Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP by Danny KEMP The UN’s highest court ruled on Friday that a landmark case accusing military-ruled Myanmar of genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims can go ahead. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague threw out all of Myanmar’s objections to a case filed by the west African nation of The Gambia in 2019. The decision paves the way for full hearings at the court on allegations over […]
Beijing, China | AFP Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a sympathy message to his United States counterpart Joe Biden on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV reported, a day after the 79-year-old US leader tested positive for Covid-19. Biden on Thursday insisted he was “doing great”, and said he would continue to work while isolating at the White House with mild symptoms. “I would like to express my deep sympathies to you and wish you a speedy […]
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP An American citizen is being wrongfully detained in junta-ruled Myanmar, a US embassy spokesperson told AFP on Friday. “We are aware of the wrongful detention of a US citizen in Burma,” the spokesperson told AFP, using the country’s former name. The US has led Western criticism of the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government last year and slapped sanctions on top-ranking members of the junta and military-linked companies. Several foreigners have […]
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Friday 7/22/2022 Japan’s nuclear regulator on Friday formally approved a plan to release more than a million tonnes of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The plan has already been adopted by the government and endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but plant operator TEPCO must still win over local communities before going ahead. The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority approved TEPCO’s plan, […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — At least nine bodies have been found after a ferry sank off the coast of an Indonesian island due to bad weather, a search and rescue official said Thursday. The KM Cahaya Arafah capsized in waters off Indonesia’s Ternate island on Monday evening, prompting a search and rescue operation for 13 missing people. Rescuers found four bodies on Wednesday evening and five bodies on the fourth day of the search, the […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in Thursday as president of the crisis-hit South Asian nation, as officials said he was looking to form a unity government to manage the turmoil. The 73-year-old veteran politician, who was overwhelmingly elected as head of state in a parliamentary vote Wednesday, took his oath of office before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, his office said. Live coverage of the swearing-in at […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — China on Wednesday slammed Washington as “a destroyer of peace” in the Taiwan Strait, following the latest in a series of passages by US warships through the waterway. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory to be re-taken one day — and the narrow body of water that separates the island and mainland China is a flashpoint between the two sides. In contrast to Beijing’s position, the United States […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A Myanmar ethnic rebel group said Tuesday it had captured 14 junta troops and killed an unspecified number, in the latest blow to a fragile peace in the only region to have seen no post-coup crackdown. Days after its putsch last year, the junta reaffirmed a ceasefire with the Arakan Army (AA), which has for years fought a war for autonomy for Rakhine state’s ethnic Rakhine population. Thanks to the truce, […]
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — The Indian rupee fell to more than 80 per US dollar for the first time on record Tuesday, as the greenback extended its rally and foreign capital outflows intensified. The rupee hit 80.0600 against the greenback soon after trading started, compared with the previous close of 79.9775, Bloomberg data showed. High inflation and rising interest rates in the United States coupled with fears of an impending recession in the world’s biggest […]
by Sean Gleeson Agence France-Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Activist Premakumar Gunaratnam says he was marked for death by Sri Lanka’s security boss a decade ago. The architect of his abduction went on to become president, but now the dissident has played a key role in the leader’s downfall. Now 56, Gunaratnam was snatched by armed gunmen from his home near Colombo, bundled into a white van, and driven away to a secret location […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India’s parliament began voting Monday for a new president, with a female politician from the country’s marginalised tribal community the favourite for the post. Droupadi Murmu, from the Santhal tribe, has been nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for the largely ceremonial position. If elected, she would be India’s first tribal president and second female president. The incumbent, Ram Nath Kovind, is the country’s second […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese regulators have promised to repay more victims of one of the country’s biggest-ever banking scandals, after hundreds of thousands of customers were left without access to funds, triggering rare mass protests. China’s rural banking sector has been hit hard by Beijing’s efforts to rein in a property bubble and spiralling debt, in a financial crackdown that rattled the world’s second-largest economy. Four banks in Henan province froze cash withdrawals in […]
