Other News

Super Typhoon “Henry” slightly intensifies as “Gardo” weakens into a remnant LPA

  (Eagle News) – Super Typhoon “Henry” (international name Hinnamnor) slightly intensified while moving south southwestward northeast of Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 240 kilometers per hour. The center of the eye of Super Typhoon Henry was estimated at 430 kilometers east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes as of the 11 a.m. bulletin, of PAGASA, the country’s weather bureau, on Thursday, September 1.  It entered the […]

Mexico plans to open lithium sector to private investors

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – Mexico will open lithium exploitation to private investors because there are insufficient public funds to develop the recently nationalized sector, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday. “Public funding alone would not be enough. Quite a lot of investment is required,” Lopez Obrador told reporters. Opening the sector to private capital will “have a lot of support. It’s of interest to national and foreign investors,” he predicted. In April, […]

Qatar says it will build world’s biggest blue ammonia plant

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) – Qatar announced Wednesday that it will build the world’s biggest plant making blue ammonia — one of the new fuels being touted as a cleaner energy source. Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said the plant would cost $1.2 billion and start production in early 2026. State-owned Qatar Energy, a firm that is making huge profits from liquefied natural gas, said the plant would produce 1.2 million tonnes of ammonia a year “making […]

ABS-CBN, TV5 announce deal termination; Cignal-Sky deals also terminated

  (Eagle News) – ABS CBN Corporation and TV5 Network Inc., said that they have “mutually agreed to terminate” the investment agreement dated August 10, 2022 that covered the proposed acquisition by ABS- CBN of 34.99 percent equity interest in TV5. In a statement, both media companies also announced the termination of the “Convertible Note Agreement” dated August 10, 2022 that covered the “proposed subscription by ABS-CBN to a Convertible Note to be issued by […]

Trudeau to probe allegation Canada spy helped smuggle UK teens

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged Wednesday to “follow up” on allegations that a spy working for Canadian intelligence trafficked British schoolgirls into Syria where at least one married an Islamic State fighter. According to a Times report in Britain, in 2015 then-15-year-old Shamima Begun and two friends received help from a people-smuggler recruited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to get to war-ravaged Syria from their Bethnal Green Academy in […]

“Henry” maintains strength as it moves over PHL Sea

(Eagle News) — “Henry” has maintained its strength as it moves southwestward over the Philippine Sea. According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, as a result, this late afternoon through evening, light to moderate with at times heavy rains are possible over Batanes. The center of the eye of Super Typhoon “Henry” is estimated  at 530 km east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes Moderate to heavy rains are likely over Batanes and Babuyan […]

Fighting spreads in Ethiopia as Tigray hit by air strike

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) – Fighting in northern Ethiopia between government forces and Tigrayan rebels erupted along a new front on Wednesday, the warring sides said, as the Tigray region was hit by another air strike. The conflict resumed last week after a five-month lull, with clashes on the ground and air raids over Tigray dashing hopes of peacefully resolving the nearly two-year war. Fighting had been concentrated around the southeastern border of Tigray, with […]

Queen to receive new UK prime minister at Scottish retreat

London, United Kingdom (AFP) – Queen Elizabeth II will receive the new UK prime minister next week at her Scottish retreat, royal officials said on Wednesday, in the first ceremony away from London in her record-breaking reign. Normally, the audience to accept the resignation of the outgoing prime minister and the so-called “kissing of the hands” ceremony with their replacement takes place at Buckingham Palace. With the queen’s official London residence just a short drive […]

Thai police hunt YouTuber ‘Nutty’ in multimillion-dollar forex scam

Bangkok, Thailand (AFP) Thai police are hunting a YouTube dancer nicknamed “Nutty”, who swindled millions of dollars from her followers using a foreign exchange trading scam, authorities said Wednesday. Natthamon Khongchak, 29, who also uses the aliases Leah and Suchata, has a following of nearly 850,000 on the video-sharing platform. Local media reported there could be up to 6,000 victims who lost up to $55 million after being promised 35 percent investment returns. So far […]

Japan further relaxes border controls for tourism

Tokyo, Japan (AFP) Tourists will be able to visit Japan from next week on package tours without a guide, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday, as the country moves to ease strict Covid-19 controls. From September 7, Japan will also raise its daily cap on the number of people allowed to enter the country to 50,000, Kishida told reporters. Japan has kept strict border restrictions in place longer than many other major economies, and only […]

Cambodian psychiatrist helping genocide survivors wins ‘Asia’s Nobel Prize’

Manila, Philippines (AFP) A Cambodian psychiatrist treating victims of the Khmer Rouge and a French environmentalist cleaning up Indonesian rivers were among the winners Wednesday of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award — considered Asia’s Nobel Prize. The annual award, established in 1957 and named after a Philippines president who died in a plane crash, honours those who have performed “selfless service to the peoples of Asia”. The foundation that runs the award announced four winners […]

EU ministers agree to suspend Russian visa facilitation deal

Prague, Czech Republic (AFP) EU foreign ministers on Wednesday agreed to suspend a 2007 visa facilitation deal with Russia but stopped short of a wider visa ban as requested by some member states. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the ministers had agreed that relations with Moscow “cannot be business as usual” and the agreement should be “fully suspended”. Following the informal meeting in Prague, he said this would make it “more difficult” and […]