the once-powerful uncle of
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been executed after being purged
for corruption, state news agency KCNA reports.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Thai opposition to quit government
Thailand’s main opposition party said Sunday its members were resigning en masse from parliament to protest against a government they claim is "no longer accepted by the people", a move certain to exacerbate the country’s latest political crisis
Philippines reaches power-sharing deal with rebel group
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Thai prime minister rejects opposition calls to resign
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday refused opposition calls to resign before snap elections in February as protest leaders announced the creation of a parallel government and said the premier should be charged with "insurrection".
Sunday, December 8, 2013
South Korea on Sunday said it plans to expand its air defence zone, which will now partially overlap with a similar zone announced by China last month. The two zones will now both include a rock claimed by both countries and controlled by South Korea.
Beijing’s declaration of an air defence identification zone in an area that includes islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with Japan has triggered protests from the United States and its close allies Japan and South Korea.
Announcing the expansion of its own zone to include two territorial islands to the south and a submerged rock also claimed by China, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the move would not infringe on neighbouring countries’ sovereignty.
“We believe this will not significantly impact our relationships with China and with Japan as we try to work for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia,” defence ministry head of policy Jang Hyuk told a briefing.
'Not an excessive measure'
“We have explained our position to related countries and overall they are in agreement that this move complies with international regulations and is not an excessive measure,” he said, adding the ministry’s top priority was to work with neighbouring countries to prevent military confrontation.
South Korea had objected to China’s November 23 move as unacceptable because its new zone includes a maritime rock named Ieodo, which Seoul controls, with a research station platform built atop it. China also claims the submerged rock.
But South Korea’s reaction to Beijing has been more measured than the sharp rebukes delivered from Tokyo and Washington, reflecting a sensitivity towards Seoul’s largest trading partner.
South Korea’s air defence zone was originally established by the US Air Force in 1951 during the Korean War. The extension of the zone will not apply any restrictions to the operation of commercial flights, the defence ministry said separately in a statement.
The move will take effect on Dec. 15, it said.
It will also result in an overlap with Japan’s air defence zone, Jang said.
China wants mutual respect
There was no immediate reaction from China, although Beijing’s response to news last week that South Korea was reviewing its options on the air defence zone was relatively low key.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Friday that any move by South Korea must “accord with international law and norms”, but added: “China is willing to maintain communications with South Korea on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”
The decision by China that kicked off the latest spat was the subject of a tense disagreement as U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden visited China last week, stressing Washington’s objections to the move that he said caused “significant apprehension” in the region.
Ties between China and Japan, always fraught due to regional rivalry and lingering bitterness from World War Two, have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan.
Washington takes no position on the sovereignty of the islands, but recognises Tokyo’s administrative control and says a US-Japan security pact applies to them.
Beijing says its zone is in accordance with international law and Washington and others should respect it.
Under the Chinese zone’s rules, all aircraft have to report flight plans to Chinese authorities, maintain radio contact and reply promptly to identification inquiries.
US, Japanese and South Korean military aircraft have breached the zone without informing Beijing since it was announced. South Korean and Japanese commercial planes have also been advised by their governments not to follow the rules.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
Beijing’s declaration of an air defence identification zone in an area that includes islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with Japan has triggered protests from the United States and its close allies Japan and South Korea.
Announcing the expansion of its own zone to include two territorial islands to the south and a submerged rock also claimed by China, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the move would not infringe on neighbouring countries’ sovereignty.
“We believe this will not significantly impact our relationships with China and with Japan as we try to work for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia,” defence ministry head of policy Jang Hyuk told a briefing.
'Not an excessive measure'
“We have explained our position to related countries and overall they are in agreement that this move complies with international regulations and is not an excessive measure,” he said, adding the ministry’s top priority was to work with neighbouring countries to prevent military confrontation.
South Korea had objected to China’s November 23 move as unacceptable because its new zone includes a maritime rock named Ieodo, which Seoul controls, with a research station platform built atop it. China also claims the submerged rock.
But South Korea’s reaction to Beijing has been more measured than the sharp rebukes delivered from Tokyo and Washington, reflecting a sensitivity towards Seoul’s largest trading partner.
