Manila                                                                                                                                                                                 29 April 2018                                                                                                                                                                      (PNA)

Washington                                                                                                                                                                     (US Department of Defense)                                                                                                                                            28 April 2018

Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis spoke with Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo on the results of the inter-Korea summit.

Minister Song reviewed the Panmunjeom Declaration, and the efforts to improve North-South relations while achieving the common goal of denuclearization.

Both Secretary Mattis and Minister Song expressed serious commitment to a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, as reflected in multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Secretary Mattis reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. commitment to defend the ROK using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities.   Both sides pledged continued close coordination to implement United Nations Security Council Resolutions and to support diplomatic efforts to achieve complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                     27 April 2018

Aspire Academy received recently President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Ahmad Ahmad.

Ahmad was welcomed by Ivan Bravo, Director General of Aspire Academy, who took the guest on a tour at the Academy’s facilities and services.

During the tour, Bravo briefed Ahmad on the progress of Aspire Academy and its leading role in shaping the sports map of Qatar and sports development in general.

Bravo and Ahmad both explored ways of joint cooperation between the Academy and the CAF, especially in the field of promoting the culture of football at grassroot level and the Academy's experience in discovering football talents.

At the end of his visit to the Academy, the President of CAF said that the world-class facilities of Aspire Academy were brilliant and expressed his admiration of the philosophy of the Academy in developing young people and honing their talents in what serves the best interests of Qatar national teams and the wide sports sector.

"I visited Aspire Academy today and I am sure that it is doing everything possible and for its student-athletes to achieve their goals of becoming high-level professional athletes," said the CAF president.

"Based on what I heard from the Director General of the Academy, I am confident that they are on the right track to form a strong Qatari team capable of competing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™", he added.

"From what I saw during my visit of the Academy, this project, and looking at it from different angles, both the infrastructure and the planned programs, will ultimately achieve the desired goals; however, we have to wait and see the initial results at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™, which seems to be one of Aspire Academy's main objectives”, Ahmad Ahmad said.

“At all cases, Aspire Academy will continue to be an important tool for development. I believe that this project will help develop football in Qatar and the world through joint cooperation, which will develop many things in the sports field", the President of CAF added.

"I believe that is what this unique and great sports project is all about. It offers the potential, the means, and the capabilities to make the best use of it. All the factors and the means to success are available, and I can say that Aspire Academy is a true model that continuously provides services to athletes in light of Qatar’s leadership willingness to assist and support other countries and to cooperate with them as well as continental associations, they help everyone”, he concluded.

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                       28 April 2018

Qatargas Operating Company Limited (Qatargas) recently delivered its first LNG cargo to Bangladesh as part of a long-term Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla). The 138,000m³ commissioning cargo was loaded at Ras Laffan aboard the Excelerate Excellence before making the journey to its new home near Moheshkhali Island in Bangladesh.

The first commercial cargo will be delivered following the successful completion of commissioning and will mark the first long-term agreement to be delivered though ship-to-ship transfer in open water. Back in September 2017, Qatargas signed a landmark long-term SPA to supply up to 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum to Petrobangla for 15 years.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, and Chairman of the Qatargas Board of Directors, said: “We are delighted to expand our Asian customer base with Bangladesh as our long-term customer. The successful delivery of our first LNG to Petrobangla highlights Qatar’s continued leadership in bringing clean and reliable LNG to new markets and new customers.”

The first LNG delivery to Petrobangla reinforces Qatargas’ continued commitment to ensuring energy security to its customers in Asia, as well as its position as a reliable supplier of LNG, a cleaner, more efficient source of energy.

 

Islamabad                                                                                                                                                                                              28 April 2018                                                                                                                                                                                      (Daily The Nation Int'l))                                                                                                                                                                      By Babar Sattar

Half the country will celebrate Khawaja Asif’s disqualification as a move that will help cleanse the Augean stables. The other half will see it as another strike by the Empire to remove any lingering doubts regarding the party not to be favoured in Election 2018. That is how polarised we are as a country, almost divided at the centre about how to take this country out of the woods. And the judiciary, which is meant to be non-partisan and uncontroversial, has willing placed itself in the crossfire by assuming the responsibility of determining the fate of politicos.

Around 2003-04, when Musharraf was still the credible Messiah ordained to clean the stables for good, there were few who spoke up against his dictatorship. Kh Asif was one of them. He came to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and spoke about the regime’s heavy-handedness without mincing words. He shared how politicos were humiliated in confinement and forced to change loyalties. And NAB hounded anyone who refused to oblige. His irreverence and ability to chide an all-powerful strongman was refreshing. That was a decade and a half back.

