20 Oct 17. Russian warships dock in Philippines as Manila cultivates new ties. Three Russian warships, including two anti-submarine vessels, docked in Manila on Friday to unload what navy officials said was weaponry and military vehicles donated to the Philippines as part of a new defence relationship. It was the third port visit this year by Russian warships as part of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s moves to engage closely with Moscow, an arch-rival of Manila’s former colonial master and closest defence ally, the United States.
The load included 5,000 assault rifles, a million rounds of ammunition and 20 army trucks, Russian and Filipino navy officials said.
“We would do our best to make this port call a significant contribution indicating friendly ties and relations between two nations in the interest of security and stability in this region,” said Eduard Mikhailov, deputy commander of Russia’s Pacific Fleet flotilla.
The visit was timed to coincide with the arrival next week of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is attending a regional defence meeting, and U.S. counterpart Jim Mattis, a Philippine navy spokesman said.
Russia and the Philippines are expected to sign a security deal on military logistics next week. (Source: Reuters)
20 Oct 17. North Korea ‘months’ away from strike range on US, says CIA head. CIA director Mike Pompeo has warned that North Korea could be just “months away” from developing the ability to strike America with a nuclear-armed ballistic missile. Mr Pompeo, speaking at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Thursday, said the US had to deal with North Korea under the assumption that Kim Jong Un was “on the cusp” of being able to hit the US after a spate of missile tests that have helped his scientists improve their expertise. “We ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective,” he said when asked if Pyongyang was “perilously close” to developing that capability. While he cautioned that intelligence estimates about North Korea would not be perfect, he said the Kim regime was so close to reaching its goal that questions about timing were almost moot. “When you’re talking about months, our capability to understand that at a detailed level is in some sense irrelevant,” he said. “Whether it happens on Tuesday or a month from Tuesday, we are at a time where the president has concluded that we need a global effort [to ensure] Kim Jong Un doesn’t have that capacity”. Mr Pompeo said the US was still pursuing a diplomatic approach towards North Korea, saying Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, was “hard at work”. But he said President Donald Trump was adamant that he would not let Mr Kim be able to hold the US hostage. “We are going to fill every arrow in the quiver until such time as we conclude that there is no alternative at that point,” he said. “The president has made very clear he is prepared to make sure that Kim Jong Un doesn’t have the capacity to hold America at risk — by military force if necessary.” Mr Pompeo in July sparked speculation that the US was considering assassinating Mr Kim by saying he was “hopeful that we will find a way to separate that regime from this [nuclear weapons] system” and that the North Korean people “would love to see him go”. Asked by the Financial Times what would happen in North Korea if Mr Kim died, he said he did not want to comment given the history of the CIA — an oblique reference to other assassination attempts undertaken in the past. “I am just not going to talk about that. Someone might think there was a coincidence if, you know, there was an accident. It is just not fruitful,” he said. General HR McMaster, the national security adviser who spoke at the same event, also stressed that the US was pursuing a diplomatic path — something that came into doubt several weeks ago when Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Tillerson was “wasting his time” with diplomacy. But he suggested that the US was getting closer to the poin