HOW FAR CAN NORTH KOREA’S MISSILES REACH?
Despite North Korea's highly-publicised missile tests, relatively little is known about the actual size and capabilities of its arsenal.
The regime is understood to have substantial numbers of short- and
intermediate-range missiles such as the Nodong, a variant on the Scud
missile.
With a range of around 1,000km, the Nodong could in theory strike in South
Korea and Japan.
- However, its poor accuracy makes it an ineffective battlefield weapon and it is unlikely North Korea would be able to pinpoint US military bases in the region, although it could cause serious civilian casualties.
- The middle-range Musudan missile is of major concern to Japan as its 4,000km capability would allow the North Korean regime to strike anywhere in Japanese territory. Estimates of the size of North Korea's Musudan arsenal vary widely, with figures ranging from only a dozen to more than 200.
- The Taepodong 1 was North Korea's first multi-stage missile, a significant technological development where the weapon depends on different thrusters at different times. However it has proved a poor performer, with limited range and unreliable accuracy.
However, its older brother, the Taepodong 2, is treated far more seriously by US defence authorities. The 40m missile is believed to have a range of 6,000km, meaning it could in theory hit Alaska. In December 2012, a variant of the Taepodong 2 successfully launched a satellite into space.
Barry Pavel, a former senior director for defence policy at the White House's
National Security Council, described the launch as "a milestone".
"It's the same general technology as is required for intercontinental
nuclear missile, so it's a concern," he said.
Source: The Telegraph
NORTH KOREA SAYS IT’S IN STATE OF WAR IN SOUTH KOREA
SEOUL, South Korea —
North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has
entered "a state of war" with South Korea a day after its young leader
threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a
training mission in South Korea.
Analysts say a full-scale
conflict is extremely unlikely and North Korea's threats are instead
aimed at drawing Washington into talks that could result in aid and
boosting leader Kim Jong Un's image at home.
- But the harsh rhetoric from North Korea and rising animosity from the rivals that have followed U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's Feb. 12 nuclear test have raised worries of a misjudgment leading to a clash.
- In a joint statement by the government, political parties and organizations, North Korea said Saturday that it will deal with all matters involving South Korea according to "wartime regulations." It also warned it will retaliate against any provocations by the United States and South Korea without "any prior notice."
- The divided Korean Peninsula is already in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. But Pyongyang said it was scrapping the war armistice earlier this month.
- South Korea's Unification Ministry released a statement saying the latest threat wasn't new and was just a follow-up to Kim's earlier order to put troops on a high alert in response to annual U.S-South Korean military drills. Pyongyang sees those drills as rehearsals for an invasion; the allies call them routine and defensive.
- In an indication North Korea is not immediately considering starting a war, officials in Seoul said South Korean workers continued Saturday to cross the border to their jobs at a joint factory park in North Korea that's funded by South Koreans.
Source: Business Week...More..
THAILAND, MUSLIM REBELS AGREE TO RESUME TALKS
Thai authorities and Muslim rebels leaders have agreed to meet again
next month after a meeting in Malaysia aimed at ending nearly one decade
of violence that has killed thousands of people in southern Thailand.
Peace negotiators for the Thai government and Barisan Revolusi
Nasional (BRN) said in a joint statement on Friday that they had agreed
on the terms of reference for the negotiations.
The statement said that the two sides will resume discussion on April 29.
- Thursday's discussions focused on "approaches towards solving the issues of violence and stability in South Thailand," the negotiators said.
- "Both sides also exchanged views and information pertaining to the issue of violence in an open and sincere manner."
- More than 5,300 people have been killed in the conflict in the majority-Muslim provinces in Thailand, which are under emergency law.
- Rebels have carried out shootings and bombings on monks, teachers and village officials as symbols of the majority-Buddhist state.
Source: Al Jazeera
OBAMA NAMES FIRST WOMAN TO HEAD US SECRET SERVICE
US President Barack Obama has picked the first woman director of the Secret Service.
Julia Pierson, formerly Secret Service chief of staff, will
succeed Mark Sullivan, who announced last month that he would retire.
