World

ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday warned the Netherlands would pay a price for preventing his ministers from holding rallies to win support in a referendum on expanding his powers, as a crisis escalated with Turkey's key EU partners.

Erdogan also repeated hugely controversial accusations that the Netherlands — occupied by Nazi Germany in World War II — was behaving like fascists in its treatment of Turkish ministers.

Analysts are predicting a tight outcome to the April 16 referendum on a new constitution and key Turkish ministers have planned major rallies in key EU cities to win votes from millions of Turks residing abroad.

But Turkey's Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was expelled after being prevented from addressing a rally in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

Also this weekend, The Hague refused to allow Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's plane to land ahead of a planned rally.

"Hey Holland! If you are sacrificing Turkish-Dutch relations for the sake of the elections on Wednesday, you will pay a price," an angry Erdogan told a ceremony in Istanbul, referring to the March 15 election in Turkey's NATO ally.

"They will learn what diplomacy is," he growled, adding that what happened "cannot remain unanswered".

Erdogan reaffirmed his accusations from Saturday that the Dutch behaviour over the Turkish visits was "Nazism, fascism".

Speaking at a rally in the French city of Metz — which was allowed to go ahead — Cavusoglu described the Netherlands as the "capital of fascism".

‘West shows true face' 

Faced with an upsurge in support for the far-right, European governments have come under pressure to take a hard line on Erdogan, who is accused by critics of seeking one-man rule in the constitutional changes.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke on Sunday called on his Turkish counterpart Binali Yilirim to delay a planned March visit because of the "tensions".

Police clashed with pro-Erdogan demonstrators in the Netherlands overnight while in Istanbul on Sunday a man climbed onto the roof of the Dutch consulate and replaced the Dutch flag with a Turkish flag. 

The flag was later taken down and Turkish officials insisted the consulate had not been entered from the outside and "consular officials" had hoisted the flag on their own initiative. The consulate declined to comment.

A Dutch foreign ministry spokeswoman told AFP that the situation "remains unclear" and the Netherlands had "protested to the Turkish authorities" over the incident.

The latest row came after NATO allies Turkey and Germany sparred over the cancellation of a series of referendum campaign events there.

"The West has clearly shown its true face in the last couple of days," Erdogan said.

"What we have seen is a clear manifestation of Islamophobia," he added.

The president indicated that he himself plans to travel to Europe for rallies, a move that could potentially create an even greater row.

Erdogan said: "I can go to any country I want if I have a diplomatic passport."

In Metz, Cavusoglu was welcomed by some 800 flag-waving Turks. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement there was "no reason to prohibit this gathering".

"I thank France. France was not deceived by such games," Erdogan said.

In a later speech outside Istanbul, Erdogan called on "all international organisations" to impose sanctions on the Netherlands, who he said was behaving "like a banana republic".

'Rough treatment' 

Kaya, who was stopped just outside the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam by Dutch police and, after several hours of negotiations, escorted back to the German border, received a hero's welcome upon return to Turkey.

Arriving at Istanbul airport, Kaya was met by a crowd waving Turkish flags and said she and her entourage had been subjected to "rude and tough treatment".

The diplomatic row triggered clashes in Rotterdam, where after several hours of calm demonstrations, police moved in early Sunday to disperse over 1,000 people gathered near the Turkish consulate, charging the crowd on horseback and using dogs to regain control.

Protesters hit back, throwing rocks at riot police, while hundreds of cars jammed the streets blaring their horns and revving their engines.

The Dutch government said Kaya was "irresponsible" for attempting to visit after being told she was not welcome, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said "it was undesirable that she was here".

The Netherlands is home to some 400,000 people of Turkish origin while Germany has 1.4 million people eligible to vote in Turkey — the fourth-largest electoral base after the cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

In Wednesday's polls, Rutte faces a strong challenge from the party of far-right anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders.

ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said a Dutch ban on his foreign minister's visit was like Nazism, as tensions rocketed over rallies abroad to help Ankara gain backing for a key vote.

The leader's strongly-worded comments came after The Hague said it would refuse Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's plane permission to land for a rally to gather support for a referendum on boosting Erdogan's powers.

