Other News

Heart-shaped diamond sells for record $15 million

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The largest flawless heart-shaped diamond has sold for nearly $15 million in Geneva Wednesday, breaking a world record in its category, auction house Christie’s said. The 92-carat diamond forms the center-piece of a necklace of cultured pearls. The sale price of around $14.99 million (around 13.45 million euros) is a world record for heart-shaped diamonds, Christie’s spokesperson Alexandra Kindermann told AFP. The piece was designed by Boehmer et Bassenge who have taken […]

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EU launches ‘Dieselgate’ case against Italy

BRUSSELS, Belgium  (AFP) — The European Union launched infringement proceedings against Italy on Wednesday for failing to adequately investigate emissions cheating allegations against automaker Fiat. The accusations involving the Italian auto giant come in the wake of the Volkswagen “dieselgate” scandal, revealed in 2015, that affected 11 million cars. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, says Italian authorities ignored the presence of so called “defeat devices” in Fiat autos that enable cars to minimize pollution levels […]

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Meningitis caused almost 180 deaths in Niger since January: UN

NIAMEY, Niger (AFP) — At least 179 people, almost half of them children, have died of meningitis since January in Niger, where some 3,000 suspected cases have been reported, the United Nations said Wednesday. “From January 2 to May 7 2017, a total of 3,037 suspected cases of meningitis, including 179 deaths, was reported in the country,” said the UN’s humanitarian agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “The fatality rate is 5.9 percent.” […]

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Hollywood and French film royalty walk the Cannes red carpet

CANNES, France (Reuters) — The cream of the crop in French and Hollywood cinema walked the red carpet at the 70th Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday (May 17). The opening film was the out-of-competition ‘Ismael’s Ghosts,’ directed by Arnaud Desplechin and stars Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg. There are 19 films in competition for the Palme d’Or this year, including Sofia Coppola’s remake of the 1971 classic Clint Eastwood movie of the same name, and […]

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China and Argentina to expand energy collaboration

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang met with Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri in Beijing on Wednesday (May 17), as the two countries agreed to expand collaborations in areas including hydropower, nuclear and railways. Xi greeted Macri with an honor guard welcome before sitting down for bilateral talks and a signing ceremony. Li also met Macri with handshakes and bilateral talks. The bilateral meeting followed Argentina’s attendance at a summit hosted […]

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2 miyembro ng NPA, sumuko sa militar sa Zamboanga del Sur

Dalawang myembro ng New People’s Army (NPA) ang sumuko sa 53rd Infantry Battalion na nakabase sa Camp Sabido, Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur, kamakailan. Kinilala ang mga sumuko na sina Rey Anthony Dungog, 19, at Alvin Ladra Calibo, 24, pawang residente ng Brgy. Balagon, Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay. Ayon kay 2Lt. Maverick Rey Mira, Intelligence Officer ng 53 IB, ang mga sumukong rebelde ay miyembro ng Regional Guerilla Unit. Ito ang NPA unit na nag-o-operate sa Western Mindanao Area. Base […]

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SEABA: Blatche-less Gilas Pilipinas gives Vietnam a 55-point beating

Cubao, Quezon City – Gilas Pilipinas cruised to their fifth straight victory in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) with a 55-point margin, 107-52, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Playing without their naturalized player Andray Blatche, Gilas was led by Matthew Wright with 19 points while sinking five out of his seven attempts from the three-point arc. Calvin Abueva followed up Wright’s attack by chipping in 16 points of his own to go with six […]

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PHL joins calls for world leaders to implement Paris Agreement

The Philippines joined calls for world leaders to implement the historic Paris Agreement to fight global warming, this amid the United States’ threats it would exit from the United Nations pact. “As long there is a chance to stop global warming at a level that lets humanity survive and thrive, we should seize it,” Emmanuel De Guzman of the Philippines’ Climate Change Commission said on the sidelines of UN talks under way in Bonn. “This is […]

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Ex-FBI chief Mueller to head Trump-Russia probe

by Michael Mathes / Paul Handley Agence France-Presse A former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief was tasked Wednesday with leading a beefed-up investigation into whether United States President Donald Trump’s team colluded with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in the president’s favor. Trump responded by once again denying any links to Moscow, but the appointment of a special counsel with sweeping powers dramatically raises the stakes in a crisis threatening to paralyze his presidency. The […]

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Netflix told their films should not win Cannes as festival opens

by Fiachra Gibbons Agence France-Presse CANNES, France – Cannes jury chief Pedro Almodovar fired a warning shot at streaming giant Netflix on Wednesday, declaring that the film that wins the festival’s top prize should be shown in cinemas. The online giant has refused to release its two movies in the running for the Palme d’Or to French theaters, sparking a huge row that threatens to overshadow the world’s top film festival, which officially kicks off its […]

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Suicide bombers storm Afghan state broadcaster

by Enamullah Samoon Agence France-Presse Suicide bombers stormed the national television station in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, triggering gunfights and explosions with journalists trapped inside the building, officials and eyewitnesses said. At least two people were killed and 16 others wounded in the nearly four-hour assault on Radio Television Afghanistan, which marks the latest in a string of assaults on media workers in Afghanistan. No insurgent group has so far claimed […]

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Japan restarts another reactor

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – A Japanese utility on Wednesday switched on a nuclear reactor, the latest to come back in service despite deep public opposition in the aftermath of the Fukushima crisis. Japan shut down all of its dozens of reactors after a powerful earthquake in March 2011 spawned a huge tsunami that led to meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing the world’s worst such accident since Chernobyl in 1986. But only a handful […]

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