in two groups of 10 — as they battle to become the nominee who will challenge President Donald Trump for the White House next year.

Former US vice president Biden, the unequivocal frontrunner, and liberal senator Sanders, who is polling in second, will be among 10 candidates sharing the stage on the second night.

They will be joined by South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has surged from obscurity into fourth place in early polling, and fifth place Senator Kamala Harris, who launched her campaign to strong buzz but has struggled to maintain momentum.

That leaves liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is polling in third place and whose star has risen recently, as the clear headliner on the first night.

Her primary on-stage rivals will be ex-congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Cory Booker.

With the opening debate now set, the political stakes of the primary race were becoming clearer.

Warren squares off against several lower-polling rivals scrambling for a breakout moment.

Joining her will be New York Mayor Bill de Blasio; former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, the only Latino in the 2020 race; former congressman John Delaney; congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard; Washington Governor Jay Inslee; Senator Amy Klobuchar; and congressman Tim Ryan.

But the second night’s broadcast may ultimately score more eyeballs given it features the lion’s share of popular candidates.

In addition to the top-tier candidates, Day 2 will include Senator Michael Bennet; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, congressman Eric Swalwell; best-selling author on spirituality Marianne Williamson; and technology entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

The debates will give unprecedented public exposure for candidates like Williamson and Yang, who are new to the political realm.

Yang, a 44-year-old Asian-American, has proposed a Universal Basic Income of $1,000 per month for every American adult to help address the growing threat of automation.

“My dreams are coming true,” he tweeted after the debate line-up was announced.

The debate, two hours per night, will air live on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo.

A manual random drawing to determine the line-ups was held at NBC News headquarters in New York, conducted in the presence of Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials and candidate representatives.

The 2020 Democratic race features the largest primary field in modern history, and the party was not able to accommodate all candidates.

Congressman Seth Moulton, Montana Governor Steve Bullock and Mayor Wayne Messam of Miramar, Florida failed to meet the polling and fund-raising criteria set by the DNC and were not invited to attend.

Mexico publishes Trump’s ‘secret deal’ on migration

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Mexico publishes Trump’s ‘secret deal’ on migration

Breaking News June 15, 2019 06:53

By Agence France-Presse
Mexico City

Mexico published the document Friday that US President Donald Trump fleetingly showed the press this week as evidence he had extracted tough new concessions on migration from the neighboring country.

Trump theatrically waved the one-page document in front of reporters Tuesday, fending off critics who said his use of tariff threats to force Mexico into a deal on curbing migration had in fact extracted little in the way of new commitments from the Mexican side.

Photojournalists managed to capture a few sentences of the document, but the full contents had not previously been revealed.

The document is a “supplementary agreement” to the deal the US and Mexico signed last Friday, and outlines additional measures the two sides agree to take.

The two countries “will immediately begin discussions to establish definitive terms for a binding bilateral agreement to further address burden-sharing and the assignment of responsibility for processing refugee status claims of migrants,” it says.

Under that “binding bilateral agreement,” the countries “would accept the return, and process refugee status claims, of third-party nationals who have crossed that party’s territory to arrive” in the neighboring country, it says.

That language appears to resemble Trump’s demand for a “safe third country” agreement in which migrants entering Mexican territory would have to seek asylum there, not the United States, and be immediately deported to Mexico if they entered the US.

The document adds that the agreement would be “part of a regional approach” to dealing with undocumented migrants and refugees.

“Mexico also commits to immediately begin examining domestic laws and regulations with a view to identifying any changes that may be necessary to bring into force and implement such an agreement,” it says.

Under last Friday’s main deal, Mexico agreed to deploy 6,000 National Guardsmen to reinforce its southern border, and to expand its policy of taking back migrants as the United States processes their asylum claims.

If after 45 days the US decides, “at its discretion and after consultation with Mexico,” that those measures are not enough, Mexico “will take all necessary steps under domestic law to bring the (binding bilateral) agreement into force with a view to ensuring that the agreement will enter into force within 45 days,” the document concludes.

South Korean court tells cheating husband he must stay married

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File photo
File photo

South Korean court tells cheating husband he must stay married

ASEAN+ June 14, 2019 18:46

By Agence France-Presse
Seoul, South Korea

2,405 Viewed

A cheating husband cannot divorce his wife despite having a years-long affair, a South Korean court ruled Friday, insisting only the injured party in a marriage could initiate a legal separation.