The Dutch decision to ban Cavusoglu from visiting and holding a rally in the port city of Rotterdam came after Germany and other European nations also saw moves to block other campaign events.

Unlike in Germany, however, where a string of planned rallies were barred by local authorities, in the Netherlands it was the government that stepped in to block Cavusoglu's visit.

"They are the vestiges of the Nazis, they are fascists," Erdogan told an Istanbul rally on Saturday, days after he angrily compared moves to block rallies in Germany to "Nazi practices".

"Ban our foreign minister from flying however much you like, but from now on let's see how your flights will land in Turkey," Erdogan said.

Turkey promised to avoid the flight ban and send another minister to Rotterdam "by land".

'Crazy' comments 

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Erdogan's comments were "crazy".

 "I understand that they are angry but this is way out of line," he said, adding that it had been a tough decision given Turkey was "a NATO ally".

"I really think we made the right decision here," he said.

The Turkish foreign ministry said it had summoned the Dutch deputy ambassador in protest over the ban. 

About 60 people protested outside the Dutch consulate in Istanbul, laying a black wreath and shouting pro-Erdogan slogans such as "Stand tall".

Cavusoglu, speaking in Istanbul, said the ban was "unacceptable.

"Why are you taking sides in the referendum?" he said, adding: "Is the foreign minister of Turkey a terrorist?" 

The Dutch government said its decision to bar Cavusoglu from visiting followed a Turkish threat of sanctions.

It was unclear whether the Turkish rally in Rotterdam would still take place. A Rotterdam police spokeswoman told AFP the road where the Turkish consul's house was located had been closed for reasons of "safety".

Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported that the Turkish family and social policies minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, would go to Rotterdam "by land" from Duesseldorf in Germany, citing her ministry as a source.

'It will backlash' 

The Netherlands is home to some 400,000 people of Turkish origin, and Ankara is keen to harness votes of the diaspora in Europe ahead of the April 16 referendum on creating an executive presidency.

The government in Turkey argues the changes would ensure stability and create more efficient governance but opponents say it would lead to one-man rule and further inflame tensions in its diverse society.

Erdogan accused the Netherlands of working against the "Yes" campaign and said: "Pressure however much you like. Abet terrorists in your country however much you like.

"It will backlash, and there's no doubt that we'll start retaliating after April 16... We are patient. Whoever is patient will reach victory."

 Dutch far-right anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders celebrated the government's ban, attributing it to "heavy PVV pressure", in a reference to his party, which appears set to emerge as one of the largest in Dutch parliament in Wednesday's vote.

Allegations of harbouring 'terrorists' 

The latest row came after NATO allies Turkey and Germany sparred over the cancellation of a series of referendum campaign events there.

Germany is home to 1.4 million people eligible to vote in Turkey — the fourth-largest electoral base after Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Although Berlin insisted that the string of cancellations by local authorities were down to logistical reasons, Turkish officials repeatedly hit back, leading to Erdogan's angry "Nazi" remark.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said such rhetoric was "depressing", belittled Holocaust victims and was "so out of place as to be unworthy of serious comment".

Berlin has emerged as a strident critic of Ankara's vast crackdown in the wake of the attempted putsch of last July, which has seen more than 100,000 people arrested, suspended from their jobs or sacked for alleged links to the plotters or to Kurdish militants.

Ankara has in turn accused Berlin of harbouring "terrorists" and failing to respond to requests to hand over suspects from the coup as well as Kurdish militants who it believes are members of the outlawed PKK group.

MUMBAI —Indian doctors said on Thursday that an Egyptian who is believed to be the world's heaviest woman had successfully undergone weight-loss surgery after losing over 100 kilogrammes. 

Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who previously weighed around 500 kilos, had not left her house in Egypt in over two decades until arriving in Mumbai last month for bariatric surgery.

"We are happy to inform all well-wishers that the medical team of Saifee Hospital has successfully performed the surgery on Eman Ahmed," said a statement.

"Eman successfully underwent a Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy on March 7th 2017 at Saifee Hospital. She had an uneventful surgery and anaesthesia course.

"She is now on oral fluids and accepting them well. The future course of action for the medical team working on her will be to correct all her associated medical problems, to get her fit enough to fly back to Egypt as soon as possible," it added.

