Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Issam AHMED Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) — The United States left the Paris accord on Wednesday, becoming the first country to ever withdraw from an international climate change pact as the fate of its presidential election hangs in the balance. It may prove to be a temporary blip before a Joe Biden administration rejoins the agreement. Otherwise, the global effort to rein in the Earth’s warming will have to proceed without […]
MINSK, Belarus (AFP) — Belarus on Tuesday launched its controversial Russia-built nuclear power station despite safety concerns from neighbouring Baltic states three decades after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. A string of incidents during construction of the nuclear power station has raised questions over its safety among EU countries, particularly neighbouring Lithuania. The launch comes as Belarus strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko faces historic protests over his claim to victory in August presidential polls which Western leaders […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday nominated the country’s first female security minister in charge of coordinating the fight against drug cartels and other criminals. Lopez Obrador offered the post to Rosa Icela Rodriguez, who currently oversees sea ports and merchant shipping, after Alfonso Durazo resigned to run for governor of Sonora state. Rodriguez, a former journalist and close ally of Lopez Obrador, has not yet formally accepted […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was ordered back to prison Thursday as the country’s Supreme Court upheld a 17-year jail term for bribery and embezzlement offences. The conservative Lee, who served as president from 2008 to 2013, had been out on bail awaiting the ruling and was not in court for the decision. The ruling is not subject to further appeal and at age 78 means Lee is likely […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Monday said it will impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin, a Boeing division and other US firms involved in arm sales to Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing views as its territory. The two US giants were involved in a recent sale of $1 billion worth of missiles to Taiwan, alongside Raytheon. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged the US “to stop arms sales” to the island. The status […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s billionaire business leaders lined up Monday to pay respects to the late Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee, for decades the country’s richest and most powerful industrialist. Lee died aged 78 on Sunday, six years after suffering a heart attack that had left him bedridden. Under his leadership, Samsung became the world’s largest producer of smartphones and memory chips, and the firm’s overall turnover today is equivalent to a […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Thursday threatened to make a “legitimate and necessary” retaliation over the US sale of $1 billion worth of missiles to Taiwan as Beijing becomes increasingly strident over its claims to the self-ruled island. The US State Department said on Wednesday it had approved the sale of 135 air-to-ground missiles to Taiwan in a move Taipei’s defence ministry said would build its combat capabilities. Democratic and self-ruled Taiwan lives […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Three-time Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri was named to the post for a fourth time Thursday and immediately promised a government of technocrats committed to a French-backed reform plan. Hariri said he would “form a cabinet of non politically aligned experts with the mission of economic, financial and administrative reforms contained in the French initiative roadmap”. “I will work on forming a government quickly because time is running out and this […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Lebanese President Michel Aoun officially launched consultations Thursday to find a new prime minister, nearly a month after the previous appointee failed to form a government. The frontrunner is none other than Saad Hariri, who already held the position twice and resigned a year ago under pressure from an unprecedented protest movement demanding a complete overhaul of Lebanon’s political system. The presidency announced on social media that Aoun had begun meeting […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US government announced approval Wednesday to sell $1 billion worth of advanced air-to-ground missiles to Taiwan as the island shores up its defenses against the threat from China. The State Department said it had agreed to sell 135 of the AGM-84H SLAM-ER missiles, precision-guided, air-launched cruise missiles, and related equipment. Also approved was the sale of six MS-110 reconnaissance pods for air reconnaissance, and 11 M142 mobile light […]
by Dene-Hern Chen, with Jerome Taylor in Hong Kong BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Hong Kong and Thailand have both seen their streets filled with protesters daring to take on an entrenched political elite, and to discuss once-taboo subjects in their push for greater freedoms. Voranai Vanijaka, a political analyst at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, said tech-savvy youths in both territories have “shared cultural values”. “(It’s) the love for freedom and the courage to fight for change,” […]
SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Two churches were torched as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered Sunday in a central Santiago square to mark the anniversary of a protest movement that broke out last year demanding greater equality in Chile. The demonstration comes just a week before Chileans vote in a referendum on whether to replace the dictatorship-era constitution — one of the key demands when the protest movement began on October 18, 2019. While […]
