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CHR alarmed by war vs drugs in Davao City
THE Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is alarmed by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s “war against drugs”, as seven drug users were killed from different barangays in the city over the weekend, just a few hours after his declaration......»»
CHR probes Davao drug war deaths
The Commission on Human Rights yesterday expressed grave concern over Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s recent declaration of a war on drugs in the city......»»
EU, U.S. unite to support Israel
European Union and United States leaders met in Washington Friday to show their united stance in supporting Israel’s war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas. “We stood together to support the brave people of Ukraine in the face of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s aggression. We’re standing together now to support Israel in the wake of Hamas’s appalling terrorist attack,” US President Joe Biden said at the White House. “These conflicts show democracies must stand together,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters as she and European Council chief Charles Michel met Biden. “Today, the world faces enormous challenges. And today, more than ever, the world needs a strong EU-US alliance to tackle these challenges,” Michel said. EU leaders were looking for reassurance of continued US support for Ukraine, which is fighting to repel the Russian invasion launched in February 2022. That reassurance was evident Thursday when Biden urged Americans to back a $106 billion aid package including military assistance for Ukraine and Israel. The US is by far the biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine. Aid to Israel and Ukraine, however, faces hurdle as the US Congress has been paralyzed for more than two weeks divided Republicans, who hold the majority in the House of Representatives, failed for a third time to elect a new House speaker. Congress also faces a 17 November deadline to act on the budget, so as to avoid a possible government shutdown. House crisis In the 17 days since US House speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a rebellion by right-wing hard-liners from within his own party, no other Republican has been able to muster enough votes to replace him, sparking one of the worst institutional crises Washington has seen in decades. The US legislature is unable to perform even basic functions like funding the government and addressing growing national security concerns. The party dropped Ohio conservative Jim Jordan, chairman of the influential Judiciary Committee, in a secret ballot Friday after he again failed to secure victory on the House floor on his third attempt. Despite backing from former president and leading 2024 Republican hopeful Donald Trump, Jordan was defeated by 25 colleagues from his own side who joined every Democrat to deny him the gavel for the third time in four days. Lawmakers told reporters as they left Capitol Hill for the weekend they would hold a “candidate forum” to choose a new standard-bearer on Monday, with several hopefuls expected to be announced on Sunday. WITH AFP The post EU, U.S. unite to support Israel appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
First relief convoy enters Gaza devastated by ‘nightmare’ war
The first aid trucks arrived in war-torn Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, bringing urgent humanitarian relief to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave suffering what the UN chief labelled a "godawful nightmare". Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group carried out the deadliest attack in the country's history on October 7. Hamas militants killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death, and took more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Israel has retaliated with a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed more than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. An Israeli siege has cut food, water, electricity and fuel supplies to the densely populated and long-blockaded territory of 2.4 million people, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. AFP journalists on Saturday saw 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, pass through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza. The crossing -- the only one into Gaza not controlled by Israel -- closed again after the trucks passed. The lorries had been waiting for days on the Egyptian side after Israel agreed to a request from its main ally the United States to allow aid to enter. UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the relief supplies were "the difference between life and death" for many Gazans, more than one million of whom have been displaced. "Much more" aid needs to be sent, he told a peace summit in Egypt on Saturday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the aid and urged "all parties" to keep the Rafah crossing open. But a Hamas spokesman said "even dozens" of such convoys could not meet Gaza's needs, especially as no fuel was being allowed in to help distribute the supplies to those in need. 'Reeling in pain' Tens of thousands of Israeli troops have deployed to the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground offensive that officials have pledged will begin "soon". As international tensions soar, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was hosting a peace summit in Cairo on Saturday attended by regional and some Western leaders. "The time has come for action to end this godawful nightmare," Guterres told the summit, calling for a "humanitarian ceasefire". The region "is reeling in pain and one step from the precipice", he said. Guterres said "the grievances of the Palestinian people are legitimate and long" after "56 years of occupation with no end in sight". But he stressed that "nothing can justify the reprehensible assault by Hamas that terrorised Israeli civilians". "Those abhorrent attacks can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he added. Egypt, historically a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, has urged "restraint" and the relaunch of the long-frozen peace process. But diplomatic efforts to end the violence have made little headway, without the participation of Israel and its enemy Iran, a supporter of Hamas and other armed groups. 'Sliver of hope' A full-blown Israeli ground offensive carries many risks, including to the hostages Hamas took and whose fate is shrouded in uncertainty. So the release of two Americans among the hostages -- mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan -- offered a rare "sliver of hope", said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. US President Joe Biden thanked Qatar, which hosts Hamas's political bureau, for its mediation in securing the release. He said he was working "around the clock" to win the return of other Americans being held. Natalie Raanan's half-brother Ben told the BBC he felt an "overwhelming sense of joy" at the release after "the most horrible of ordeals". Hamas said Egypt and Qatar had negotiated the release and that it was "working with all mediators to implement the movement's decision to close the civilian (hostage) file if appropriate security conditions allow". Traumatised families with loved ones missing in Gaza demanded more action. "We ask humanity to interfere and bring back all those young boys, young girls, mothers, babies," Assaf Shem Tov, whose nephew was abducted from a music festival where Hamas killed hundreds, said Friday. Devastation Almost half of Gaza's residents have been displaced, and at least 30 percent of all housing in the territory has been destroyed or damaged, the United Nations says. Thousands have taken refuge in a camp set up in the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. Fadwa al-Najjar said she and her seven children walked for 10 hours to reach the camp, at some points breaking into a run as missiles struck around them. "We saw bodies and limbs torn off and we just started praying, thinking we were going to die," she told AFP. In Al-Zahra in central Gaza, Rami Abu Wazna was struggling to take in the destruction wreaked by Israeli missile strikes. "Even in my worst nightmares, I never thought this could be possible," he said. Israel's operation will take not "a day, nor a week, nor a month" and will result in "the end of Israel's responsibilities in the Gaza Strip", Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Friday. Regional tensions flare In Gaza, retired general Omar Ashour said the destruction was "part of a clear plan for people to have no place left to live". "This will cause a second Nakba," he added, referring to the 760,000 Palestinians who were expelled from or fled their homes when Israel was created in 1948. The United States has moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanon's Hezbollah, both Hamas allies, amid fears of a wider conflagration. Fire across Israel's border with Lebanon continued overnight, with one Israeli soldier killed, Israeli public radio said. The military said it hit Hezbollah targets after rocket and missile fire. Violence has also flared in the West Bank, where 84 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The post First relief convoy enters Gaza devastated by ‘nightmare’ war appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Gazans await ‘life and death’ aid, Israel readies invasion