A spokeswoman for Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who is leading Abd El Aty's treatment, said the 37-year-old Egyptian's weight had been brought under 400 kilograms since she arrived in Mumbai in early February.

"Eman has lost over 100 kilograms and has been shedding weight gradually on a daily basis with all the treatment and support," she told AFP.

The Egyptian is still believed to be the world's heaviest woman ahead of American Pauline Potter who the Guinness Book of World Records recorded at 293 kilos in July last year.

Abd El Aty, who is from the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, was flown to India's commercial capital in a specially modified Airbus on Saturday 11 February for treatment.

Liquid diet 

Her sister had approached Lakdawala, a specialist weight-loss surgeon, in October, saying Abd El Aty needed urgent medical attention. 

Her family told the doctor that as a child she was diagnosed with elephantiasis, a condition that causes the limbs and other body parts to swell, leaving her almost immobile.

Abd El Aty has suffered a stroke and faced a series of other serious ailments owing to her weight including diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and sleep deprivation.

Her request for an Indian visa was initially denied, but she was granted passage after tweeting a plea for help directly to India's foreign minister, who intervened.

Abd El Aty had a long wait as no airlines were willing to fly her due to her health complications.

Lakdawala's team put her on a special liquid diet when she arrived in India to get her weight down to a low enough level for them to be able to operate.

They say she is now able to sit up and is expected to spend several months being monitored and receiving physiotherapy to exercise her muscles before returning to Egypt.

Bariatric surgery is a stomach-shrinking bypass procedure carried out on those wanting to lose excessive weight.

It is increasingly common in India, which has a growing problem with obesity, particularly in urban areas.

TOKYO — Rattled by North Korean military advances, influential Japanese lawmakers are pushing harder for Japan to develop the ability to strike preemptively at the missile facilities of its nuclear-armed neighbour. 

Japan has so far avoided taking the controversial and costly step of acquiring bombers or weapons such as cruise missiles with enough range to strike other countries, relying instead on its US ally to take the fight to its enemies.

But the growing threat posed by Pyongyang, including Monday’s simultaneous launch of four rockets, is adding weight to an argument that aiming for the archer rather than his arrows is a more effective defence.

“If bombers attacked us or warships bombarded us, we would fire back. Striking a country lobbing missiles at us is no different,” said Itsunori Onodera, a former defence minister who heads a ruling Liberal Democratic Party committee looking at how Japan can defend against the North Korean missile threat. “Technology has advanced and the nature of conflict has changed.”

For decades, Japan has been stretching the limits of its post-war, pacifist constitution. Successive governments have said Tokyo has the right to attack enemy bases overseas when the enemy’s intention to attack Japan is evident, the threat is imminent and there are no other defence options.

But while previous administrations shied away from acquiring the hardware to do so, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s LDP has been urging him to consider the step. 

“It is time we acquired the capability,” said Hiroshi Imazu, the chairman of the LDP’s policy council on security. “I don’t know whether that would be with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles or even the F-35 (fighter bomber), but without a deterrence North Korea will see us as weak.”

 The idea has faced stiff resistance in the past but the latest round of North Korean tests means Japan may move more swiftly to enact a tougher defence policy.

“We have already done the ground work on how we could acquire a strike capability,” said a source with knowledge of Japan’s military planning. He asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Any weapon Japan acquired with the reach to hit North Korea would also put parts of China’s eastern seaboard within range of Japanese munitions for the first time. That would likely anger Beijing, which is strongly protesting the deployment of the advanced US Theater High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea. 

“China has missiles that can hit Japan, so any complaints it may have are not likely to garner much sympathy in the international community,” said Onodera.

Growing threats 

Currently, more than three missiles at one would be too many for Japan’s already stretched ballistic missile defence to cope with, another source familiar with Japan’s capability said.

One serious concern for Japan is North Korea’s development of solid fuel systems demonstrated last month that will allow it to conceal preparations for missile strikes because it no longer needs fuel its missiles just prior to firing.

That test also demonstrated a cold launch, with the rocket ejected from its launcher before engine ignition, minimizing damage to the mobile launch pads. Japanese officials also noted that the launch truck was equipped with tracks rather than wheels, allowing it to hide off road. 

