BANGKOK, Feb 15: Anti-Government protesters in Thailand today refused to end their rallies and vowed to fight “to the end”, even as embattled premier Yingluck Shinawatra’s Government planned to step up its operation to clear demonstration sites.
The police yesterday launched “Operation Valentine” to clear public areas, marking a shift from earlier government policy as so far Yingluck had not taken any action, allowing protesters to take over state buildings, major intersections and set up tents on the road.
There were no violent clashes even after more than 1,500 police officers, donning helmets and carrying protective shields, dismantled a sprawling protest camp near the Government House yesterday.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said he will not negotiate with Yingluck’s government and declared the ongoing protests will end when she quits and a People’s Council is set up.
Suthep said there have been several proposals from parties to mediate talks to solve the stalemate.
“I would like to make it clear, there is nothing to negotiate. Our stance is clear. We will fight to the end, just win or lose,” he said.
His remarks came in the wake of operations by the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO) to reclaim areas occupied by anti-Government protesters.
“I have noting to negotiate. It’s easy to end our protests, Yingluck (Shinawatra), the prime minister, just quits and the people’s Government and people’s legislative council are established to push for the country’s reform,” he said.
There was high drama yesterday as thousands of police personnel with riot shields fanned out to reclaim areas.
Almost a 1,000 policemen had to retreat from a rally site in the capital after a stand-off with demonstrators as protest leader Luang Pu Buddha Issara, a monk, refused to move from the area and vowed to get more supporters.
Meanwhile, Caretaker Labour Minister and chief of CMPO Chalerm Yoobamrung vowed to step up the operation to evict anti-Government protesters.
Anti-Government demonstrators have occupied major intersections in Bangkok and blocked several Government ministries to pressure Yingluck to make way for an unelected “People’s Council” to carry out reforms aimed at curbing the dominance of the Shinawatra clan.
The protesters accuse Yingluck of acting as a puppet for her brother Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a coup in 2006. He lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai to escape a jail term for graft. (AGENCIES)

MANILA, Feb 15: Tens of thousands of members of a Philippine sect took to the streets in Manila today in a charity walk to raise funds for survivors of the country’s deadliest typhoon.
Members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) poured into the capital’s seaside avenue in response to the politically influential sect’s appeal to help compatriots caught up by Super Typhoon Haiyan’s onslaught.
All those taking part bought special white t-shirts, costing 250 pesos (USD 5.60)to wear during the march, with all proceed from sales of the garment being donated to help those in need, pensioner Laodiseo Santos, 78, told reporters.
“I paid for this T-shirt to help our countrymen rebuild their homes…Some of our wealthier members purchased in bulk,” he said.
The retired cashier, his five grown-up sons and daughters as well as several grandchildren completed a three-kilometre (1.8-mile) walk on Roxas Boulevard in late morning.
Police estimated the crowd at about 200,000, though the figure could not be independently confirmed.
Haiyan tore across 171 towns and cities in the central islands on November 8 last year, killing at least 6,200 people and leaving nearly 2,000 others missing according to an official count.
The typhoon, one of the strongest ever to hit land, also left more than four million people homeless.
Many of them are still living in tents and other temporary shelters supplied by an international humanitarian effort led by the United Nations.
The district remained fenced off to traffic at noon, with more participants expected to join in the afternoon, a photojournalist on the scene said.
“This is an organised march, and there have been no untoward incidents,” said Chief Inspector Alejandro Yanquiling, a senior Manila police officer who oversaw security for the event. (AGENCIES)

RANCHO MIRAGE (US), Feb 15: The United States is considering further steps to put pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, President Barack Obama said.
“We don’t expect to solve this any time in the short term so there are going to be some immediate steps that we have to take to help the humanitarian situation there,” Obama said at a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan. “There will be some intermediate steps that we can take to apply more pressure to the Assad regime.” (AGENCIES)

