Philippines, Australia sign strategic partnership deal

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pose for a photo after signing the Memorandum of Understanding during his visit at the Malacanang Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines, September 8, 2023. (REUTERS)
Short Url
Updated 08 September 2023
Follow

Philippines, Australia sign strategic partnership deal

  • The Philippines sought the arbitration after China forcibly took control of a disputed shoal after a tense 2012 sea standoff

MANILA: Australia and the Philippines elevated their seven-decade ties to a strategic level on Friday to broaden an alliance underpinned by their rejection of China’s increasingly provocative actions in the disputed South China Sea.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Philippine President  Marcos Jr. signed the pact upgrading their ties in Manila.
They also agreed to hold an annual meeting of their defense chiefs.
Aside from an aim to further boost trade and economic engagement, Albanese said their countries “have common views about the need to uphold international law, and Australia’s position on that will continue to be consistent, as we have always been, including recently over issues relating to the South China Sea.”

SPEEDREAD

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the two countries as ‘great friends’ and expressed hope that his visit would help take the relationship ‘to an even higher level.’

China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, have been locked in a decadeslong territorial standoff in the disputed waterway.
It’s a key passageway for global trade and is regarded as an Asian flashpoint.
It’s also where China has repeatedly had tense face-offs with Philippine vessels.
Marcos said he and Albanese “acknowledge that our shared values, the democratic principles and mutual respect for international law, have been instrumental in fostering a strong partnership.”
Marcos said: “Our commitment to these ideals has guided our path forward as we address the complex challenges facing our region and the world at large.”
Albanese described the two countries as “great friends” and expressed hope that his visit would help take the relationship “to an even higher level.”
In just-concluded summit talks attended by Albanese, Marcos, and several other Western and Asian leaders on Thursday in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, the Australian premier underscored Canberra’s recognition of — and the need to uphold — a 2016 arbitration ruling by a tribunal set up under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea that invalidated China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea on historical grounds.
The Philippines sought the arbitration after China forcibly took control of a disputed shoal after a tense 2012 sea standoff.
China did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its outcome as a sham, and continues to violate it.
Marcos thanked Albanese for renewing Australia’s position during the Jakarta summit talks, where Chinese Premier Li Qiang was also in attendance.
“You have made very clear that the claims that are being made upon our Philippine maritime territory are not valid and have not been recognized, and not in conjunction or consistent with international law,” Marcos said. “To have friends like you and partners like you, especially on that subject, is very gratifying and encourages us to continue down that path.”
Australia, along with the US and Japan, immediately condemned an Aug. 5 action by a Chinese coast guard ship that used a water cannon to block a Philippine boat delivering food and other supplies to Filipino forces stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal.
China also claims the atoll and has surrounded it with Chinese coast guard ships and militia vessels in a yearslong standoff.
While Albanese and Marcos were meeting Friday in Manila, two Philippine supply boats en route to the Second Thomas Shoal were blocked by a Chinese coast guard ship and other Chinese vessels, but managed to breach the blockade and reached the Filipino sailors stationed in a long-marooned and rusting navy ship, Philippine security officials said.
The Philippine government condemned the Chinese coast guard’s actions and vowed it would not be deterred by the aggression and continue the supply missions.
An inter-agency government body dealing with the territorial disputes said it “strongly deplores and condemns the continued illegal, aggressive, and destabilizing conduct of the Chinese coast guard and Chinese maritime militias within our nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone.”

 


South Korean court issues arrest warrant for ex-president Yoon again

Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

South Korean court issues arrest warrant for ex-president Yoon again

  • Yoon plunged South Korea into a political crisis when he sought to subvert civilian rule on December 3, sending troops to prevent lawmakers voting down his declaration of martial law
SEOUL: A South Korean court on Thursday issued a fresh arrest warrant for former president Yoon Suk Yeol, enabling prosecutors to forcibly bring him in for questioning after he refused to appear at his summons multiple times.
The special counsel investigating Yoon and his wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, said in a statement that “an arrest warrant has been issued today for former president Yoon Suk Yeol.”
Yoon plunged South Korea into a political crisis when he sought to subvert civilian rule on December 3, sending troops to parliament in a bid to prevent lawmakers voting down his declaration of martial law.
He became the first sitting president in the country to be taken into custody when he was detained in January after resisting arrest for weeks, using his presidential security detail to thwart investigators.
He was released on procedural grounds in March while his insurrection trial continued, but was detained again early July over concerns he might destroy evidence related to the case.
Prosecutors investigating allegations of parliamentary election tampering summoned Yoon for questioning — but he failed to appear, with his lawyers citing health issues.
On Wednesday, they filed a renewed request for a detention warrant.
Now that the warrant has been issued, prosecutors are authorized to enter Yoon’s current detention facility and compel him to appear for questioning.
Legal troubles are also mounting for Yoon and his wife in cases unrelated to his martial law attempt.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that a shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, received a diamond necklace and a luxury designer handbag from a senior official of the Unification Church and passed them on to Kim.