Thousands of tonnes of "life and death" aid for Gaza should be delivered soon, the United Nations said Friday, to relieve a "beyond catastrophic" situation after unrelenting Israeli bombing in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack. Some 175 lorries stuffed with vital medicines, food, and water stretched into the distance at the Rafah crossing with Egypt, which has removed concrete roadblocks and is scrambling to repair the route into besieged Gaza -- the only one not controlled by Israel. Overseeing operations personally, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters: "These trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline, they are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza." Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group launched a shock raid from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians shot, mutilated or burned to death, according to Israeli officials. Hamas gunmen also kidnapped some 200 hostages including foreigners from around two dozen countries. The Islamist group said Friday that its armed wing had released two Americans among the captives, a mother and her daughter, the first fruit of mediation efforts by the Gulf state of Qatar. The Islamist group did not detail how or when the hostages were released. The Israeli military said earlier Friday that most of those abducted to Gaza were still alive. It said more than 20 were minors. In response to the Hamas attack, Israeli bombers have levelled entire city blocks in Gaza in preparation for a ground invasion they say is coming soon. The Hamas-run health ministry said 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the onslaught. Israeli jets pounded more than 100 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight, the army said, with AFP reporters hearing loud explosions and witnessing plumes of smoke billowing from the northern Gaza Strip. Embracing front-line soldiers and clad in body armour, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to "fight like lions" and "win with full force". Fists clenched and voice raised, Netanyahu told cheering troops: "We will deal harsh blows to our enemies in order to achieve victory." Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told some of the tens of thousands of personnel preparing the ground invasion that "the order will come soon". 'Beyond catastrophic' US President Joe Biden said Friday he expected the first aid for Gaza to pass through the Rafah crossing from Egypt within the next two days, under a deal he clinched to allow in 20 trucks of supplies for civilians. Medicine, water purifiers and blankets were being unloaded at El Arish airport near Gaza, an AFP reporter saw, with Ahmed Ali, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent, saying he was getting "two to three planes of aid a day". But World Health Organization emergencies director Michael Ryan said Biden's 20-truck deal was "a drop in the ocean of need" and that 2,000 trucks were required. The UN says more than one million of Gaza's 2.4 million people are displaced, with the humanitarian situation "beyond catastrophic" and deteriorating daily. Refugees from northern Gaza told harrowing tales of bombs, profiteering and extreme temperatures as whole families trekked on foot to flee the violence. Mother of seven Fadwa Al-Najjar walked for 10 hours with her family from northern Gaza to reach a UN camp in the southern city of Khan Yunis, saying she saw cars hit by a strike just in front of them. "We saw bodies and limbs torn off and we just started praying, thinking we were going to die," she said. 'It's unimaginable' On the other side of the conflict, the full horror of what Israel suffered on October 7 and following days was still emerging, as traumatised residents recounted their stories. Shachar Butler, a security chief at the Nir Oz kibbutz, where Hamas militants killed or kidnapped a quarter of the 400 residents, recalls more than a dozen gunmen spraying bullets indiscriminately and lobbing grenades at homes. "It's unimaginable," the 40-year-old told AFP as part of a trip organised by the Israeli military. "Anytime someone tried to touch my window, I shot him," he said. "The people who came out got kidnapped, killed, executed, slaughtered." Butler estimated as many as 200 militants attacked the kibbutz, entering from three sides before going house-to-house. Homes there were still charred with burnt personal belongings strewn everywhere. Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control. 'No safe place' Biden requested a massive $105 billion security package Friday, including $14 billion for Israel, but paralysis in the still speakerless Congress means it will hit an immediate wall. Fresh from a whirlwind trip to Israel this week, Biden is hoping to staunch the possibility of a wider Middle East war. The United States has moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanon's Hezbollah, both Hamas allies, from getting involved. After days of clashes with Hezbollah fighters along the Lebanese border, Israeli authorities announced the evacuation of Kiryat Shmona, a nearby town which is home to some 25,000 residents, many of whom have already left. The conflict has inflamed passions across the region, with protests held in several countries. Thousands flooded into Egypt's iconic Tahrir Square in support of Gaza, an AFP correspondent said. Protests were also held outside the French and US embassies in Tunis. Following a strike at a church compound late Thursday, the Hamas-controlled interior ministry said several people sheltering at the church were killed and wounded, blaming an Israeli strike. The Israeli army acknowledged a church wall had been damaged in one of its air strikes targeting a "command and control centre belonging to a Hamas terrorist". "This place is dedicated for praying, a place of love and peace," said witness Abu Khalil Jahshan. "There is no safe place here in Gaza." The post Gazans await ‘life and death’ aid, Israel readies invasion appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Prosecutors reject Trump claim of ‘absolute immunity’
Federal prosecutors on Thursday rejected Donald Trump's attempt to have election conspiracy charges dismissed on the grounds that he enjoys immunity for actions he took while in the White House. "No one in this country, not even the president, is above the law," special counsel Jack Smith's team wrote in a 54-page motion filed with the judge presiding over the landmark case. Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is to go on trial in Washington in March of next year for allegedly conspiring to subvert the results of the November 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden. The former president's lawyers, in a motion two weeks ago to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, argued that the charges should be thrown out because Trump is "absolutely immune from criminal prosecution." Prosecutors in the special counsel's office dismissed that argument and urged Chutkan to deny Trump's request. "He is subject to the federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans," they said. "No court has ever alluded to the existence of absolute criminal immunity for former presidents. "The implications of the defendant's unbounded immunity theory are startling," they added. "It would grant absolute immunity from criminal prosecution to a president who accepts a bribe in exchange for a lucrative government contract for a family member," they said, or "a president who sells nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary." Trump's bid to invoke the presidential immunity defense is seen as a long shot by legal observers but it could result in a delay to the start of the trial as the argument potentially winds its way up to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court. Trump's attempts to use the "absolute immunity" defense in other cases have been rebuffed by judges, but the nation's highest court has never ruled directly on whether a former chief executive is immune from criminal prosecution. Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges. 'Unsettled question' Trump's attorneys, citing a Supreme Court case involving former president Richard Nixon, said the law provides "absolute immunity" to the president "for acts within the 'outer perimeter' of his official responsibility." As chief executive, they argued, Trump had a responsibility to "ensure election integrity" and was within his rights to challenge the results of the 2020 vote. "As President Trump is absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for such acts, the Court should dismiss the indictment," they said. While making the argument that Trump cannot be prosecuted, his lawyers acknowledged the Nixon case they cited involved the civil liability of a former president and not alleged criminal conduct. "The question remains a 'serious and unsettled question' of law," they said. The case before Chutkan accuses Trump of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding -- the January 6, 2021 joint session of Congress that was attacked by a mob of Trump supporters. Other criminal cases against Trump include racketeering charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to upend the election results in the southern state and a trial in Florida in May 2024 on charges of mishandling top-secret government documents. Trump and his two eldest sons are also currently involved in a civil fraud trial in New York for allegedly inflating the value of their real estate assets to receive more favorable bank loans and insurance terms. The post Prosecutors reject Trump claim of ‘absolute immunity’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
