Other News

Bahamians celebrate the new year with Junkanoo

By Tenny Tamulong EBC Florida Bureau NASSAU, BAHAMAS (Eagle News) — In the early morning of New Year’s Day, and previously on December 26 (Boxing Day), the locals of the Bahamas were out on Bay Street to celebrate Nassau’s largest festival parade, Junkanoo. Junkanoo is a street parade where Bahamians showcase extravagant and colorful costumes and floats. To create the costumes, locals use an assortment of materials, such as scraps of newspapers, feathers, colorful recycled […]

DOJ seeks reversal of Valenzuela court decision junking charges vs several linked to P6.4-billion shabu shipment mess

(Eagle News)– The Department of Justice has asked a Valenzuela court to reconsider its dismissal of the charges against several suspects linked to the P6.4-billion shabu shipment mess in May. The cases for importation of dangerous drugs filed against self-confessed Customs fixer Mark Taguba, Eirene Mae Tatad,  Richard Tan, Manny Li, Kenneth Dong Yi, Teejay Marcellana, Jhu Ming Jyun, Chen I-Min, Chen Rong Huan, and three others were dismissed by Judge Maria Nena Santos of the Valenzuela […]

Oscar-winner Haggis accused of abusing four women

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Oscar-winning Canadian filmmaker Paul Haggis is now accused of sexual abuse by four women, according to an amended civil suit filed on Friday in New York. Haggis, who wrote and produced “Crash,” and penned the screenplay for “Million Dollar Baby,” is also known for his high-profile split almost a decade ago from the Church of Scientology. The allegations against him are the latest in a torrent of accusations made […]

Saudi boosts citizen benefits as taxes bite

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia announced Saturday it had boosted stipends and benefits for citizens to cushion the impact of economic reforms including the kingdom’s first ever taxes after an oil price slump. Most working Saudi Arabians are employed by the state and, like nationals in other energy-flush Gulf monarchies, have long benefited from a generous welfare system. After the 2014 oil market crash, Saudi Arabia, as well as the neighbouring United Arab […]

Pharmaceutical stirs outrage over price hike for brain tumor drug

by Leila MACOR Agence France-Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A little known pharmaceutical company in Florida has found itself in the eye of a storm following disclosures it raised the price of an old drug used to fight brain tumors by 1,400 percent, from $50 a pill to more than $700. NextSource Biotechnology in 2013 bought the license for the drug Lomustine from Bristol-Myers Squibb, which sold a 100-milligram pill of the substance for […]

Año thanks President Duterte for his “trust, confidence” in him; tells DILG employees to “perform tasks honestly, diligently”

(Eagle News)- The newly appointed officer in charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government thanked the President for the “trust and confidence” he said was given to him. In a statement on Saturday, retired Armed Forces chief Eduardo Año also enjoined “all members of Team DILG to perform their tasks honestly and diligently towards improving the quality of the services to attain DILG’s programs for the good of our country and our countrymen.” […]

Two jets collide on ground at Toronto airport

MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Two jets collided on the ground at a Toronto airport on Friday, setting the tail of one aircraft alight and prompting passengers to evacuate the other via an emergency slide. Both WestJet and Sunwing confirmed that their planes were involved in the collision at 18:19 local time (2319 GMT) at Toronto Pearson International, the second such incident at the airport in five months. Several hours after the collision the airport said […]

North Korea ‘likely’ to join Winter Games, says IOC official

Beijing, China (AFP) — North Korea’s Olympic representative said Saturday the reclusive nation was “likely to participate” in next month’s Winter Games in South Korea, Kyodo news agency reported, in the latest sign of a thaw in tensions on the peninsula. The comments by Chang Ung, Pyongyang’s representative to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), come a day after the North and South agreed to hold rare talks next week and follow Seoul and Washington’s announcement […]

Tillerson backs Trump as book casts mental health doubts

  By Dave Clark Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Washington’s chief diplomat Rex Tillerson found himself obliged to defend President Donald Trump’s fitness for office Friday after a bombshell new book called into doubt his mental health. In an extraordinary portion of a television interview on foreign policy challenges, Tillerson was asked about claims that Trump has a short attention span, regularly repeats himself and refuses to read briefing notes. “I’ve never […]

David Letterman returns to TV with Obama interview

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Late night talk show host David Letterman is returning to television next week with an interview of former US president Barack Obama, streaming giant Netflix announced Friday. Letterman, 70, who officially retired in 2015 after a 22-year run as the host of “Late Show with David Letterman” — a very American melange of celebrity interviews, monologues and sketches — had said in August that he would be back in […]

‘Fire and Fury’: Excerpts from Trump tell-all book which hit stores early on Friday

https://youtu.be/VIK-_T8UTCA   WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The following are excerpts from “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” an incendiary new book by Michael Wolff which was rushed into bookstores Friday after President Donald Trump failed to suppress it. The book quickly sold out in shops in the US capital, with some lining up at midnight to get their hands on the instant best-seller, dismissed by Trump as “phony” and “full of lies.” […]

10 dates since Iran’s Islamic revolution

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Here are key events that have marked Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Islamic republic proclaimed On January 16, 1979 the US-backed shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, leaves for exile after months of protests against him. On February 1 revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini makes a triumphant return from exile. Ten days later the shah’s government falls, public radio announces “the end of 2,500 years of despotism”. An […]