The agency was caught up in a prostitution scandal last year during a presidential visit to Colombia.
The Secret Service investigates financial crimes, and protects the president and his family.
"Over her 30 years of experience with the Secret Service,
Julia has consistently exemplified the spirit and dedication the men and
women of the service demonstrate every day," Mr Obama said in a
statement.
"Julia has had an exemplary career, and I know these
experiences will guide her as she takes on this new challenge to lead
the impressive men and women of this important agency."
Ms Pierson, originally from Florida, joined the Secret Service's Miami Field Office in 1983.
From 1988, she spent four years with the Presidential Protective Division.
Ms Pierson's appointment does not require confirmation by Congress.
Source: BBC
MANILA TELLS FILIPINOS TO CLAIM SABAH THROUGH INTERNATIONAL LAWS NOT FORCE
MANILA, Philippines - On March 19, it was reported that Manila had engaged a
team of lawyers to study the country’s claim on Sabah amid clashes between
Filipino gunmen and Malaysian security forces there.
The Philippine Star reported a senior member of the Philippine government as
saying that the country had not 
given up its claim on the territory that has
been part of Malaysia for decades.
given up its claim on the territory that has
been part of Malaysia for decades.
“Are they kidding when they say we have given up our claim? We’re paying so
much for the lawyers to study the claim,” Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras
was quoted as saying.
But, he said, that any action by the country will be carried out according
to international laws, and not through force, appearing to echo President
Benigno Aquino III’s views.
The daily also reported Aquino as saying that his administration was drawing
up a roadmap to end the dispute over Sabah peacefully.
Debates about the Philippine government and the Sultanate of Sulu’s claim on
Sabah had resurfaced following an incursion into Sabah’s east coast by a group
of over 200 armed followers of the self-styled Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III
over a month ago.
The Sultanate of Sulu has laid claim to Sabah, saying it had merely leased
North Borneo in 1878 to the British North Borneo Company for an annual payment
of 5,000 Malayan dollars then, which was increased to 5,300 Malayan dollars in
1903.
Sabah, however, joined Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia in
1963, after which Malaysia continued paying an annual stipend of 
RM5,300 to the
Sulu sultanate on the basis of the sultanate ceding the Borneo state.
RM5,300 to the
Sulu sultanate on the basis of the sultanate ceding the Borneo state.
Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had previously highlighted the Cobbold
Commission’s 1962 referendum in Sabah and Sarawak, where about two-thirds of
the people voted to be part of Malaysia.
Early this month, Malaysia’s Bar Council said the Sulu sultanate no longer
holds any legal claim over Sabah.
- Pointing out that the ICJ had recognised Malaysia’s rights and sovereignty over Sabah and the islands surrounding it during a territorial dispute in 2002.
- The ICJ recognised Malaysia’s claim in its decision on the dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia over the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan, off the coast of Sabah, in December 2002. The Philippines had at the time applied to intervene in the case, but its application was rejected.
- Both Malaysia and the Philippines are members of ASEAN, and the former was instrumental in brokering a peace deal in the southern Philippines.
Source: Yahoo News
CALL FOR SEPARATE IDENTITY FOR FILIPINOS RETURNING FROM SABAH?
MANILA, Philippines - The Filipinos returning from Sabah,
due to Filipino-Muslims who invaded it last February, should be called
Filipinos displaced from Sabah, a radio report said.
The description was arrived
at during a meeting of government officials who are handling the growing
number of Filipino-Muslims who have been returning to their homes in
the southern Philippines, the same radio report said.
It was not clarified if this
description was made in support of the Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III
who allowed his brother Rajah Mudda Agbimuddin and his 200 followers to
occupy Tanduao Village, Lahad Datu on February 9.
Sultan Jamalul Kiram III said
he is pushing for his family’s claim over Sabah, adding it has a legal
basis and a history as far as 1650.
- He referred to the time when the Sultan of Brunei gave Sabah to the Sultan of Sulu who helped quell a rebellion there.
- Clashes between Malaysian security forces and Kiram’s group which began on March 2, have killed 70 Filipino-Muslims, the majority of them civilians; some ten Malaysian policemen were killed; and 100 people arrested, reports said, adding that eight Filipino-Muslims were charged for terrorism, which is punishable by death.
