China's Air Force part of joint patrol over S China Sea
Published: China Daily
08 Feb 2018
The Chinese air force recently sent its Su-35 fighter jets to take part in a joint combat patrol over the South China Sea, the air force said in a release on Wednesday afternoon. This is the first time the People's Liberation Army Air Force has made public the deployment of its Su-35s, built by Russia's Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association and introduced to China in late 2016. The air force did not reveal when the patrol took place. Click here to read...
Japan bolsters maritime defense in southern territory
Published: The Philippine Star
09 Feb 2018
ISHIGAKI Island, Okinawa — Learning from the Philippine experience with China in the South China Sea, Japan has started bolstering its maritime defenses in this southernmost maritime territory. Yoshitaka Nakayama, mayor of this island city whose territorial and maritime jurisdictions cover the Senkaku group of islands currently being claimed by China, said they don’t want the Spratly experience repeated in Japan.Click here to read...
LDP body pushing for Article 9 revision draft within month
Published: The Mainichi, Japan
08 Feb 2018
A ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) body will aim to draft a revision proposal for the Constitution's pacifist Article 9 as early as this month in line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's suggestion to define the existence of Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in the supreme law.
Article 9 currently has two paragraphs, the first renouncing "war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes," and the second declaring Japan will never maintain "war potential" such as land, sea and air forces.
Click here to read...
Indonesia to help Myanmar deal with terrorism
Published: Channel NewsAsia
08 Feb 2018
Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Security, Law and Political Affairs Wiranto said Jakarta will help Myanmar in coping with the possible emergence of terrorism in that country, Antara news agency reported on Wednesday (Feb 7).
Myanmar has voiced concern over the threat of Islamic State-linked militants slipping into the country alongside the return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, Wiranto said. "We want to help by sharing our knowledge and experience to prevent terrorists from establishing new bases in the region," he said on Wednesday.Click here to read...
UN Security Council told Maldives crisis may get worse
Published: The Straits Times
09 Feb 2018
A senior United Nations official warned the Security Council on Thursday (Feb 8) that the situation in the Maldives where the president has declared a state of emergency may deteriorate even further. The top UN body met behind closed doors to discuss the crisis sparked by President Abdulla Yameen's decision to arrest judges who had ordered the release of his political opponents.Click here to read...
Maldives gov't invites int'l development partners to assess current situation
Published: Xinhua
08 Feb 2018
The Maldivian government has invited its foreign development partners to visit the island country to assess the current situation, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The foreign ministry assured the international community that despite the declaration of the state of emergency on Feb. 5, no curfew had been imposed and general movement of people, services and businesses would not be affected.Click here to read...
Nepal’s Leftists set to form govt
Published: The Tribune
09 Feb 2018
Nepal’s Communist parties today secured an overwhelming majority in the Upper House of Parliament with 39 seats, paving the way for the Leftist alliance to form the country’s next government led by its leader KP Sharma Oli.
The election for 56 seats of the National Assembly—the Upper House of Parliament—was conducted peacefully in all six provinces with a huge voter turnout of over 99 per cent yesterday.Click here to read...
Bangladesh ex-PM Zia gets 5-year RI in graft case
Published: The Tribune
09 Feb 2018
Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was today sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment for corruption, a body blow for the main Opposition leader who may be disqualified from contesting the next election in December, as thousands of her supporters staged protests against her jailing.Click here to read...
