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Philippines Accuses China of Damaging its Vessel at Hotly Contested Shoal

FILE PHOTO: Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adrian Portugal/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adrian Portugal/File Photo
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Philippines Accuses China of Damaging its Vessel at Hotly Contested Shoal

FILE PHOTO: Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adrian Portugal/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adrian Portugal/File Photo

The Philippines on Tuesday accused China's coast guard of harassment and damaging one of its boats in a disputed area of the South China Sea, and rejected Beijing's position that it had expelled two vessels from the hotly contested shoal.
The Philippine coast guard said its two vessels stood their ground at the Scarborough Shoal, a key battleground in the South China Sea, but one sustained damage from use of water cannon by two Chinese coast guard ships, Reuters said.
"This damage serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China coast guard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels," Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a statement.
"They were not deterred and will persist in carrying out their legitimate operations to support Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety."
No country has sovereignty over the strategically located Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing patch used by several countries that is close to major shipping lanes. The shoal falls inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
China has occupied the atoll for more than a decade and waters around its lagoon, which has long been a sanctuary for vessels during storms, have been the site of multiple confrontations in recent years.
China's coast guard said the vessels had been expelled but did not provide details of the incident.
The Philippine' Tarriela said its vessel, the BRP Bagacay, suffered damage to its railing and canopy and China has installed a floating barrier at the shoal's entrance, "effectively restricting access to the area".
The two countries have traded accusations of illegal conduct at the shoal and the Philippines recently summoned a Chinese diplomat to explain the what it calls aggressive maneuvers. China typically accuses the Philippines of encroaching on its territory.
China and Philippines previously said they would seek better communications and management around skirmishes in the vast South China Sea, but tensions have increased recently, as the Philippines forges stronger diplomatic and military ties with the ally the United States.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's expansive claim had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.

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World

Israel Drastically Reduces British Diplomatic Presence in Jerusalem

A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Israel Drastically Reduces British Diplomatic Presence in Jerusalem

A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel said the British consulate in Jerusalem ended its functions on Thursday but that seven diplomats would be allowed to remain in a limited capacity, with the UK saying it would continue to offer "vital services".

The move comes after Israel ordered the closure of the consulate in September as retaliation after London led Western sanctions over violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Thursday's move to downsize the UK presence had followed a dialogue with the British government in order to avoid an escalation of tensions between the two countries.

"As I announced, the British consulate in Jerusalem ended its role today," Saar said in a statement, adding that 20 diplomats including the consul general were ending their missions and leaving the country.

Saar said the building is the property of the British government and that a "task force of only seven diplomats" would be allowed to operate from the premises, "which ceased to function as a consulate today".

"Their scope of activity will be very limited," Saar said.

Britain and Israel have "agreed on the continuation of dialogue between the governments, within which both sides will be able to raise issues important to them", he said.

The UK government pledged to continue delivering "vital services" in Jerusalem, saying the consulate general building would remain open and would "be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem".

"The UK Mission, Jerusalem is independent, operational and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people," Foreign Minister Ed Miliband said in a statement.

- Israeli settlements -

An AFP photographer on Thursday saw that the diplomatic emblem and a plaque that adorned the consulate's facade had been removed.

It was not immediately clear whether new plaques would be put up.

On September 8, Saar ordered the British consulate to close.

At the time, he said Israel would also expel British representatives at a center monitoring the US-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza, bar British training for Palestinian Authority forces and ban 12 Britons, mostly members of parliament, from visiting.

Saar on Thursday said the measures had been implemented.

The retaliation came after 12 countries including Britain, Canada and France announced they would sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, following a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

The British consulate in Jerusalem was founded nearly 200 years ago.

It lies in east Jerusalem, part of the historically Palestinian area that Israel captured in 1967. Israel later annexed east Jerusalem and considers the holy city its undivided capital.

While Israel controls east Jerusalem, most countries including Britain do not recognize its sovereignty over the whole city.

The British consulate handles "political, commercial, security and economic interests between the UK and Palestine", according to its website as well as providing consular services to British nationals in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

World

Wife of ex-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Seeks Release from US Jail

(FILES) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raises his fist next to his wife Cilia Flores during a rally to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of late President Hugo Chavez's 1992 failed military coup against the government (1989-1993) of Carlos Andres Perez in Caracas on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Pedro MATTEY / AFP)
(FILES) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raises his fist next to his wife Cilia Flores during a rally to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of late President Hugo Chavez's 1992 failed military coup against the government (1989-1993) of Carlos Andres Perez in Caracas on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Pedro MATTEY / AFP)
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Wife of ex-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Seeks Release from US Jail

(FILES) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raises his fist next to his wife Cilia Flores during a rally to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of late President Hugo Chavez's 1992 failed military coup against the government (1989-1993) of Carlos Andres Perez in Caracas on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Pedro MATTEY / AFP)
(FILES) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raises his fist next to his wife Cilia Flores during a rally to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of late President Hugo Chavez's 1992 failed military coup against the government (1989-1993) of Carlos Andres Perez in Caracas on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Pedro MATTEY / AFP)

The wife of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was set to be back in court Thursday, where her lawyers will urge a judge to free her from jail and put her under house arrest because she has heart problems.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been behind bars in New York since early January when forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid.

Both have pleaded not guilty in a criminal case first brought six years ago against them and numerous alleged co-conspirators. They face potential life prison sentences if convicted of being part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the US, The Associated Press said.

Their attorneys have asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.