‘Chamber of horrors’ being exhumed at Ireland mass baby grave

Updated 45 min 33 sec ago
Follow

‘Chamber of horrors’ being exhumed at Ireland mass baby grave

  • The burial site has forced Ireland and the Catholic Church to reckon with a legacy of having shunned unmarried mothers and separated them from their children left at the mercy of a cruel system

TUAM: Only one stone wall remains of the old mother and baby home in this town, but it has cast a shadow over all of Ireland.
A mass grave that could hold up to nearly 800 infants and young children — some of it in a defunct septic tank — is being excavated on the grounds of the former home run by the Bon Secours Sisters, an order of nuns.
The burial site has forced Ireland and the Catholic Church — long central to its identity — to reckon with a legacy of having shunned unmarried mothers and separated them from their children left at the mercy of a cruel system.
The grave was accidentally discovered by two boys a half century ago. But the true horror of the place was not known until a local historian began digging into the home’s history.
Catherine Corless revealed that the site was atop a septic tank and that 796 deceased infants were unaccounted for. Her findings caused a scandal when the international news media wrote about her work in 2014.
When test excavations later confirmed an untold number of tiny skeletons were in the sewage pit, then-Prime Minister Enda Kenny called it a “chamber of horrors.”
Pope Francis later apologized for the church’s “crimes” that included forced separations of unwed mothers and children. The nuns apologized for not living up to their Christianity.
A cold, cramped and deadly place
The homes were not unique to Ireland and followed a Victorian-era practice of institutionalizing the poor, troubled and neglected children, and unmarried mothers.
The Tuam home was cold, crowded and deadly. Mothers worked there for up to a year before being cast out — almost always without their children.
Corless’ report led to a government investigation that found 9,000 children, or 15 percent, died in mother and baby homes in the 20th century. The Tuam home — open from 1925 to 1961 — had the highest death rate.
Corless said she was driven to expose the story “the more I realized how those poor, unfortunate, vulnerable kids, through no fault of their own, had to go through this life.”
Discovering deeply held secrets
Corless’ work brought together survivors of the homes and children who discovered their own mothers had given birth to long-lost relatives who died there.
Annette McKay said there’s still a level of denial about the abuse, rape and incest that led some women to the homes while fathers were not held accountable.
“They say things like the women were incarcerated and enslaved for being pregnant,” McKay said. “Well, how did they get pregnant? Was it like an immaculate conception?”
Her mother ended up in the home after being raped as a teenager by the caretaker of the industrial school where she had been sentenced for “delinquency” after her mother died and father, a British soldier, abdicated responsibility.
Her mother, Margaret “Maggie” O’Connor, only revealed her secret when she was in her 70s, sobbing hysterically when the story finally came out.
Six months after giving birth in Tuam in 1942, O’Connor was hanging laundry at another home where she had been transferred when a nun told her, “the child of your sin is dead.”
She never spoke of it again.
Some 20 years later, a Sunday newspaper headline about a “shock discovery” in Tuam caught McKay’s attention. Among the names was her long-lost sister, Mary Margaret O’Connor, who died in 1943.
Shame’s long shadow
Barbara Buckley was born in the Tuam home in 1957 and was 19 months old when she was adopted by a family in Cork.
She was an adult when a cousin told her she’d been adopted and was later able to find her birth mother through an agency.
Her mother came to visit from London for two days in 2000 and happened to be there on her 43rd birthday, though she didn’t realize it.
“I found it very hard to understand, how did she not know it was my birthday?” Buckley said. “Delving deep into the thoughts of the mothers, you know, they put it so far back. They weren’t dealing with it anymore.”
She said her mother had worked in the laundry and was sent away after a year, despite asking to stay longer. Her lasting memory of the place was only being able to see the sky above the high walls.
At the end of their visit, her mother told her it had been lovely to meet her and her family, but said she’d never see her again.
Buckley was devastated at the rejection and asked why.
“She said, ‘I don’t want anyone finding out about this,’” Buckley said. “Going back to 1957 — and it was still a dark secret.”
Luck of the Irish
Pete Cochran considers himself one of the lucky ones.
He was 16 months old when he got out of the home and was adopted by a family in the US, where he avoided the stigma that would have dogged him as a so-called illegitimate child in his homeland.
During his visit to Tuam before the dig began, a man from town told him at a bar: “I respect you now, but growing up, I used to spit on you because that’s what I was taught.”
Cochran hopes the dig turns up few remains.
“I hope they don’t find 796 bodies,” he said. “That all these children were adopted and had a good life like I did.”
McKay has had the same hope for her sister. But even if they found a thimble full of her remains, she’d like to reunite her with her mom, who died in 2016.
“The headstone hasn’t got my mother’s name on it because I fought everybody to say I refuse to put my mom’s name on until she can have her child with her,” McKay said.


