[Korea] N. Korea Fires Four Short-Range Missiles In A Day Last Updated: Jul 2 2009 6:34AM SEOUL - North Korea on Thursday test-fired four short-range missiles, South Korean military officials said, further fuelling tension sparked by its nuclear standoff with the international community. The missiles -- apparently surface-to-ship ones -- were fired into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) between 5:20 pm (0820 GMT) and 9:20 pm, defense ministry officials were quoted saying by Yonhap news agency. All were fired from a base at Sinsang-ri, near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, a spokesman was quoted as saying. Other officials told the agency on condition of anonymity they landed about 100 kilometers off the coast, where the North has imposed a maritime ban until July 11 for what it calls a military drill. Spokesmen from the defense ministry confirmed the first three firings to AFP but could not be reached for comment on the fourth.   Japan May Deploy Troops Near Disputed Islands Last Updated: Jul 2 2009 6:32AM TOKYO – Japan's defense ministry is considering deploying troops on an island in the East China Sea near a group of islets that is claimed by Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei, according to a ministry spokesman. "We are studying (the deployment) so that it could be included in the planned year-end revision of the basic defense program," the official said, confirming a news report on the plan to send an army unit to Yonaguni island. Yonaguni is located 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Taiwan and 170 kilometers south of the uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.   Pakistani Army City Hit By Bomb Last Updated: Jul 2 2009 6:30AM At least one person has been killed in a suicide attack on a bus carrying government employees in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, police say. The blast also injured about 29 people, four of them critically. It is said to have taken place at a main intersection in the northern garrison city. The bus is reported to have belonged to Pakistan's main weapons manufacturer. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The past year has seen a sharp increase in suicide bombings. Nasir Khan Durrani, Rawalpindi's police chief, initially said at least five people had been killed, but later revised that figure to one on the basis of new information from the hospital.   Malaysia's Anwar Loses Appeal Ahead Of Sodomy Trial Last Updated: Jul 2 2009 6:28AM KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has lost a final bid to have his sodomy trial held in a lower court, ending a long wrangle over where the case should be heard, his lawyer said on Thursday. The Court of Appeal rejected the application and affirmed an earlier decision that the politically charged case should be heard in the High Court. The trial is due to start July 8. Amid widespread doubts over the standards of Malaysia's judiciary, Anwar's supporters have said they fear authorities will be able to manipulate the case more easily in the High Court. "The decision is not appealable. I am most disappointed with the decision today," his lawyer Sankara Nair told AFP. Anwar, 61, has repeatedly rejected sodomy allegations leveled by a 23-year-old former aide – the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago – as a government conspiracy to derail his plan to topple the ruling coalition. Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is illegal in predominantly Muslim Malaysia and carries a penalty of 20 years' imprisonment.   Philippine Ex-President Aquino In Stable Condition Last Updated: Jul 2 2009 6:27AM MANILA, Philippines – Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who has cancer, left the intensive care unit and was in stable condition, her spokeswoman said Thursday, as prayers for her recovery poured in from friends and even political enemies. The 76-year-old democracy icon was admitted to the ICU of the Makati Medical Center last week after she stopped eating, spokeswoman Deedee Sytangco said. "She's stable, and she's conscious," Sytangco told The Associated Press. She refused to provide details and Aquino's family appealed for "solitude and privacy." Sytangco said Aquino was moved to a regular room.   Tens Of Thousands Demonstrate On Hong Kong Anniversary Last Updated: Jul 1 2009 6:48AM Tens of thousands of people joined an anti-government, pro-democracy march Wednesday afternoon as Hong Kong celebrated the 12th anniversary of its return to China. Organizers predicted beforehand that around 150,000 people would attend the march, the turnout boosted by growing discontent over the economic downturn and dissatisfaction with Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed leader Donald Tsang. The demonstration was just one of several which took place on the July 1 public holiday - a day when the Hong Kong public traditionally express their grievances or support for Hong Kong's government and Beijing.   N. Korea Tracked Under New Sanctions Last Updated: Jul 1 2009 6:46AM Seoul - A North Korean ship has changed course after being tracked by the US Navy on suspicion of carrying weapons, a Pentagon official said, as Pyongyang warned on Wednesday it would hit back against attempts to search its vessels. The official declined to say where the Kang Nam 1, which left home on June 17 and was the first ship to be tracked under new UN sanctions, is now headed after it turned back. It was reportedly originally bound for Myanmar. The tougher sanctions, imposed in response to the North's May nuclear test, calls on UN member states to inspect cargoes if they suspect these are banned weapons shipments to or from the North.   