International

US team to visit China for trade talks Jan 7-8: Beijing

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A US government delegation will visit China Monday and Tuesday for the first face-to-face talks since President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart agreed on a temporary truce in the trade war, China’s commerce ministry said. The US team will be led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish and will discuss “implementing the important consensus” reached by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the G20 summit in […]

Despite offensive struggles Raptors close out 2018 with win against defensively-minded Bulls

By Jeremiah Balingit Toronto Bureau TORONTO, Canada (Eagle News) — The Toronto Raptors ended 2018 with a win, fending off the defensively minded Chicago Bulls 95-89 on Sunday. Kawhi Leonard finished the game with 27 points and one rebound shy of a double-double, while Pascal Siakam added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors. Lauri Markkanen led the way for the Bulls with a double-double himself, with 18 points to go along with 10 […]

Saudi prosecutor seeks death sentences as Khashoggi murder trial opens

by Anuj Chopra with Natacha Yazbeck in Dubai Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s attorney general sought the death penalty for five of 11 defendants charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as their high-profile trial opened in Riyadh on Thursday. The prosecution also said it was awaiting a response to two formal letters requesting evidence from Turkey, where Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi Istanbul consulate on October 2 in […]

Power broker Nancy Pelosi: once and current US House speaker

by Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Twelve years ago, Nancy Pelosi made history as the first woman elected speaker of the US House of Representatives. On Thursday, the tough-as-nails Democrat once again became America’s most powerful elected woman in a comeback for the political history books. Keeping Donald Trump in check will be among her top challenges as she presides over the House through the 2020 elections, when her party […]

Death toll rises to 37 in Russian apartment block blast

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The number of confirmed dead from a New Year’s Eve gas explosion that caused a Russian apartment block to partially collapse has risen to 37, officials said Thursday, with four people still missing. Six children were among the dead, the emergency situations ministry said in a statement, while six people had been rescued from the rubble of the building in the Ural mountains city of Magnitogorsk. The explosion tore through the […]

DFA still checking if Filipinos among casualties in Denmark train crash

(Eagle News)–The Department of Foreign Affairs is still checking whether Filipinos were among the  people reported killed and injured in a recent train crash in Denmark. In a statement, the DFA said based on a report from Ambassador to Denmark Jocelyn Batoon-Garcia,  Consul General Poul Krogh was checking with Danish authorities if any of the 12,000 members of the Filipino community was among the six killed or 16 injured in the incident that involved a commuter […]

Tourists flee Thai islands as Tropical Storm Pabuk looms

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Tens of thousands of tourists have fled the Thai resort islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao in a mass exodus ahead of Tropical Storm Pabuk which is set to bring heavy rains, wind and seven meter (22 foot) waves, officials said Thursday. The islands, hugely popular with tourists especially during the peak of December and New Year season, have emptied out since Wednesday as tourists packed onto ferries bound for […]

Rescuers pull more bodies from rubble of Russian gas explosion

by Michael MAINVILLE Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Rescuers hunted for survivors Wednesday in the rubble of a Russian apartment building wrecked by a New Year’s Eve gas explosion, but found only bodies as the number of confirmed dead rose to 28, four of them children. The revised toll left 13 people still missing following the explosion, which destroyed 35 apartments in the Ural mountains city of Magnitogorsk. Braving temperatures as low as minus […]

Fiji warned to brace for year’s first cyclone

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Fiji’s Meteorological Service warned of intense rain and “damaging gale force winds” to outer areas of the island nation Thursday, as the first tropical cyclone of the New Year formed in the South Pacific. Tropical Cyclone Mona was moving in southeast and expected to cross outlying islands. “There’s a risk of flash flooding in low-lying and flood-prone areas. Therefore, all communities living in the flood-prone and landslide areas are requested […]

US clergy abuse survivors demand inclusion in Vatican reforms

  CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — Advocates for clergy abuse victims on Wednesday demanded inclusion in a historic Vatican conference to address the crisis, as US bishops gathered in prayer near Chicago in advance of the February meeting. The groups Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said they had sent an open letter to Catholic Church’s Pope Francis asking to be included in discussing reforms in the Catholic […]

Six dead in Danish train accident: rail operator

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Six people were killed Wednesday in a train accident on a bridge connecting two islands in Denmark, rail operator DSB said. “We can confirm that six people are dead,” a duty officer told AFP, as media reports said the roof of a cargo train blew off in heavy winds and hit a passenger train that was travelling in the opposite direction. The accident occurred on the Great Belt Bridge connecting the islands […]