North Korea says its weapons are needed to defend against the threat of attack from the United States and South Korea, which it is still technically at war with.

Japan is already improving its ballistic missile defences with longer-range, more accurate sea-based missiles on Aegis destroyers in the Sea of Japan and from next month will start a $1 billion upgrade of its ground-based PAC-3 Patriot batteries.

Also under consideration is a land-based version of the Aegis system or the THAAD system.

Those changes, however, will take years to complete and may not be enough to keep pace with rocket technology advances by Pyongyang, the sources said. 

A quicker option would be for Japan to deploy ground-to-ground missiles to defend against an attack on its Yonaguni island near Taiwan fired from bases on Japanese territory several hundred kilometres to the east. 

A missile with that range could also hit sites in North Korea. 

Japan could also buy precision air launched missiles such as Lockheed Martin Corp’s extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) or the shorter-range Joint Strike missile designed by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence Aerospace AS for the F-35 fighter jet. 

But with limited capability to track mobile launchers, some Japanese officials still fear any strike would leave North Korea with enough rockets to retaliate with a mass attack.

“A strike could be justified as self defence, but we have to consider the response that could provoke,” said another LDP lawmaker, who asked not to be identified.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO — The new, more narrowly tailored temporary travel ban President Donald Trump signed on Monday will be more difficult to challenge successfully in court, legal experts said.

They said that since his order no longer covers legal residents or existing visa holders, and makes waivers possible for some business, diplomatic and other travellers, challengers are likely to have a harder time finding people in the United States who can legally claim they have been harmed, and thus have so-called “standing” to sue. 

Trump’s first executive order signed on January 27 banned travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — for 90 days and halted refugee admission for four months, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely. Its hasty implementation caused chaos and protests at airports. The order was hit with more than two dozen lawsuits, many that claimed it discriminated against Muslims.

The new ban, which goes into effect on March 16, removes Iraq and adds categories of people who would be exempt from the order. The Trump administration said the executive order is necessary for national security reasons.

It also lists groups of people that could be eligible for waivers, including travelers who have previously been admitted to the United States for work or school, those seeking to visit or live with a close relative and who would face hardship if denied entry; infants, young children and adoptees or people in need of medical care, employees of the US government and international organisations among others. 

All the exceptions make the new order “a lot harder to attack”, said Andrew Greenfield, an immigration attorney with Fragomen law firm in Washington DC. 

Trump had promised to make the new directive harder to fight in court and many of the changes were expected.

“They dotted their ‘i’s’ and crossed their ‘t’s’ in trying to anticipate what litigation might result,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell Law School professor who specialises in immigration. He said opponents might still be able to find plaintiffs — a US citizen could potentially sue if the government denies a waiver to their foreign spouse for an arbitrary reason, for example.

‘Do our homework’

In a legal challenge to the original order, the state of Washington was successful in preventing it from being carried out. A federal judge in Seattle and then an appeals court in San Francisco ruled that Washington could claim standing, in part because the order adversely affected legal permanent residents, known as green card holders, in the state. More than 100 businesses, including many of the best-known tech companies, filed briefs in court that argued their employees were harmed.

Bob Ferguson, the attorney general for Washington State said on Monday that he will likely decide on the next litigation steps this week after consulting with state universities and businesses about potential harms.

“We need to do our homework and be thoughtful about this,” Ferguson said.

The US Department of Justice, in a filing in Seattle federal court on Monday, said the new order applies “only to those who are overseas and without a visa.” 

Foreign nationals outside the country who do not have a US visa do not have the same protections under the US Constitution as people already here, legal experts said. 

Rosemary Jenks, the director of Government Relations at NumbersUSA, a conservative group that favours less immigration overall, said that the new order would leave the state of Washington having to argue on behalf of unidentified foreign nationals who have not been screened, vetted or processed yet by US authorities.

“That would be a pretty big stretch,” Jenks said. And unlike the old order, the new one lays out with more detail why the specific countries were selected, she said. 

Attorneys challenging the ban, including the American Civil Liberties Union said there were still questions about whether or not the ban is justified by national security reasons, and the revisions do not address concerns that the order discriminates based on religion. 