North Korea Warns Japan Against Inspecting Cargo Ships Last Updated: Jul 1 2009 6:43AM North Korea Wednesday warned of military action against Japan if Tokyo stops its vessels for cargo inspections. Rodong Sinmun, official daily of the ruling communist party, said Tokyo is pushing for a new law to authorize tougher cargo inspections in search of banned weapons. "Our ships are sacred and impregnable places where our sovereignty reigns. If anyone hurts them, it would be considered a grave military provocation against us," Rodong said in a commentary. "This kind of action will immediately meet with our self-defensive military actions and the responsibility for all consequences will rest with Japan."   Gov’t Withdraws Troops From Troubled Baramulla Last Updated: Jul 1 2009 6:41AM SRINAGAR – Paramilitary troops were withdrawn on Wednesday from tense Baramulla town in north Kashmir where they shot dead four protesters to quell violent anti-India demonstrations in the past three days, the government said. Baramulla, bordering Pakistan, is the first town in the disputed Himalayan region where the police will look after law and order. A policy to gradually move in that direction in Kashmir had already been announced but it was expedited in Baranulla after the demonstrations this week, sparked by the alleged harassment of a Muslim woman by police on Monday.   Fiji Army Chief Promises New Constitution By 2013 Last Updated: Jul 1 2009 6:39AM Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama said a new constitution would be introduced by September 2013 to replace the one his regime tore up in April. Bainimarama, who led a coup against the elected government in December 2006, said the new constitution would be in place a year ahead of elections which he plans to hold by September 2014. "Work on the new constitution under which the 2014 elections shall be held will commence by September 2012," he said in a national address. He called on the international community – which has condemned the coup and abrogation of the constitution – to provide assistance for the constitutional review. "My appeal to the international community is that Fiji has and continues to seek engagement, not disengagement," he said.   [Comoros] Child Survives Yemeni Plane Crash With 153 On Board Last Updated: Jun 30 2009 6:22AM MORONI - An Airbus A310-300 from Yemen with 153 people on board, including 66 French nationals, crashed into the sea off the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros as it approached in bad weather early on Tuesday, officials said. A doctor in the Comoros told Reuters a child had been plucked alive from the sea and was being taken to a medical center. The manager of the international airport in Moroni said the child was five. He said five bodies had also been found. The Paris airports authority said 66 French nationals were aboard the plane, which was flying the final leg of a trip from Paris and Marseille to Comoros via Yemen.   [Korea] North Korea Trying To Enrich Uranium, South Says Last Updated: Jun 30 2009 6:20AM SEOUL - North Korea appears to be enriching uranium, potentially giving the state that has twice tested a plutonium-based nuclear device another path to making atomic weapons, South Korea's defense minister said on Tuesday. "It is clear that they are moving forward with it," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told a parliamentary hearing, adding such a program was far easier to hide than the North's current plutonium-based activities. North Korea earlier this month responded to U.N. punishment for its most recent nuclear test in May by saying it would start enriching uranium for a light-water reactor. Experts said destitute North Korea lacks the technology and resources to build such a costly civilian reactor but may use the program as a cover to enrich uranium for weapons.   [Pakistan] Pakistani Militants Abandon Deal Last Updated: Jun 30 2009 6:18AM A wing of the Taliban based in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan say they have scrapped a peace deal with the government. The group led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan withdrew from the deal as the army stepped up its offensive against the Taliban in the north-west. The announcement comes a day after his men ambushed a Pakistani military convoy, killing 16 soldiers. The militants signed the peace deal with the army in 2007. Hafiz Gul Bahadur's group had initially pledged to stay on the sidelines during the continuing operation against the country's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud.   [Thailand] Thailand To Invoke Internal Security Act For ASEAN Meeting Last Updated: Jun 30 2009 6:16AM BANGKOK: Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Tuesday he would invoke a harsh Internal Security Act to prevent protests at a regional summit in Phuket which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to attend. The move comes after an incident in April when anti-government protesters loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra forced the chaotic cancellation of a major Asian summit in the Thai resort of Pattaya. Abhisit said the cabinet had agreed to declare the Internal Security Act on Phuket and five kilometers (three miles) around the tourist island from July 10 to 24 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.   