World News Thread & Breaking News!!

[bd popeye]

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Associated Press/Firdia Lisnawati - Lindsay June Sandiford of Britain, right, listens to her interpreter during her sentencing at a courthouse, in Denpasar, Bali island, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. The Indonesian court sentenced Sandiford to death on Tuesday for smuggling cocaine worth $2.5 million into the resort island of Bali — even though prosecutors had sought only a 15-year sentence. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court sentenced a British grandmother to death on Tuesday for smuggling cocaine worth $2.5 million in her suitcase onto the resort island of Bali — even though prosecutors had sought only a 15-year sentence.

Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, wept when judges handed down the sentence and declined to speak to reporters on her way back to prison, covering her face with a floral scarf. She had claimed in court that she was forced to take the drugs into the country by a gang that was threatening to hurt her children.

Indonesia, like many Asian countries, is very strict on drug crimes, and most of the more than 40 foreigners on its death row were convicted of drug charges.

Sandiford's lawyer said she would appeal, a process that can take several years. Condemned criminals face a firing squad in Indonesia, which has not carried out an execution since 2008, when 10 people were put to death.

A verdict is expected in the trial of Sandiford's alleged accomplice, Briton Julian Anthony Pounder, next Tuesday. He is accused of receiving the drugs in Bali, which has a busy bar and nightclub scene where party drugs such as cocaine and Ecstasy are bought and sold between foreigners. Two other British citizens and an Indian have already been convicted and sentenced to prison in connection with the bust.

In London, British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire told lawmakers Wednesday that the government strongly opposes Sandiford's sentence.

"We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time," he said.

Martin Horwood, a member of Parliament representing Sandiford's Cheltenham constituency in western England, called the sentence a shock and said he would raise the case with Foreign Secretary William Hague.

"The days of the death penalty ought to be past. This is not the way that a country that now values democracy and human rights should really be behaving," Horwood told the BBC.

Harriet McCulloch of human rights charity Reprieve, which is assisting Sandiford, urged the British government to support her appeal.

"Lindsay has always maintained that she only agreed to carry the package to Bali after receiving threats against the lives of her family," McCulloch said. "She is clearly not a drug kingpin — she has no money to pay for a lawyer, for the travel costs of defense witnesses or even for essentials like food and water."

In its verdict, a panel of Denpasar District Court judges concluded that Sandiford had damaged the image of Bali as a tourism destination and weakened the government's drug prevention program.

"We found no reason to lighten her sentence," said Amser Simanjuntak, who headed the judicial panel.

Prosecutors had been seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Sandiford, who was arrested in May when customs officers at Bali's airport discovered 3.8 kilograms (8.4 pounds) of cocaine in the lining of her luggage.

State prosecutor Lie Putra Setiawan told reporters that the verdict was "appropriate," explaining that prosecutors had been demanding 15 years because of Sandiford's age.

Indonesia has 114 prisoners on death row, according to a March 2012 study by Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy. Five foreigners have been executed since 1998, all for drug crimes, according to the institute.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has granted clemency to four drug offenders on death row since he took office in 2004.

The most publicized recent case internationally is that of Schapelle Corby, an Australian convicted of smuggling marijuana in 2005. Her 20-year sentence was reduced last year and she is now eligible for parole, but she remains imprisoned.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

 

[In4ser]

Philippines Takes Territorial Fight with China to International Tribunal


By Jethro Mullen, CNN
January 22, 2013 -- Updated 1011 GMT (1811 HKT)

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Hong Kong (CNN) -- The Philippines raised the stakes in its maritime territorial dispute with China by announcing Tuesday it is taking the case to an international tribunal.

The two Asian nations have been at loggerheads over China's claims of sovereignty over large swathes of the South China Sea, one of several tense disagreements between Beijing and its neighbors over waters in the region.

"The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China," Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario said Tuesday.

As a result, Manila is challenging China's claims, which include the waters off the west coast of the Philippines, at an international arbitration tribunal, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Under International Law, nations generally have the right to ratify treaties in parts – by ratifying treaties with reservations. This is the case with UNCLOS. Neither China nor the Philippines ratified the UNCLOS in full. In fact, few of nations that ratified the UNCLOS did so without some sorts of qualifying statements or declarations. Philippines not sure what the Phillippines is trying to achieve as legally UNCLOS has no authority.