During the PPP’s government, with the Iftikhar Chaudhry court breathing down its neck, Kh Asif was an opposition leader and litigator in equal part. He invited the Supreme Court to take cognizance of a host of corruption-related matters in the Article 184(3) jurisdiction. And the court obliged. Back then when the Chaudhry-led SC was flexing its muscle and saving us from the PPP’s corruption and mal-governance, Kh Asif was on the right side of the cleansing machine. Today the court is saving us from the wicked PML-N. And Kh Asif is thus a casualty of the same cleansing machine.

The Nawaz Sharif disqualification case is distinct from Kh Asif’s. NS’ case rested on the SC addressing foundational legal questions. Is the SC the court qualified to issues disqualification declarations on the basis of a tentative view formed without trial? Should superior courts issue writs of quo warranto against elected public office holders in constitutional jurisdiction or does the function vest in election tribunals? Should courts declare politicos unreliable on a subjective basis and impose lifetime bans or should such decision be left to the electorate?

In the NS, IK and JKT disqualification cases, relying on precedent and expanding its jurisdiction further, the SC answered all those questions in the affirmative. So the law now is (which is binding on high courts) that on the basis of information that casts doubt over the qualification of a member to contest an election in the first place, superior courts can issue writs of quo warranto. Thus, the post-election challenge to elected office doesn’t fall within election tribunals’ exclusive domain. And such disqualification also excludes any role of the speaker or the ECP.

The test for disqualification borders on being a strict liability one. If you have misstated or omitted something in your declaration forms and the court forms the view that there is some element of deliberateness in the matter, you are toast. Again, while the SC (and now the Islamabad High Court) have said that the test is objective and not subjective, it is hard to understand how a tentative view formed by courts without trial of facts and recording of evidence that rules on the guilty intent of an elected representative can be based on objective criteria.

Even in case of admitted facts, how do you determine mens rea without applying the law of evidence? The IHC ruling in the Khawaja Asif case is a distressing read. Here is a court disqualifying our foreign minister, while stating it is doing so with a heavy heart as, on the one hand, it is being dragged into the political thicket in a matter that has eaten up the court’s time in adjudicating a dispute best resolved in the political arena. And, on the other, it has had to pass an order that affects the aspirations of hundreds of thousands of voters who participated in the election.

But, notwithstanding whether courts should delve into such controversies and consequent political ramifications, the facts of the case are damning. Here is our former defence minister and foreign minister who is the full-time employee of a UAE electrical and mechanical company (that he didn’t declare in his nomination forms, even as he filed his Iqama) and is subject to an employment agreement that allows him one day of rest during the week and renders him liable to be dismissed if he absents himself from work for more than 20 days a year.

The employment contract was renewed as recently as last summer. Amongst the 1250 employees of the company, he is placed at serial no 303 between a mason and a shovel driver. The employment salary isn’t declared in his nomination forms or reconciled in tax returns. He has produced an affidavit from the foreign company’s owner, saying that the contract was only meant to comply with UAE laws and the real unstated understanding (against contract terms and UAE’s law) was that Kh Asif’s physical presence in the UAE isn’t to be enforced.

Proponents of representative democracy and civilian supremacy (in this country where praetorian shadows are overbearing and roots of self-governance weak) are caught between a rock and a hard place. The revelation that the foreign minister of a country is a full-time employee of a two-bit foreign company and a phone call away for discharge of services for which he receives a monthly salary would be a scandal and an embarrassment in any democracy. In ours it embellishes the argument that all politicos are dodgy, dirty and unworthy of state responsibility.

Even if you like Kh Asif, his moonlighting for a UAE company is unjustifiable. On the merits of his case, even right thinking supporters of the PML-N would struggle to defend him. But when you place the matter in the backdrop of the disqualification of NS, the coup within the Balochistan Assembly, the triumph of the Sanjrani-model in the Senate elections, defections from the PML-N and the growth of independent electables, and shrinking civilian authority in the state, Kh Asif’s ouster a few months prior to the election will be projected as part of a pattern and not an isolated event.

And this is where the problem lies with the forced cleansing model. The urge to defend one’s autonomy and liberty comes naturally to humans. If you provide them information and allow them to make informed choices, they make rational and sensible decisions. But if you patronise them and force choices upon them, they resist. When the Panama scandal broke, even diehard supporters of the PML-N had their heads hanging in shame. It was the sense that political consequences were being engineered in an unjust fashion that ushered them back into NS’ camp.