Adam Lauridsen, a Keker & Van Nest attorney in San Francisco representing students challenging Trump’s first order, noted the revised directive still targets Muslim-majority countries. 

Stephen Legomsky, chief counsel at US Citizenship and Immigration Services in the previous Obama administration, pointed to statements by Trump about wanting a Muslim ban.

“That evidence is baked in, you can’t change the past,” said Legomsky. He said, however, that does not mean the inevitable legal challenges will ultimately be successful in the likelihood that they reach the US Supreme Court. “It’s not a slam dunk.”

SEOUL — Nuclear-armed North Korea launched four ballistic missiles on Monday in another challenge to President Donald Trump, with three landing provocatively close to America’s ally Japan.

Seoul and Washington began annual joint-military exercises last week that always infuriate Pyongyang, with the North’s military warning of “merciless nuclear counter-action”.

Under leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang has ambitions to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the US mainland — something which Trump has vowed will not happen.

Seoul said four missiles were fired from Tongchang County in North Pyongan province into the East Sea — its name for the Sea of Japan.

The missiles travelled around 1,000 kilometres and reached an altitude of 260 kilometres, said a spokesman for South Korea’s joint chiefs of Staff, adding they were unlikely to be ICBMs.

Regional and world powers lined up to condemn the launches. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said three of the North Korean missiles came down in Tokyo’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

“This clearly shows North Korea has entered a new stage of threat,” Abe told parliament.

The North’s repeated launches “clearly violate UN Security Council resolutions”, he said. “We can never tolerate this.”

 Pyongyang carried out two atomic tests and a series of missile launches last year, but Monday was only the second time its devices had entered Japan’s EEZ.

After an emergency meeting of South Korea’s national security council, acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn called the North’s nuclear and missile provocations “immediate and real threats” to his country.

“Considering the North Korean leadership’s brutality and recklessness shown through the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the results of the North having a nuclear weapon in its hands will be gruesome beyond imagination,” he said.

Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for the killing of the half-brother of the North’s leader by two women using VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last month.

Malaysia has expelled the North’s ambassador over the incident and the envoy flew home Monday. Pyongyang responded by formally declaring the Malaysian envoy persona non grata. 

Hwang called for “swift deployment” of a US missile defence system, THAAD, a proposal which has infuriated neighbouring China, the North’s key diplomatic protector and main provider of trade and aid.

‘Big, big problem’ 

In Washington, the state department condemned the launches, saying the US was ready to “use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against this growing threat”.

“We remain prepared — and will continue to take steps to increase our readiness — to defend ourselves and our allies from attack,” acting spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

Monday’s launch came ahead of a trip to Japan, China and South Korea by new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this month, pointed out Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-hyun.

Pyongyang was “trying to send a message early on in Trump’s term that North Korea will not be dragged around by his administration”, he said.

The North is barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology.

But six sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006 have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.

Three years ago, Barack Obama ordered the Pentagon to increase cyber attacks against North Korea to try to sabotage its missiles before launch or just as they lift off, the New York Times reported at the weekend.

Several of the North’s devices have failed soon after launch.

Kim Dong-yup, an analyst at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, noted that unlike previous launches the three missiles that reached Japan’s EEZ were fired in different directions.

“North Korea may have attempted to show it can strike US bases in Japan simultaneously,” he said.

Trump has described the North as a “big, big problem” and vowed to deal with the issue “very strongly”.

‘Exercise restraint’ 

Monday’s missile firings were unlikely to be testing a newly developed device but were aimed instead at protesting the military drills in the South, analysts said.

Seoul and Washington launched the annual Foal Eagle exercises last week.

North Korea has regularly taken action to protest against the drills, firing seven ballistic missiles during the exercises last year.

Beijing has become increasingly frustrated with Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile activities, and last month announced a suspension of all coal imports from the North until the end of the year — a crucial source of foreign currency.

China’s foreign ministry said it remained opposed to missile launches by the North that violate UN resolutions, but also voiced concern about the military exercises.

ISTANBUL/ANKARA — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany of behaving as in Nazi times in cancelling political meetings of resident Turks that were due to be addressed by Turkish officials.