Movie director Hong Sang-soo, 58, a Cannes film festival regular, filed for divorce in 2016, shortly after his relationship with actress Kim Min-hee became public.

But Hong’s wife, whom he wed in 1985, refused to play along — leading to a drawn-out legal battle that has lasted for years.

Seoul Family Court on Friday dismissed Hong’s petition, and awarded costs against him.

South Korea remains a conservative society, where until 2015, anyone indulging in extramarital sex risked a two-year prison sentence.

Even since decriminalisation, public disapproval of affairs remains strong.

Despite her successes on the silver screen, 37-year-old Kim — who won best actress at Germany’s pretigious Berlinale in 2017 — has struggled to inspire warmth among the South Korean public.

Her portrayal of an out-of-work actress reeling from an affair with a married director in Hong’s “On the Beach at Night Alone” appears to have been too close to real life for movie goers.

The law against adultery was originally intended to safeguard the rights of women at a time when marriage offered them some of their only legal protections.

Most had no independent income, and divorce carried enormous social stigma.

In 2015, when the country’s highest court reaffirmed that only the injured party could initiate a divorce, it said “gender equality had some way to go”.

Judges said women would be particularly vulnerable if unfaithful husbands were allowed to divorce them without any justifiable complaint.

Opponents of the current divorce laws say they violate individual freedoms and trap people in unhappy marriages.

Malaysia steps up security as Rohingya land on Thai beach

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Malaysia steps up security as Rohingya land on Thai beach

national June 14, 2019 01:00

By THE NATION

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MALAYSIA STEPPED up security measures along its border with Thailand after a group of 65 Rohingya landed in southern Satun province this week on their way to the predominantly Muslim neighbouring country.

Malaysian maritime police, custom officials and border guards were seen patrolling along the border yesterday. Malaysia has been the prime destination for Rohingya people, and as of April, 24,720 refugees have been given shelter in the country, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday ordered an investigation after a boat carrying 65 ethnic Rohingya and five Myanmar men swept ashore at Satun.

Deputy Government spokesman Lt-General Weerachon Sukondhapatipak said Prayut wants an investigation into who was behind the landing of the vessel at Koh Rawi in Tambon Koh Sarai of Satun’s Muang district.

The premier has also called on public health agencies to provide the immigrants with health check-ups as per humanitarian principles and also to prevent the spread of any contagious diseases they may be carrying, he added.

Searching for accomplices

National Police inspector-general Pol General Suchat Theerasawat, who surveyed the boat’s route by helicopter, said police were searching for more accomplices.

Thai boat captain Sangkhom Paphan, 49, and five Myanmar nationals have so far been charged with bringing illegal immigrants into the country. Police are also checking to see if they are part of a human-trafficking ring.

Suchat said the 65 Rohingya people were being screened by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry to see if they are human-trafficking victims. Officials are looking for an interpreter to help interview the refugees, he said.

A high-ranked official source said that the system of trafficking Rohingya has changed. Now, the refugees currently in Malaysia contact a trafficking ring in Myanmar directly to bring their relatives to a third country by boat, car or train. The traffickers then hire Thais to transport the refugees through Thailand to their destination, the source said.

The source added that this change took place after Lt-General Manas Kongpan was arrested in 2015 along with Pajjuban Angchotephan, the |former president of the Satun Provincial Administrative Organisation, and Padang |Besar Municipality’s former mayor, Banjong Pongphon.

Manas and Pajjuban were jailed for 20 years each and Banjong for 10 years in May. Manas was linked to the 2015 discovery of a mass grave in a jungle in the southern border province, where traffickers had hidden their victims’ remains. Most of the victims were ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has sheltered 900,000 Royingya refugees, 740,000 of whom fled from violence in Rakhine State since August 2017.

Dhaka and Nay Pyi Taw have signed a pact to repatriate, but the plan has been on hold since November as the refugees have resisted due to fear for their safety.

Asean leaders are expected to discuss the Rakhine crisis during a summit in Bangkok later this month in order to seek a solution to help facilitate the repatriation.