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The Philippines ratified the UNCLOS under these terms:

Understanding made upon signature (10 December 1982) and confirmed upon ratification (8 May 1984) 8/ 9/

1. The signing of the Convention by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines shall not in any manner impair or prejudice the sovereign rights of the Republic of the Philippines under and arising from the Constitution of the Philippines.

2. Such signing shall not in any manner affect the sovereign rights of the Republic of the Philippines as successor of the United States of America, under and arising out of the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United States of America of 10 December 1898, and the Treaty of Washington between the United States of America and Great Britain of 2 January 1930.

3. Such signing shall not diminish or in any manner affect the rights and obligations of the contracting parties under the Mutual Defence Treaty between the Philippines and the United States of America of 30 August 1951 and its related interpretative instruments; nor those under any other pertinent bilateral or multilateral treaty or agreement to which the Philippines is a party.

4. Such signing shall not in any manner impair or prejudice the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines over any territory over which it exercises sovereign authority, such as the Kalayaan Islands, and the waters appurtenant thereto.

5. The Convention shall not be construed as amending in any manner any pertinent laws and Presidential Decrees or Proclamation of the Republic of the Philippines; the Government of the Republic of the Philippines maintains and reserves the right and authority to make any amendments to such laws, decrees or proclamations pursuant to the provisions of the Philippines Constitution.

6. The provisions of the Convention on archipelagic passage through sea lanes do not nullify or impair the sovereignty of the Philippines as an archipelagic State over the sea lanes and do not deprive it of authority to enact legislation to protect its sovereignty, independence and security.

7. The concept of archipelagic waters is similar to the concept of internal waters under the Constitution of the Philippines, and removes straits connecting these waters with the economic zone or high sea from the rights of foreign vessels to transit passage for international navigation.

8. The agreement of the Republic of the Philippines to the submission for peaceful resolution, under any of the procedures provided in the Convention, of disputes under article 298 shall not be considered as a derogation of Philippines sovereignty.

In other words, Philippines subscribes to the UNCLOS to the extent it does not impair Philippine claim to sovereignty in the South China Sea.

China ratified the UNCLOS under these terms:

Upon ratification (7 June 1996)1/:

In accordance with the decision of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China at its nineteenth session, the President of the People’s Republic of China has hereby ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 and at the same time made the following statement:

1. In accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the People’s Republic of China shall enjoy sovereign rights and jurisdiction over an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles and the continental shelf.

2. The People’s Republic of China will effect, through consultations, the delimitation of the boundary of the maritime jurisdiction with the States with coasts opposite or adjacent to China respectively on the basis of international law and in accordance with the principle of equitability.

3. The People’s Republic of China reaffirms its sovereignty over all its archipelagos and islands as listed in article 2 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, which was promulgated on 25 February 1992.

4. The People’s Republic of China reaffirms that the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning innocent passage through the territorial sea shall not prejudice the right of a coastal State to request, in accordance with its laws and regulations, a foreign State to obtain advance approval from or give prior notification to the coastal State for the passage of its warships through the territorial sea of the coastal State.

Declaration made after ratification (25 August 2006)

Declaration under article 298:

The Government of the People’s Republic of China does not accept any of the procedures provided for in Section 2 of Part XV of the Convention with respect to all the categories of disputes referred to in paragraph 1 (a) (b) and (c) of Article 298 of the Convention.

Thus China ratifies the UNCLOS to the extent it does not impinge upon its sovereign claims to all the islands and regions of South China Seas. Also while China will negotiate with all neighbors with which it has territorial disputes on grounds of equity and respect, it does not submit to Article 298 arbitration as provided under the UNCLOS.

Article 2 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the territorial sea and the contiguous zone claims under Chinese sovereignty all territorial land and seas where:

The PRC’s territorial sea refers to the waters adjacent to its territorial land.

The PRC’s territorial land includes the mainland and its offshore islands, Taiwan and the various affiliated islands including Diaoyu Island, Penghu Islands, Dongsha Islands, Xisha Islands, Nansha (Spratly) Islands and other islands that belong to the People’s Republic of China.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Can You Say Political Suicide?

Let elderly people 'hurry up and die', says Japanese minister
Taro Aso says he would refuse end-of-life care and would 'feel bad' knowing treatment was paid for by government
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 January 2013 03.42 EST

Taro Aso referred to elderly patients who are no longer able to feed themselves as 'tube people'. Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images
Japan's new government is barely a month old, and already one of its most senior members has insulted tens of millions of voters by suggesting that the elderly are an unnecessary drain on the country's finances.