South Korea’s air defence zone was originally established by the US Air Force in 1951 during the Korean War. The extension of the zone will not apply any restrictions to the operation of commercial flights, the defence ministry said separately in a statement.
The move will take effect on Dec. 15, it said.
It will also result in an overlap with Japan’s air defence zone, Jang said.
China wants mutual respect
There was no immediate reaction from China, although Beijing’s response to news last week that South Korea was reviewing its options on the air defence zone was relatively low key.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Friday that any move by South Korea must “accord with international law and norms”, but added: “China is willing to maintain communications with South Korea on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”
The decision by China that kicked off the latest spat was the subject of a tense disagreement as U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden visited China last week, stressing Washington’s objections to the move that he said caused “significant apprehension” in the region.
Ties between China and Japan, always fraught due to regional rivalry and lingering bitterness from World War Two, have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan.
Washington takes no position on the sovereignty of the islands, but recognises Tokyo’s administrative control and says a US-Japan security pact applies to them.
Beijing says its zone is in accordance with international law and Washington and others should respect it.
Under the Chinese zone’s rules, all aircraft have to report flight plans to Chinese authorities, maintain radio contact and reply promptly to identification inquiries.
US, Japanese and South Korean military aircraft have breached the zone without informing Beijing since it was announced. South Korean and Japanese commercial planes have also been advised by their governments not to follow the rules.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Thai police remove barricades to PM offices
© AFP
Thai protesters, who have vowed to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, entered the government's headquarters on Tuesday after police removed barricades from outside both Government House and the police headquarters.By FRANCE 24 (text)
Hundreds of Thai opposition protesters, who have vowed to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, entered Government House in Bangkok unopposed on Tuesday, after police said they would offer no resistance.
Authorities have removed barriers to allow demonstrators into the compound "in order to reduce tensions between protesters and the police", Krisana Pattanacharoen, a police official, said in a televised address.
There was a carnival atmosphere, as protesters poured into the compound blowing whistles, sitting on the manicured lawns and posing for pictures, as tensions eased sharply in the capital after two days of unrest.
"This is great. I will fight!” said one protester outside Government House's gates, holding a Thai flag.
Earlier on Tuesday, police used cranes to remove concrete slabs and barbed wire barricades on a road leading to the nearby city police headquarters after agreeing to let the protesters into the building.
Some 20 police and soldiers were visible at the door of one of the buildings within the headquarters, in a dramatic reduction of security for the symbolic seat of government power.
The move comes after police announced they would no longer protect the building, which they had defended with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon on Monday.
The unexpected reversal of strategy by the government suggests it no longer wants to confront the protesters after days of clashes that have left three people dead and more than 230 injured and raised concerns about the country's stability.
Metropolitan Police chief Lieutenant General Kamronwit Thoopkrajang also said his officers would no longer try to fend off protesters at the police base.
"The Metropolitan Police Headquarters belongs to the public," he said.
"There will be no use of tear gas today," he said. "Last night a police officer was injured by a gunshot so if we resist there will be more injuries, and we are all Thais," he said.
Other government officials did not comment on the developments and it was not clear if this would provide more than a lull to the violence and the crippling political deadlock that undermines Thailand's democracy, economy and tourism.
On Monday night, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told his supporters to storm the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau, one of the main buildings they have vowed to seize as part of a campaign to topple the government.
Yingluck told a news conference on Monday that while she could accept Suthep’s demand to hand power to an unelected council, she was willing to do anything it takes to end the violent protests,
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP)
Authorities have removed barriers to allow demonstrators into the compound "in order to reduce tensions between protesters and the police", Krisana Pattanacharoen, a police official, said in a televised address.
There was a carnival atmosphere, as protesters poured into the compound blowing whistles, sitting on the manicured lawns and posing for pictures, as tensions eased sharply in the capital after two days of unrest.
"This is great. I will fight!” said one protester outside Government House's gates, holding a Thai flag.
Earlier on Tuesday, police used cranes to remove concrete slabs and barbed wire barricades on a road leading to the nearby city police headquarters after agreeing to let the protesters into the building.
Some 20 police and soldiers were visible at the door of one of the buildings within the headquarters, in a dramatic reduction of security for the symbolic seat of government power.
The move comes after police announced they would no longer protect the building, which they had defended with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon on Monday.
