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b776a6760cd186fee29a6b946b209928 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-28636126 | Conflicting claims over Thai surrogate baby case | Conflicting claims over Thai surrogate baby case
An Australian couple have denied abandoning a baby boy with Down's Syndrome, who was born to a surrogate mother in Thailand.
Pattharamon Chanbua, 21, was paid by the couple to have their child. But they took home only one baby when she had twins, leaving behind Gammy.
The parents of baby Gammy have told local media that they were only told about his healthy twin sister.
But the surrogate said the father visited the twins in the hospital.
Ms Chanbua has claimed that she was asked by the couple to have an abortion once they knew about Gammy's condition. But she refused as it was against her Buddhist beliefs.
She plans to keep Gammy and raise him as her own child. Besides Down's syndrome, the six-month-old baby has a congenital heart condition and a lung infection.
The case has made international headlines and caused an uproar particularly in Australia, where both Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison have expressed regret over the situation.
The parents reportedly told
Channel 9
that they had a daughter of Gammy's age but she did not have a brother.
They said they had experienced trouble with the surrogacy agency, describing it as "traumatising".
The unnamed couple, who live south of Perth, also denied any knowledge of a son to
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
.
"We saw a few people at the hospital. We [didn't] know who the surrogate was - it was very confusing. There was a language barrier," they said.
They added that they had saved for a long time to pay for the surrogacy and it had "taken every cent we have". They have been told that the agency now no longer exists,
claims the father.
But Ms Chanbua told
Fairfax Media
that the father, who is in his 50s, "came to the hospital to take care of the girl but never looked Gammy in the face or carried him", even though the two babies stayed next to each other.
She also said she was now considering suing the parents.
Politicians have since weighed in, with Mr Abbott calling it an "incredibly sad story". He said the Australian government would look into the case,
Mr Morrison meanwhile
said
that the law surrounding the case was "very, very murky" and noted that the case had happened in another country's jurisdiction.
His office told the Associated Press news agency that Gammy might be eligible for Australian citizenship. If he became a citizen, he would be entitled to free medical care in Australia.
The Attorney-General's Department said in a statement sent to the BBC that, together with Thai authorities, the Australian government was now examining "broader legal and other issues relating to surrogacy in Thailand".
It is illegal to pay for surrogacy in Australia, so couples have to find a surrogate who is happy to carry the child for no payment beyond medical and other reasonable expenses.
The difficulty in finding such surrogates has prompted some Australians to head overseas for commercial surrogacy arrangements.
So far only three Australian states - the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland - ban their residents from doing so. Gammy's biological parents reside in Western Australia.
Commercial surrogacy is largely unregulated in Thailand and is a flourishing industry, although the military government is now looking into cracking down on clinics following Ms Chanbua's case, report agencies.
An online fundraising campaign so far has raised more than $210,000 (£124,800) to help her with Gammy's medical expenses.
|
60ce737c67b478419b23ad70a2899f55 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-28826352 | More found, two missing after Indonesia tourist boat sinks | More found, two missing after Indonesia tourist boat sinks
Two foreign tourists are still missing after a boat sank off the coast of eastern Indonesia on Saturday.
Twenty foreign tourists, an Indonesian guide and four crew were on board when the boat foundered near Sangeang Api, a volcanic island off Sumbawa.
Ten people were rescued initially and another 13, including all the crew, were found alive early on Monday.
They are being treated in hospital for trauma and dehydration as a search continues for the remaining two people.
The Indonesian military has joined the search to find the two remaining tourists, a Dutch man and an Italian woman.
Speedboats and a helicopter have been deployed, but authorities say rescue efforts are hampered by bad weather and high waves.
Officials said the incident took place when the boat, sailing from Lombok island to Komodo island, hit a wave that was 3m high and crashed into a reef. It sprung a leak and sank.
Rescue officials told agencies that the second group were found together by fishermen. Some of them were in a lifeboat while others were floating in their lifejackets.
The survivors were now recovering in Sape city in Sumbawa, they said.
Survivors said that as the boat started sinking, some got into a lifeboat which could only take up to seven passengers. Others climbed onto the roof of the boat which had not yet completely sunk.
They eventually split into two groups when it became clear that there were not enough lifeboats nor communication tools to call for help.
One group decided to swim six to seven hours to reach Sangeang Api, while the others stayed with the lifeboat.
French survivor Bertrand Homassel was in the first group. He told AFP: "We were 5km (three miles) from the coast and there were many big waves separating us from the coast. People started to panic and everyone took the decision to swim to the closest island."
After spending the night on the island by eating leaves and drinking their own urine, that group was rescued by a passing boat on Sunday.
The other survivors who stayed with the lifeboat, who were rescued on Monday, were in the water for about 40 hours.
Dutchman Jan van Ommen said people took turns to spend time in the lifeboat and float in the water with their lifejackets.
"So we had this system, and in the beginning it was not easy... but later on the system went on, and we changed and changed," Mr van Ommen told AFP.
The other tourists came from the UK, Germany, Spain, and New Zealand.
The UK Foreign Office says two British nationals were hospitalised following the incident.
The BBC's Alice Budisatrijo in Jakarta said the boat was on a three-day journey through some of Indonesia's most picturesque islands.
Boats are the main form of transport in some parts of Indonesia, but accidents are common because of poor safety standards.
|
ae4d1560b16605c16674ad8346e38743 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-28933726 | Tepco to pay damages in Fukushima suicide case | Tepco to pay damages in Fukushima suicide case
A Japanese court has ordered the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant to pay damages to the family of an evacuee who killed herself.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) will pay the family of Hamako Watanabe 49 million yen (£284,000, $472,000).
Ms Watanabe killed herself after she was forced to leave her home due to radioactive contamination.
The plant was badly damaged by the March 2011 tsunami, which knocked out cooling systems to reactors.
The case could open the way for many others to sue Tepco for compensation, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.
In June 2011, three months after the plant's failure, Mrs Watanabe and her husband Mikio were forced to evacuate their home because of radioactive contamination. Their home in Kawamata town was about 40km from the plant.
The family moved to an apartment in Fukushima city. Weeks later Mrs Watanabe, 58, doused herself in kerosene and set herself on fire.
Her husband and three children sued Tepco for 91 million yen.
They claimed the evacuation was responsible for a deterioration of Mrs Watanabe's mental state because she did not know when she could return home, according to Kyodo news agency. The chicken farm where she and her husband were working also closed.
Following the verdict, Tepco released a statement reiterating that it was sorry for the accident and said it would study the verdict and "respond in a sincere way".
"We pray that Hamako Watanabe has found peace," the company added.
Mr Watanabe said he was "satisfied" with the court decision.
It is not the first time Tepco has paid out compensation. It has settled a number of suicide-related claims through a government dispute resolution system, reports say, but this case is the first time a court has mandated Tepco should pay damages.
Dozens of Fukushima residents are reported to have killed themselves since the disaster, says our correspondent.
Tens of thousand fled their homes and businesses because of radioactive contamination, with the majority still unable to return home.
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ede134ad11717869708144e9467e2bd6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-29392744 | Narendra Modi lawsuit revisits Gujarat riots on US visit | Narendra Modi lawsuit revisits Gujarat riots on US visit
The lawsuit charging India's Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi with
crimes against humanity during the 2002 Gujarat riots
was timed to cause maximum embarrassment during his five-day American charm offensive.
With US officials making clear Mr Modi has immunity as a head of government while on American soil, it's likely to be little more than an irritant in the short term.
If he needs any advice he could do worse than call his chief political opponent, Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress party leader
was targeted
by the same American lawyer, under the same American statute, charged in relation to an anti-Sikh massacre in Delhi in 1984 - until that case was dismissed earlier this year.
An attempt
by a British restaurant worker to arrest former Prime Minister Tony Blair for invading Iraq did little more than disrupt his meal.
Yet even if they are not an immediate legal threat, these opportunistic bids for justice have kept Mr Blair and other controversial world figures on their toes.
For Mr Modi, it's a reminder that questions over his actions as chief minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots haven't gone away - despite his decisive election as prime minister in May.
While taking care not to overshadow his visit, the Indian media have still given the lawsuit respectful coverage.
Mr Modi is accused of turning a blind eye when Hindu mobs went on a rampage of revenge in Gujarat in 2002.
The riots came after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was torched, killing 59 people.
More than 1,000 people eventually died in the violence - most of them Muslims.
It was for that reason the Bush Administration
denied him a visa in 2005
, under laws barring any government official responsible for "particularly severe violations of religions freedom".
Both the Obama administration and Mr Modi want to leave that controversy behind, but technically the ban still stands and he can travel to the US only because as his nation's leader he gets an automatic visa.
Mr Modi's supporters dismiss what they call a "fake campaign" against him, pointing out that
Indian courts have ruled
there is insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
But significant
doubts remain
over the investigations that led to that verdict. And a former Gujarat cabinet minister appointed by Mr Modi
was convicted
of instigating the worst single massacre during the riots.
The prime minister's Hindu nationalist background and past anti-Muslim rhetoric, together with his apparent refusal to show remorse for the bloodshed in 2002, fuel suspicions that the full truth has yet to emerge.
Critics say Mr Modi has also been conspicuously silent over a
spate of anti-Muslim incidents
in India since becoming prime minister.
His declaration in a recent CNN interview that Indian Muslims "would live for India and die for India" was seen by some as a veiled response to such criticism.
But though some welcomed his remarks, many Muslims asked why they needed "a certificate of loyalty" from Mr Modi.
And one of the few Muslim MPs in Mr Modi's ruling NDA coalition
has now spoken out
against what he calls "the unfettered hate being spewed" against India's Muslim minority.
When he was sworn in as prime minister in May, Mr Modi promised to build an India that was "inclusive".
But at a time when the US is trying yet again to repair ties with the Muslim world in its battle with Islamic State militants, Mr Modi may prove a controversial ally.
|
95e7f95a0935f721f8db6e71b6b3673c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30144182 | Sri Lanka election: Health chief to challenge Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka election: Health chief to challenge Rajapaksa
One of the most senior figures in the Sri Lankan government has announced that he is defecting to stand against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in forthcoming presidential elections.
Correspondents say the move by Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena is a major political setback for the president ahead of the January vote.
Mr Sirisena was one of the most powerful men in the ruling party.
Five other government MPs have also announced their defections.
Rajitha Senaratne, Duminda Dissanayake, Rajiva Wijeysinghe, MKDS Gunawardena and Vasantha Senanayaka have all decided to back Mr Sirisena in the 8 January election.
He also has the backing of the main opposition UNP in the poll as well as the support of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Correspondents say that Friday's dramatic developments are likely to split President Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
The president - who secured victory over Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 - is seeking an unprecedented third term in office after coming to power in 2005.
In a news conference, Mr Sirisena said that Sri Lanka was heading towards a dictatorship and was blighted by rampant corruption, nepotism and the breakdown of the rule of law.
He said that the president's executive powers, the deteriorating law and order situation and Sri Lanka's weakening democratic structures were all reasons that compelled him to accept the common candidate nomination.
"The entire economy and every aspect of society is controlled by one family," he said.
Parliamentary Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and the powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, are all brothers of the president.
His eldest son, Namal, is a lawmaker and head of the youth wing of the president's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
The presidential vote will be held amid continuing international pressure over the Rajapaksa administration's human rights record.
Five years after the end of the country's civil war, the president, 69, is constantly having to fend off allegations that his troops killed 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final days of the fighting.
He also faces accusations that his government has ruthlessly suppressed dissenting voices in the media and in the judiciary.
Mr Rajapaksa, a former lawyer, argues that he is guaranteeing Sri Lanka much-needed stability after a quarter century of civil war.
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6e24505118e291597e62f48767096215 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30373877 | Xinjiang: Has China's crackdown on 'terrorism' worked? | Xinjiang: Has China's crackdown on 'terrorism' worked?
"Kashgar is not stable."
The words of a paramilitary police officer as he marched past me under the statue of Chairman Mao in China's westernmost city.
It was the answer to my question: "Why are there so many armoured trucks, so many armed officers, so many police dogs?"
A history scarred by civil war and foreign invasion makes many Chinese citizens hanker for strong central government.
But for security, they pay a high price in civil liberties.
Especially in border areas like this which are so different from mainstream China and where the pressure to show loyalty is correspondingly immense.
The government is watching every citizen.
I was in Kashgar
to tackle one of the hardest China stories to cover.
The story, according to the Chinese government, is "a triple evil", a mix of religious extremism, separatism and terrorism.
In May, it announced a year-long security campaign after a shocking series of attacks made the state look weak.
Exiles and human rights groups say the story is that the state itself is making matters worse, and the violence is fuelled by repression against a religious and ethnic minority, China's Muslim Uighurs.
Uighurs are ethnically Turkic Muslims and make up about 45% of the region's population; 40% are Han Chinese
China re-established control in 1949 after crushing the short-lived state of East Turkestan
Since then, there has been large-scale immigration of Han Chinese
Uighurs say they have been economically marginalised and fear their traditional culture is being eroded
Why is there tension between China and the Uighurs?
I wanted to see the counter-terror crackdown at first hand, to hear from Uighurs about the religious restrictions they now face, and to make my own assessment of how the two relate.
The mission was made much harder by government surveillance both of me as a foreign journalist and of the people I was trying to talk to.
Kashgar is the last stop before Pakistan, closer to Baghdad than it is to Beijing. It's at the far western edge of the troubled province of Xinjiang, home to 10 million Uighurs.
China doesn't trust the loyalty of these citizens. It worries about whether they are Chinese first or Muslim first.
Which is why alongside the security push, the past six months have seen sweeping restrictions on religious expression.
The further west and further south you go in Xinjiang, the more troubled the past and the present.
This land has seen empires come and go.
In the 20th Century, even the Russians dabbled here from just over the border in Soviet Central Asia, supporting Uighur claims for an independent state of East Turkestan.
But the Chinese Communist Party sees Xinjiang as an integral part of the People's Republic of China and teaches its citizens that the determination to hold onto it is not about mineral wealth or the geopolitics of Central Asia but a sacred trust for Chinese patriots.
Just two days before I arrived, the area had seen another violent attack in which
15 people had died
.
As so often, the incident involved a vehicle ploughing into a crowd and multiple attackers with knives and homemade explosives who were then shot dead by police.
At least 200 people have now died in clashes related to Xinjiang over the past six months and perhaps half of those killed are the attackers themselves.
So what is causing young Uighur men to commit acts of violence which so often end in their own deaths?
The Chinese government says they are being poisoned by the holy war propaganda of militant Islam, propaganda flooding across the border from Pakistan and Afghanistan on DVDs, mobile phones and internet.
As part of the year-long counter-terrorism campaign, Chinese police said they have confiscated thousands of videos inciting terrorism and blocked online materials teaching terrorist techniques.
As I travelled between Kashgar and a neighbouring city on a public bus, I witnessed young Uighur men obediently filing off at police checkpoints so that their phones could be checked for religious materials.
"Nothing religious at all. You can have nothing at all on there," one man told me as we watched another climb back on the bus and reassembled his phone.
"The government wants to discourage religion. No official is allowed to pray in a mosque. And no one under the age of 18 is allowed in. No children."
A Uighur police officer told me the same thing. "I am a practising Muslim but I can't pray at the mosque."
When I asked how he felt about this, he looked nervously around him and pulled a wry expression.
His caution was understandable. It is dangerous to complain about any government policies in Xinjiang.
To the state, any criticism is construed as sympathy with the "three evils" of religious extremism, separatism and terrorism.
The government insists its terror problem is a foreign import, that Xinjiang is now on the radar of international jihad.
It says the internet is poisoning young Uighur minds with off the shelf visions of martyrdom and a sense of belonging to a bigger mission.
Certainly a suicide attack on Tiananmen Square a year ago which killed and maimed many innocent tourists was accompanied by a video in which the attackers pledged holy war.
Earlier this year, Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi criticised Beijing's policies in Xinjiang and asked all Chinese Muslims to pledge allegiance to him instead.
An English-language magazine released by al-Qaeda described Xinjiang as an occupied Muslim land to be recovered into the Caliphate.
But China makes no attempt to distinguish between religious extremists who may be prepared to carry out or condone acts of terror, and those in Xinjiang with a religious, political or economic grievance which they attempt to resolve peacefully.
One of the things I tried to do in Xinjiang was to visit the home village of the Tiananmen Square attackers.
I'd read reports that the beginning of their alienation was not jihadist videos but rage against the state for demolishing parts of their mosque. I wanted to understand more about their psychological journey from law-abiding Chinese citizens to vengeful martyrs.
Despite several attempts to reach the village, I was not allowed in. Whether by Uighur citizens or foreign journalists, the government is simply unwilling to tolerate public discussion of the role of religious, political and economic grievances in creating its Xinjiang problem.
But I did see evidence that those grievances are mounting.
I talked to men who complained that they were no longer allowed to grow a beard, and to women who are no longer allowed to wear a veil.
A Uighur guard at a Kashgar hospital told me women who insisted on covering their face would not be admitted for medical treatment.
And a Uighur government official told me he hated his job because he could not speak any truth and there were "spies everywhere".
There are also rumbling economic grievances.
Uighurs are now a minority in their own homeland and some complained to me that they face discrimination when it comes to jobs.
One Uighur boss of a construction company conceded: "The top jobs in my company all go to Han Chinese. They have the education and we Uighurs simply don't."
And a Han Chinese was even more disparaging.
"No one would employ Uighur workers if they had a Han alternative. The Uighurs are lazy and incompetent. It will cost you three times as much to get the job done and it still won't be done to the same standard."
Even in their traditional crafts, Uighur livelihoods are under threat.
A metal worker crouched over his anvil told me: "I've been doing this for 20 years. It takes me two weeks to make a fine teapot. But now the machine made goods from China are flooding in. It's hard to make a living."
Over the past 30 years, Chinese policy makers have assumed that economic growth in Xinjiang would stifle dissent but in some ways, modernisation seems to have made Uighur marginalisation worse.
President Xi visited Xinjiang just before the counter-terror crackdown and promised more economic opportunity, saying the Uighur and Han peoples must be "as close as the seeds of the pomegranate".
But the President also urged "decisive action… to resolutely suppress the terrorists' rampant momentum".
And in the short term, this action is more visible than the other.
After a brief visit to Xinjiang, my provisional assessment is that despite the police officer telling me "Kashgar was not stable", the overall security situation in the province was under control and there was no meaningful challenge from militant Islam.
I saw a lot of security. On key roads, in airports, on city streets.
But I did not see the level of police tension or preparedness that would suggest China was grappling with the "rampant momentum" of a serious terrorist threat.
What I did see instead was a Uighur community under intense surveillance, a community whose already very limited freedoms of speech, religion and movement are now being shrunk further.
Without any legitimate space in which to vent about this, the grim probability is that violence will go on, with some young Uighurs enraged and desperate enough to choose death in a hail of bullets rather than what they see as a life of subjugation.
|
7cbcca7f1b6f2e9e41ca22885d2a87cb | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30491435 | Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar school attack leaves 141 dead | Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar school attack leaves 141 dead
Militants from the Pakistani Taliban have attacked an army-run school in Peshawar, killing 141 people, 132 of them children, the military say.
Officials say the attack in the north-western city is over, with all the attackers killed. Seven militants took part in all, according to the army.
Scores of survivors are being treated in hospitals as frantic parents search for news of their children.
The attack - the Taliban's deadliest in Pakistan - has been widely condemned.
Describing the attack from his hospital bed
to the BBC's Shaimaa Khalil
, Shahrukh Khan, 17, said a gunman had entered his classroom and opened fire at random.
As he hid under a desk, he saw his friends being shot, one in the head and one in the chest. Two teachers were also killed.
A Taliban spokesman told BBC Urdu that the school, which is run by the army, had been targeted in response to military operations.
Hundreds of Taliban fighters are thought to have died in a recent offensive in North Waziristan and the nearby Khyber area.
US President Barack Obama said terrorists had "once again shown their depravity" while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it was "an act of horror and rank cowardice".
This brutal attack may well be a watershed for a country long accused by the world of treating terrorists as strategic assets.
Pakistan's policy-makers struggling to come to grips with various shades of militants have often cited a "lack of consensus" and "large pockets of sympathy" for religious militants as a major stumbling-block.
That is probably why, when army chief Gen Raheel Sharif launched what he called an indiscriminate operation earlier in the year against militant groups in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, the political response was lukewarm at best.
We will get them, was his message, be they Pakistani Taliban, Punjabi Taliban, al-Qaeda and affiliates, or most importantly, the dreaded Haqqani network. But the country's political leadership chose to remain largely silent. This is very likely to change now.
Late on Tuesday, military spokesman Asim Bajwa told reporters in Peshawar that 132 children and nine members of staff had been killed.
All seven of the attackers wore suicide bomb vests, he said. Scores of people were also injured.
It appears the militants scaled walls to get into the school and set off a bomb at the start of the assault.
Children who escaped say the militants then went from one classroom to another, shooting indiscriminately.
One boy told reporters he had been with a group of 10 friends who tried to run away and hide. He was the only one to survive.
Others described seeing pupils lying dead in the corridors. One local woman said her friend's daughter had escaped because her clothing was covered in blood from those around her and she had lain pretending to be dead.
16 December 2014:
Taliban attack on school in Peshawar leaves at least 141 people dead, 132 of them children
22 September 2013:
Militants linked to the Taliban kill
at least 80 people
at a church in Peshawar, in one of the worst attacks on Christians
10 January 2013:
Militant bombers target the Hazara Shia Muslim minority in the city of Quetta,
killing 120
at a snooker hall and on a street
28 May 2010:
Gunmen attack two mosques of the minority Ahmadi Islamic sect in Lahore, killing
more than 80 people
18 October 2007:
Twin bomb attack at a rally for Benazir Bhutto in Karachi leaves
at least 130 dead
. Unclear if Taliban behind attack
A hospital doctor treating injured children said many had head and chest injuries.
Irshadah Bibi, a woman who lost her 12-year-old son, was seen beating her face in grief, throwing herself against an ambulance.
"O God, why did you snatch away my son?" AFP news agency quoted her as saying.
The school is near a military complex in Peshawar. The city, close to the Afghan border, has seen some of the worst of the violence during the Taliban insurgency in recent years.
Many of the students were the children of military personnel. Most of them would have been aged 16 or under.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said the militants had been "forced" to launch the attack in response to army attacks.
Leading figures in Pakistan expressed grief and indignation
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56ad8cd907833986a945fcffa5f594e1 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30616380 | Nato marks transition to new Afghanistan mission | Nato marks transition to new Afghanistan mission
Nato has formally ended its 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan - heralding the start of a new phase of support for local Afghan troops.
Commanders lowered the flag during a ceremony in Kabul - raising the flag of the new mission named Resolute Support.
"We have lifted the Afghan people out of the darkness of despair and given them hope for the future," mission commander Gen John Campbell said.
Nato's Afghan deployment began after the 9/11 attacks against the US.
From 1 January the alliance's role will shift to a mainly training and support mission for the Afghan army.
Sunday's ceremony was low-key - held inside a gymnasium at the alliance headquarters away from the public.
A military band played as the flag of the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) was lowered in the presence of senior military personnel from both sides.
Unfurling the new flag, Gen Campbell said the mission "will serve as the bedrock of an enduring partnership" between Nato and Afghanistan.
"We honour coalition and Afghan fallen in this mighty struggle, those who paid the price for Afghanistan's freedom,"
he said, adding
: "The road before us remains challenging but we will triumph."
At its peak, the US-led Isaf deployment involved more than 130,000 personnel from 50 countries.
But from 1 January, it will bring together around 12,000 men and women from Nato allies and 14 partner nations.
"The security of Afghanistan will be fully in the hands of the country's 350,000 Afghan soldiers and police. But Nato allies, together with many partner nations, will remain to train, advise and assist them," said Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
in a statement
.
More than a decade after this long and expensive mission began, the Taliban are still active and gaining in strength, launching a number of attacks in recent months, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Kabul.
This year has been the bloodiest in Afghanistan since 2001, with at least 4,600 members of the Afghan security forces dying in the fight against the Taliban.
It underscores the challenges that lie ahead of the Afghan security forces, our correspondent says.
Nearly 3,500 foreign troops have been killed since the beginning of the Nato mission.
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1254b2fb84b13e60b142cdcb54e62461 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30738671 | Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa suffers shock election defeat | Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa suffers shock election defeat
Sri Lanka's long-time leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has been defeated in the presidential election.
Official results showed Maithripala Sirisena, a former ally of the incumbent, had won 51.3% of the vote.
Mr Rajapaksa, in office since 2005,
said on Twitter
he looked forward to a peaceful transition of power.
His supporters credit him with ending the civil war and boosting the economy, but critics say he had become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt.
Mr Sirisena had already received promises of support from Tamil and Muslim leaders before the election.
But the result shows he also picked up a significant portion of the majority Sinhalese vote, most of whom solidly supported Mr Rajapaksa in previous elections.
Mr Sirisena was sworn in hours after the result was announced, and promised future election campaigns would be "much more mature".
"Even though [state media] carried out character assassination and vilified me, I can say I had the maturity to bear it all as a result of my long political experience," he told crowds of supporters in Colombo.
The two biggest minorities - Tamils and Muslims - voted for Mr Sirisena in large numbers, and probably swung the vote his way. Their vote was more anti-Rajapaksa than pro-Sirisena.
Mr Sirisena was picked by the unwieldy opposition coalition for his Sinhalese appeal, and he has done little to reach out to the minorities on the campaign trail. It will be difficult for him to ignore their grievances now, including constitutional changes for a settlement of the ethnic grievances that fuelled the long war.
Questions also surround Bodu Bala Sena - the hard-line Buddhist monks' organisation that has peddled hatred and violence against Muslims and some Christians for the past two years. Will it simply disappear with the demise of a government that - at the very least - tolerated it?
Life after Rajapaksa
The incumbent was seeking a third term in office after he changed the constitution to scrap the two-term limit.
But before the results were announced, Mr Rajakpaksa's press officer said the president "concedes defeat and will ensure a smooth transition of power bowing to the wishes of the people".
Both Mr Rajapaksa and Mr Sirisena are Sinhalese, the majority ethnic group in Sri Lanka.
They were allies until November when Mr Sirisena, the health minister in Mr Rajapaksa's government, announced his surprise candidacy.
Many in Sri Lanka are stunned by these events - not just because they have a new president, but because democracy has worked and there has been so little of the vote rigging, intimidation and election violence of the past, reports the BBC's Jill McGivering.
Turnout in many areas was above 70%, roughly in line with previous elections, with no reports of major incidents disrupting the voting process.
In Jaffna and Trincomalee, two of the main Tamil strongholds, turnout was higher than previous national elections.
The build-up to Sri Lankan elections is usually blighted by dozens of deaths, but this year just one election-related death was reported.
Mr Rajapaksa was last elected in 2010 when he defeated his former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who was later jailed on charges of implicating the government in war crimes.
But his critics say he became increasingly authoritarian and failed to tackle the legacy of Sri Lanka's civil war, which left the Tamil areas in the north impoverished and embittered.
Both sides in the war were accused of atrocities, but an inquiry set up by the government that largely exonerated the army was dismissed by rights groups as flawed.
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ef1723e4873e417fd89b61b68ae5c827 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31311887 | Afghanistan's women's cyclists: The world's most unlikely sports team? | Afghanistan's women's cyclists: The world's most unlikely sports team?
Perhaps the world's most unlikely sporting team, Afghanistan's women cyclists train three times a week on unused roads on a plain north of the capital, Kabul.
They set out, carrying their cycles past open sewers, from a private house with a water pump in the yard, in a mud-built back lane of the city, owned by Afghanistan's only professional cyclist, Abdul Sadiq.
He began by training his daughter. And when she competed successfully abroad, he set up the team.
His deputy Mariam Marjan goes around schools seeking girls who might want to compete.
Even today, after years of progress since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, she faces formidable obstacles in finding new recruits.
It is not for lack of enthusiasm on the part of the girls.
But the sport breaks taboos in a country where in many traditional communities, women are not allowed out of the house without a male member of their family as an escort.
Afghan families are large networks. "If it's not their father trying to stop them, it's a brother or uncle," Ms Marjan said. "There is always somebody they have to convince."
Two members of the team, Massouma, 18, and Zarab, 17, are sisters.
Their father and their brothers approve, but Zarab says they know that their uncles complain to their father.
"They will never come in front of us to say why are you cycling, but they say bad words to our father," she said.
The head coach, Abdul Sadiq, has faced frequent threats and was recently beaten up.
But watching the girls load their bikes onto the top of his four-wheel drive vehicle for another day of training, male neighbours on the street all said that they approved.
The bikes are a long way from the precision-built kit used by the top international teams, and Mr Sadiq knows that he is a long way from top rung competition.
His team have, however, competed and won regionally against Bangladesh and Pakistan.
His biggest problem is retaining trained athletes in a country where many people are married at 20 and then drop out of the team.
But there are always new recruits, who come out when the team train, wobbling as they learn to ride from scratch.
"We want to go cycling because we want to be heroes one day," said 16-year-old Jella, one of the latest recruits.
In one of the mildest and driest winters for many years, training has gone on without interruption. And in the spring, the girls will go up into the mountains.
They do the sport with an evangelical zeal.
"We say that women should not sit at home, they need to come out and do sport," said Ms Marjan, the deputy head coach.
And 18-year-old Zainab said she wished that she could just go cycling alone on the street without being harassed.
"It's my ambition, and I hope that one day girls will be allowed to go cycling on the streets, without a coach, or anyone with them, and they will not have problems," she said.
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8219ca346606129a77755493164a94e4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32146849 | Could North Korea ever give up the bomb? | Could North Korea ever give up the bomb?
To state the obvious: North Korea is not Iran.
There are crucial differences which make defusing Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions much harder than removing those of the Iranian leadership.
Firstly, North Korea already has the bomb - and dismantling a machine which exists is a lot harder than preventing its creation in the first place.
The genie is out of the bottle.
North Korea has already conducted three tests of devices (detected by seismologists). It boasts of its "nuclear deterrent" in state-run media.
Accordingly, the important question is not about if but when - in particular, when might it be able to make a bomb small enough to put on top of a missile capable of leaving the earth's atmosphere and re-entering to hit distant targets.
South Korea and Japan already feel the threat acutely because North Korea has demonstrated the use of shorter-ranger missiles, and the US fears that a missile capable of reaching the West Coast isn't far away.
The second crucial difference between the Iranian and North Korean situations is that Iranians have some power over their elected leaders through the ballot box, even if they cannot remove the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who recently voiced his concern over any deal on his country's nuclear programme.
However you view the state of democracy in Iran, there is pressure from below to deliver satisfactory economic conditions.
If the people feel government policy is failing them, they can put pressure on that government to a degree unimaginable in despotic North Korea.
This means that sanctions are much more likely to work against Iran than North Korea where the people have to suck up whatever policy Kim Jong-un dishes out.
It is impossible to know from outside exactly where North Korea stands in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. There may be sabre-rattling.
Some experts believe, for example, that fearsome missiles shown off in parades may be fakes for Western eyes.
Intelligence services and politicians in South Korea and the US may have an interest in talking up the threat.
Sympathisers with North Korea may want to talk it down.
So what's our best knowledge?
Here's how Siegfried Hecker of Stanford University, one of the world's acknowledged authorities, put it: "North Korea's nuclear weapons programme has been relentlessly expanding for a decade, and poses a real and deadly threat to the rest of Northeast Asia".
Prof Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States, visited North Korean nuclear plants before outsiders were completely barred.
He
wrote recently
in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: "During my first visit to North Korea in January 2004, North Korean officials were eager to show my Stanford University colleagues and me the plutonium bomb fuel they produced following a diplomatic breakdown with the George W Bush administration.
"Four years ago, during my seventh visit to the country and two years into the Obama administration, they surprised us with a tour through an ultra-modern centrifuge facility, demonstrating that they were capable of producing highly enriched uranium, the alternate route to the bomb".
US: First nuclear test July 1945
Russia: August 1949
UK: October 1952
France: February 1960
China: October 1964
India: May 1974
Israel: Suspected September 1979
Pakistan: May 1998
North Korea: October 2006
The ability to produce this highly enriched uranium changed the calculation because it meant that North Korea wasn't constrained by the supply of plutonium.
It opened a second route.
Prof Hecker said: "The plutonium produced in the early 1990s had been tied up for almost a decade in spent fuel, which was stored safely with US assistance and kept under international inspection. Today, North Korea may possess a nuclear arsenal of roughly 12 nuclear weapons, half likely fuelled by plutonium and half by highly enriched uranium."
If that's the state of the bomb-making capability, what about the means to deliver it?
North Korea certainly has missiles capable of hitting South Korea, Japan and territories in the Western Pacific but has not demonstrated the ability to send a rocket into space and then to re-enter the earth's atmosphere and hit the continental US (an inter-continental ballistic missile).
Here's how the US Department of Defense
assessed the situation
two years ago (though clearly North Korean research will have moved on): "North Korea followed its 12 February 2013 nuclear test with a campaign of media releases and authoritative public announcements reaffirming its need to counter perceived US 'hostility' with nuclear-armed ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles).
"North Korea will move closer to this goal, as well as increase the threat it poses to US forces and Allies in the region, if it continues testing and devoting scarce regime resources to these programmes.
"The pace of its progress will depend, in part, on how many resources it can dedicate to these efforts and how often it conducts tests".
Which brings us to the politics.
There are signs that Russia and China wants to get back to the six-party talks (involving them, the US, Japan and the two Koreas) which broke down in 2009 when North Korea pulled out.
And according to China's Xinhua News Agency, North Korea has also indicated it wants to negotiate.
The US does not believe any negotiations would be in good faith because it sees no evidence of what its diplomats call "meaningful steps" to demonstrate a real wish to renounce nuclear weapons.
The rogue card in all this is how much Kim Jong-un needs the outside world if he wants to raise the living standards of his citizens.
Three years into his rule, few can see signs of any softening of the belief that possession of the bomb gives him immense clout.
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911c7ee71c76171e98117f894634446c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32282967 | Sewol ferry disaster: Demands for answers go on | Sewol ferry disaster: Demands for answers go on
On 16 April 2014, a ferry capsized off South Korea's southern coast killing 304 people, mostly high school students, in one of South Korea's most high-profile maritime disasters. One year on, President Park Guen-hye has said the government will try to salvage the ship, but BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul finds that some families are still demanding answers.
Even as President Park gave the bereaved families what they had been asking for, she must have felt their wrath and their grief.
Dressed in the black of mourning, she stood on a windy breakwater near where the Sewol sank and announced that the vessel would be raised - just as the families had demanded. "I have a heavy heart", she said, "and my heart aches to think how painful it is".
But bereaved families had left the port before she arrived, a gesture the South Korean media interpreted as a protest against what the families allege is her previous inaction over both the raising of the Sewol and fulfilling the promise of an independent enquiry.
Families had blocked access to the memorial altar by setting down a table, on which were large photographs of the nine whose remains are still unrecovered.
The families have waged a powerful campaign for the Sewol to be raised.
At a press conference they gave in Seoul the other day, the wailing of one of the mothers was uncontrollable.
She talked calmly at first of the pain of losing her bright and funny daughter but then broke down and howled in bottomless grief. The teenager had gone on a school trip full of hope and promise, but never returned and the rupture in her mother's love was unbearable.
At the same meeting, a teacher's widow told of how her husband had left and she had not been able to say goodbye. They had been married for more than thirty years, and the absence of remains impeded any healing.