Ukraine’s parliament to consider restoring power of anti-graft agencies

Updated 57 min 34 sec ago
Follow

Ukraine’s parliament to consider restoring power of anti-graft agencies

  • Thousands of protesters rallied in Kyiv and other cities in recent days after lawmakers led by Zelensky’s ruling party rushed through amendments last week defanging the respected agencies
  • Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday are expected to consider a bill restoring the independence of the country’s two main anti-corruption agencies

KYIV: Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday are expected to consider a bill restoring the independence of the country’s two main anti-corruption agencies, aiming to defuse a political crisis that has shaken faith in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime leadership. Thousands of protesters rallied in Kyiv and other cities in recent days in a rare show of discontent after lawmakers led by Zelensky’s ruling party rushed through amendments last week defanging the respected agencies.
Zelensky reversed course after the outcry and under pressure from top European officials, who warned Ukraine was jeopardizing its bid for EU membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities. Demonstrations had continued even after he submitted the new bill restoring their independence, with hundreds rallying near the presidential administration in Kyiv late on Wednesday to chants of “Shame!” and “The people are the power!.”
“I really want parliament to vote (for the new measure) just as quickly as it did last time,” said protester Kateryna Kononenko, 36, referring to last week’s fast-tracked approval of the controversial amendments.
Activists also called for demonstrations near parliament ahead of Thursday’s vote in an attempt to pressure lawmakers to approve the new bill.
Eradicating graft and shoring up the rule of law are key requirements for Kyiv to join the EU, which Ukrainians see as critical to their future as they fend off a Russian invasion.
Last week’s amendments had given Zelensky’s hand-picked general prosecutor the power to transfer cases away from the anti-graft agencies and reassign prosecutors — a step critics had said was designed to protect allies from prosecution.
While much smaller, the rallies of the past week have sparked comparisons to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution, when protesters toppled a president they accused of corruption and heavy-handed rule. More than two-thirds of Ukrainians support the recent protests, according to a recent survey by Ukrainian pollster Gradus Research.
Corruption Fighters 
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have stepped up a closely watched campaign against graft since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
They have produced charges against lawmakers and senior government officials, including a then-deputy prime minister who was accused last month of taking a $345,000 kickback. Speaking to Reuters last Friday, after Zelensky’s reversal, NABU chief Semen Kryvonos said he expected pressure against his agency to continue, fueled by what he described as corrupt forces uninterested in cleaning up Ukraine.
He added that he and other anti-corruption officials felt a greater sense of responsibility following the protests, but also called on the country’s leadership to help their effort.
“This responsibility must be shared with the government, which needs to react and say, ‘Okay, there’s corruption here — let’s destroy it.’“


Trump says Canada’s Palestine statehood stance may hurt trade deal

Updated 31 July 2025
Follow

Trump says Canada’s Palestine statehood stance may hurt trade deal

  • Trump says Canada’s Palestine statehood stance may hurt trade deal

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday it will be difficult to make a trade deal with Canada after the country announced it is backing Palestinian statehood.
Canadian Prime Minster Mark Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carney announced on Wednesday Canada is planning to
recognize
the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September
Canada’s announcement follows France and Britain in recognizing a Palestinian state.
Israel and its closest ally, the US, both rejected Carney’s statements.
Canada and the US are working on negotiating a trade deal by August 1, the date Trump is threatening to impose a 35 percent tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Carney said on Wednesday that
tariff negotiations
with US President Donald Trump’s administration have been constructive, but the talks may not conclude by the deadline.


