Friday, March 4, 2016

Japan PM suspends work on US base on Okinawa, agrees to talk

Associated Press 
By MARI YAMAGUCHI7 hours ago
FILE - This aerial Oct. 29, 2015 file photo shows Henoko of Nago city, Okinawa prefecture, where the Japanese government plans to relocate a U.S. air base from one area of Okinawa’s main island to another. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided on Friday, March 4, 2016, to suspend work on moving a U.S. Marine base and talk about the contentious relocation on the southern island of Okinawa. Abe said he is accepting a court proposal not to force the land reclamation work over Okinawa's objections. Both sides have sued each other over the base relocation plan, and a court in February made the proposal as an interim step allowing the sides to talk. (Kazuhiko Yamashita/Kyodo News via AP, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT
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TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he has decided to temporarily suspend preliminary work on moving a U.S. Marine Corps base on Okinawa and will resume talks on the contentious relocation plan.
The central government and Okinawa's prefectural government have been locked in a legal battle over relocating the base, with both sides suing the other.
Abe said that his government is accepting a court proposal not to force the reclamation work over Okinawa's objections. The court in February made the proposal as an interim step allowing talks. Details of the proposal were not made public.
The sudden reversal of his policy to continue with the reclamation work is seen as an attempt to win votes ahead of this summer's parliamentary elections.
Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga last year issued an order to suspend permission for the reclamation work. Then the central government sued to reverse the order, to which Okinawa counter-sued, seeking a court injunction.
The work involves filling in part of a bay to create off-coast runways for Futenma air station, which is now in a more densely populated area on the island.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to a reporter …
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to a reporter about suspend work on moving a U.S. Marine b …
Onaga later flew in to Tokyo and held talks with Abe at his office, both confirming to follow the court proposal and abide by any subsequent court decisions related to their legal dispute. Onaga welcomed Friday's decision by both sides as "very significant."
Abe said the plan to eventually move the base to the town of Henoko is unchanged. The relocation is based on a 20-year-old bilateral agreement to reduce the burden of the U.S. military presence on Okinawa.
Opponents want the base moved off Okinawa entirely, and a prospect for a compromise is still unclear, though Okinawa is expected to drop the lawsuit.
Abe said he wants to avoid leaving the situation deadlocked "for years to come, a development that nobody wants to see."
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday that the U.S. understands that the Japanese government took its decision after careful consideration. He said the allies remain committed to the planned base relocation.
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This aerial photo taken October 2015 shows U.S. Marine …
This aerial photo taken October 2015 shows U.S. Marine Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa, sout …
America's top military official in the Pacific said last month that the relocation plan has been pushed back by two years until 2025 from the current target, because of delays from the disputes.
The U.S. has agreed to shift 8,000 to 10,000 Marines off Okinawa in the 2020s, mainly to Guam and Hawaii, but Adm. Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said that would happen after Futenma's relocation.
The southern island prefecture is home to about half of about 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan under the bilateral security treaty. Many Okinawans complain about crime and noise linked to the U.S. military bases.
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North Korean cargo ship inspected at port in Philippines

Associated Press 
21 hours ago
Crewmen of the North Korean cargo vessel Jin Teng stand on the middle of the deck as it unloads its cargo while docked at Subic Bay, in Zambales province, northwest of Manila, Philippines, Friday, March 4, 2016. The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Jun Dumaguing)
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Crewmen of the North Korean cargo vessel Jin Teng stand on the middle of the deck as it unloads its cargo while docked at Subic Bay, in Zambales province, northwest of Manila, Philippines, Friday, March 4, 2016. The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Jun Dumaguing)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
The MV Jin Teng was inspected in Subic Bay, a former U.S.-run naval base, after it arrived Thursday from Balembang, Indonesia, loaded with palm kernel expeller, Coast Guard Commander Raul Belesario said Friday.
Belesario, who heads the port control division that includes Subic, said five coast guard personnel accompanied by two bomb sniffer dogs boarded the vessel Thursday. The inspectors did not find any suspicious materials but spotted minor deficiencies including missing fire hoses, a corroded air vent, and electrical switches without insulation.
Another inspection will be done before the ship sails for southwestern China's Zhanjiang port, and the ship will only be allowed to depart if the deficiencies have been rectified, he added. The vessel's departure date is unclear.
As of Friday, cargo was still being unloaded from the ship. Palm kernel expeller is a byproduct of palm oil production and has several uses, including as feed for farm animals.
The ship's documents showed the cargo was for consignees in the Philippines and no new cargo would be loaded at Subic Bay, Belesario said.
The Security Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades, reflecting growing anger at Pyongyang's latest nuclear test and rocket launch in defiance of a ban on all nuclear-related activity.
The United States and North Korea's traditional ally China spent seven weeks negotiating the new sanctions. They include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by sea or air, a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang, and expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in "illicit activities."
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North Korean cargo ship inspected at port in Philippines