What we know about the Hamas assault on Israel
Gun battles raged Sunday between Hamas militants and Israeli forces a day after the Islamist group launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, in a dramatic escalation of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Hundreds of people have been killed on both sides since the Iran-backed Hamas launched the multi-pronged assault at dawn on Saturday, with Israeli forces fighting holdout militants and pounding the Gaza Strip with air strikes. This is what we know about the conflict so far: How it unfolded The army said hundreds of Hamas militants attacked Israel from around 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Saturday, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, in an assault that also came 50 years after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The Islamist group fired thousands of rockets into Israel from Gaza as its militants used explosives and bulldozers to break through the fence surrounding the blockaded Palestinian enclave. Using motorbikes, pickup trucks, motorized gliders, and speed boats, the militants streamed into Israeli urban areas including Ashkelon, Sderot, and Ofakim, which is about 22 kilometers (13 miles) from Gaza. The gunmen attacked a rave party attended by hundreds of young Israelis near Kibbutz Reim, close to Gaza, Israeli media reported. Israel said Hamas has taken more than 100 hostages in Israel. They include an unknown number of Americans and Germans. The militants overran several locations inside Israel, including a Sderot police station where they engaged in a shootout with Israeli forces on Sunday. How Israel is responding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to reduce to "rubble" Hamas hideouts in Gaza, an impoverished enclave of 2.3 million people hemmed in by an Israeli blockade for more than 15 years. The army said it has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers to fight the militants who were still "on the ground" Sunday on Israel territory. It has also carried out air strikes on Hamas positions inside Gaza, in an operation it has dubbed "Swords of Iron". Army spokesman Richard Hecht said the air raids had struck 800 targets including Gaza tunnels, buildings, and other infrastructure. The military said it aims to rescue Israeli hostages and then evacuate the entire region within 24 hours. Almost 1000 killed Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed more than 600 people and wounded over 2,000 in Israeli cities, towns, and kibbutz communities. AFP journalists have seen the bullet-riddled bodies of civilians lying on the streets in at least three locations in Israel: the city of Sderot, the nearby kibbutz of Gevim, and Zikim beach north of the Palestinian coastal enclave. An unknown number of people were reportedly killed at the rave. On the Gaza side, at least 370 people have been killed and more than 2,200 wounded, taking the combined toll to almost 1,000 dead. A British man who had been serving in Israel's army was among those killed in the Hamas attack, his family said. Two Ukrainian women who had been living in Israel were also killed, Ukraine said. Thailand has said two of its citizens were killed, while Cambodia reported the death of a Cambodian student. What Hamas said about the offensive Hamas said it fired 5,000 rockets in an offensive it has branded "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood". Its chief Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday vowed to press ahead with "the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons". Hamas has called on "resistance fighters in the West Bank" as well as in "Arab and Islamic nations" to join the battle. Early on Sunday, Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah said it launched missiles and artillery shells into northern Israel "in solidarity" with the Hamas offensive. The Israeli army said it retaliated with artillery fire. Elsewhere, media outlets in Egypt said a policeman opened fire on an Israeli tour group in the northern city of Alexandria on Sunday, killing two Israelis and one Egyptian. How the world has reacted United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned "in the strongest terms" Hamas' attack on Israel and called for "diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflagration". The West, much of which has designated Hamas a "terrorist" organization, has also condemned the Islamist group's assault on Israel. President Joe Biden said the United States support for its key ally Israel was "rock solid and unwavering". The White House said on Sunday he had ordered "additional support" for Israel. The European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said: "I unequivocally condemn the attack carried out by Hamas terrorists against Israel." Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said the Islamic Republic supported the Palestinians' right to self-defense and warned Israel must be held accountable for "endangering the security of nations in the region". Russia has called for an "immediate ceasefire". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly supports the Palestinian cause, on Sunday urged both sides "to support peace". Saudi Arabia appealed for an "immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides, protection of civilians, and self-control". The post What we know about the Hamas assault on Israel appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
New film on historical Native American murders reflects universal themes: Scorsese
Martin Scorsese, best known for his action-packed thrillers and gangster epics, now depicts an investigation into the murders of Native Americans in his latest film, "Killers of the Flower Moon", which previewed in New York on Wednesday. Adapted from a nonfiction book of the same name, "Killers of the Flower Moon" tells the true story of the 1920s murders and disappearances of members of Osage Nation on oil-rich lands in the central US state of Oklahoma. At a red carpet event at Manhattan's Lincoln Center, Scorsese told AFP his film about the 100-year-old crimes touched on broad themes. "It's about a clash of cultures, misunderstanding each other, the sense of entitlement -- and it could be (about) not only Americans," Scorsese told AFP about the film, which he shot on Oklahoma's prairies with around 40 Osage Native Americans included in the cast. The $200-million film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, a man in love with a Native American woman (played by Lily Gladstone) who finds himself embroiled in a plot hatched by oil-hungry cattle magnate William Hale, played by Robert De Niro. An FBI agent, Jesse Plemons, is assigned to solve the murders. "Killers of the Flower Moon" will be released in North American cinemas on October 20, before being made available on Apple TV+. The violence and crimes depicted in the film "could be in any part of the world," Scorsese said. "It just so happens to be a story that actually reflects through the millennia." "It's good to tell this kind of story now because people are trying to shy away from this stuff. Show it, talk about it," the "Gangs of New York" and "Taxi Driver" director added. American writer David Grann, whose book the film was based on, told AFP that the story covers "one of the most monstrous crimes and racial injustices committed by white settlers against Native Americans for their oil money." "What it is fundamentally about is what happens when greed is fused together with the dehumanization of other people," the New Yorker journalist said. "And what that led to were these genocidal crimes." Grann believes that the history of the Osage Tribe, and of many Native Americans across the United States, has been "largely erased from our conscious". "It was not taught in any of my schoolbooks. I never learned about it," he said. In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first US president to issue a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples' Day, which coincides with the increasingly controversial national holiday celebrating explorer Christopher Columbus. Principal Chief of the Osage Nation Geoffrey Standing Bear also appeared at the red carpet event. "It's not just the Osage people -- all of the Native peoples have had their hard times for 500 years," the North American leader said. "And this movie shows us it still goes on. "It wasn't that long ago. It was my grandparents' generation when this movie, the facts in it, occurred." The post New film on historical Native American murders reflects universal themes: Scorsese appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Global concern