TOKYO, Feb 15: Japan’s road, rail and air travel services faced further disruptions today, reports and officials said, after a fresh snow storm killed three people and injured 850 others following last week’s deadly blizzard.
Snow began falling yesterday morning in the capital Tokyo and piled up to 26 centimetres (10 inches) by early today, a week after the heaviest snowfall in decades left at least 11 people dead and more than 1,200 injured across the nation.
A driver was killed yesterday in a crash involving his car and a truck on an icy road in Shiga, central Japan, while a farmer died after a tractor overturned on a snow-covered road in southwestern Oita, local media said.
In a separate snow-related accident, a driver was killed and three others injured on an expressway in central Shizuoka, the news reports said.
Public broadcaster NHK said some 850 people, including one in a coma, have been injured in snow-related accidents across the nation since snow hit western Japan late Thursday.
Drivers were struggling to move their cars in the capital’s residential district of Setagaya, while snow started melting and flooding some roads in downtown Tokyo.
Television footage showed hundreds of passengers resting on benches and floors under blankets at Haneda airport in Tokyo as public transport services were suspended due to heavy show.
At least 628 flights, mostly on domestic routes, were cancelled today at Haneda and other airports in eastern Japan, NHK said, a day after more than 260 flights were grounded due to heavy snow.
Two commuter trains collided at Motosumiyoshi station in Tokyo early today leaving 19 passengers injured, officials said.
The accident occurred as train services were disrupted due to the storm but it was not immediately clear if the collision was directly related to the bad weather. Transport authorities are investigating the case.
The storm also caused delays and suspensions on the “shinkansen” bullet train services and the closure of a number of highways across the country.
Some 187,000 households lost power mainly in eastern Japan due to snow and strong winds, NHK said.
The meteorological agency continued warning of heavy snow in eastern Japan as well as strong winds and high waves along coastal areas, which may cause snowslides.
Last week, as much as 27 centimetres of snow was recorded in Tokyo, the capital’s worst snowfall for 45 years.
While much of that snow had melted, the remains of larger piles as well as some slightly diminished snowmen were still in evidence across the city. (AGENCIES)

GENEVA, Feb 15: Syria’s warring sides are due to meet today in Geneva in a last-ditch effort to save deadlocked peace talks as fears grow the entire process could collapse.
UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will hold a final meeting with both sides as the second round of the UN-brokered peace talks wraps up with the rivals further apart than ever.
They appeared to only agree on one thing: that the negotiations were going nowhere.
“We deeply regret that this round did not make any progress,” said Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad, after meeting Brahimi yesterday.
Separately, opposition spokesman Louay Safi complained about the regime’s failure to budge, acknowledging that “the negotiations have reached an impasse.”
As the parties in Geneva failed to agree even on an agenda for their talks, the bodies piled up in Syria.
A monitoring group said on Thursday that more than 5,000 people had been killed since a first round of talks began on January 22.
At least 47 people were killed yesterday in a car bombing in front of the mosque in the southern rebel-held village of Yaduda, while the extremist ISIL group executed 27 people as rival rebels chased it from villages in the northern province of Aleppo.
The United Nations warned that more than 2,700 refugees had poured across the Lebanese border as the Syrian army carries out an offensive in the Qalamun mountains and heads towards the opposition-held town of Yabrud.
Thousands had already fled the town, but as many as 50,000 people were believed to still be inside.
Washington expressed outrage at the aerial bombings and siege of the city.
“We again call on all members of the international community, including Assad’s allies, to make clear to the regime that it must immediately cease these unwarranted attacks that undermine the Geneva process and the prospects of peace in Syria,” State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said. (AGENCIES)