Courts are to function as neutral arbiters of law. The problem with appointing courts in charge of the political cleansing machine is that it embroils them in political controversy. If the rulings they render appeal to half the population with one set of partisan preferences and are conceived as a witch-hunt by the other half with the opposite set of partisan preferences, the impartiality of judiciary comes under question. The judiciary can either be seen as unbiased machinery for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of all citizens or one for political cleansing.

The third problem with this cleansing model is that it doesn’t deliver. We have witnessed various formulations of this model. The last one promised to bring in the progressive educated lot into politics, with the ouster of non-graduates and with the corrupt being devoured by NAB. That didn’t change a thing. We have the same old wine still being served around, some in old bottles and some in new. The present model is based on the solid idea that anyone who vies for public office must be squeaky clean. But the problem emerges when it is selectively enforced.

The present model will end as the previous ones. Then what options are we left with? Will history repeat itself with another phase of full-time praetorianism or will we be back to square one? One gets the feeling that our days as guinea pigs aren’t over yet.

The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad.

Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu

Washington                                                                                                                                                                        28 April 2018                                                                                                                                                                      (Anadolu News)

 

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar over the phone on Friday, according to the Pentagon.

"The two leaders discussed the current security environment in Syria and the Middle East in addition to other mutual items of interest," Joint Staff Spokesperson Col. Patrick S. Ryder said in a press statement.

"They additionally discussed ways to strengthen cooperation to address security concerns facing our nations," he said.

Ryder also emphasized that Dunford and Akar had met multiple times as part of maintaining regular communications between NATO allies.

The Turkish General Staff said Akar and Dunford discussed regional security issues and exchanged views on mutual cooperation, according to a statement.

 

 

Manila                                                                                                                                                                                   28 April 2018                                                                                                                                                                (Xinhua News)

Dancers perform during the annual Aliwan Fiesta in Manila, the Philippines on Saturday, 28th        April, 2018. The Aliwan Fiesta is the annual summer dance festival competition, showcasing folk and ethnic performing art from around the country.

Singapore                                                                                                                                                                                 28 April 2018                                                                                                                                                                     (Xinhua)

The 32nd summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded here Saturday, reaffirming the bloc's cooperation and common vision.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said ASEAN leaders have adopted deliverables which are in line with the priorities this year for ASEAN to strengthen its resilience and innovative capacity.

At the press conference after the summit, Lee said one deliverable is the ASEAN Leaders' Vision for a Resilient and Innovative ASEAN, and the second is the establishment of the ASEAN Smart Cities Network.

The network will use technology to improve lives and livelihood of the people in cities across all the ASEAN member states, according to Lee.

The third one is the ASEAN Leaders' Statement on Cybersecurity Cooperation to deepen regional cooperation and coordination to keep up with the rapid pace of digitalization.

Lee said he is also pleased to announce the finalization of the Model ASEAN Extradition Treaty (MAET), the revitalization of the Singapore-ASEAN Youth Fund, and the set-up of an annual training workshop in Singapore, called the ASEAN Law Academy programme.

The ASEAN leaders have good discussions during their meeting on regional issues and ASEAN's external engagements, according to Lee.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The 32nd ASEAN Summit and related meetings were held in Singapore from April 25-28.

Wuhan (China)                                                                                                                                                               28 April 2018                                                                                                                                                                (Xinhua News)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that mutual trust is the basis for the stable development of Sino-Indian relations.

Xi made the remarks when holding an informal meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday and Saturday in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Hailing the sound development of bilateral ties, Xi said that the two countries have forged a closer development partnership and made progress on exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

"We have paid reciprocal visits, met on multiple occasions, and reached many important consensuses over the past three years, which acted as a guidance to the positive development momentum of bilateral ties," Xi said.

China and India, as the two biggest developing countries and two emerging economies each with a population of over 1 billion, are both important engines of global economic growth, as well as backbone forces for promoting multipolarization and economic globalization, Xi said.

The international situation is undergoing a critical period of changes and adjustment, and countries around the world are now more inter-connected and rely on each other, said Xi, noting that "the trend of peace and development is irreversible."

"A sound China-India relationship is an important, positive factor for safeguarding world stability, and means a lot to the development and progress of all human beings," Xi said.

