Tag Archives: Asia

Southeast Asian Islamic State unit being formed in southern Philippines: officials

By Randy Fabi and Manuel Mogato

JAKARTA/MANILA (Reuters) – Southeast Asian militants who claim to be fighting for Islamic State in the Middle East have said they have chosen one of the most wanted men in the Philippines to head a regional faction of the ultra-radical group, security officials said on Thursday.

The claim was made in a video that was recently posted on social media, possibly last week, a military intelligence official in the Philippines told Reuters.

The video is significant, experts say, because it shows that Islamic State supporters are now being asked to stay home and unify under one umbrella group to launch attacks in Southeast Asia, instead of being drawn to the fight in the Middle East.

Authorities in the region have been on heightened alert since Islamic State claimed an attack in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in January in which eight people were killed, including four of the attackers.

In the 20-minute video seen by Reuters, young men and some children in military fatigues are shown carrying and training with weapons, and holding Islamic State flags. A section of the video showed some of these men engaging in gunbattles in jungles but it was not clear where and with whom.

The video also showed three men apparently being executed, but it was not clear where and who they were.

The authenticity of the video and when it was taken could not be independently verified.

In the video, a man authorities in Malaysia have identified as Mohd Rafi Udin, a Malaysian militant currently in Syria, says in Malay: “If you cannot go to (Syria), join up and go to the Philippines.”

In the video, Udin also urges Muslims to unite under the leadership of Abu Abdullah, a Philippine militant leader who pledged allegiance to Islamic State in January.

Abu Abdullah, also known as Isnilon Hapilon, is a leader of the Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf. He is on the FBI’s most wanted list for his role in the kidnapping of 17 Filipinos and three Americans in 2001 and carries a bounty of $5 million.

The video was released to mark Islamic State’s acceptance of allegiances from jihadists in the Philippines, the first formal recognition of a Southeast Asian group, said Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, chief of Malaysia’s police counter-terrorism unit.

“This video is not just propaganda, but is a serious threat. We are definitely expecting more attacks in this region,” Pitchay told Reuters.

Hapilon is known to be based in the interior hills of the island of Basilan in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines. In April, at least 18 Philippine soldiers were killed and 53 wounded in an attack on his followers on the island.

KIDNAP GANG

For decades, Abu Sayyaf has been known for extortion, kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, and is one of the most brutal Muslim rebel factions in the south of the largely Christian Philippines.

The group has posted videos on social media sites this year pledging allegiance to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

The latest video appears aimed at recognizing Hapilon as the Southeast Asian leader of the group, anti-terrorism experts said.

“I think this is a very significant video,” said Sidney Jones, a Jakarta-based security expert. “This acknowledges support from Indonesia and Malaysia.”

“It suggests there will be more efforts to get people to actually go to Mindanao to launch operations from there.”

The Jakarta attacks in January were claimed by Islamic State. But the attack did not bear the hallmarks of other spectacular strikes by the radical group – the militants lacked sophisticated weaponry and were amateurish in the execution.

Some security officials fear a more organized and better trained militant group could launch far deadlier attacks in the region.

But Philippine military officials dismissed these concerns, saying the video was just propaganda and should be ignored.

“People should not be bothered by this,” said Philippine military spokesman Restituto Padilla “Authorities are working on this. They can be identified, and they can be hunted down.”

(Additional Reporting by Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur and Kanupriya Kapoor in Jakarta; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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Scarlet Fever Making a Comeback and May Now Resist Antibiotics

After nearly 100 years, the bacterial infection, scarlet fever, has made a comeback in Britain and in parts of Asia. And to make matters worse, it may no longer be an easy treatable infection as new research suggests that the infection is showing signs of antibiotic resistance.

“We have not yet had an outbreak in Australia, but over the past five years there have been more than 5,000 cases in Hong Kong (a 10-fold increase) and more than 100,000 cases in China,” said Mark Walker, one of the researchers, in a news release. “And an outbreak in the UK has resulted in 12,000 cases since last year.

The Washington Post reports that scarlet fever is caused by a group of A Streptococcus bacteria that can turn strep throat into scarlet fever. Most people who are affected are children between the ages of 5 and 12. The disease develops a red, sandpaper-like rash on the person’s body, and while it’s unpleasant, it can easily be treated with antibiotics. There is currently no vaccine.

“We now have a situation which may change the nature of the disease and make it resistant to broad-spectrum treatments normally prescribed for respiratory tract infections, such as scarlet fever,” said Nouri Ben Zakour, one of the researchers.

The idea that this new outbreak of scarlet fever could easily be treated was rethought when researches from the University of Queensland discovered that the new scarlet fever cases were resisting antibiotics. While penicillin is still effective, other treatments such as tetracycline, clindamycin, and erythromycin may not be, which poses an immediate threat to people who are allergic to penicillin.

The rise in scarlet fever could pre-empt a future rise in rheumatic heart disease, which causes permanent heart damage. Knowing this, researchers hope to continue studying the patterns of the disease and the effects it has on a person’s health, according to Science World Report.