German authorities withdrew permission last week for two rallies by Turkish residents in German cities amid growing public outrage over Ankara's arrest of a Turkish-German journalist, dragging bilateral ties to a new low.

The planned rallies were part of a Turkish government campaign to win support among Germany's 1.5 million-strong Turkish community for sweeping new presidential powers going to referendum in April. The German authorities cited security concerns.

"Germany, you have no relation whatsoever to democracy and you should know that your current actions are no different to those of the Nazi period," Erdogan said at a rally in Istanbul. "When we say that, they get disturbed. Why are you disturbed?" 

Relations between the two NATO partners have deteriorated sharply since a failed July coup bid against Erdogan, when Ankara accused Berlin and other capitals of failing to condemn rogue military elements quickly or convincingly enough.

Erdogan, accused by critics of increasingly authoritarian tendencies, has blamed Germany of harbouring enemies of Turkey, from Kurdish militants to coup organisers. 

He has been sharply criticised in western Europe for mass dismissals and arrests of suspected conspirators, from judges to journalists. Germany has demanded the release of a German journalist arrested in Turkey on Monday whom Erdogan described as a "German agent". 

"We will talk about Germany's actions in the international arena and we will put them to shame in the eyes of the world," Erdogan said. 

"We don't want to see the Nazi world anymore. We don't want to see their fascist actions. We thought that era was in the past, but apparently it isn't."

 Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday criticised restrictions on such gatherings in Germany and now the Netherlands as undemocratic, and said Turkey would press on with them in the run-up to the April 16 referendum.

Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci plans to attend two events in Germany on Sunday, in Leverkusen and Cologne in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which has a large Turkish population.

Germany is Turkey's most important trading partner in the European Union, which Ankara officially aspires to join.

Julia Kloeckner, deputy leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, said Erdogan was "reacting like a willful child that cannot have his way". 

"The Nazi comparison is a new high point of intemperance," she told the Bild newspaper. 

Kloeckner said Erdogan must apologise for the Nazi comparison. "True statesman do not speak in such terms." 

SEOUL — Tens of thousands of South Korean protesters held rival mass rallies Sunday over the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye as judges prepare to rule on the scandal that has rocked the country.

Park was impeached by parliament last December over a major influence-peddling scandal that prompted millions to take to the street for months to call for her resignation.

The case has also engulfed South Korea’s biggest business, with the heir to the Samsung empire and four other top executives indicted Tuesday on multiple charges including bribery and embezzlement.

Park — currently holed up in the presidential palace with her power suspended — expressed “belated regret”, as the Constitutional Court wrapped up its hearings on Monday, with a decision expected in March.

Her lawyers maintain that she was not aware of any wrongdoing and blamed her secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her presidential ties to force local firms to “donate” nearly $70 million to non-profit foundations. 

The case has bitterly divided Park’s supporters and detractors, who have regularly taken to the streets.

Tens of thousands of anti-Park protesters rallied in Seoul Saturday, some waving banners of the president in prison uniform and chanting in unison “Constitutional Court, impeach Park immediately!” Several blocks away, another smaller demonstration demanded the court reject the impeachment against the “poor innocent president”.

The mostly middle-aged or elderly supporters waved signs urging the military to “rise up” and dismantle parliament.

While the court’s deliberations could technically take up to six months, local media reports predict the judgement could come as early as next week. 

The impeachment motion needs approvals from at least six judges to take effect, after which a presidential election will be held within 60 days.

If it is rejected, Park could return to work and stay until the end of her term in February 2018. 

Choi is on trial for coercion and abuse of power.

The two women became close through Choi’s father, a shady religious figure who was Park’s mentor for years.

Park’s own father, dictator Park Chung-hee, was assassinated in 1979 by his intelligence chief. 

He is revered by many aged South Koreans who benefited from the rapid growth in the 1960s and 70s under his iron-fisted rule that lifted the war-ravaged nation out of poverty. 

The 65-year-old president is accused of colluding with her friend to extract money from local firms as well as letting her handle a wide range of state affairs including nominations to senior posts, despite having no official title or security clearance.

