The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Japan takes historic step from post-war pacifism
Cabinet resolution lifts ban on collective self-defence

Tokyo, July 1
Japan took a historic step away from its post-war pacifism on Tuesday by ending a ban that has kept the military from fighting abroad since 1945, a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe but a move that has riled China and worries many Japanese voters.

The change, the most dramatic shift in policy since Japan set up its post-war armed forces 60 years ago, will widen Japan's military options by ending the ban on exercising "collective self-defence", or aiding a friendly country under attack.

Abe's cabinet adopted a resolution outlining the shift, which also relaxes limits on activities in UN-led peace-keeping operations and "grey zone" incidents short of full-scale war, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters.

Long constrained by the post-war constitution, Japan's armed forces will become more aligned with the militaries of other advanced nations, in terms of its options, but the government will be wary of putting boots on the ground in multilateral operations such as the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

Abe repeated that stance on Tuesday, while stressing Japan had to respond to an increasingly tough security environment. "There is no change in the general principle that we cannot send troops overseas," Abe told a televised news conference, flanked by a poster showing Japanese mothers and infants fleeing a theoretical combat zone on a US vessel under attack.

The new policy has angered an increasingly assertive China, whose ties with Japan have frayed due to a maritime row, mistrust and the legacy of Japan's past military aggression. "China opposes the Japanese fabricating the China threat to promote its domestic political agenda," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news conference in Beijing.

"We demand that Japan respect the reasonable security concerns of its Asian neighbors and prudently handle the relevant matter." South Korea, like Japan allied with the United States, but still aggrieved about Tokyo's 20th century colonisation of the Korean peninsula, said it would not accept any change in policy affecting its security unless it gave its agreement. — Reuters

Larger role for military now

Japan takes a step away from an American-drafted constitution that has long kept its military shackled by approving a plan to allow greater use of a force

In one of the biggest changes to Japanese security policy since the war, the Cabinet approved a reinterpretation of the constitution on military affairs

The contentious move will allow the military to help defend other nations in what is known as "collective self-defence" or aiding a friendly country under attack

Washington happy, China fumes

Experts say the shift will be welcomed by Washington, which has long urged Tokyo to become a more equal alliance partner, and by Southeast Asia nations, which have rows with China

They are of the opinion that the constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 has limited Japan's ability to defend itself and that a changing regional power balance, including a rising China, was need of the hour.

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news conference in Beijing: “China opposes the Japanese fabricating the China threat to promote its domestic political agenda.”

No inclusive govt in Iraq for now

First session of Iraq Parliament in progress in Baghdad. AFP

Baghdad, July 1
Sunnis and Kurds abandoned the first meeting of Iraq’s new parliament on Tuesday after Shias failed to name a prime minister to replace Nuri al-Maliki, wrecking hopes that a unity government would be swiftly built to save Iraq from collapse.

The United States, United Nations, Iran and Iraq’s own Shia clergy have pushed hard for politicians to come up with an inclusive government to save the country as Sunni insurgents bear down on Baghdad. But with Shias failing to name a prime minister, Sunnis and Kurds refused to return from recess at the parliamentary chamber in the fortified “green zone” where they were meeting for the first time since an election in April.

Parliament is not likely to meet again for at least a week, leaving the country in a state of political limbo and Maliki clinging to power as a caretaker, rejected by Sunnis and Kurds. Under Iraq’s governing system put in place after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the prime minister has always been a member of the Shia majority, the speaker of parliament a Sunni and the largely ceremonial president a Kurd.

The Shia bloc known as the National Alliance, in which Maliki’s State of Law coalition is the biggest group, has met repeatedly in recent days to bargain over the premiership but has so far failed either to endorse Maliki for a third term or to name an alternative. — Reuters

UN: More than 2,400 killed in Iraq in June

Violence has claimed the lives of 2,417 Iraqis in June, making it the deadliest month so far this year, the United Nations said on Tuesday, underlining the daunting challenge the government faces as it struggles to confront Islamic extremists who have seized large swaths of territory in the north and west. The Al-Qaida breakaway group now controls territory stretching from northern Syria as far as the outskirts of Baghdad in central Iraq.

French ex-Prez Sarkozy held over campaign inquiry leaks

Nanterre, July 1
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was held for questioning on Tuesday over suspicions he used his influence to secure leaked details of an inquiry into alleged irregularities in his 2007 election campaign.

It was the first time a former French head of state has been held in police custody and is the latest blow to Sarkozy’s hopes of a come-back after his 2012 election defeat by Socialist rival Francois Hollande.

The conservative politician denies all wrongdoing in a string of investigations involving him. Sarkozy arrived early on Tuesday to be quizzed by investigators at their offices in Nanterre, west of Paris, after his lawyer was also held for questioning on Monday.

“Mr. Sarkozy has been summoned to Nanterre and is being held for questioning,” the source told Reuters. Asked about the matter, government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said Sarkozy was “subject to justice like everyone else.” “Justice authorities are investigating and have to go all the way,” he told i< Tele television.

Under French law, influence-peddling can be punished by up to five years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros ($682,000). Sarkozy lost presidential immunity from legal prosecution a month after he left office in June 2012.

