Category: The Daily Telegraph

Philippine Government and United Nations trade insults – The Daily Telegraph

JAKARTA – Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a senior United Nations official based in the Philippines, is refusing to leave her homeland despite a legal petition by the government to designate her and about 600 others as terrorists. Tauli-Corpuz, appointed the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples in 2014, said in a telephone interview that “of course I am concerned” about the government’s list, which was filed by the justice ministry in court in Manila on February 21, but was adamant that she would not flee overseas.

Australia and East Timor sign historic maritime boundary deal, despite tensions over gas field – The Daily Telegraph

Xanana Gusmao speaks to supporters after winning 2012 election in East Timor (Photo: Simon Roughneen)

JAKARTA — Australia and East Timor on Wednesday signed what Canberra’s foreign minister Julie Bishop called “a milestone” agreement on a maritime boundary between the two countries. The treaty ends a long a bitter dispute between the neighbouring countries and paves the way for exploitation of billions of dollars in gas and oil under the Timor Sea – with at least 70 percent of the revenue to go to impoverished East Timor. The agreement was also historic because it marked the first successful conclusion of “conciliation” negotiations to settle maritime differences under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.  How much money the country, a half-island nation of 1.3 million people who are among the poorest in the world, ends up getting depends partly on what deal is worked out to drill and pipe the underwater gas.

Diver exposes plastic rubbish off Bali coast – The Daily Telegraph

JAKARTA — Footage of a vast plastic ‘slick’ shot by a British diver off the coast of Bali has put renewed focus on the growing threat of ocean pollution. Rich Horner filmed himself swimming through swathes of plastic rubbish floating in turquoise waters around 15 miles offshore from Denpasar, the Balinese regional capital. The footage is being seen as a warning over increasingly toxic levels of plastic waste along some of the most picturesque shorelines of Indonesia, which is heavily reliant on tourism. “Plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic sheets, plastic buckets, plastic sachets, plastic straws, plastic baskets, plastic bags, more plastic bags,” Horner wrote.

UK targets Indonesia in first test of “Global Britain” plan – The Daily Telegraph

JAKARTA/LONDON — British engineers could be handed lucrative contracts with Indonesia to regenerate its ailing road and rail networks under a government push to boost trade and diplomatic ties with Southeast Asia after Brexit. The move would pit British firms against Chinese and Japanese giants who are vying for influence over Indonesia’s growing economy, in one of the first tests of the UK’s post-Brexit “Global Britain” push. “We are trying to get a greater slice of the action,” Moazzam Malik, the British ambassador in Indonesia, told the Telegraph as UK officials unveiled plans to increase business ties.

Letter claims MI5 asked loyalists to assassinate Irish prime minister at height of Northern Irish conflict – The Daily Telegraph

DUBLIN — In 1987, at the height of the conflict in Northern Ireland, loyalist paramilitaries told Ireland’s Prime Minister Charles Haughey that British intelligence wanted him dead. Among the Irish government archives released today is a letter from the Protestant Ulster Volunteer Force in which they claimed to Haughey that “in 1985 we were approached by a MI5 officer attached to the NIO [Northern Ireland Office] and based in Lisburn, Alex Jones was his supposed name,” the UVF said. “He asked us to execute you.” The UVF said they turned down the request, telling the Taoiseach (prime minister) that “We refused to do it. We were asked would we accept responsibility if you were killed. We refused.”

Concerns that Star Wars ‘re-branding’ could undermine Skellig Michael’s heritage status – The Daily Telegraph

DUBLIN – Irish heritage conservationists fear that a rugged island off the country’s southwest coast could lose its prestigious Unesco listing because of a spike in visitor numbers, after scenes from Star Wars: The Last Jedi were shot there. An Taisce, Ireland’s national trust, is seeking government intervention over Skellig Michael, the site of an ancient monastic settlement described as “Ireland’s Machu Picchu” by National Geographic, but which the trust believes has undergone a “commercial re-branding” after being “swamped” by the Star Wars connection. However, Emma Hynes, press officer for Ireland’s Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said Unesco was informed of each episode of filmmaking and “has raised no correspondence whatsoever on the matter” “The Unesco status of the island is not in question nor is it contingent on a certain visitor level,” she said.

Indonesian judges reject demand to ban sex outside marriage – The Daily Telegraph

SINGAPORE – Indonesia’s constitutional court today turned down a petition to have extra-marital sex banned, the latest culture war skirmish in the world’s biggest Muslim democracy. A narrow 5-4 majority of judges voted to reject the request made by a group called the Family Love Alliance which said it wants Indonesian law to categorise adultery to mean any relationship that involves sex outside marriage, not just married people having affairs. The group said it would appeal the decision and is hoping that like-minded MPs will resume the campaign in parliament to criminalise “sexual deviance,” including gay relationships as well as adultery.

Trump hails great relationship with Philippine counterpart – The Daily Telegraph/RTÉ Morning Ireland/Los Angeles Times

MANILA — President Donald Trump said on Monday he had a “great relationship” with his Philippine counterpart, Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, amid contradictory messages from the administration of each country over whether human rights were discussed. The two presidents bonded during their much anticipated first formal meeting on Monday, held on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Manila. The two presidents shared a joke at the media’s expense, with Mr Trump laughing as Mr Duterte joked that the press are “spies.”  According to Harry Roque, a Philippines government spokesman, the two presidents bonded over another shared dislike, former US President Barack Obama, who Mr Duterte dismissed as “a son of a whore” due to Mr Obama’s criticism of the violent anti-drugs campaign launched by Mr Duterte in 2016. 

Philippine president lauds China ahead of meeting with Trump – The Daily Telegraph/Los Angeles Times/France24

MANILA  — Around two hours before meeting U.S. President Donald Trump at a dinner held for Asia Pacific leaders on the eve of regional summit, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cast further doubt on American economic leadership by describing China, which has the the world’s second biggest GDP, as the global economic leader. “Today China is the number one economic power, and we have to be friends,” Duterte said, speaking at a business forum held at a huge Manila casino. President Trump arrived in Manila on Sunday, the last leg of a five country Asia tour that has seen him feted by the leaders of Japan and China but at odds with much of the region over the direction of trade policy. China and Japan are promoting multilateral deals, including the Trans Pacific Partnership, which does not involve China but is being led by Japan. The TPP was one of Obama administration’s main foreign policy efforts but was ditched by Trump soon after he took office.

Indonesian man kills 23-foot python – The Daily Telegraph

JAKARTA — A security guard has killed a huge python which was blocking traffic as it crossed a road in Indonesia, wrestling with the 23-foot reptile which savaged his arm. Robert Nababan was driving on a moped in Riau Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra when he came upon the snake blocking traffic as it tried to edge across a road, according to local media. Nababan and two other passers-by tried to move the huge predator off the road. The details of the encounter remain unclear, but Nababan ended up in hospital after the python sunk its razor sharp teeth into his arm while trying, as pythons do, to coil around the 37 year old.