by Harumi Ozawa with Sara Hussein in Tokyo HISANOHAMA, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Thursday marks 10 years since the worst natural disaster in the country’s living memory: a powerful earthquake, deadly tsunami and nuclear meltdown that traumatized a nation. Around 18,500 people were killed or left missing in the disaster, most of them claimed by the towering waves that swept across swathes of the northeast coast after one of the strongest quakes ever recorded. […]
Tag: anniversary
The towering sea wall legacy of Japan’s 2011 tsunami
by Natsuko FUKUE TARO, Japan (AFP) — The Japanese town of Taro had sea walls that were supposed to be able to survive almost anything the ocean could offer up, but the 2011 tsunami still brought utter destruction. A decade after the deadly waves unleashed by one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history, the lesson learned in many coastal towns was: build higher. That has left a legacy cast in concrete along hundreds […]
A year after Brazil dam collapse: What’s changed?
BRUMADINHO, Brazil (AFP) – Florence GOISNARD Brazil marks the first anniversary of the Brumadinho dam collapse Saturday, one of the country’s worst industrial accidents, which left 270 people dead. Millions of tons of toxic mining waste engulfed houses, farms and waterways, devastating the mineral-rich region in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. State prosecutors on Tuesday charged Brazilian mining giant Vale’s ex-president Fabio Schvartsman and 15 others with intentional homicide and environmental offenses over the […]
Missiles, drones and tanks: China shows off military prowess
by Ludovic Ehret and Helen Roxburgh BEIJING, China (AFP) — China put its growing military might on full display Tuesday with a parade of new ballistic missiles, supersonic drones and next-generation battlefield tanks that highlighted Beijing’s accelerating race to match the firepower of its US rival. The tightly choreographed procession across Tiananmen Square underscored a level of material and technological innovation that is increasingly viewed by many as a threat to US dominance in […]
One party: How communists rule in China
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s Communist Party has defied the odds to retain firm control of power for 70 years, adapting to a changing world to outlast its comrades in the Soviet Union. As the People’s Republic of China celebrates its anniversary on Tuesday, here is a look at how the party has evolved over the years. Turbulent decades For almost three decades, China had its own style of rule: Maoism. Under the […]
China celebrates 70 years as Hong Kong unrest looms large
by Laurent Thomet and Helen Roxburgh BEIJING, China (AFP) — China celebrates 70 years of Communist Party supremacy Tuesday with a parade of tanks, missiles and troops, a muscular display of its rising superpower status even as it faces an unprecedented challenge to its authority in seething Hong Kong. Authorities in Beijing have closed roads, banned the flying of kites, and shut some bars as they tightened security for an event celebrating China’s journey […]
Taiwan shrugs as communist China hails 70th anniversary
by Sean Chang TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Communist China’s creation seven decades ago irrevocably changed Taiwan, but Beijing’s huge celebrations this week will be met with a collective shrug on an island where people increasingly see themselves as distinct from the mainland. After the People’s Republic of China was declared on 1 October 1949, its rival, the Republic of China, set up in Taiwan — the island Chiang Kai-shek’s defeated nationalists fled to and […]
Trump vows to hit Taliban ‘harder’ than ever as US marks 9/11
by Peter Hutchison with Sebastian Smith in Washington NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump pledged to hit the Taliban “harder” than ever as America on Wednesday marked the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that led the country into war in Afghanistan. Trump’s remarks came after he aborted what would have been a historic Afghanistan peace summit, and as relatives remembered the victims of the deadliest terror attacks on US soil at […]
New York remembers 9/11 attacks, 18 years on
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York honored Wednesday the almost 3,000 people killed on September 11, 2001 in a solemn ceremony at Ground Zero where hijacked Al-Qaeda planes brought down the Twin Towers. Relatives of victims, police officers, firefighters and city leaders gathered at the National September 11 Memorial to mark the 18th anniversary of the deadliest single attack on US soil. They held poignant moments of silence at 8:46 am (1246 GMT) […]
Five years after Typhoon Haiyan, scores still in harm’s way
by Ayee Macaraig Agence France Presse TACLOBAN, Philippines (AFP) — Diofel Llamado fled for his life when Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines in 2013, yet today he is back living in the same coastal area — even if it puts him in the crosshairs of a future killer storm. On the fifth anniversary of the Philippines’ deadliest typhoon on record, his return is emblematic of the struggle in developing nations to move people […]
Guam’s second highest official makes second courtesy call to INC Executive Minister, greets INC on its 104th year
The second highest official of Guam, Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, visited the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) Central Office in Quezon City on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, for a courtesy call to the INC Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo. Lt. Gov. Tenorio was accompanied by Special Assistant, Alfredo Antolin who is of Filipino descent, when he visited the Executive Minister on Tuesday morning, and thanked the INC leader for his support and […]
Bong Go says Duterte will not commemorate anniversary of Marawi siege
“Why honor” that day Marawi was attacked?, he asks (Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend ceremonies to commemorate the first anniversary of the Marawi siege, his aide said on Wednesday, May 23. “Why honor (that day)?” Special Assistant to the President Bong Go said. According to Go, the President would much rather commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of Marawi from terrorists in October. Earlier, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte might attend the […]