‘Silent killer’: the science of tracing climate deaths in heatwaves

Updated 31 July 2025
Follow

‘Silent killer’: the science of tracing climate deaths in heatwaves

  • Science can show that human-caused climate change is making heatwaves hotter and more frequent
  • Unlike floods and fires, heat kills quietly, with prolonged exposure causing heat stroke, organ failure, and death

PARIS: A heatwave scorching Europe had barely subsided in early July when scientists published estimates that 2,300 people may have died across a dozen major cities during the extreme, climate-fueled episode.
The figure was supposed to “grab some attention” and sound a timely warning in the hope of avoiding more needless deaths, said Friederike Otto, one of the scientists involved in the research.
“We are still relatively early in the summer, so this will not have been the last heatwave. There is a lot that people and communities can do to save lives,” Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, told AFP.
Heat can claim tens of thousands of lives during European summers but it usually takes months, even years, to count the cost of this “silent killer.”
Otto and colleagues published their partial estimate just a week after temperatures peaked in western Europe.
While the underlying methods were not new, the scientists said it was the first study to link heatwave deaths to climate change so soon after the event in question.
Early mortality estimates could be misunderstood as official statistics but “from a public health perspective the benefits of providing timely evidence outweigh these risks,” Raquel Nunes from the University of Warwick told AFP.
“This approach could have transformative potential for both public understanding and policy prioritization” of heatwaves, said Nunes, an expert on global warming and health who was not involved in the study.

Science can show, with increasing speed and confidence, that human-caused climate change is making heatwaves hotter and more frequent.
Unlike floods and fires, heat kills quietly, with prolonged exposure causing heat stroke, organ failure, and death.
The sick and elderly are particularly vulnerable, but so are younger people exercising or toiling outdoors.
But every summer, heat kills and Otto — a pioneer in the field of attribution science — started wondering if the message was getting through.
“We have done attribution studies of extreme weather events and attribution studies of heatwaves for a decade... but as a society we are not prepared for these heatwaves,” she said.
“People think it’s 30 (degrees Celsius) instead of 27, what’s the big deal? And we know it’s a big deal.”
When the mercury started climbing in Europe earlier this summer, scientists tweaked their approach.
Joining forces, Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine chose to spotlight the lethality — not just the intensity — of the heat between June 23 and July 2.
Combining historic weather and published mortality data, they assessed that climate change made the heatwave between 1C and 4C hotter across 12 cities, depending on location, and that 2,300 people had likely perished.
But in a notable first, they estimated that 65 percent of these deaths — around 1,500 people across cities including London, Paris, and Athens — would not have occurred in a world without global warming.
“That’s a much stronger message,” said Otto.
“It brings it much closer to home what climate change actually means and makes it much more real and human than when you say this heatwave would have been two degrees colder.”

The study was just a snapshot of the wider heatwave that hit during western Europe’s hottest June on record and sent temperatures soaring to 46C in Spain and Portugal.
The true toll was likely much higher, the authors said, noting that heat deaths are widely undercounted.
Since then Turkiye, Greece and Bulgaria have suffered fresh heatwaves and deadly wildfires.
Though breaking new ground, the study has not been subject to peer review, a rigorous assessment process that can take more than a year.
Otto said waiting until after summer to publish — when “no one’s talking about heatwaves, no one is thinking about keeping people safe” — would defeat the purpose.
“I think it’s especially important, in this context, to get the message out there very quickly.”
The study had limitations but relied on robust and well-established scientific methodology, several independent experts told AFP.
Tailoring this approach to local conditions could help cities better prepare when heatwaves loom, Abhiyant Tiwari, a health and climate expert who worked on India’s first-ever heat action plan, told AFP.
“I definitely see more such studies coming out in the future,” said Tiwari from NRDC India.
Otto said India, which experiences tremendously hot summers, was a “prime candidate” and with a template in place it was likely more studies would soon follow.