US navy cancels Philippines port calls

THE United States has cancelled scheduled visits of three military ships to the Philippines, where a US marine has been charged with killing a Filipino transgender woman, officials say.

THREE US military vessels were supposed to arrive at Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City, 80 kilometres north of Manila, this month, according to Charles Jose, spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs.

But the department was recently informed of the cancellation of the port calls, he added.Jose said the cancellation was not related to the murder case against US Private First Class Joseph Pemberton, who is accused of killing transgender woman Jeffrey Laude, also know as Jennifer, on October 11 in a motel in Olongapo City."The reconsideration of visits is a normal occurrence as US ships are deployed in many areas of the Pacific and subject to changing operational requirements," he said."We don't see the ongoing case to be a reason."Pemberton is currently detained inside the Philippine military headquarters in Manila, but the victim's family and activist groups have demanded his transfer to a police detention centre.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ban Ki-moon may vie for S Korea presidency

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could be a presidential candidate in his native South Korea in the next elections, a representative from the country's main opposition party says.

KWON Roh-kap, an adviser to the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, NPAD, said that confidants close to Ban had discussed the possibility of his candidature in the presidential elections scheduled for December 2017.

The UN leader, who will end his term with the international organisation at the end of 2016, would join NPAD and participate in the elections if he wanted, according to the Yonhap news agency, citing Kwon.South Korea's current president, Park Geun-hye, completes her five-year tenure in early 2018 and is not eligible to run for re-election under South Korean law.According to polls, Harvard graduate Ban, 70, is highly respected and popular among South Koreans.Ban served as the country's foreign minister in the government of Roh Moo-hyun, a highly progressive leader who was in office from 2003 to 2008.Both the presidents who succeeded Roh (Lee Myung-bak and current president Park) are conservative politicians of the Saenuri Party which has enjoyed support in a society increasingly divided between leftists and rightists.Experts believe that having an internationally renowned figure such as Ban could give the progressives the opportunity to regain power in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More