MANILA: The Philippine securities commission has revoked the registration of an online news outfit known for its critical reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte, a move media watchdogs said is an act to muzzle the free press.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said in a ruling made public Monday that Rappler violated the constitutional prohibition on foreign ownership and control of mass media companies when it received investment from an international investment firm.
Rappler said it would fight the ruling in the courts and continue to operate. It acknowledged it has two foreign investors, Omidyar Network and North Base Media, but said it “remains 100 percent Filipino-owned” and that the foreigners have no voting rights or a say in its management and news operations.
“What this means for you, and for us, is that the commission is ordering us to close shop, to cease telling you stories, to stop speaking truth to power,” Rappler said in a statment, which added that the ruling was a blow to press freedom.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines expressed outrage over the ruling and called on Filipino journalists “to unite and resist every and all attempts to silence us.”
Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, denied the Duterte administration was curtailing freedom of the press.
“The issue at hand is the compliance of 100 percent Filipino ownership and management of mass media,” Roque said. “It is not about infringement on the freedom of the press.”
The brash-talking Duterte accused Rappler last year of being owned by Americans in violation of the Philippine constitution and also said that the news outfit was funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. Rappler denied the allegations.
Duterte has publicly attacked a leading newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and ABS-CBN TV network for biased reporting, including on his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead since he rose to power in 2016.
Amnesty International decried the decision against Rappler as “a blatant attack on press freedom,” noting the news group had been “fearless in holding those in power to account.”
“This is a politically motivated decision, pure and simple, and just the latest attempt to go after anyone who dares to criticize the government,” James Gomez, the group’s director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement. “The Philippines government should focus on ending and investigating violations, mostly against poor communities, in the ‘war on drugs,’ not trying to silence the messenger.”
Online news site critical of Duterte ordered shut in Philippines
Online news site critical of Duterte ordered shut in Philippines
China hits back at US imports as Trump’s fresh tariffs take effect
- Beijing also places 25 US firms under export and investment restrictions on national security grounds
- China has accused the US of fentanyl blackmail and it has some of the toughest anti-drug policies in the world
BEIJING: China on Tuesday swiftly retaliated against fresh US tariffs, announcing 10 percent-15 percent hikes to import levies covering a range of American agricultural and food products, moving the world’s top two economies a step closer toward an all-out trade war.
Beijing also placed twenty five US firms under export and investment restrictions on national security grounds, but refrained from punishing any household names, as it did when it retaliated against the Trump administration’s February 4 tariffs.
Ten of these 25 US firms were targeted by China for selling arms to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
China’s latest retaliatory tariffs came as the extra 10 percent duty US President Donald Trump threatened China with last week entered into force at 0501 GMT on March 4, resulting in a cumulative 20 percent tariff in response to what the White House considers Chinese inaction over drug flows.
China has accused the US of fentanyl blackmail and it has some of the toughest anti-drug policies in the world.
Analysts have said Beijing still hoped to negotiate a truce with the Trump administration, but the tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs threaten to escalate into an all-out trade war between the two economic giants.
The new US tariffs represent an additional hike to preexisting levies on thousands of Chinese goods.
Some of these products bore the brunt of sharply higher US tariffs under former president Joe Biden last year, including a doubling of duties on Chinese semiconductors to 50 percent and a quadrupling of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to over 100 percent.
The 20 percent tariff will apply to several major US consumer electronics imports from China that were previously untouched, including smartphones, laptops, videogame consoles, smartwatches and speakers and Bluetooth devices.
China responded immediately after the deadline, announcing it will impose an additional 15 percent tariff on US chicken, wheat, corn and cotton and an extra 10 percent levy on US soybeans, sorghum, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits and vegetables and dairy imports from March. 10, the finance ministry announced in a statement.
“The US’s unilateral tariffs measures seriously violate World Trade Organization rules and undermine the basis for economic and trade cooperation between China and the US,” China’s commerce ministry said in a separate statement.
“China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the statement added.
Philippine fighter jet goes missing while on a mission against insurgents in southern province
- The FA-50 jet lost communication during the tactical mission around midnight Monday
- The other aircraft were able to return safely to an air base in central Cebu province
MANILA: A Philippine air force fighter jet with two pilots on board has gone missing during a night combat assault in support of ground forces who were battling insurgents in a southern province, and an extensive search is underway, officials said Tuesday.
The FA-50 jet lost communication during the tactical mission with other air force aircraft around midnight Monday before reaching a target area. The other aircraft were able to return safely to an air base in central Cebu province, the air force said without providing other details for security reasons.
A Philippine military official told The Associated Press that the incident happened in a southern Philippine province, where an anti-insurgency mission against communist guerrillas was underway. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the sensitive situation publicly.
“We are hopeful of locating them and the aircraft soon and ask you to join us in prayer during this critical time,” air force spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said.
It was not immediately clear if the rest of the FA-50s would be grounded following the incident.
The Philippines acquired 12 FA-50s multi-purpose fighter jets starting in 2015 from South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. for 18.9 billion pesos ($331 million) in what was then the biggest deal under a military modernization program that has been repeatedly stalled by a lack of funds.
Aside from anti-insurgency operations, the jets have been used in a range of activities, from major national ceremonies to patrolling the disputed South China Sea.
