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South Korea stages first military parade in a decade
South Korea staged its first military parade in a decade on Tuesday, showcasing its advanced arsenal in the face of plummeting ties with nuclear-armed North Korea. Pyongyang regularly puts on huge military parades but such events in Seoul are traditionally arranged every five years to mark South Korea's Armed Forces Day. The last parade was in 2013. Five years later, then-president Moon Jae-in chose to hold a celebratory ceremony instead of a military event, in line with his conciliatory approach to North Korea. Around 4,000 troops marched through central Seoul on a rain-soaked afternoon, cheered by umbrella-bearing crowds who waved South Korean flags. They were accompanied by 170 pieces of military equipment, including air and sea drones, tanks and missiles. The number of troops and pieces of equipment taking part were revised down by officials from those originally planned. A flight display by South Korean warplanes, including US-made F-35 stealth fighters, was also cancelled because of the poor weather. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol watched the parade from a platform, applauding troops as they marched past. "To demonstrate the strong foundation" of Seoul's alliance with Washington, around 300 US military personnel also participated in the parade. Yoon, who was elected last year, has pulled South Korea closer to the United States and the longstanding allies have ramped up defense cooperation, including large-scale drills, to counter growing threats from North Korea. During an Armed Forces Day ceremony earlier at an air base south of Seoul, Yoon hailed the expansion of US-South Korea defense ties. "If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response from the ROK-US alliance," he said at the base, repeating a warning the partners have issued in the past. 'Visually provocative gesture' North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests this year despite international sanctions, including the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyang has held three military parades this year alone, showing off a wide range of equipment including its largest Hwasong-17 ICBMs. The parade in Seoul "is a not-so-subtle and visually provocative gesture on the part of the South Korean government of telling (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un that Seoul will not be backing down or looking for ways to reconcile", LMI Consulting's Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst, told AFP. South Korea is a major weapons exporter but a longstanding domestic policy prohibits it from selling arms to countries in active conflict -- such as Ukraine. South Korea has thus resisted calls to supply weapons directly to Kyiv, despite condemning the Russian invasion. However, any deal in which North Korea sells arms to Russia for use in the conflict could force South Korea to review its position on Ukraine, experts say. South Korea secured defense export deals worth $17.3 billion last year, including a $12.7 billion agreement with Poland -- a NATO member and key Ukraine ally -- for K9 Howitzers, K2 battle tanks and more. The post South Korea stages first military parade in a decade appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Storm ‘Haikui’ heads to China
Typhoon “Haikui” toppled hundreds of trees, damaged coastal roads and dumped torrential rains across Taiwan Monday before it weakened into a severe storm and headed for southern China. “Haikui” had initially appeared to depart the island but made a second landfall early Monday in southwest Kaohsiung, before it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it moved out into the Taiwan Strait. There were no reports of deaths, but destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before. “I’ve lived here for so long and I have never seen such wind gusts,” said Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitung’s Donghe township, where he was with an early-morning work crew removing trees from a road. Although “Haikui” is considered to be less severe than previous storms, Chen said it felt more powerful. “It came straight through us.” Workers carefully maneuvered diggers to move downed tree branches and electrical wiring that had snapped and splayed across the rain-drenched road. Further north in coastal Changbin township, workers ferried massive concrete blocks to a coastal highway that had partially collapsed from the force of waves slamming into it, hoping they would absorb the impact. Heavy orange-colored barriers were placed near the edge to prevent cars from skidding over on the slippery roads. “Haikui” — the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years — forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 people across the island, particularly from landslide-prone mountainous regions. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses were closed. More than 217,000 households temporarily lost power through Sunday and overnight. By midday Monday, 11,000 homes still had no electricity, while schools and businesses remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down. A forecaster with Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said “Haikui” initially appeared to track away from the island and out to sea but made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at around 4 a.m. During the night “the center of the typhoon was almost circling” the port city, but as it moved along the coastline “the structure of the typhoon is damaged by the terrain and gradually weakens,” she said. with afp The post Storm ‘Haikui’ heads to China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Storm Haikui heads to China after double landfall in Taiwan