China’s recent release of its rewritten claim in the 10-dash line map is a prelude to more aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea or WPS, according to the assessment of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro. Through a media mouthpiece, Beijing described the revision of its boundaries as a “normal exercise of sovereignty by law.” Security officials, however, view the new map as establishing China’s intent to strengthen its “control and occupation of the West Philippine Sea.” Teodoro urged international support for the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling invalidating China’s historic claim, or “if that’s not stopped, then the whole international rules-based order is in jeopardy.” China has consistently refused to arbitrate the overlapping claims in the WPS, insisting on bilateral dialogues or, at most, a settlement among claimants, which proved to go nowhere. Negotiations for binding rules in a proposed Code of Conduct have failed to advance for over 20 years. Ignoring China’s increasing assertiveness jeopardizes global trade since nearly all of the region’s goods shipments to the West and vice versa pass through the disputed waters. “If China’s claims are given credence, freedom of navigation and freedom of air traffic is jeopardized,” Teodoro warned. While China keeps blaming US intervention for creating instability in the region, the lack of concerted action among nations that Beijing encourages has led to its unbridled occupation of the sea features. Teodoro stressed that China’s “expansionist policy” heightens tensions. “It is the expansionist policy of China that is escalating the tensions not only between us but with Vietnam and other actors, and their 10-dash line is the best proof that they want to escalate tensions within the area,” he said. Teodoro contrasted the actions of China and the Philippines, saying that while Beijing asserts an arbitrary historical claim, Manila insists on enforcing international law based on the arbitral ruling. China’s containment is also not the target of the expanded Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States. “China keeps saying that we are containing them. If you use the word contain, that means to say you have an intention to expand, so for me, it’s disingenuous for them to use that term,” the defense chief explained. Despite the assertion of China that the Philippines has given the United States a free hand to intervene in the conflict, Teodoro said the country’s independent foreign policy of being a friend to all and an enemy to none is being maintained. “The (recent) water cannon (incident) proves that we are not leaning too much on the US because if we lean too much on the US, we would have asked them to escort us there, which we don’t want to do because we want to do things our way and we want a balanced foreign policy,” he said. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the country’s independent foreign policy is being upheld. Still, we will adhere to enforcing international law, particularly the 2016 international tribunal ruling based on the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. During the term of his predecessor, President Rodrigo Duterte, closer relations with China resulted in commitments of economic assistance and the fair resolution of the territorial rift through a CoC. Only a few promises were realized, rewards for actions that showed hostility towards the Americans. It didn’t go far, however, as in the twilight of his term, Duterte had to raise the international tribunal’s decision and the country’s maritime rights. Duterte said the ruling couldn’t be erased, and China would have to follow it, resulting in acrimony that continues today. The post Global concern appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biden urges ‘national unity’ 22 years after 9/11
President Joe Biden called Monday for Americans to unite despite bitter political differences as the United States marked the 22nd anniversary of Al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks. Bells were rung and the names of nearly 3,000 people were read out in somber ceremonies in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania where the hijacked planes struck. "Let's honor September 11 by renewing our faith in one another," said Biden, speaking at a US military base in Anchorage, Alaska as he traveled back from a trip to India and Vietnam. "We must never lose our sense of national unity, so let that be the common cause of our time." Speaking in front of a huge flag, Biden added that "terrorism, including political and ideological violence, is the opposite of all we stand for as a nation." His speech comes as the United States is increasingly polarized, with tensions likely to increase as Biden, a Democrat, heads into a likely election rematch next year with Republican former president Donald Trump. Trump has been indicted four times since April, including for efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, with the 6 January 2021 Capitol attack by his supporters still fresh in the public's memory. 'Never forget' In New York, Vice President Kamala Harris and current and former mayors joined victims' families at the 9/11 memorial on the site of the World Trade Center twin towers brought down by two aircraft flown by hijackers. The names of the more than 2,600 who died in New York were read out by family members and young relatives not alive at the time of the attack. "I wish I had a chance to really know you. Everyone in the family misses you. We will never forget," said the grandson of firefighter Allan Tarasiewicz, who was killed at age 45 during rescue operations at the World Trade Center. At the Pentagon in Washington, where the attackers plunged a third aircraft into the headquarters of the US military, a sailor rang a ship's bell for each of the 184 killed there. And in western Pennsylvania, where a fourth hijacked plane apparently heading toward Washington was forced to crash, bells were rung for each of the 40 passengers and crew who died. "September 11 made America a nation at war, and hundreds of thousands stepped up to serve our country in uniform," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon ceremony. "I know that it aches to remember this milestone year after year... The men and women of the Department of Defense will always remember." Across New York City, in Congress and elsewhere, a moment of silence was held to mark the attack, plotted by Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was found and killed nearly a decade later by US Navy Seals in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan. Biden noted in his speech that he himself had given the order for bin Laden's successor Ayman al-Zawahiri to be sent to the "gates of hell" last year in an airstrike in Afghanistan. "The soul of America is the fortitude we found in the fear of that terrible September day," he added. "The terrorists believed they could bring us to our knees, bend our will, break our resolve. But they were wrong, they were dead wrong." The post Biden urges ‘national unity’ 22 years after 9/11 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
WTC attack death list adds 2 new victims
