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BEIJING, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – China on Thursday warned the Philippines to “make the rational choice” following Manila’s recent efforts to challenge Beijing’s South China Sea claims. Videos released by the Philippine Coast Guard showed Chinese ships blasting water cannon at Philippine boats this month and there was also a collision between vessels from the two countries during tense clashes at flashpoint reefs. Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Thursday said: “We hope that […]
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of global users of X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday reported problems using the Elon Musk-owned social network. Reports of the platform’s troubles began spiking just before 0600 GMT on monitoring site Downdetector. “User reports indicate problems at X (Twitter),” the site said. Timelines on the platform were emptied and no new posts visible, although the twitter.com site was available. With no way to post on […]
SEOUL, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – South Korea’s highest court upheld on Thursday rulings by lower courts that ordered two Japanese companies to compensate South Korean victims of wartime forced labour. Relations between the two US allies have long been testy due to bitter memories of Japan’s brutal occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. However, ties have been improving as the conservative government of President Yoon Suk Yeol has sought to bury […]
TOKYO, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – Sales of Sony’s PlayStation 5 have crossed 50 million units, the Japanese electronics giant said, pointing to “strong momentum” this year for its flagship gaming console. The PS5 was launched in November 2020, with the world in the grip of the Covid pandemic, and its sales initially suffered because of widespread supply chain problems and a global chip shortage. Still, the PS5 reached the 50-million-unit milestone in almost the […]
By Sébastien RICCI JISHISHAN, China, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – Chinese earthquake survivors recovered in hospital as rescue teams rushed to deliver supplies on Thursday, the third day since the country’s deadliest quake in years killed 135 people. The toll rose from the previous day’s 134, state news agency Xinhua said, as rescuers continued to search for victims buried as the soil liquified in northwestern Qinghai Province. Almost 1,000 were injured across Qinghai and neighbouring […]
TOKYO, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – Shares in Japanese auto titan Toyota dived Thursday as a rigged safety test scandal builds at subsidiary Daihatsu, and after it recalled a million vehicles in the United States over airbag safety concerns. Daihatsu said Wednesday it would suspend domestic and overseas shipments of all its vehicles in light of an independent panel’s report that found it had been manipulating tests as long ago as 1989. Toyota expressed its […]
By Jim SLATER WASHINGTON, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – Joel Embiid scored a season-high 51 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Wednesday to accomplish feats unseen for more than a half-century as the Philadelphia 76ers beat NBA-best Minnesota 127-113. The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player sparked the Sixers (19-8) to their seventh victory in eight games and snapped the four-game win streak of the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves, who slipped to 20-6. Embiid became the first NBA […]
By Adel Zaanoun with Blaise Gauquelin in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – Israel has ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza’s main city as diplomats pressed on with efforts to secure a pause in the war that Hamas says has claimed 20,000 lives. The United Nations said Israel had issued evacuation orders on Wednesday for large areas of Khan Yunis, where more than 140,000 displaced people were sheltering. Israel told civilians […]
By Simon Sturdee and Harumi Ozawa KARUIZAWA, Japan, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – Thousands of bears are being shot in Japan each year as they become more and more of a problem. Junpei Tanaka and his dog Rela, straining at her leash in the woods, have a kinder, smarter way. People moving from rural areas and Japan’s ageing society — plus climate change affecting bears’ food and hibernation time — are prompting ever more of […]
HONG KONG, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – A veteran unionist in Hong Kong was jailed Thursday for six months for “perverting the course of justice” by removing a phone and laptop from her sister’s residence before a police search to investigate a national security offence. The defendant Marilyn Tang, 63, and her elder sister Elizabeth, were both pioneers in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy union movement and active since the 1980s. Elizabeth was arrested in March over […]
BUENOS AIRES, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – -Argentina’s new leader Javier Milei on Wednesday unveiled a series of measures to deregulate the country’s struggling economy, eliminating or changing more than 300 rules via presidential decree, including on rent and labor practices. “The goal is to start along the path to rebuilding the country… and start to undo the huge number of regulations that have held back and prevented economic growth,” Milei said in a televised […]
BEIJING, Dec 21, 2023 (AFP) – More low temperature records tumbled across China on Thursday, as the country endures a persistent cold snap that has crowned a year of extreme weather. The national weather office said in a social media post that more than 20 stations posted all-time December lows in the early hours of Thursday. They included Hohhot, capital of the northern Inner Mongolia region, where a reading of -29.1 degrees Celsius (-20.4 Fahrenheit) […]
