World briefs

JAPAN successfully launched its first military communications satellite yesterday that is designed to upgrade its network in the face of China’s increasingly assertive maritime activity and North Korea’s missile threat. The Kirameki-2 is the first of three satellites that will replace three civilian ones currently used by Japan’s military.

CHINA-PHILIPPINES China and the Philippines have agreed on USD3.7 billion worth of projects to boost cooperation, state media cited a senior Chinese official as saying, highlighting the improvement in their formerly frosty relations. 

CHINA-US With his rejection of the Asian trade pact yesterday, President Donald Trump has tackled the first in a promised series of far-reaching policy changes that could give China room to assert itself as a regional leader and worsen strains over the South China Sea and Taiwan. “America first” foreign policy is raising questions about who, if anyone, will fill the void.

EU-US The European Union trade chief says the trade policies Trump has set out are “doomed to fail” and that the world’s biggest trading bloc remains committed to open borders and economies. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said that most countries share the same vision of open trade and investments.

INDONESIA Authorities are investigating allegations of weapons smuggling by dozens of its peacekeepers who were arrested in Sudan. 

AFGHANISTAN A Defense Ministry official says the Taliban have launched nearly 19,000 attacks throughout the country in the last 10 months. By comparison the Afghan National Security Forces carried out roughly 700 counter-insurgency operations during the same period.

KYRGYZSTAN  A court upholds a life sentence for a ethnic Uzbek journalist ethnic Uzbek journalist Azimzhan Askarov (pictured) in a case that has drawn international criticism.

KASHMIR Three militants are killed in two gunbattles with government forces in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, the Indian army says.

MIDDLE EAST Syria talks in Kazakhstan between the Damascus government and rebel factions have conclude with Russia, Turkey and Iran striking a deal on a three-way mechanism to consolidate the country’s nearly month-old cease-fire. Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, read out a statement saying the three countries will use their “influence” to strengthen the truce.

TOKYO 2020 The course that will host the 2020 Olympic golf tournament says it is open to changing its membership policy to include women. The Kasumigaseki Country Club came under scrutiny recently when the International Olympic Committee inquired about the club’s membership practice.