Day: February 2, 2023

Los Angeles International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports, briefly lost power Wednesday.

The airport said it was assessing a power issue affecting some facilities.

“The airfield is operating normally but some terminals, traffic lights and other systems may not have power,” it said.

Power was restored after outages at some terminals briefly disrupted operations.

“Power has been fully restored and operations are normal,” the airport said in a tweet.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Türkiye's competition authority has opened an investigation into claims that Google is abusing its dominant position in the search services market.

On Thursday, the board announced that it had found findings serious and sufficient about Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, Google International LLC, Google Ireland Limited, and Google Advertising and Marketing Ltd.

In 2021, the board fined Google $36.6 million for market abuse, and $25.6 million in 2020 for the same reason.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Philippines agreed on Thursday to allow the US military access to four more military bases in the country.

The US Defense Department said the access to new locations “will allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges.”

The announcement came during the visit of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to the archipelago nation, Washington's oldest military ally in Asia.

The expansion of military bases was agreed upon under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), signed in 2014.

The EDCA, a military deal between Manila and Washington signed during former Filipino President Corazon Aquino’s government, allows for the increased rotational presence of US troops, planes, and ships in Philippine military bases, as well as the construction of facilities to store fuel and equipment.

In 2016, the US military got access to five EDCA facilities, including Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro, and Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.

“The EDCA is a key pillar of the US-Philippines alliance, which supports combined training, exercises, and interoperability between our forces. Expansion of the EDCA will make our alliance stronger and more resilient, and will accelerate the modernization of our combined military capabilities,” said a statement released by the US Defense Department.

It added that the US has also allocated over $82 million for infrastructure investments at the existing five sites under the EDCA.

The US and the Philippines have committed to moving quickly in agreeing to the necessary plans and investments for the new and existing EDCA locations, the statement said.

In a meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Austin said the US will “help the Philippines modernize its defense capabilities as well as increase the interoperability of American and Filipino military forces.”

“From defense perspective, we will continue to work together with our great partners and to build and modernize your capabilities as well as increase our interoperability,” Austin said.

The Filipino president’s office said in a statement that Marcos told the visiting US defense delegation that Manila “sees the future of the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific tied up with the United States because of the Philippines’ and the region’s strong and historic partnership with the US.”

“And again, I have always said that it seems to me that the future of the Philippines and, for that matter, the Asia Pacific will always have to involve the United States simply because those partnerships are so strong and so historically embedded in our common psyches that can only be an advantage to both our countries,” Marcos told Austin.

Marcos described the region's situation as "complicated," and said he exchanged "some ideas, thoughts, and information... on the current situation in the Asia-Pacific" with the US defense chief.

“The Philippines,” Marcos said, “can only navigate properly in this environment with the help of its partners and allies in the international sphere.”

“As we traverse these rather troubled waters — geopolitical waters, the economic waters — that we are facing, I again put great importance on that partnerships, specifically with the United States… all partnerships and alliances that we are able to make with our friends around the world,” he said.

In 2016, the Philippines Supreme Court ruled that the agreement was constitutional after it was challenged.

Those who opposed the EDCA at the top court had argued that it was a “de facto basing agreement.”

The Philippines Senate had in a historic vote shut down all the US bases in the Southeast Asian nation. However, later in 1999, Manila and Washington signed the Visiting Forces Agreement – a treaty that allows the return of US troops.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday threw doubt on Germany's refusal to send fighter jets to Ukraine, saying Chancellor Olaf Scholz is known for his shifting positions in the war, which is now nearly a year old.

"It all started with some helmets for Ukrainian servicemen, then small arms appeared, and now they are talking about airplanes ... Scholz swears that it will never happen, but Scholz is also known for the ability to change his position quickly enough," Lavrov told Russian channel Rossiya 24.

He mentioned how German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin "is waging a war against Russia."

The more long-range weapons are supplied to Ukraine, the farther Russia will have to move those weapons from its territory, he added.

Initially reluctant to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine but later bowing to international pressure, Berlin is now one of the top military aid donors to Kyiv.

Last week it decided to supply its Leopard 2 battle tanks to the war-torn country, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked the West for fighter jets, a request Scholz has rejected.

West creating ‘irritants’ for Russia

Lavrov added that the West continues creating "irritants" for Russia, naming Georgia and Moldova as countries allegedly being incited against Moscow.

To promote peace in Caucasus region, Russia promotes the 3+3 format – Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and their neighbors, Russia, Türkiye, and Iran – he said.

Moldova, meanwhile, is being groomed for the role of the "new Ukraine," he claimed.

He said the West succeeded in "appointing at the head of the country, by specific methods far from free or democratic, the president, who eagerly seeks to join NATO."

Moldovan President Maya Sandu is a “Romanian citizen, and is ready to unite with Romania and in general, is ready for almost anything," said Lavrov.

While Sandu actively works to join NATO, she neglects any talks on settling the Transnistria problem, said Lavrov, referring to an unrecognized breakaway region on Moldova’s border which the Council of Europe says is under Russian occupation.

Moldova “is one of the countries that the West wants to turn into another anti-Russia," he said.

Turning to the southern Caucasus region of Karabakh, Lavrov said the story of the conflict "goes deep into the decades."

"When Armenia occupied seven districts around Azerbaijan for many, many years ... Russia offered numerous options, which the previous Armenian leadership did not take very well, positively, wanting to hold these territories.

"Yes, Azerbaijan has returned the lands that belong to it," the minister said.

Baku and Yerevan continue seeking solutions, and Moscow and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are ready to contribute to a settlement, he added.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Fionnuala Ni Aolain, the UN special rapporteur on promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, is set to begin her US visit from Feb. 6, the global body said Wednesday.

Between Feb. 6 and 14, the official will visit Washington DC and the detention facility at the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay on the island of Cuba, the UN Human Rights Special Procedures Office said.

Over the subsequent three-month period, Ni Aolain will also carry out a series of interviews with individuals in the US and abroad voluntarily.

These will include victims and families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and former detainees in countries of resettlement/repatriation.

She will release a statement on her conclusions and suggestions once the visit is concluded.

The US withdrew its military forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, but the military prison created to hold terrorist suspects captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, remains open.

The notorious prison was established 21 years ago in Guantanamo Bay, which the US leased from Cuba for the navy in 1903.

Since then, the detention camp, also known as "Gitmo," has held roughly 780 detainees, most of them without charge or trial, with many said to have gone through unspeakable horrors. Currently, 35 detainees remain.

Source: Anadolu Agency