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The UN Security Council has met to consider a draft resolution against Syria’s government.
Activists and the Arab League urged the UN to take stronger action after a surge in violence this week in which dozens of people have died.
The UK, France and Germany drafted a resolution with Arab states, supporting the League’s call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to a deputy.
Russia, an ally of Mr Assad, has said it will not back the text. [Read more...]
U.S. and Philippine marines plan to hold combat drills at an oil rig in the South China Sea to bolster the defense of such sensitive facilities in a bold move that may provoke protests from China, which claims waters in or near the location.
Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the Philippine military’s Western Command, said Thursday the exercises will be held in March or April off western Palawan province and should not alarm China because these will be done within Philippine territorial waters.
The drills involve U.S. Marines training their Philippine counterparts in defending and retaking oil and gas rigs captured by security threats like terrorists, Sabban said, adding military organizers from both sides did not contemplate on China as an imaginary target when they planned the drills. [Read more...]
Iran’s supreme leader warned the United States on Sunday that any measures taken against Tehran over an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington would elicit a “resolute” response.
Two men, including a member of the Iranian special foreign actions unit known as the Quds Force, have been charged in New York federal court with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir. U.S. officials have said no one was ever in any immediate danger from the plot.
“If U.S. officials have some delusions, (they must) know that any unsuitable act, whether political or security, will meet a resolute response from the Iranian nation,” state TV quoted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying.
Iran also demanded that a diplomat be allowed to visit one of the men in prison. [Read more...]
Just a few months into his tenure, President Benigno Aquino III has angered the powerful Catholic Church by expressing support for the right to contraception in a televised interview abroad.
The issue of contraception – which is opposed by the Vatican, whether chemical or physical – is a traditional third rail in Philippine politics: Elected officials tend to avoid it, even though Philippine law is generally considered to protect a couple’s right to use birth control.
Philippine church officials have argued that contraception is a type of abortion, which is banned by the constitution.
Aquino broke that customary silence over the weekend during a forum with Filipino Americans while on a trip to the U.S., where he suggested his administration would be willing to distribute contraceptives to poor couples who couldn’t afford it. [Read more...]
NO partial lifting of the oil price freeze in Luzon even as Malacañang ordered to ensure the protection of consumers’ rights and interests’ with the projected increase in prices of liquefied petroleum gas in Visayas and Mindanao.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the President has ordered Trade Secretary Peter Favila to look into the reported hike in LPG prices in Visayas and Mindanao and ensure that it is justified.
Remonde said the DTI should ensure that the consumers’ rights and interests are protected and exercise their powers within the law in case the price hikes would be proven unreasonable.
Reports earlier said that giant oil player Petron Corporation will increase the prices of its liquefied petroleum gas in Visayas and Mindanao.
In a text message, the company said the P3.50 per kilogram increase took effect 6 a.m. yesterday.
The adjustment was implemented to “reflect the rise in LPG contract prices for the month of November.”
Remonde said he has talked with Justice Secretary Agnes Denavadera who belied issuing remarks that Malacañang is considering partial lifting of the freeze order in Luzon.
He also slammed the painting of grim scenarios by big oil firms as he appealed to their conscience and social responsibility by complying with the freeze order amid the state of calamity.
LPG prices in Luzon, meanwhile, will remain unchanged in accordance with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Executive Order 839, which puts a freeze order on oil prices in areas devastated by cyclones.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, meanwhile, said Malacañang is considering a partial lifting of the freeze order in Luzon. By Efren Montano, Journal Online
DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr., arriving early yesterday, said he has assured the UN it will send a 336-strong peacekeeping battalion to the Golan Heights in Syria to help the world body keep the peace in the conflict area.
Briefing the media upon his arrival at the NAIA, Teodoro said he assured UN Undersecretary for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy of continuing Philippine commitment to UN peace-keeping missions during the former’s visit at the UN headquarters in New York City late last week.
“It is a great honor for the Philippines to be given the opportunity to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations,” Teodoro said. “Despite our own constraints and requirements, we can be expected to continue to fulfill our obligations as a responsible and reliable troop-contributing country.”
Teodoro also revealed that he met with Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN, during his UN visit that capped his six-day official mission to the United States.
Earlier in Washington, DC, Teodoro held talks with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, setting the course for a stronger RP-US security alliance and defense engagement and cooperation, which Teodoro said is moving to a “high gear.”
The two leaders acknowledged the clear and present danger posed by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)-Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and MILF rogue elements in Southern Mindanao. Teodoro stressed, however, that the Philippine government has significantly weakened the ASG, the Armed Forces troops having captured a major ASG training camp after recent clashes with the terrorist group in Southern Philippines.
Teodoro also reported that the 1st Philippine battalion to the Golan Heights will start deploying at the end of this month beginning with a 12-man advance party. The entire contingent is expected to be on the ground and take over the peacekeeping responsibilities of the Polish Battalion in the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mission area before the end of October.
Teodoro said the Philippines is looking forward to its participation in the UNDOF in the Golan Heights, which Manila considers to be its biggest and most challenging mission since it took part in UN operations in Timor Leste almost a decade ago.
“The UNDOF is a big step forward for the Philippines and is a mark of confidence in the country’s ability to send larger units to support UN peacekeeping operations abroad,” Teodoro said.
Teodoro said he assured Le Roy the Philippines will strictly enforce a zero-tolerance policy against misconduct and select only the best personnel for the mission. He said he will also look into how to increase the number of female personnel for deployment overseas.
For his part, Undersecretary General Le Roy expressed his gratitude for Philippine contributions and the important role Filipino peacekeepers play in helping the UN bring peace and stability in conflict areas across the globe, specifically in Haiti, Liberia and Timor Leste. He said the United Nations is looking forward to more contributions from the Philippines in the future.
The Philippines has gone a long way since it first participated in UN peacekeeping operations with the deployment of an Air Force squadron in the Congo in the 1960s, Davide, who gave Teodoro a warm welcome, told the Defense secretary.
Since then, Manila has contributed military and police personnel to UN missions in Cambodia, Burundi, Georgia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo and Nepal.
At present, the Philippines is the 29th largest troop contributor to UN peace operations with a total of 611 Filipino peacekeepers, made up of 295 troops, 22 military observers and 294 police officers serving in Afghanistan, Cote d’ Ivoire, Darfur, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan and Timor Leste..
The number does not include the three military officers who were sent this month to serve with the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in the disputed Kashmir region.