- But Kiram’s brother and other followers refused to return to the southern Philippines.
- Meanwhile, Malaysia’s prime minister said on Monday authorities would relocate residents of areas deemed vulnerable to foreign infiltration as they continued to try to root out Filipino Islamic invaders.
Source: AP
GAY MARRIAGE OPPONENTS MARCH IN PARIS
Paris riot police have fought back crowds who pushed their way on
to the French capital's landmark Champs-Elysees avenue as part of a huge
protest against a draft law allowing same-sex couples to marry and
adopt children.
Hundreds of thousands of people, including conservative activists,
children, retirees and priests converged 
on the city on Sunday in a
last-ditch bid to stop the bill, many bused in from the French
provinces.
on the city on Sunday in a
last-ditch bid to stop the bill, many bused in from the French
provinces.
The lower house of France's parliament approved the "marriage for
everyone" bill last month with a large majority, and the measure faces a
vote in the Senate next month.
Both houses are dominated by French President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party and its allies.
Sustained protests led by opposition conservatives in the
traditionally Catholic country have eroded support for the draft law in
recent months, and organisers hope Sunday's march will weigh on the
Senate debate.
The first few hours of the protest were peaceful. But as it was meant
to be winding down, about 100 youths tried to push past police
barricades onto the Champs-Elysees, the avenue that cuts through central
Paris and draws throngs of tourists daily.
In an indication of the sensitivity of the issue, protesters had been barred from marching on the avenue.
Police officers wrangled with the youths and then fired teargas to
force them back. Gaining momentum, more and more protesters took side
streets to reach the avenue, blocking a key intersection on the route to
the president's Elysee Palace.
Source: Al Jazeera...More...
DROUGHT HAS INDIA FARMERS DROWNING IN DEBT?
India's Maharasthra state has been hard-hit by poor rainfall and dwindling water supply - causing many farmers to have to pay for water tankers to deliver water on borrowed money. Many have farmed their land for generations and no option but to try to make their crops grow successfully no matter the cost. The government has allocated $280m for a relief package for a quarter of a million Indians living in Maharasthra and suffering from drought. But for many, it may already be too late.
Source: Al Jazeera
3 AUSTRALIAN MINISTERS QUIT?
CANBERRA, Australia - Three Australian government
ministers quit their portfolios on Friday in the continuing fallout from
a bungled leadership showdown that reinforces perceptions of a crisis
in Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s administration six months before
national elections.
Cabinet ministers Chris Bowen
and Martin Ferguson as well as Kim Carr, who was a minister outside
Cabinet, resigned Friday over their support for Gillard’s rival, former
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
- Five ministers have now resigned or have been dumped by Gillard over the botched scheme to reinstall Rudd. Another three lawmakers have also resigned from senior positions within the government.
- The loss of experienced ministers will likely exacerbate the government’s growing reputation for being shambolic and unstable.
- Gillard bent to pressure from within her center-left Labor Party’s ranks by throwing open her job to a leadership ballot on Thursday.
- Australian prime ministers are chosen by lawmakers within the ruling party, and a leadership change is often considered as a solution to abysmal opinion polling.
- Rudd stunned many with an 11th-hour announcement that he wouldn’t challenge her. His office said in a statement Friday that “there are no circumstances under which he will return to the Labor Party leadership in the future.”
- Rudd later explained that he decided against running because it he did not have a clear majority.
- “There’s no point in inheriting a disunited party,” Rudd said.
- Bowen and Carr both said a ballot would have been close, but agreed with Rudd’s decision not to run in the interests of party unity. But Ferguson, who held the important Resources and Energy Ministry which controls much of Australia’s export earnings, said Rudd should have challenged.
- “There’s a lot of people who feel very let down by his failure to run, a lot of people who have associated with him,” Ferguson said.
- Ferguson said the party needed “a fresh start” and would be wiped out at elections on Sept. 14 unless there were changes.
- “Let’s just go forward and try to pull this party together,” he said.
- Gillard is expected to name her new Cabinet this week.
Source: Agency
