Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AFP) — The death toll from a storm that struck three southern African countries rose to 70 on Thursday as emergency teams battled to repair damaged infrastructure and help tens of thousands of victims. Packing torrential rains, Tropical Storm Ana made landfall Monday in Madagascar before ploughing into Mozambique and Malawi. Rescue workers and authorities across the three countries were still assessing the full extent of the damage. Madagascar has reported 41 dead, […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The governor of New Mexico started work Wednesday as a substitute teacher, replacing one of the thousands of educators across the United States who have been forced off work by the Covid-19 pandemic. Michelle Lujan Grisham — a lawyer by training — swapped the governor’s mansion for the classroom as part of the “Supporting Teachers and Families” initiative designed to plug holes in staffing in schools and child care […]
by Moises AVILA TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) — Honduras president-elect Xiomara Castro is due to be sworn in as the country’s first woman president on Thursday, as confusion reigns over who will be head of congress during her four-year term. Two rival factions in Castro’s left-wing Libre party have voted in their own president of congress and negotiations to reach a solution stalled overnight on Wednesday. Luis Redondo, who has the support of Castro and much […]
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Tonga at 0640 GMT on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, with no immediate reports of damage. The epicentre of the strong quake was 219 kilometres (136 miles) northwest of Pangai, a town on the remote island of Lifuka, at a depth of 14.5 kilometres. There were no immediate reports of the quake being felt in Tonga or neighbouring Fiji. The area has seen daily earthquake […]
BOSTON, United States (AFP) — A hospital in Boston refused to perform a heart transplant on a patient who had not been vaccinated for Covid-19, US television media reported Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Brigham and Women’s Hospital confirmed in a statement to AFP that vaccination against the coronavirus is “required” for organ transplant recipients there. The patient’s father, David Ferguson, appeared on news channels CNN and ABC to share the family’s story, saying his 31-year-old […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – China’s top diplomat spoke with his US counterpart on Thursday, warning Washington to “stop interfering” in the Winter Olympics and stressing that Russia’s security concerns in Europe should be “taken seriously”. Beijing hopes to turn next week’s Games into a soft power triumph. But the lead-up has been clouded by a US-led diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights record, particularly towards its Uyghur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region. “The most […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday formally withdrew the Covid vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses that was struck down by the Supreme Court. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said that although it was withdrawing the mandate it “strongly encourages vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by Covid-19 in the workplace.” The conservative-dominated Supreme Court delivered a blow to Biden this month when it blocked his vaccination-or-testing […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired an “unidentified projectile” early Thursday, South Korea’s military said, the nuclear-armed country’s sixth weapons test this year. “North Korea fired an unidentified projectile into the East Sea,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the Sea of Japan. The last time North Korea tested this many weapons in a month was in 2019, after high-profile negotiations between leader Kim Jong Un and then-US president Donald Trump […]
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria on Wednesday announced it was ending a lockdown for those unvaccinated as it prepares to become the first EU country to make Covid-19 jabs mandatory from next week. The government last November ordered those not vaccinated or recently recovered from coronavirus to stay at home with limited exceptions, such as going to work, as the country battled a surge in cases. But with intensive care units no longer at capacity, […]
by Jonathan BROWN MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia hit back Wednesday at US threats of direct sanctions against President Vladimir Putin, saying moves against the Russian leader would be ineffective and hurt efforts to lower tensions over Ukraine. Officials from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine were set for talks in Paris on Wednesday in the latest bid to ease a crisis sparked by fears that Moscow is preparing an invasion of its pro-Western neighbour. The […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — An Indigenous community in Canada has identified nearly 100 “potential” graves at a residential school site, months after the discovery of hundreds of children’s remains at former boarding schools rocked the country. The Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) community said on Tuesday that a geophysical survey revealed “93 reflections” with characteristics “indicative of potential human burials” at the former St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia. Investigators “surveyed approximately […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A US appeals court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, rejecting his request for a new trial and keeping him in prison for life. Guzman was convicted in February 2019 of trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over the course of 25 years, as well as money laundering and racketeering. He was later sentenced to […]