China and India face similar tasks in their pursuit of development and rejuvenation, as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the goal of building a "new India" has been proposed, Xi said.

He called on the two sides to focus on development and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to achieve national rejuvenation, create an Asia featuring stability, development and prosperity in the 21st century,and make a positive contribution to global peace and development.

Xi said that both sides should develop Sino-Indian ties from a strategic perspective, constantly enhance mutual understanding and trust, and promote all sectors and people of the two countries to deepen mutual understanding and cultivate friendly feelings.

"China and India should be good neighbors and friends," Xi said. "The two countries should regard each other as a positive factor in the balance of global power and take each other as partners for realizing the dream of development."

China and India are getting stronger and stronger, and this represents an irresistible trend and offers important opportunities to each other, Xi said.

Both China and India stand for an independent foreign policy, he said, calling on the two sides to correctly analyze and view each other's intentions with a positive, open and inclusive attitude.

"China and India have many similar ideas in international affairs," said Xi.

He said, in developing relations between major countries, China upholds strategic autonomy as well as non-conflict and non-confrontation, and insists on building a new-type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation, which are in line with the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence jointly advocated by China and India in the 1950s.

Xi stressed that in the next stage, China and India should jointly plan for all-round cooperation, carry out closer strategic communication, and timely conduct consultation on major issues of common concern, so as to take a firm hold of the general direction of bilateral relations and ensure the effective operation of their dialogue mechanism.

He said that the two sides should carry out more in-depth pragmatic cooperation and more extensive cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and handle their differences in a more mature manner.

He suggested both sides strengthen coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and jointly promote regional economic integration and interconnectivity.

"The two sides should uphold the global governance concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefit to promote the construction of an open world economy, support the multilateral trading system, actively carry out international cooperation and jointly cope with global challenges," Xi said.

China is ready to make joint efforts with India to create a stable and prosperous Asia in the 21st century and promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction, Xi said.

Modi thanked President Xi for his invitation, saying he had a candid and in-depth exchanges with President Xi and learnt about the profound Jing-Chu local culture during his visit.

Modi said he felt that President Xi has attached great importance to and has guided the development of India-China relations.

India and China are countries with ancient civilizations and important neighbors, he said, calling on the two sides to strengthen dialogue, exchanges and cooperation, and maintain peaceful co-existence and ever-lasting friendship.

Modi said he paid high attention to the announcement at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that socialism with Chinese characteristics had entered a new era, while India has its own goal of a "new India."

He agreed with Xi that as two largest developing countries with a combined population of 2.6 billion and two large emerging economies, India and China are stabilizing factors of the world.

He said the development of India and China has important influence on the world, and has positive significance to the vast developing countries.

India and China should make joint efforts in making greater contribution to peace, stability and prosperity of Asia and the world in the 21st century, Modi said, agreeing to maintain high-level strategic communication with China.

The two countries have common concept, a common resolve and common visions in developing bilateral ties, he said.

Modi suggested that the two sides should strengthen contacts and cooperation, enhance mutual understanding and trust, properly handle and control their differences and boost people-to-people friendship, so as to upgrade bilateral relations to a new level.

India firmly pursues an independent foreign policy and supports the globalization, multilateral system and democratic international relations, he said.

Modi said India was ready to work with China to promote the common interests of all developing countries.

28 April 2018                                                                                                                                                             (Deutsche Welle)

North Korea's news agency has glorified leader Kim Jong Un's "historic meeting" with South Korean's Moon Jae-in. Meanwhile, South Korean media expressed cautious optimism, saying "there is a long way to go."

Pyongyang's state media arm reported that the leaders exchanged "honest and heartfelt talks" at the summit that "was a realization of the supreme leader's blazing love for the nation and unyielding will for self-reliance." It added that Kim's "immortal achievement will be brightly engraved in the history of the Korean nation's unification."

On Friday, Kim crossed the military demarcation line into the south side of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. He became the first North Korean leader to do so since fighting stopped in the Korean War between the two countries in 1953. No peace treaty has yet been signed.

In his meeting with Moon, Kim repeated past vows to denuclearize the peninsula and work towards a formal end of the war. Kim is also expected to discuss these issues with US President Donald Trump at a meeting expected in the coming weeks.

At the conclusion of the summit, the two leaders signed a Panmunjom Declaration that "confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean peninsula."

The official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) carried the Panmunjom Declaration in full in its report and said the encounter opened the way "for national reconciliation and unity, peace and prosperity."