Americans mark today the 22nd anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City with two new victims added to the list of 1,649 identified fatalities. The identities of the two, a man and a woman, were determined through DNA analysis, the city’s mayor and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Friday. Their names were being withheld at the request of their families. “We hope these new identifications can bring some measure of comfort to the families of these victims, and the ongoing efforts by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner attest to the city's unwavering commitment to reunite all the World Trade Center victims with their loved ones,” Mayor Eric Adams said, according to a statement released late Friday. The two latest identifications were made possible through the use of “next-generation sequencing technology” more sensitive and rapid than conventional DNA techniques,” the OCME statement said. The remains had been found years ago. A total 2,753 people were killed when an al-Qaeda commando crashed two hijacked civilian airliners into New York’s twin towers during 9/11. Still unidentified are 1,104 victims. When the trade center’s south tower, and then its north, collapsed in a deafening roar, raining down a deluge of fire, choking gray dust and twisted steel on the Manhattan streets below, the violence was so extreme that no identifiable trace has been found of hundreds of the missing. Nineteen jihadists, most of them Saudis, had hijacked four planes. In addition to the two that destroyed the World Trade Center, a third plane slammed into the Pentagon near Washington inflicting heavy damage, and a fourth crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought with the attackers. The attacks claimed a total 2,977 lives. WITH AFP The post WTC attack death list adds 2 new victims appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
The legal woes of Donald Trump
Former US president Donald Trump is facing four criminal indictments, all filed since March -- with the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 White House race possibly navigating a series of trials as he campaigns. On Thursday, he was formally arrested on 13 counts in the southern state of Georgia in connection with his alleged efforts to interfere with the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has already been indicted in federal court in connection with election interference in multiple states, and over his handling of classified documents, making him the first former US president to face federal criminal charges. The twice-impeached Trump has also been charged in New York with making election-eve hush money payments to a porn star. Here are the key cases involving the 77-year-old one-term president -- and others that could materialize: Georgia election meddling Trump stands accused in Georgia of pressuring state officials to overturn Biden's election victory -- incidents that were also referred to in a federal indictment. Evidence includes a taped phone call in which he asked Georgia's then-secretary of state to "find" enough votes to reverse the result. Fulton County's top prosecutor Fani Willis has charged Trump with 13 felony counts including violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as six conspiracy counts over alleged efforts to commit forgery, impersonate a public official and submit false statements and documents. Eighteen co-defendants also were indicted, including Trump's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, for pressuring local legislators over the result after the election, and Trump's White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. 2020 election interference Special Counsel Jack Smith had already slapped Trump with four federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, as well as conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of an official proceeding -- the January 6, 2021, meeting of a joint session of Congress held to certify Biden's election victory. He is also charged with conspiracy to deny Americans the right to vote and to have one's vote counted. The indictment mentions six co-conspirators but none are identified -- Trump, currently the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is the only named defendant. Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress met to certify the presidential election results. Before what was ultimately a deadly attack, Trump delivered a fiery speech urging the crowd to "fight like hell." Classified documents Trump, in another indictment brought by Smith, is accused of endangering national security by holding onto top secret nuclear and defense documents after leaving the White House. Trump kept the files -- which included records from the Pentagon, CIA, and National Security Agency -- unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and thwarted official efforts to retrieve them, according to the indictment. Trump was initially charged with 31 counts of "willful retention of national defense information," each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A count was added related to a classified document "concerning military activity in a foreign country." He also faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and other offenses. The federal judge in the case has set a trial date of May 20, 2024, at the height of the presidential campaign. Stormy A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March over alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors say the money was paid prior to the 2016 election to silence Daniels over claims she had a tryst with Trump in 2006 -- a year after he married Melania Trump. Late in the campaign, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a payment of $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her pledge of confidentiality, prosecutors said. That case, in which he faces 34 felony counts, is due to go to trial next March, in the middle of the Republican primary election season. Other probes Trump was found liable in a civil case for sexually abusing and defaming a former magazine columnist, E. Jean Carroll, in 1996, and ordered to pay her $5 million in damages. In New York, state Attorney General Letitia James has filed a civil suit against Trump and three of his children, accusing them of fraud by over-valuing assets to secure loans and then under-valuing them to minimize taxes. James is seeking $250 million in penalties as well as banning Trump and his children from serving as executives at companies in the city. Trump has denied all wrongdoing. The post The legal woes of Donald Trump appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Hypocrites humbled
The Ombudsman’s decision to throw out the complaint of New York-based Filipino-Americans who keep stirring controversy in the country led by billionaire Loida Nicolas-Lewis exposes a deeper agenda in the effort. Lewis is known to be the heavy gun behind the Liberal Party who provided the bulk of the funding for the candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo’s lost pink cause in the 2022 polls. The long-distance meddling had been repeatedly disclosed in the past with no less than former President Rodrigo Duterte pointing to a rich Filipino-American, who was obviously Nicolas-Lewis, as leading the effort to destabilize the government. In one of his abrasive speeches, Duterte foretold the international offensive against him emanating from the group of Nicolas-Lewis. “For all I care, I do not have any illusions, do not give me a reason to leave because you might get your wish,” he had said. “A certain financier, a rich woman who married a black (American) and is now a millionaire, she is planning to do protests,” he added. The plot was confirmed by then Communications Secretary Martin Andanar who recalled rumors in the Filipino-American community about plans to oust Duterte because of his alleged human rights violations and continuous attacks against the US. Duterte then mockingly told Nicolas-Lewis he’d follow her advice and even provide staff for her. “If you think that you can help, tell me because I will appoint a group of presidential advisers and (I will give you) a Cabinet position without a portfolio but with Cabinet rank. And I will follow your instructions to a tee,” he said. “I was listening to the tapes of their conversation. It was provided to me by another country but the conversation was somewhere in the Philippines and New York,” Duterte said of the plot. He said the recordings included one in which Lewis told another person, “See you in the headquarters when the case is filed.” Being referred was the International Criminal Court case that was a successful campaign considering the recent decision of the tribunal to proceed with an investigation into the war on drugs of Mr. Duterte. Nicolas-Lewis had led a 25-person delegation from the US-Philippines Society, a private group comprised of executives and diplomats, who met with Duterte a week before his inauguration on 1 June 2016. The top-notch mission included tycoons, retired American diplomats, executives of Coca-Cola, SGV, JP Morgan, and other top corporations. Nicolas-Lewis’s sister was former National Anti-Poverty Commission chairperson Imelda Nicolas who was part of the “Hyatt 10” — members of the Cabinet who turned on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005. Imelda and most of the Hyatt 10 members were recruited to key posts in the succeeding administration of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Imelda was appointed head of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. Duterte is being targeted for investigation for the complaint of crimes against humanity as a result of the methods undertaken in the anti-drug campaign. The late plaintiff Jude Sabio admitted using manufactured numbers that at one point reached 20,000 so-called extrajudicial killings, which a Senate investigation found dubious since it came from Philippine National Police figures that tallied all forms of deaths investigated, including those unrelated to police operations since Duterte assumed office. Veteran lawyer Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile said that from the start, he was against the proceedings at the ICC. “We’re an independent sovereign country and they want to unduly interfere in our internal affairs,” Enrile said. He pointed out the drug war was a policy to rid the country of its narcotics problem and involved law enforcement. “Who are they to tell us what is good for our society?” Enrile asked. “In the case of the insurgency, the government conducts operations. Are we going to answer to the ICC on the way that we defend ourselves from an internal threat?” Enrile demanded. The persistence of the ICC was discovered to have a sinister origin, based on information that Duterte had gathered. It all started with the designs of meddling Filipinos living overseas who wanted to impose their brand of hypocrisy on the hapless nation but were effectively foiled. The post Hypocrites humbled appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