Japan’s worst wildfire in half a century spreads
- It is estimated to have damaged at least 80 buildings by Sunday
- The number of wildfires in Japan has declined since its 1970s peak
Tokyo: Firefighters were Tuesday battling Japan’s worst wildfire in half a century, which has left one dead and forced the evacuation of nearly 4,000 local residents.
White smoke billowed from a forested area around the northern city of Ofunato, aerial TV footage showed, five days after the blaze began after record low rainfall.
The fire also follows Japan’s hottest summer on record last year, as climate change pushes up temperatures worldwide.
As of Tuesday morning, the wildfire had engulfed around 2,600 hectares (6,400 acres), the fire and disaster management agency said — over seven times the area of New York’s Central Park.
That makes it Japan’s largest wildfire since 1975 when 2,700 hectares burnt in Kushiro on northern Hokkaido island.
It is estimated to have damaged at least 80 buildings by Sunday, although details were still being assessed, the agency said.
Military and fire department helicopters are trying to douse the Ofunato fire, but it is still spreading, a city official told reporters.
“There is little concern that the fire will reach the (more densely populated) city area,” the official said, adding that authorities were “doing our best” to put it out.
Around 2,000 firefighters — most deployed from other parts of the country, including Tokyo — are working from the air and ground in the area in Iwate region, which was hard-hit by a deadly tsunami in 2011.
An evacuation advisory has been issued to around 4,600 people, of whom 3,939 have left their homes to seek shelter, according to the municipality.
The number of wildfires in Japan has declined since its 1970s peak, but the country saw about 1,300 in 2023, concentrated in February to April when the air dries and winds pick up.
Ofunato had just 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inches) of rainfall in February — breaking the previous record low for the month of 4.4 millimeters in 1967 and below the usual average of 41 millimeters.
Since Friday, “there has been no rain — or very little, if any” in Ofunato, a local weather agency official told AFP.
But “on Wednesday it may rain or snow,” he said.
Some types of extreme weather have a well established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.
Other phenomena like droughts, snowstorms, tropical storms and forest fires can result from a combination of complex factors.
Some companies have been affected by the wildfire, such as Taiheiyo Cement, which told AFP its Ofunato plant has suspended operations for several days because part of its premises is in the evacuation advisory zone.
Ofunato-based confectionery company Saitoseika warned that “if our headquarters or plants become a no-go zone, we may need to halt production,” describing the situation as “tense.”
Japanese baseball prodigy Roki Sasaki — who recently joined the Los Angeles Dodgers — has offered a 10 million yen ($67,000) donation and 500 sets of bedding, Ofunato city’s official account posted on X.
Sasaki was a high school student there, after losing his father and grandparents in the huge 2011 tsunami.
Kremlin signals Russia-US talks on Ukraine not immediate
- Donald Trump has upended US policy swiftly to open talks with Moscow
- Last week, Russia said it was sending a new ambassador to Washington
The Kremlin said in remarks published on Tuesday that the next round of Russia-US talks on ending the war in Ukraine is unlikely to happen before the embassies of both countries resume normal operations.
“Unlikely,” Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of President Vladimir Putin, told RIA state news agency in response to a question whether the negotiations could start before the two countries’ embassies fully reopen. Operations have been curtailed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump has paused military aid to Ukraine after his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, deepening the fissure that has opened between the two allies.
Before Trump began his second term as US president in January, ties between the two nuclear superpowers of Russia and the United States had plummeted to their lowest in decades following Russia’s invasion.
Trump, who has promised a quick end to the war, has upended US policy swiftly to open talks with Moscow, including calls and meetings that have alarmed Washington’s European allies and Kyiv.
At the end of February, Russia and US teams held hours of talks in Turkiye, narrowly focusing on restoring normal functioning of their embassies, and Putin said initial contacts with Trump’s new administration had inspired hope.
Last week, Russia said it was sending a new ambassador to Washington, the latest sign of a thaw between the two countries, but it remains unclear when the full work of both embassies will resume.
Peskov also told RIA that it was too early say where the next round of talks between Russia and the United States might take place.
‘Impossible’ for US to give up Indo-Pacific, Taiwan defense minister says
- ‘I think it is impossible for the United States to retreat from the Indo-Pacific because it is its core national interest’
- The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties
TAIPEI: The United States cannot abandon the Indo-Pacific because the region is part of its “core national interests,” Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo said amid concerns about US security commitments to Taiwan.
The White House clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, which plunged ties between Kyiv and its top military backer to a new low, has renewed concerns in Taiwan about Washington’s security commitment at a time when China is ramping up its military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims over the democratic island.
“We indeed noticed the fast-changing and tricky international situation and deeply understand that we can’t just talk about values but not national interests,” Koo told reporters at a briefing on Monday when asked whether the US is still a reliable security partner for Taiwan.
“So we must ask: keeping the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region including the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, is that a core US national interest?” Koo asked.
“I think it is impossible for the United States to retreat from the Indo-Pacific because it is its core national interest.”
Koo said “using deterrence and strength to achieve peace” has been the long-standing consensus between Taipei and Washington, and that stability in the region is important for the United States, both economically and geopolitically.
The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei.
Taiwan, which strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claim, enjoyed support from the first Trump administration. But Trump unnerved Taiwan on the campaign trail by calling for it to pay more for US security guarantees.
