MANILA: The Philippines yesterday allowed Taiwan experts to see video footage of the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by a Filipino coastguard vessel, officials said. It was a key demand by Taiwan to settle the controversy. The Taiwanese were also allowed to examine the Filipino vessel and will be given access to the guns used, said Alex Lactao, Chief Information Officer of the Philippine justice department. The team is looking into how the Taiwanese, 65, was shot dead on May 9. The Philippines has insisted the boat intruded into its waters and coastguards were forced to open fire when it tried to ram their vessel. But Taipei said the boat was within its economic zone. President Aquino has apologised for the shooting but Taiwan has rejected it as inadequate. The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association, which hosts the annual William Jones Cup, said it had decided not to invite the Philippines to the international event in July.
Pillay invited by Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has been invited to Sri Lanka in August, the foreign ministry said yesterday, months after Colombo reacted angrily to her request for a war crimes probe. Pillay has been invited as part of Colombo’s “continued, transparent and proactive engagement” with the UN, the ministry said. She will visit Sri Lanka from August 25 to 31. A UN report in February said Colombo had failed to honour a commitment to probe rights abuses and allegations that thousands of civilians were killed in the final stages of its ethnic war that ended in 2009.
No HIV tests for China teachers
BEIJING: A Chinese province is likely to abolish mandatory HIV tests for teachers, the first region on the mainland to do so, state media said yesterday. HIV carriers are excluded from civil service jobs, including teaching and policing, in many provinces, leading to accusations of discrimination from rights groups. But China Daily said HIV tests had been removed from a draft list of health standards for teaching candidates in Guangdong in the south.
US jet crashes off Japan
Tokyo: A US military jet based in Okinawa crashed in waters off the prefecture, Japan’s News Agency (Kyodo) reported, adding there were no casualties. The government has received information that an F-15 fighter jet plunged into waters east of the prefecture, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. “There was no human suffering. I heard the jet was in a training area. We are gathering more information.”
5 Thai security personnel killed
BANGKOK: Five Thai security personnel were killed in rebel attacks the government yesterday blamed on insurgents seeking to disrupt a fragile peace process. Despite two rounds of talks since March, near-daily bloodshed in the deep south near the border with Malaysia has raised questions over how much control rebels hold over militants. The rangers on patrol were shot dead in an ambush in Pattani province, police said. The nine-year-old insurgency has claimed more than 5,500 lives in the region.
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