Lawyers for Flores, 69, have also argued that she has medical issues that cannot be treated effectively in jail, and that she could instead be allowed to live under 24-hour guard at a residence in New York.

They also said she suffered permanent scarring when she was “thrown against a wall or dresser” during the US military action that led to her capture.

Her lawyers say she has lost 25 pounds while imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has been told that she might need heart surgery. They said she also suffers from “lingering lightheadedness, dizziness and shortness of breath" and might have suffered a minor heart attack in July.

Prosecutors opposed the bail request. In a court filing, they wrote that Flores would pose an “extreme risk of flight and danger to the public” if released. They also said she has been taken from the jail to get treatment at a local hospital, when care was needed.

President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid to capture Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation.” Maduro has called himself a prisoner of war and his capture a kidnapping.

Flores is charged with participating in a cocaine importation conspiracy with her husband, Maduro, who served as Venezuela's president from 2013 until his capture by American forces in January.

Lawyers for Flores said she was no threat to flee because she is “intent on supporting her husband with her constant presence.”

World

Gas, Health Care, Utilities: High Costs Squeeze US Midterm Voters

Sherrod Brown, a Democratic candidate for the Senate, hopes to win Ohio voters over as households feel the squeeze from affordability fears. DUSTIN FRANZ / AFP
Sherrod Brown, a Democratic candidate for the Senate, hopes to win Ohio voters over as households feel the squeeze from affordability fears. DUSTIN FRANZ / AFP
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Gas, Health Care, Utilities: High Costs Squeeze US Midterm Voters

Sherrod Brown, a Democratic candidate for the Senate, hopes to win Ohio voters over as households feel the squeeze from affordability fears. DUSTIN FRANZ / AFP
Sherrod Brown, a Democratic candidate for the Senate, hopes to win Ohio voters over as households feel the squeeze from affordability fears. DUSTIN FRANZ / AFP

Former US steelworker Denise Barber retired three years ago, but steep gasoline prices and family healthcare needs are making the Ohio resident consider returning to part-time work to make ends meet.

The 68-year-old is among American voters squeezed by affordability worries ahead of November's midterm elections, an issue that Democrats hope can help them to victory.

"I'm hoping that somebody can undo some of the things that this president has caused, like this Iran war," Barber told AFP.

The Democratic former union worker was among dozens in Mahoning Valley -- known for its industrial history -- to show up at a town hall in recent weeks, expressing concern over hospital closures, cuts to health programs and rising cost of living.

Many districts in Ohio are expected to remain Republican. But the Buckeye State, which President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024, has become a battleground.

Democrats are competitive in some House races and have a chance of seeing former three-term senator Sherrod Brown unseat Republican Jon Husted, who filled a vacancy left by Vice President JD Vance.

The question is whether frustrations over rising gasoline, grocery and utilities prices, exacerbated by other worries like healthcare issues, will spill into the ballot box.

Barber recalls driving her husband to medical appointments recently after he had a mini stroke, and how costs piled up as they live in a "medical desert."

"The price of gas driving up there is outrageous," said Barber, a steelworker of 22 years who later became an accountant after losing her job. "On a fixed income, it makes it really hard."

She is not alone, with affordability top-of-mind for US voters this year.

Some 29 percent spontaneously named an economic concern when asked what they wanted congressional candidates to discuss, a Pew survey in June found.

War with Iran has intensified stresses, as Tehran retaliated against US-Israel strikes from late February by choking off the Strait of Hormuz, sending energy costs soaring.

The average cost of regular gasoline has jumped over 45 percent since the war started, to $4.37 per gallon ($1.15 per liter), AAA motor club data shows.

For Barber, this sometimes meant hundreds of dollars more in weekly expenses.

"I'm going to have to find a job so that I can make up the difference," she said.

- 'Win them over' -

While Mahoning Valley in northeast Ohio has "become very Republican," Hudson Institute nonresident senior fellow Paul Sracic believes the party faces "real danger" in the Senate race.

"The party in power always does poorly in midterm elections," he told AFP. "It was going to be an uphill fight anyway."

But "we have gas prices going up, and gas prices are the best measure of how people feel about the economy," he said.

Husted has also been a supporter of data center investment, which has attracted backlash, Sracic said.

And US grocery prices stood 2.2 percent higher than a year ago in August, underscoring households' compounding costs.

Democrats are campaigning on these pressures.

"Working-class voters didn't want this war," Brown told reporters on the sidelines of a recent meet-and-greet in Warren, Ohio.

"They didn't want to see explosions in costs of everything," Brown added. "I'm going to win them over."

"Why do you think the data centers are pumping $30 million against me in this state? Because they know I'll stand up to them."

- 'Getting crunched' -

"Affordability is affecting every worker, not only in this area but really across the entire country," said David Green, a labor leader with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union in Ohio.

"Workers are getting crunched right now," he added.

"What's been really scary is over the last six months to a year, a lot of our smaller UAW facilities that are independent part suppliers, mom and pop shops, are having layoffs and some plant closures," Green said.

While the area around Youngstown was once predominantly Democrat, he said, it turned red in 2016 amid Trump's election pledges.

"There were a lot of broken promises," Green said, including that "all these jobs were coming back."

Some residents say they are still awaiting the manufacturing resurgence Trump promised.

Retired steelworker Mike Rubicz has seen Mahoning Valley "go from one of the main centers of the steel industry in the world to (virtually having) no steel mills left."

"Everyone in this valley is conscious of the need for manufacturing jobs," he said. "But the reality is, the ability of people to come to the valley and get a job is gone."