Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops

Thai soldiers and members of the media take cover during fighting on the Myanmar side between the Karen National Liberation Army and Myanmar’s troops, which continues near the Thailand-Myanmar border on April 20, 2024. (Reuters)

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Updated 20 April 2024

Reuters

April 20, 2024 05:48

Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops

Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on April 11

Updated 20 April 2024

Reuters

April 20, 2024 05:48

Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern frontier with Thailand on Saturday, witnesses, media and Thailand’s government said, forcing about 200 civilians to flee as rebels pressed to flush out junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.
Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on April 11, dealing a big blow to a well-equipped military that is struggling to govern and is now facing a critical test of its battlefield credibility.
Three witnesses on the Thai and Myanmar sides of the border said they heard explosions and heavy machine gun fire near a strategic bridge from late on Friday that continued into early Saturday.
Several Thai media outlets said about 200 people had crossed the border to seek temporary refuge in Thailand.
Thai broadcaster NBT in a post on social media platform X said resistance forces used 40-milimeter machine guns and dropped 20 bombs from drones to target an estimated 200 junta soldiers who had retreated from a coordinated rebel assault on Myawaddy and army posts since April 5.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports and a Myanmar junta spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he was closely monitoring the unrest and his country was ready to provide humanitarian assistance if necessary.
“I do not desire to see any such clashes have any impact on the territorial integrity of Thailand and we are ready to protect our borders and the safety of our people,” he said on X. He made no mention of refugees.
BIG SETBACK
Myanmar’s military is facing its biggest challenge since first taking control of the former British colony in 1962, caught up in multiple, low-intensity conflicts and grappling to stabilize an economy that has crumbled since a 2021 coup against Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
The country is locked in a civil war between the military on one side and, on the other, a loose alliance of established ethnic minority armies and a resistance movement born out of the junta’s bloody crackdown on anti-coup protests.
The capture of Myawaddy and surrounding army outposts is a significant setback for a junta that has been squeezed by Western sanctions, with the town a key tax revenue source and conduit for more than $1 billion of annual border trade.
The Khaosod newspaper in a post on X showed a video of Myanmar civilians, many of them women and children, being marshalled by Thai soldiers at an entry point to Thailand.
Thailand had on Friday said no refugees had entered the country and it was discussing with aid agencies about increasing humanitarian relief to civilians on the Myanmar side.

Topics: Myanmar Thailand

Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea

Updated 13 sec ago

Ellie Aben

December 02, 2024 20:40

Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea

Manila has faced increasing territorial confrontations in disputed waters
Russia’s Kilo-class submarines are known to be among the stealthiest

Updated 13 sec ago

Ellie Aben

December 02, 2024 20:40

MANILA: A warship and aircraft were deployed by the Philippine military to track a Russian submarine that passed through the South China Sea off the country’s western coast last week, a navy official said on Monday.

The Russian Kilo-class submarine was sighted in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone on Nov. 28, about 80 nautical miles off the western province of Occidental Mindoro, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“At the onset, we were surprised. We were concerned why there was a submarine,” Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the South China Sea, told Arab News.

“We sent four different aircraft over a span of four days, we made several sorties and we also dispatched a frigate, and we established communications.”

The Russian submarine, which identified itself as UFA 490, said it was waiting for improved weather conditions and was en route home to the eastern city of Vladivostok after wrapping up an exercise with the Malaysian navy.

It has since left the Philippines’ EEZ and was moving slowly in surface mode, which was “unusual,” Trinidad said.

Russia’s Kilo-class submarines are considered some of the stealthiest and have been regularly refined since the 1980s.

The Russian Embassy in Manila could not be reached for comment.

The submarine, like other foreign ships, has the right to pass through the Philippines’ EEZ under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea’s freedom of navigation.

But the Russian vessel’s presence still raised concerns in Manila, which has dealt with increasing territorial confrontations in the disputed South China Sea, particularly between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces.

“All of that is very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines, is very worrisome. So yes, it’s just another one,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters on Monday.

The Philippines, China and several other countries have overlapping claims in the disputed waters, a strategic waterway through which billions of dollars of goods pass each year.

Beijing has maintained its expansive claims of the area, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling the historical assertion to it had no basis.

In 2022, China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing. The two countries carried out live-fire naval exercises in the South China Sea in July.