Later in the quiet of her home, the mother who cried so copiously at the press conference, Lee Keum-hui and her husband, Cho Nam-sung, showed the BBC with pride photographs of Eun-hwa, the daughter whose loss had prompted the public outpouring.
The mother showed the records she still keeps on her phone of those last calls from her daughter. In those calls from the stricken vessel, Eun-hwa expressed her worry that the ship was tilting. She was concerned at the fears of her fellow passengers, her school friends from Danwon High School.
Her mother told the BBC: "It really hurts. The anger boils up. My heart feels as if it's about to burn".
And Eun-hwa's father said: "It's been unbearable having to live a whole year in grief. Ever since they stopped looking for my daughter's remains, my sadness has turned to anger against the government."
Beyond the nine families whose loved ones remain untraced, there is also a wider anger at what many of the families and their political supporters see as a failure to hold an open and truly independent enquiry.
The critics of the campaign by the families say that thorough police investigations have told us what happened: the Sewol was overloaded, it had been reconfigured unsafely so it could take more.
It had been passed as safe when it clearly and fatally was not. On top of that, the crew behaved badly, saving their own skins.
The coastguard arrived late and when it got there it didn't order the evacuation of the ship.
And individuals have been punished. For their dereliction of duty, Captain Lee Joon-seok was sentenced to 36 years in prison and 14 lower-ranking crew members received sentences of nine to 25 years.
The captain of the first coastguard vessel on the scene was jailed for four years for his negligence.
But the one man who might have been jailed got away un-jailed, albeit in bizarre circumstances.
Yoo Byung Eun, the tycoon who owned the company that ran the Sewol, fled after the accident. He was found dead in a plum field, apparently a victim of hypothermia.
But the anger in South Korea is about more than the specific failures of individuals or a system.
For the families, it is anger at the injustice of the loss of loved ones at the most hopeful point in their lives, but for the wider protest movement it is anger at what they see as an inadequate system which places too little weight on safety.
In a generation, this country has gone from ox-plough poverty to limousine affluence. The Sewol tragedy prompted many to ask how what is now such a modern country could have such inadequate regulations.
As one newspaper put it: "People wanted cheaper products and services that excluded the cost of safety."
Protesters say that lessons weren't learnt from a string of accidents, like the collapse of a department store in 1995 where 502 people died, the collapse of a bridge over the Han River in Seoul where 32 died and, just before the sinking of the Sewol, the collapse of a roof where 10 died.
When the families of the Sewol say they want an enquiry, they want the particular events of the day examined but also the broader aspects of law and regulation.
"You can't sink the truth" is their oft-repeated watch-word.
There is now a further question: will the raising of the Sewol ease the grief or remind people of the horrible events of exactly a year ago?
|
d795d748db5c3f5ebfed525b3b1a0fd7 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32494628 | Nepal on 'war footing' as quarter of population hit by quake | Nepal on 'war footing' as quarter of population hit by quake
Nepal is "on a war footing" as it tries to help survivors following Saturday's earthquake, its prime minister says.
Sushil Koirala said the government was doing all it could but was overwhelmed.
The UN has estimated that eight million people have been affected - more than a quarter of the population. Foreign aid is arriving but being hampered by congestion at Kathmandu's sole airport.
Officials say the death toll from the 7.8-magnitude quake has now passed 5,000, but could reach 10,000.
"The government is doing all it can for rescue and relief on a war footing" in a "difficult hour" for Nepal, Mr Koirala told Reuters news agency.
He has also admitted that lack of equipment and expert personnel meant the "appeals for rescues coming in from everywhere" in many cases could not be met.
More than 10,000 people are known to have been injured when the quake hit and in numerous powerful aftershocks which have sent people fleeing from their homes to camp on open ground.
Half a million people have been displaced, according to Nepal's home ministry.
Water, food and electricity are in short supply and there are fears of outbreaks of disease.
BBC man survives Mount Everest avalanches
'We heard the avalanches coming from all three mountains around us'
"Eight million people in 39 districts have been affected, of which over two million people live in the 11 severely affected districts," said
the most recent report
from the UN Office of the Resident Co-ordinator in Nepal.
Landslips and periodic bad weather in the remote mountainous region around the epicentre are adding to the challenge for rescue and relief teams.
Rebecca McAteer, a US doctor who was one of the first to arrive in the district of Gorkha close to the epicentre, told Associated Press that 90% of houses there were "just flattened".
She said most residents were older men and women and children, as the younger men had left to find work elsewhere.
Many have also lost livestock and have little food.
But helicopters are now air-dropping tents, dry food and medicine - though they are yet to reach many isolated communities.
Where helicopters manage to land, they are mobbed by hungry and fearful villagers pleading to be airlifted out.
"The ground keeps shaking, even this morning it did," Sita Gurung told AFP news agency in the village of Lapu.
"Every time it feels like we will be swallowed, that we will die now. I want to get out of here!" she added, saying the villagers had "nothing left".
This camp had been set up on a playground and even now there are quite a few children playing. But it no longer resembles a safe place. There's rubbish everywhere, paper plates, wrappers and plastic glasses are strewn all over.
"It's getting quite bad," says one man who is here with his wife and four daughters. "We've been here for three days and we've been living on instant noodles. There's nothing else to eat."
His house is not badly damaged, but he is adamant that he will not go home despite the challenging conditions in the camp.
"We've heard all these rumours about more earthquakes and aftershocks. We will not leave this place, not for a while."
Homeless and hungry survivors
The day the quake hit my home
How long can survivors last under rubble?
Nepal quake special report
The Nepali government has pleaded for overseas aid - everything from blankets and helicopters to doctors and drivers.
Many countries have sent aid including India, China, the UK and US.
But there is a logjam at Kathmandu airport, with individuals trying to fly out of the country while flights of aid and rescue teams wait to land.
On Monday, four Indian air force planes had to return to Delhi international airport after encountering "congestion" at Kathmandu,
tweeted a spokesman for India's defence ministry
.
Nepal earthquake: Before and after
In pictures: Devastation after the quake
Quake 'was anticipated'
Almost the entire Nepali army and police have joined the search and rescue operations, officials say.
People are still being pulled from the rubble more than 50 hours after the tragedy.
Hospitals are unable to cope with the huge numbers of people in need of medical attention and some Nepalis have complained of aid being slow to reach them.
"Nobody has taken care of us," said Namrata Adsikron, sheltering in a tent in Kathmandu.
"We have to stay like this outside... The question now is what do we do and where to go?"
The country's most deadly earthquake in 81 years triggered avalanches that have killed 18 people on Mount Everest - the worst disaster in history on the world's highest peak.
All those injured on the mountain have now been evacuated, along with the dead.
Expedition leader Chris Harling described the quake on the north side of Everest, telling the BBC the camp "started to vibrate underneath us which increased in intensity up to the point where the ground was literally shaking backwards and forwards like a giant jelly.
"It was absolutely incredible."
Are you in the area? Are you affected by the earthquake? If it is safe to do so, you can share your story by emailing
haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
If you are willing to speak with a BBC journalist, please leave a contact number.
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eb4b502dc6b0f3021d9c4221121b7681 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32671101 | North Korea 'test-fires submarine-launched missile' | North Korea 'test-fires submarine-launched missile'
North Korea says it has successfully tested a submarine-launched missile, which if confirmed would be a significant boost in its arsenal.
Analysts say North Korea has several nuclear warheads but this development would be an advance as submarine-fired devices are difficult to detect.
This latest test has not been independently verified.
The US said using ballistic missiles was a "clear violation" of UN sanctions against North Korea.
A statement from the State Department made no comment on the reported test but called on North Korea "to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region".
State media described the missile emerging with "a fiery, blazing trail", but did not mention the date or the location of the test.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was pictured apparently overseeing the launch.
Mr Kim said his country now possessed a "world-level strategic weapon capable of striking and wiping out in any waters the hostile forces infringing upon [North Korea's] sovereignty and dignity", the reports said.
After the announcement, South Korea said the North fired three anti-ship cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast.
Pyongyang had warned it would fire without warning against vessels it claims have violated its waters.
South Korea is yet to comment on the missile test, but the country's National Security Council has met in emergency session.
Claims about North Korea's military capabilities always have to be treated sceptically. The latest pictures in the state-run media may or may not be photo-shopped, perhaps to insert Kim Jong-un very prominently into the picture of a missile launch.
However, analysts at the respected US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University in the US
reported recently
that satellite pictures indicated that "the conning tower of a new North Korean submarine first seen in July 2014 houses one to two possible vertical launch tubes for either ballistic or cruise missiles".
The academics also said that satellite imagery indicated "that North Korea has been upgrading facilities at the Sinpo South Shipyard in preparation for a significant naval construction program, possibly related to submarine development".
Missiles launched from submarines dramatically change the calculation that any potential target must make because the warning time is so much shorter than with land-based missiles with which preparations on the ground might also be detected.
The best estimate of North Korea's nuclear arsenal is that it could make up to 20 weapons but that its ability to make them small enough for a missile is unclear.
It is clear, however, that the ambition is there - not least because the North Korean foreign ministry said so: Its nuclear forces were a "powerful, treasured sword" to "protect the sovereignty of the country".
It may be moving faster than previously thought.
|
7e15c4f432340cab918b38ae36006f35 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32686354 | Lost New Zealand woman drinks breast milk 'to keep going' | Lost New Zealand woman drinks breast milk 'to keep going'
A New Zealand woman who was lost in a forest east of Wellington for 24 hours said she drank her own breast milk and covered herself in dirt to survive.
Susan O'Brien, 29, had taken a wrong turn during the Xterra race through Rimutaka Forest Park.
Authorities launched a search operation when Mrs O'Brien failed to reach the finishing line on Sunday morning.
Mrs O'Brien, a mother of two, was eventually airlifted out at 11:30 local time (00:30 BST) on Monday.
She was quickly reunited with her family
, 24 hours after she had been due to finish the race, and the first thing she did was to feed her 8-month-old daughter,
according to the Dominion Post.
Mrs O'Brien, who also has a two-year-old son, told reporters: "I definitely thought I was going to die."
"I'm breast-feeding my baby so I had a bit of my milk, which I thought, that should help me keep going."
She also had two litres of water with her, gel packs and an energy bar,
reported Radio New Zealand.
The fitness trainer said she got very cold and wet as night descended.
She dug a hole in the forest floor and lay in it covered with dirt to keep warm overnight. "I just kept chucking dirt on myself and every time I heard something I kept screaming 'help'," she said.
She told the
New Zealand Herald
that the ordeal had not put her off trail running.
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70dd326be1badd9c172de372998ee59a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32701001 | Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death | Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death
A secular blogger has been hacked to death in north-eastern Bangladesh in the country's third such deadly attack since the start of the year.
Ananta Bijoy Das was attacked by masked men with machetes in Sylhet, police say. He is said to have received death threats from Islamist extremists.
Mr Das wrote blogs for Mukto-Mona, a website once moderated by Avijit Roy, himself hacked to death in February.
Sweden has confirmed it turned down a visa request from Mr Das in April.
He had been invited to attend a press freedom event by the Swedish Pen writers organisation but officials in the country's embassy in Dhaka refused the request, citing a risk he might not return home.
Swedish Pen told the BBC they were in the process of submitting an appeal when they heard of Mr Das's murder. The group has demanded an explanation from their government, the BBC's John McManus reports.
Witnesses said four attackers killed Mr Das in broad daylight near his home as he headed to work at a local bank.
Local police officer Mohammad Rahamatullah told Reuters that Mr Das "came out of his house and what we came to know from the local people who are witnesses, was that four miscreants chased him and killed him near his house".
The attackers fled. Mr Das was taken to hospital but declared dead on arrival.
Police say there are similarities in the way all three bloggers were killed - hacked to death with sharp weapons. In each case, attackers carried out their plan on a busy street.
Death threats to secular bloggers are on the rise in Bangladesh. A few years back, hardline Islamists demanded a blasphemy law to stop bloggers they perceive to be anti-Islamic from writing about Islam.
Secular forces in Bangladesh say that their views are under threat. Intolerance is growing as the country's politics increasingly diverge into secular and non-secular poles.
Bangladesh is officially secular. But critics say the government is indifferent to the problem of blogger killing - pointing out that no-one has yet been punished for any of the attacks.
Clear pattern to blogger killings
The bloggers killed for their beliefs
Fellow writers said Ananta Bijoy Das had been on a list of targets compiled by Islamists who were behind the February murder of Avijit Roy.
Mr Roy, a Bangladeshi-born US writer
, had criticised religious intolerance before his murder in Dhaka.
He was killed in a machete attack while returning with his wife from a book fair in the city. His widow suffered head injuries and lost a thumb.
In March, another blogger, Washiqur Rahman, was hacked to death in Dhaka.
Sara Hossain, a lawyer and human rights activist in Dhaka, told the BBC that Mr Das and Mr Roy were on a list of targets.
"They've always believed and written very vocally in support of free expression and they've very explicitly written about not following any religion themselves," she told the BBC World Service's
Newsday
programme.
"These last two have been part of a blog called Mukto-Mona [Free Mind], which is about free thinking and is about explicitly taking on religious fundamentalism and particularly Islamic religious fundamentalism. Their names have been on lists of identified targets."
The attack on Mr Roy prompted massive protests from students and social activists, who accused the authorities of failing to protect critics of religious bigotry.
An Islamist has been arrested over his murder, while two madrassa students have been arrested over Mr Rahman's killing.
Shame - and a warning
Social media users are paying their last respects to blogger Ananta Bijoy Das, with some expressing shame and regret. However, others express jubilation.
"Sorry to you Dada! [a term of endearment denoting elder brother]," one user posts on
Mr Das's Facebook page
while another says: "We could not save you."
A typical comment voiced by many says: "We are ashamed."
On Twitter, prominent blogger
Imran H Sarker writes
: "No Justice, impunity!", while
blogger Rezwan
uses the hashtag #Wordscannotbekilled in his tweet.
Some accounts apparently linked to a militant Islamist group are posting messages claiming responsibility and celebrating the killing.
"What a blessed news to wake up to? We won't let the kuffar [term used to refer to non-believers] sleep comfortably in their mansions!!" one tweet says.
"Stay tuned for next target... " another warns.
BBC Monitoring
reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on
Twitter
and
Facebook
.
|
fad1f04c660a59b6f563ba3cc3e8283c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32766748 | Myanmar denies responsibility for migrant boat crisis | Myanmar denies responsibility for migrant boat crisis
Myanmar's government has said it is not responsible for the migrant boat crisis in south-east Asia, and may not attend an emergency summit on the issue.
Thousands of migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar are feared stranded in boats in the Andaman Sea after their crews deserted them.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been turning away migrant boats.
Survivors have described desperate conditions on the boats, with people thrown overboard amid fights for food.
Rohingya Muslims have been leaving Buddhist-majority Myanmar, also known as Burma, because they are not recognised as citizens and face persecution.
Many of the Bangladeshis at sea are thought to be economic migrants.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok says there are at least five people-smuggling boats, carrying up to 1,000 migrants, moored just off the northern coast of Myanmar near the maritime border with Bangladesh.
The crackdown on boat people landing in Thailand and Malaysia means the smugglers are reluctant to make the journey but our correspondent says they are refusing to release those on board unless ransoms are paid.
Thailand is hosting a meeting on 29 May for 15 countries to discuss ways to address the crisis.
However, Zaw Htay, director of Myanmar's presidential office, said his leaders would not attend if the word "Rohingya" was used in the invitation, as they did not recognise the term.
"We are not ignoring the migrant problem, but... we will not accept the allegations by some that Myanmar is the source of the problem," he told the Associated Press news agency.
"The problem of the migrant graves is not a Myanmar problem, it's because of the weakness of human trafficking prevention and the rule of law in Thailand," he said in a separate interview with AFP.
At the scene: Jonathan Head, BBC News, southern Thailand
It is being called human ping-pong - the refusal of south-east Asian countries to accept mainly Rohingya migrants from Myanmar, and their navies' policy of pushing boats back into each other's territory.
So the boat we found on Thursday, which had already been pushed back once from Malaysia, into Thailand, was then pushed back again by the Thai navy. At the time of writing it lies just inside Malaysian waters. They tell us it will now be towed to a fourth country, perhaps Indonesia.
On board, more or less running the boat, are Rohingya brokers, who have good reason not to want to land in Thailand, where an anti-trafficking operation is underway.
Thai officers are negotiating with these men, who claim to speak for all 350 on board. So the Thais say they were merely helping by repairing the engine and sending the boat on its way.
But what about the women and children on board - more than half the passengers? What about all the visibly ill people, or those who look half-starved? How can an endless sea voyage in an appallingly cramped and unsanitary boat help them? Thai and Malaysian officials are not saying.
Why are so many stranded at sea?
Myanmar's unwanted people
Close to 800 migrants were rescued after their boat sank on Friday near Langsa in Indonesia's Aceh province, after being pushed back from both Indonesia and Malaysia's coasts.
The boat had reportedly been at sea for two months and was recently deserted by its crew.
The Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants on board began fighting over dwindling food supplies, survivors said.
"They were killing each other, throwing people overboard," Langsa police chief Sunarya told AFP.
Rohingya Muslims attempt to flee Myanmar every year during the non-monsoon season, but the smugglers who take them to Thailand have been scared by a recent Thai crackdown.
Instead they are reported to have been abandoned at sea. The numbers involved are unclear but rights group say thousands are thought to be stranded.
|
f58102167d84eb87e5075a680b24b987 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33130231 | Nepal earthquake: Damaged historic sites reopened | Nepal earthquake: Damaged historic sites reopened
Nepal has reopened many of the heritage sites in the Kathmandu valley to the public, in a bid to attract tourists after April's devastating earthquake.
Among them was Kathmandu's historic Durbar Square or "noble court", which was badly damaged.
Unesco has raised some concerns
over the safety of reopening the sites
. But media reports quote officials as saying the necessary measures are in place.
More than 8,000 people were killed and the destruction was widespread.
Six of the seven Unesco-designated World Heritage sites closed after the earthquakes were reopened on Monday, Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa told AP.
Shortly after the quake, Unesco's director-general Irina Bokova described damage to the Kathmandu valley as "extensive and irreversible". It sent a team to assess the damage and is
continuing to monitor the situation.
On 11 June Unesco issued a statement asking the public to be extra cautious at the sites.
Security will be in place, tourists will be given guided tours and signboards will indicate specified routes to cause minimal disturbance to structures, officials are quoted as saying in local media.
Officials at Nepal's Department of Archeology estimate that 12bn Nepali rupees (£75.5m; $117m) will be required to rebuild the country's damaged monuments, and that completing the reconstruction might take as long as five years.
Nepal's Kathmandu Valley treasures: Before and after
Nepal earthquakes: Devastation in maps and images
Recent images and status of some of the damaged sites
The seven protected monument zones are:
The
Durbar Square in Kathmandu's Old City
is a mesh of palaces, courtyards and temples. Unesco calls it "the social, religious and urban focal point" of the Nepalese capital. The UN has urged that security perimeters be put in place here.
Unesco says the process of salvaging the artefacts at the Buddhist temple complex at the
Swayambhunath temple complex
- founded in the 5th Century - is still ongoing. It also believes that opening the area could risk the theft of art and cultural objects.
The main temple in
Bhaktapur's Durbar Square
lost its roof, while the 16th Century Vatsala Durga temple, famous for its sandstone walls and gold-topped pagodas, was demolished by the quake.
Patan's Durbar Square,
the 3rd Century site across the Bagmati river to the east of Kathmandu, was opened to the public last week.
|
6684d475b3f86fd96fef3a8e0ef1b3de | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33745611 | MtGox bitcoin chief Mark Karpeles arrested in Japan | MtGox bitcoin chief Mark Karpeles arrested in Japan
Japanese police have arrested the CEO of the failed company MtGox, which was once the world's biggest exchange of the virtual currency, bitcoin.
Mark Karpeles, 30, is being held in connection with the loss of bitcoins worth $387m (£247m, €351m) last February.
He is suspected of having accessed the exchange's computer system to falsify data on its outstanding balance.
MtGox claimed it was caused by a bug but it later filed for bankruptcy.
Japan's Kyodo News said a lawyer acting on Mr Karpeles' behalf
denied his client had done anything illegal
.
Mr Karpeles, who was born in France, is suspected of benefiting to the tune of $1m (£640,000), the agency said.
In March 2014, a month after filing for bankruptcy, MtGox said it had found 200,000 lost bitcoins.
The firm said it found the bitcoins - worth around $116m - in an old digital wallet from 2011.
That brings the total number of bitcoins the firm lost down to 650,000 from 850,000.
That total amounts to about 7% of all the bitcoins in existence.
Bitcoin is a virtual currency built around a complicated cryptographic protocol and a global network of computers that oversees and verifies which coins have been spent by whom.
|
1a256ff79b5369c68afcd2c24cd0e611 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33951718 | Indonesian plane missing over Papua region | Indonesian plane missing over Papua region
An Indonesian passenger plane with 54 people on board is missing in Papua region, officials have said.
The Trigana Air flight took off from the regional capital Jayapura for Oksibil in the south at 14:21 local time (05:21GMT), but contract was lost.
Villagers from Okbape, around 25km from Oksibil airport, said they saw a low flying aircraft crash into a mountain, according to local police.
Rescue teams will continue their search at first light on Monday morning.
The ATR42-300 twin turboprop plane was carrying 44 adult passengers, five children and infants, and five crew.
It took off from Sentani airport in Jayapura, but lost contact with ground control half an hour later at 14:55.
Transport ministry spokesman Julius Barata confirmed the disappearance.
Unconfirmed reports suggest weather was the likely cause.
"We are not sure what happened to the plane yet and we are co-ordinating with local authorities," he told AFP news agency.
Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency
later said the search had been suspended
at nightfall because of limited visibility and would resume at 06:00 local time on Monday (21:00 GMT on Sunday).
Officials later said a second plane had been sent to look for the missing one, but was turned back because of the bad weather.
"Oksibil is a mountainous area where weather is very unpredictable," Trigana Air director of operations Beni Sumaryanto told AFP. "It can suddenly turn foggy, dark and windy without warning.
"We strongly suspect it's a weather issue. It is not overcapacity, as the plane could take 50 passengers."
Trigana Air has had 14 serious incidents since it began operations in 1991, losing 10 aircraft in the process,
according to the Aviation Safety Network
.
It has been on a European Union
blacklist of banned carriers
since 2007. All but four of Indonesia's certified airlines are on the list.
Correspondents say Indonesia has a patchy aviation record overall, with two major crashes in the past year.
An
Indonesia AirAsia plane crashed in the Java Sea
last December while on an international flight from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 192 people on board.
A military transport plane crashed in a residential area of Medan, Sumatra in July, killing more than 140 people including several on the ground.
Have you been affected by this story? You can share your comments by emailing
haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
|
c13970f93bfefc5c83ccaf944ba86af8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34287385 | Gunmen attack Pakistan air force base in Peshawar | Gunmen attack Pakistan air force base in Peshawar
Taliban militants have killed at least 29 people in an attack on an air force base in the northern city of Peshawar, Pakistani officials say.
The gunmen, dressed in police uniforms, stormed the Badaber air base on Friday morning, Maj Gen Asim Bajwa said.
At least 16 of the victims were killed during morning prayers at a mosque inside the compound, Gen Bajwa added.
The Pakistani Taliban said they ordered the attack. Peshawar has frequently been targeted by militants.
Gen Bajwa said the militants entered the base, which is 10km (6 miles) south of Peshawar, at two points and then split into groups.
A rapid response force was dispatched to the scene and contained the attackers around a guard room, he added.
Thirteen militants were said to have been killed by security forces, although the Taliban said just one of their fighters died.
The total number of gunmen involved is unclear, but Gen Bajwa said his forces were hunting for the remaining attackers.
The exchange of fire also left 29 people injured, the Pakistani military said.
Gen Bajwa claimed that mobile phone intercepts suggested that the attackers had come from inside Afghanistan, though he said there was no reason to blame the Kabul government.
The attack on Badaber air base is the first on a military target since a Pakistan navy ship was attacked in Karachi's dockyard in September last year. It is the bloodiest since last December's massacre of 150 pupils and teachers at Peshawar's Army Public School.
The air base - which is essentially a residential complex rather than an operational one - is located on the southern-most tip of Peshawar's administrative limits. It is surrounded by tribal territory, which has been the hub of criminal and militant activity until recently.
The attack comes amid claims of success by the military in its 15-month operation in the tribal region, and may well be an attempt by militants to show they can still hit hard targets.
It also exposes holes in Pakistan's pre-emptive intelligence gathering mechanisms, mainly due to lack of co-ordination and information sharing among various security agencies.
In an email, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said a "suicidal unit" had carried out the attack.
An un-named military official told the Reuters news agency that the militants had "explosives-laden jackets and were armed with hand-propelled grenades, mortars, AK-47 rifles".
It is so far unknown if the militants had any insider support, as has been the case in previous attacks.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying: "Terrorists will be rooted out from the country."
The military launched operations in North Waziristan in June 2014 to target militant hideouts, involving air force and ground troops.
Correspondents say this has helped lead to a significant reduction in large-scale Taliban attacks in Pakistan.
According to some reports, militant attacks decreased by 70% in 2015.
|
b3dea9abb0c67d4d07fa0401abab0ebd | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34387854 | Taliban selfies: Why militants posed for photos in Kunduz | Taliban selfies: Why militants posed for photos in Kunduz
The Afghan Taliban long ago perfected the art of propaganda. But as BBC Afghan's Mohammad Zahid explains, Monday's assault on Kunduz gave them the opportunity to show themselves in real time mingling on the streets.
As much as
prisoners rushing out of unlocked jails
, the Taliban posing for just a few selfies on the streets is one of the most striking and revealing moments of the assault on Kunduz.
The Taliban have an active Facebook and Twitter presence, they even disseminate addictive chants on mobile phones, but this is the first time they have exhibited this kind of behaviour on the streets.
Many will be young foot soldiers who have seen little success until now and they are in the business of trying to show a different side to their fighting spirit, having learned the lessons of the past. Their euphoria is unlikely to last as the militants are likely to be overwhelmed by the Afghan security forces backed up by coalition air strikes.
Nevertheless, the Taliban released one statement and two news updates on Monday tracking their takeover of Kunduz on their propaganda website Voice of Jihad. They have also continued to release video and audio clips.
Several fighters, including Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, posted pictures of Taliban members with their white flag at various points in the city to show their dominance, and the inevitable celebratory and victory images.
They are trying to depict a softer image of a Taliban fighter and the new leader's statement was at pains to "reassure" the people of Kunduz. Just as the sudden assault on Kunduz is likely to be connected with his coming to power so is this approach to social media.
Such messages are being used to convey an impression of strength, using the latest, most pop culture of social media tools. In a country where many people have multiple phones, Afghans are huge users of social media.
But a Taliban social media propaganda strategy will find it hard to change minds after the freedoms people have experienced over the last decade.
There is huge opposition to the Taliban so part of this is about acting as if that opposition simply does not exist. They are trying to gain public support and people's sympathy. They posed for the journalists, knowing the pictures would be disseminated.
What the pictures also do not tell is how the bystanders in these images feel. They may pose for selfies, but this is a group which has forced its way into the city and there is fear everywhere and bloodshed and chaos too.
That is also reflected in tweets coming out of the city. People have described their fear, one person in the city described how a member of their family was killed when a rocket hit their home.
Pictures from residents also showed the exodus of civilians from the city. As most analysts believe the Taliban won't be able to hold onto the city, so much of this flurry is about savouring the moment for as long as they can.
The intention may be to project an image of relaxed victory, but residents feel the atmosphere is ominous and the contrast is both awkward and painful.
Whatever tactics the Taliban adopt, the symbolic takeover will only remind Afghans of their harsh rule when they barred women from education, stoned women and lashed men in public.
|
a5650484ecd1572e957e6672bec16d5a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34387945 | New Zealand to turn Kermadec into vast marine reserve | New Zealand to turn Kermadec into vast marine reserve
New Zealand has revealed plans to turn an area of the South Pacific about the size of France into a marine reserve.
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary lies north of the mainland and includes a chain of islands and underwater volcanoes.
Prime Minister John Key made the announcement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Fishing and mining will be banned in what Mr Key called "one of the most geographically and geologically diverse areas in the world."
"New Zealanders value our coasts and oceans, which are an important part of our culture, economy and environment and we are committed to managing them sustainably," he said
in a statement.
The government is aiming to pass legislation to create the marine reserve next year.
The area to be protected is a vast 620,000 sq km (239,400 sq miles) stretch of the South Pacific, about 1,000km north-east of North Island.
It contains the 10-km deep Kermadec trench, one of the deepest ocean trenches in the world, and is rich in sealife including whales, dolphins, endangered turtles and sea birds.
The move was welcomed by environmentalists.
Pew Environment Group, one of several groups which had lobbied for the creation of the reserve, said it effectively expands New Zealand's protection of its marine environment from 0.5% to 15.5% of its marine spaces.
"It's an extraordinary achievement for all New Zealanders and for the people of the Pacific Islands," Pew's campaign director Bronwen Golder told the BBC.
But the announcement has surprised fishing and mining companies.
George Clement, chairman of Seafood New Zealand, told Reuters news agency they had had "no forewarning from government" and that the industry "needs time to consider the full implications".
|
432baa0d23e79c0e9268a6278798a199 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34406648 | Taliban triumph in capture of Kunduz | Taliban triumph in capture of Kunduz
Capturing Kunduz was the most important victory for the Afghan Taliban since their regime was ousted by US-led forces in late 2001.
It was the first provincial capital to end up in Taliban hands since the invasion.
The fall of Kunduz, however fleeting, represents a win-win for the Taliban.
The insurgents were pushed out of most of the city in a military counter-offensive three days later - but they left with both booty and publicity.
Taliban fighters emptied the coffers of banks in Kunduz, seized scores of new weapons, including armed vehicles, and also gained a great propaganda victory.
Pictures of Taliban fighters hoisting their trademark white flags in the city's squares and main buildings have been circulating on social media all over the world.
The seizure of one of Afghanistan's most strategic and richest cities has also increased the prestige of the new Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour. Those within the insurgent group will see him as someone who can deliver impressive victories on the battlefield.
Victory also reasserts Taliban control vis-a-vis the Islamic State group, which has been challenging the Taliban's supremacy in many parts of the country.
The Afghan security forces have performed well in holding ground and defending towns and administrative centres across the country. But the fall of Kunduz has exposed their vulnerabilities.
The fact that a few hundred Taliban fighters defeated thousands of Afghan security forces - up to 7,000 according to some reports - is also embarrassing for the central government in Kabul. This is especially so given that the fall of the city coincided exactly with the first anniversary of the National Unity Government's formation.
Bad governance in Kunduz has been a key problem. Incompetence and intimidation by some local officials have alienated many in the province.
Rivalries and disagreements between different civilian and security officials, meanwhile, have weakened institutions and deteriorated security.
Nepotism and patronage are allegedly common factors in making many important appointments.
As a border town with plenty of trade and taxation activity, obtaining a posting in Kunduz has been a top priority for corrupt officials. The province is also a major transit route for the smuggling of Afghan drugs to Central Asia and Russia.
A combination of a lack of strategy, poor co-ordination and incapability led to the quick collapse of the city.
Reports say that several thousand residents of Kunduz left. Hospitals were overwhelmed, with hundreds of people already injured.
The Taliban used loudspeakers in mosques to urge people to carry on as normal and open their businesses.
Reports say the Taliban collected boxes of energy drinks from shops for their fighters.
Kunduz has a huge strategic significance as it is considered a gateway to Afghanistan's northern provinces and shares a border with Tajikistan, Afghanistan's Central Asian neighbour.
The Taliban already control huge chunks of Kunduz province's rural areas, where the majority of the population live.
They are the dominant militant group in the province, with an estimated 2,000 fighters. But there are also reportedly hundreds of foreign fighters associated with al-Qaeda, so-called Islamic State and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
According to Afghan officials, members of several jihadi groups from across the region have been present in the province, including Arabs, Uzbeks, Chechens, Uighurs and Pakistanis.
As one of the last strongholds of the Taliban before the fall of their regime in 2001, Kunduz has a special importance for the Taliban.
Until its recent fall, the city had been under Taliban siege for almost a year.
For the insurgents, it is not a battle for one city alone but part of a major strategy to hold it and use it as a regional hub, a sanctuary and a base for operations.
The way the Taliban behaved while in control of the city, even if it was for just a few days, will demonstrate how far the group has changed since the fall of their regime in 2001.
It was also a test for them to show if they are just a warring faction of mostly rural fighters or a group that knows how to govern and deal with the complexities of an urban centre.
Capturing Kunduz was a change in Taliban strategy. Previously, they were not keen on taking major cities, firstly because they could not fulfil the responsibilities of running them and secondly because they thought it would expose them to targeted attacks, especially by drones.
But the Taliban might have been inspired by the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, which found operating in cities easier than in rural areas. The increased risk of civilian casualties in an urban environment means major counter-attacks against them from outside forces are more difficult.
Given the number of attacks the Taliban have been carrying out all over the country, Afghan security forces are already overwhelmed and overstretched.
The Taliban are now trying to open multiple fronts to divert the attention of the Afghan military from Kunduz and stretch them thin.
They also want to expand their control further by linking up areas they occupy in different parts of the country.
This has been the bloodiest year in the 14-year-old Taliban insurgency. Both Afghan troops and civilians have suffered the highest number of casualties in 2015.
Recapturing Kunduz was also a test for Afghanistan's foreign allies, especially the US, with which it signed a bilateral security agreement (BSA) in 2014.
|
368f7d86c79e53ef02aea7ae4a56c201 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34409419 | Afghan forces' Kunduz fightback in pictures | Afghan forces' Kunduz fightback in pictures
Afghan government forces claim they have recaptured most of Kunduz, but there are reports of sporadic gunfire as the Taliban fight back.
The militants first seized the city early on Monday, pushing security forces back to the airport, from where they had to call on US air strikes to defend their positions, before planning their counter-attack.
Here is how the battle unfolded, in pictures taken by people at the scene.
Although there was fighting on Tuesday and Wednesday, the main operation to recapture the town began as night fell on Wednesday - and is still going on.
Armed Afghan police were also involved in the advance, alongside troops from Kunduz and reinforcements from across Afghanistan.
One of the first signs that the town was falling to government control came as the Afghan flag was pictured flying above the main square again
Posting a picture purportedly from a contact at the scene, Tolo TV presenter Muslim Shirzad credited a young special forces commander named Khalid Amiry with taking down the Taliban flag.
The Taliban raising their own flag there earlier in the week was hugely symbolic - Kunduz was the first provincial capital they had captured since being driven from power by US-led forces in 2001.
The progress of the security forces was seemingly rapid, with several districts quickly appearing to fall to government control.
That was in stark contrast to the situation earlier in the week, when government forces apparently abandoned the town with similar speed.
But government assurances early on Thursday that they were back in control appeared premature, with the Taliban launching their own fightback within hours.
A government spokesman claimed about 200 Taliban fighters had been killed, although the claim could not be immediately verified. Civilians like this man were also caught in the crossfire.
The insurgents used vehicles and weapons seized after their capture of the town, in later battles with government forces. They are also reported to have looted banks during their time in control of the city.
With claims that "thousands" were massed at the airport in advance, troops continued to pour into the city to reinforce those on the front lines.
Remnants of Thursday's battles could be seen around the town.