As Trump faces indictment heat, Biden chills beachside
"It was compelling," Joe Biden offered Tuesday after Donald Trump's indictment. But the US president was referring to a film -- not the legal fate of his political rival, which he has declined to address. The 80-year-old Democrat was emerging from a screening of "Oppenheimer," having dined earlier with First Lady Jill Biden at a fish restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the seaside escape where the couple is vacationing this week. While Christopher Nolan's biopic tells the life of the American physicist who developed the first atomic weapon, Tuesday's historic indictment of ex-president Trump is the bombshell currently rocking American politics. The rebellious Republican is likely to face Biden once more in 2024, even as he is criminally charged over allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election result. It is the third indictment of Trump since March. They include charges over a hush-money payment to an adult film star in 2016, and his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. A fourth indictment could follow in Georgia, where an investigation over electoral interference is concluding. No comment Biden, known for impulsive remarks, has demonstrated considerable discipline when it comes to his rival's legal peril. After Trump became the first-ever indicted former president in March, Biden repeatedly gave reporters a curt "no comment" and other dodges. On Wednesday, as the commander-in-chief biked along a Rehoboth trail to occasional cheers from onlookers, a reporter's shouted one-word question -- "Indictments?" -- was met with silence. Biden has little choice, especially given that the two gravest cases against Trump are federal prosecutions by the US Department of Justice, which Biden's aides have repeatedly stressed operates independently from the White House. Even the slightest word from Biden would fuel charges from Trump's supporters that the president is weaponizing the judiciary. Biden therefore is counting on the modern-day visual known as the split screen. Relaxation and remove On one side is Trump, with his legal proceedings piling up and the bracing images of the former leader scowling as he sat in a Manhattan court this year. It is not yet known whether Trump will appear in person for a preliminary hearing set for Thursday in Washington in the case surrounding the 2020 election. On the other side: Biden chilling in Rehoboth, where he might hit the beach Thursday like last weekend, or take another bike ride. Either way, it's the very image of peace of mind. If Trump is "compelling," in one form or another, Biden -- as he has described himself before -- is assumed to be "boring." In running for re-election, the current president is betting that Americans will favor calm, predictability and prosperity over potential chaos. He soon heads west to tout "Bidenomics," his economic strategy that Republicans mocked but which he pitches as responsible for America's robust growth. Is the US president, whose popularity ratings are far from effervescent, writing the script for an electoral blockbuster in 2024? That remains uncertain, but Biden wants to believe that boredom -- a mortal sin in moviemaking -- is a virtue at the ballot box. The post As Trump faces indictment heat, Biden chills beachside appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
China removes foreign minister Qin Gang
Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang was abruptly removed from office this week, deepening a mystery over what precisely has happened to a one-time confidant of President Xi Jinping and one of Beijing's most well-known officials. Here's what we know so far about the dramatic removal of one of China's most prominent diplomats. Who is Qin Gang? Qin, considered close to President Xi, was appointed foreign minister in December 2022. The 57-year-old spent several years at the Chinese embassy in London and is a fluent English speaker. Qin earned a reputation as a "Wolf Warrior", a nickname given to a new generation of Chinese diplomats who push back with often inflammatory rhetoric against Western criticism of Beijing. He said in 2020 that the image of China in the West had deteriorated because Europeans and Americans -- in particular the media -- had never accepted the Chinese political system or its economic rise. While serving as ambassador to the United States, Qin stepped up his visibility through public and media appearances in Washington in which he explained the Chinese position. He kept up a busy schedule after his appointment as minister, visiting Africa, Europe and Central Asia as well as hosting foreign dignitaries in Beijing. What happened to him? On Tuesday, after not being seen in public for a month, China's top lawmaking body met and removed Qin from his position. "Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister," state news agency Xinhua reported, adding that President Xi "signed a presidential order to effectuate the decision." No reason has been given for his removal. But on Wednesday, the website of the Chinese foreign ministry was abruptly scrubbed of any mention of Qin. The rumor mill has gone into overdrive since Qin's disappearance, with some online claiming the diplomat's alleged affair with a prominent television anchor had landed him in hot water. And while China's foreign ministry said "health reasons" were to blame for Qin's absence, a spokeswoman later deflected further questions about the missing diplomat. "On the basis of all available evidence, it seems very unlikely this matter is only -- or at all -- health-related," China law expert Neysun Mahboubi told AFP. After weeks of "ceaseless speculation", he added, "it beggars the imagination that a primarily health-related cause would not have been clarified a lot more forcefully than we have seen." What do we know about his whereabouts? Qin has not been seen in public since June 25, when he met Russian deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing. But it was his absence from a high-level ASEAN summit in Indonesia two weeks later that first raised eyebrows. Qin's absence left a vacuum at the top of China's foreign ministry. A visit by the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Beijing was abruptly called off this month. And Bloomberg reported on Friday that a visit by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was postponed due to Qin's absence. Who is representing China in his stead? Top diplomatic official Wang Yi -- who outranked Qin in China's political hierarchy -- has taken up the job of foreign minister, a job he held before Qin's appointment. Beijing insisted Monday that "China's diplomatic activities are moving forward steadily". And US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he expects to "work well" with Wang, promising to "work with whoever the relevant Chinese counterpart is." Given Wang's experience, experts said they expect Chinese diplomacy to carry on as normal -- despite the political drama in Beijing. "I do not expect China's foreign policy to shift significantly on account of Qin Gang's exit," Ryan Hass, a Brookings scholar on China and a former US National Security Council official, told AFP. "Qin was more an implementor and articulator of China’s foreign policy than an architect of it," he added. "Wang Yi is one of the world's most experienced and recognizable diplomats. He will ably carry forward China's foreign policy." The post China removes foreign minister Qin Gang appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Missing for a month: Where is Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister?