CARACAS, Feb 15: Venezuelan security forces backed by water tanks and tear gas dispersed student protesters from Caracas’ main highway in the third straight night of anti-Government demonstrations.
Some 500 protesters choked off traffic for several hours earlier in the day to demand justice for two students who were killed Wednesday during clashes with police and armed pro-Government militias.
When police broke up the crowd last night, the students regrouped to a nearby plaza, where they burned trash and threw stones at police. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rebuked the students in a televised address and says he won’t tolerate any more disruptions on the nation’s roadways.
There were no reports of serious injuries.
The unrest followed the burial of the two students earlier in the day, as well as a third victim, a pro-Government militia member, who were killed in Wednesday’s unrest.
At the same time authorities began releasing the dozens of demonstrators who’ve been arrested in recent days.
In what’s become a family tradition during 15 years of socialist rule, Derrik Redman said he and his son, Robert, attended a peaceful protest of more than 10,000 anti-Government demonstrators.
But this time Robert didn’t come back, and later in the evening his father received a phone call that he’d been shot and killed in a standoff with police.
“As long as the protests continue I’ll still go,” Redman said while shaking his head in disbelief.
On the other side of town, in the 23rd of January slum that’s long been a Government stronghold and where the late Hugo Chavez is buried, about 100 people, many with their faces covered and waving pistols, paid their final respects to Juan “Juancho” Montoya. (AGENCIES)

BOGOTA, Feb 15: A wall of rain-sodden earth collapsed into an illegal, open-air gold mining pit in southwestern Colombia, killing five miners and injuring 12, authorities said.
Red Cross spokesman Cesur Uruena in Bogota said heavy rains were impeding attempts to land helicopters in the municipality of Santa Barbara de Iscuande in Narino state to evacuate the injured. He put the death toll at five.
“This is completely illegal mining,” said the Narino security chief Jaime Rodriguez, adding that Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas were active in the area. (AGENCIES)

BALI, Feb 15: Indonesian rescuers recovered the body believed to be of a Japanese diver and searched for six others missing today off the resort island of Bali, police said.
The group, including two instructors, left yesterday morning on a boat they hired for a dive around mangroves in Crystal Bay when strong winds and heavy rains hit the area, said Maj. Nyoman Suarsika, chief of Nusa Penida police.
Rescuers today found the body of a woman, Bali police spokesman Col. Hariadi said. He did not elaborate.
A list provided by police shows the group included one man and six women.
The search for the missing involved police, the National Search and Rescue Agency and fishermen, guided by the two Indonesian skippers from the divers’ boat.
Nusa Penida is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) east off Denpasar, Bali’s capital. (AGENCIES)

KANDAHAR (AFGHANISTHAN), Feb 15: Afghanistan’s first national agriculture university, a major capacity-building project backed by India, will be inaugurated here today.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid arrived here for a day-long visit and along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was scheduled to inaugurate the Afghan National Agricultural Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU).
Karzai had identified the establishment of an agriculture university as a priority area for India-Afghanistan collaboration.
The major capacity-building project backed by India will be jointly inaugurated by Karzai and Khurshid in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second largest city.
During his day-long visit, Khurshid will call on Karzai and also take stock of the progress made in some major Indian infrastructure projects like the Afghan parliament building in Kabul and Salma hydroelectric dam in Herat province.
India’s development assistance programme for Afghanistan currently stands at USD two billion, making it the leading donor nation among all regional countries.
Khurshid’s visit is taking place as the rift between Karzai and the US has grown further, jeopardising their proposed bilateral security agreement vital for the limited presence of American forces in Afghanistan after the drawdown this year.
Afghanistan on Thursday released 65 accused militants from a former US prison despite vehement protests from the American military, which says that the men are Taliban fighters who will likely return to kill coalition and Afghan forces.
The release had been ordered by Karzai after his Government took over the prison near Kabul from US troops.
Khurshid’s visit is also taking place at a time when both India and Afghanistan will witness general elections.
Afghanistan will go to polls on April 5 where the vote is considered a pivotal moment in the nation’s history after nearly 13 years of war.
Amid a surge in violence from the Taliban, India as well as the world will be watching the vote as means of measuring the success of their efforts to foster democracy and bolster security in the war-torn country over the past 12 years.
“India is and will remain committed to Afghanistan for all times to come but certainly let me emphasis beyond 2014 which is critical year for Afghanistan and many of us. We do see a peaceful, stable and strong Afghanistan and we think that is in the interest of this entire South Asian Region,” Khurshid had said last month at the meeting of International Contact Group (ICG) on Afghanistan in New Delhi. (AGENCIES)