Parts of Kunduz were on fire. The Taliban were also said to have torched government buildings in preceding days.
After being holed-up in the airport for days, there was relief among government forces that they had regained the initiative even as street battles continued.
A police spokesman in Kunduz claimed the latest fighting was caused by stranded Taliban fighters who have been hiding out in the town. Most residents stayed indoors.
The battles in Kunduz also apparently prompted an anti-Taliban protest in the capital, Kabul, but the repercussions are likely to be far wider, with the Taliban gaining new prestige, and fresh doubts over planned reductions in the number of foreign troops in the country.
|
f04899d02c51a9f2aa291df776197cb9 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34411477 | Syria: What can Russia's military do? | Syria: What can Russia's military do?
This is the first Russian military operation beyond the boundaries of the former Soviet Union since the end of the Cold War.
But the US and its coalition partners have already conducted more than 7,000 air strikes in Syria and Iraq against the so-called Islamic State (IS). And even on the most optimistic assessment their impact has been limited.
IS is contained but in no sense defeated. So why should Russia be able to do any better?
Russia of course is restricting its strikes to Syria. Its initial combat missions suggest that its fundamental aim is to relieve pressure upon President Bashar al-Assad's embattled forces and that its list of targets will go well beyond those exclusively linked to IS.
But what military capabilities do the Russians actually have? What weapons can they use? How does the Russian air force compare to its Western equivalents? And what ultimately can it achieve?
The air expeditionary force that has been despatched to Syria represents a microcosm of the Russian air force as a whole.
As Michael Kofman, a US-based analyst with the
CNA Corporation
notes, Russia has some 34 fixed-wing aircraft based at Latakia - a mixture of types, comprising: 12 Su-25s; 12 Su-24M2s; four Su-30SMs; and six Su-34s.
"This," he told me, "represents both the older generation of venerable Soviet strike aircraft and the new, most modern, multi-role strike aircraft Russia has to offer.
"The Su-25," he explains, "is a close ground support and strike platform, used throughout Russia's wars, including Chechnya and the Russia-Georgia war. This aircraft is quite capable of close support, but rather vulnerable and easy to lose, particularly to MANPADS (man-portable or shoulder-fired surface to air missiles) which have proliferated across the Syrian battle space.
"The Su-24M2 is the classic tactical bomber, modernised from Soviet days and capable of a variety of strike missions but a rather worn and older aircraft."
The more interesting elements of the deployment, says Mr Kofman, are the Su-30SMs and the Su-34s. "The Su-30SM is a heavy multi-role fighter, capable of both air-to-air combat and a variety of precision strike missions at higher altitudes."
The recent arrival of Su-34 ("Fullbacks" according to their Nato code-name) completes the picture. "These are much more advanced strike aircraft, essentially replacements for the Su-24M2, and are able to conduct the full spectrum of bombing and defending themselves in air-to-air. These have never been to war and Russia may not just be using them, but indeed testing them."
So much for the Russian aircraft then, but what about the munitions they can deliver?
The first few days of Russia's air campaign in Syria have enabled us to get a better idea of the munitions being used by the Russian air force.
Video material released by the Russian ministry of defence
along with stills and other video material show a variety of weapons being used, the overwhelming bulk of which appear to be dumb - that is to say unguided - bombs rather than the precision-guided munitions that dominate Western air campaigns.
OFAB 250-270 fragmentation bombs have been seen being loaded on Russian aircraft at Latakia as well as OFAB 250-500s and OFAB 100-120s.
Some GPS-guided KAB-500S bombs have also been seen. Evidence has emerged of the use of cluster munitions (the SPBE-D) another Russian system, though this could have equally been dropped by a Syrian jet.
According to Douglas Barrie, Senior Fellow for Military Aerospace at the
International Institute for Strategic Studies
in London: "The Russian air force today lacks the breadth of precision weapons and targeting systems fielded by the most capable of its Western counterparts. This is not a new problem for the air force, since this issue was exposed during the Georgian war in 2008.
"Since then," says Mr Barrie, "Russia's air force and industry have re-invigorated efforts to finish development and acquire weapons and target designation systems akin to those fielded by the likes of the US and leading European countries. The problem originated with the collapse of the Soviet Union and almost decades of very little investment in developing advanced weapons systems."
There are some other notable differences in technology.
While the Russians do have semi-active laser and electro-optically guided bombs and missiles, and laser target marker systems on the Su-25 Frogfoot and Su-24 Fencer, they do not deploy the kind of targeting pods carried by Western aircraft which help both to acquire a target and to guide weapons to it.
Though some drones have been deployed to Syria, Mr Barrie notes that the Russians "also lack the level of unmanned aerial systems for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that the US and it allies used widely in Afghanistan. Nor has it had the same level of experience of air-ground integration in recent years."
As well as air strikes, Russia has launched rocket attacks on IS targets in Syria from warships in the Caspian Sea - about 1,500km (930 miles) away.
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said four warships fired 26 sea-based cruise missiles on 11 targets, destroying them and causing no civilian casualties.
Western experts believe that the missiles fired from the Russian warships in the Caspian Sea were something called a Kalibr-Nk, part of the 3M-54 family of weapons which include land attack and anti-shipping versions.
The Kalibr-Nk is a land attack missile - broadly equivalent to the US Navy's Tomahawk - and has a range of up to 2,600 km.
The decision to use cruise missiles fired from warships represents a new twist to Moscow's growing involvement in the crisis.
It is not clear yet why these particular weapons were chosen in preference to air strikes - but the missiles would have had to fly a considerable distance over Iran and then Iraq to reach Syria.
Sea-launched cruise missiles have long been a favourite US weapon of choice in interventions overseas, so there may be an element of Russia demonstrating that it has the full military panoply of any other "superpower".
But it adds yet a further complication to the air campaign in the skies over Syria. Of more significance may be early signs of Syrian government counter-offensives - aided by their allies - which could be linked to the Russian air campaign.
The Caspian Flotilla, together with the Black Sea Fleet, is a maritime part of Russia's Southern Military District, stationed in the port city of Astrakhan. According to the
Russian Defence Ministry
, the flotilla consists of several brigades and divisions of surface ships and coastal troop units, carries out anti-terror activities and protects trade and oil interests.
The Russian air force may in some respects be behind its most advanced Western contemporaries, but it certainly has the capacity to mount an effective air campaign. So what then exactly is its mission in Syria?
It is here that there are perhaps the greatest differences between the Russian and US-led air campaigns.
A fundamental weakness afflicting the US and its allies is the absence of credible forces on the ground. Air power can achieve a lot in concert with troops to occupy and hold territory, but in the absence of ground power its impact is limited.
Not so for the Russians. The Syrian government army may not be what it was, having suffered serious losses and defections, but in local terms it is still a force to be reckoned with. Bolstered with new Russian equipment and now backed up by Russian air power, it could hold its own against most of the opposition forces.
Russia does not have the elaborate intelligence-gathering panoply of the US. But much of its targeting will be based upon tactical intelligence obtained from Syrian units on the ground.
This, then, is the key to Russia's strategy. It is to consolidate the Assad regime, to relieve the pressure points and to ensure that its ally remains a factor in any future diplomatic settlement.
To this end - and there are strong indications of this even from Russia's initial air strikes - Moscow will hit any opponents of the Syrian regime where necessary.
Russian air power is not there to roll back the opposition forces and enable the Assad regime to regain control over the large areas of the country that it has lost. It is about buying President Assad time; changing the regional and diplomatic calculations. And to this extent Russian air power could prove a decisive factor.
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e242060041702e35c32af51b1a1b5dd4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34600551 | Myanmar elite 'profits from $31bn jade trade' | Myanmar elite 'profits from $31bn jade trade'
Jade mining companies connected to the army in Myanmar may have carried out "the biggest natural resources heist in modern history", say transparency campaigners Global Witness.
Their report
claims jade valued at a staggering almost $31bn (£20bn) was extracted from Burmese mines last year.
It estimates that the figure for the last decade could be more than $120bn.
Presented with the data by the BBC, the government did not question the quantity or valuation of the jade.
But it said most of the gemstones from the last year had been stockpiled, with only a small fraction sold so far.
Hpakant, in Kachin state, is the site of the world's biggest jade mine. We were stopped from travelling there by the chief minister, but footage obtained from the site shows huge articulated vehicles turning mountains into moonscapes.
With an election on the horizon and considerable political uncertainty the companies involved are clearly in a hurry.
To operate a mine in Hpakant you need military connections. The main companies listed in the Global Witness report are either directly owned by the army, or operated by those with close ties.
A few are run by those connected to ethnic armies, in return for them maintaining a ceasefire.
"If a military family does not have a jade company they are something of a black sheep," Mike Davis from Global Witness said. "These families are making extraordinary sums of money, often in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars."
Prominent among those allegedly profiting from the trade are jade companies owned by the family of retired senior general Than Shwe. As the military ruler of Myanmar, also known as Burma, between 1992 and 2011, he presided over a period in which demonstrations were brutally repressed and opponents imprisoned. Despite having retired many still think he's influential behind the scenes.
The Global Witness report - Jade: Myanmar's 'Big State Secret' - claims that companies connected to Than Shwe's family made more than $220m in jade sales in 2013 and 2014.
Several of the other companies are linked to recent ministers but most named were at their most prominent before Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government came to power in 2011. None were immediately available for comment.
More than a year in the making, this report digs deep into previously unseen Burmese government figures.
To reach the headline number of nearly $31bn extracted in 2014 they took the officially recorded figure for jade production (16,684 tonnes) and then estimated, based on previous studies, the proportion that's likely to have been mined of each quality or "grade".
Using the prices for each grade from publically recorded sales they then calculated the likely total value of jade production. That came to a jaw-dropping $30.859bn.
To double-check this number, Global Witness then obtained customs data for jade imports into China. Last year precious and semi-precious stone imports from Myanmar were valued at $12.3bn on a weight of 5,402 tonnes. The researchers' analysis of the data shows that almost all of that was jade.
Using the officially declared production figure for 2014, and keeping all things equal (to the average value of declared imports into China) then the estimated value for the jade mined in 2014 is $37.98bn.
Clearly in both methods estimates are being used, but the ballpark figure remains similar and huge. The real total could even be much higher with many insiders saying that the best quality jade never goes through the books and is smuggled directly to Chinese buyers.
This contents of the report challenges the Burmese army narrative of recent history. The military has long said that it keeps a tight control of Burmese political life to maintain stability and, in the face of numerous ethnic wars, to prevent the country disintegrating.
It was, the people were told, a selfless act to maintain the unity of a troubled country.
This report makes it clearer than ever before that the top brass used their privileged positions to award themselves choice concessions and contracts and become extremely rich.
Ye Htay, a director from the Ministry of Mining, confirmed that the valuation of the jade mined in 2014 at $31bn was plausible, but said that most of it had been stockpiled and not sold.
Sales through the Nay Pyi Taw emporium last year were close to $1bn, he said, with about $90m paid in taxes.
He was much less forthcoming when pressed on how the concessions were awarded and the dominance of military companies.
He said Myanmar was "in a stage of democratic transition" and that such moves "haven't happened during the last five years".
There is an element of truth in that. The most egregious abuses do seem to date back to before 2010, and all agree that there have been moves towards greater transparency.
This report underscores just how difficult it will be to prise the Burmese army away from political power.
It also helps explain why the conflict in Kachin State, where the mines are, has proved so difficult to resolve.
Last week, rebels from the Kachin Independence Army refused to sign a
nationwide agreement with the government
- aimed at ending decades of civil conflict - and clashes with the Burmese army continue.
"Jade is a key source of financing for both sides," Mike Davis told me.
"There is an incentive there for the hardliners on the government side to keep the conflict going until such time as they can be confident that when the dust settles, their assets will still be there."
Most proposals for a lasting federal settlement to Myanmar's long running ethnic conflicts involve greater transparency and the sharing of wealth from natural resources in the states where they are extracted.
It's easy to see why peace and democratic transformation aren't attractive options for those making hundreds of millions from exploiting the jade mines.
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eb2c2249faabb905595add3d37e3c55f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34671504 | South China Sea: Hague panel can rule on Philippines-China dispute | South China Sea: Hague panel can rule on Philippines-China dispute
An international arbitration panel has ruled that it can hear a case brought by the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China, involving a group of islands in the South China Sea.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in The Hague, rejected China's argument that the dispute was about sovereignty - and so beyond its remit.
It will now begin hearings on the case's merits, under a UN Convention.
China's claims in the South China Sea are
contested by its Asian neighbours
.
The Philippines has had diplomatic spats with China over the Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys in particular, rejecting its claims to those areas.
It says China's "nine-dash line", which China uses to demarcate its territorial claims, is unlawful under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which both countries have signed.
The Philippines had asked the Hague-based panel to consider its case under the convention, which falls within the panel's jurisdiction.
The panel
decided on Wednesday
that it had the authority to hear seven of Manila's submissions under the convention.
The court said in a statement that it rejected the argument by China that the "dispute is actually about sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and therefore beyond the tribunal's jurisdiction".
The court instead ruled that the case reflects "disputes between the two states concerning the interpretation or application of the convention".
China has
boycotted the proceedings
, insisting that the panel has no authority to rule in the case.
No date has been set for further hearings, which will determine the merits of the Philippines' arguments.
China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, dismissing claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
Recently, China has begun carrying out aggressive land reclamation and construction projects on several reefs, prompting the US to call for a halt on such efforts.
Satellite images show that, among other things, China is building an airstrip on reclaimed land on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands.
China has argued that it is acting lawfully based on its sovereign rights to the disputed areas.
The South China Sea, believed to be rich in resources, is a strategic waterway through which roughly a third of the world's oil passes.
The
Permanent Court of Arbitration
is an intergovernmental organisation with 117 member states which was established in 1899 to encourage the peaceful resolution of disputes.
|
869fd05fe891e3ee7cefd68480332990 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35051628 | Viewpoint: How Peshawar massacre changed Pakistan | Viewpoint: How Peshawar massacre changed Pakistan
The year 2015 has been a make-or-break for Pakistan - and no question has been bigger than whether to talk to militants or crush them.
The determining event that led to a dramatic change of policy by both the military and the civilian government was the 16 December 2014 attack on an army public school in Peshawar that left 150 people dead - mostly children and female teachers.
The public and the army demanded retribution and emergency measures were taken after the Pakistani Taliban based in Afghanistan claimed to have carried out the attack.
Here are some of the far-reaching consequences for the country and ways in which it has changed.
An all-parties conference held by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Peshawar swiftly agreed to a 20-point National Action Plan that would combat and eliminate the threat of terrorism.
The army had in June 2014 already launched a military campaign to clear North Waziristan of the Taliban. It has since stepped up its offensive, targeting other areas such as the Khyber and Kurram tribal agencies in the border regions.
The military aspects of this plan have been implemented by the army in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in particular.
But there has been a chronic lack of will shown by the civilian government over implementing the social and political aspects of the plan - in areas such as madrassa reform, containing the spread of extremism through social media, improving education and, most important of all, building the promised National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) that was established in 2009, but has remained dormant ever since.
The Nacta Act passed by parliament in 2013 would have bought all intelligence agencies onto a common platform but was never implemented.
There is clearly a lack of government capacity in Islamabad to take on all the onerous parts of the plan.
Instead of encouraging and helping civilians to build capacity, the army's response has been to take on more and more tasks itself - which is becoming untenable as it is over-stretched.
Four hanged over Peshawar attack
Peshawar school reopens after attack
'Miraculous' recovery for Peshawar schoolboy
Pakistan school massacre: Who are the dead?
Major militant attacks have been reduced from dozens every month in 2014 to no more than one or two a month this year. Clearly, the army offensive in the tribal regions which resulted in
insurgents
being killed or escaping to Afghanistan has had a major positive effect.
In Karachi the clean-up of militants, political party-based militias and extortion gangs has also been positive with citizens reporting the first peace in the city for many years.
Sectarian attacks on the minority Shia population were also reduced after the 29 July "encounter" killing by the police in Punjab of Malik Ishaq, the leader of the anti-Shia
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group
and his two sons.
Ishaq was on a US list of global "terrorists". However, minorities such as Shias, Ahmedis and non-Muslims like Christians continue to be attacked with impunity.
Nevertheless, the army offensives have so far been selective - aiming at Balochistan where separatist rebels have been attacked and also a political peace offensive launched; KP province and tribal regions where the Pakistani Taliban have been targeted; and Karachi where a variety of ideological groups and mafias have been targeted.
However, apart from the killing of Malik Ishaq, groups in Punjab have been left untouched. These include the largest extremist group in the country,
Lashkar-e-Taiba
, which has gone through several name changes and now ostensibly carries out charity work.
Up to 70 groups are active in Punjab - many of them directed at India and trying to wrest the Indian part of Kashmir from Delhi's control.
The US and Western nations have expressed growing concern that with the large number of small tactical nuclear weapons now being deployed in Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, the Punjab-based groups which have close links to the military could get their hands on them.
The army has reassured the Americans that all security measures are being taken. It has also loudly hinted that a clean-up in Punjab will take place once other areas are settled.
The European Union and Pakistani human rights groups have been deeply perturbed
at the number of executions in Pakistan.
After the Peshawar school attack the seven-year moratorium on executions was lifted and this year more than 300 people have received capital punishment. The vast majority were those not convicted of terrorism.
Pakistan has over 6,000 prisoners awaiting execution - one of the largest number of inmates on death row in the world.
The government's failure to address the long-running failures in an over-crowded legal system has created a dependency on death sentences, often with poor evidence or none at all.
Anti-terrorism military courts were established in 2015, but they remain highly controversial.
A better path would be for the government to improve the legal system and modernise the police. However with some 20-25% of the national budget going on the military, there is little room for more for the police.
Civilian-military tensions remain, but at times are lessened largely due to the government stepping back and accepting demands by the army.
The government has come under criticism for not standing up to the army, but also praised for not seeking a confrontation with it.
However this is a dangerous situation for the future as the army extends its writ not only in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, but also in the legal system, monitoring and controlling the media, influencing the appointment of key officials as well as determining the country's foreign and security policy.
So the year 2016 also promises to be a make-or-break year.
The civilian government has to address its incapacity in key areas of governance.
For example some 1.2 million internally displaced persons still have to be rehabilitated in KP province and the tribal regions.
This task should be undertaken by the civilians, but the army has already started the process.
An improvement of the legal and police system and the need to build up Nacta by civilians are all of the utmost importance.
The army needs to help civilians build capacity while becoming more transparent and inclusive in foreign policy and in national security decisions it takes.
The civilian side needs to be more assertive in taking decisions and implementing promises.
Pakistan is still not out of the woods as far as terrorism is concerned and the new year will demonstrate whether the leadership has the will to improve the situation.
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ebb9a9341109472b3869b561918eb179 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35167983 | Afghanistan: Sangin almost entirely in Taliban hands | Afghanistan: Sangin almost entirely in Taliban hands
Latest reports from southern Afghanistan suggest that Sangin district in Helmand province is now almost entirely under Taliban control after days of fierce fighting.
The police headquarters and the main government building fell to the Taliban on Wednesday, a local senator said.
The Taliban say their fighters have seized the entire district.
However, the Afghan defence ministry said fighting was continuing and that reinforcements had been sent.
Sangin saw almost a quarter of British military fatalities during the UK's combat mission in Afghanistan.
District governor Haji Suliman Shah told the BBC he had been airlifted from the district HQ to Shorabak base - formerly Camp Bastion - in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah early on Wednesday, along with 15 wounded security force members.
A few hundred police and soldiers have taken refuge at an army barracks about 7km (four miles) from Sangin, and are besieged there.
Read more about Sangin
Harsh lessons from Sangin
Who are the Taliban?
Ashuqullah, a police officer at the barracks, told the BBC the "entire" town was controlled by militants. "We have not seen any help," he said.
"Support troops have been airdropped at a distance... but all roads are blocked and in the militants' control," he added.
There were many wounded at the barracks needing urgent evacuation, he said.
Speaking in Kabul, Afghanistan's acting Defence Minister Masoum Stanikzai described the situation in Helmand as "manageable" and said fresh support troops had been sent in.
Afghan government forces had been "thinly spread" over the whole country, he said, and had been trying their best to hold all areas.
A small contingent of British troops has been sent to Helmand "in an advisory role,"
the British government said on Tuesday
.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed on Wednesday:
"The Sangin district centres, its police HQ, and other establishments were under continued attacks of the mujahideen and today... with God's grace the district was fully captured by the mujahideen.
"The white flag of the Islamic emirate is at full mast at the district now.''
Haji Daud, the head of the Sangin district people's council, told the BBC that Sangin residents had fled the district to neighbouring areas.
Responding to the defence minister's claims, he said: "Those whose family - brothers and siblings and parents - are not fighting on the front, they always say the situation is not dangerous in the area..."
"Those who make such comments do not care to defend Helmand."
Pharmacy owner Sarwah Shah, who fled to Lashkar Gah, told the BBC that all of the families living on his street in Sangin - around 20 to 30 houses - had fled.
Another resident Agha Wali said he had fled Sangin with his children two days ago. He had had to leave all his possessions behind, he said.
The Taliban have already seized control of all but two districts in Helmand.
On Monday
the deputy governor of Helmand complained of a lack of government support
in an open letter on Facebook to President Ashraf Ghani.
"Helmand will collapse to the enemies and it's not like Kunduz, where we could launch an operation from the airport to retake it. That is just impossible and a dream," he wrote.
In September,
the Taliban briefly overran the northern Afghan city of Kunduz
in one of their biggest victories since 2001.
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32af96fed776ee9a342ae496194868ef | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35186892 | Organisers of Iglesias Sri Lanka gig 'should be whipped' | Organisers of Iglesias Sri Lanka gig 'should be whipped'
Sri Lanka's president says the organisers of an Enrique Iglesias gig should be whipped as punishment over the behaviour of some female fans.
Maithripala Sirisena said scenes of local women running on stage to kiss the singer and throwing their underwear at him, was "most uncivilised".
He said the organisers should be "whipped with toxic stingray tails" - referring to an ancient punishment.
The concert was held in the capital Colombo on 20 December.
Mr Sirisena said he had been shocked to hear that during the gig, local women removed their bras in public, threw their underwear at the pop star, or rushed on stage to hug and kiss him.
"This is most uncivilised behaviour that goes against our culture," he told a public meeting.
"I don't advocate that these uncivilised women who removed their brassieres should be beaten with toxic stingray tails, but those who organised such an event should be."
Whipping with the tails of stingrays was reportedly a punishment reserved for hardened criminals in medieval Sri Lanka, and is a popular expression of severe castigation.
President Sirisena also complained about the high cost of tickets, which were said to range from 5,000 rupees ($35; £23) to 50,000 rupees ($350; £235).
There was no immediate comment from the event's organisers.
The concert at a rugby stadium in Colombo was part of the Latin pop star's 'Love and Sex' world tour.
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73e50a1f66a9c9fd61b0398d11efe8e0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35188135 | Japan and South Korea agree WW2 'comfort women' deal | Japan and South Korea agree WW2 'comfort women' deal
Japan and South Korea have agreed to settle the issue of "comfort women" forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two, in their first such deal since 1965.
Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund victims.
The issue has been the key cause for strained ties. South Korea has demanded stronger apologies and compensation.
Only 46 former "comfort women" are still alive in South Korea.
The announcement came after Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul, following moves to speed up talks.
Later Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe phoned South Korean President Park Geun-hye to repeat an apology already offered by Mr Kishida.
"Japan and South Korea are now entering a new era," Mr Abe told reporters afterwards. "We should not drag this problem into the next generation."
Ms Park issued a separate statement, saying a deal had been urgently needed - given the advanced age of most of the victims.
"Nine died this year alone," she said. "I hope the mental pains of the elderly comfort women will be eased."
It is estimated that up to 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WW2, many of them Korean. Other women came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Read more
:
'Comfort women' - a painful legacy
After the meeting in Seoul, Mr Kishida called the agreement "epoch-making".
"Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women," Mr Kishida told reporters.
The wording of the deal does not explicitly state that the "comfort women" will receive direct compensation, but states that the fund will provide "support" and bankroll "projects for recovering the honour and dignity and healing the psychological wounds".
Some former "comfort women", such as Lee Yong-soo, have taken issue with this.
The 88-year-old told the BBC: "I wonder whether the talks took place with the victims really in mind. We're not after the money. If the Japanese committed their sins, they should offer direct official government compensation."
Another former "comfort woman", 88-year-old Yoo Hee-nam, said: "If I look back, we've lived a life deprived of our basic rights as human beings. So I can't be fully satisfied.
"But we've been waiting all this time for the South Korean government to resolve the issue legally. As the government worked hard to settle deal before the turn of the year, I'd like to follow the government's lead."
In Japan journalist Nobuo Ikeda reflected the view of many on Twitter that the country had lost out, although others thought the deal could have been worse for Mr Abe.
"Japan pays 1 billion yen and our PM apologises but South Korea will 'consult about the girl's statue' - that's not a diplomatic negotiation," Mr Ikeda tweeted.
With only days left until the end of the year, the timing of the talks was highly symbolic and the expectations for results were high.
Earlier in the year, the South Korean president called for a resolution to the "comfort women" dispute by the year's end, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
However, few believed that a quick breakthrough could be reached on a thorny issue that has strained the region for decades and some critics say the talks have been rushed to preserve the symbolism.
It's unclear if Japan's admission of responsibility was legal or just humanitarian, and Tokyo's offer of 1bn yen has been described as a measure to help the women, not as direct government compensation.
The dozens of surviving women have asked for a formal apology specifically addressed to themselves and direct compensation. They say past expressions of regret have been only halfway and insincere.
Japan revisionists deny WW2 sex slave atrocities
Negotiators appear to have overcome several obstacles including disagreements over the wording of the agreement and the amount of compensation. Tokyo was reportedly initially considering paying only around 100 million yen.
Japan has repeatedly apologised or acknowledged its responsibility for wartime sex slaves, most notably in a 1993 statement by the then-chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono.
It had also resisted giving greater compensation, arguing that the dispute was settled in 1965 when diplomatic ties were normalised between the two countries and more than $800m in economic aid and loans was given to South Korea.
A private fund was also set up in 1995 for the victims and lasted for a decade, but money came from donations and not from the Japanese government.
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39a2c2258c9a674d5c00e166c716c94e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35345872 | Pakistan unblocks access to YouTube | Pakistan unblocks access to YouTube
Pakistan has unblocked the video sharing site, YouTube, more than three years after it was banned for posting a video deemed insulting to Islam.
Pakistan's telecoms regulator said the ban was no longer necessary because Google, which owns YouTube, had now launched a Pakistan-specific version.
YouTube has denied claims that the authorities can filter content.
Many young Pakistanis have welcomed the lifting of the ban but some activists want details of the deal with Google.
They say there should be greater transparency of the terms agreed between Google and the government.
A Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) official confirmed to the BBC that all internet service providers had been directed to open access to YouTube.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd posted on its Facebook page on Monday: "Welcome Back YouTube".
Pakistan's ministry of information technology said: "Google has provided an online web process through which requests for blocking access of offending material can be made by the PTA to Google directly.
"Google/YouTube will accordingly restrict access to the said offending material for users within Pakistan."
However, a YouTube spokeswoman said government requests for the removal of content would not automatically be granted.
"We have clear community guidelines, and when videos violate those rules, we remove them," she said.
"In addition, where we have launched YouTube locally and we are notified that a video is illegal in that country, we may restrict access to it after a thorough review."
She said requests by governments for content to be removed would be recorded in YouTube's Transparency Report.
Pakistan's ban on YouTube was imposed by the Supreme Court in 2012 after the US-made film Innocence of Muslims was uploaded.
The amateur-made video was condemned in the Muslim world and sparked widespread protests for its mocking portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.
More than a dozen people died in protests in Pakistan.
Blasphemy is a crime in Pakistan and can carry the death penalty, although such a sentence has not been carried out.
Google revealed last week that it had launched local versions of YouTube for Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
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36a7f4bef51ba5b569eacf3ea9a5bd78 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35508475 | Deadly earthquake topples buildings in Taiwan city of Tainan | Deadly earthquake topples buildings in Taiwan city of Tainan
An earthquake has toppled buildings in the south Taiwanese city of Tainan, killing at least 11 people.
The magnitude 6.4 quake struck just before 04:00 (20:00 GMT Friday) when most people were at home asleep.
A baby was among at least four people killed when a high-rise building, containing 100 homes, collapsed.
At least 30 people remain missing. Tainan's mayor said people were alive but trapped under the rubble and all means would be used to rescue them.
President Ma Ying-jeou, who toured the city of two million, said shelters would be set up for those who had lost their homes.
Television pictures showed rescue workers frantically trying to reach people trapped in collapsed buildings, using ladders to climb over piles of rubble.
One of the worst affected was the 17-storey Wei Kuan apartment complex, home to at least 256 people.
More than 200 people were rescued, but a baby, young girl and two adult men did not survive, officials said. At least 70 people were taken to hospital.
Interior Minister Chen Wei-jen said he feared more people may have been in the fallen apartment block than usual as families gathered to celebrate Chinese New Year.
He said investigators would examine whether the building's construction met requirements.
Residents told how they were able to escape from their homes in the block, using their own tools and ladders.
"I used a hammer to break the door of my home which was twisted and locked, and managed to climb out," one woman told local TV.
Another man tied clothes together to make a rope and lowered himself from the ninth floor to the sixth floor below, Apple Daily reports.
One Tainan resident said his bed turned over as the wall collapsed. "My home completely turned into debris. I didn't know what was happening. I was really frightened as I have never seen such an earthquake," he said.
A 35-year-old woman described how she and her two children were pulled from the rubble.
"Rescue workers broke through (the building) layer by layer. And they asked us to climb out but I said my children are too small to climb. So they dug a bigger hole. Then one rescue worker tried his best to climb in and take the children out. Then I slowly climbed out myself," she said.
The quake was shallow, meaning its effects would have been amplified, the
US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
There have also been at least five aftershocks. The quake was felt in the capital Taipei, 300 km away.
Although the damage does not appear to be widespread, a number of tall buildings have been left leaning precariously.
There are also reports of power outages, and transport links have been disrupted on what is one of the busiest travelling days of the year ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and often sees tremors.
Beijing has offered assistance although at the moment at least, given the relatively limited scale of the disaster, it does not look as if much outside help is needed, the BBC's John Sudworth reports from the Chinese capital.
Back in 1999, when a 7.6 magnitude quake killed more than 2,300 people in central Taiwan, a similar offer of help from the mainland became embroiled in political wrangling, with Taiwan accusing China of exploiting the situation for its own political ends, our correspondent adds.
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0b2c54aecced6aa4e341825fffa26374 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35516199 | North Korea rocket launch: Why did Kim fire missile now? | North Korea rocket launch: Why did Kim fire missile now?
North Korea said the rocket it launched on the morning of 7 February was to put a satellite into orbit around the earth.
Some reports said the payload of the missile fired could be as large as 500kg (1,100lbs), many times the size of the Unha 3 missile payload put into space in December 2012.
These sources also suggest that the range of this new missile may be as much as 13,000km (8,000 miles) compared with the roughly 10,000 km range of the Unha 3. Further analysis is required to confirm these estimates.
But if these numbers are true, this new missile is a major advance for North Korea. A missile fired from North Korea with a 13,000km range can reach any location in the continental United States.
And a 500kg payload is apparently closer to what might be required for a nuclear weapon.
On the other hand, this missile is not yet a true intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It is a very large missile that must still be put together on a very large, fixed launch pad.
It apparently takes days to prepare such a missile, time during which it could be destroyed if North Korea threatened hostile use. Destroying such a missile on a large launch pad should be relatively easy once conflict begins.
North Korea has been working on a true ICBM, the KN08. It is a missile carried on a mobile launcher, which would make destroying it much more difficult. But the KN08 has not yet been tested.
Moreover, while North Korea has tested re-entry vehicles (to protect the warhead) for shorter-range missiles, it has not tested re-entry vehicles for long-range missiles.
Even if North Korea is able to miniaturise a nuclear weapon (which is still uncertain), that weapon and the re-entry vehicle must be able to withstand the extreme temperatures and other challenges associated with re-entering the atmosphere to place locations on Earth at risk to most nuclear weapon effects.
While this launch will assist North Korea in mastering several characteristics of long-range missiles, North Korea does not yet appear to have a viable ICBM with a nuclear warhead that could reach the US. If this test does not give North Korea a nuclear ICBM, why is the North doing it?
UN sanctions have been designed to stop North Korea from carrying out ballistic missile tests. Since the missile used in a space launch and in an ICBM may be similar, North Korea has claimed that its missile tests are really space launches of satellites.
The UN Security Council resolutions also prohibit North Korean space launches, but the North claims it has the right to do them, and the UN has failed to convince North Korea otherwise.
Until now, there has been little question, as North Korea has not previously put a functioning satellite into orbit. We have yet to hear whether the payload of this rocket/missile has proven to be a functional satellite.
But the bigger question is why now?
Because of North Korean secrecy, we do not know for sure. But it seems likely that Kim Jong-un is seeking clear successes before his important Seventh Party Congress in May when he wants to appear to be the all-powerful leader of North Korea.
But he has been experiencing major appearances of weakness. For example, in the last three years China has had six summit meetings with South Korea, suggesting that South Korea is an important country and its president, Park Geun-hye, is a great leader.
But China has had no summit meetings with North Korea, suggesting that, for Beijing, North Korea is not a significant country and that Kim Jong-un is a weak leader.
North Korea may also be experiencing political instability resulting from the many purges of Kim Jong-un and various regime failures.
In November, there were reports that North Korea was seeking a summit meeting with China, in an effort to demonstrate Kim Jong-un's strength.
On 10 December, Kim announced that North Korea possessed an H-bomb, possibly Mr Kim's way of pressuring a reluctant China into a summit.
The apparent failure of that pressure is likely to have angered Mr Kim, and led to a fourth nuclear test on 6 January.
That test had a weapon yield of about 10 kilotons, less than 1% of a traditional H-bomb. It was also smaller than a typical boosted weapon yield, which even North Korea apparently expected would be around 50 kilotons because the North buried the weapon more than twice as deep as its third nuclear test.
Observers have generally said that the fourth test was not an H-bomb, and thus a failure for the North Korean regime despite the euphoric public response the regime tried to incite in the aftermath of the test.
While China was seriously upset by the fourth nuclear test, its refusal to support further sanctions against North Korea suggests that China is concerned about worsening the instability in North Korea.
So the regime needs a success. This space launch may be enough to achieve that political objective.
But if it is not, Kim Jong-un may conclude that he needs a more successful nuclear test before the Seventh Party Congress.
Hopefully, the US and South Korea will take more effective actions to deter North Korea from such a defiant action. That might include coming up with a package of threats, including stating that more concrete preparations need to begin for a Korean unification that would result from North Korean collapse.
Bruce Bennett is a senior defence analyst at the Rand Corporation and a professor at the Pardee Rand Graduate School.
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5a6d7d0f7ef624b80aaa0184c880f4aa | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35519749 | Myanmar speculation mounts over Suu Kyi 'president move' | Myanmar speculation mounts over Suu Kyi 'president move'
The Burmese parliament has announced it will begin electing a new president on 17 March.
The delay comes amid a transition of power from the military-controlled government to the party of former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi.
No official reason has been given, but it has fuelled speculation that Ms Suu Kyi is in talks over taking the job.
She is currently barred from the presidency because her two sons have foreign passports.
