W O R L D

US, China square off at Asia security forum
Singapore, May 31
The United States and China squared off at an Asian security forum on Saturday, with the US Defense Secretary accusing Beijing of destabilising the region and a top Chinese general retorting that his comments were "threat and intimidation".

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel (L) South Korean Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin (R) and Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera prior to the start of meeting in Singapore. AP/PTI

Ukraine asks Russia to recognise new President
Kiev, May 31
Ukraine accused Russia today of unleashing a global propaganda campaign to persuade global powers not to recognise an election that gave the presidency to a pro-Western tycoon. Washington for its part admitted to a "fundamental disagreement" with Russia and said President Barack Obama would meet Petro Poroshenko, whose May 25 presidential election win Moscow refuses to acknowledge, in Warsaw on Wednesday.

Sister of murdered Pak woman says her husband killed her
Lahore, May 31
The sister of a 25-year-old Pakistani pregnant woman stoned to death outside a court here today accused her husband of killing her, in a twist to a case that has sparked global condemnation. In stark contrast to an earlier version of the story, Khalida Bibi in a statement filed with the Mozang Police stating that her father, brothers and other relatives had been implicated in the murder of her younger sister Farzana Parveen by her husband Muhammad Iqbal, 45.

Khalida Bibi, sister of the Farzana Iqbal, holds a picture which according to Bibi is of Farzana’s first marriage with her cousin Mazhar Iqbal in Lahore on Saturday. Reuters

US, China square off at Asia security forum
* US criticises China’s behaviour in South China Sea
* China accuses America of stirring up trouble in Asia

Singapore, May 31
The United States and China squared off at an Asian security forum on Saturday, with the US Defense Secretary accusing Beijing of destabilising the region and a top Chinese general retorting that his comments were "threat and intimidation".

Using unusually strong language, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel took aim at Beijing's handling of territorial disputes with its Asian neighbours. "In recent months, China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea," Hagel said.

He warned Beijing that the United States was committed to its geopolitical rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region and "will not look the other way when fundamental principles of the international order are being challenged".

Hagel said the United States took no position on the merits of rival territorial claims in the region, but added: "We firmly oppose any nation's use of intimidation, coercion, or the threat of force to assert these claims."

His speech at Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia biggest security forum, provoked an angry reaction from the deputy chief of staff of the Chinese Army, Lieutenant-General Wang Guanzhong. "I felt that Secretary Hagel's speech is full of hegemonism, threat and intimidation," he told reporters just after the speech.

Wang said the speech was aimed at causing trouble in the Asia-Pacific. Hagel's comments followed the keynote address by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the same forum on Friday evening, who pledged "utmost support" to Southeast Asian countries, several of which are locked in maritime disputes with China.

"I felt that they were just trying to echo each other," Wang said. Hagel later held a bilateral meeting with Wang, where the Chinese military leader expressed his surprise at the US defence secretary's speech. "You were very candid this morning, and to be frank, more than our expectations," he said.

The US official said Hagel's speech had been well received by other Asian delegations with the exception of China.

In Beijing, President Xi Jinping said China would not initiate aggressive action in the South China Sea but would respond if others did, the official Xinhua news agency reported. "We will never stir up trouble, but will react in the necessary way to the provocations of countries involved," Xinhua quoted Xi as saying in a meeting on Friday with Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia.

On Friday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pitched his plan for Japan to take on a bigger international security role and told the Singapore forum that Tokyo would offer its "utmost support" to Southeast Asian countries in their efforts to protect their seas and airspace. In a pointed dig at China, he said Japan would provide coastguard patrol boats to the Philippines and Vietnam. — Reuters

Sea trouble

• China claims almost the entire oil and gas-rich South China Seas, and dismisses competing claims from Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. Japan also has a territorial row with China over islands in the East China Sea
• Tensions have surged in recent weeks after China placed an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam, and the Philippines said Beijing could be building an airstrip on a disputed island

Ukraine asks Russia to recognise new President

Kiev, May 31
Ukraine accused Russia today of unleashing a global propaganda campaign to persuade global powers not to recognise an election that gave the presidency to a pro-Western tycoon. Washington for its part admitted to a "fundamental disagreement" with Russia and said President Barack Obama would meet Petro Poroshenko, whose May 25 presidential election win Moscow refuses to acknowledge, in Warsaw on Wednesday.

