In a public release, Philippines military authorities said Tuesday that China should “refrain from selfish acts” referring to the latter’s plans to speed up construction of artificial islands on the coral islands, or atolls, in West Philippine Sea (the South China Sea).

The Philippines also urged China to abide by the international laws all states comply with including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“We reiterate that their activities if not stopped only draws the world closer to further uncertainties and untoward incidents with irreparable consequences,”

said Philippines Defense spokesperson Peter Paul Galvez.

He added that China’s misconduct would result in “irreparable consequences.”

According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement issued Tuesday, the Red Dragon would complete its “land reclamation project” in the Nansha Islands, also known as the Spratlys, “in the upcoming days.”

But the Chinese declined to provide more details about which of the reefs would be affected by the project or an exact time frame.

China has been working on artificially expanding its territory for months now. According to the U.S. data, China’s reclamation project currently covers nearly 2,000 acres. China is interested in a particularly resource-rich region in the South China Sea, but Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines are interested in it as well.

The U.S. does not have an official stance on the claims but it urged China to respect freedom of navigation. China argues that the recent activity is “lawful, reasonable and justified” since it falls within its sovereignty, doesn’t target another country, and doesn’t hinder free navigation. Additionally, there is no threat to marine ecological systems, Chinese authorities said.

On the contrary, China says that the land reclamation project would help marine scientific research, fisheries, navigation safety, conservation and rescue activities.

But the next step after the artificial islands are completed is to construct facilities “to meet the relevant functions requirements.” And all these in spite of desperate calls from the U.S., Australia, the G7 group and, most recent, the Philippines.

Neighbors are also concerned that China’s operations of establishing military bases would disrupt the frail military balance in the region.

So far, China did not retaliate in any manner, nor did it stop the sand dredging activities. Satellite and military imagery show Chinese vessels dredging sand to the outer parts of South China Sea’s atolls and filling their inside holes afterward.

China’s offshore reclamation project is unprecedented due to its magnitude of more than 1,900 acres of reef turned into dry land over night.

Image Source: Bloomberg

On Sunday, the Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation passed a bill, that enables justice officials, to hand out tougher sentences to Protesters throwing stones at vehicles.

The same bill was proposed to the Committee on a previous occasion in November, but it did not have time to pass before Parliament dissolved due a political crisis. The proposal was previously promoted by a centrist force, with Tzipi Livni the former justice minister. The recommendation came as a result after the wave of Palestinian protests in Jerusalem in 2014.

Palestinian protesters could risk jail sentences of up to 10 years. In comparison with the new measures, former sentences seem light as prosecutors usually demanded only about 3 months jail time for the same crime.

Although it passed the Ministerial Legal committee, the bill faces several parliament readings in order to take effect.

If it passes these readings, it will amend an existing law which allows prosecutors to demand 20 years in prison for stoning a civilian or police vehicle. The major difference is that the previous law which is to be amended, allowed prosecution only if intent to inflict harm was proven.

Since intent is hard to prove especially when violent protests and mass gatherings take place, the new bill would allow a different interpretation. Considering the safety of the people in the vehicles as the main felony, prosecutors could have more success in obtaining jail-time for the defendants.

The hope on the part of the bill’s presenters is that more unfavorable sentences, will deter violent protests from happening. Also Longer jail time, can keep citizens prone to committing acts of violence, in check.

Not all sides agree, since protesting is a right of every free citizen even if they can sometimes turn to a more violent nature. Protest can easily turn violent for a number of reason not all of them can be controlled by the participant. Police brutality and tensions between protesters and the general population can arise, especially if they are a minority in the region, either religious or racial.

The Palestinian people have protest repetitively, tensions with the Israeli population are high, and the continuing presence of Hamas due to popular support in Palestine’s government has done a lot of damage to the relations with world powers and the U.N.

However palestinians are not the only people that can be targeted by the new law, Ethiopian Jews have recently protested and incidents of violence in connection with their demonstrations were reported around the world.
Image Source: jewishpress.com

Three weeks ago Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake and more than 8,000 people died buried under collapsed buildings.

Today, another earthquake struck Nepal killing dozens and injuring thousands of people.
According to surviving residents of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, the new earthquake, which was felt as far as New Delhi, violently shook and collapsed many buildings of the city.

Officials from the United States Geological Survey said that the quake had a magnitude of 7.3 and its epicenter was at approximately 50 miles east of Kathmandu, close to Nepal’s border with China.

The previous devastating earthquake that took place on April 25 had a magnitude of 7.8 and its epicenter was west of Kathmandu.

Jamie McGoldrick, who works for the United Nations as Nepal’s resident coordinator, said that the new earthquake destroyed many buildings and left casualties, although the exact numbers are not known yet.

According to McGoldrick, there are still several international rescue teams, including Indian and American, who are still in Kathmandu searching for survivors of the previous quake. These teams will probably help in looking for survivors of today’s earthquake.

According to representatives of Nepal’s Emergency Operation Center, 42 people died and more than 1,117 were reported injured until now.

Paul Dillon, of the International Organization for Migration said that four people were killed in the town of Chautara, east of Kathmandu.

Mr. Dillon added that numerous buildings collapsed and local and international rescue crews are digging through the rubble hoping to find surviving victims.

Bharat Shrestha, a member of the rescue teams said that the concrete buildings in Chautara have collapsed and the main road that leads to Chautara is now blocked by debris completely.

Krishna Prasad Gaiwali, chief district officer of Sindhupalchowk said that his district was hugely damaged by the new earthquake.

Since the devastating earthquake that took place on April 25, many people living in Nepal have lived with the fear that a new quake might hit again, mostly because most of the buildings that didn’t collapsed were left cracked and not stable.

According to an examination by an American structural engineer, almost one third of the buildings damaged by the first earthquake need to be completely demolished because they are not safe.

Despite the engineer’s warning, many Nepalese families have moved back into their apartments, after they lived in tents for more than a week after the April quake.
Image Source: nydailynews