Ms Suu Kyi's plan appears to be to sidestep the clause that bars her from the presidency by getting her MPs to temporarily suspend it, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
She has reportedly been negotiating the issue with military chief General Min Aung Hlaing. The clause can be legally scrapped only through a 75%-plus-one vote in parliament.
The military holds 25% of seats in parliament - all unelected - which means Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party cannot scrap the clause on its own.
But the clause can be suspended by a simple majority - although any such move could be challenged as both illegal and unconstitutional, our correspondent says.
Under the constitution, the upper house, lower house and the military will have to select one candidate each for president and for the two vice-presidents.
Given that the NLD has a majority in both houses, it is certain to get the president's post and one of the vice-presidential positions.
A new president does not have to be in place before April, but the process of choosing outgoing President Thein Sein's successor was expected to begin after the new parliament convened a week ago.
The NLD won a landslide victory in the November general elections. But Ms Suu Kyi has been blocked from the presidency by the Constitution's Article 59 (f), which says anyone with a foreign spouse or children cannot hold the executive office.
Ms Suu Kyi's late husband was British, as are her two sons.
In separate but identical broadcasts late on Sunday, Sky Net and Myanmar National Television, both pro-government, said "positive results could come out on the negotiation for the suspension of the constitution Article 59 (f)".
"I think everything will be fine," Kyaw Htwe, a senior member of the NLD, told The Associated Press. "The negotiations will be positive for our leader Aung San Suu Kyi to become president."
But Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst, advised caution.
He said: "It is still too early to confirm that Ms Suu Kyi will be among the presidential candidates. Even the suspension and the constitutional amendment will take time."
Myanmar was ruled with an iron fist by a military junta for 50 years, until the military stood back in 2010 to allow a quasi-civilian government to take over.
|
37a58622b9fc91e9df8ac21cba2cac97 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35710969 | Emirates A380 from Dubai to NZ makes longest non-stop flight | Emirates A380 from Dubai to NZ makes longest non-stop flight
An Emirates Airbus A380 jet has made what is believed to be the current longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight by distance.
The plane covered about 14,200km (8,824 miles) when it touched down in Auckland, New Zealand on Wednesday.
It was expected to be the world's longest non-stop commercial flight by duration as well, but landed too early.
Emirates expects "high demand" for the new route, which reportedly reduces the current travel time by three hours.
The return flight to Dubai left around 22:20 local time (15:20 GMT), according to New Zealand media.
The Auckland-Dubai portion was estimated to take around 17 hours and 15 minutes, but in the end took only 16 hours and 24 minutes, according to
the New Zealand Herald.
The inaugural flight was made by an A380, but
the route will normally be operated by a Boeing 777-200LR.
The new route has beaten the Dallas-Sydney flight operated by Qantas, previously the longest flight by distance, covering 13,800km (8,578 miles).
The Qantas service, however, remains the world's longest flight in duration - 16 hours and 55 minutes.
But this may not last long, as Emirates plans to launch a Dubai-Panama City service later this year or early in 2017 that will take 17 hours and 35 minutes.
The new service, however, will cover about 13,820km (8,588 miles), falling short of the new Dubai-Auckland route.
Qatar Airways has also announced plans to launch even longer flights - from its hub in Doha to Santiago, in Chile, and also to Auckland,
Bloomberg reported.
And Singapore Airlines revealed plans last year to bring back its Singapore-New Jersey service in 2018. The flight will apparently cover some 15,300km (9,500 miles) in 19 hours.
|
9198b0efe310ddf316a415bf9aee9d42 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35724422 | What impact will S Korea's expanded missile defence system have? | What impact will S Korea's expanded missile defence system have?
The verbal threats from the North Korean leadership - and its recent nuclear and missile tests - have prompted a fundamental rethink in its southern neighbour.
The long-standing hopes that Pyongyang might eventually be induced to give up its nuclear weapons programme have proved illusory.
South Korea is accordingly reassessing its security needs and it is clear that an expanded missile defence system is going to be a key part of its response to the North's more aggressive behaviour.
Even before
the latest threats from Kim Jong-un
, the US and South Koreans had
begun urgent consultations
to explore the feasibility of deploying a system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) to the Korean Peninsula at the earliest possible date.
Will carrots or sticks change North Korea?
Missile defences in the region
It is not yet clear if the missiles would be sold to the South Koreans. It is possible an interim arrangement might see some US batteries deployed to give an initial capability.
South Korea already operates a variant of the US Patriot anti-missile system and further Patriot batteries are deployed in South Korea by US forces based there. But these are intended to hit incoming missiles at relatively low altitudes.
Thaad is a much more capable and longer-range system. It destroys incoming missiles at a much higher altitude, beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
This makes it especially useful in countering missiles that might carry a nuclear warhead. (It should be noted in passing that there is no evidence yet to suggest that North Korea has sufficiently miniaturised a nuclear weapon to enable it to be mounted on a ballistic missile).
The Thaad interceptor is produced by the US company Lockheed Martin. It is an extremely fast missile with a maximum speed of 2,800 metres per second (10,080km/h). It is capable of making interceptions at an altitude of 150km i.e. beyond the atmosphere.
The Thaad system is made up of six truck-mounted launchers carrying some 50 interceptor missiles, and a fire control and communications unit, all linked to a powerful X-band radar system - manufactured by Raytheon - capable of detecting targets at very long range.
1.
The enemy launches a missile
2.
The Thaad radar system detects the launch, which is relayed to command and control
3.
Thaad command and control instructs the launch of an interceptor missile
4.
The interceptor missile is fired at the enemy projectile
5.
The enemy projectile is destroyed in the terminal phase of flight
The launcher trucks can hold up to eight interceptor missiles.
Any significant enhancement of South Korea's missile defences is going to be controversial. Inevitably it will inflame tensions with the North. But the plans have already
fallen foul of the main regional security actor - China
.
Beijing is concerned by the spread of sophisticated anti-missile defences, worrying - in the same way as Moscow - that as these systems become more commonplace they will inevitably affect the capabilities of its own nuclear deterrent.
It also has concerns about the X-band radar system, which has sufficient range to penetrate into China itself.
The debate is a little like that between Russia and Nato regarding missile defences in Europe.
Nato says these are to defend against a very specific threat - that from a potential Iranian long-range missile. Similarly Thaad is, as its name implies, an area defence system - in other words if it were based in South Korea it would only be capable of shooting down Chinese missiles if they were targeting South Korea.
But this does not cut much ice in either Moscow or Beijing. The Chinese in particular may see the deployment of US Thaad missiles to South Korea as the start of a regional defence system intended to contain China.
There are echoes of the Cold War here where anti-missile systems were largely banned by international treaty in an effort to avoid their potentially destabilising effects. That agreement - the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty - was abandoned by the Americans who saw it as a constraint on the sorts of limited defence systems required to counter the proliferation of missile technology.
But the upshot of the spread of missile defences, like any other battle between offence and defence, is that China may ultimately look to upgrade its nuclear capabilities to counter any potential defensive systems.
That could have an impact for India too, who may be concerned about its deterrent capabilities. The ripples from North Korea's threats against the South could spread very widely.
|
a079b34c664c7104abc15714314b9515 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35949749 | Vietnam police chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in as president | Vietnam police chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in as president
Vietnam's police chief, Tran Dai Quang, has been sworn in as the communist country's president.
Mr Quang, 59, has been head of the ministry of public security, which has been the focus of Western criticism of the nation's human rights record.
He had been nominated for the largely ceremonial role at January's communist party conference.
One of his first tasks will be to welcome visiting US President Barack Obama next month.
Mr Quang won 91.5% of a rubber-stamp vote in parliament on Saturday.
"I sincerely thank the National Assembly for electing me," Mr Quang said as he was sworn in. He is the first police general to fill the post.
The Communist Party in January re-elected Nguyen Phu Trong, 71, in the leading role of general secretary for a second term.
His re-election came after reformist Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung withdrew his candidacy.
The National Assembly will vote next week on a new prime minister - set to be Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc,
Earlier in the week, the assembly elected its first woman Speaker - Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
Analysts believe one-party Vietnam will continue with economic reforms, but steer clear of major political changes.
|
8b980b22470bfab36e9b1d5b92f40200 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35987069 | Myanmar political prisoners to be freed - Aung San Suu Kyi | Myanmar political prisoners to be freed - Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi says her new government in Myanmar will work towards freeing all remaining political prisoners within the next two weeks.
It is her first announcement in her new role as "state counsellor", a position similar to prime minister.
She is barred from the presidency but leads the National League for Democracy party which has a huge majority in both houses of parliament.
The move could affect up to 500 prisoners in jail or awaiting trial.
Ms Suu Kyi was once a political prisoner herself, and said the releases were a government priority.
Hundreds have already been freed in recent years as part of the political reform process that ended Myanmar's long period of military rule.
But others have also been arrested, often for holding unauthorised demonstrations.
A government statement did not name who would be freed but there are an estimated 100 political prisoners still in jail and about 400 others, including some students, awaiting trial.
The BBC's Myanmar correspondent, Jonah Fisher, says it is unclear who will qualify as a political prisoner under the announcement, and whether it will apply to Myanmar's many ethnic insurgencies.
US President Barack Obama contacted Ms Suu Kyi and Myanmar's new President, Htin Kyaw, by telephone on Wednesday.
He praised her "determined efforts, over the course of many years and at great personal cost, to achieve a peaceful transfer of power and advance national reconciliation," the White House said.
Also this week Ms Suu Kyi met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in her capacity as Myanmar's foreign minister.
|
90733edcbfba5948de4c4ff1dc49243a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36297583 | Philippines: Duterte vows to bring back death penalty | Philippines: Duterte vows to bring back death penalty
Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte said he will seek to return the death penalty, in his first comments to reporters since last week's election.
He added that he would also seek to give security forces shoot-to-kill powers for suspects who evade arrest and those involved in organised crime.
It is unclear how easily he could enact such proposals, but analysts credit his success to his tough stance on crime.
He is set to be sworn into office on 30 June for a term of six years.
While official election results have not yet been announced, Mr Duterte has an unassailable lead. He will need the backing of Congress to see through his plans.
Profile: From 'Punisher' to president
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday in the southern city of Davao, Mr Duterte is also quoted as saying that he wanted to forge closer relations with China, and that he was open to direct talks over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
The Philippines has taken one of its claims to a court of arbitration at the Hague.
Mr Duterte's record as the crime-crushing mayor of the southern city of Davao, once notorious for its lawlessness, has earned him the moniker The Punisher.
"What I will do is urge Congress to restore death penalty by hanging," Mr Duterte told reporters. The Philippines abolished capital punishment in 2006.
"If you resist, show violent resistance, my order to police (will be) to shoot to kill. Shoot to kill for organised crime. You heard that? Shoot to kill for every organised crime," he is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
Rights groups say hundreds of criminals were killed by so-called "death squads" in Davao during Mr Duterte's stewardship of the city. In 2015, Human Rights Watch
described Mr Duterte as the "death squad mayor
" for his strong-arm tactics in Davao.
Whether Mr Duterte is able to persuade Congress to back such policies remains to be seen.
Last week his spokesman put forward a series of proposals such as a ban on alcohol in public places and a "nationwide curfew" for children.
Mr Duterte was not afraid of courting controversy throughout his election campaign. He vowed to give himself and members of the security forces immunity from prosecution after leaving office, saying: "Pardon given to Rodrigo Duterte for the crime of multiple murder, signed Rodrigo Duterte."
On vowing to kill criminals
"Forget the laws on human rights... You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I'd kill you. I'll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there."
On the rape of a female missionary
"I saw her face and I thought, son of a bitch. what a pity... I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first."
On the Pope's visit holding up traffic
"We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours... I wanted to call him: 'Pope, son of a whore, go home. Do not visit us again'."
On taking Viagra
"I was separated from my wife. I'm not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up."
"Duterte Harry" in quotes
|
3a29787959ae8719ce1a89a5dd2105d0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36462026 | Bangladesh home minister suggests Israel behind spate of killings | Bangladesh home minister suggests Israel behind spate of killings
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has suggested an Israeli link to the recent killings of secular bloggers and minorities.
He said an opposition politician had met an Israeli intelligence agent and there was evidence of an "international conspiracy" against Bangladesh.
He gave no more evidence. Israel says the claim is nonsense.
Critics say the government is in denial about the killings, most of which have been blamed on or claimed by Islamists.
Mr Khan's comments come a day after the wife of a senior police officer investigating the deaths was shot dead.
The governing Awami League has sought in the past to link the opposition to the attacks. Relations with the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) remain fraught following the disputed 2014 general election.
Muslim-majority but officially secular Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel and supports the Palestinians.
Any vilification of Israel will certainly please the vast number of Bangladeshis who support the cause of the Palestinians and bring some political dividends for any Bangladeshi party.
But the government is facing critical questions internationally, especially about the investigation into the series of killings.
Only one murder has so far come to trial.
While the government sees a conspiracy to block the country's advancement, Islamist groups continue to grow in strength and strike almost routinely at one of the state's basic tenets - secularism.
Who is behind the Bangladesh killings?
Is extremism on the rise in Bangladesh?
Lurching from secularism to sectarian terror?
"Bangladesh has become the target of an international conspiracy. And a foreign intelligence agency has joined the conspiracy," Mr Khan said.
When asked to elaborate, he said: "You must have noticed that an Israeli intelligence agent had a meeting with a politician, it does not need to be verified further, all Bangladeshi know about it."
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told the BBC the suggestion of Israeli involvement was "utter drivel".
Opposition MP Aslam Chowdhury was recently arrested and charged with sedition after he was pictured meeting Israeli government adviser Mendi Safadi in India.
Mr Chowdhury described his visit to India as a business trip and has denied meeting an Israeli intelligence agent.
The latest violence was in the southern port city of Chittagong, where Mahmuda Aktar was stabbed and shot in the head on Sunday in front of her six-year-old son.
Her husband, Supt Babul Aktar, is investigating the banned Islamist Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh group (JMB) and she has been a prominent campaigner against religious extremism.
Also on Sunday, a Christian grocer was hacked to death in the north-western village of Bonpara. So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the murder of Sunil Gomes.
Police say more than 40 people have been killed since January last year in the wave of attacks on those seen by extremists as offensive to Islam.
The government insists that IS does not have a presence in Bangladesh and has tended to blame the opposition and local militant groups.
Critics have accused the government of failing to properly address the violence in Bangladesh.
The grim list of those who have fallen victim to attacks by Islamist militants in Bangladesh is growing ever diverse.
Secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, and members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus have all been killed, many of them hacked to death.
When a university professor whose family said believed in God was murdered in April, it suggested the list of those at risk had widened further.
Who exactly is behind the attacks remains murky. Bangladesh has myriad extremist groups and there have been few convictions over the attacks.
Bangladesh has disputed claims by so-called Islamic State or al-Qaeda-linked groups for the attacks, instead often blaming opposition parties or local Islamist groups.
But until the killings stop the government itself will face accusations of not doing enough to protect minorities in the Sunni-dominated nation.
|
4ed02862a43d843eb7ab2ce725c4920c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36486970 | Pakistani MQM linked to 'dozens of UK bank accounts' | Pakistani MQM linked to 'dozens of UK bank accounts'
UK police documents obtained by the BBC list more than 70 London bank accounts related to a Pakistani party being investigated for money-laundering.
Twenty-six are in the name of MQM leader Altaf Hussain. UK-based party officials are waiting to hear if they will face money-laundering charges.
Six British detectives were recently in Pakistan seeking co-operation in the alleged money-laundering case.
The MQM has said Scotland Yard's claims about the bank accounts are baseless.
British police have been investigating the MQM, one of Pakistan's main political parties, for several years but the pace of their investigations has picked up markedly since a meeting in London in April between Pakistan's Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, and Home Secretary Theresa May.
The Scotland Yard documents, which include details of both open and closed bank accounts, were submitted to Pakistan's Federal Investigations Agency (FIA) as part of a British request for assistance.
Scotland Yard has declined to comment on the documents.
The UK's Crown Prosecution Service is already considering whether leading MQM officials should be charged with money-laundering offences but police say that does not stop them making further inquiries.
"The investigation continues and any further relevant information would be discussed with the CPS," said a spokesperson at Scotland Yard.
Pakistan's powerful but absent politician
Altaf Hussain has lived in self-imposed exile in London for more than 20 years.
With 24 members in the National Assembly, the MQM is a dominant force in the politics of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi.
The British police team in Pakistan was also seeking to advance a separate investigation into the 2010 murder in north London of a senior MQM leader, Imran Farooq.
Three suspects in the case are being held in Pakistan. The UK police want to extradite one of the three - Mohsin Ali Syed - who they claim was present at the scene of the killing.
Pakistan is insisting that either all three should be extradited - or none at all.
The MQM denies any wrongdoing and insists that all the allegations made against it are false.
The British judiciary has been highly critical of the MQM. Back in 2011 a British judge adjudicating an asylum appeal case found that "the MQM has killed over 200 police officers who have stood up against them in Karachi".
During their investigation into the murder of Mr Farooq the police found £167,525.92 (about $235,000) in the MQM's offices in London and a further £289,785.32 in Mr Hussain's home in Edgware, north London.
Previous investigations in London uncovered a list in Mr Hussain's home itemising weapons, including mortars, grenades and bomb-making equipment. The list included prices for the weapons.
The Scotland Yard documents include a number of other British requests for assistance from their Pakistani counterparts.
The British asked for information about cash and weapons found at the MQM's Karachi headquarters. They also asked for official confirmation of Pakistani media reports that the MQM was involved in extortion in Karachi.
|
0dd775d7664566801167d5a7cb03a061 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36734167 | Bangladesh attack kills four near huge Eid gathering | Bangladesh attack kills four near huge Eid gathering
Militants have attacked police guarding the largest Eid gathering in Bangladesh, throwing homemade bombs and launching a gun attack.
About 300,000 people had gathered for Eid prayers at the Sholakia field in Kishoreganj district when the attack on a security checkpoint began.
Police say four people, including two officers and one attacker, were killed.
Last week, militants stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka, killing at least 20, most of them foreigners.
That attack was claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS), although the government said the attackers belonged to a local militant group.
No group has said it carried out Thursday's attack.
Eyewitnesses said four militants had used machetes and guns to attack police.
The imam leading prayers at the Sholakia field had recently issued a decree against killing in the name of Islam.
After the attack, he told journalists: "The young men who think they will go to heaven [by carrying out attacks] are wrong. They will go straight to hell."
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told the BBC Bengali service that the high level of preparedness of security forces had prevented an attack on the prayer congregation.
"We have been able to either capture or destroy most of the terrorists," he said.
Police were investigating the attack and did not rule out "IS, al-Qaeda, or the Taliban" as possible groups, "but we still do not have any evidence to suggest that Bangladeshi militants have any organisational link with foreign groups," he added.
There have been security fears in Dhaka following last Friday's attack on the cafe.
There were tight checks at some Eid services in the capital, with scanners and sniffer dogs used to check for bombs before worshippers could enter, AFP reported.
Many people could be seen weeping during the services, while a local cleric issued a prayer to "protect our children from the evils of terrorism", AFP added.
Bangladesh has also seen a spate of attacks on secular bloggers, gay activists, academics and members of religious minorities, with more than 40 killed since February 2013.
Many of those attacks were claimed by Islamic State militants or al-Qaeda affiliates, although the government has blamed local groups and the opposition instead. The opposition denies the claims.
Speaking on Thursday, Hasanul Haq Inu told the BBC that recent attacks were "isolated incidents through which some youngsters are taking the wrong path".
"Militant terrorism is not a trend in Bangladesh, it is still not a trend," he said.
|
18e21d29e4603750c0249cd1701d7aab | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36890655 | Japan knife attack: 19 killed at care centre in Sagamihara | Japan knife attack: 19 killed at care centre in Sagamihara
Nineteen residents have been killed in a knife attack at a care centre for people with mental disabilities in the Japanese city of Sagamihara.
Such attacks are extremely rare in Japan - the incident is the worst mass killing in decades.
Police have arrested a man who worked at the centre until February, and who turned himself into police after the attack.
He reportedly said he wanted people with disabilities to "disappear".
The brutal killings have shocked Japan, one of the safest countries in the world.
Who was Japanese knife attacker?
"The lives of many innocent people were taken away and I am greatly shocked. We will make every effort to discover the facts and prevent a reoccurrence," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
The suspect has been named as 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu.
He sent letters to politicians in February in which he threatened to kill hundreds of disabled people during a night shift, Kyodo news agency reports.
"My goal is a world in which the severely disabled can be euthanised, with their guardians' consent, if they are unable to live at home and be active in society," Uematsu wrote in a letter to the speaker of the lower house of parliament, obtained by Kyodo.
He was kept in hospital for almost two weeks before being released.
"You could say there were warning signs, but it's difficult to say if this could have been prevented," Kanagawa prefecture governor Yuji Koroiwa said.
Uematsu drove to the Tsukui Yamayuri-en care facility, located about 50km (31 miles) from Tokyo, in the early hours of the morning, armed with several knives.
He entered one of the buildings by breaking a window at 02:10 local time (17:10 GMT), a prefectural health official said, and began attacking sleeping residents one by one in their rooms.
Staff called police around 20 minutes later to report what was happening.
The stabbing rampage lasted around 40 minute across two buildings, the Associated Press news agency reports. Uematsu's 19 victims were aged between 19 and 70, Kyodo said, citing the Sagamihara City fire department.
Another 25 people were wounded, 20 seriously. Both men and women were reported to be among the dead.
Soon after the attack, Uematsu turned himself in at the Tsukui police station and reportedly admitted the attack, appearing to have driven himself there.
Pictures have emerged of the steering wheel of his car, stained with blood.
"When Uematsu turned himself in, he was found carrying kitchen knives and other types of knives stained with blood," a Kanagawa official told reporters.
A neighbour described Uematsu as polite and pleasant.
"We didn't know the darkness of his heart," Akihiro Hasegawa, 73, told Reuters.
The facility, set in extensive grounds, had about 150 residents at the time of the attack, according to local officials. Nine staff members were on duty at the time.
One doctor told NHK: "The patients are very shocked and they cannot speak now."
One woman who said she used to work at Tsukui Yamayuri-en told local media: "They are truly innocent people. What did they do?"
Officials have ruled out any link to terrorism.
Mass killings are extremely rare in Japan, in part because strict gun control laws means almost no-one has access to a firearm.
Are you in the Japanese city of Sagamihara? Have you been affected by this incident? You can share your experiences by emailing
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|
526bbe3761ff3f18aef271f41de104f3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36961395 | North Korea fires ballistic missile into Japanese waters | North Korea fires ballistic missile into Japanese waters
North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile which landed in Japanese waters, South Korea and Japan say.
The missile was launched off the North's east coast early on Wednesday and travelled about 1,000km (620 miles), one of the North's longest launches to date.
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said it was a "grave threat" to his country.
The North is barred from developing nuclear and ballistic missile technology by UN resolution.
But it had vowed a "physical response" after the US and South Korea agreed plans to deploy an advanced US missile defence system in South Korea.
The North has carried out repeated missile tests in recent months.
The US Strategic Command said two missiles had been fired simultaneously on Wednesday from Hwanghae province at about 07:50 Seoul time (22:50 GMT Tuesday), but one exploded immediately after launch.
The Japanese defence ministry said the other missile landed inside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) - the 200 nautical miles of ocean around a country over which it has jurisdiction.
An official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it appeared to have been a medium-range Rodong.
The launch showed the North's "ambition to attack neighbouring countries", he said. There were no reports of any damage.
Mr Abe said it posed a grave threat to Japan's security, calling it an "unforgiveable act of violence". He said Tokyo had protested strongly against it.
The US similarly condemned the launch.
"We remain prepared to work to respond to further DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] provocations, as well as to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or provocation," said State Department spokeswoman Anna Richey-Allen.
In June, after what appeared to be several failed launches, North Korea sent a mid-range missile more than 1,400km into the atmosphere, indicating it had made progress in its abilities to strike US targets in the region, according to analysts.
In July, North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea, saying it was
a simulated strike on the South
.
Local media reports say South Korean officials believe the North is preparing to conduct a fifth test of a nuclear weapon.
But North Korea is not yet believed to have the ability to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile to make a deliverable weapon.
|
c61e78a6b732a80e9a05319265dcbff0 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37030696 | North Korean athlete selfie: What happens next? | North Korean athlete selfie: What happens next?
Pictures of a North and South Korean gymnast taking a selfie at the Olympics prompted many of you on the BBC's social media sites to ask whether Hong Un-jong would face punishment for fraternising with the enemy. But as North Korea analyst and sports fan Michael Madden explains, that is unlikely to be the case.
North Korea has pursued "sports diplomacy" as a matter of national policy since the 1980s.
It is one - distinctly non-politicised - way for the politically isolated North to interact with the outside world and benefit from intercultural contact and exchanges.
Some cynical and sanctimonious observers label this "propaganda," when in fact, North Korea is pursuing one of the few avenues of public affairs diplomacy available to it. The North even negotiated with Seoul to send a joint Korean team to the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, though it has never panned out.
For athletes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), it is an opportunity to represent the country in front of an international audience in spite of the intense pressure of expectations from home.
Claiming that Hong will face the firing squad or a life of hard labour for her selfie with Lee Eun-ju ignores the fact that she was also photographed in 2014 hugging American gymnast Simone Biles at an international competition.
You might think that by embracing an athlete of a country described as a "sworn enemy", Hong Un Jong would have incurred censure and not be permitted to participate in the Rio games.
But that didn't happen.
Sport is a fast track to becoming one of the elite in North Korea.
Successful athletes are greeted upon their return home and it's reported all over state media. They are given state titles and awards by the North Korean government.
In 2013, "merited" athletes were ceremoniously moved into their own designated, fully furnished apartment housing with members of their families.
State media said that "all sportspersons of the country, inspired by the loving care of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), are unanimously resolved to achieve more successful results at international games."
Those who perform well are given heavy exposure, both in North Korea's internal state media and its public affairs publications for foreign audiences.
Documentary films, and even feature-length dramatic films, are produced about successful athletes.
Since assuming power in 2011, Kim Jong-un has strongly prioritised sport and sports diplomacy.
He has initiated the construction and renovation of competition venues and practice facilities for athletes, mobilising a significant amount of personnel and financial resources in the process.
He has also hosted numerous banquets, receptions and personal interactions with numerous DPRK athletes and sports teams.
The last credible report of North Korean athletes facing very harsh penalties, such as incarceration or execution, for failing to win or perform well at international competitions is 25 years old.
In 2010 when the DPRK men's football team failed to win the World Cup a series of media reports conveyed conjecture and unconfirmed reports that the team would be sent to a labour camp.
What really happened illustrates how North Korean athletes who fail to win or perform well are treated.
North Korean athletes are either members of the ruling WPK or still serving their mandatory military service term. As such they would be subject to the disciplinary process of a party or military member.
For athletes this would involve, as it did for the 2010 World Cup Team, the criticism sessions which are part of party life.
During a session, members of a small party group critique one's performance, with several people upbraiding the individual for their substantive performance (or lack thereof) and their perceived ideological failures.
At the end, the person being critiqued then engages in self-criticism and resolves to do better in the future.
The World Cup team members were brought to a meeting of athletes, coaches and sports officials where they were severely criticised for their failure to win.
The coach, like any other DPRK senior official, was sent away to do construction for a few months before returning to a lower level position in the DPRK Football Association.
The team and the coach were treated like any other group of DPRK officials who didn't perform well. While certainly uncomfortable and jarring to one's self-esteem, these penalties are certainly preferable to being sent away to a prison or being executed.
This was an isolated recent case of what happens to DPRK athletes who don't succeed during competition.
The reality is, the worst that usually happens to athletes who fail to place or win at competitions is that North Korean state media doesn't mention them.
Michael Madden is a Visiting Scholar at the US Korea Institute at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University
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b0960a80f919dfed9e5e0c4802bdb7c6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37103648 | Olympic pole vault penis claim denied by Japan athlete Hiroki Ogita | Olympic pole vault penis claim denied by Japan athlete Hiroki Ogita
Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita has described his bewilderment after reports his penis had prevented him from progressing in the Rio Olympics went viral.
A video of the athlete hitting the bar with what looked to some like his penis under his shorts quickly spread online.
His leg had already made contact with the bar but his arm finished the job.
"I never expected the foreign media to take me down like this," the 28-year-old athlete tweeted.
"It's one thing if it was true, but I have to say I'm pretty devastated that they'd go so far to make something up to mock and ridicule me so much."
One pole vaulting expert told the BBC he thought it was a case of an unfortunate camera angle.
"He had already pressed on the crossbar so much," pole vaulting coach David Yeo said in Singapore.
"The crossbar was bound to dislodge. I think it was just the crumpling of the fabric which happened at the wrong position."
Mr Ogita did clear the bar on his second attempt but as he only managed a height of 5.45m on his final jump, the earlier foul cost him. He finished too far down the field to progress through the qualifying stage.
But his fans rallied round him online, telling him to not to worry and reassuring him that the coverage was not all hostile.
Twitter user @wotarou0019kota tweeted (in Japanese): "Don't stress over it and be positive! I do athletics as well, and sometimes stuff happens. It's awesome enough that you're able to be up there on the world stage, so hold your head up high and keep on jumping!"
Despite the athlete's dismay, he encouraged his readers to take an active interest in the sport.
"To be honest, it's pretty rough, but I guess I'm in the spotlight so this might be some kind of opportunity. I'll do my best and get the results so that I get the last laugh," he wrote.
"It doesn't matter if you do it for a joke or whatever, I ask you to go and watch an actual game at a stadium for once. I hope you appreciate, even a bit, what a great sport pole vaulting is."
He eventually tweeted that he was able to see the funny side: "Watching again, this is pretty funny, if I say so myself. LOL."
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82d8651c6766b6768dc8b22cea54e98d | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37207973 | Philippines: IS-linked Maute group inmates freed in 'raid' | Philippines: IS-linked Maute group inmates freed in 'raid'
Eight suspected militants linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) have been freed from jail in the Philippines in an apparently "staged raid".
Police said at least 20 fighters from the Maute group had turned up at the Lanao del Sur jail in the southern city of Marawi, but no shots had been fired.
A military source told the BBC they believed the men had been allowed to escape.
The militants were held last week after being caught with homemade mortars.
At least 15 other inmates - who faced murder and drugs charges - also walked free, but it is not clear whether this was agreed.
The Maute group has carried out several bombings and kidnappings in the southern Mindanao region.
The Philippines has faced Muslim separatist movements for decades in Mindanao, which has a significant Muslim population - the Philippines is mainly Catholic.
The Maute group carries the black flag and insignia of IS, and has attacked army troops, beheaded a soldier and beheaded two local workers earlier this year.
The militants kidnapped the two workers and made them wear orange shirts similar to those worn by IS beheading victims before they were killed.
Several armed groups in the Philippines have pledged allegiance to IS, although the country's military says there is no evidence of active co-operation with foreign militants.
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469d920a237ffda4f4458c3c38207500 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37227682 | Zika: Singapore urges tests for pregnant women with symptoms | Zika: Singapore urges tests for pregnant women with symptoms
Singapore is advising all pregnant women with symptoms associated with Zika, to be tested for the virus.
The city-state has now confirmed 82 locally transmitted cases of Zika, a mosquito-borne virus linked to severe birth defects.
It has initiated a drive to wipe out mosquitoes in affected areas.
On Tuesday, the US joined Australia, Taiwan and South Korea in advising pregnant women against non-essential travel to Singapore.
The latest global Zika outbreak originated in Brazil last year, but has since spread across the Americas.
Dozens of cases have been confirmed in Singapore over the past week, some outside the original cluster amongst migrant construction workers in the Aljuneid district in the south-east.
This has sparked concern that the numbers could escalate sharply.
The health ministry has advised pregnant women
with symptoms such as fever, rash, red eyes and joint pain, to get tested.
It also said women with male partners who are Zika-positive, should be tested "regardless of whether they have been to Zika-affected areas" and even if they have no symptoms themselves.
Testing for such women will be provided free, but it "is not routinely recommended for other pregnant women".
Meanwhile workers have been fumigating public areas across the country and existing home inspections for possible mosquito infestation have been stepped up. Sales of insect repellent and insecticide are reported to have increased.
While Zika mostly causes relatively mild symptoms, it is particularly dangerous for pregnant women because it is thought it can cause microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.
The World Health Organization
(WHO) is advising pregnant women not to travel to areas with ongoing Zika virus outbreaks.
However, many governments,
including the UK's
, are advising women who are pregnant or planning to be, to speak to their doctors about any plans to go to Zika-affected areas, and take precautions against being bitten by mosquitoes once there.
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bffe186137849ac2aa97263fe155aa0b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37327033 | Bangladesh factory fire: At least 23 killed in Tongi | Bangladesh factory fire: At least 23 killed in Tongi
At least 23 people have been killed in a huge fire that broke out at a packaging factory in Bangladesh.
A further 70 people are reported to have been injured in the blaze at an industrial complex in Tongi, north of the capital Dhaka.
Police said about 100 people were in the four-storey building at the time, including machine operators and guards.
The blast was caused by an explosion in the boiler room, at the start of the working day, officials say.
Firefighters are struggling to bring the blaze under control.
Local fire and civil defence chief Anis Ahamed said 20 fire trucks had worked to extinguish the fire.
Relatives have been gathering outside the local hospital for news.
One man, Wridoy Barua, said he was looking for his brother. "I haven't heard from him since this morning. There is no news of him."
Low-cost manufacturing is a mainstay of Bangladesh's economy, but a series of industrial disasters in recent years have raised concerns about safety standards, the BBC's South Asia Editor Jill McGivering reports.
Tighter controls have been introduced, but dozens of workers still die every year, she notes.
Bangladesh factories: 'About 40% have major safety issues'
Can Bangladesh safety accord bring change?
At least 13 people died in a fire at a plastics factory Dhaka last year.
In 2012, 112 workers died in a fire at a factory just outside the capital.
The country suffered an even greater tragedy in 2013 when the Rana Plaza garment complex collapsed on the outskirts of Dhaka, killing 1,135 people.
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87ee09cf14838e774d31589d78d547ec | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37402183 | World's oldest fish hooks found in Japanese island cave | World's oldest fish hooks found in Japanese island cave
Archaeologists have found the world's oldest fish hooks in a cave on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
The pair, dating from about 23,000 years ago, were carved from sea snail shells and found with other ancient relics,
according to a paper
.
It is thought humans inhabited the island from at least 30,000 years ago, surviving despite scarce resources.
The findings suggest a wider use of advanced maritime technology in that era than previously thought.
Modern humans first moved to offshore islands some 50,000 years ago.
While fishing has been essential for early humans to spread around the planet, it is unclear how the technology evolved, with evidence limited to sites in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
"The new evidence demonstrates a geographically wider distribution of early maritime technology that extended north to the mid-latitude areas along the western Pacific coast," according to the National Academy of Sciences.
The fish hooks predate ones found in Timor, thought to be at least 16,000 years old, and Papua New Guinea, from at least 18,000 years ago.
Also found in the cave were two partially carved fish hooks, tools, beads and food debris.
The paper's authors even suggest that those who visited the cave did so seasonally, when certain species of crab were at their "most delicious".
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e81cd52bc9f1eba650626edc3a077bc9 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37757914 | Quetta attack: Militants kill dozens at Balochistan Police College | Quetta attack: Militants kill dozens at Balochistan Police College
At least 59 cadets and guards have been killed in an attack by militants on a police college in the Pakistani city of Quetta, officials say.