Associated Press 
21 hours ago
Crewmen of the North Korean cargo vessel Jin Teng stand on the middle of the deck as it unloads its cargo while docked at Subic Bay, in Zambales province, northwest of Manila, Philippines, Friday, March 4, 2016. The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Jun Dumaguing)
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Crewmen of the North Korean cargo vessel Jin Teng stand on the middle of the deck as it unloads its cargo while docked at Subic Bay, in Zambales province, northwest of Manila, Philippines, Friday, March 4, 2016. The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Jun Dumaguing)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
The MV Jin Teng was inspected in Subic Bay, a former U.S.-run naval base, after it arrived Thursday from Balembang, Indonesia, loaded with palm kernel expeller, Coast Guard Commander Raul Belesario said Friday.
Belesario, who heads the port control division that includes Subic, said five coast guard personnel accompanied by two bomb sniffer dogs boarded the vessel Thursday. The inspectors did not find any suspicious materials but spotted minor deficiencies including missing fire hoses, a corroded air vent, and electrical switches without insulation.
Another inspection will be done before the ship sails for southwestern China's Zhanjiang port, and the ship will only be allowed to depart if the deficiencies have been rectified, he added. The vessel's departure date is unclear.
As of Friday, cargo was still being unloaded from the ship. Palm kernel expeller is a byproduct of palm oil production and has several uses, including as feed for farm animals.
The ship's documents showed the cargo was for consignees in the Philippines and no new cargo would be loaded at Subic Bay, Belesario said.
The Security Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades, reflecting growing anger at Pyongyang's latest nuclear test and rocket launch in defiance of a ban on all nuclear-related activity.
The United States and North Korea's traditional ally China spent seven weeks negotiating the new sanctions. They include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by sea or air, a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang, and expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in "illicit activities."
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Syrian rebels seize Iraq border crossing from Islamic State: monitor

Reuters 
5 hours ago
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebel fighters seized a border crossing with Iraq from Islamic State on Friday, Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Islamic State had controlled the al-Tanf border crossing, which is also near the Syrian-Jordanian border, since May last year after seizing it from Syrian government forces. It had been the last border crossing with Iraq that was under the control of the Syrian government.
IS, which controls a swathe of territory spreading from Iraq into central Syria, still controls the Bukamal Syria-Iraq border crossing near Deir al Zour.
The Observatory said the rebel fighters who took the crossing crossed into Syria from Jordan.
The crossing is a 240 km (150 miles) drive from Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, which has been under IS control since the middle of last year.
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North Korea Is Threatening Nuclear War Against the US (Again)

Mic 
By Anna Swartz5 hours ago
Once again, North Korea's state-controlled media is reporting the power and capability of the country's nuclear program. "Under the extreme situation that the U.S. Imperialist is misusing its military influence and is pressuring other countries and people to start war and catastrophe, the only way for our people to protect sovereignty and rights to live is to strengthen the quality and quantity of nuclear power and realize the balance of power," North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, announced on Friday through KCNA, the country's news agency, reports CNN.
Read: Otto Frederick Warmbier, US Student Detained in North Korea, Reportedly Confesses
The announcement may be a response to a decision made earlier this week by the United Nations Security Council to put new sanctions on North Korea after the country conducted a missile launch and nuclear test in violation of existing international sanctions. In September, North Korea made a similar threat toward the U.S., echoing the same rhetoric about American hostility. 
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North Korea Is Threatening Nuclear War Against the US (Again)
Source: Wong Maye-E/AP
According to the state-run KCNA, Kim Jong Un announced that "nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time," reports CNN.
The Pentagon issued a response to the news out of North Korea on Friday, saying, unsurprisingly, "We are aware of the reports. We are closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula in coordination with our regional allies. We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments."
"The threat here is, to me right now, it's a lot of bluster," Philip Yun, executive director of thePloughshares Fund, a non-profit that focuses on preventing and reducing nuclear stockpiles worldwide, told CNN. "For them to deliver on a threat, they have to have intent and they have to have capability. And quite frankly, I don't think they have both."
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