Typhoon Haikui toppled hundreds of trees, damaged coastal roads and dumped torrential rains across Taiwan Monday before it weakened into a severe storm and headed for southern China. Haikui had initially appeared to depart the island but made a second landfall early Monday in southwest Kaohsiung, before it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it moved out into the Taiwan Strait. There were no reports of deaths, but destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before. "I've lived here for so long and I have never seen such wind gusts," said Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitung's Donghe township, where he was with an early-morning work crew removing trees from a road. Although Haikui is considered to be less severe than previous storms, Chen said it felt more powerful. "It came straight through us." Workers carefully maneuvered diggers to move downed tree branches and electrical wiring that had snapped and splayed across the rain-drenched road. Further north in coastal Changbin township, workers ferried massive concrete blocks to a coastal highway that had partially collapsed from the force of waves slamming into it, hoping they would absorb the impact. Heavy orange-colored barriers were placed near the edge to prevent cars from skidding over on the slippery roads. Haikui -- the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years -- forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 people across the island, particularly from landslide-prone mountainous regions. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses were closed. More than 217,000 households temporarily lost power through Sunday and overnight. By midday Monday, 11,000 homes still had no electricity, while schools and businesses remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down. A forecaster with Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said Haikui initially appeared to track away from the island and out to sea but made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at around 4:00 am (2000 GMT Sunday). During the night "the center of the typhoon was almost circling" the port city, but as it moved along the coastline "the structure of the typhoon is damaged by the terrain and gradually weakens", she said. By mid-day, the storm had moved southwest of Taiwan's outlying island of Penghu, but was still bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the south and northeast. In picturesque Hualien county, waterfalls cascaded down the lush cliffs along Taiwan's east coast, while market vendors in Keelung -- a northern port city surrounded by mountains -- braved the rain to sell fruit to raincoat-clad shoppers. In Kaohsiung, the local government reported hundreds of toppled trees and flooding in dozens of locations, although the situation was easing as the storm departed and the weather conditions improved. Nearly 80 people suffered injuries during the typhoon, according to authorities, though they were minor -- mostly due to fallen trees and car accidents. The post Storm Haikui heads to China after double landfall in Taiwan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Two killed in shooting at Japan army training range
A new military recruit shot and killed two fellow soldiers and wounded a third at a training range in central Japan on Wednesday, the military said, with the 18-year-old suspect detained at the scene. "During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Forces candidate fired at three personnel," the Ground Self-Defense Force said in a statement, confirming two deaths. The shooter was an 18-year-old SDF candidate who joined the military in April, GSDF chief of staff Yasunori Morishita told reporters, adding he was detained on the spot by other soldiers. "This kind of incident is absolutely unforgivable for an organization tasked with handling weapons, and I take it very seriously," Morishita said. He said the three victims had been tasked with training new recruits, including the attacker, at the range, without further elaborating on their relations. The suspect, whose identity is being withheld for now, has been charged with the attempted murder of a 25-year-old soldier, a local police spokesman told AFP, declining to be identified. The cadet "fired a rifle at the victim with the intent to kill", the spokesman said. National broadcaster NHK reported the casualties were a man in his fifties and two other men in their twenties. Details of the casualties' identities have yet to be officially confirmed. Aerial footage broadcast by the station showed military and civilians gathered around an emergency vehicle and police blocking nearby roads. Some appeared to be investigators, wearing covers over their shoes and hair. A local resident told NHK he saw several emergency vehicles rushing to the area at around 9:30 am local time (0030 GMT) but had not heard anything before that. Morishita said as far as he is aware, gun violence by GSDF personnel that resulted in injuries or fatalities last took place in 1984 at a camp in Yamaguchi. Recent incidents The training range is administered by the region's Camp Moriyama and is a covered facility of more than 65,000 square meters. Gun possession is tightly controlled in Japan, where violent crime is rare. But several high-profile incidents have rattled the country over the last year. In July 2022, former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead on the campaign trail by a man who allegedly targeted him over his links to the Unification Church. The accused assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, was due to make his first appearance in court this week, but