Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Jérôme RIVET MONTPELLIER, France (AFP) — French police warned President Emmanuel Macron about rising levels of street violence, as he toured crime hotspots on Monday following a string of shocking assaults. A spate of violent attacks in recent months has made fear of crime a top political issue ahead of presidential elections next year in which Macron is expected to seek a second term. “We are faced with young people who are more organised, […]
DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab called for wealthy Qatar’s help during a visit to the Gulf country on Monday as his nation sinks deeper into economic ruin.Diab has met with several prominent Qatari ministers and officials during the trip which Lebanese media has suggested has been mired in “secrecy”. “Lebanon has reached the brink of total collapse, as a result of decades of corruption and policies that have encouraged a […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Japan urged Myanmar authorities on Monday to release from prison a Japanese journalist accused of spreading fake news, one of at least 65 reporters arrested during the junta’s crackdown on anti-coup protests. The military has ramped up its attempts to crush dissent following mass demonstrations against its ousting of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with at least 737 civilians killed and the press increasingly under attack. Yuki Kitazumi was detained […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran said Friday it has begun producing uranium at 60 percent purity, in another breach of its commitments to the international community which is concerned about its nuclear programme. The Islamic republic had declared it would sharply ramp up its enrichment of uranium on Tuesday, two days after an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility that it blamed on arch-foe Israel. The incidents cast a shadow over talks in Vienna aimed […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called for a summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to ease tensions with Moscow. “I want to get the four of us” together to discuss “the issue of the security situation in eastern Ukraine and the de-occupation of our territories,” Zelensky said after a meeting with Macron in Paris in which Merkel participated by video […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The UN rights chief warned Tuesday of possible crimes against humanity in Myanmar and said it seemed to be heading towards a massive conflict like the one ravaging Syria. In a statement, the UN rights office urged countries to take immediate and decisive action to push the military leaders behind a February 1 coup in Myanmar to stop their “campaign of repression and slaughter of its people.” “I […]
by Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Friday established an expert commission to study reforming the powerful US Supreme Court, including the explosive question of expanding its bench. The move follows months of debate over whether Democrats should seek to expand the court beyond its current nine justices, after moves during Donald Trump’s presidential term gave the bench a firm conservative majority. The Supreme Court […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A leading Myanmar actor, singer and model who has backed the country’s anti-coup protests was arrested on Thursday, his sister said, as the junta hunts more than 100 celebrities for supporting the movement. The country has been rocked by daily protests since the military seized power on February 1, and the authorities have launched a bloody crackdown on dissent, with hundreds killed and more than 2,500 arrested. Paing Takhon, 24 […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — A prominent Singapore minister stepped aside on Thursday as the successor to the premier, in a shock move that upended the tightly-controlled country’s carefully planned power transfer. Finance minister Heng Swee Keat was in 2018 named to a key post in the ruling party that put him in pole position to take over when Singapore’s founding family hands over the premiership. He was expected to replace Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — The man behind Vietnam’s successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, was formally sworn in as president in Hanoi on Monday. Phuc, 66, was Vietnam’s prime minister for the last five years, a period in which the economy boomed, and his government’s Covid-19 response won plaudits at home and abroad. Following secret voting on Monday, Phuc scored the maximum votes among the almost 500-member rubber-stamp national assembly. “This is […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Officials in Washington appealed Sunday for balance between securing the US Capitol and public accessibility after the second deadly attack this year targeted the seat of American democracy. A policeman was killed and another wounded Friday after a man rammed through security and crashed into a barrier at the complex, forcing it into lockdown less than three months after a mob insurrection at Congress. Capitol Police shot the driver […]
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AFP) — Jordan’s former crown prince said Saturday he is under house arrest, but denied being part of any conspiracy against his half-brother King Abdullah II as he sharply criticized government corruption. In a video sent to the BBC, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein said the army chief of staff had visited him earlier in the day to tell him: “I was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or meet with […]