Taro Aso, the finance minister, said on Monday that the elderly should be allowed to "hurry up and die" to relieve pressure on the state to pay for their medical care.

"Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government," he said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. "The problem won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die."

Aso's comments are likely to cause offence in Japan, where almost a quarter of the 128 million population is aged over 60. The proportion is forecast to rise to 40% over the next 50 years.

The remarks are also an unwelcome distraction for the new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, whose first period as Japan's leader ended with his resignation after just a year, in 2007, partly due to a string of gaffes by members of his cabinet.

Rising welfare costs, particularly for the elderly, were behind a decision last year to double consumption [sales] tax to 10% over the next three years, a move Aso's Liberal Democratic party supported.

The 72-year-old, who doubles as deputy prime minister, said he would refuse end-of-life care. "I don't need that kind of care," he said in comments quoted by local media, adding that he had written a note instructing his family to deny him life-prolonging medical treatment.

To compound the insult, he referred to elderly patients who are no longer able to feed themselves as "tube people". The health and welfare ministry, he added, was "well aware that it costs several tens of millions of yen" a month to treat a single patient in the final stages of life.

Cost aside, caring for the elderly is a major challenge for Japan's stretched social services. According to a report this week, the number of households receiving welfare, which include family members aged 65 or over, stood at more than 678,000, or about 40% of the total. The country is also tackling a rise in the number of people who die alone, most of whom are elderly. In 2010, 4.6 million elderly people lived alone, and the number who died at home soared 61% between 2003 and 2010, from 1,364 to 2,194, according to the bureau of social welfare and public health in Tokyo.

The government is planning to reduce welfare expenditure in its next budget, due to go into force this April, with details of the cuts expected within days.

Aso, who has a propensity for verbal blunders, later attempted to clarify his comments. He acknowledged his language had been "inappropriate" in a public forum and insisted he was talking only about his personal preference.

"I said what I personally believe, not what the end-of-life medical care system should be," he told reporters. "It is important that you be able spend the final days of your life peacefully."

It is not the first time Aso, one of Japan's wealthiest politicians, has questioned the state's duty towards its large elderly population. In 2008, while serving as prime minister, he described "doddering" pensioners as tax burdens who should take better care of their health.

"I see people aged 67 or 68 at class reunions who dodder around and are constantly going to the doctor," he said at a meeting of economists. "Why should I have to pay for people who just eat and drink and make no effort? I walk every day and do other things, but I'm paying more in taxes."

He had already angered the country's doctors by telling them they lacked common sense, made a joke about Alzheimer's patients, and pronounced "penniless young men" unfit for marriage.

In 2001, he said he wanted Japan to become the kind of successful country in which "the richest Jews would want to live".

He once likened an opposition party to the Nazis, praised Japan's colonial rule in Taiwan and, as foreign minister, told US diplomats they would never be trusted in Middle East peace negotiations because they have "blue eyes and blond hair".

While figures released on Monday showed a record 2.14 million Japanese were receiving welfare in October 2012, Aso has led a life of privilege few of his compatriots could hope to match.

He is the grandson of Shigeru Yoshida, an influential postwar prime minister, and is married to the daughter of another former premier.

While campaigning for the premiership in 2008, Aso refused to acknowledge the use of hundreds of allied prisoners of war by his family's coal mining business during the second world war. He served as president of the firm's successor, Aso Cement, from 1973-79.

23% of the Japanese Population was over 65 years old as of 2010... I think the Voters might just like him too take his own advice. He is 72 years old after all.

 

[plawolf]

Philippines Takes Territorial Fight with China to International Tribunal


By Jethro Mullen, CNN
January 22, 2013 -- Updated 1011 GMT (1811 HKT)

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Hong Kong (CNN) -- The Philippines raised the stakes in its maritime territorial dispute with China by announcing Tuesday it is taking the case to an international tribunal.

The two Asian nations have been at loggerheads over China's claims of sovereignty over large swathes of the South China Sea, one of several tense disagreements between Beijing and its neighbors over waters in the region.

"The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China," Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario said Tuesday.

