Other News

France says ready to back sanctions against Khashoggi killers

PARIS, France (AFP) — France is ready to back “international sanctions” against those responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Elysee Palace said after President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone to King Salman Wednesday. The French president “informed (King Salman) of his profound indignation at the crime and demanded that all possible light be shone on the circumstances that led to this drama”, his office said in a statement. Saudi Foreign Minister […]

Japan’s Abe to make rare China visit as relations thaw

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Japan’s Shinzo Abe is due to arrive in China Thursday, the first visit to the Asian giant by a Japanese prime minister since relations between the two countries soured six years ago over a territorial row. Abe and Chinese president Xi Jinping are expected to discuss how to improve economic cooperation as the world’s second and third largest economies prepare to weather a US onslaught of trade measures. Japanese business is […]

Top Republican slams targeting of Clinton, Obama as ‘domestic terrorism’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday the targeting of US Democratic politicians Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama with potential explosives amounted to acts of “domestic terrorism.” “I stand with all Americans in condemning today’s attempted acts of domestic terrorism,” the Republican McConnell said in a statement. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, also condemned the sending of the suspicious packages just 13 days before crucial midterm […]

Melania Trump denounces ‘cowardly attacks’ after bomb alerts

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Melania Trump on Wednesday denounced as “cowardly attacks” a series of pipe bombs sent to Barack Obama, other top Democrats and CNN — all hate figures for backers of US President Donald Trump. “We cannot tolerate those cowardly attacks and I strongly condemn all who choose violence,” the first lady said as she opened a meeting at the White House dedicated to the opioid crisis. © Agence France-Presse

Trump says political violence ‘has no place’ in US

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump called for unity Wednesday after suspected explosive devices were mailed to leading Democrats, including former president Barack Obama, saying acts of political violence have “no place” in the United States. Trump’s comments at a White House event on opioid addiction was his first substantive reaction to the rash of bomb alerts, which also targeted his former Democratic rival for the presidency, Hillary Clinton. “I want to […]

Florida police probe suspicious packages at office of Democrat lawmaker

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Florida police were investigating two suspicious packages mailed Wednesday to the office of Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, hours after authorities intercepted potential explosives intended for prominent Democrats including ex-president Barack Obama. Local media showed images of a bomb squad unit from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed it was at her building in the south Florida town of Sunrise, around 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Miami. “ALERT!!! We […]

Lapeña backtracks, now says magnetic lifters found in Cavite, may have contained illegal drugs

(Eagle News) – Bureau of Customs commissioner Isidro Lapeña has backtracked on his earlier statement on there was no shabu inside four magnetic lifters found in Cavite, and now admits that these may have indeed contained shabu. This was after hearing various testimonies at the House of Representatives, including that of a Department of Public Works and Highways official on Wednesday, Oct. 24. “With the continuing investigation and yung mga lumalabas na mga circumstantial evidences, […]

Duterte orders PNP to arrest Customs intel agent Guban, links him to entry of shabu shipment

  (Eagle News) –President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the arrest of a customs intelligence officer supposedly linked to the P6.8 billion shabu shipment that had recently allegedly slipped past the Bureau of Customs. The President gave the directive for the Philippine National Police to arrest Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban amid an inquiry done by the House of Representatives to look into the alleged smuggling of the P6.8 billion of shabu that recently got past the […]

Duterte visits wake of slain policemen who were part of FDA convoy ambushed by NPA

  (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte visited the wake of police officers killed in the Oct. 18 ambush on a convoy of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Nela Charade Puno, where he personally expressed his sympathies and condolences to their family members. The President arrived at the Camarines Sur Police Provincial Office on Tuesday, Oct. 23, to visit the wake of PO1 Ralph Jason Vida, one of the three policemen who died […]

Turkey shares evidence with CIA chief over Khashoggi murder: report

  ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish intelligence has shared “all the evidence” over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the CIA chief during a visit, pro-government media reported on Wednesday. CIA Director Gina Haspel visited the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday for talks with officials about the killing of Washington Post contributor Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate. Video images and audio tapes as well as evidence gathered from the consulate and the […]

First journeys on Hong Kong-Macau-mainland mega bridge

  by Elaine Yu Agence France Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China opened to traffic Wednesday, with excited travellers making their first journeys along what has been described as a politically-driven and costly white elephant. Passengers and tour groups gathered at Hong Kong’s cross-border coach terminus and bus operators gave away Chinese pastries and roasted meat to passengers. “I wanted to try this […]

DOJ to “exhaust all legal remedies” with Makati RTC, to file motion for partial reconsideration on Trillanes case

  (Eagle News) — The Department of Justice (DOJ) will file a motion for reconsideration before the Makati regional trial court as it sought a partial reversal of Judge Andres Soriano’s decision that junked an earlier government motion for an arrest warrant against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the “motion for partial reconsideration” of the order of Makati regional trial court branch 148 will be filed “not later than Friday,” […]