China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang has not been seen in public for almost a month, sparking a flurry of questions over his whereabouts. Here's what we know so far about the disappearance of one of China's most senior diplomats: Qin, considered a confidante of President Xi Jinping, was appointed foreign minister in December 2022. The 57-year-old spent several years at the Chinese embassy in London and is a fluent English speaker. Qin earned a reputation as a "Wolf Warrior", a nickname given to a new generation of Chinese diplomats who push back with often inflammatory rhetoric against Western criticism of Beijing. He said in 2020 the image of China in the West had deteriorated because Europeans and Americans -- in particular the media -- had never accepted the Chinese political system or its economic rise. While serving as ambassador to the United States, Qin stepped up his visibility through public and media appearances in Washington in which he explained the Chinese position. Following his appointment as minister, he kept up a busy schedule, visiting Africa, Europe and Central Asia as well as hosting foreign dignitaries in Beijing. Whereabouts Qin has not been seen in public since 25 June, when he met with Russia's deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing. But it was his absence from a high-level ASEAN summit in Indonesia two weeks later that first raised eyebrows. China's foreign ministry said "health reasons" were to blame for Qin's absence. But that has done little to stem an explosion of rumors online. "Everyone is concerned about something but cannot discuss it publicly," Hu Xijin, a prominent commentator with the state tabloid Global Times, said in a post on Weibo. "A balance needs to be struck between maintaining the situation and respecting the public's right to know," he said. The foreign ministry has since deflected further questions about Qin's absence. Who's representing China? Qin's absence has left a vacuum at the top of China's foreign ministry. A visit by the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Beijing was abruptly called off this month. And Bloomberg reported on Friday that a visit by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was postponed due to Qin's absence. Top foreign policy official Wang Yi -- who outranks Qin in China's political hierarchy -- has taken on some of his responsibilities in the meantime, travelling to Africa this week to attend a BRICS meeting on security affairs in Johannesburg. And Beijing has insisted throughout his absence that China's diplomacy is functioning as normal. But as the foreign ministry reaches a month without a visible boss, doubts will start to mount over how much it's business as usual. "When the top dog is disappeared by the state, everyone in the organization freezes," Desmond Shum, a former Chinese business and political insider and author of "Red Roulette" tweeted. "Who's going to sign on the dotted line of the minister?" The post Missing for a month: Where is Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister? appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
EU tries again with new framework for data flows to US
The European Commission said Monday it has adopted a new legal framework to protect Europeans' personal data in exchanges with the United States -- its third attempt to get past legal challenges. "Today we take an important step to provide trust to (EU) citizens that their data is safe, to deepen our economic ties between the EU and the US, and at the same time to reaffirm our shared values," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said. The announcement was made possible after US President Joe Biden last year issued an executive order updating US intelligence agencies' rules when it came to snooping on international data flows to give "safeguards" to European Union citizens and residents, the EU executive said. Biden on Monday said the deal reflected a "joint commitment" by both the EU and the US to guaranteeing privacy for citizens. It would also deepen transatlantic ties that were "founded on our shared democratic values and vision for the world," a statement said. Umbrella groups representing tech companies, whose business models depend on transatlantic data exchanges, hailed the announcement of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework It was "good news for thousands of businesses," one of them, DigitalEurope, said in a statement. A US grouping, The Software Alliance (BSA), said it would "bolster the management of data across borders –- a cornerstone of our modern economy –- and improve safeguards for citizens of the EU and US alike". Challenge looming But Max Schrems, an Austrian legal activist whose challenges led to EU courts shooting down two previous EU-US attempts on data transfers, said this one, too, would fail to satisfy EU law. The latest framework still has "the fundamental problem" that the United States "takes the view that only US persons are worthy of constitutional rights" protecting them from American electronic snooping, he said. He vowed to challenge the latest effort, predicting the case "will be likely back at the Court of Justice (of the EU) in a matter of months". EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders told journalists he had "no illusion" about the coming likely legal challenge. "But it's maybe useful to test the new US system before to challenge such an adequacy decision," he said. Reynders added, in an apparent swipe at Schrems's non-profit European Centre for Digital Rights, that "maybe the access to the court of justice is a small part of the business model of some civil society organizations". Presidential order The European Commission argued that the new framework offered "significant improvements" over the previous data-transfer mechanism, called Privacy Shield, which the EU court deemed inadequate. The commission said US companies signing onto the EU-US Data Privacy Framework would be required to delete Europeans' personal data when it was no longer needed for the purpose it was collected. Its scope applies to citizens of the 27-nation EU and of associated countries Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, as well as residents in all those countries. They would have the right to redress if they found their data was wrongly handled by US companies. Under US law, Americans are protected from electronic spying by US intelligence agencies by their constitution, but all other nationalities are fair game. While Biden's October 2022 executive order does not extend that same protection to Europeans, it does oblige US intelligence agencies to show that data collection on foreigners is "proportionate" to a specified US national security objective. It also adds oversight to the handling of personal data collected and offers a path to "redress" for citizens of "qualifying states", which is meant to include those of the EU. A new US Data Protection Review Court made up of experts from outside the American government, would be able to review data decisions made inside the US office of the Director of National Intelligence. The European Commission said the US measures would underpin standard contractual clauses that so many online platforms, including those run by Meta, Amazon, and Google, rely on to transfer Europeans' data to the United States. The post EU tries again with new framework for data flows to US appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Look to Japan
Largely ignorant sniping seems to be the favored pastime of those reluctant to go along with Mr. Marcos Jr.’s re-warming of our relations with the United States. Often framed as risking a fatal nuclear apocalypse if the US-China rivalry comes to a head, the sniping is obviously meant to scare the gullible. Of the more recent sniping, notable was Mr. Rodrigo Duterte’s warning two weeks ago that the Philippines could be drawn into a “Third World War” if more Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or EDCA sites were built in the country. Right after, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile advised “pontificating” conservative critics to first do their homework before whipping up public outrage. Mr. Enrile didn’t name anyone in particular. But he was obviously disgusted with the political framing of Mr. Marcos Jr.’s notable move of making it easier for the United States to maintain a presence in the country. We, of course, do know where the “pontificating” ex-Philippine leader and his cohorts are coming from. We can ascribe their anxieties to what geopolitical analysts often tell us about smaller states aligned with more powerful hegemons — smaller states face the vexing dilemma of entrapment in conflicts they do not seek when moving too close to a larger power. Such an entrapment predicament — observed long ago by ancient Greek historian Thucydides — was what drove Mr. Duterte, under the guise of neutrality, to keep his distance from the US and experiment with embracing China. But the ex-leader’s experiment, as we all know by now, backfired badly, forcing him near the end of his term — after years of avoiding “entrapment” in US strategies containing China — to reaffirm the country’s long-standing defense alliance with the United States. This is largely because hegemonic China had openly demonstrated our country’s inability to stop its illegal incursions in the West Philippine Sea. In a sense then, Mr. Marcos Jr. is merely restating his predecessor’s belated realization that the challenge posed by China can only be blunted by reaffirming the Philippine-US alliance. Of course, Mr. Marcos Jr.’s embracing tighter security cooperation with the US means he has accepted the risk of entrapment in Asian conflicts that this entails. But to see Mr. Marcos Jr.’s renewing the Philippine-US alliance merely as reluctant hedging against China or as caving to American pressure is geopolitically naïve. In fact, the