Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Cat Barton and Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles Monday, Seoul said, its fourth weapons test this month as Pyongyang flexes its military muscle while ignoring offers of talks from the United States. Despite biting international sanctions, Pyongyang has conducted a string of weapons tests this year, including of hypersonic missiles, as leader Kim Jong Un pursues his avowed goal of further strengthening the military. Reeling […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Fourth doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against Covid-19 are only “partially” effective for the Omicron variant of the virus, the authors of an Israeli trial said Monday. A team from Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv began conducting a trial in December on fourth doses of coronavirus vaccines, inoculating 154 hospital personnel with Pfizer jabs and 120 other volunteers with Moderna doses. Preliminary results of the trial “have shown […]
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Three people were killed and six wounded as a suspected drone attack blew up petrol tanks near a major oil storage facility in Abu Dhabi, state media said on Monday. The explosions “resulted in the death of a Pakistani national and two Indian nationals, and six others sustained mild to moderate injuries,” according to state news agency WAM. © Agence France-Presse
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned on Monday that confrontation between major powers could have “catastrophic consequences” in a speech to world leaders at an all-virtual Davos forum. For the second year in a row the face-to-face gathering of political and corporate power players in the Swiss Alps has had to go online thanks to a coronavirus pandemic that shows no sign of abating. Xi opened proceedings with a speech much like the […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has fired an “unidentified projectile”, South Korea’s military said Monday, in what would be the nuclear-armed country’s fourth weapons test this month. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said: “North Korea fired an unidentified projectile into the East Sea,” referring to the Sea of Japan. The Japanese coastguard also confirmed the launch. “North Korea appears to have launched a possible ballistic missile,” a Coast Guard spokesman told AFP without […]
A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific caused “significant damage” to the island nation’s capital and smothered it in dust, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Sunday. The eruption Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States. The capital Nuku’alofa suffered “significant” damage, Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury […]
by Jerome TAYLOR HONG, KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong announced a ban on passengers from more than 150 nations transiting its airport on Friday as China ramps up strict anti-virus travel measures ahead of the Winter Olympics. The move deepens Hong Kong’s global isolation and comes as Beijing battles to stamp out a flurry of Delta and Omicron outbreaks in the only major economy still pursuing a staunch zero-Covid strategy. Like mainland China, Hong […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Java island on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, as buildings were reported shaking in the capital Jakarta. The quake hit to the island’s southwest and at a depth of 37 kilometres (23 miles) at 0905 GMT, the USGS said. No tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, but the tremor was felt in the […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile eastward, South Korean and Japanese officials said Friday, the nuclear-armed country’s third suspected weapons test in just over a week. The new suspected test comes after the United States imposed new sanctions this week, prompting Pyongyang to vow never to give up its “right to self defense”. “North Korea fires unidentified projectile eastward,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday without giving further […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese court has sentenced two people to death for attempting to smuggle 400 kilograms of methamphetamine by sea from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, state media reported. Ten other people with the same smuggling ring were handed between 10 years and life in prison over the “extraordinarily large” operation, China News Service said. Chinese and foreign trafficking gangs operating out of China’s southeastern coastal province of Fujian arranged for fishermen to […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Dubai emergency services put out a “small fire” after residents reported a loud explosion that shook buildings near Jebel Ali port, Emirati officials said Thursday. Nobody was hurt in Wednesday night’s incident, which came six months after an explosion on a container ship unleashed a fireball at one of the world’s busiest ports. Dubai civil defence teams “brought under control a small fire that originated from electric cable in […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Two hospitals in China’s locked-down city of Xi’an, including one that refused to treat an eight-month pregnant woman who later miscarried, have been closed while they “rectify” mistakes, authorities said Thursday. The historic city, one of several in China experiencing coronavirus outbreaks, has been subject to strict home confinement for three weeks in line with Beijing’s “zero-Covid” strategy. Top health officials were forced to apologise last week after a distressing social […]