The unexpected reversal of strategy by the government suggests it no longer wants to confront the protesters after days of clashes that have left three people dead and more than 230 injured and raised concerns about the country's stability.
Metropolitan Police chief Lieutenant General Kamronwit Thoopkrajang also said his officers would no longer try to fend off protesters at the police base.
"The Metropolitan Police Headquarters belongs to the public," he said.
"There will be no use of tear gas today," he said. "Last night a police officer was injured by a gunshot so if we resist there will be more injuries, and we are all Thais," he said.
Other government officials did not comment on the developments and it was not clear if this would provide more than a lull to the violence and the crippling political deadlock that undermines Thailand's democracy, economy and tourism.
On Monday night, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told his supporters to storm the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau, one of the main buildings they have vowed to seize as part of a campaign to topple the government.
Yingluck told a news conference on Monday that while she could accept Suthep’s demand to hand power to an unelected council, she was willing to do anything it takes to end the violent protests,
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP)
Workers started removing radioactive fuel rods Monday from a reactor building at the crippledFukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The painstaking and risky task is a crucial first step toward a full cleanup of the earthquake and tsunami-damaged plant in northeastern Japan.
The Unit 4 reactor was offline at the time of the March 2011 disaster, and its core didn’t melt as Units 1-3 did. But hydrogen explosions blew the roof and walls off the Unit 4 building and weakened the structure, leaving it vulnerable to earthquakes.
Tokyo Electric, known as TEPCO, has since reinforced the building, but experts say keeping so many fuel rods in a storage pool in the building still poses a major safety risk.
"The operation is an important step toward decommissioning Fukushima Dai-ichi, which would take 30-40 years," TEPCO President Naomi Hirose said in a video message on the company’s website.
TEPCO has built a massive steel structure next to and partly over Unit 4 to mount cranes for the operation. It will take at least until the end of 2014 to finish moving the 1,533 sets of fuel rods, including 202 unused sets, to a safer location. Each set includes about 60-80 fuel rods containing uranium-based fuel pellets.
TEPCO will remove the unused fuel rods first, and will then move on to the more radioactive spent fuel. At the very end it will remove three sets of rods that are slightly damaged. The storage pools in Units 1-4 contain a total of 80 sets of rods with slight damage, most of which occurred years ago.
TEPCO spokesman Noriyuki Imaizumi said a group of six workers safely stored four sets of fuel rods in a cask on Monday. No problems were reported.
The operation is delicate. Experts say the fuel rod sets may have been damaged or jammed by small pieces of debris that fell into the pool during the explosions. Some have also raised concern about a major earthquake hitting during the removal work.
Two other reactors, Units 5 and 6, were also offline at the time of the disaster and eventually went into normal shutdown. They are also expected to be decommissioned.
(AP)
The Unit 4 reactor was offline at the time of the March 2011 disaster, and its core didn’t melt as Units 1-3 did. But hydrogen explosions blew the roof and walls off the Unit 4 building and weakened the structure, leaving it vulnerable to earthquakes.
Tokyo Electric, known as TEPCO, has since reinforced the building, but experts say keeping so many fuel rods in a storage pool in the building still poses a major safety risk.
"The operation is an important step toward decommissioning Fukushima Dai-ichi, which would take 30-40 years," TEPCO President Naomi Hirose said in a video message on the company’s website.
TEPCO has built a massive steel structure next to and partly over Unit 4 to mount cranes for the operation. It will take at least until the end of 2014 to finish moving the 1,533 sets of fuel rods, including 202 unused sets, to a safer location. Each set includes about 60-80 fuel rods containing uranium-based fuel pellets.
TEPCO will remove the unused fuel rods first, and will then move on to the more radioactive spent fuel. At the very end it will remove three sets of rods that are slightly damaged. The storage pools in Units 1-4 contain a total of 80 sets of rods with slight damage, most of which occurred years ago.
TEPCO spokesman Noriyuki Imaizumi said a group of six workers safely stored four sets of fuel rods in a cask on Monday. No problems were reported.
The operation is delicate. Experts say the fuel rod sets may have been damaged or jammed by small pieces of debris that fell into the pool during the explosions. Some have also raised concern about a major earthquake hitting during the removal work.
