Other News

Mugabe refuses to stand down in talks with military

by Susan Njanji Agence France Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, refused to resign during a crunch meeting Thursday with military generals who have seized control of the country. The talks in Harare came after tumultuous days in which soldiers blockaded key roads, took over state TV and put the veteran leader under house arrest. “They met today. He is refusing to step down. I think […]

Google, Facebook join news organizations in ‘Trust Project’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Google, Facebook and other tech firms joined global news organizations Thursday in an initiative aimed at identifying “trustworthy” news sources, in the latest effort to combat online misinformation. Microsoft and Twitter also agreed to participate in the “Trust Project” with some 75 news organizations to tag news stories which meet standards for ethics and transparency. “In today’s digitized and socially networked world, it’s harder than ever to tell what’s accurate […]

Japan railway ‘deeply sorry’ after train leaves 20 seconds early

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese railway operator has issued a deep apology for the “tremendous nuisance” caused by a train departing 20 seconds early, surprising even a nation renowned for both punctuality and politeness. The Tsukuba Express train linking Tokyo and the capital’s northern suburbs pulled out of Minami Nagareyama Station at 9:44:20 instead of 9:44:40. “We deeply apologize for causing tremendous nuisance to customers,” said the Tsukuba Express company. “There was no complaint […]

PET, kukuha ng contractual workers para sa kahilingan ni dating Sen. Marcos sa VP poll recount

MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — Kukuha ang Korte Suprema na umuupo bilang Presidential Electoral Tribunal ng animnapung contractual workers para sa recount ng mga boto kaugnay sa election protest ni dating Senador Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos laban kay Vice President Leni Robredo. Kabilang sa mga ito ay mga finance consultant, secretary, ballot box handler, custodian, copy machine operator, utility worker/messenger, locks custodian, driver, tabulator at data encoder. Tatanggap sila ng sahod na nagkakahalaga ng 14,586 hanggang […]

Authorities foil planned terror attack in M. Manila during ASEAN Summit; 3 Abu Sayyaf members arrested in QC

(Eagle News) — Three men who police said plotted to attack Metro Manila during the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit were arrested by authorities in Quezon City, the police said on Friday. Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said suspects Abdulgaffar Jikiri alias Abu Bakar Jikiri, 19; Alim Sabtalin, 19; and Sadam Jhofar, 24; were apprehended by joint Quezon City Police District and National Bureau of Investigation-counter-terrorism division elements in Salam […]

Siemens faces German union showdown over layoffs

by Daphne Rousseau with Tom Barfield in Frankfurt Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany — Industrial conglomerate Siemens on Thursday announced thousands of job cuts worldwide, most of them in its fossil fuels division, with unions and politicians in its home country Germany particularly outspoken against the plans. A total of 6,900 workers are set to lose their jobs, around half of them in Germany, where Siemens also plans to close sites in the country’s economically […]

China to send envoy to N. Korea; Trump hails ‘big move’

by Becky Davis Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China is set to dispatch a special envoy to North Korea on Friday, a trip hailed as a “big move” by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally. Song Tao is officially traveling to the North to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and “other issues of mutual concern” on behalf of President Xi Jinping. But analysts […]

George Clooney makes TV return with ‘Catch-22,’ two decades after ER

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — George Clooney will make his return to television in a serialized adaptation of “Catch-22,” Paramount Television said on Thursday (November 16), nearly 20 years after he left hit show “ER” to become one of film’s biggest names. Clooney will direct and star in the six-episode series, based on U.S. author Joseph Heller’s darkly comedic 1961 novel “Catch-22.” The show has not yet been acquired by a network for distribution but […]

Baseball: Houston’s Altuve, Miami’s Stanton win MVP awards

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, who helped the Astros capture their first World Series title, joined Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton in taking a first Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player award on Thursday. Altuve, a 27-year-old Venezuelan, was a runaway American League MVP winner in voting by a media panel while Stanton, an American who turned 28 last week, edged Cincinnati’s Joey Votto for the National League award by two votes, the […]

SpaceX postpones launch of secretive Zuma mission

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — SpaceX on Thursday postponed the launch of a secretive US government payload known as Zuma, a mission whose nature — and the agency behind it — is a mystery. “We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer,” SpaceX said in a statement issued late Thursday about two hours before the planned launch window was to open. The fairing is the […]

Turquoise waterfalls dry up after Mexico quakes

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico (AFP) — The Agua Azul waterfalls in southern Mexico are a playground of bright turquoise water cascading over limestone steps. But after a powerful earthquake hit the country, they dried up — and the area’s once-booming tourist economy along with them. The state of Chiapas, where the falls trickle near the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque, was the epicenter of the 8.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico on September 7, killing 96 […]

Venezuela suffers another blow as PDVSA declared in default

  NEW  YORK, United States (AFP) — Crisis-plagued Venezuela suffered another blow Thursday as a committee of creditors ruled that state oil company PDVSA has defaulted on its debt, a decision that triggers payment of default insurance to investors. The setback for the oil-rich but cash-poor nation came as no surprise, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro has missed payments on sovereign bonds as well as PDVSA debt, even as the population continues to suffer from […]