Topics: China Philippines Russia South China Sea

International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

Updated 02 December 2024

December 02, 2024 10:35

International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

Judge Tomoko Akane: ‘The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization’

Updated 02 December 2024

December 02, 2024 10:35

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The president of the International Criminal Court lashed out at the United States and Russia for interfering with its investigations, calling threats and attacks on the court “appalling.”
“The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization,” Judge Tomoko Akane, in her address to the institution’s annual meeting, which opened on Monday.
Akane was referring to remarks made by US Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose Republican party will control both branches of Congress in January, and who called the court a “dangerous joke” and urged Congress to sanction its prosecutor. “To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham said on Fox News.
This marks the first time the global court of justice calls out a sitting leader of a major Western all.
Graham was angered by an announcement last month that judges had granted a request from the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief for crimes against humanity in connection with the nearly 14-month war in Gaza.
The decision has been denounced by critics of the court and given only milquetoast approval by many of its supporters, a stark contrast to the robust backing of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last year over war crimes in Ukraine.
Graham’s threat isn’t seen as just empty words. President-elect Donald Trump sanctioned the court’s previous prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, with a travel ban and asset freeze for investigating American troops and intelligence officials in Afghanistan.
Akane on Monday also had harsh words for Russia. “Several elected officials are being subjected to arrest warrants from a permanent member of the Security Council,” she said. Moscow issued warrants for Khan and others in response to the investigation into Putin.
The Assembly of States Parties, which represents the ICC’s 124 member countries, will convene its 23rd conference to elect committee members and approve the court’s budget against a backdrop of unfavorable headlines.
The ICC was established in 2002 as the world’s permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the most heinous atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. The court only becomes involved when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute those crimes on their territory. To date, 124 countries have signed on to the Rome Statute, which created the institution. Those who have not include Israel, Russia and China.
The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to execute arrest warrants.
US President Joe Biden called the warrants for Netanyahu and the former defense minister “outrageous” and vowed to stand with Israel. A year ago, Biden called the warrant for Putin “justified” and said the Russian president had committed war crimes. The US is not an ICC member country.
France said it would “respect its obligations” but would need to consider Netanyahu’s possible immunities. When the warrant for Putin was announced, France said it would “lend its support to the essential work” of the court. Another member country, Austria, begrudgingly acknowledged it would arrest Netanyahu but called the warrants “utterly incomprehensible.” Italy called them “wrong” but said it would be obliged to arrest him. Germany said it would study the decision. Member Hungary has said it would stand with Israel instead of the court.
Global security expert Janina Dill worried that such responses could undermine global justice efforts. “It really has the potential to damage not just the court, but international law,” she said.
Milena Sterio, an expert in international law at Cleveland State University, told the AP that sanctions against the court could affect a number of people who contribute to the court’s work, such as international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. Clooney advised the current prosecutor on his request for the warrants for Netanyahu and others.
“Sanctions are a huge burden,” Sterio said.
Also hanging heavy over the meeting in the Hague, are the internal pressures that Khan faces. In October, the AP reported the 54-year-old British lawyer is facing allegations he tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her.
Two co-workers in whom the woman confided reported the alleged misconduct in May to the court’s independent watchdog, which says it interviewed the woman and ended its inquiry after five days when she opted against filing a formal complaint. Khan was never questioned. He has denied the claims.
The Assembly of States Parties has announced it will launch an external probe into the allegations. It’s not clear if the investigation will be addressed during the meeting.
The court, which has long faced accusations of ineffectiveness, will have no trials pending after two conclude in December. While it has issued a number of arrest warrants in recent months, many high-profile suspects remain at large.
Member states don’t always act. Mongolia refused to arrest Putin when he visited in September. Sudan’s former President Omar Al-Bashir is wanted by the ICC over accusations related to the conflict in Darfur, but his country has refused to hand him over. Last week, Khan requested a warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, for attacks against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Judges have yet to decide on that request.
“It becomes very difficult to justify the court’s existence,” Sterio said.

Topics: International Criminal Court US Russia

‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

Updated 02 December 2024

AFP

December 02, 2024 10:25

‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

Local media said the match in the southeastern city was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea’s junta leader

Updated 02 December 2024

AFP

December 02, 2024 10:25

CONAKRY: Stampedes at a football match killed 56 people in Guinea’s second-largest city of N’Zerekore, the junta-controlled government said Monday.
“Protests of dissatisfaction with refereeing decisions led to stone-throwing by supporters, resulting in fatal stampedes” at Sunday’s match, the government statement said, which was published as a news ticker on national television.
“Hospital services have put the provisional death toll at 56,” it added.
Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah condemned the “incidents that marred the match between the teams of Labe and N’Zerekore,” in a post on Facebook.
“The government is following the situation and reiterates its call for calm so as not to impede hospital services from aiding the injured,” he added.
Local media said the match in the southeastern city was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea’s junta leader, Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup and has installed himself as president.
Such tournaments have become common in the West African nation as Doumbouya eyes a potential run in presidential elections expected next year and political alliances form.