the session was cancelled after a package sent to the facility set off a metal detector. It was later found to contain no explosives, but rather a petition signed by thousands calling for a lenient sentence for Yamagami. He has garnered surprising sympathy from some quarters over the effect his mother's devotion to the Unification Church had on his family and childhood. In April, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida escaped unharmed after a man threw an explosive device towards him at a campaign event. That incident came shortly before Japan hosted the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Hiroshima and prompted renewed calls for stepped-up security. Thousands of police were deployed to secure the gathering, which passed without a security incident. Last month, police in the Nagano region west of Tokyo detained a man after an hours-long knife and shooting rampage, followed by an extended stand-off. The man killed four people, including two police officers, before he was detained. He is reportedly the son of the speaker of the local city assembly. The post Two killed in shooting at Japan army training range appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Heavy rain triggers evacuation warnings in Japan
Hundreds of thousands of residents in Japan were urged to evacuate on Friday as tropical storm Mawar brought heavy rain and caused several rivers to overflow. The eye of the storm, which has weakened from a typhoon, was 170 kilometers (105 miles) east of the country's southern Amami island by the afternoon. A non-compulsory evacuation order was issued to more than 410,000 people in Toyota in central Aichi region, as well as in other parts of western and central Japan. The highest evacuation alert -- which urges residents to immediately secure safety -- was issued to some 130,000 people in Toyohashi, also in Aichi, according to public broadcaster NHK. Western Wakayama region saw several rivers burst their banks, and NHK footage showed a brown-colored river in a Wakayama town covering railway tracks. "We urge residents (in the affected areas) to be extremely vigilant against landslides, flooding and rising and overflowing rivers," top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. "Extremely heavy rainfall with thunderstorms are expected over a wide area from western to eastern Japan over the next three days" due to the storm, he added. Shinkansen bullet trains were suspended between Tokyo and Osaka, according to Japan Railway. NHK said more than 200 flights were cancelled in the afternoon. Scientists say climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain in Japan and elsewhere, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. Strong rain in 2021 triggered a devastating landslide in the central resort town of Atami that killed 27 people. And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the country's annual rainy season. Earlier this week, Mawar -- then a typhoon -- passed just north of the Pacific island of Guam, uprooting trees and leaving tens of thousands of homes temporarily without power. The post Heavy rain triggers evacuation warnings in Japan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DepEd scraps bidding for P4.2 million ham, cheese
The Department of Education yesterday cancelled the bidding for Christmas ham and cheese worth P4.28 million originally intended for employees at its central office......»»
ANZ raises Philippine inflation forecast to 3.8% this year
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Negros Occidental health office urges masking amid pertussis threat
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DOTr: 2.2 million more plastic cards to be delivered
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Reflecting on Your Business Setbacks
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JG Summit FY23 profit: P19.6-B (up 216%)
JG Summit, the Gokongwei Family’s diversified conglomerate, teased its FY23 financial results headlined by a 216% increase in the company’s net income to P19.6 billion......»»
Boxing trainer Domingo is confident Jerusalem will upset Shigeoka
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Tech advancements in agri sans job threats in Date 2024
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JG Summit core profit soars in 2023
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One more city in Philippines declares pertussis outbreak
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2 Best Ways to Save Up for Something
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PMI, ARQ, ZIP Sanman boxers feted in first Elorde-Pacquiao Boxing Awards
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Central Visayas was well-represented during the inaugural Elorde-Pacquiao Boxing Awards at Okada Manila last Sunday, March 24th. This was after 13 of Central Visayas’ best boxers from Cebu and Bohol were feted for their achievements in 2023. They were headed by none other than former World Boxing Organization (WBO) world minimumweight.....»»
50,000 cops nationwide, including 2,100 from Central Visayas, promoted to higher positions
50,000 cops nationwide, including 2,100 from Central Visayas, promoted to higher positions.....»»
Masking, lockdown not needed for rising pertussis cases – DOH
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Earthquake summit highlights engineering solutions, stricter policy implementation
A recent earthquake summit, organized by the Office of Civil Defense, highlighted the need for enhanced coordination mechanisms, engineering solutions alongside maximum utilization of available technologies and stricter policy implementation to strengthen the country’s preparedness......»»