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Posts published in “Day: July 8, 2016

Stop Sending Militants to Afghanistan, Noor Tells Regional States by Aref Musavi in Tolo News, 06 July 2016

Atta Mohammad Noor, the governor Balkh province on Wednesday called on countries in the region to stop sending militants into Afghanistan. He said if such countries stopped the practice, the Afghans would be able to maintain security in their country. “If regional countries and countries further afield stopped training the terrorists, the Afghans will be able to maintain the ability to secure their own country,” said Noor. “It is because of the secret activities by…

Pakistan will protect Afghanistan but expects same approach from them, says Gen Raheel: APP report on DAWN.COM, Juy 7, 2016

RAWALPINDI: Army Chief General Raheel Sharif said Pakistan will do all efforts to protect the integrity and sovereignty of Afghanistan but expects the same level of commitment from the neighbouring country. Gen Raheel said this during his visit to meet troops deployed at forward bases in North and South Waziristan Agency on Eidul Fitr, the military’s media wing said on Wednesday. He offered Eid prayers along with other senior military brass in Shawal area and…

Afghanistan’s ‘precarious’ situation makes Obama slow down US troop withdrawal AFP report on dawn.com,July 7, 2016

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that 8,400 US troops will remain in Afghanistan into 2017 in light of the still “precarious” security situation in the war-ravaged country. “Instead of going down to 5,500 troops by the end of this year, the United States will maintain approximately 8,400 troops in Afghanistan into next year through the end of my administration,” Obama told a news conference. “The decision I’m making today ensures my successor has a…

Why Marxism is so important in the new China: by Stephen Vines in South China Morning Post, July 6, 2016

What’s the best way to get Hong Kong’s prominent business leaders to squirm? It’s simple: ask them whether they support Marxism. Most will respond with nervous laughter but, when it is pointed out that Marxism is the guiding ideology of the People’s Republic of China, a flicker of uncertainty emerges. This is usually resolved by an assurance that Marxism with Chinese characteristics is not really Marxism at all, it just happens to bear that name.…

Sea provocation by Philippines, US will meet firm countermeasure: edit in Global Times, July 8, 2016

As the award in the international arbitration case about the South China Sea dispute approaches, the US is flexing more muscles toward China recently. The US Navy Times reported on Wednesday that three US destroyers had been quietly patrolling near some of China-controlled islands and islets, including Huangyan Island, in the South China Sea for the past two weeks. On Wednesday, according to the report, the Navy had sent seven ships to the region, including…

China Violated Rights of Detained American, U.N. Panel Says By EDWARD WONG in July 8, 2016

BEIJING — A United Nations committee has said that China has violated international human rights law by detaining without proper cause an American citizen, Phan Phan-Gillis, and has called for her immediate release. That position was highlighted this week by a human rights advocacy group based in San Francisco, to put more pressure on the Chinese government during a visit to Beijing by the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Ban arrived…

New power balance needed in S.China Sea: By Ding Gang in Global Times, July 6, 2016

The author is a senior editor with People’s Daily, and currently a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague will on July 12 issue the award on the South China Sea case filed by the Philippines against China. As the date is drawing close, the situation between Beijing and Washington is becoming tense. It seems that the two will stage…

Ruling on South China Sea Nears in a Case Beijing Has Tried to Ignore By JANE PERLEZ in The NY Times, July 7, 2016

BEIJING — Five judges and legal scholars from around the world presided over a hearing last fall in an elegant, chandeliered room in The Hague. Arranged before them on one side of the chamber were lawyers for thePhilippines, armed with laptop computers and notepads. On the other side were three empty chairs. For more than three years, China has refused to participate in the proceedings of an international tribunal considering a challenge to its expansive…

What to expect from Asean statement on Hague court’s South China Sea rulings Southeast Asian bloc’s credibility at stake in reaction to case against China By Shi Jiangtao in South China Morning Post, July 7, 2016

Southeast Asian nations recently failed to get tough with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea but they’re still likely to come up with a joint statement on an international tribunal’s impending rulings on China’s extensive claims. With the rulings by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague expected next week, observers say the credibility of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be at stake if the bloc fails to find…

China says arbitral court’s ruling has no effect on its maritime rights Xinhua report in Global Times, July 8, 2016

Beijing: China said on Thursday that the decision of the South China Sea arbitration will not affect its territorial integrity or maritime rights in the South China Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei reiterated at a routine press briefing that China would neither accept nor recognize any award in the South China Sea arbitration initiated by the Philippines. China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands and the adjacent waters, said Hong. The…

Saudi Arabia identifies bombers in two attacks this week AP report on dawn.com, July 8, 2016

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia identified on Thursday suspects in two of the three attacks that struck the kingdom on the same day this week, including one outside the sprawling mosque where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is buried in the western city of Madina that killed four Saudi security troops. In a statement released by the Interior Ministry late Thursday, authorities said the Madina bomber in Monday’s apparently coordinated attacks was 26-year-old Saudi national Na’ir al-Nujiaidi al-Balawi.…