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China holds combat patrols in the South China Sea as US and Philippines conduct drills

By The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China said Thursday it conducted naval and air combat readiness patrols around a disputed area in the South China Sea, after the Philippines, the United States and other allied forces began annual drills in the region.

China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the patrols took place at Huangyan Dao, China’s name for Scarborough Shoal, which is also claimed by the Philippines. Manila has accused China of using force to block access by fishermen and the coast guard to the shoal, which used to be under Philippine control until 2012.

“Huangyan Dao is an inherent part of China’s territory,” the Defense Ministry said, and added that “such patrols serve as an effective countermeasure to cope with all sorts of rights violation and provocative acts.”

The drills happened 10 days after the U.S. and the Philippines began one of their largest annual combat exercises. More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel were taking part in the Balikatan exercise though May 8. It includes mock battle scenarios and live-fire maneuvers in locations including Philippine provinces facing the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

China has objected to the U.S.-Philippine drills, while the Philippines say they do not target any country and were needed to prepare allied forces to respond to natural disasters.

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes, threatens to end talks to end the war

By The Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” could come to negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas, without Iran's direct oversight sparked the crossfire now gripping the region. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran. Iran insists it alone must govern the strait after the war, upending decades of the world considering that the strait was international waters free for all, despite its sitting in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. Tehran has twice attacked vessels going through the Oman route, backed by a United Nations agency, in recent days. Early Sunday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning. That ship, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the United States.
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