Allies rushed to his support. “Never has any former president been the victim of such treatment, such an outburst of hatred,” Christian Estrosi, the mayor of the southern city of Nice and a close Sarkozy ally, said on his Twitter account.

The current questioning relates to suspicions he used his influence to get information on an investigation into funding irregularities in his victorious 2007 election campaign. Sarkozy can be held in custody for up to 48 hours. — Reuters

Israel bombs Gaza sites after bodies of missing teens found

$Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar.$
(From left): Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar. AFP

Jerusalem, July 1
Israel bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, striking at Hamas after finding the bodies of three missing teenagers whose abduction and killing it blames on the Palestinian Islamist group.

Israel’s security cabinet was split on the scope of any further action in the coastal enclave or in the occupied West Bank, officials said. The US and regional power-broker Egypt urged restraint.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised Hamas would pay after the discovery of the three Jewish seminary students’ bodies under rocks near the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday. The military said aircraft attacked 34 sites, mostly belonging to Hamas, though its statement did not link the strikes to the abductions.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Israel against going too far. “The response of the resistance has been limited, and Netanyahu must not test Hamas’s patience,” said Abu Zuhri. — Reuters

US authorised intel agency to spy on BJP

Washington, July 1
America’s top spy agency was authorised by a US court in 2010 to carry out surveillance on the BJP along with five other political organisations across the globe, including Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Pakistan Peoples Party, according to a classified document.

BJP figures in the list of foreign political parties along with Lebanon’s Amal, the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator of Venezuela, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian National Salvation Front and the Pakistan Peoples Party for whom the National Security Agency (NSA) had sought permission to carry out surveillance, says the document made public by The Washington Post yesterday.

The document lists the 193 foreign governments as well as foreign factions and other entities that were part of a 2010 certification approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The list includes India.

“These are the entities about which the NSA may conduct surveillance, for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence,” the paper said, citing documents provided to it by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

It said each year a new certification must be approved by the court to permit such surveillance under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. “Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the NSA, which has been authorized to intercept information ‘concerning’ all but four countries, according to top-secret documents,” The Post reported. PTI

Ukraine relaunches attack on rebels after failed truce

Kiev, July 1
Ukrainian forces today went on the attack against pro-Russian insurgents in the separatist east in defiance of European efforts to extend a shaky 10-day truce.

Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko told the nation in an emotional late-night address that his peace plan for Ukraine’s worst crisis since independence was being used by the militias to regroup and stock up on heavy arms from Russia.

“After examining the situation I have decided, as commander-in-chief of the armeTd forces, not to extend the unilateral ceasefire,” the 48-year-old said from his office.

“The separatists’ leaders have demonstrated their unwillingness and inability to control the actions of the terrorist units and marauding gangs under their control.” Parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov told a morning session of parliament that the “active phase” of the military operation had already resumed.

Both separatist fighters and pro-Kiev leaders reported a series of new skirmishes breaking out today morning across the eastern rustbelt, home to seven million Russian speakers.

The regional administration of Donetsk - which has declared its allegiance to Moscow along with the neighbouring border province of Lugansk - said four civilians were killed in a rebel attack on a bus near the town of Kramatorsk. — AFP

BRIEFLY

Indian eatery gets National Restaurant of the Year award
London: An Indian eatery in the UK has become the first restaurant to bag the country's National Restaurant of the Year award, a sign that curry houses are now being taken seriously for their gastronomic excellence. Beating even the traditional "fine dining" restaurants such as The Clove Club and The Ledbury, which came second and third respectively, Gymkhana in London's Mayfair is the first Indian restaurant to win the award. PTI

A poster advertising the search of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is pasted on a wall in Baga village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria.

A poster advertising the search of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is pasted on a wall in Baga village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria. Reuters

US names mountain after an Indian-American scientist
Washington: In a rare honour, the US has named a mountain in Antarctica after eminent Indian-American scientist Akhouri Sinha whose pioneering biological research expedition has provided vital data about animal populations. Sinha was recognised by the US Geological Survey, which named the mountain Mt Sinha for the work he did as an explorer. Pti

London to play host to mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
London: India has picked London as the host city for the next Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) keeping in mind the size and importance of the Indian Diaspora in the UK. The smaller-scale mini version of the mega PBD held every January in India will be held here in October this year on a date yet to be finalised. Pti

European court backs French ban on full-faced veil
PARIS: The European Court of Human Rights upheld France's 2010 ban on full-face veils in public on Tuesday but acknowledged the law could appear excessive and feed stereotypes. Judges at the Strasbourg-based court, by 15 to 2, said the ban did not violate religious freedom and aimed to ensure "respect for the minimum set of values of an open democratic society" which included openness to social interaction. reuters

NYT to discontinue India-specific blog
New York: Leading US daily the New York Times is bringing the curtains down on its India-specific blog, less than three years after it launched the online feature that offered news and analysis about Indian politics, culture, business, sports and lifestyle. In a blog post titled 'We're Moving', NYT said 'India Ink' will have a new online address and it will be merged with coverage of news stories from rest of the world. Pti