The months-long fight for future of the ex-Soviet nation, splintered between a more nationalist west and a heavily Russified southeast, has killed more than 300 people and resurrected the geopolitical barriers of the Cold War.

Ukraine's separatist insurgency only intensified after 48-year-old billionaire chocolate maker Poroshenko won 54.7 per cent of a ballot that was disrupted across swathes of the eastern rust belt.

Government forces reported suffering no casualties today while repelling two rebel attempts to recapture an airport in the eastern hub of Donetsk they had seized a day after the election at the cost of 40 fighters, most of them Russian nationals.

Russia yesterday accused Ukraine of breaching the 1949 Geneva Conventions protecting civilians in wartime by killing and wounding peaceful citizens during its seven-week "anti-terrorist operation" in the separatist industrial regions of Lugansk and Donetsk. — AFP

Pak Taliban abduct PML-N lawmaker, ISI official

Lahore, May 31
A ruling PML-N legislator and an ISI official were allegedly kidnapped by the Taliban from Pakistan's Punjab province today. Rana Jameel Hasan was going to Islamabad along with his wife when unidentified gunmen intercepted his car and abducted him near Pindi Bhattian, some 150 km from Lahore, the police said.

The kidnappers blindfolded the couple and took them away to a deserted area. They freed Hasan's wife with a message to arrange Rs 5 crore ransom.

They threatened Hasan's wife with serious consequences in case the payment is not made in two days' time. Taking notice of the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has asked the Inspector-General to take measures for safe recovery of the Punjab Assembly member.

Crime Investigation Agency Superintendent Police Umer Virk told PTI that police were investigating all aspects of the case. "We are also not ruling out the involvement of the TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan) in the kidnapping of Hasan," he said.

In another incident, the TTP allegedly kidnapped an ISI official from Lahore Defence area and demanded Rs 20 crore from his family.

Gul Sherwan told police that the Taliban had abducted his son Zaman from Lahore. The kidnappers warned the family to arrange the ransom or be prepared to receive his body.

The police have registered a case against the TTP under Section 365-A of the Pakistan Penal Code. — PTI

Sister of murdered Pak woman says her husband killed her

Lahore, May 31
The sister of a 25-year-old Pakistani pregnant woman stoned to death outside a court here today accused her husband of killing her, in a twist to a case that has sparked global condemnation.

In stark contrast to an earlier version of the story, Khalida Bibi in a statement filed with the Mozang Police stating that her father, brothers and other relatives had been implicated in the murder of her younger sister Farzana Parveen by her husband Muhammad Iqbal, 45.

She said that her sister murdered outside the High Court in Lahore on Tuesday by her own husband, after the family protested against their marriage.

"During a scuffle between my family members and Iqbal and his friends, Farzana suffered fatal head injury with the brick of Iqbal." Khaleda said, adding Farzana in fact was going to testify against Iqbal in an abduction case against him as he had forced her into marriage. "Iqbal after killing Farzana put the blame on her family members," she said. — PTI

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Players challenge for the ball during the German Mud Soccer Championships in Rieste on Saturday. AP/PTI

Istanbul
Turkey beefs up security: Thousands of the Turkish police mobilised on Saturday in Istanbul ahead of demonstrations to mark the first anniversary of protests that mushroomed into a revolt against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule. afp

Sydney
MH370 search mission: A Chinese ship mapping the ocean floor ahead of an intensive underwater search for missing Flight MH370 was returning to port on Saturday due to a technical problem, officials said. Pti

Ghazni (afghanistan)
Bomb kills 14 civilians: A roadside bomb killed 14 civilians in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, the latest violence in the country as US-led troops prepare to leave after 13 years of war. AFP