Rome, Italy (AFP) At least seven people died when violent storms lashed central Italy and flooded roads and homes, authorities told AFP on Friday. Three people were missing, including a six-year-old child travelling in a car. The mother was rescued but the child was washed away by the floodwaters, the AGI news agency said. “According to the local prefecture, the provisional death toll is seven. The seventh body has just been found,” a civil […]
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Major fire in skyscraper in China’s Changsha city: state media
Beijing, China (AFP) A major fire broke out in a skyscraper in the central Chinese city of Changsha, state media reported Friday, adding that the number of casualties was “currently unknown”. “Thick smoke is spewing from the site, and several dozen floors are burning ferociously,” state broadcaster CCTV reported. “Firefighters have begun work to extinguish the flames and conduct rescues at the scene,” it added. The blaze consumed a tall building that housed an office […]
Indonesia investigating Google over app store payment system
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has launched an anti-trust investigation into Google over the tech firm’s insistence that its payment system be used for purchases from its app store, authorities said Thursday, accusing it of unfair business practices. The US internet giant has been under legal scrutiny in a number of countries over its stipulation that its billing system be used by all buyers on Google Play. Authorities in Jakarta said in a statement […]
PBBM hopeful PHL emerging from pandemic difficulties, to link up with economic partners in NY trip
Pres. Marcos Jr., to meet with various CEOs, economic partners after UN General Assembly speech (Eagle News) – Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said that he expects that the country would “finally begin to emerge” from the difficulties of the pandemic that have hounded the country since 2020. The 65-year old Philippine leader said that he is going to work hard on the country’s economy, which in his view is very much based on agriculture. […]
Indonesia investigating Google over app store payment system
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) – Indonesia has launched an anti-trust investigation into Google over the etch firm’s insistence that its payment system be used for purchases from its app store, authorities said Thursday, accusing it of unfair business practices. The US internet giant has been under legal scrutiny in a number of countries over its stipulation that its billing system be used by all buyers on Google Play. Authorities in Jakarta said in a statement they […]
Thai soldier charged over deadly shooting at army facility
Bangkok, Thailand (AFP) Thai police have charged a soldier with murder over a shooting at a military training facility that left two people dead and another wounded, officials said Friday. Sergeant Major Yongyuth Mungkornkim, a clerk at the Royal Thai Army War College, will stand trial in a military court on Wednesday in the north of Bangkok. He faces charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, possessing a gun in a public place and firing a […]
PNP: Over P400 million worth of illegal drugs seized in Pampanga, Bacolod police operations
3 arrested (Eagle News) — Over P400 million worth of illegal drugs were seized in Sept. 14 police operations in Pampanga and Bacolod. According to the Philippine National Police, arrested in the operations in Mexico town were Wenjie Chen, 45; and Hsu Lien Shui, 42. Seized from the suspects were 60 kilograms of illegal drugs worth Php 408,000,000, the police said. Police said Marcial Lavado delos Santos Jr. was also arrested during an interdiction operation […]
Germany takes control of Russian firm Rosneft’s operations in the country
Berlin, Germany (AFP) Berlin said Friday it had taken control of the German operations of Russian firm Rosneft to secure energy supplies which have been disrupted after Moscow invaded Ukraine. Rosneft’s German subsidiaries, which account for about 12 percent of oil refining capacity in the country, were placed under trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency, the economy ministry said in a statement. “The trust management will counter the threat to the security of energy supply,” […]
Who’s invited — and who’s not — to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
by Danny KEMP Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Hundreds of foreign royals and leaders are expected to attend the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on Monday in one of the biggest diplomatic gatherings in decades. Westminster Abbey has space for around 2,000 people, so only heads of state and one or two guests have reportedly been invited to Britain’s first state funeral for six decades. A handful of […]
Taiwan warns Russia, China ties ‘harm’ international peace
by Amber WANG Agence France-Presse TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan said on Friday ties between Russia and China were a threat to global peace and that the international community must resist the “expansion of authoritarianism”. Russia’s Vladimir Putin met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for their first face-to-face talks since the start of the conflict in Ukraine on Thursday, hailing their strategic ties in defiance of the West. In the Uzbek city of Samarkand, Xi told […]
Indonesian gig drivers fear hardship after fuel price hike
by Agnes ANYA Agence France-Presse JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Sitting on the side of a Jakarta road anxiously waiting for his phone to ping, driver Muhammad Ridwan says it is now barely worth hurtling through thick smog every day to ferry passengers. A 30 percent hike in fuel prices spurred hundreds of drivers of the most popular ride-hailing apps to hold protests across Indonesia as they struggle to make ends meet. “I sometimes don’t eat […]
China’s Xi to meet Iran’s Raisi at regional summit
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will have his first face-to-face discussion with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Friday, state media reported. The meeting comes days after the Europen Union warned that negotiations to bring Iran and the US back into a nuclear deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program are in “stalemate”. China is one of the key members of the multilateral dialogue — alongside France, Germany, Britain, Russia and the United States […]