warming of the Philippine-US alliance can be said to be less about the US, but more about another regional powerhouse most concerned with China — Japan. Japan, as we know, presently has the strongest alliance with the US in the Asian region and has a strong, albeit quiet, influence on Philippine affairs. Yet, far too often, Japan is mistakenly seen as an adjunct to American geopolitical strategies when, in fact, Japan is at the forefront, more than the Americans, of confronting the challenge of China. As American Japanologist Michael J. Green put it, “At the time when the US was just beginning to debate a long-term strategy for competition with China, Japan had already defined its own.” “Japan has arguably the clearest conceptualization, consensus, and implementation of a grand strategy of any of the democracies confronting Chinese hegemonic ambitions in the Indo-Pacific,” Green said. The architect of such a grand strategy was the late Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, whose vision provided solutions on how best to make use of a strategic alliance with a hesitant US to outflank China. In fact, the often cited strategic framework in current geopolitical circles of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” was Abe’s catchphrase, which US President Joe Biden recently fully embraced, as well as Abe’s original idea of the Quad, the Japan-US-Australia-India partnership. In short, for our own purposes of moving forward with the renewed Philippine-US alliance, it means lessening our fixation with the US and studying more closely Japan’s unique proactive efforts vis-à-vis the US and China. *** Email: nevqjr@yahoo.com.ph The post Look to Japan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US Supreme Court steers society sharp right
One year after its ruling to erase abortion rights, the conservative-dominated US Supreme Court has underscored its determination to push society sharply to the right by scrapping long-established progressive policies. In three emphatic rulings this week the court banned universities from giving minorities priority in admissions; said some business owners can refuse to serve gay couples on religious grounds; and struck down President Joe Biden's plan to cancel student debt. Each saw the court's six conservative justices under Chief Justice John Roberts flexing their biceps over its three liberals. Republicans cheered them on as major victories were scored against flagship progressive ideologies -- as was also the case in last year's landmark overturning of abortion rights. "I have never been prouder of Roberts Court. The Supreme Court is truly standing up for individual constitutional rights and limited government," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham declared Friday. While Biden, a Democrat, was outraged by the rulings handed down by a court heavily influenced by three justices appointed by Donald Trump during his presidency. "This is not a normal court," Biden said after the decision on affirmative action in university admissions. Victory for religious liberty? A day after the court's affirmative action ruling, on Friday it ruled that a Colorado graphic designer was within her rights to refuse to design a website for a same-sex couple due to her Christian beliefs. The court rooted its decision in the US Constitution's guarantee of free speech, saying she could not be forced to create products that effectively forced her to say things she did not agree with. The decision focused on a limited category of commercial activities, like artists or businesses those creating content, but added to the accumulating decisions by the court in favor of religious Americans projecting their beliefs onto society at large. Republican Senator Josh Hawley called it a "major victory for free speech and religious liberty." For critics, it was a shocking erosion of anti-discrimination laws, opening the door for business owners generally to discriminate against customers who don't fit their moral or social belief set. "Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class," wrote Sonia Sotomayor, a justice on the court's liberal wing. Sarah Kate Ellis, the chief executive of the LGBTQ lobby GLAAD, said the decision would "bring harm and stigma" to her community. The ruling "is yet another example of a Court that is out of touch with the supermajority of Americans," she said. Student debt relief In Friday's second case, the court overruled Biden's program to cancel more than $400 billion worth of student debt weighing down the lives of millions of lower and middle-income Americans. The court majority said that given the large sum, Biden had overstepped his powers. "The question here is not whether something should be done; it is who has the authority to do it," Roberts wrote, sounding sympathetic to the president's motives. Republicans hailed the court siding with their stance that there was no justification for what they considered a politically motivated program. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell called it the "student loan socialism plan" which he said would "pad the pockets" of Biden's rich supporters. Democratic Senator Patty Murray riposted that "Biden gave working and middle-class borrowers some breathing room with desperately-needed debt relief. "Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has once again slammed the breaks on critical progress for people across Washington state and our country." The post US Supreme Court steers society sharp right appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DeSantis set to enter 2024 race, teeing up bitter face-off with Trump
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is set to launch his 2024 presidential campaign Wednesday, signaling 18 months of acrimony ahead as he and Donald Trump lock horns in what is expected to be an attritional contest for the Republican nomination. DeSantis was considered a rising Republican star, but has been caught flat-footed by months of relentless attacks from the former president, who has surged into a commanding lead despite being engulfed in a firestorm of criminal investigations. The 44-year-old governor will make his announcement in a livestreamed chat with billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk on the network's audio platform as he bids to co-opt some of the tech mogul's star power to upstage Trump. "I'm endorsing governor DeSantis -- he doesn't hold back and he's trying to make changes," one backer said in a video compilation of messages of support posted on Twitter by the Never Back Down political organization. Musk teased the 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) Twitter Spaces event in remarks to a conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal, promising it would be live and unscripted, with "real time questions and answers." The announcement will come with a campaign launch video and the start of a three-day retreat in Miami for some of DeSantis's wealthiest donors, who will be briefed on the campaign before the governor hits several early voting states next week. National profile Long viewed as the most viable challenger to twice-impeached Trump, DeSantis is better known than most of the hopefuls in the chasing pack for the Republican nomination -- but still lacks the frontrunner's national profile. The launch format offers him a dual advantage -- giving him precious access to Musk's 140 million followers, many of whom are in Trump's base, and, if he wins the nomination, the attention of a chunk of younger, less conservative voters he will likely need for a shot at the White House. DeSantis has used his platform as Florida's chief executive to burnish his conservative credentials, signing off on some 80 new state laws this spring, many targeting "woke indoctrination" in schools and other public institutions. They include a ban on the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, a block on funding for efforts to promote diversity at public universities and one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Never Back Down, which has been acting as the governor's de facto campaign arm, has a ground operation in most of the early nominating states and is making plans to expand. But the launch comes with DeSantis's ratings in decline as a number of policy missteps have prompted disquiet about his readiness to take on Trump. He faces the daunting task of closing an enormous polling gap, with Trump posting leads of close to 40 percentage points, despite being indicted on felony financial charges and being found liable for sexual abuse in a New York civil trial. Jockeying for endorsements Behind the scenes, the Trump and DeSantis camps have been jostling to secure political endorsements from state lawmakers while, at the national level, Florida's congressional delegation has broken heavily for Trump. Musk is a well-known DeSantis admirer, although he was clear that Twitter would remain neutral on the nomination and that his hosting of the campaign launch should not be taken as an endorsement. "I've said publicly that my preference, and I think the preference of most Americans, is... to have someone fairly normal in office," he said, without making any explicit criticism of Trump. The former reality TV star was banned from Twitter after the 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters and has not posted since being reinstated in November. He has been attacking DeSantis almost daily on his record, character and fitness for office, but responded to Wednesday's announcement with relative restraint -- simply posting favorable polling on his own online platform, Truth Social. "Announcing on Twitter is perfect for Ron DeSantis. This way he doesn't have to interact with people and the media can't ask him any questions," a Trump aide said. The post DeSantis set to enter 2024 race, teeing up bitter face-off with Trump appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»