Three militants wearing suicide bomb vests entered the college late on Monday, reportedly taking hostages.
A major security operation lasted for hours and all attackers were killed.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said its fighters had carried out the attack, although officials have blamed another militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, has seen similar attacks by both separatists and various Islamist militant factions in recent years.
Hundreds of trainees were evacuated from Balochistan Police College as troops arrived to repel the militants. Local media reported at least three explosions at the scene.
"I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden carrying Kalashnikovs," one cadet said according to AFP news agency. "They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall."
The police academy is home to hundreds of students and many of the cadets who died were killed in the blasts, said Maj-Gen Sher Afghan of the Frontier Corps.
This assault has clearly highlighted the woes of Pakistan's south-western city of Quetta not just because of the heavy casualties, but because it came on the very day a judicial commission investigating an earlier attack held its first hearing.
That attack in August was carried out on a "soft" target - the emergency ward of a city hospital. The militants have now hit a symbol of the state, though some still consider police to be a softer target in a region where law enforcement has largely slid under the control of the military.
It all comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Pakistan and its two neighbours, India and Afghanistan. A top military official claimed these attackers had handlers in Afghanistan.
But many will point to Pakistan's own alleged use of militants as a state policy, which they say has now started to backfire. Northern Balochistan has been home to Afghan Taliban who have long-standing links not only to elements within the Pakistani establishment but also to al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban groups that have since turned against Islamabad.
Why are militants attacking Quetta?
The exact sequence of events is unclear but there was intermittent exchange of fire between the attackers and security forces for several hours, according to Dawn newspaper. There were also reports of a hostage situation.
More than 100 people, mostly trainees, were injured.
Pakistan's army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps took part in the military counter-operation, which Balochistan provincial home minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti said was now over.
Two of the militants died after detonating their bomb vests and one was killed by security forces.
Pakistani media highlighted the nation's poor security situation after the attack, with leading TV channels changing their logos to black in a mark of respect for the victims,
Officials blamed a faction of the
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group
and said the attackers "were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan".
However, IS said on its Amaq news agency that its fighters had carried out the attack, releasing an image purported to be of the three gunmen.
IS formed a branch for Afghanistan and Pakistan in January 2015 under Hafiz Saeed Khan. He
was killed in a US drone strike in July
this year.
The first suspected IS attack in Pakistan was in April 2015, when three soldiers were killed. It then claimed an
attack on a bus in Karachi that killed 45 people
, although the Pakistani Taliban splinter group Jundullah also said it was responsible.
IS said it also carried out a
suicide bombing that killed 88 people at a hospital in Quetta
in August, but that too is disputed, with another faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, saying it was behind the attack.
The Pakistani military has been conducting operations against militants in volatile tribal areas near the Afghan border.
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1b0ef69d52a86a0021ff6548128c2d13 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38178764 | Mass prayer rally in Jakarta against governor 'Ahok' | Mass prayer rally in Jakarta against governor 'Ahok'
At least 200,000 conservative Muslims have gathered for Friday prayers and to protest against Jakarta's governor, at a rally in the Indonesian capital.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as "Ahok", is accused of insulting Islam during election campaigning.
On Wednesday, Indonesian prosecutors confirmed his case could go to trial.
Mr Purnama is Christian and ethnic Chinese - a double-minority in Muslim-majority Indonesia, where ethnic Chinese are about 1% of the population.
In a surprise move, President Joko Widodo, a political ally of Mr Purnama, appeared at the gathering and listened to a sermon delivered by one of his own fierce critics, radical Islamic Defender Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab.
Ahead of the rally, police announced that they had detained eight people for suspected treason. The group includes the sister of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri and musician Ahmad Dhani.
Mr Widodo has blamed "political actors" of trying to take advantage of the furore over Mr Purnama to destabilise his government.
The BBC's Ging Ginanjar, at the rally, says organisers told police it would just be a public sermon and mass prayer, but many attendees are carrying banners condemning Jakarta's governor and calling for him to be jailed.
A large protest
against the governor on 4 November turned violent, leaving one man dead and dozens of police and demonstrators injured.
In a campaign speech in September, Mr Purnama said Islamic groups who were using a Koranic verse to discourage support for him were deceiving voters. The verse is interpreted by some as prohibiting Muslims from living under the leadership of a non-Muslim.
Islamic groups said he had criticised the Koran and lodged complaints with the police.
Mr Purnama later apologised but denied committing blasphemy, which carries a maximum five year jail sentence. He has promised to continue campaigning for the governorship, a role he inherited when his predecessor Joko Widodo became president in 2014.
The election is to be held in February.
Police have said they will not arrest the governor, but he is barred from leaving the country while the case continues.
While polls suggest the straight-talking governor's popularity has been hurt by the allegations, he is popular for his stances against corruption and in favour of public transport and greater access to healthcare and education.
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7d6c30e483669c179b80497a989011d4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38793008 | Philippines to suspend drug war to clean up 'corrupt' police | Philippines to suspend drug war to clean up 'corrupt' police
Philippine police are suspending their controversial war on drugs until after the "corrupt" police force has been "cleansed".
Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said on Monday that anti-drug units would be dissolved.
It comes after the murder of a South Korean businessman inside police headquarters. He had been kidnapped and killed by anti-drug police.
More than 7,000 people have been killed since the crackdown on drugs began.
The death toll and President Rodrigo Duterte's hardline stance against drugs have attracted intense criticism from human rights groups and Western countries, although the president continues to enjoy a high level of support among Filipinos.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Dela Rosa said Mr Duterte "told us to clean the organisation first".
"We will cleanse our ranks... then maybe after that, we can resume our war on drugs."
Mr Duterte has made tackling drug use in the Philippines a central part of his presidency.
He had initially promised to eradicate the problem by December, then extended the deadline to March this year.
But he told reporters at a press conference late on Sunday: "I will extend it to the last day of my term... March no longer applies." Mr Duterte's term ends in 2022.
He said he had underestimated the depth of the drug problem.
For eight months President Duterte has been unrepentant as the death toll from his drug war has risen. He has repeatedly promised to support, even pardon, any police officers accused of unlawful killing, and been unmoved even by the clear evidence of police involvement in the drug trade, and the murder of important drug suspects in police custody.
But the shocking murder of
South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo
last October has forced Mr Duterte to acknowledge that the Philippines National Police are too tainted to continue running the anti-drugs campaign.
Mr Duterte now accuses the police force of being "corrupt to the core". He has ordered all tainted officers to be sent to front-line duty in the conflict-wracked southern Philippines.
Even if this happens, though, it will not necessarily bring the drug killings to an end. More than 4,000 of the deaths are blamed on unidentified hit squads, although many of those are believed to be run by the police. And the president's promise to extend the anti-drug campaign to the end of his term of office suggests he may try to revive it once the fuss about the murdered South Korean dies down.
Senator Leila De Lima, Mr Duterte's most vocal critic, said the president and the police chief "should categorically give the order to end the killings".
She said the dismantling of the police anti-narcotics operation meant "they are aware that the very men involved in anti-drug operations... are involved in illegal activities under the guise of the so-called war on drugs," she told ANC television.
Mr Duterte also railed against the police force on Sunday and vowed to "cleanse" it, in response to the killing of Jee Ick-joo.
Jee Ick-joo was seized from his home in Angeles city, near Manila, under the pretence of a drug raid, the Department of Justice said. After strangling him, his killers pretended he was still alive in order to collect a ransom from his family.
"You policemen are the most corrupt. You are corrupt to the core. It's in your system," Mr Duterte said, adding that he thought up to 40% of policemen were used to corruption.
Mr Duterte had sanctioned extra-judicial killings previously, saying he would pardon policemen who kill criminals and civilians in the line of duty.
"When I said I'll protect the police, I'll protect the police. But I won't protect lying," he said.
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6b2bc8b969158a90e5f14f0e9d763446 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38899942 | Vatican defends China invite to organ trafficking summit | Vatican defends China invite to organ trafficking summit
The Vatican has defended its decision to invite China to a conference on organ trafficking despite its record of using executed inmates as organ donors.
The head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) admitted he did not know whether the practice was continuing but said he hoped to encourage change.
Human rights groups say China is still using executed prisoners as a source of organ transplants.
Beijing says forced organ harvesting ended in 2015.
But the group Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) said China's participation was compromising the conference and the PAS should reject its claim as no independent inspection had taken place.
"Without accountability, there is no reason to trust the government of China's claim that forced organ harvesting of prisoners has come to an end,"
said
Dr Torsten Trey.
Those killed so their organs can be sold for transplant mainly include members of the Falun Gong, an exercise-based spiritual movement that became popular before being banned as a cult in 1999, but also include Christians, ethnic Tibetans and Uighurs and other people who have been imprisoned for their beliefs, campaigners say.
China has a shortage of donors and a big black market in organs.
DAFOH wants Beijing to prove publicly that a 1980s law allowing organ harvesting has been abolished.
The group's criticism follows a
report
last year by the International Coalition to End Organ Pillaging in China (EOP), which said the Chinese Communist Party was behind the mass killing of innocent prisoners.
The US House of Representatives has
condemned
forced organ harvesting and called for its end.
However the director of China's transplant programme insisted progress was being made despite some violations taking place.
"In my governmental organisation there is zero tolerance," Dr Huang Jeifu said.
"However, China is a big country, with 1.3 billion people, so sure, definitely, there is some violation of the law. If there is some violation of the law it will be severely punished."
Correspondents say Dr Huang is a controversial figure, credited by some with reforming a notoriously corrupt system but accused by others of being complicit in allowing it to continue.
The Vatican conference is a response to Pope Francis's efforts to crack down on trafficking in humans and organs.
Delegates have been told how desperate patients flock to countries where regulations are lax and organs can be cheaply bought, such as Egypt, India and Mexico, for everything from kidneys to corneas.
The conference aims to declare organ trafficking a crime against humanity.
It is taking place against a backdrop of warming ties between China and the Vatican.
They are believed to be close to a historic agreement governing the selection of bishops for 10m Chinese Roman Catholics.
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fed3a5a176822b60572c02b97eed5726 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39040907 | Japan zoo kills 57 snow monkeys due to 'alien genes' | Japan zoo kills 57 snow monkeys due to 'alien genes'
A zoo in northern Japan has culled 57 of its snow monkeys by lethal injection after discovering they carried the genes of an "invasive alien species".
Takagoyama Nature Zoo in Chiba said DNA testing showed the monkeys had been crossbred with the rhesus macaque.
The non-indigenous rhesus macaque is banned under Japanese law.
A local official said they had to be killed to protect the native environment.
The zoo's operator held a memorial service for the snow monkeys' souls at a nearby Buddhist temple.
Japanese macaques, commonly known as snow monkeys, are native to Japan and are one of the country's major tourist attractions.
Japan prohibits the possession and transport of invasive species, including crossbreeds.
An official from the Office for Alien Species Management, part of the country's environment ministry, told local media that the culling was unavoidable because there were fears they might escape and reproduce in the wild.
Junkichi Mima, a spokesman for conservation group WWF Japan told AFP news agency that invasive species cause problems "because they get mixed in with indigenous animals and threaten the natural environment and ecosystem".
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9ffc322fc938b88d6d5a79c33c5b6447 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39048796 | Kim Jong-nam: Main players in mysterious killing | Kim Jong-nam: Main players in mysterious killing
The killing of the North Korean leader's half brother, Kim Jong-nam, in Kuala Lumpur airport spawned a massive police investigation and a diplomatic row involving a large cast of characters. The BBC takes a look at the main players in the web of intrigue surrounding his death.
The man at the centre of the mystery, Kim Jong-nam, 46, was an outspoken critic who lived a peripatetic life in exile.
Once tipped to be the next leader of North Korea, he fell out of favour in the early 2000s and soon left the country. His half-brother Kim Jong-un became leader after their father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011.
Kim Jong-nam was mostly based in Macau, where he was heading when he was killed on 13 February.
Read more: Kim Jong-nam, North Korea's critic in exile
Malaysian authorities had initially named at least 10 people in connection to the case, but so far have only prosecuted two of them.
On trial
Read more: The women accused of killing Kim Jong-nam
Released by police
Still at large
Malaysian authorities have said these four men fled the country on the same day of the killing. In court, as the trial opened, prosecutors have merely listed four people, besides the women, on the charge sheet, and they were not named.
The murder sparked a diplomatic rift between Pyongyang and Kuala Lumpur, who previously had good relations.
Pyongyang's ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, angrily rejected widespread speculation that his country was involved, and accused the Malaysian government of colluding with "hostile forces".
In response Malaysia's foreign ministry said the diplomat's allegations were "deeply insulting" and based on "delusions, lies and half-truths".
Kang Chol was later expelled from Malaysia, while North Korea also expelled Malaysia's ambassador in Pyongyang. The two countries also briefly refused to let each other's citizens leave.
The stand-off ended when Malaysia released three North Koreans and Mr Kim's body to Pyongyang, while North Korea allowed nine Malaysian diplomats and their families to go home.
Read more: Malaysia and North Korea's friendship on ice
Kim Jong-nam's eldest son, Kim Han-sol, appeared in a video on 8 March confirming his father's death.
Born in Pyongyang in 1995 but raised in Macau, Kim Han-sol has studied in Bosnia and France, and is said to take after his father in terms of holding open-minded views about the world.
He has publicly expressed hope for reunification of the two Koreas, and has referred to his uncle Kim Jong-un as "a dictator".
His current whereabouts are unknown but he said in the video that he was with his mother and sister.
Read more: The open-minded son of Kim Jong-nam
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2966e89743385c40f8b1391b294db3eb | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39073837 | Kim Jong-nam: How N Korea could have used potent VX to kill | Kim Jong-nam: How N Korea could have used potent VX to kill
Malaysian authorities have identified the substance that killed Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur airport as VX, which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. Bruce Bennett, a defence expert with the Rand Corporation, dissects how this could have happened.
VX is an extraordinarily potent chemical weapon. About 0.01g - less than a drop - on the skin can kill. The chemical goes through the skin and disrupts the nerve system.
It is an oil-like substance; it would normally not mix well with water, which raises questions about how it was applied on Mr Kim without killing those who carried out the mission. This is the first time VX has been used in such a way, so there are plenty of imponderables.
The CCTV footage and police statements do not lay out the full sequence of events. Two women appear to assault him, at least one with a cloth wiping his face.
Malaysian investigators said the two women coated their hands with the liquid toxin and wiped Kim's face afterwards. But if that were the case, they would have died immediately.
So if a liquid was sprayed or wiped on Kim Jong-nam it is likely that it did not contain VX and that would help to explain why the women seen accosting him did not die despite apparently getting the liquid on their hands.
In that case it appears likely that a very small quantity of VX - possibly just a drop - was actually on the cloths used by the women to wipe his face.
We do know now that one of the women involved has been vomiting since the attack.
The perpetrators would have really wanted to practise with this to make sure the drop touched Kim, and that they did not touch the drop. And that is what we are told happened.
Police say that they are believed to have repeated this move in shopping malls ahead of the actual event on 13 February.
As the drop absorbed into Kim Jong-nam's skin, it would have started affecting his nerve system, causing symptoms that take effect within minutes. The subject will experience coughing, chest tightness, blurry vision, fatigue and eventually seizures as the nervous system is shut down. He is likely to have died within minutes.
It appears that the North Korean government may have felt that they could claim the body and avoid an autopsy, thus denying the outside world knowledge of what had happened.
Malaysia has proven diligent in insisting on an autopsy and clearly North Korea failed in its efforts to prevent this. This has led to a row between the two nations, Malaysia being one of few that had diplomatic relations with the North.
So how could the VX have actually got into Malaysia?
Because the quantity required to kill is extraordinarily small, it could have been smuggled into Malaysia in a cartridge in a pen or some such thing. The security forces would have had no idea it was being smuggled in unless someone had tipped them off, which clearly did not happen.
It is unlikely that VX was made in Malaysia - it is not something that can be made safely in a kitchen sink.
Of course, we don't know for sure that North Korea made it and it is also possible they may have purchased it from a third country. There is both a US and a Soviet/Russian version of VX and it will be interesting to see which version was eventually used.
It would take sophisticated laboratory analysis to tell them apart, which may already have been done.
VX is extremely stable - like oil, it does not evaporate quickly. That made the VX safe on a cloth or some other surface until it touched human skin.
But this use of VX, unheard of previously, is a serious violation of international standards. The fact that it was used in a foreign country means that Malaysia and other countries will be both appalled and furious.
Of key importance will be how China responds. After all, China was reportedly providing protection for Kim Jong-nam.
If North Korea seriously violated international law, China should presumably do more than just cut off imports of North Korean coal.
China has the opportunity to punish North Korea and thereby hopefully deter it from carrying out this kind of attack again.
A broader Chinese trade embargo would hurt North Korea seriously.
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b0f40bcf35cb8f69e05b859b095ba521 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39191868 | North Waziristan: What happened after militants lost the battle? | North Waziristan: What happened after militants lost the battle?
For over a decade the inaccessible and mountainous tribal area of North Waziristan was home to a swirling array of violent jihadists.
The Pakistan and Afghan Taliban movements, al-Qaeda and less well-known militant outfits such as the Haqqani Network used the area to hold hostages, train militants, store weapons and deploy suicide bombers to attack targets in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Today the militants have gone. Virtually the whole of North Waziristan is in Pakistani army hands.
The army believes the defeat of the militants was one of the most successful anti-jihadist campaigns the world has yet seen. In two years of fighting the army lost 872 men and believes it killed over 2,000 militants.
"Before 2014 North Waziristan was a hub of terrorist activities," said General Hassan Azhar Hayat, who commands 30,000 men in North Waziristan. After the army moved in "those who resisted were fought in these areas… the complete agency was cleared".
But many militants managed to escape, slipping across the border to eastern Afghanistan to fight another day. Many are now operating there with impunity, some helping the Afghan Taliban in its battle against the government in Kabul while others attack targets in Pakistan.
The latest group to establish itself in the area is Islamic State
, although the degree of control exercised by Iraq-based Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi over his supporters in Afghanistan is unclear.
When the jihadists fled North Waziristan they left behind the apparatus that had helped keep their movement in power.
Pakistani army officers today jokingly refer to one village, that was home to many senior militant commanders, as the Taliban's Pentagon, and they describe another where militants were trained as the Taliban Sandhurst.
As they moved across North Waziristan, the army found prisons, a media centre hidden under a mosque, bomb-proof tunnels and a huge roadside bomb factory.
With hundreds of bags of fertiliser and large blue plastic vats filled with foaming chemicals, the facility turned out thousands of bombs that were used all over Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The closure of the roadside bomb factory, and others like it, has made a difference. Last year there were 441 violent jihadist attacks in Pakistan. That compares with 2,586 attacks in 2009.
Across North Waziristan as a whole the army found 310 tons of explosives and more than two million rounds of ammunition.
For many years, when it was accused of offering sanctuaries to the Afghan Taliban, Islamabad used to argue that it was unable to prevent militants moving into Afghanistan to launch attacks.
It was impossible, Islamabad said, to control such a long, remote and porous border over which villagers with relatives in both countries moved freely.
But now it is faced with the mirror situation -
Afghan-based militants carrying out attacks in Pakistan
and the army trying to control the border. The army says more than 1,000 forts have been built and sophisticated American radar equipment installed to monitor cross border movements.
The situation at the border is complicated by the fact that, while Pakistan considers it to be a legitimate international border, Afghanistan has never accepted it as such.
The battle for North Waziristan - like those for Mosul and Aleppo -
has left widespread destruction
. Many homes have been reduced to rubble. There are whole villages where no building has a roof on it.
"When we came back we faced the problem of no electricity and water," said Saifur Rahman, who spent several months living in the nearby town of Bannu during the worst of the fighting between the army and the militants.
But he had been determined to return. "This is our land. We love it and I don't care if the facilities aren't there. I will still come back."
The army is now building infrastructure to tempt people to return. As well as new roads, there are brand new schools with facilities that rival anything on offer elsewhere in Pakistan.
One of the recently constructed and very well equipped schools just outside Miranshah is currently completely empty but has places for 1,000 children when the families decide to return.
Jihadist violence is not over in Pakistan. The state is not moving against some of the militant groups that concentrate their activities in Kashmir, Afghanistan and India. And Afghan-based militants from the Pakistani Taliban and other groups remain a potent force.
A
recent attack on a Sufi shrine
in the province of Sindh killed over 80 people. Police in Karachi say they believe the attack was organised by Afghan-based militants.
But for all their latent power, the militants in North Waziristan have been repulsed from their stronghold and the tribesmen are gradually returning to resume lives disrupted by conflict.
|
2fa3e3d33863077b6dc011dc8c1db648 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39253143 | Anger over UK ship's damage to pristine reef | Anger over UK ship's damage to pristine reef
Two weeks ago, a British-owned cruise ship accidentally ran aground in one of Indonesia's most pristine coral reefs, causing extensive damage. For local people, who rely on dive tourism, it is a sad and worrying time.
"I was born here, I was in tears when I saw this damage," said Ruben Sauyai.
"The damage is huge and acute. It could take 10 to 100 years to repair it."
A professional diving instructor, Mr Sauyai, 30, runs a home stay and dive centre on Raja Ampat, a remote and idyllic island chain in the west of Indonesia's Papua province.
"Some people work as fishermen or farmers, but mostly we work in the tourism sector," said Mr Sauyai, who started up his dive centre six years ago.
Tens of thousands of people have been to visit the underwater beauty of the area in recent years.
But on 4 March, the 4,290-tonne Caledonian Sky, owned by British company Noble Caledonia, was completing a bird-watching tourism trip on Waigeo Island when it veered slightly off course.
It ran aground during low tide, smashing through the coral reefs.
An early official evaluation last week said the incident had damaged approximately 1,600 sq m of coral in one of the world's most beautiful reefs.
Videos recorded by various divers show that the reefs had been eroded by the hull, leaving large bleached scratches.
It was an "unfortunate" incident,
said Noble Caledonia,
adding that they were "firmly committed to protection of the environment" and fully backed an investigation.
Ricardo Tapilatu, head of the Research Center for Pacific Marine Resources at the University of Papua is part of the official evaluation team.
He said the ship had been caught in low tide despite being equipped with GPS and radar instruments.
"A tugboat from Sorong city was deployed to help refloat the cruise ship, which is something that shouldn't have happened because it damaged the reef even more,"
Mr Tapilatu told environmental news site Mongabay
. "They should have waited for high tide" to refloat the vessel.
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He believes that given the area's reputation - and the fact that it's a national park - the company should pay $1.28m-$1.92m in compensation.
The incident has not only angered local people but also social media users in Indonesia.
"This is unacceptable! Do they know how long it takes for corals to form? Have you seen the damage?" said one Facebook user, Feby Riani.
"This is Raja Ampat... one of the world's most beautiful coral reefs!"
An online petition has been launched demanding that Noble Caledonia doesn't just give financial compensation
but is also present to repair the destruction.
The ship has since been refloated and the company said that based on the inspection "the hull was undamaged and remained intact".
The ship itself "did not take on water, nor was any pollution reported as a result of the grounding", said the company.
But Laura Resti, from Raja Ampat's homestay association, said they were really saddened.
"Coral reefs are the main thing that attracts many tourists here. It is counterproductive for our tourism prospects."
Mr Sauyai said he has avoided taking tourists to that particular spot since the incident because most of the natural life there had "gone".
"We have tried to conserve those coral reefs for a long time, and just within few hours they were gone.
"I am so sad and feel ashamed to take tourists there."
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2ab35ba590439272f54bdfd6edbb3315 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39253263 | David Taylor, Sara Connor jailed for killing Bali policeman | David Taylor, Sara Connor jailed for killing Bali policeman
British man David Taylor has been jailed for six years for killing a policeman on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.
Taylor, 34, and originally from Halifax, was found guilty of hitting Wayan Sudarsa with a bottle on the popular Kuta beach last August.
His Australian partner Sara Connor, 46, was jailed for four years for her part in the assault.
The pair have always insisted that they were acting in self defence.
Connor, who has two young children in Australia, had denied playing any role in killing Mr Sudarsa. She said she had only tried to separate the men when they fought.
Prosecutors had sought eight-year terms for the pair on charges of group violence causing death.
The court had heard Taylor and Connor were enjoying a night on the beach on 16 August when they became aware her handbag was missing, and separated to search for it.
Taylor has said he approached Mr Sudarsa believing the policeman may have stolen the bag, and the encounter escalated into a fight.
Mr Sudarsa was found dead on the beach in Kuta in the early hours of 17 August. He had been beaten with a bottle and his binoculars.
|
47b968302b745539966768904bbb6f42 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39275826 | Mid-flight slumber cut short by exploding headphones | Mid-flight slumber cut short by exploding headphones
Australian authorities have warned about the dangers of using battery-powered devices on flights after a woman's headphones caught fire.
The woman was dozing on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne when she was woken by the sound of an explosion while she listened to music.
She tore the headphones off to find them sparking, catching fire and beginning to melt.
The passenger was left with a blackened face and blisters on her hands.
"I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck. I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor," the woman, who has not been named,
told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)
.
"They were sparking and had small amounts of fire."
Members of the flight crew rushed to help and eventually put out the fire by pouring a bucket of water on the headphones.
By that time, the battery and the plastic cover had melted and stuck to the floor.
"For the remainder of the flight, passengers endured the smell of melted plastic, burnt electronics and burnt hair," the ATSB said in its report.
The report did not mention the brand of headphones, but said it believed that a fault with lithium-ion batteries was the likely cause.
The ATSB has published a set of
guidelines for travelling safely
with batteries and power packs, warning that "as the range of products using batteries grows, the potential for in-flight issues increases".
There have been a number of problems with lithium batteries on flights in recent years.
A plane about to take off from Sydney last year had to be stopped when smoke was coming from a piece of hand luggage. It was then found that lithium batteries had caught fire in the luggage.
An electronic device also began emitting smoke when it was crushed under a moving seat in the US, the ATSB said.
Last year,
malfunctioning batteries in Samsung's Note 7
caused many of the smartphones to overheat, catch fire and melt.
Several such incidents also
occurred on planes
leading to international aviation authorities banning the device from planes. The Note 7 was soon recalled by Samsung and
production has been scrapped
.
|
2012d65643a49a87a7729d561ad48680 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39335211 | Ousted S Korean President Park Geun-hye questioned for 14 hours | Ousted S Korean President Park Geun-hye questioned for 14 hours
Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye is expected to be released by prosecutors after a 14-hour interrogation over a corruption scandal that brought her down.
Ms Park denied all charges on Tuesday,
Yonhap news agency reported
, citing sources.
She could be charged for allegedly allowing close friend Choi Soon-sil to extort money from large firms.
Ms Choi has been charged with bribery and corruption.
After arriving at the office, she told reporters she was "sorry to the people," adding: "I will faithfully co-operate with questioning."
Ms Park did not exercise her right to remain silent during the marathon questioning session, which lasted late into the night, officials said.
She will leave the prosecutors' office after checking the records of her statements for accuracy, according to her lawyer.
When asked if an arrest warrant was likely to be issued for Ms Park, prosecutors said they were "concentrating on the interrogation",
local media report
.
Ms Park resisted efforts to question her when she was president, but lost her immunity when judges upheld parliament's decision to impeach her.
One of her lawyers said a doctor was doing check-ups during breaks "as her health isn't looking well".
On Tuesday morning, Ms Park's supporters gathered outside her home in an affluent suburb of Seoul, as she was escorted by police to the prosecutors' office in a short journey covered live on television.
People waved the South Korean flag, a symbol of the pro-Park movement.
Ms Park is the first democratically elected leader to be ousted in South Korea.
Thousands of people celebrated in Seoul after her removal from office on 10 March. However, there were also angry protests by her supporters outside the Constitutional Court.
The court ruling was the culmination of months of political turmoil and public protest. An election will now be held by 9 May.
Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is loyal to Ms Park, is currently the acting president.
At the heart of the drama lies the close friendship between Ms Park and Ms Choi.
Ms Choi is accused of using her presidential connections to pressure companies to give millions of dollars in donations to non-profit foundations she controlled.
Ms Park, 65, is alleged to have been personally involved in this, and to have given Ms Choi unacceptable levels of access to official documents.
Parliament voted to impeach Ms Park in December.
On 10 March, the Constitutional Court ruled that Ms Park's actions "seriously impaired the spirit of... democracy and the rule of law".
Judges said she had broken the law by allowing Ms Choi to meddle in state affairs, and had breached guidelines on official secrets by leaking numerous documents.
Ms Park had "concealed completely Choi's meddling in state affairs and denied it whenever suspicions over the act emerged and even criticised those who raised the suspicions," the ruling said.
Sorry is the hardest word. Park Geun-hye used it again today, on the way into her inquisition. She said it nine days ago when she was evicted from the presidential palace - she was sorry that she couldn't fulfil her presidential duties until the end of her elected term.
And last year, she was "sorry for causing concern among the people".
But the plethora of apologies still hasn't added up to an admission of any wrongdoing (beyond being too trusting of those around her).
Even as she said sorry last week, she asserted that her innocence will emerge. Which it may.
One thing had changed slightly in the period since her ousting and today's appearance before the prosecutor is when she returned home as a private citizen, she was all smiles and defiant.
Today, it was a wan smile - though, guilty or innocent, nobody would relish hours and hours of tough, detailed questions about what dirty deals were done - or not.
Prosecutors will have to determine, based on their investigation and Ms Park's statements, whether to issue a warrant for her arrest.
They had previously accused Ms Park of colluding with Ms Choi, which Ms Park has strenuously denied. She had also previously refused to take part in investigations.
But now that she has lost her presidential immunity, she could be charged with abuse of power and coercion to bribery.
|
9b650a1e8fa3a6577dfe51a638a1b3db | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39749670 | North Korea crisis: Rex Tillerson urges international response | North Korea crisis: Rex Tillerson urges international response
The US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has called on the rest of the world to help force North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.
Speaking to the UN Security Council, he called on China in particular to leverage its trade links as influence.
But the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, said the key to solving the problem did not lie with his country.
Tensions have increased lately, with both North and South Korea conducting military exercises.
The US has sent warships and an anti-missile system to reassure the South, where thousands of American soldiers are stationed.
North Korea has made repeated attempts to miniaturise nuclear warheads and fit them on long-range missiles capable of reaching the US.
Mr Tillerson warned the UN Security Council in New York of "catastrophic consequences" if it did not act, saying it was "likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the US mainland". The US would use military force if necessary, he added.
He urged other countries to suspend diplomatic ties with Pyongyang and isolate its financial institutions.
In comments that seemed directed at China, he accused Council members of not fully enforcing existing sanctions against the North.
UN sanctions include a ban on selling North Korea arms, fuel, a host of items that could be used for weapons-making.
Also on the list are
luxury goods including pearl jewellery and snowmobiles
worth $2,000 (£1,540) or more.
Since last year,
all cargo entering or leaving North Korea must also be inspected
.
But a recent UN study found that fragments from a North Korean missile test included electronics that had been sourced either from or via Chinese enterprises.
The US has separate, stricter sanctions including a blanket ban on trade and a blacklist of anyone dealing with North Korea.
Asked on Friday by US broadcaster NPR if the US was prepared to hold direct talks with North Korea, Mr Tillerson replied: "Obviously, that would be the way we would like to solve this. But North Korea has to decide they're ready to talk to us about the right agenda."
China's foreign minister warned against military intervention, saying: "The use of force does not solve differences and will only lead to bigger disasters."
"Peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula through dialogue and negotiations represents the only right choice that is practical and viable," Mr Wang added.
He also repeated a Chinese proposal for a halt to Pyongyang's military programme in return for a freeze on joint US-South Korea military drills.
The US has rejected the idea in the past, saying the nuclear programme must stop first.
What is this new approach the secretary of state wants to see from the United Nations?
He laid out three elements: strictly enforce existing sanctions, impose new ones, and isolate North Korea diplomatically.
And he signalled greater US resolve to pursue this agenda. Most significantly he threatened US sanctions against entities and individuals in other countries that support North Korea's illegal activities. That may be putting Chinese banks on notice.
He also called UN members to downgrade or suspend diplomatic relations - hoping to cut North Korea's useful links with nations like Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia.
And he clarified the stakes: the new US campaign is driven by its own national security considerations, he said.
So it's serious.
The level of concern on the Security Council will be tested if North Korea conducts another nuclear or big missile test; that would be the most likely trigger for any move to new sanctions.
Among other developments in recent weeks:
|
643b1876226d915b471f5d29b8176604 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39961749 | The princess, the palace and the shrinking royal line | The princess, the palace and the shrinking royal line
When the Japanese emperor's granddaughter marries law firm employee Kei Komuro next year, her life will undergo a dramatic change.
Princess Mako, 25, will lose her title and leave the cloistered imperial household to live with her husband in the outside world.
She will receive a one-off payment, after which the couple will be expected to provide for themselves. She will vote and pay tax, shop and do her own chores. If the couple have children, they will not be royal.
But her departure means one fewer to carry out official duties. It is also reigniting debate about the shrinking monarchy, the role women play in it and future succession.
Emperor Akihito, 83, has already indicated that he wants to step down. As the female royals get married, the monarchy is expected to contract further.
There is only one boy among the younger royals, 10-year-old Prince Hisahito. If nothing changes, the future of the imperial institution will rest solely with him.
"If you think about it there is a possibility that all but Prince Hisahito will leave the royal household in 10 to 15 years time," said Isao Tokoro, professor emeritus at Kyoto Sangyo University.
"I think it [the engagement] gave us an opportunity to think about the problem. The system should be reformed urgently so we don't lose more members from the Imperial family."
Under Japan's
Imperial Household Law
of 1947, princesses who marry commoners are removed from the royal family.
That same law slashed the number of Japanese royals, removing 11 out of 12 branches of the imperial family as a cost-cutting measure. That means there are no royal males for current princesses to marry.
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Emperor Hirohito's daughters lost their titles under the legislation, as did the current crown prince's sister, Sayako, when she married urban planner Yoshiki Kuroda in 2005.
Her transition from closeted princess to commoner attracted considerable attention. Reports described how she learned to drive and practised shopping independently ahead of her wedding.
The couple used her lump-sum payment (reportedly $1.3m; £1m) to buy a house and she is now a high priestess of the Ise Grand Shrine.
So far Princess Mako's engagement has not been officially announced. But the young woman seems well-equipped for her new status, with two spells of independent living under her belt.
While studying at Tokyo's International Christian University, she spent nine months as an exchange student at Edinburgh University in 2012-13.
A year later, she lived in halls of residence at Leicester University as she completed her Master's in Art Museum and Gallery Studies. She is currently a researcher at a museum in Tokyo and is studying for her doctorate.
"Princess Mako has been the embodiment of an Imperial family member who is close to the public," the Yomiuri newspaper
said in an editorial.
"Being an amiable person, she will surely build a cheerful home."
But she will be missed. According to
the Asahi newspaper
, Princess Mako is currently patron of two organisations, has travelled overseas as a representative of the royal family and has attended important imperial functions.
Her official duties must now be shared among a dwindling pool of royals.
At the moment there are 19 members of the royal family. Seven are unmarried women who must leave when they wed. Eleven (four couples and three widows) are over 50. That leaves Prince Hisahito.
