Other News

Pacific power play: Australia plans largest navy since WWII

SYDNEY, Feb 20, 2024 (AFP) – Australia on Tuesday outlined a decade-long plan to double its fleet of major warships and boost defence spending by an additional US$7 billion, in the face of a quickening Asia-Pacific arms race. Under the plan, Australia will get a navy of 26 major surface combatant ships, up from 11 today. “It is the largest fleet that we will have since the end of the Second World War,” said Defence […]

Israeli army fears for kidnapped family with baby

JERUSALEM, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s military on Monday published new images and voiced concern about a mother and her two boys — including a baby who is the youngest hostage held by Palestinian militants in Gaza. Hamas announced in November that all three had been killed in an Israeli bombardment but the Israeli authorities have not confirmed the claim. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said they were “concerned for the welfare” of Shiri Bibas, […]

Easterlies affecting the eastern section of the country

(Eagle News)–The easterlies are affecting the eastern section of the country. According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, as a result, Caraga and Southern Leyte will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. Flashfloods or landslides due to moderate to at times heavy rains are possible. Metro Manila and the rest of the country, PAGASA said, will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms. According […]

BAFTA: “Oppenheimer” dominates with seven wins, including Best Film & Director

By Clara LALANNE, James PHEBY LONDON, Feb 18, 2024 (AFP) – “Oppenheimer”, Christopher Nolan’s epic movie about the creation of the atomic bomb, swept the board at Sunday’s BAFTA film awards in London, delivering a serious statement ahead of next month’s Oscars. The movie earned seven awards in total, including best film, best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. Im the film, Murphy plays J. […]

Japanese spacecraft launched to inspect growing problem of space junk

TOKYO, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – A Japanese firm said Monday it had successfully launched a spacecraft tasked with inspecting potentially dangerous man-made junk floating around the Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that around one million pieces of debris from satellites and rockets larger than a centimetre — big enough to “disable a spacecraft” — are in orbit. The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) is meant to rendezvous with and examine the […]

Papua New Guinea police authorized “any level of force” to stop tribal clashes

PORT MORESBY, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) Papua New Guinea is deploying additional security personnel to a region where dozens were killed in a suspected ambush, police said Monday, adding the reinforcements would be authorised to use “to use any level of force required”. The suspected ambush of tribal fighters by a rival clan occurred in the highlands near the village of Wapenamanda, about 600 kilometres (370 miles) northwest of the capital Port Moresby. Police Commissioner […]

S. Korea orders striking doctors back to work, threatens legal action

SEOUL, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – South Korea ordered trainee doctors back to work Monday after they resigned en masse to protest medical training reforms, with the government looking at using military medics to cope with shortfalls. South Korea says it has one of the lowest doctor-to-population ratios among developed countries, and the government is pushing hard to increase the number of doctors, partly to help a fast-ageing society. But doctors have voiced fierce opposition […]

Tokyo’s Nikkei index closes flat as Nintendo falls

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index closed flat on Monday, as Nintendo shares tumbled after reports said its next console would be delayed. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.04 percent, or 16.86 points, to end at 38,470.38, while the broader Topix index climbed 0.57 percent, or 14.96 points, to 2,639.69. nf/kaf/smw

Age barrier ends Pacquiao’s olympic hope; boxing icon bows out gracefully

MANILA, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – A “saddened and disappointed” Manny Pacquiao conceded Monday his Olympic boxing dream was over after the ring great was denied a berth at this year’s Paris games. The International Olympic Committee rejected a special request for Pacquiao to take part, the Philippine Olympic Committee announced Sunday. Pacquiao, 45, who hung up his gloves in 2021 before an unsuccessful presidential run, said he respected the decision of the IOC, which […]

Japan’s humble ‘onigiri’ rice balls get image upgrade

By Mathias Cena with Cecilia Sanchez in New York TOKYO, Feb 15, 2024 (AFP) – Wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with delicious fillings, “onigiri” rice balls are shaking off their reputation as a cheap and uninspiring snack in Japan — and enticing hungry converts abroad. Mouth-watering pictures on social media, rising demand for affordable lunches, and a surge in tourism to Japan are all drawing people to the humble onigiri. Just ask any of the […]

Lightning scorches four people at Botanic Gardens near Sydney Opera House

SYDNEY, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – A lightning bolt scorched and knocked out four people near the Sydney Opera House on Monday as they sheltered under a tree during a violent electrical storm, rescue officials said. The four were struck beneath the tree in the Botanic Gardens, ambulance workers said, just a stone’s throw from the harbourside architectural masterpiece. “They all had a brief loss of consciousness,” said New South Wales ambulance service’s Dominic Wong. […]

Six soldiers killed, one militant dead in Mindanao as hunt for bombers continues

MANILA, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – Six soldiers and at least one Islamist militant have been killed in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Monday, as security forces hunted down fighters believed to have bombed a Catholic mass last December. The clashes took place Sunday in the jungle near the town of Munai on Mindanao island, Philippine army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala told AFP. “This is part of the operation against the Dawlah Islamiyah. […]