As a result, Manila is challenging China's claims, which include the waters off the west coast of the Philippines, at an international arbitration tribunal, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Philippines would appear to need better lawyers than what they've got since they didn't seem to have read what the Philippines themselves agreed to when they ratified UNCLOS, as In4ser has already addressed very well, or could it possibly be just another pointless publicity stunt?

The main reason the Philippines is making this move is because full well China will never agree, and probably also because they expect the US to be massively biased towards them and use its clout to pressure those countries that have actually ratified UNCLOS to support the Philippines.

Just because someone wants to go to court does not by any stretch of the imagination mean they have a point. There are plenty of frivolous lawsuits and ambulance chasers when states bring cases against each other in front of international ruling bodies.

 

[joshuatree]

The Philippines would appear to need better lawyers than what they've got since they didn't seem to have read what the Philippines themselves agreed to when they ratified UNCLOS, as In4ser has already addressed very well, or could it possibly be just another pointless publicity stunt? ...

Aside from the points already made on the declarations, I also wonder if this filing even makes legal sense because there's also at least Vietnam and Malaysia with overlapping claims. How can an arbitration even occur without serving the remaining claimants papers? Assuming an arbitration did occur, how can a panel even decide over areas that the other parties were not given a chance to speak up about? From a purely court perspective, it would seem the filing is incomplete and would not proceed further.

 

[icbeodragon]

The Philippines would appear to need better lawyers than what they've got since they didn't seem to have read what the Philippines themselves agreed to when they ratified UNCLOS, as In4ser has already addressed very well, or could it possibly be just another pointless publicity stunt?

The main reason the Philippines is making this move is because full well China will never agree, and probably also because they expect the US to be massively biased towards them and use its clout to pressure those countries that have actually ratified UNCLOS to support the Philippines.

Just because someone wants to go to court does not by any stretch of the imagination mean they have a point. There are plenty of frivolous lawsuits and ambulance chasers when states bring cases against each other in front of international ruling bodies.

we'll see, apparently they think they have a case.

There is a large possibility this will once again make China look like the bad guy on the world stage (lets face it, with these claims China makes it easy for them, that 9 dashed line is an absolute public relations disaster.)

People love an underdog, and the Philippines is clearly the underdog. There is something inherently laughable hearing it is the small Philippines with a small under-powered navy who is bullying China.

 

[joshuatree]

By Michelle Nichols
Reuters | Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:58pm EST

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The United Nations is planning to consider later this year the scientific validity of a claim by China that a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea are part of its territory, although Japan says the world body should not be involved.

 

[plawolf]

we'll see, apparently they think they have a case.

They have no case, but they have nothing to loose either. Its just a PR stunt done for the attention.

People love an underdog, and the Philippines is clearly the underdog. There is something inherently laughable hearing it is the small Philippines with a small under-powered navy who is bullying China.

The Philippines is banking on precisely that to harass China. It's like an adolescent kid harassing an adult. The kid knows that even though the adult can beat the crap out of him with little effort, it wouldn't look good. The kid also happens to be the nephew of the only Sheriff in town, so he thinks he can poke and harass and try to pick the pocket of the adult with impunity since the Sheriff ain't going to do anything to him.

 

[ManilaBoy45]

President Accuses China of Turning Away Fishing Boats from Disputed Shoal

Published January 26, 2013
Associated Press

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MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on Saturday accused Chinese vessels of preventing Filipino fishing boats from seeking shelter at a disputed South China Sea shoal in new incidents that he said prompted his government to elevate the case to international arbitration.


Aquino told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that the incidents took place recently at the Scarborough Shoal near the western coast of the northern Philippines. He said in one incident Chinese vessels got within 10 meters (yards) of two fishing boats and sounded their horns at full blast, and on another occasion two other Philippine boats were ordered out of the shoal despite bad weather.

 

[ManilaBoy45]

Palace Confirms Killing of Indonesian, Malaysian Terror Suspects

By Michael Lim Ubac in Manila/Philippine Daily Inquirer | Asia News Network – 1 hour 47 minutes ago

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Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The Philippine Palace yesterday confirmed that government forces "successfully neutralised" two members of the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in separate incidents in Mindanao last year.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigal Valte identified the two as Ibnu Gholib al-Jitli, alias Ustadz Sanusi, an Indonesian, and Noor Fikrie Kahar, a Malaysian.

She said the killing of the two sent a clear message to foreign terrorists that the Philippines was no longer a safe haven for them.