Topics: football Guinea

Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says

Updated 02 December 2024

Reuters

December 02, 2024 10:00

Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says

US Border Patrol arrested some 47,000 migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in November
At the border with Canada, about 700 migrants were caught crossing illegally, down from 1,300 in October

Updated 02 December 2024

Reuters

December 02, 2024 10:00

WASHINGTON: The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, a senior US border official said, part of a months-long trend that undercuts President-elect Donald Trump’s claim illegal immigration is out of control.
US Border Patrol arrested some 47,000 migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in November, according to a preliminary tally, the US Customs and Border Protection official said on Sunday, requesting anonymity to share unpublished data. The figure is a decrease from nearly 57,000 in October and the lowest monthly total since July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and when Trump was still in office.
At the border with Canada, about 700 migrants were caught crossing illegally, down from 1,300 in October, the official said.
Trump, a Republican who recaptured the White House last month, has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing during Biden’s administration. In a Truth Social post last week, Trump vowed to impose 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada unless the countries stop migrants and illicit fentanyl from entering the US, a move that could trigger a trade war if Trump follows through when he takes office on Jan. 20. In response, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum warned the tariffs would have dire consequences for both countries and suggested possible retaliation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Friday. US arrests of migrants at the Mexico border have fallen dramatically since Biden imposed restrictions in June that blocked most people crossing illegally from claiming asylum. At the same time, Mexico has stepped up immigration enforcement, stopping hundreds of thousands of migrants en route to the US since January.
“We really think these sustained reductions demonstrate the continued success of our work to strengthen international collaboration to address migration,” the official said.
In his Nov. 25 Truth Social post, Trump said a migrant caravan moving through Mexico appeared to be “unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border.”
However, the group, which had totaled several thousand migrants in southern Mexico, has seen its numbers and momentum decrease in recent days.
“Usually by the time they make it even 100 miles (161 km) north into Mexico, they’ve effectively been dissipated by the Mexican government,” the Customs and Border Protection official said.
Biden also has opened up new legal pathways in recent years that have allowed some 1.4 million migrants to enter by air or schedule an appointment to request entry at the US-Mexico border as of October. Trump has criticized Biden’s asylum restrictions, which mirror policies from Trump’s first term, as too lax and is expected to immediately roll back the legal entry programs.
The official said the US had taken steps in November to more quickly return migrants to Canada under an existing “safe third country” asylum agreement, which had led to a dropoff in illegal crossings.

Topics: US Mexico Canada Migration illegal migrants

Thailand, Malaysia brace for fresh wave of floods as water levels ease

Updated 02 December 2024

Reuters

December 02, 2024 08:26

Thailand, Malaysia brace for fresh wave of floods as water levels ease

More than half a million households in the neighboring countries have been hit by torrential rain and flooding

Updated 02 December 2024

Reuters

December 02, 2024 08:26

KUALA LUMPUR/BANGKOK: Malaysia and Thailand are facing a second wave of heavy rain and potential flooding this week, authorities said on Monday, even as some displaced residents were able to return home and the worst floods in decades began receding in some areas.
Since last week, 27 people have died and more than half a million households in the neighboring Southeast Asian countries have been hit by torrential rain and flooding that authorities say have been the most severe in decades.
The immediate situation has improved in some areas and water levels have eased, according to government data on Monday.
In Malaysia, the number of people in evacuation shelters dropped to around 128,000 people, from 152,000 on Sunday, the disaster management agency’s website showed.
The northeastern state of Kelantan, which has been the worst hit, was expected to face a fresh deluge from Dec. 4, the chief minister’s office said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“Although floodwater trends show a slight decrease, (the chief minister) stressed that vigilance measures must remain at the highest level,” the post said.
Meanwhile, in southern Thailand, 434,000 households remain affected, the country’s interior ministry said in a statement on Monday, down by about 100,000 from the weekend.
The government has provided food and supplies for those in the flood-hit areas, the ministry said, adding water levels in seven provinces were decreasing.
Thailand’s Meteorological Department said people in the country’s lower south should beware of heavy to very heavy rains and possible flash flooding and overflows, especially along foothills near waterways and lowlands, between Dec. 3-5.

Topics: Thailand Malaysia weather

Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops

Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops

ASEAN says ‘deeply concerned’ over escalating Myanmar violence

Thai soldiers on alert as Myanmar border clashes enter second day

Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea

Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea

Philippine navy shadows Russian submarine in the South China Sea

China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea

International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russia’s Shoigu and Gerasimov

‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

Gunfire erupts near Guinea’s presidential palace and the military locks down the area

Clash over opening of new mosque injures 59 in Guinea

Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says

Migrant arrests at US borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, senior official says

Influx of migrants at US-Mexico border poses conundrum for Biden

How Trump plans to crack down on immigration during his second term

Thailand, Malaysia brace for fresh wave of floods as water levels ease

Thailand, Malaysia brace for fresh wave of floods as water levels ease

More than 150,000 people displaced as Malaysia faces worst floods in a decade

Thailand flooding kills nine, displaces thousands

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Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops

Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops

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