He is the youngest of four males in line to the throne. Three of them - Crown Prince Naruhito, his brother Prince Akishino (Fumihito) and Prince Hitachi (Masahito), the current emperor's younger brother, are highly unlikely to have more children.
That could potentially leave Prince Hisahito (and whatever family he might go on to have) with sole responsibility for performing official duties and continuing the imperial line.
At the moment, a law allowing Emperor Akihito to abdicate is being prepared. In its editorial, the Yomiuri newspaper said the "creation of female imperial branches should be incorporated" into the law and discussed as a "realistic measure for maintaining the number of Imperial family members".
But that is unlikely to go down well with Japanese conservatives.
"This is all rooted in the concept of the unbroken male blood line - the notion that what makes Japan special is that it has an imperial line that has been passed down through a male lineage, if you believe the mythical version, ever since the Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC," says Professor Ken Ruoff, director of the Centre for Japanese Studies at Portland State University and an expert on the Japanese monarchy.
"This is what the nationalists seize upon and they actually will say things like if the male bloodline is broken, then Japan ceases to exist," he says. "Female blood doesn't count."
Japan has had female rulers in the past, though not for about 250 years. In general they were seen as place-holders until the throne reverted to a male member of the family (though there was one case of an empress passing the throne to her daughter to act as regent for a male heir).
Before the 1947 legal change, the royal family was much bigger, meaning that if one branch could not produce a male heir there were options elsewhere, but that is no longer the case.
In the period before Prince Hisahito was born, when there was no younger-generation heir, there was considerable debate about changing the law to allow women on the throne.
The prime minister of the day, Junichiro Koizumi, said he backed the move. But after Prince Hisahito's birth, discussions stalled.
Japan's current leader, Shinzo Abe, is a more right-wing figure whose speaks often of national pride, tradition and patriotism.
"Prime Minister Abe has spent a lot of time talking about his desire to make Japan a society that shines for women but he's got this far-right faction that absolutely opposes changing the law to allow a woman to sit on the throne," says Prof Ruoff.
One other idea is restoring royal status to branches that lost it in 1947, providing more male heirs.
Mr Abe, the Yomiuri said, backed this in the past. "It is hard to say the idea has won broad support," the paper pointed out.
But there is public support for allowing women to inherit the throne. According to a
Kyodo News survey in early May
, 86% supported allowing a woman emperor and 59% supported allowing an emperor from the female blood-line.
This potentially leaves the government out of step with popular sentiment.
Whatever happens, the future looks bright for Princess Mako. Of more concern, perhaps, is whether a 10-year-old boy has broad enough shoulders to carry the Japanese monarchy onwards.
Additional reporting: Chika Nakayama
|
e5313688ef1ba1d2b00bb66549482f6f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40128846 | Studio Ghibli to open 'Totoro' theme park in Japan | Studio Ghibli to open 'Totoro' theme park in Japan
Japanese animation giant Studio Ghibli has unveiled plans for a theme park to open in 2020.
The 200-hectare site will be built in Nagoya city, in Aichi prefecture, said Governor Hideaki Omura on Thursday at a press conference.
The park will be based on the popular film My Neighbor Totoro, embodying the movie's theme of "respecting and embracing nature".
The studio's feature films are loved by many and critically-acclaimed.
My Neighbor Totoro was released in 1988 and tells the story of two young sisters who settle into an old country house while waiting for their mother to recover from an illness.
During their adventures, they encounter and befriend playful forest spirits, most notably the massive cuddly creature known as Totoro.
The site of the park, previously the home of the 2005 World Expo, currently has a life-size replica of the house from the film.
Co-founder of Studio Ghibli and producer Toshio Suzuki who was also at the announcement, said the attraction will be "set in the world of Totoro". There will not be any amusement park rides.
"Construction will be planned around existing clearings to avoid felling trees," Governor Omura said.
Ghibli fans around the world reacted to the news of the upcoming park.
"Wow literally reading [about] a Studio Ghibli theme park and I started crying! Not joking. This makes me so happy," wrote a
US fan on Twitter
.
Notably, there was much excitement from adult Ghibli fans who spoke about wanting to take their children with them to the attraction.
"I think our kids might be able to handle the trip by 2020," Charles Tran said to his wife on Facebook.
"Time to get working on raising funds for the kids," wrote James McGlone from Perth.
But others parents just wanted to go enjoy the experience themselves.
"Leave the boys at home, we're heading to Japan in 2020 for the Summer Olympics and this," said Paul Newman to his wife Anita on Facebook.
"It isn't just children who want to ride the Cat Bus! This makes adults excited," said Maryam Lee.
The proposed park would not be the only Studio Ghibli attraction in Japan. It currently has a museum in Tokyo and many fans visit a bathhouse in Kyoto city which was the inspiration for the Oscar-winning anime Spirited Away.
This year, legendary founder Hayao Miyazaki
came out of retirement
and announced plans to direct a new movie.
|
d9b297546baebe03f6c081a7cc556461 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40256083 | Myanmar: Top UN official in Myanmar to be changed | Myanmar: Top UN official in Myanmar to be changed
The United Nations has confirmed that its top official in Myanmar is being moved from her position.
Diplomatic and aid community sources in Yangon told the BBC the decision was linked to Renata Lok-Dessallien's failure to prioritise human rights.
In particular, this referred to the oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority.
Internal UN documents - shown to the BBC - said the organisation had become "glaringly dysfunctional", and wracked by internal tensions.
A UN spokeswoman confirmed Ms Lok-Dessallien, a Canadian citizen, was being "rotated", saying this had nothing to do with her performance which she said had been "consistently appreciated".
Late last year as tens of thousands of Rohingya fled rape and abuse at the hands of Burmese soldiers, the UN team inside Myanmar was strangely silent.
Ms Lok-Dessallien and her spokesman declined simple requests for information; and on one absurd occasion she visited the conflict area, but on her return refused to allow journalists to film or record her words at a press conference.
The BBC was told that on numerous occasions aid workers with a human rights focus were deliberately excluded from important meetings.
Those moments reflect a wider criticism of Ms Lok-Dessallien and her team, namely that their priority was building development programmes and a strong relationship with the Burmese government - not advocating that the rights of oppressed minorities, like the Rohingya, should be respected.
In an internal document prepared for the new UN secretary general, the UN team in Myanmar is described as "glaringly dysfunctional" with "strong tensions" between different parts of the UN system.
Ms Lok-Dessallien is currently on leave but has been told that her position is being upgraded, bringing her role to an end after three-and-a-half years, rather than the usual term of up to five years.
|
5079179322f0b77d5123675c14832955 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40269546 | North Korea's prisons: How harsh are conditions? | North Korea's prisons: How harsh are conditions?
There is no doubt that North Korea treats its prisoners harshly.
When outsiders are arrested, they are often sentenced to hard labour, and that's exactly what it is - compounded by the severe oppression of isolation and helplessness.
The BBC knows of one former prisoner who was broken psychologically by his treatment. Many years later, he remains too traumatised to talk about it easily.
But others have described their experience in detail.
In December 2012, North Korea charged missionary Kenneth Bae with acts "hostile to the republic".
He had visited the country many times, but was stopped on this occasion and a hard drive with Christian material was discovered.
For this "crime", he was sentenced to 15 years hard labour, and only released when his health deteriorated seriously - just as seems to have happened in the
current case of Otto Warmbier
.
After his release, Mr Bae wrote a memoir, "Not Forgotten: The True Story of My Imprisonment in North Korea" in which he said that he was interrogated from 08:00 in the morning until 22:00 or 23:00 at night every day for the first four weeks of his imprisonment.
Under this pressure, he wrote the hundreds of pages of confessions his interrogators demanded.
Mr Bae said he would work six days a week on a farm, "carrying rock, shovelling coal".
His daily routine was to wake at 06:00, eat breakfast, pray, and then be taken to perform the hard labour from 08:00 until 18:00.
Under this regime, he lost a lot of weight - an estimated 60lbs (27kg) in the 735 days of his captivity.
As his weight dropped, his health increasingly failed and he was repeatedly taken for medical treatment.
Apart from the physical toll, there was a psychological pain, a feeling of isolation.
He said one interrogator kept telling him: "No-one remembers you. You have been forgotten by people, your government. You're not going home anytime soon. You'll be here for 15 years. You'll be 60 before you go home".
He said: "I felt like an insect, tangled in the spider web. Every time I moved it got messier, with no way out."
He does say that, later on, after the month of interrogation was over, he was allowed to see emails and messages from people back home (though this may have been both a comfort and a torment). He seems to have been allowed a bible.
When he became seriously ill, it looks as though the North Korean authorities became concerned that he might die, with all the diplomatic difficulty that would cause.
And so they arranged his release - as it appears might have happened in the case of Otto Warmbier.
Kenneth Bae is an American citizen originally from South Korea, and so spoke Korean. He said he thought his treatment as a prisoner with a cell of his own, including a bed and a toilet, was not as tough as that for North Koreans held in the vast array of camps for ordinary crime or for dissent.
He may be right on this. Amnesty International has described the prison camps as harsh beyond endurance.
"Hundreds of thousands of people - including children - are detained in political prison camps and other detention facilities in North Korea," it says.
"Many of those have not committed any crime, but are merely family members of those deemed guilty of serious political crimes".
Amnesty analyses aerial pictures of the camps and says that one of them is three times the size of Washington DC contains 20,000 inmates. According to one former official it had talked to, detainees were forced to dig their own graves and rape was used as punishment, the victims then disappearing.
Kenneth Bae does not say he was physically tortured or beaten. His decline in health was because the harshness of the prison regime exacerbated his diabetes, high blood pressure and a kidney condition.
That may or may not be the case of Otto Warmbier. But there are questions which the authorities in the United States are surely asking: How did he end up in a coma? And why did North Korea take a year to tell any outside country?
If it was because of some sort of physical attack, there might be political pressure on President Donald Trump to get tougher with the regime in Pyongyang.
There is one other intriguing question: do prisoners influence their jailers?
Stockholm Syndrome is when a hostage comes to identify with the people holding him or her, but is there a reverse Stockholm Syndrome?
Kenneth Bae found that his captors were curious about life in the West. They wanted to know how much a house cost, and whether many people really did own their own home and car.
"At the beginning, it was difficult but because I speak the language I was able to communicate," he said later, after he was freed. North Koreans had been told of a grim life in America where 99% of people lived in poverty.
"I told them most people own a house and a car, and they said: 'That can't be right'."
|
7e6c69bb03ceb275c5cd04a0f01b0129 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40404529 | North Korea refuses Olympic offer from South | North Korea refuses Olympic offer from South
North Korea has rejected an offer from the South to form a unified team for next year's Winter Olympics.
South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in backed proposals for a collaboration after it was suggested by sports minister Do Jong-hwan.
But North Korean International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Chang Un has dismissed the idea - saying there was not time to negotiate a deal.
The Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will take place from 9-25 February.
The two sides have played in the same team before - at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.
However, Mr Chang told local media: "It took us 22 rounds of talks to set up that joint [table tennis] team... it took us five months.
"That's the reality we face."
South Korea's sports minister had suggested a joint ice hockey team - even going as far as to suggest they might allow the north to host skiing events - to help make the 2018 games a "peace Olympics".
President Moon, who advocates greater dialogue with South Korea's neighbours, then put forward the idea of a wider unified Olympic squad.
But Mr Chang said the games should not be used for political purposes, adding: "As an expert of the Olympics, it is a little late to be talking about co-hosting. It's easy to talk about co-hosting, but it is never easy to solve practical problems for that. It's the same for forming a joint team for ice hockey."
South Korean officials have said they continue to be open to the idea.
The two sides remain technically at war as the fighting at the end of the Korean War in 1953 did not end with a peace treaty. Tensions have risen recently following repeated missiles tests carried out by Pyongyang.
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41fb9e075eeb93e63820782a385373b6 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40724397 | Divorcee destroys ex's $1m violin collection in Japan | Divorcee destroys ex's $1m violin collection in Japan
Divorces are known to break a heart or two but in one case in Japan, an extra 54 violins were left in tatters.
A woman has been arrested for destroying her former partner's violin collection and 70 bows, together worth 105.9m yen ($950,700, £770,000).
The 34-year-old suspect broke into his apartment in Nagoya and wrecked the instruments, police said.
The incident took place in 2014 in the midst of their breakup but the woman has only just been arrested.
Her 62-year-old former husband is said to have been both a maker and collector of violins.
The most valuable instrument among the 54 casualties was an Italian-made violin worth 50m yen, the Kyodo news agency said.
According to Japanese media, the woman is a Chinese national and was arrested on Tuesday upon returning from China to Tokyo.
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4276bbf4ab29d5d37b0bdca001c4139b | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40749205 | Pakistan braces for Panama Papers verdict on PM Nawaz Sharif | Pakistan braces for Panama Papers verdict on PM Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan is bracing itself for a landmark court verdict that could see Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif forced to resign over corruption allegations.
It follows an investigation into
his family's wealth
after the 2015 Panama Papers dump linked
Mr Sharif's children to offshore companies
.
Mr Sharif denies any wrongdoing, but the case has exposed a divided nation.
The Supreme Court will decide if the case is to be dismissed, sent to trial or if he should simply be disqualified.
No civilian prime minister of Pakistan has ever completed a five-year term.
Mr Sharif, who is currently serving as prime minister for a record third time, is less than a year away from becoming the first to complete a full term in office.
This ruling represents the peak of a drama that has fuelled frenzied news coverage and heated social media debates for months, attracting both scorn and ridicule as well as trenchant support for the prime minister.
The divisions fall largely along party lines but amid the febrile accusations, many have also expressed concerns over Pakistan's political culture.
The Wikipedia profile of the prime minister has been rewritten, dated late Thursday evening and littered with obscenities and accusations.
A probe into Mr Sharif and his family began when leaked papers from a Panama-based law firm linked Mr Sharif's children to offshore companies used to buy several luxury central London flats.
The opposition was quick to accuse the prime minister of corruption and a subsequent special inquiry said his family had failed to account for the source of its financial assets.
The report caused an uproar in the country and opposition groups say his family is using its political influence to build up personal wealth. They have called on him to resign.
The prime minister - who himself is not named in the Panama Papers - denies all allegations and insists they are politically motivated. There were also questions over the make-up of the investigation team.
Having considered the findings of the controversial investigation into the matter the court now has three options:
Analysts suggests that if the prime minister is found guilty he could nominate a close political ally - possibly his brother Shahbaz, who is chief minister of Punjab province - to his post so his government could see out its turn.
Should Mr Sharif be cleared though and stay in office, his acquittal would likely trigger widespread protests by his opponents.
The case also threatens the political future of the prime minister's daughter, Maryam Sharif, who has long been tipped as her father's successor in waiting, but who has been embroiled in the scandal.
A recent document supposed to absolve her of some of the allegations was allegedly dated from 2006 - yet then found to be written in computer font only commercially available the following year. Widespread
ridicule of her case on social media
was quick to follow.
|
09e19aaf6b0b39f9e663154633a76796 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40882877 | North Korea-US tensions: How worried should you be? | North Korea-US tensions: How worried should you be?
The US president has threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if his country is forced to defend itself or its allies.
North Korea has conducted its sixth nuclear test, threatened to fire off missiles towards the US island territory of Guam and said it might test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
And all this comes amid reports that Pyongyang may have finally succeeded in miniaturising a nuclear weapon that could fit on an inter-continental missile - a prospect long dreaded by the US and its Asian allies.
Is this a precursor to military conflict?
Experts say you should not panic - just yet. This is why:
This is one of the most important things to keep in mind. A war on the Korean peninsula serves no-one's interests.
The North Korean government's main goal is survival - and direct conflict with the US would seriously jeopardise it. As BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus notes, any North Korean attack against the US or its allies in the current context could quickly spiral into a wider war - and we have to assume the Kim Jong-un government is not suicidal.
In fact, this is why North Korea has been trying so hard to become a nuclear-armed power. Having this capability, it reasons, would protect the government by raising the costs of toppling it. Kim Jong-un does not want to go the way of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi or Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul
told the UK's Guardian newspaper
there was "very little probability of conflict" but North Koreans were equally "not interested in diplomacy" at this point.
"They want to get the ability to wipe out Chicago from the map first, and then they will be interested in diplomatic solutions," Mr Lankov said.
What about a pre-emptive US strike?
The US knows that a strike on North Korea would force the government there to retaliate against US allies South Korea and Japan.
This would result in a massive loss of life, including the deaths of thousands of Americans - troops and civilians.
Additionally, Washington does not want to risk any nuclear-tipped missiles being fired off towards the US mainland.
Finally, China - Pyongyang's only ally - has helped to prop up the North Korean government precisely because its collapse is deemed to be a strategically worse outcome. US and South Korean troops just across the Chinese border is a prospect that Beijing does not want to have to face - and that is what war would bring.
President Trump may have threatened North Korea with language uncommon for a US president but this does not mean the US is actively moving on to a war footing.
As one anonymous US military official told Reuters news agency back in August: "Just because the rhetoric goes up, doesn't mean our posture changes."
New York Times columnist Max Fisher agrees: "These are the sorts of signals, not a leader's offhand comments, that matter most in international relations."
What is more, after North Korea's sixth nuclear test in early September and missile tests over Japan, the US has reverted to a tried and true tactic: squeezing Pyongyang through UN Security Council and unilateral sanctions.
And its diplomats are still speaking hopefully of returning to the negotiating table - pointing to support from China and Russia.
These send conflicting signals to Pyongyang but also moderate the tough rhetoric coming from President Trump.
Still, some analysts say a misinterpreted move in the current tense environment could lead to an accidental war.
"There could be a power outage in North Korea that they mistake as a part of a pre-emptive attack," Daryl Kimball, of US think tank Arms Control Association, told the BBC.
"The United States might make a mistake on the [Demilitarised Zone]. So there are various ways in which each side can miscalculate and the situation escalates out of control".
It is worth noting that US bombers recently
flew close to North Korea
in a show of force.
Days later North Korea's foreign minister
said Pyongyang had the right to shoot down US bombers
as President Trump had "declared war" on North Korea - a reference to a particularly pugnacious tweet from Mr Trump.
However it is not the first time that North Korea has accused the US of declaring war on it.
As former US Assistant Secretary of State PJ Crowley points out, the US and North Korea came close to armed conflict in 1994, when Pyongyang refused to allow international inspectors into its nuclear facilities. Diplomacy won out.
Over the years, North Korea has regularly made incendiary threats against the US, Japan and South Korea, several times threatening to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire".
And Mr Trump's rhetoric - in content, if not style - is also not exactly unprecedented from a US president.
"In many different forms, albeit not as colourful, the US has always said that if North Korea ever attacks, the regime will cease to exist," Mr Crowley writes.
PJ Crowley: Where to now after 'fire and fury'?
The difference this time, he adds, is the US president has appeared to suggest he might take pre-emptive action (though Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has played this down.)
This kind of unpredictable, bellicose rhetoric coming from the White House is unusual and does have people worried, analysts say.
South Korea - the US ally with the most to lose from a confrontation with the North - has called for a cooling of rhetoric from both Pyongyang and the White House.
No one wants Kim Jong-un to think an attack might be imminent.
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2b4bd77309edd297ce9c94db056743f7 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40927163 | I am 70: The shopkeeper who lived through Kashmir's wars | I am 70: The shopkeeper who lived through Kashmir's wars
As India and Pakistan celebrate 70 years since their creation as sovereign states, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan meets a Kashmiri shopkeeper who was born at the same time as Pakistan.
The story of Mohammad Younus Butt is the story of Neelum Valley - a narrow river valley in north-western Kashmir.
Mr Butt's father died three months before his birth, leaving a widow, three more sons, a daughter and a two-acre farm.
He was born in Athmuqam, then a tiny, obscure village. A that time the former princely state of Kashmir was threatened with division and a newly-created Pakistan was about to launch its first proxy invasion to annex it.
He has since lived through two more conflicts, and alternating spells of peace and confrontation.
"My mother told me that I was born in the month of Inqilab (revolution)," he says, using the term many Kashmiris use for partition.
"She told me it was just before the Hindu families in Keran and Tethwal started to flee across the (Neelum) river. The panic was caused by waves of armed Pathan tribal fighters who came up the river from Muzaffarabad."
These tribesmen were part of a larger tribal militia raised and armed by Pakistan that was to descend on Srinagar, the region's major city, from the north.
A year later, the fighting was over and Kashmir was effectively divided. Athmuqam, which fell on the Pakistani side, was left to carry on with its isolated pastoral existence.
Read more:
Mr Butt's earliest memories are of a place where there was not much else to do beyond tending cattle or playing hide and seek on terraced farmlands.
"There was no school in the village, and hardly a literate person. If someone received a letter, they would take it to Keran (12km away), where there was a post office and they could find a clerk to read it for them."
If someone wanted to send a telegram, they had to travel to Teethwal, 50km away, where the only tele-printer in the entire valley was installed.
There was no road in the region and no transport. People used to travel on foot or on mules.
When he was about seven years old, his mother sent him to school. The primary school was 8km away and the middle school 4km beyond that.
"Life then was all about walking to school, walking back home, tending to cattle, helping on the farm, and finding time to play."
He left school when he failed grade seven. "But I had learned to read and write. I was among the first literate people in my village," he said.
Adulthood arrived with a bump in 1962, when several things happened.
That year, he got married to his cousin, then his mother gave him money to set up a grocery shop, only to die a few months later.
"She gave me 520 rupees to start the shop - it was the third shop in Athmuqam."
In those days the road from Muzaffarabad came only as far as Nauseri, about 65km away. It was the nearest wholesale market.
"I brought six pony-loads of groceries on my first trip. We would walk the entire day from dawn to dusk to reach Nauseri. And it would take us two days to get home because the ponies needed to be rested."
Read more: Kashmir territories profile
He started to get involved in local politics, and was influenced by KH Khurshid, a respected politician appointed president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir in 1959 who was seen as a champion of Kashmiri rights.
But Mr Khurshid's career was short-lived, ending in 1964 when he fell out with the Pakistani establishment over the constitutional status of Kashmir, meaning the end of Mr Butt's political activism.
But 1964 was also the year Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru died, and preparations for the second "tribal invasion" of Kashmir came, this time with local Kashmiris instead of tribal Pathans leading the guard, recruited by Pakistan. Pakistan's military has never officially confirmed it ever commissioned such a force.
"The policemen went from village to village recruiting Kashmiri youth. People would fall in line, and the chief police officer would walk down the queue, sizing up each individual. He would touch those he chose on the shoulder and ask them to step into a separate line."
The chief policeman patted Mr Butt on the shoulder.
"I told him I had a shop. He said all you need to do is accept the rifle and stay at home. I took the rifle. But weeks later they came and asked me to shut my shop and join training."
The secret troops who tried to start a rebellion
He and his fellow recruits spent three months training in Muzaffarabad's Nisar Camp. Most of them then infiltrated into Indian Kashmir, but some who could read and write were kept behind for clerical work at supply depots.
"I was posted at a camp in Athmuqam where I kept records of equipment and supplies. I was there until our forces were defeated in Kashmir, and India attacked Pakistan (on 6 September 1965)."
After the two countries signed a peace agreement in January 1966, the force was disbanded.
"Those who wanted to stay in the army stayed on, while the rest of us handed in our rifles and came home. I came home to my shop. It was still locked and there was merchandise in it."
After the war, people in Athmuqam discovered that Indian forces had moved closer and set up permanent posts on high ground opposite their village.
"Until then, our shepherds had always considered those areas our land. The same thing happened in several places down the valley."
For a while, peace prevailed. The road was gradually extended from Nauseri to Athmuqam, and further on. It was little better than the mule tracks it replaced, but it did bring transport and lifestyle changes for the area's growing population.
Athmuqam emerged as the main town in Neelum Valley. A general hospital and several schools were built, bank branches opened and a telephone exchange was set up.
"We built a new house, and all of my children - a boy and two girls - went to university," Mr Butt said.
But more conflict was to come, with the 1989 insurgency in Srinagar. Fresh hordes of private militiamen started to descend on Neelum Valley. This time the proxies were Islamic militants, organized by the Pakistani military to infiltrate Indian Kashmir.
The Indians, having occupied the valley's high ground in 1965, had the settlements in their rifle sights. As the conflict intensified, so did retaliatory fire from the Indians.
"I can't recall a worse time for Athmuqam. Everything that was built in 20 years was turned to rubble in 15 years of hostilities," he said.
The hospital was destroyed, and so were schools and colleges. Farming activity became impossible. Nearly all the population moved to safer areas, such as Muzaffarabad, or to gullies higher up which were not exposed to direct fire.
Only a handful of people remained to look after their own properties. Mr Butt was one of them.
"Athmuqam was a lonely place then. You couldn't find a soul to talk to. My brothers went away with their families, leaving their belongings in my care.
"In this neighbourhood only three households stayed behind. Our houses were damaged. We would eat and sleep in bunkers we had dug. Our orchards were destroyed.
"No children went to schools in those years. A whole generation missed out on education."
Over the last 14 years, since the 2003 ceasefire, much of the infrastructure has been rebuilt. A generation of educated young people are now adults and the government is trying to promote the area as a tourist destination.
But peace is brittle. One incident of cross-border fire during the season scares the tourists away for months.
"Life has revived, but the danger is there all the time," he says.
Mr Butt says his "innings" is nearing its end. He has had three operations so far, two of them during the last three years.
But he is glad that business has grown, and Athmuqam has grown.
"I'm lucky to have been born in freedom, and I hope our future generations will guard this freedom as a precious gift of God."
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3b6cbe2a7f906ad3807d649f1aaf8a6c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41120738 | North Korea tourism: US travel ban takes effect | North Korea tourism: US travel ban takes effect
A US ban on its citizens travelling to North Korea has come into effect, at a time of heightened tensions over North Korean missile launches.
The new rule
was announced
after US student Otto Warmbier died after being released from prison in North Korea.
The State Department said
it was necessary "due to the serious and mounting risk" of detention.
Any US citizen breaking the rules may face criminal penalties and have their passports revoked.
The State Department would only grant permission to US citizens to go to North Korea "under very limited circumstances", such as for journalism or humanitarian work.
Tour operators have suggested that up to 1,000 Americans visit North Korea every year, making up about a fifth of Western tourists. The vast majority of visitors are Chinese.
On Thursday, tour operators flew out their last American tourists from Pyongyang.
Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, told the BBC's Newsday programme that he expected to see fewer customers overall from now on.
"[Although] the US travel ban only affects Americans, of course it sends out a message from the US that they believe strongly that people shouldn't visit," he said.
Recent detentions of US citizens have caused "a downward push in bookings" as "that's the thing that concerns people the most, that they may personally get into trouble".
Otto Warmbier was arrested and jailed in 2016 after Pyongyang accused him of attempting to take a propaganda sign from a hotel while on holiday.
He was released to his family in the US in June, but he was in a coma and died shortly afterwards without regaining consciousness. The cause of his death remains unclear.
The State Department said at least 16 citizens had been detained in North Korea in the past decade. Three are known to be in detention.
Most of those detained have been US missionaries, journalists and professors.
The US has in the past accused North Korea of detaining its citizens to use them as pawns in negotiations over its nuclear weapons programme.
Tourism offers outside visitors a rare window into North Korean life, but tour groups are heavily regulated as well as monitored.
It is also a lucrative source of income, with
one estimate
that it nets authorities up to $43.6m (£34m) a year.
The State Department said in its latest statement that anyone visiting North Korea "should have no expectation of privacy", with all electronic devices subject to searches and authorities able to monitor mobile phone calls.
It also warned that it was "entirely possible" that tourism money was being used to fund North Korea's nuclear programmes.
The new rules also affect US citizens living and working in North Korea, such as aid workers and teachers.
About 60 US citizens who were employees or family members of employees at North Korea's Pyongyang University of Science and Technology have departed, according to Reuters.
The wire news agency said they were unable to receive special permission to stay, despite attempts by the university to lobby the US government for exemptions.
It quoted an unnamed source saying the school was "severely impacted" by the US travel ban as well as the "decision of some other personnel not to return."
The ban comes amid escalating tensions between the two countries and in the region.
This week North Korea reiterated its threat to launch a missile strike on the US Pacific island of Guam, and conducted what it called its "first step" of wider military operations in the Pacific by firing a missile over Japan.
US President Donald Trump had recently vowed to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea in response to its threats, and warned that the US military is "locked and loaded".
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bb971fc73e4991f357783bf520f44bad | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41228181 | Nine charts which tell you all you need to know about North Korea | Nine charts which tell you all you need to know about North Korea
As North Korea and the United States continue to trade threats, we have little idea how the war of words is perceived to the people of North Korea because the regime of Kim Jong-un maintains an iron grip over the population, carefully controlling access to the outside world.
The country is often depicted as isolated and thoroughly out of step with the 21st century. Statistics are hard to get and often based on estimates, but what can they tell us about life in the North?
Kim Il-sung effectively founded North Korea in 1948 and his family dynasty has ruled the country ever since, with control passing from father to son.
In the same period South Korea has managed six republics, a revolution, a couple of coups and the transition to free and fair elections. In total 12 presidents have led the country, covering 19 terms of office.
Three million mobile phones might seem like a lot - but in a country of 25 million it amounts to just over one out of every ten people. Most mobile users are likely to be concentrated in the capital Pyongyang.
By contrast, with a population of some 51 million there are more mobile phone subscriptions than people in South Korea.
With effectively a single network, Koryolink, North Korea's mobile market is limited but growing. Originally established as a partnership with Egyptian telecom firm Orascom, it was for many years the only option.
However, in 2015 Orascom discovered that North Korea was setting up a rival network, Byol, and was forced to disclose to investors that it had effectively lost control over the service's three million plus subscribers.
There's reason to be sceptical about those subscriber numbers though.
Research by the
US-Korea Institute at SAIS
suggests that some growth might be down to North Koreans calculating that it's cheaper to buy an additional subscription than additional air time.
As well as a scarcity of mobiles, the vast majority of North Koreans are only permitted access to the country's 'private internet' - effectively a closed intranet operating on a national scale.
Reports in 2016 suggested that North Korea has just 28 registered domains.
It may sound like an urban myth, but there is some research to suggest that North Korean men are on average shorter than their South Korean counterparts.
Professor Daniel Schwekendiek from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul studied the heights of North Korean refugees measured when they crossed the border into South Korea and found an average 3-8cm (1.2 -3.1 inch) difference.
Schwekendiek points out that the height difference cannot be attributed to genetics, because the two populations are the same.
He also rejects criticism that suggests that refugees are more likely to be impoverished, and therefore of smaller stature.
Food shortages are thought to be the main factor in why North Koreans are generally shorter.
Read more: Are North Koreans really shorter than South Koreans?
Images from North Korea's capital Pyongyang often show stretches of wide, pristine motorway unoccupied by traffic, but outside the city it's another story.
North Korea has some 25,554 km of roads, according to 2006 figures, but just 3% are actually paved, amounting to a meagre 724km (449 miles).
It's also estimated that only about 11 out of every 1,000 North Koreans owns a car, which means a long queue at the bus stop for most people who need to travel.
North Korea relies on coal exports to keep its economy above water - but it's hard to measure their true value as the data comes from countries receiving the coal.
Much of North Korea's coal is exported to China, which banned imports in February 2017. However some analysts question the nature of the sanction.
"There are folks who track ships and have seen North Korean ships docking at coal terminals at Chinese ports even after the ban. I do believe that China has disrupted coal imports, but not completely," says Kent Boydston, research analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Until 1973 North and South Korea were pretty evenly matched in terms of wealth.
Since then, South Korea has rocketed ahead to become one of the world's leading industrial producers, with companies like Samsung and Hyundai becoming global household names.
North Korea stagnated in the 1980s as the country stuck rigidly to its state-run system.
While North Korea is the 52nd largest country by population, it is considered to have the world's fourth largest army.
Military spending is estimated to account for as much as 25% of GDP, and almost every North Korean man undergoes some form of military training.
Read more about North Korea's military strength
A series of famines in the late 1990s caused a sharp drop in life expectancy in North Korea, but even without that factor, the North lags nearly 12 years behind.
Food shortages persist and are one of many reasons why South Koreans generally live longer.
In 2017
South Korea's birth rate hit a record low
as the country continued a decade-long struggle to boost the country's birth rate.
It has spent about $70bn (£53bn) handing out baby bonuses, improving paternity leave and paying for infertility treatment.
Produced by Alex Murray and Tom Housden. Graphics by Mark Bryson, Gerry Fletcher and Prina Shah.
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f9bb69c41aed40b40bd7f0d0ff6fc23a | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41279292 | Manila district police force removed after teen deaths | Manila district police force removed after teen deaths
The entire police force in part of the Philippine capital is to be relieved of duty, after the controversial deaths of three teenagers.
Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said 1,200 officers from the Caloocan district would be retrained and then assigned to other units.
The move comes amid growing scrutiny of police operations amid President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drugs war.
The most high-profile case involved a boy killed in Caloocan on 16 August.
Police say Kian Loyd Delos Santos, who was 17, ran from them and then opened fire, so they shot him.
But his parents say he had no involvement in drugs. A witness said police tried to force a gun into his hand and CCTV footage shows a boy, said to be him, being dragged away by police, contradicting claims he ran.
A second case involved the death of Carl Arnaiz, a 19-year-old accused of trying to rob a taxi driver. Police said he fired at them but the taxi driver said he saw him alive in police custody. A 14-year-old boy, last seen with Arnaiz, was later found dead.
Several policemen are now under investigation and the Senate is currently conducting an inquiry into the teenagers' deaths.
Mr Albayalde said the police in Caloocan would be retrained in batches, and all would be temporarily replaced by personnel from a regional security unit.
"They will be retrained and they'll be reassigned to other stations here in Metro Manila. They will not be able to go back to their position or their assignment in Caloocan," local media quoted him as saying.
Mr Duterte was elected on a promise to tackle the country's drug problem but his brutal crackdown has been highly controversial.
Police figures say 3,800 suspects have been killed in anti-drugs operations since he took office. Several thousand more unexplained killings have also been attributed to the crackdown.
But rights groups have voiced serious concerns over extrajudicial killings. Earlier this year, Mr Duterte
briefly suspended
his crackdown to clean up the police force after officers seized a South Korean businessman under the guise of a drugs raid, killed him and sought a ransom from his family.
Many Filipinos support the crackdown. But the recent deaths have generated debate and some protests.
On Thursday night, Catholic churches rang their bells for five minutes to mark those who had died and call for the killing to stop. This is to continue for 40 nights.
"We cannot allow the destruction of lives to become normal. We cannot govern the nation by killing," Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said in a statement last week announcing the campaign.
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3a8f61dbbb9ad8a012b1b6f347f3d43c | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41566561?utm_campaign=OSINT%20and%20Internet%20Dumpster%20Diving%20by%20Stu&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter | Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis | Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis
In August 2017, a deadly crackdown by Myanmar's army on Rohingya Muslims sent hundreds of thousands fleeing across the border into Bangladesh.
They risked everything to escape by sea or on foot a military offensive which the United Nations later described as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
In January 2020, the UN's top court ordered the Buddhist-majority country to take measures to protect members of its Rohingya community from genocide.
But the army in Myanmar (formerly Burma) has said it was fighting Rohingya militants and denies targeting civilians. The country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, once a human rights icon, has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide.
Described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as "one of, if not the, most discriminated people in the world", the Rohingya are one of Myanmar's many ethnic minorities.
The Rohingya, who numbered around one million in Myanmar at the start of 2017, are one of the many ethnic minorities in the country. Rohingya Muslims represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar, with the majority living in Rakhine state.