N. Korea Threatens To Shoot Down Japanese Planes Last Updated: Jun 29 2009 7:34AM North Korea has threatened to shoot down any Japanese planes that enter its airspace, accusing Tokyo of spying near one of its missile launch sites. The North has designated a no-sail zone off its eastern coast from June 25 to July 10 for military drills, raising concerns that it might test-fire short- or mid-range missiles in the coming days, in violation of a UN resolution. North Korea's air force said Japan's E-767 surveillance aircraft conducted aerial espionage near the Musudan-ri missile site on its northeast coast Wednesday and Thursday. The military "will not tolerate even a bit the aerial espionage by the warmongers of the Japanese aggression forces but mercilessly shoot down any plane intruding into the territorial air of the (North) even 0.001 mm," the air force said in a statement carried Saturday Jun 27 by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.     N. Korea Slams Missile Defense Last Updated: Jun 29 2009 7:32AM North Korea criticized the US on Monday for positioning missile Defense systems around Hawaii, calling the deployment part of a plot to attack the regime and saying it would bolster its nuclear arsenal in retaliation. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he ordered the deployment of a ground-based, mobile missile intercept system and radar system to Hawaii amid concerns the North may fire a long-range missile toward the islands, about 7,240km away. 'Through the US forces' clamorous movements, it has been brought to light that the US attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on our republic has become a brutal fact,' the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.   Security Clampdown In India Last Updated: Jun 29 2009 7:29AM Indian authorities on Sunday deployed thousands of police and detained a top separatist in Kashmir to prevent fresh protests over the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women, police said. The deaths of a 17-year-old girl and her 22-year-old sister-in-law in the disputed Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley have sparked widespread anti-India protests since their bodies were found in a stream on May 30. Indian police initially insisted they had drowned, despite allegations from family members that they were abducted, raped and murdered by members of the security forces deployed in the revolt-hit region. Forensic tests later revealed they had been raped, and police registered a murder case. Thousands of police and paramilitary forces on Sunday enforced strict restrictions in Shopian, the hometown of the two women, to prevent people from assembling and holding protests, a police officer said.   Thaksin Demands Fresh Resistance Last Updated: Jun 29 2009 7:25AM Thailand's ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra has addressed a big crowd of supporters in Bangkok by telephone, urging them to continue protesting. The crowd cheered as Mr. Thaksin, who lives in exile in Dubai, criticized the policies of the current government. He complained of being lonely and told the crowd not to leave him "dying in the desert", promising to "work for the people" if he could return. Police estimated more than 25,000 were at the rally - the largest since April. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called a state of emergency in April as the rallies by red-shirted protesters threatened to destabilize his government. The protest leaders eventually called off their action after days of rioting and clashes with security forces left at least two people dead and more than 100 injured. Mr. Thaksin told his supporters they had gathered because they wanted to see "true democracy". "We loathe injustice. We loathe double standards.   Three Dead, 15 Hurt In Philippines Blast Last Updated: Jun 29 2009 6:41AM Bombs ripped through a cafe in the southern Philippines early Monday, killing three people and wounding 15, the military and witnesses said. The three dead included a man seen placing one of the devices in a garbage bin at a coffee shop near the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, an overwhelmingly Muslim section of Mindanao island, one witness said, quoting local police. "(One) bomb exploded prematurely. Among those killed was the bomb courier," said Major Randolph Cabangbang, military spokesman for the region. He blamed a hardline Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) faction for the attack, which he said also injured 15 civilians. "Military bomb experts told me that two bombs simultaneously exploded and they are still looking for the third explosive," said Eduardo Vasquez, a Roman Catholic priest who witnessed the attack.   Australia Warns Boat People Heading To Its Shores Last Updated: Jun 29 2009 6:39AM Australia has intercepted a boat carrying almost 200 illegal migrants and is warning of a surge in displaced people heading to its shores from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The vessel is the largest of the 15 boats of unauthorized arrivals detained in Australian waters so far this year. The Australian navy intercepted the boat carrying 194 people, believed to be Sri Lankan Tamils, about 40 kilometers from Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. The suspected asylum seekers have been transferred to an immigration center on Christmas Island, where they will undergo health and security checks.