Two other reactors, Units 5 and 6, were also offline at the time of the disaster and eventually went into normal shutdown. They are also expected to be decommissioned.
(AP)
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
China sends fighter jets into disputed airspace
Tensions have risen further after the Chinese air force sent fighter jets into a controversial new air defence zone on Thursday, following US, Japanese and Korean military flights in the same disputed area over the East China Sea.
China sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft into its new air defence zone over theEast China Sea on Thursday, raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea.
Japan and South Korea also flew military aircraft through the zone on Thursday while Washington sent two unarmed B-52 bombers into the airspace earlier this week in a sign of support for its ally Japan. None of those aircraft informed Beijing.
“China announced on Saturday this new air identification zone, suddenly expanding its airspace and demanding that aircraft flying through notify Chinese authorities of their route in advance,” said FRANCE 24’s Tokyo correspondent Gavin Blair.
He added that the zone covered the disputed Diaoyu/Sengagku Islands, which made its designation a provocative move.
The Chinese patrol mission was “a defensive measure and in line with international common practices”, the official news agency Xinhua cited air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying.
Ties between China and Japan have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan. Washington does not take a position on the sovereignty of the islands but recognises Tokyo’s administrative control and says the US-Japan security pact applies to them.
Sabre rattling
|
“China announced on Saturday this new air identification zone, suddenly expanding its airspace and demanding that aircraft flying through notify Chinese authorities of their route in advance,” said FRANCE 24’s Tokyo correspondent Gavin Blair.
He added that the zone covered the disputed Diaoyu/Sengagku Islands, which made its designation a provocative move.
The Chinese patrol mission was “a defensive measure and in line with international common practices”, the official news agency Xinhua cited air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying.
Ties between China and Japan have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan. Washington does not take a position on the sovereignty of the islands but recognises Tokyo’s administrative control and says the US-Japan security pact applies to them.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that since the zone came into force there had been no impact on the safe operation of international civilian flights, although it added that China “hoped” airlines would cooperate.
Japan’s two biggest airlines have defied the identification order since Wednesday at the request of the Japanese government.
FRANCE 24’s Blair said the latest Chinese air patrols represented “an escalation in the region and the biggest danger with all this sabre-rattling going on would be an accidental collision in the area between aircraft”.
Although there are risks of a confrontation in the zone, US and Chinese military officials have stepped up communication with each other in recent years and are in regular contact to avoid accidental clashes.
US Vice President Joe Biden is visiting China, Japan and South Korea next week, and will try to diffuse tensions over the issue, senior U.S. administration officials said.
The Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper, praised the government for its calm response in the face of “provocations”, saying China would not target the United States in the zone as long as it “does not go too far”.
But it warned Japan it could expect a robust response if it continued to fly military aircraft in the zone.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
N Korean leader's powerbroker uncle 'sacked'
South Korean intelligence reports suggest Kim Jong Un's influential uncle was dismissed from his posts.
Wife of China's jailed Nobel Laureate suspected of suffering severe depression
(Reuters) - The wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo is unwell under house arrest and possibly suffering from severe depression, but refuses to seek medical help as she is afraid of further punishment, her friends said on Monday.
Workers prepare the Nobel Peace Prize laureate exhibition ''I Have No Enemies'' for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo December 9, 2010.
North Korea powerbroker 'dismissed'
A powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been removed from his post, South Korean media reports say.
Many observers saw Mr Chang as having a major influence on Kim Jong-unLiu Xia, wife of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, 'depressed'
Concern is growing for the mental health of the wife of jailed Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Thalidomide lawsuit settled in Australia, NZ for $81m
A lawsuit filed by more than 100 people in Australia and New Zealand who suffered birth defects caused by the drug Thalidomide has been settled.
Philippines typhoon death toll tops 5,200, govt says
The number of people killed in the Philippines by Typhoon Haiyan has surpassed 5,200, the government said on Friday, with another 1,611 people still missing.
Thai police push back Bangkok protesters with tear gas
Thai police on Sunday successfully pushed back a mob of angry demonstrators by using tear gas and water cannon as they tried to force their way into the government headquarters in Bangkok. Meanwhile, the leader of the anti-government protests handed the prime minister an ultimatum, giving her two days to hand “power to the people”.
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