They have their own language and culture and say they are descendants of Arab traders and other groups who have been in the region for generations.
But the government of Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, denies the Rohingya citizenship and even excluded them from the 2014 census, refusing to recognise them as a people.
It sees them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Since the 1970s, Rohingya have migrated across the region in significant numbers. Estimates of their numbers are often much higher than official figures.
In the last few years, before the latest crisis, thousands of Rohingya made perilous journeys out of Myanmar to escape communal violence or alleged abuses by the security forces.
The exodus began on 25 August 2017 after Rohingya Arsa militants launched deadly attacks on more than 30 police posts.
Rohingyas arriving in Bangladesh said they fled after troops, backed by local Buddhist mobs, responded by burning their villages and attacking and killing civilians.
At least 6,700 Rohingya, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Amnesty International says the Myanmar military also raped and abused Rohingya women and girls.
The government, which puts the number of dead at 400, claims that "clearance operations" against the militants ended on 5 September, but
BBC correspondents have seen evidence
that they continued after that date.
At least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed by fire in northern Rakhine state after August 2017, according to analysis of satellite imagery by Human Rights Watch.
The imagery shows many areas where Rohingya villages were reduced to smouldering rubble, while nearby ethnic Rakhine villages were left intact.
Human Rights Watch say most damage occurred in Maungdaw Township, between 25 August and 25 September 2017 - with many villages destroyed after 5 September, when Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said security force operations had ended.
A report published by UN investigators in August 2018 accused Myanmar's military of carrying out mass killings and rapes with "genocidal intent".
The ICJ case, lodged by the small Muslim-majority nation of The Gambia, in West Africa, on behalf of dozens of other Muslim countries, called for emergency measures to be taken against the Myanmar military, known as Tatmadaw, until a fuller investigation could be launched.
Aung San Suu Kyi rejected allegations of genocide when she appeared at the court in December 2019.
But in January 2020, the court's initial ruling ordered Myanmar to take emergency measures to protect the Rohingya from being persecuted and killed.
While the ICJ only rules on disputes between states, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has the authority to try individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. The body approved a full investigation into the case of the Rohingya in Myanmar in November.
Although Myanmar itself is not a member of the court, the ICC ruled it had jurisdiction in the case because Bangladesh, where victims fled to, is a member.
Myanmar has long denied carrying out genocide and says it is carrying out its own investigations into the events of 2017. The country's Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) admitted that members of the security forces may have carried out "war crimes, serious human rights violations, and violations of domestic law", but claimed there was no evidence of genocide.
Its full report has not yet been released, but questions have been raised.
With more than half a million Rohingya believed to still be living in Myanmar's northern Rakhine province, UN investigators have warned there is a "serious risk that genocidal actions may occur or recur".
The situation that led to "killings, rapes and gang rapes, torture, forced displacement and other grave rights violations" in 2017 remained unchanged, the investigators said in September, blaming a lack of accountability and Myanmar's failure to fully investigate allegations or criminalise genocide.
Rakhine province itself is the site of an ongoing conflict between the army and rebels from the Buddhist-majority Rakhine ethnic group.
The massive numbers of refugees who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who had fled Myanmar in previous years.
Kutupalong, the largest refugee settlement in the world according to UNHCR, is home to more than 600,000 refugees alone.
But in March 2019,
Bangladesh announced it would no longer accept Rohingya
fleeing Myanmar.
While an agreement for the return of refugees was reached in early 2018, none returned. They said they would not consider going back to Myanmar unless they were given guarantees they would be given citizenship.
And as a BBC investigation showed, even those considering returning in the future may not be able to, with
villages destroyed to make way for government facilities
.
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bb3e73f51dad721bedc598a228437ff8 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41649682 | Afghanistan Taliban twin attacks kill dozens | Afghanistan Taliban twin attacks kill dozens
Suicide bombers and gunmen have stormed a police training centre in the eastern Afghan city of Gardez, killing at least 41 people.
Some 110 civilians and 48 police were injured. The interior ministry said the local police chief was among the dead.
The Taliban said it was behind the attack, and is being blamed for a second assault in neighbouring Ghazni province.
The violence there left 30 people dead, most of them security personnel.
At least 10 others were wounded.
Casualty numbers from both attacks could yet rise further.
The violence at the Gardez police headquarters in Paktia province began when a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives, before a number of gunmen launched an assault on the building.
Security forces battled the militants for several hours. At least five of the assailants were killed, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The compound contains the headquarters of the national police, border police and Afghan National Army.
The victims included "women, students and police", Gardez public health director Hedayatullah Hamidi told AFP news agency.
Many were civilians who had gone to the site to get their passports and national IDs, the Paktia governor's office said.
The local hospital has called on people to donate blood, saying it is "overwhelmed".
University students queued at the medical centre to answer the plea, a photographer at the scene reported.
About 100km (62 miles) away, Ghazni police chief Mohammad Zaman said "dozens of Taliban" had died in the assault there.
There is no independent confirmation of the claim. The pattern was similar to the Gardez attack.
Armoured Humvee vehicles filled with explosives were detonated near the provincial governor's office, before gunmen moved in.
The bloodshed comes just days after police in the capital, Kabul, said they had
arrested a would-be suicide truck bomber
, averting a major incident.
The truck was carrying almost three tonnes of explosives and two bombs, which had been hidden under boxes of tomatoes.
Afghanistan's army and police have suffered heavy casualties this year at the hands of the Taliban, who want to reimpose their strict version of Islamic law in the country.
In April, then Defence Minister Abudullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim both
resigned after a devastating Taliban assault
on an army base outside the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.
About 10 Taliban insurgents dressed in Afghan military uniforms made their way into the base and opened fire. Around 170 Afghan soldiers are believed to have died.
The country suffered another bloody assault just a month later in May, when a truck bomb
killed more than 150 people in Kabul.
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6f6df0018f61825797eae5020b065192 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41965080 | San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find 'cannonball clue' | San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find 'cannonball clue'
A team of underwater archaeologists believe they have found a cannonball from a Spanish ship that sank in a storm off Japan in 1609.
The San Francisco was travelling from the Philippines to Mexico when it sank.
The galleon was believed to be carrying valuable trade goods which could be worth millions today, researchers say.
Its location has been a mystery - but the suspected cannonball, thought to be the first artefact ever found from the ship, offers clues about where it sank.
Dr Jun Kimura from Tokai University has been leading a team of maritime archaeologists, who have been searching for the San Francisco in waters off Iwawada in Chiba prefecture.
Read more about shipwrecks in Asia:
The Wreck Detectives
The cannonball was discovered by Ian McCann, an Australian researcher at the University of New England, during a deep dive nearly 40m (131 ft) below the surface.
"We were in dark, murky waters," Dr Kimura told the BBC. "Ian just saw an unusual shape on the sandy bed - he recovered it but then we had to go back to the surface as our air had nearly run out."
He said the team, and archaeological experts they had consulted, were "almost certain" it was a cannonball from the San Francisco, as it was similar to cannonballs found in other Spanish trading ships in the Philippines. However, they will be carrying out a chemical analysis to confirm this.
Mr McCann told the BBC: "A cannonball may not sound like much but it indicates the general vicinity where the vessel went down.
"It is the only Spanish Manila galleon that has not been plundered by treasure hunters," he added, and the trading vessels "carried fabulously valuable cargo... by today's value the cargo may have had a value of around $80m".
Mr McCann made the discovery earlier this month - and the find was revealed in Japanese media late last week.
The project, which is funded by the Japanese government, is the first scientific mission to search for the San Francisco shipwreck.
Researchers also found a piece of timber underwater, which they believe is related to the shipwreck. They plan to conduct further expeditions in the area in early 2018.
The San Francisco shipwreck was of "historical importance", because it "impacted the relationship between Spain, the Philippines, Mexico and Japan," Dr Kimura said.
The vessel had been transporting goods from the Philippines to Mexico - both were Spanish colonies at the time. Among its passengers was the governor of the Philippines Don Rodrigo de Vivero Velasco.
On 30 September 1609, a storm drove the boat into reefs off Chiba province.
According to experts, Mr Velasco, who survived the sinking, detailed the incident in a book, writing: "The ship was getting destroyed in pieces among some cliffs on the head of Japan... all of us survivors were over the riggings and ropes, because the galleon was getting broken piece by piece."
Hundreds of people survived the shipwreck, and, thanks to Mr Velasco's good relations with the Japanese, were treated well.
Eventually, they successfully sailed back to Mexico, with a number of Japanese representatives, on the first western-style ship ever built in Japan.
"They were the first Japanese ever to cross the pacific," Dr Kimura said. "The Spanish king highly appreciated what Japan had done for the survivors, so diplomatic exchanges between Japan and Spain started."
Reporting by the BBC's Helier Cheung.
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18b65eb4b6297833677b73a5aa6a1055 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42007557 | Cambodia's first ice skating team chases Winter Olympic dream | Cambodia's first ice skating team chases Winter Olympic dream
As temperatures in Phnom Penh reach the mid-30s C (90s F), ice machine driver Khiev Panha laces up a pair of figure skates and takes to the ice.
Watched by a small crowd of Cambodians huddled around the sides of their country's only ice rink, Panha skates confidently until he attempts a spin, stumbles and falls.
At first glance, the 23-year-old's skating abilities may seem less important than his handling of an ice rink resurfacing machine.
But Panha is not only charged with maintaining the ice.
He's also a member of Cambodia's six-person national figure skating team, and became one of the first Cambodians to represent their country in a winter discipline when he competed at the Southeast Asia Games in Kuala Lumpur August.
It's little wonder Panha is still finding his feet: it's been less than three years since he took up figure skating, a sport that is notoriously difficult for adults to master.
Most professionals, according to Cambodia head coach, former British international Clair Ben Zina, are generally acquainted with skating by their sixth birthday.
"They learned as adults, which is unheard of in figure skating," says Ben Zina of the team.
Cambodia, which suffered greatly under the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s and during a subsequent civil war that ended in 1998, only got its first ice rink in 2013.
Few Cambodians have even heard of the sport, and the national team wasn't set up until 2015.
Yet Panha and teammate Sen Bunthoeurn, who went to Kuala Lumpur for the competition, have made impressive progress in the few short years since they discovered ice skating.
"When I started working as the [ice machine] driver, I didn't know how to skate - even rollerskating," Panha says. "Now I feel better than before because I've had coaches from many countries - Canada, the US and now England - and they improved my skating."
Unlike Panha, who fell into the sport, 27-year-old Bunthoeurn is a figure skating devotee. He talked his way into becoming an ice skating coach in May 2013, despite having no experience.
"I saw an ad in the newspaper for an ice skating trainer so I applied with my CV," he says. "When they interviewed me they asked: 'Why did you apply if you can't skate?'"
Impressed with his gumption, management gave him 15 days to teach himself how to ice skate.
Bunthoeurn got the job.
He now trains at least four hours a day, five days a week, in addition to coaching groups of school-age students in the evenings.
Much of his free time is spent on strength training and other workouts. In between sessions, he whips out his smartphone to watch videos of his figure skating heroes on YouTube.
"Even on my day off when I'm at home, I just feel I want to skate; I just want to stay on the ice," he says. "The spins, the jumps - I really like everything about it."
Just qualifying for an international competition was a big achievement for the pair, both of who come from rural areas where their parents work as rice farmers.
It's also a milestone for the country: not only does Cambodia have no snow or ice, its sole tiny ice rink is situated above three floors of food courts and clothing boutiques at Phnom Penh's Aeon Mall.
"It's about half the size of an Olympic-sized rink," says Ben Zina. "So it's really difficult to train with any sort of power or speed. There's not a lot you can do to get around it."
This year's Southeast Asia Games was the first time figure skating was included in the line-up, and countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines already have much greater depth in the sport than Cambodia.
That fact was reflected in the results: Buntheourn placed 8th and Panha 9th, in a field of nine competitors.
Yet for Ben Zina, who moved to Phnom Penh in March, it marks the beginning of her ambitious efforts to get Cambodian ice skaters Olympic-ready.
The coach has a 10-year plan that would see Cambodian speed skaters compete in Beijing in 2022 and figure skaters take to the Olympic ice in 2026.
"The talent that I'm seeing at a young level is just as good as in any other country. Now it's about me sticking around long enough to really develop and nurture that talent," she says.
Ben Zina sees Panha and Buntheourn as the seeds of a long-term strategy to take Cambodia to the Winter Olympics, which would almost certainly require the construction of a bigger ice rink.
"They are the role models in the rink at the moment and they are hopefully going to be the coaches that assist me in the future," she says.
For the pair, their hopes lie in inspiring a new generation of Cambodian skaters to believe they, too, can achieve their dreams - no matter how wild those dreams may seem.
"I want to give some motivation to our children, our small skaters," says Buntheourn. "I hope they will focus on figure skating and try to build this sport in our country."
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f3903dec67289ca98151840a4da808b3 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42435798 | North Korea defection: Warning shots as soldier crosses border to South | North Korea defection: Warning shots as soldier crosses border to South
South Korea's military has fired warning shots at North Korean guards searching for a soldier who defected.
The North Korean soldier had walked across the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) shortly after 08:00 (23:00 GMT Wednesday).
He had emerged from thick fog at a checkpoint, said the South's military.
He is the fourth North Korean soldier to defect this year. The incident comes weeks after one of the most dramatic defections in recent times.
In that incident, on 13 November,
a soldier was shot as he fled across to the southern side
of the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the village of Panmunjom.
Thursday's incident took place at a checkpoint in the mid-western frontline, said Roh Jae-cheon, spokesman for South Korea's joint chiefs of staff.
Heavy fog had descended on the area, limiting visibility to about 100m (110 yards), he told reporters. But as the North Korean soldier approached the post, his movements were picked up on surveillance equipment.
Mr Roh added that the defector was taken into custody and was "safely secured". Authorities are now investigating what drove him to make the crossing.
The soldier, thought to be 19 years old, was carrying an AK-47 rifle, reported The Korea Herald citing the military. No gunfire was exchanged at the time.
But shortly after his crossing, a group of border guards from the North approached the border, appearing to search for their comrade, according to South Korea's defence ministry. South Korean soldiers fired about 20 warning shots.
Officials said the sound of gunshots coming from the North was heard about 40 minutes later, although no bullets were found to have crossed the border.
Very few North Korean defectors risk crossing to the South via the DMZ.
One of the world's most heavily guarded strips of land, the DMZ is a thin buffer zone between the two Koreas and is fortified on both sides with barbed wire, surveillance cameras, electric fencing and landmines.
Last month's defection saw a soldier drive a jeep right up to the border, in a dramatic escape captured on surveillance cameras.
He ran across to the South in a hail of bullets from North Korean guards.
Shot five times, the soldier collapsed in a pile of leaves on the South's side, and was later rescued by South Korean soldiers.
His recovery was closely tracked by South Korean media. He was released from intensive care and is reported to have written a thank you note to the doctors who treated him.
Two other North Korean soldiers defected, also via the DMZ, in June this year in separate incidents. Only one soldier defected last year.
The total number of North Koreans who directly defected to the South has also risen to 15 this year, compared to five last year, according to official figures reported by Yonhap news agency.
Hundreds more defect through China, before making their way to the South.
In a separate announcement on Thursday, South Korea's unification ministry said two defecting North Koreans had been found on a fishing boat in the South's waters.
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1f25cbf0f8299998748a56d2c98705a2 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42616982 | North Korea's cheerleading charm offensive | North Korea's cheerleading charm offensive
North Korea on Tuesday announced that it would be sending a delegation to this year's Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, including a team of cheerleaders.
Though a cheerleading squad may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of North Korea, they have played a big role in the political scene over the years.
Unsurprisingly for the genre, they are mostly women in their early or mid 20s,
according to Kim Gyeong-sung
, the South Korean head of the Inter-Korean Athletic Exchange Association.
He says they are chosen "on the basis of appearance" but also having the right "ideology".
They are handpicked from university students, propaganda squad members and music school students,
according to China Radio International (CRI).
Pyongyang also carries out preliminary background checks on the cheerleaders, according to CRI.
This is to make sure they aren't related to North Korean defectors or those who are seen as pro-Japanese.
The prized cheerleaders aren't strangers to large crowds, having no doubt constantly been exposed to North Korea's Arirang Festival, the annual mass gymnastics and artistic event in Pyongyang.
They also occasionally make an appearance to accompany athletes travelling overseas. In 2007, they were sent to China for the Fifa Women's Football World Cup in Wuhan.
But Pyongyang has only sent the cheerleaders to South Korea three times since the start of the Korean War.
A squad of 288 attended the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, a team of 303 cheerleaders accompanied athletes to the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu, and in 2005 some 101 cheerleaders were sent for the Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon.
They were going to be sent to the Asian Games again in 2014 to "improve relationships".
But North Korea eventually took back the offer
after failing to agree on expenditure and several other issues.
The cheerleading group, with their good looks and synchronised moves, have their fair share of fans in South Korea.
They've been called "an army of beauties", often receiving more attention then the athletes themselves.
Undoubtedly the most famous North Korean cheerleader is Ri Sol-ju, who is now the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
In 2005, she was pictured among the squad at the Asian Athletics Championships.
North Korea's sending of cheerleaders to the South, for the first time in more than 10 years, could be seen as an olive branch.
The announcement comes amid tensions between North and South.
Pyongyang's regular missile tests and a sixth nuclear test last year have brought a tightening of UN and US sanctions.
There's also been a slew of angry threats
over the past year aimed at South Korea, Japan and the US.
Having a cheering crowd of attractive North Koreans at the Games will be good for Pyongyang's global image.
They may also end up performing alongside cheerleaders from the US in official ceremonies.
But it's not just Pyongyang that has something to gain.
Organisers of the Pyeongchang Winter Games have struggled with ticket sales so far - perhaps due to the high tensions and the fact that North Korea lies only 60 miles
North Korea's cheerleading charm offensive
(90km) away from the main venue.
So perhaps this charm offensive will be just what both countries need to turn things around.
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4a0c94623f82f8abb521633598d79acc | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42850624 | Kabul mourns 100 dead after ambulance bomb | Kabul mourns 100 dead after ambulance bomb
More than 100 people are now known to have been killed in a suicide bombing on Saturday in Kabul.
Attackers drove an ambulance past a police checkpoint to get to a crowded street in a district full of government buildings and embassies.
Afghanistan's government has declared a day of mourning for Sunday, as funerals take place and relatives search hospitals for survivors.
The Taliban - a hardline Islamist group - said it was behind the attack.
It was the deadliest attack in Afghanistan for months and took place a week after an attack on a Kabul hotel in which 22 people were killed.
Interior minister Wais Barmak said a number of people died in hospital overnight and the death toll now stood at 103, with 235 wounded. Most of the injured are men.
Witnesses say the area - also home to offices of the European Union, a hospital and
a shopping zone known as Chicken Street
- was crowded with people when the bomb exploded on Saturday at about 12:15 local time (08:45 GMT).
Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said the attacker got through a security checkpoint after telling police he was taking a patient to nearby Jamhuriat hospital.
He detonated the bomb at a second checkpoint, said Mr Rahimi.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the use of an ambulance was "harrowing".
A Taliban spokesman later linked the attack to US efforts to assist Afghan forces with troops and air strikes.
In a statement, Zabihullah Mujahid said: "If you go ahead with a policy of aggression and speak from the barrel of a gun, don't expect Afghans to grow flowers in response."
By BBC Pakistan Correspondent Secunder Kermani
Outside the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital in central Kabul a middle-aged women breaks down in tears, screaming hysterically: "Mother, mother!"
A young man, a bandage around his hand, is trying to console her - but is sobbing furiously himself.
Every few minutes a hospital official announces a name on a loudspeaker, and an anxious relative rushes to enter the hospital building to get an update about his or her relative.
As well as sorrow, there's anger in Kabul. One man standing outside another hospital tells me he blames the government for not doing more to stop this attack and the many others that have preceded it over the past year.
Kabul used to be one of the most secure places in the country - now it increasingly feels like one of the most dangerous.
Back at the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital, a man is making his way to the morgue to look for his cousin's body. He tells me they've already seen dozens of corpses in different hospitals. He doesn't find his cousin's remains here either, and so sets off to continue his search.
The Afghan government has condemned the bombing as a crime against humanity, and accused Pakistan of providing support to the attackers.
The Taliban control large swathes of Afghanistan and parts of neighbouring Pakistan.
Pakistan denies supporting militants that carry out attacks in Afghanistan. This month,
the US cut its security aid to Pakistan
, saying it had failed to take action against terrorist networks on its soil.
US President Donald Trump condemned the attack and said it "renews our resolve and that of our Afghan partners".
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "Indiscriminate attacks against civilians are a serious violation of human rights and humanitarian laws, and can never be justified."
In France, the Eiffel Tower turned off its lights at midnight on Saturday as a mark of respect for the dead and injured.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter: "The city of Paris and Parisians are with the Afghan people who are once again facing terrorist barbarity," she said.
The attack is the deadliest in Kabul in several months.
In October, 176 people were killed in bomb attacks across Afghanistan in one week. The country's security forces in particular have suffered heavy casualties at the hands of the Taliban, who want to re-impose their strict version of Islamic law in the country.
In May, 150 people were killed by a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. The Taliban denied any role, but the Afghan government says its affiliate, the Haqqani group, carried it out with support from Pakistan.
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255f7fbab7fd8eb210835c4493a05727 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42999499 | Bangkok woman killed taking selfie on train tracks | Bangkok woman killed taking selfie on train tracks
A woman has been killed while taking a selfie with a friend on a train track in Thailand.
A friend said they had been drinking and decided "to take a photo with the train" but did not see an approaching train on the other track, police said.
The woman, 24, had her leg severed and died later in hospital. Her male friend sustained severe injuries.
The number of people who die while taking selfies in dangerous locations is on the rise.
The incident took place early on Thursday morning at Samsen station in Bangkok, police officer Wissanusak Seub-in told the BBC, adding authorities were still investigating what happened.
Taking a video while standing in front of a fast-approaching train has emerged as a dangerous trend, especially in India.
In January, a man filming a video of himself waiting for an approaching train was hit by the incoming train in Hyderabad, India.
In October 2017 three teenagers were run over by a train while trying to take a selfie in Karnataka state, and two teenagers were killed while taking selfies on railway tracks in Delhi.
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c2997270144775cdaa383c18216d9794 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43334320 | Trump and North Korea talks: The political gamble of the 21st Century | Trump and North Korea talks: The political gamble of the 21st Century
South Korean leader Moon Jae-in is either a diplomatic genius or a communist set on destroying his country and US President Donald Trump is either a master of brinkmanship or a pawn in a more devious game - depending on who you speak to.
But it is the other actor in this saga, Kim Jong-un, the only one who has yet to make a direct statement, who may just be the most significant player in this most extraordinary of political gambles.
From the moment he extended an apparent olive branch to the South in his new year message to the cordial delegations to Pyeongchang for the Winter Olympics, it became clear that Kim Jong-un had mastered the most sophisticated crafts of propaganda.
Some will view
his personal invitation to Mr Trump to hold talks with him
- as well as the commitment to freeze further nuclear tests - as the real diplomatic masterstroke after a year that was unprecedented for the level of naked hostility the US and the North bared toward one another.
But the risk here belongs to both Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump. In a situation where neither can claim sole mastery of the narrative, without a clear exit strategy, and when there are so many definitions for both success and failure, a lot is at stake.
Mr Moon is viewed by his supporters
as the negotiator-in-chief who has now skilfully managed to get Mr Kim to at least talk about getting rid of nuclear weapons.
He is the one who spotted the opportunity during
the North Korean leader's speech in January
- which offered a glimmer of hope that the reclusive state was willing to engage with the South - and grabbed it with both hands.
The dizzying level of diplomacy and a frenzy of visits between North and South has now delivered - it seems.
"People are calling this the North Korean charm offensive, I actually think this is a South Korean charm offensive. This is something President Moon Jae-in clearly wanted," John Delury from Yonsei University said to me even before the talks were announced.
Mr Moon knew his envoys would have to extract the word "denuclearisation" from Mr Kim when they visited Pyongyang. He also knew having two of his top level government ministers looking cosy with the North Korean leader would not go down well in Washington or Tokyo.
But it was worth the risk. The US would not have considered talking to the communist state without that meeting. His chosen delegates got what they needed.
The South Korean leader is also attempting the role of honest broker, handling Mr Trump and Mr Kim at the same time. He is choosing his words carefully and keeping his cards close to his chest while flattering those who respond to the spotlight.
In his New Year's address he said Mr Trump deserved "huge credit" for talks between the two Koreas, knowing it would please him. He is also using language that will reassure a concerned Republican administration.
The language of the South Korean statement announcing the talks
was also fulsome in its admiration for Trump's handling of the situation leading up to this moment.
Sanctions will stay in place, Mr Moon had said earlier, and Mr Trump has now confirmed that.
But everybody knows it wasn't always like that. Just six months ago Mr Trump was
promising to rain down "fire and fury like the world has never seen"
on North Korea if it dare threaten the US. Prof Haksoon Paik, lead researcher at the Sejong Institute, said that threat level felt "totally unprecedented".
"President Moon was very much concerned about nuclear threat of war. Kim Jong-un was in the same situation. We were hearing from the likes of the US Senator Lindsay Graham that lives will be lost over here. Donald Trump's unorthodox and unstable leadership had both Korean leaders worried about the potential of military options."
The US has always maintained that the permanent denuclearisation of North Korea is the endgame. Even with all the surprises up to this point, few believe Mr Kim would agree to that so if they don't achieve that what options does Trump have?
So is Moon Jae-in - and indeed Donald Trump - being manipulated by a North Korea which has fooled the world before?
"By dangling before the US once again 'denuclearization of the Korean peninsula' and 'moratorium on nuclear and missile tests', Kim seeks to weaken sanctions, pre-empt US military pre-emption, and condition the world into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state," says Prof Lee Sung-yoon from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
For Mr Trump this could be about one of the boldest and most historic moves a US leader has made in foreign relations.
If this gamble works out, Mr Trump could credit himself as the president who sorted out North Korea. His administration has had very few victories, despite promising his voters there would "so much winning."
He believes his "maximum pressure" strategy and his work to get China on side and help squeeze Pyongyang economically is working.
Reporters say he casually mentioned in the White House briefing room that he hoped they would give him credit for Kim Jong-un's offer. His voters certainly will.
But meeting Mr Kim risks treating the communist leader as an equal. It could be a PR disaster. The date set is also only a few months away - a short time frame to achieve diplomatic goals with a leader
he mocked as "little rocket man" just a few months ago.
Prof Robert E Kelly at Busan University in South Korea tweeted: "Trump doesn't study or even read. He tends to fly wildly off script. And May means there's almost no time for all the staff prep necessary."
Pyongyang has been playing this game for decades. Mr Trump is new to it. He may see a big win on the horizon, but his Art of the Deal book will not be the guide he needs to deal with Kim Jong-un.
For Mr Moon this is about history and it is also personal.
He played a part in previous attempts to negotiate with North Korea as chief of staff to President Roh Moo-hyun when he met Mr Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, in 2007. That was the last time the leaders of the two Koreas held a summit. A satellite launch by Pyongyang ended the talks.
By then around $4.5bn of aid had been sent North during the policy of engagement. Critics believe that money helped to accelerate the weapons programme.
Having failed once before, Mr Moon is trying to complete the work he started, says Duyeon Kim, a senior fellow at the Korean Peninsula Forum.
"He's basically following the same playbook as his two liberal predecessors. It's exactly the kind of thing he would want to pick up and continue."
As a son of refugees from the North, Mr Moon is also aware of the effects of conflict on the peninsula. His parents fled North Korea aboard a UN supply ship in 1950 at the start of the Korean War alongside thousands of other refugees.
He told reporters during his election campaign: "My father fled from the North, hating communism. I myself hate the communist North Korean system. That doesn't mean I should let the people in the North suffer under an oppressive regime."
President Moon has acknowledged there are obstacles ahead. He is managing expectations and so much can go wrong.
Duyeon Kim believes there is a high probability that at the end of this negotiating process, all parties will fail, and North Korea will decide it wants to keep its nuclear weapons. And yet...
"You just don't know. I don't think it's ever a lost cause, in spite of all the doubts and scepticism all parties should go in with clear eyes, but negotiate hard."
President Moon's approval ratings took a hit during the Winter Olympics after he integrated the women's hockey team with players from the North and met a general from Pyongyang who had been accused of masterminding deadly attacks on South Koreans, though they have since rebounded.
He may suffer politically if this fails but maybe for him, this is not about scoring political points. This is what he told Time magazine last year when he was presidential candidate: "My mother is the only one [of her family] who fled to the South. [She] is 90 years old. Her younger sister is still in the North alive. My mother's last wish is to see her again."
These talks are a huge gamble with a communist state which is hard to read.
But if, just if, he helps pull it off it may reduce the threat of nuclear war and he could win himself a Nobel peace prize.
If all fails, it is back to brinkmanship.
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5b439dfa38bf1ea7323980bfbbece845 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43368110 | 'No response' yet from North Korea on talks with the US | 'No response' yet from North Korea on talks with the US
South Korea says it has not received a response from Pyongyang on a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.
In a surprise development, Mr Trump on Friday accepted North Korea's invitation to direct talks.
South Korean officials said Mr Kim was prepared to give up his nuclear weapons.
Details on the planned talks remain vague, with no agreement yet on the location or agenda.
Analysts are sceptical about what can be achieved through talks given the complexity of the issues involved.
"We have not seen nor received an official response from the North Korean regime regarding the North Korea-US summit," a spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Unification said on Monday.
"I feel they're approaching this matter with caution and they need time to organise their stance."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has described the chance to hold talks with North Korea as a "precious chance" to achieve "permanent peace".
His country's officials who spoke to President Trump are now on the way to China and Japan to brief the leaders of each country on the upcoming talks.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in's top security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, is scheduled to meet China's President Xi Jinping.
Meanwhile, Suh Hoon, chief of the intelligence agency, is headed to Tokyo to speak with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
While China is seen as North Korea's last remaining financial backer, Japan is the ally of Washington that along with the South has received the most military threats from Pyongyang.
The surprise proposal for the summit comes after more than a year of heated rhetoric between North Korea and the US, and global concern that the hostilities might escalate into military confrontation.
North Korea has conducted several nuclear tests over the past few years and has developed long-distance missiles it says can carry nuclear bombs as far as the US mainland.
Talks between the countries would mark an unprecedented step in the conflict as no sitting US president has ever met with a North Korean leader.
Still, details of the meeting remain unclear.
"Pyongyang probably wants to wait to see how the offer was received in Washington," Andray Abrahamian, Research Fellow at Pacific Forum CSIS, told the BBC.
"There's already been a bit of confusion in the messaging from the White House so it probably makes sense to get some of the ground rules established before go public with it," Mr Abrahamian said.
If the summit goes ahead, Mr Trump is expected to meet the North Korean leader by the end of May, while South Korean President Moon and Mr Kim will hold separate talks ahead of that.
Observers are divided on whether talks could pave the way to Pyongyang giving up its nuclear ambitions or whether North Korea is merely seeking a propaganda win and a break from years of crippling international sanctions.
"Their short term objectives will be to get some relief from the sanctions," Mr Abrahamin said.
"Many pundits seem vexed that Kim Jong-un will use a summit for propaganda. This should not be a big concern....[it] doesn't mean that the United States is giving approval to its political system, human rights record or weapons programmes," he added.
CIA director
Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended Donald Trump's decision
to meet with Mr Kim, saying the president understands the risks of the talks and the administration had its eyes "wide open" to the challenge of dealing with North Korea.
The US president told supporters at a rally on Saturday that he believed North Korea wanted to "make peace" but said he might leave talks if no progress for nuclear disarmament could be made.
According to US media reports, Mr Trump made the decision to meet Mr Kim without consulting key figures in his administration, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed to reporters the decision was one "the president took himself".
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f38ea6d1d829fe5ff0b1fe1027369d41 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43369179 | Nepal air crash: 49 dead as plane veers off Kathmandu runway | Nepal air crash: 49 dead as plane veers off Kathmandu runway
A plane carrying 71 passengers and crew has crashed on landing at Nepal's Kathmandu airport, killing 49 people, according to police.
Rescuers pulled bodies from the charred wreckage of the plane, operated by Bangladeshi airline US-Bangla, after a raging fire was put out.
The airline has blamed air traffic control, but the airport says the plane approached from the wrong direction.
Flight BS211 veered off the runway while landing on Monday afternoon.
The exact cause of the crash remains unclear and Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli promised an immediate investigation.
However, a recording of the conversation between the pilot and air traffic control minutes before the plane crashed suggests some misunderstanding over which end of the sole runway the plane was cleared to land on.
Moments before the plane crash-landed, an air traffic controller is heard in the recording obtained by the BBC from air traffic monitor LiveATC telling the pilot: "I say again, turn!"
Twenty-two people are being treated in hospital for injuries, police spokesperson Manoj Neupane told the BBC's Nepali service.
The plane, which was flying from the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, was a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop and was 17 years old.
The plane landed at 14:20 local time (08:35 GMT),
according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24
.
"The aircraft was permitted to land from the southern side of the runway flying over Koteshwor, but it landed from the northern side," Sanjiv Gautam, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.
"We are yet to ascertain the reason behind the unusual landing."
However, US-Bangla Airlines chief executive Imran Asif blamed Kathmandu air traffic control.
"There were wrong directions from the tower. Our pilot was not at fault," he told reporters at his office in Dhaka.
"Our pilot is an instructor of this Bombardier aircraft. His flight hours are over 5,000. There was a fumble from the control tower."
Airport general manager Raj Kumar Chettri told Reuters news agency that the plane hit the airport fence before touching ground.
"The plane should have come from the right direction," he said.
One of the survivors, Nepalese travel agent Basanta Bohora, described from his hospital bed what he had experienced.
After a normal take-off from Dhaka, the plane had begun to behave strangely as it approached Kathmandu, he said.
"All of a sudden the plane shook violently and there was a loud bang afterwards,"
he was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.
"I was seated near the window and was able to break out of the window," he added.
"I have no recollection after I got out of the plane, someone took me to Sinamangal hospital, and from there my friends brought me to Norvic [hospital]. I have injuries to my head and legs, but I am fortunate that I survived."
The plane was carrying 67 passengers and four crew.
It is now known that 33 of the passengers were Nepalis, 32 were Bangladeshi, one was Chinese and one was from the Maldives.
Among the 22 people injured, some are in a critical condition.
An airline worker said he saw two or three people fall or jump from the windows of the burning plane.
Its airline companies are banned from flying within the European Union.
There have been many aviation incidents in Nepal, but this is the deadliest since a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed on approach in September 1992, killing all 167 on board.
Earlier that same year, a Thai Airways plane crashed near the airport, leaving 113 people dead.
Pilots say that landing at Kathmandu airport can be challenging because of the mountainous landscape.
Recent aviation incidents in Nepal include:
The carrier launched in July 2014 and its slogan is "Fly Fast, Fly Safe".
Its first international flight was in May 2016 - to Kathmandu.
It now flies to airports in South and South East Asia and the Middle East.
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584333b44630b9be4e53980bff7157c7 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43533138 | Russia and Taliban deny US claims of working together | Russia and Taliban deny US claims of working together
Russia and the Taliban have separately rejected comments made by the head of US forces in Afghanistan that Moscow has been supporting, and even supplying weapons to, the insurgent group.
