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by SHIM Kyu-Seok Agence France-Presse BAEKRYEONG, South Korea (AFP) — It is South Korea’s westernmost territory, soldiers outnumber residents, and you can see North Korea from almost every barbed wire-lined beach: welcome to Baekryeong Island, a community on the front line. Far closer to the North Korean mainland than it is to the South, Baekryeong is a fortress: tanks are parked at the sides of roads, there are guard posts on every hill, and the […]
by Sofiane ALSAAR Agence France-Presse CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Residents of a Nile island in greater Cairo woke up in recent weeks to find officials taking measurements of their houses — a final step before enforcing demolition orders. Since then, people from Warraq — some of whom have been on the working-class, agricultural island for generations — have renewed efforts to oppose a mega development project that would see the island’s character and their homes […]
by Richard Carter with Ola Cichowlas in Moscow Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The leaders of Japan and Russia hold crunch summit talks on Tuesday, with the two countries locked in an undiplomatic war of words over a set of disputed islands. Simmering tension between Moscow and Tokyo over the islands has ramped up in recent weeks, with Russia angrily accusing Japan of whipping up tension ahead of the summit and failing to […]
(Eagle News)–The number of accredited establishments offering accommodation in Boracay has increased to 296. The Department of Tourism said this translates 10,467 rooms as of Dec. 31, 2018. The DOT ordered the closure of establishments not complying with environmental laws in Boracay, during a shutdown of the island for six months so it can undergo a rehabilitation. The shutdown was done after President Rodrigo Duterte called the island a “cesspool.” https://youtu.be/3me-N808iC8
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, May 20, said a portion of Boracay would be allotted for businesses after the 6-month rehabilitation. He said however that the rest of the area “will be declared a land reform area.” “I’ll leave it to Congress to decide a clear-cut parameter of how much would be given back to business,” he said. Boracay was closed down on April 26 to give way to what Duterte said was a […]
Scores of holiday resorts on the Philippines’ famous white-sand island Boracay have been given two months to clean up or face closure, officials said Wednesday, after President Rodrigo Duterte warned tourists were swimming in polluted waters. The outspoken leader last week blasted the tiny island’s hotels, restaurants and other businesses, accusing them of dumping sewage directly into the sea and turning it into a “cesspool.” The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said a total […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Wednesday launched a new drive to become the 51st US state, with the island’s governor demanding an end to “second-class” treatment of its citizens. Puerto Rico’s more than three million residents are US citizens, with no obstacles to living and working on the mainland. Yet the US commonwealth in the Caribbean has just a non-voting delegation in the US Congress in Washington, and Puerto Rico residents […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A United States warship on Thursday sailed close to an artificial island China has built up in the South China Sea, as part of a “freedom of navigation” operation, a US official said. The USS John S. McCain destroyer sailed within six nautical miles of Mischief Reef, part of the disputed Spratly Islands south of the Paracel Islands. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told AFP a Chinese frigate […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspected a military unit that was responsible for bombarding a southern island, state media said Friday ahead of a presidential election in the South. Pyongyang fired a barrage of 170 artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong island in November 2010, killing four people including two civilians in the first North Korean attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War. Tensions have soared on the Korean […]
NAGATO, Russia (AFP) — Russia and Japan kick off a summit Thursday aimed at reaching a deal over a group of small islands that have prevented the countries from formally ending their World War II hostilities. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will host Russian President Vladimir Putin in the former’s ancestral city of Nagato in hopes of achieving a breakthrough over the territory off Japan’s northern coast seized by Soviet troops in 1945. The four […]
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Starwood Hotels on Tuesday took over management of a luxury hotel in central Havana, becoming the first big American hospitality chain with a presence on the island since the Cuban Revolution a half-century ago. The newly-rechristened Cuba Four Points by Sheraton on Havana’s Quinta Avenida — a hotel owned by the Cuban military — now will be managed by the American hospitality giant. Located in Havana’s Miramar district, the posh hotel […]
by Katherine HADDON LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Millions of Britons began voting Thursday in a bitterly-fought, knife-edge referendum that could tear up the island nation’s EU membership and spark the greatest emergency of the bloc’s 60-year history. A record 46.5 million voters were registered to decide Britain’s future in the 28-nation European Union, which was born out of a determination to unite in lasting peace after the carnage of two world wars. Across much […]