A number of former presidential advisors and Cabinet members have been arrested or charged for their involvements in the scandal, including allegedly leaking secret state documents to Choi at Park’s order.

BEIJING — Vowing to plant their flag in China and that blood will "flow in rivers", a video released this week purportedly by the Daesh terror group shows ethnic Uighur fighters training in Iraq, underscoring what Beijing sees as a serious threat.

China is worried that Uighurs, a mostly Muslim people from western China's Xinjiang region, have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for militant groups there, having travelled illegally via Southeast Asia and Turkey.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the killing of a Chinese hostage in 2015, highlighting China's concern about Uighurs it says are fighting in the Middle East.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Xinjiang in the past few years, most in unrest between Uighurs and ethnic majority Han Chinese. The government blames the unrest on militants.

The Iraqi arm of Daesh has released a half-hour long video purportedly showing Uighurs training, as well as some images from inside Xinjiang, including Chinese police on the streets.

One shot that shows Chinese President Xi Jinping gives way to flames in front of a Chinese flag.

"Hey, brothers! Today, we are fighting with infidels across the world! I'm telling you this: Come and live here! Stay strong!," one of the fighters says, according to Uighur speakers who analysed the video for Reuters but declined to be identified.

"We will certainly plant our flag over America, China, Russia, and all the infidels of the world," it says.

In another scene, a man chanting in Uighur says: "Our land of Sharia has been constructed with spilt blood." 

The video then shows photos of people who were said to have become "martyrs", and identified as "Al Turkistan?", or men from Turkestan, the name many Uighurs use for Xinjiang.

One of the men speaking has an accent from Yarkand, close to the old Silk Road city of Kashgar in Xinjiang's southern Uighur heartland, one of the people who reviewed the video said.

Another fighter refers to the "evil Chinese communist infidel lackeys". 

"In retaliation for the tears that flow from the eyes of the oppressed, we will make your blood flow in rivers, by the will of God!" he says.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The video, released this week by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant groups online, also showed two bloody executions of unidentified people.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday he was not aware of the video and had not seen it.

"But one point is very clear. We oppose any form of terrorism and proactively participate in international cooperation to crack down on terrorism," Geng told a daily news briefing.

"We have long said that East Turkestan forces are a serious threat to China's security and we are willing to work with the international community to jointly crack down on East Turkestan separatist and terrorist forces," he said.

The government says foreign militants have stirred up tensions in Xinjiang, where it says it faces a determined campaign by separatists who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan.

However, many rights groups and exiles doubt the existence of a coherent militant group in Xinjiang and say Uighur anger at repressive Chinese policies is more to blame for the unrest.

China denies any repression in Xinjiang.

Rian Thum, a Uighur specialist at Loyola University New Orleans, said the Uighurs in the video were presented in the style of Daesh propaganda.

"To me, the video says more about Daesh tactics, propaganda, and ideology than it does about the relationship between Uighurs and the Chinese state," Thum said.

BEIJING — China and Russia have agreed to intensify their coordinated opposition to the deployment of a US missile-defence system in South Korea, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

South Korea decided last year to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in response to the threat from North Korean missiles.

But China and Russia worry that the system’s powerful radar can penetrate their territory and undermine their security, disrupting a balance of power in the region while doing nothing to lower tension on the Korean peninsula.

South Korean officials have said THAAD is a purely defensive measure against North Korean threats and does not target any other country.

“Both sides said they will continue to strengthen their coordinated opposition to THAAD”, the two countries’ deputy foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday, the Chinese foreign ministry’s said in a statement on its website.

China and Russia agreed in January to take unspecified “countermeasures” in response to THAAD.

South Korea’s defence ministry struck a deal this week with an affiliate of the Lotte Group conglomerate to acquire land southeast of the capital, Seoul, for the deployment of the missile system.

The deal sparked protests from China’s state media, which called for a boycott of South Korean cars and telephones and for people to shun its entertainment exports.

South Korean officials have said they expect the missile system to be deployed and operational this year.

North Korea’s drive to develop nuclear weapons and missiles has angered China, the North’s sole major diplomatic and economic supporter. 

China has pushed for the resumption of six-party talks involving it, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United Sates, on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions as a way to resolve differences.

China has also called for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.