Gen John Nicholson told the BBC last week he had seen "destabilising activity by the Russians"
.
The Russian embassy in Kabul in a statement dismissed the general's claim as "baseless" and "idle gossip".
A Taliban spokesman said they had not "received assistance from any country".
The spokesman told the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency: "The enemy has no evidence in this regard."
Speaking with the BBC's Justin Rowlett, Gen Nicholson said Russia had been undermining US efforts in the region despite shared interests in fighting terrorism and narcotics.
The US general explained: "We've had weapons brought to this headquarters and given to us by Afghan leaders and [they] said, this was given by the Russians to the Taliban."
American commanders, including Gen Nicholson, have made similar allegations of collusion before, though no confirmed evidence has been made public.
Russia responded to the US general's recent comments by saying: "Once again, we insist that such statements are absolutely baseless and appeal to officials not to talk nonsense."
The embassy said high-ranking officials should back "such serious allegations" with "irrefutable evidence".
Russia has previously said that its limited contacts with the Taliban were aimed at encouraging peace talks and ensuring the safety of Russian citizens.
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b2f31e2a9120cd872f4233940cc4720f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43550938 | Spy poisoning: Nato expels Russian diplomats | Spy poisoning: Nato expels Russian diplomats
Nato is expelling seven Russian diplomats in response to a nerve agent attack in the UK.
The international security organisation's chief said the move would send a message to Russia that there are "costs and consequences" for its behaviour.
Twenty-six countries have expelled Russian envoys in the past two days, in solidarity with the UK.
They all believe Russia was behind the poisoning of two people in Salisbury.
Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned on 4 March in the southern English city, and investigators say a military-grade nerve agent was used.
Russia has denied involvement.
Speaking in Brussels, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said he would also deny pending accreditation for three Russian staff, and would reduce the size of Russia's mission from 30 to 20.
Nato made a similar move in 2015, in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea. Before that, there were 60 Russia personnel at its Belgium headquarters.
Earlier, Russia accused the US of pressuring other countries to join the mass expulsion of its diplomats.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Washington of "colossal blackmail" and said there were "few independent countries" left in modern Europe.
Mr Skripal and his daughter remain stable but critical in hospital.
Mr Lavrov said it was inevitable that there would be a response to the mass expulsion. He singled out the US for blame.
"When one or two diplomats are being expelled from this or that country, all the while whispering apologies in our ear, we know for sure that this is a result of colossal pressure, colossal blackmail, which unfortunately is Washington's main tool now on the international area," he said.
"It is hard to escape a conclusion that we were right when we stressed several times that there remain few independent countries in the modern world, modern Europe."
Russia's foreign ministry is said to be drawing up a number of possible retaliatory measures for President Vladimir Putin to consider.
One Russian senator, Vladimir Dzhabarov, was quoted as saying there would be a "tit-for-tat" response to the US decision to expel 48 envoys at the Russian embassy in Washington and 12 more at the UN in New York.
Mr Lavrov's deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, earlier said a tough response was needed but stressed Moscow would not abandon strategic stability talks with Washington.
A total of 27 nations have now announced the expulsion of more than 140 Russian diplomats.
Moldova, Ireland, Australia and Belgium are the latest countries to act, after the UK made the first move by expelling 23 envoys earlier this month.
Belgium said it would expel one diplomat, having previously indicated it might not take the step because it played host to the headquarters of the EU and Nato. Its announcement came after Nato made its statement.
The majority of the countries making the move are either members of Nato or the EU, or both.
Nato's Mr Stoltenberg said: "The practical implication of course is that Russia will have a reduced capability to do intelligence work."
President of the European Council Donald Tusk said he would not rule out further measures.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has praised the "extraordinary international response" by the UK's allies. He said "the world has had enough" of Russia's behaviour but rejected suggestions a new Cold War was dawning.
EU countries that have said they have no intention of expelling diplomats include Austria, Greece and Portugal, although all have said they support the UK and condemn the poisoning.
Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted that while he backed the EU, "as a neutral country we will not expel any diplomats", preferring to "act as a bridge-builder between East and West".
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it did not have any undeclared Russian intelligence officers, but added: "If we did, we would expel them."
The World Cup starts in Russia in June and the UK said earlier this month it would not send ministers or members of the Royal Family.
On Monday, Iceland said its leaders will not attend the football tournament. Others have mooted the idea.
Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop mooted the possibility of boycotting the World Cup altogether.
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ef64776506f745c96c2b48c0596477d4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43578604 | Malala Yousafzai returns to Pakistan for first time since shooting | Malala Yousafzai returns to Pakistan for first time since shooting
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan for the first time since being shot by Taliban militants.
Ms Yousafzai, now aged 20 and a vocal human rights activist, was shot in the head by a gunman for campaigning for female education in 2012.
In an emotional speech at the prime minister's office, she said it had been her dream to return "without any fear".
Details of the surprise trip are being kept secret for security reasons.
Pakistani television broadcast video showing her arriving with her parents at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport under tight security.
"Always it has been my dream that I should go to Pakistan and there, in peace and without any fear, I can move on streets, I can meet people, I can talk to people," Ms Yousafzai said in a televised address from the PM's house in Islamabad.
"And I think that it's my old home again... so it is actually happening, and I am grateful to all of you."
The trip is expected to last four days. Officials from her Malala Fund group are travelling with her, local media report.
It has not been confirmed if she will visit her family's home region of Swat in the country's rural north-west - once a militant stronghold - during her visit.
Many on Twitter called for a warm welcome for the activist after news of her overnight homecoming broke.
By Haroon Rashid, BBC Urdu editor, Islamabad
Malala's return would have been unthinkable until a couple of years ago, but security is improving after years of Islamist violence.
Her coming back sends a positive message. These days Pakistan's powerful army is keen to demonstrate that life is returning to normal.
Malala knew the longer she stayed away, the more ammunition her critics would have to target her. Although the majority here support her, many in Pakistan's patriarchal society still question her credentials as a campaigner for girls' education.
Conservative men who target her online hate her for following what they see as a Western agenda of female emancipation.
For them, women getting an education is daunting and dangerous, especially in rural areas, where millions of girls drop out of school and end up doing household work. So Malala is up against a difficult male mindset.
At just 11, Ms Yousafzai began writing an anonymous diary for BBC Urdu about her life under Taliban rule.
She later became a vocal advocate of female education amid militant suppression in Pakistan, and was deliberately attacked on a school bus at the age of 15. Malala's story brought international attention.
The Pakistani Taliban said at the time that they had shot her because she was "pro-West" and "promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas".
The teenager sustained life-threatening injuries in the attack, and had to have part of her skull removed to relieve swelling on her brain.
After receiving emergency treatment at a military hospital in Pakistan, she was transported to the UK for further treatment and to recover in Birmingham, where her family continue to live.
Since her recovery, Ms Yousafzai has continued to speak up for children's education and rights around the world.
She set up the Malala Fund with her father Ziauddin, with the goal of "working for a world where every girl can learn and lead without fear".
In 2014 she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She and Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi were jointly awarded it for their efforts for children's rights.
She has continued campaigning while pursuing her studies, and is now studying at Oxford University.
Despite security efforts in recent years, the Pakistani Taliban has remained active.
They have been blamed for a number of deadly attacks on schools and colleges that have killed hundreds.
Ms Yousafzai repeatedly expressed her wishes to return to Pakistan, describing her hometown of Swat as "paradise on earth" in an interview earlier this month.
"I have received a lot of support in my country," she told US talk-show host David Letterman in a Netflix special.
"There is this lust for change. People want to see change in their country. I am already doing work there but I want my feet to touch that land."
Pakistan is religiously conservative and late last year Ms Yousafzai was trolled online after a picture of her in Oxford wearing Western clothes - jeans and heeled boots - was shared on social media.
In 2015 a Pakistani court jailed two men for life for involvement in the attack on Ms Yousafzai. Eight others were acquitted. The man named as the chief suspect is still on the run, the authorities say.
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53441beb78da04948e5469d27acd3689 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43614400 | China hits back with tariffs on US imports worth $3bn | China hits back with tariffs on US imports worth $3bn
China has imposed tariffs of up to 25% on 128 US imports, including pork and wine, after US President Donald Trump raised duties on foreign steel and aluminium imports in March.
The tariffs affecting some $3bn (£2.1bn) of imports kick in on Monday.
Beijing said the move was to safeguard China's interests and balance losses caused by new US tariffs.
China had previously said it did not want a trade war but would not sit by if its economy was hurt
.
Mr Trump, however, has insisted that "trade wars are good", and that it should be "easy" for the US to win one.
The American authorities have already announced plans for further targeted tariffs for tens of billions of dollars of Chinese imports, the BBC's Chris Buckler reports from Washington.
They say that is in response to unfair trading practices in China that affect US companies but it raises the possibility of yet more action being taken in what has become a tit-for-tat trade battle, our correspondent adds.
By Stephen McDonell, BBC News, Hong Kong
China's theft of foreign intellectual property is what sparked all this in the first place, according to Washington. If international companies want to operate in China they must hand over their intellectual property for the privilege, thus delivering the likes of German high-speed rail technology into the hands of Chinese engineers.
Yet now that China's retaliatory tariffs have kicked in, there are also those sympathetic with that argument who are worried that launching a potential tariff war is not the way to fix the problem. Naturally others say China has been getting away with this for years and tough measures were needed in order to force change.
There is also the overall imbalance in US-China trade but a large Chinese surplus, of course, means it is potentially much more exposed during a trade war than America. For this reason Beijing will want to negotiate a way out of this escalating tariff showdown.
Its first set of tariffs are relatively mild but they come in response to the first round of US tariffs and a second has already been announced. There are plenty more American companies to be hit and other nations, especially those in Europe and Asia, could soon find themselves dragged into this conflict.
US scrap aluminium and frozen pork will be subject to a 25% additional tariff - on top of existing duties.
Several other American foods including nuts, fresh and dried fruit, ginseng and wine will be hit by a 15% increase.
Rolled steel bars will likewise see a 15% rise in duties.
China said the new tariffs were a retaliatory measure in light of Mr Trump's decision to raise duties on steel and aluminium imports.
But further tax hikes may lie ahead.
On 22 March, the US said it was planning to impose duties on up to $60bn of Chinese imports
and limit its investment in the US, in retaliation for years of alleged intellectual property theft.
The White House said it was acting to counter unfair competition from China's state-led economy.
It remains to be seen if China will follow its opening gambit with stronger measures.
In theory, Beijing could tax US tech companies like Apple, for example. Such a move could force US tech giants to raise their prices to compensate.
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b72b06a2f546c1474bc1938dfd6b095e | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43901821 | Diplomacy on the menu: How food can shape politics | Diplomacy on the menu: How food can shape politics
From caviar chosen in bad taste to presidents throwing up, food has over the years played a considerable part in diplomatic get-togethers.
World leaders and politicians often work long hours, negotiate difficult situations, spend a lot of time talking to people and maybe even have a few sleepless nights. But certainly, like the rest of us, they always have to eat.
There are two big meetings between leaders this week and a lot of thought has gone into the menus.
North Korea's Kim Jong-un is meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the first talks between the two countries' leaders since 2007. A flat sea fish to remind Mr Moon of his hometown port city of Busan will be served, but so too will Swiss rösti, a nod to the school years Mr Kim is said to have spent in Switzerland.
Over in the US, French President Emmanuel Macron is making the first state visit by a foreign leader under Donald Trump's presidency. The Trumps served up the best of American fare at the state dinner, with a few French touches.
So is serving Mr Kim, who is believed to have a love of French cheese and wine, a Swiss dish a conscious ploy on the part of the South Koreans to win him over?
"It's certainly part of the tactics," says Johanna Mendelson-Forman, an adjunct professor at the American University in Washington DC and an expert in the field of culinary diplomacy.
"The whole menu is fascinating," says research consultant Sam Chapple Sokol, who argues that food at the summit is, literally and figuratively, setting the table for positive discussions.
"Because it calls upon all the regions of both Koreas, it's a unifying menu. So, the goal really seems to be unification on the table."
He points out that the North Korean government has never actually confirmed that Kim Jong-un lived in Switzerland, and so, "it is a little bit of a gamble, and almost an assumption on the part of the menu designers that this is the one Swiss dish to serve".
He adds: "Who knows, maybe he's never had it before, or maybe he's more accustomed to fondue or raclette."
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called food "the oldest diplomatic tool" in fostering relationships. It is used in the hopes of improving co-operation but, as Mr Sokol explains, things don't always go to plan.
In 1992, then US President George HW Bush was visiting Japan as part of an Asia trip. At a state dinner, in between the second course (raw salmon with caviar) and the third (grilled beef with peppery sauce), he made history by becoming the first sitting president to vomit on the prime minister of Japan.
The food was reportedly not to blame, with US media at the time quoting the president's men as saying it was "just the flu".
"There obviously was no malintent there," says Mr Sokol, "but I think that probably set us back a few years and he's still made fun of by people in Japan."
There are other unfortunate diplomatic examples too.
When former US President Barack Obama hosted his French counterpart François Hollande for a state dinner, the White House menu featured caviar from Illinois.
As part of a fancy state affair, this isn't unexpected. But for Mr Hollande, whose socialist government was careful not to spark further French resentment towards the wealthy "caviar left", as they were dubbed, this couldn't have been great for optics back home, according to Mr Sokol.
"Food is a tremendous, tremendous, powerful tool," believes analyst Dr Maria Velez de Berliner. "Whoever controls the access to food, they have control of the room."
This certainly proved true for UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1979. In a European Council meeting with French President Giscard d'Estaing, who wanted to break for dinner, she refused to end the session before a decision was made.
Unsurprisingly, she managed to make Mr d'Estaing more amenable to her proposals as the evening dragged on.
Ms Mendelson-Forman argues that food in diplomatic situations also has the capacity to break down barriers.
"Food humanises people - it humanises your adversaries," she explains.
During the 20 months of negotiations for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, tensions were high and the talks nearly collapsed at least five times, according to the New Yorker.
Negotiators had always eaten separately but on the 4th of July, America's Independence Day, the Iranians extended an invitation for the two sides to break bread together - with no shop talk allowed.
"It was the first time the Iranians and Americans looked at each other differently," says Ms Mendelson-Forman.
"They saw each other as negotiators first," agrees Dr Berliner, "and then they saw each other as people."
Within 10 days an agreement was finally reached, with both experts convinced it was made possible by the Persian meal the two sides had shared and the rapport it had helped foster.
It could be that this spirit will endure this week and in the near future.
The next big unprecedented diplomatic meeting on the calendar is Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un - could what's on their plates shape a breakthrough?
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ea4b1249c180d39a9929c0fb9cd00a26 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43903155 | Kim Jong-un to meet Moon Jae-in at Korean border for summit | Kim Jong-un to meet Moon Jae-in at Korean border for summit
Kim Jong-un is set to become the first North Korean leader to cross into South Korean territory since the end of the Korean War in 1953, as final details are put in place for the summit.
South Korea said President Moon Jae-in would personally meet Mr Kim at the border at 09:30 (00:30 GMT) on Friday.
The historic summit will focus on the North's recent indications it could be willing to give up its nuclear weapons.
Talks are also proposed between Mr Kim and US President Trump by early June.
Mr Kim is set to cross the military demarcation line - a clearly defined marker of the official land border between the territories. He will, however, remain within the Demilitarised Zone.
Seoul has warned reaching an agreement aimed at ridding Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons will be "difficult", because North Korea's nuclear and missile technology has advanced so much since the sides' leaders last met more than a decade ago.
"The difficult part is at what level the two leaders will be able to reach an agreement regarding willingness to denuclearise," South Korean presidential spokesperson Im Jong-seok said.
The meeting - the third of its kind following summits in 2000 and 2007 - is the result of months of improving relations between the two Koreas, and paves the way for a planned meeting between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump.
President Trump cast some doubt on that meeting on Thursday, saying in an interview with Fox News, "maybe the meeting doesn't even take place". He also said he was considering three or four dates as well as five possible locations, if it does go ahead.
Mr Kim announced last week that he would suspend nuclear tests for the time being. The move was welcomed by the US and South Korea as a positive step, although
Chinese researchers have indicated that North Korea's nuclear test site may be unusable
after a rock collapse following its last test in September.
As well as addressing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, the leaders are expected to discuss a path to peace on the peninsula to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, and a series of economic and social issues.
South Korea and the US say they are suspending annual military drills for a day while the summit takes place.
Every detail of the summit has been precisely planned - from the timetable to the dinner menu.
Mr Moon will meet Mr Kim and his delegation of nine officials at the concrete blocks which mark the demarcation line on the border, Mr Im told reporters on Thursday.
South Korean honour guards will then escort the leaders to a welcome ceremony at a plaza in Panmunjom,
a military compound in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two countries.
Official talks between Mr Moon and Mr Kim will begin at 10:30 local time (01:30 GMT) at the Peace House in Panmunjom.
The pair will break after the first session and will have lunch separately - with the delegation from the North crossing back to their side of the border.
At an afternoon ceremony, Mr Moon and Mr Kim will plant a pine tree using soil and water from both countries, to symbolise "peace and prosperity".
Following the tree planting, they will walk together before starting the next round of talks. The summit will conclude with the leaders signing an agreement and delivering a joint statement before dinner.
The banquet will be held on the South side - and a carefully planned menu has already been announced.
Kim Jong-un will be served the Swiss potato dish rösti
- a nod to his time studying in Switzerland - along with the North's signature dish of cold noodles, and a North Korean liquor.
One detail, however, may have been overlooked - or may have been a deliberate move.
Japan objected to the choice of dessert
because of the inclusion on the mango mousse being served of disputed islands on a map of the Korean peninsula. Japan, North Korea and South Korea all claim the islands.
After dinner, the delegations will watch a video called "Spring of One", before Mr Kim returns home.
Mr Kim will be accompanied by nine officials, including his sister,
Kim Yo-jong, who led the North's delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea earlier this year
. Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's nominal head of state, will also attend.
In a rare move - one not seen at previous inter-Korean summits - the delegation will also feature top military officials and diplomats.
South Korean presidential spokesperson Mr Im said he was encouraged by this shift.
"I feel North Korea is sending their key military officials to the summit as they too, believe denuclearisation and peace are important," he said.
"North Korea appears to take into account not only the inter-Korean summit but also the subsequent North-US summit and efforts for international co-operation."
South Korea will send seven officials along with President Moon, including the ministers for defence, foreign affairs and unification. The chairman of South Korea's joint chiefs of staff was a late addition to his entourage.
The summit is the high point after months of improving relations between the two countries, which few would have predicted following years of rising tension.
The rapprochement began in January when
Mr Kim suggested he was "open to dialogue" with South Korea.
The following month the two countries marched under one flag at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
Mr Kim's new appetite for diplomacy led to a meeting with senior South Korean officials in March - the first time officials from Seoul had met the young leader since he came to power in 2011 - to map out details for a meeting with Mr Moon.
Ahead of the summit, North Korean media praised Mr Kim for his work in the talks.
"It is a historic event for national history made possible by our brisk efforts for dialogue and peace," The Rodong Sinmun, official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, said in an editorial.
"Improving North-South relations is a necessary requirement for the achievement of homeland unification," it said.
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046ef70fbf668c34e84c30347a50c379 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43983719 | North Korea-US talks: Who are North Korea's American detainees? | North Korea-US talks: Who are North Korea's American detainees?
Three Americans detained in North Korea are on their way home after being released in what is likely to be a goodwill gesture ahead of unprecedented talks between the leaders of US and North Korea.
US President Donald Trump tweeted: "I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting."
Their release came after a meeting between Mr Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
A White House statement said the three men appeared to be in good health and were able to walk on to their plane unassisted.
The only other US prisoner to be released by North Korea under Donald Trump's presidency was university student Otto Warmbier, who returned to the US in a coma and died days later.
Two of the newly released detainees were jailed in 2017, after Mr Trump became president. Here is what we know about the three men.
Kim Hak-song worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST)
and was held on suspicion of "hostile acts" on 6 May 2017
. He was reportedly detained while in Pyongyang Station.
The university, which mostly teaches the children of North Korea's elite, was founded in 2010 by a Korean-American Christian entrepreneur, with much of the costs funded by US and South Korea Christian charities.
Several foreign lecturers are thought to teach there.
Kim Hak-song had previously described himself as a Christian missionary who intended to start an experimental farm at PUST, Reuters news agency reported, citing an online post by Mr Kim.
He is, reports say, an ethnic Korean born just across the North Korean border in China who emigrated to the US in the 1990s. He is said to have gone on to study agriculture in Yanbian, a Chinese prefecture which borders North Korea, before moving to Pyongyang.
Two weeks before Kim Hak-song was arrested, Kim Sang-duk - also known as Tony Kim -
was detained on espionage charges
.
He was trying to leave the country after spending a month working at PUST. South Korean media said he was 55 and had been involved in humanitarian work in the North.
"Some officials at PUST told me his arrest was not related to his work at PUST," the chancellor of the university, Chan-Mo Park, told Reuters news agency.
"He had been involved with some other activities outside PUST, such as helping an orphanage."
Mr Kim studied accounting at two American universities and had worked as an accountant in the US for more than a decade, his Facebook page says.
He had also taught in Yanbian.
A South Korea-born US citizen, Kim Dong-chul is a pastor in his early 60s.
He was detained in 2015 on spying charges
and sentenced to 10 years' hard labour in 2016
.
Before his trial, he was presented at a government-arranged press conference, where he apparently confessed to stealing military secrets in collusion with South Korea - a claim rejected by Seoul.
In an interview with CNN in January 2016
, Mr Kim said he lived in Fairfax, Virginia.
He said he used to run a trading and hotel services company in Rason, a special economic zone near the border zone in north-east North Korea.
He told CNN he had left a wife and two daughters behind in China, but had had no contact with them since his detention.
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0fa7e5e0e8227e82aa7742dcfafe0fd5 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44036178 | Malaysia election: Opposition scores historic victory | Malaysia election: Opposition scores historic victory
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has scored a historic victory in the general election.
At the age of 92, Mr Mahathir defeated the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has been in power 60 years.
He had come out of retirement to take on his former protege Najib Razak, who has been beset by allegations of corruption and cronyism.
Mr Mahathir told reporters: "We are not seeking revenge, we want to restore the rule of law".
The election commission said Mr Mahathir's opposition alliance had won 115 seats, over the threshold of 112 seats needed to form a government.
He said he hoped a swearing-in ceremony would be held on Thursday. Mr Mahathir will become the oldest elected leader in the world.
A government spokesman later declared nationwide public holidays for Thursday and Friday.
With only a few seats left to count, official results showed Mr Mahathir's Pakatan Harapan alliance, along with an ally in Sabah state, Borneo, had won 115 seats with BN on 79 seats.
Opposition supporters poured on to the streets in celebration as the results became clear.
The campaign pitted Mr Mahathir's opposition group against the BN, led by incumbent Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The BN and its major party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), have dominated Malaysian politics since the country won independence from Britain in 1957, but the once-powerful coalition has seen its popularity decline in recent years.
In the previous election, in 2013, the opposition made unprecedented gains, winning the popular vote, but it failed to win enough seats to form a government.
In a dramatic turn of events, then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced to five years jail on sodomy charges, which he said were part of a political smear campaign.
Mr Mahathir, who was once an integral part of BN and a mentor to Mr Najib,
abandoned the coalition in 2016
.
As he left, he said he was "embarrassed" to be associated with a party "that is seen as supporting corruption".
Mr Najib has been embroiled in a corruption scandal, which saw him accused of pocketing some $700m from the 1Malaysian Development Berhad, a state investment fund. He has vehemently denied all allegations and been cleared by Malaysian authorities.
The fund is still being investigated by several countries and Mr Najib has been accused of stifling Malaysian investigations by removing key officials.
The government recently passed a law redrawing election boundaries, leading to accusations that it had gerrymandered constituencies to ensure they were filled by Malay Muslims, who are traditionally BN supporters.
In the days before the poll, election reform group Bersih 2.0 accused the Election Commission (EC) of multiple "electoral crimes", including irregularities in postal voting and failing to remove dead people from the electoral roll.
A controversial fake news law was also recently introduced, which critics say could be used by the authorities to muffle dissent.
Mr Mahathir is himself being investigated under that law after alleging that his plane had been sabotaged.
The government had insisted the election would be free and fair, with Mr Najib saying that the EC acted "for the good of all".
Voters were electing 222 members of parliament as well as state assembly members in 12 of the 13 states.
Malaysia uses a first-past-the-post electoral system, where the party that gets the most seats in parliament wins even if it does not win the popular vote.
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0231dc14cd03be940f98c6a8fd2343a4 | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44239582 | A war of nerves between Pakistan's military and Sharif | A war of nerves between Pakistan's military and Sharif
Pakistan's oldest and most prestigious newspaper, Dawn, is feeling the squeeze, weeks before a general election.
Its distribution remains suspended across large parts of urban Pakistan that are controlled by the army's real estate giant, the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), as well as in military garrison areas where many civilians live.
And Dawn is not alone.
In March, the country's largest television news network, Geo, was widely blocked by cable providers in military-controlled areas, while elsewhere it was moved lower down the channels list.
Both developments suggest an escalating war of nerves between deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the powerful military.
Pakistan's civilian authorities say they have not ordered them. So
attention turned to the security establishment
.
The action against Dawn comes in the wake of a
Nawaz Sharif interview it published earlier in May
, in which he questioned the wisdom of "allowing" Pakistani militants to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai.
He also asked why Pakistan had not prosecuted the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, who was arrested in Pakistan but has since been surreptitiously released.
The comment was seen as a broadside at the military
, which is widely believed to harbour militants and which Mr Sharif has openly blamed for being behind his disqualification from office last year.
Geo was punished for similar reasons
.
One of its reporters closely followed the corruption case against Mr Sharif, and dug up information that suggested the grounds on which he was disqualified had been "extremely weak".
Critics of the military say it is trying to control the media at a time when its business empire is being challenged on two fronts.
The first was opened by Mr Sharif who, after being ousted by the Supreme Court, has grown increasingly defiant.
This is all the more menacing given that his popularity hasn't shown any visible signs of diminishing, which creates an uncomfortable possibility for the army that he may win the election if not stopped.
The second front is the rise of a grassroots movement from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), the base from which the military has allegedly orchestrated its regional proxy wars.
The Pashtun Tahaffuz (Safety) Movement (PTM) is expressly peaceful but its leaders have inside knowledge of how those proxy wars were orchestrated and what price local people paid. They have been asking uncomfortable questions at mass rallies across the country. An unannounced ban on their coverage is also in force.
So the military faces two opponents at once.
While the PTM has the potential to evolve into a fearsome adversary, the threat posed by Nawaz Sharif is of a more immediate nature.
Loads.
Nawaz Sharif has been prime minister three times since 1990, and his association with power goes back to 1980 when military ruler General Ziaul Haq appointed him finance minister of Punjab.
As such, he is privy to how the military evolved into what some call a "sovereign" entity in its own right.
He was an early ally of the military, and was in the forefront of a political alliance - bringing together ultra-right wing groups and political fronts for militant organisations - that was cobbled together by a former chief of the ISI intelligence service soon after the death of Gen Zia in an air crash in 1988.
Mr Sharif is named among recipients of cash distributed by the ISI
to members of the alliance to fight elections.
He also knows the inside story of the 1999 Kargil war
, when he was prime minister. Pakistan said it was the work of Kashmiri militants, but it was later revealed that Pakistan's army had orchestrated the conflict.
Mr Sharif has indicated on a couple of occasions that the war was planned and executed by then army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf behind his back. But he is yet to come out with the full story.
Analysts believe the war was meant to scupper Mr Sharif's efforts to normalise relations with India. Tensions with Gen Musharraf culminated in the army coup of 1999 in which he was overthrown and exiled.
And Mr Sharif is also privy to the military's strategy of employing militants to wage wars in Afghanistan and India from their sanctuaries in Fata.
But the question is, will Mr Sharif go the whole hog and spill the beans to the military's detriment, especially once his party hands power to a caretaker administration later this month ahead of the general election?
There are high stakes. Since the 1980s,
the military has evolved into the country's largest business empire
, while developing a capacity to control the country's political decision-making.
At home, the military derives its main strength and support by painting India, and at times Western powers such as the US, as a perpetual enemy.
But experience shows that politicians, whenever they were in firm control of affairs, have invariably tried to normalise relations with India.
"This may be one reason why successive civilian governments that warmed to India have been pulled down through covert subversion," says Afrasiab Khattak, a former senator and head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
When civilian governments have been destabilised in the past, religious and militant groups - the judiciary now, too, some would say - as well as "surrogate" politicians have been deployed.
Something similar is happening in Pakistan right now. And Mr Sharif is at the centre of it, threatening the military with uncomfortable truths. Or perhaps seeking a deal.
What is clear is the media are being gagged like never before, and efforts are under way to drive a wedge into Mr Sharif's PML-N party before the elections can be announced.
|
8fabf42ff86f85dee1eb1a762b74161f | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44900507 | Singapore personal data hack hits 1.5m, health authority says | Singapore personal data hack hits 1.5m, health authority says
Hackers have stolen personal data in Singapore belonging to some 1.5 million people, or about a quarter of the population, officials say.
They broke into the government health database in a "deliberate, targeted and well-planned" attack, according to a government statement.
Those targeted visited clinics between 1 May 2015 and 4 July of this year.
Data taken include names and addresses but not medical records, other than medicines dispensed in some cases.
"Information on the outpatient dispensed medicines of about 160,000 of these patients" was taken,
the statement
says.
"The records were not tampered with, ie no records were amended or deleted. No other patient records, such as diagnosis, test results or doctors' notes, were breached. We have not found evidence of a similar breach in the other public healthcare IT systems."
The data of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, including information on his outpatient dispensed medicines, was "specifically and repeatedly targeted". Mr Lee has survived cancer twice.
Singapore, a wealthy city state, prides itself on its stability and security.
It appears that a computer belonging to SingHealth, one of the state's two major government healthcare groups, was infected with malware through which the hackers gained access to the database.
They struck some time between 27 June and 4 July, according to the government.
SingHealth has temporarily banned staff from accessing the internet on all 28,000 of its work computers, according to the Straits Times.
The move is aimed at plugging leaks from work e-mails and shared documents as well as guarding against possible cyber-attacks.
Other public healthcare institutions are expected to do the same.
The government has previously warned of cyber-attacks, saying it has been the target of international hackers, but most attacks were foiled.
It has stepped up measures in recent years, including disconnecting computers for certain key ministries in the civil service from the internet, so that they operate on intranet only.
A cyber-attack last year targeted the defence ministry but only got basic information on military conscripts.
In 2013, Mr Lee's official website was "compromised" by people claiming to be members of the hacking group Anonymous.
The hackers posted an image of a Guy Fawkes mask - the symbol of the Anonymous group - on the prime minister's site with the words: "It's great to be Singaporean today."
Anonymous had earlier threatened to target infrastructure in Singapore in what it said was a protest against licensing regulations on news websites.
Singapore is not the only country to be subjected to high-profile attacks by hacking groups. Others include:
Health records are often targeted because they contain valuable information to governments, says Eric Hoh, the Asia Pacific president of security company FireEye.
"Nation states increasingly collect intelligence through cyber espionage operations which exploit the very technology we rely upon in our daily lives," he says, adding: "Many businesses and governments in South East Asia face cyber threats, but few recognise the scale of the risks they pose."
|
9af774414441011604542893fa12e61d | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45127964 | New Zealand man admits secretly filming 34 women in shower | New Zealand man admits secretly filming 34 women in shower
A New Zealand man has pleaded guilty to filming 34 women at his guesthouse with covert cameras in shampoo bottles.
The man from Hawke's Bay, North Island - who has not been named to protect his wife - made 219 secret recordings from December 2017 to February 2018.
He also admitted posting the videos to a porn site, some with descriptions.
Most of the victims were under 30 and the disguised cameras were placed to film between their shoulders and knees, though faces often came into view.
It is not known if the disguised shampoo bottles were homemade devices or bought online.
The women - who stayed between one night and two weeks - were tracked down by police and said in a statement they felt shocked, ashamed, angered and degraded by the man's actions.
When the man was arrested in February,
he told police he had "done it for the thrill and risk of being caught"
, news outlet Stuff said.
After arranging when the women would use the shower facilities at the homestay he ran, the man would activate the cameras through a remote-control device, the Hastings District Court was told.
He would later remove the shampoo bottles and download the videos onto his computer at night.
Videos were then posted on a porn site, where the man urged viewers to leave positive comments to encourage him to make more recordings.
He shared some of the victims' ethnicities and professions, and also added details about the acts he would like to perform on them and how he had violated their privacy without them knowing.
New Zealand police have since deleted the videos.
The man's lawyer asked the court to protect his client's identity as the man's wife suffers from a health condition which may worsen if he is identified.
Prosecutors opposed this, saying: "There are 34 victims whose most intimate images have been spread all over the world."
Judge Geoff Rea noted the irony, but said he was not prepared to lift the suppression order until he had heard more about the wife's condition.
The man, who pleaded guilty to 69 counts of various charges including making intimate visual recordings and making objectionable publications, was granted bail and will be sentenced in October.
Some charges carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail.
|
1a48c81f6af70d7c55aa4b1baead1c7d | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45161909 | Taliban attack on Afghan city of Ghazni rages for third day | Taliban attack on Afghan city of Ghazni rages for third day
A Taliban attack on Ghazni has continued for a third day - with intense fighting and conflicting claims over who controls the Afghan city.
Mohammad Sharif Yaftali, the Afghan army's chief-of-staff, said the strategic city was not under threat of falling into the militants' hands.
But people inside Ghazni say it has been overrun, with very little still under government control.
The Taliban launched the assault in the early hours of Friday.
By late Friday morning, at least 16 people had been killed and many more injured. Local television station 1TV says the number of fatalities has risen to more than 100, but there is no official confirmation.
News of what exactly is happening in Ghazni, a provincial capital on the key road between Kabul and Kandahar, is difficult to get after the militants damaged a telecommunications tower.
The US military, which has conducted a series of air strikes in order to repel the Taliban fighters, played down the initial attack, telling reporters it was "another failed... attempt to seize terrain".
On Sunday, Lt Col Martin O'Donnell, US Forces Afghanistan spokesperson, said the Afghan army "continue to hold their ground and maintain control of all government centres".
His words were echoed by Gen Yafti, who told reporters: "Strategic locations and centres in the city are under the control of Afghan forces and the Taliban are hiding inside people's homes and shops and resisting."
But a very different picture emerges from inside the city.
Local lawmaker Chaman Shah Ehtemadi told Reuters news agency: "Only the governor's office, police headquarters and intelligence agency's compound are in the hands of the government and Taliban are pushing to take them."
A reporter for news agency AFP in Ghazni said the Taliban were not hiding at all, but roaming across the city, where they are in control of several police checkpoints and have been setting fire to government offices.
There are also reports the road outside the city has been mined, making it difficult for residents to escape.
Abdul Wakil, who had managed to flee, told Reuters: "There was burning and fire and dead bodies everywhere in the city."
The Tolo news agency said an Afghan military convoy on the way to Ghazni from Paktia had been ambushed about 80km from Ghazni city and had not been able to move further forward.
The attack comes as pressure continues on the Taliban to enter peace talks with the Afghan government.
Secret talks were recently held in Qatar between Taliban and US officials after an unprecedented three-day ceasefire during Eid celebrations in June that was largely respected by both sides.
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