Japan, China, and South Korean Leaders to Revive Dialogue at First Summit in Three Years

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, and South Korean President Park Geun Hye will meet in Seoul on Sunday for the first summit between the three countries in since 2012.

While past historical issues will most likely be brought up, the leaders hope to move forward in order to boost stability in Northeast Asia and better relations with Tokyo, according to South Korean and Chinese officials. The Washington Post also reports that all three countries are concerned over North Korea and its nuclear capabilities and may discuss the matter at the meeting. However, Sunday’s meeting is said to be a first step toward burying the past.

“None of them wants to be seen stonewalling the cooperation,” said Shin Kawashima, a University of Tokyo professor of international studies. They all have soft spots “so they want to find a comfortable middle ground,” he told Fox News.

And it is a tricky situation for the three Asian powers as Tokyo does not want to discuss history, Beijing, for political reasons, can’t be too friendly with Japan, and Seoul doesn’t want the U.S. to think they are getting too close to China.

Reuters reports that the bad blood between the nations are due to past wartimes when China and South Korea suffered under Japan’s colonial rule and brutal occupation before Japan was defeated in 1945.

Hungary Sending Troops to Stop Migrants at Border

Hungarian officials are rushing military troops to their border to try and stop a massive wave of migrants attempting to escape the violence of the Middle East and Asia.

Hungarian officials said that a record 2,533 migrants were arrested attempting to enter the country on Tuesday.  Most of them were from Syria, Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Officials are calling the situation the worst migrant crisis since the second World War and Hungary is attempting to quickly build a 110 mile border fence with razor wire to stop the illegal immigration.

“Hungary’s government and national security cabinet … has discussed the question of how the army could be used to help protect Hungary’s border and the EU’s border,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told reporters.

The move by Hungary is coming under criticism from Germany and France.  The German and French governments are working to put together a comprehensive plan for all nations across Europe to accept migrants, but Hungary’s actions are countering the proposed actions.

Other nations are also overwhelmed.  Greece, which is in the midst of financial crisis unlike any other in the nation’s history, has been burdened with 50,000 migrants in just the month of July.

Largest Joint Chinese-Russian Military Exercise Begins This Week

State run media in both Russia and China are reporting that the largest naval exercise between the two nations will begin this week in the Pacific.

The operation, called Joint Sea 2015 II, will begin Thursday and run through August 28th in the Sea of Japan and off the coast of the Russian city of Vladivostok.  More than 20 naval vessels from the two nations will conduct “joint amphibious assault” drills.

The exercise will also include various air units including fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

“A source close to the operation said navies of the two countries will join forces to simulate anti-submarine combat and air defense and other relevant missions. A joint beach landing of troops is also planned,” read a report in the Chinese state-controlled Xinhua news service.

“The source said the drills ‘are not targeted at any third party and are not relevant to regional status-quo’.”

The state run news outlets called the event part of “an annual exchange program between Chinese and Russian militaries.”

The exercise is the first time the Chinese navy will conduct joint exercises in the Sea of Japan, bordering North and South Korea, Russia and Japan.

In November 2014, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu admitted the exercises are in response to the United States.

“We believe that the main goal of pooling our effort is to shape a collective regional security system,” Shoigu said in November.  “We also expressed concern over U.S. attempts to strengthen its military and political clout in the [Asia-Pacific Region].”

Saudi Arabia Fires Health Minister After MERS Outbreak

Saudi Arabia fired Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabiah in the mist of the largest outbreak of the killer MERS virus since its discovery two years ago.

The news comes as two more people were confirmed to have died from the virus.  A 73-year-old Saudi man died in Riyadh and a 54-year-old man in Jeddah died on Monday.

Saudi Arabia has been dealing with a major outbreak of the virus with over 20 infections discovered in the last week.  The country’s death toll climbed to 83 and the total number of cases jumped to 261.  The outbreak of the last week was more than ten percent of the total cases.

The now-former Health Minister had said on Monday he didn’t know why there was a sudden rise in the virus other than noting there was a small increase the previous April.

The World Health Organization confirmed the first cases of the virus in Southeast Asia.  There is no vaccine for MERS.

Study Shows World Getting More Religious

A new study released by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity is showing the world overall is growing more religious and will likely continue in that trend for many more years.

According to the report “Christianity In Its Global Context, 1970-2010”, an almost ten percent increase in religious belief is expected by 2020. In 1970, 80 percent of the world’s population was religious, 88 percent in 2010 and is predicted to be 90 percent by 2020. Continue reading →

“Red October” Cyber-Attack Discovered

Russian research firm Kaspersky Labs released information today about a major cyber-crime attack that has been stealing classified government information since 2007.

The malware, code named “Red October,” is designed to steal encrypted files and has the ability to retrieve files that have been deleted on a computer if the deletion was not done in a secure manner. Continue reading →