Tag: World War II

In German political chaos, ‘rubble woman’ to the rescue

by Frank Zeller Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Germany’s chaos-wracked Social Democrats have named Andrea Nahles as their designated next leader, meaning women will soon be in the driver’s seats of the two biggest parties and shifting a long-skewed gender balance in politics. Alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel, Nahles is set to join a growing band of women heading, or co-leading, German political parties despite the fact that female lawmakers still account for fewer than one third […]

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UK navy works to remove WWII bomb after airport closed

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Bomb disposal experts from Britain’s Royal Navy were continuing in their efforts late Monday to remove a World War II bomb after its discovery closed London City Airport. The 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) German bomb was discovered early on Sunday morning in King George V Dock, during planned works near the runway of London’s most central airport. As experts worked to move the unexploded ordnance, the airport was shut down and a […]

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Two crew feared dead in Japan army helicopter crash

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Two crew were feared dead Monday after a Japanese military helicopter crashed in a residential area in the southwest of the country, setting a home on fire. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera confirmed the crash in the town of Kanzaki and said the two crew on board were retrieved “in a state of cardiac and respiratory arrest,” Jiji news agency reported. The language is often used by Japanese officials before deaths are officially confirmed. […]

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Catalonia: What does it mean to declare UDI?

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) – Spain’s Senate on Friday voted to grant Madrid powers to impose direct rule on Catalonia, shortly after the semi-autonomous region’s parliament approved a motion declaring independence. Herewith are five questions about what it means to make a unilateral declaration of independence: What is a unilateral declaration of independence? Known by its acronym “UDI”, the term was first coined in 1965 when the former Rhodesia’s minority white government declared unilateral independence from British […]

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Five things to know about Japan’s pacifist constitution

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s long-held dream to change the pacifist constitution got a big boost this weekend as his conservative coalition won a crucial two-thirds majority in a snap election. Nationalists like Abe dismiss the constitution as a humiliating relic imposed by US occupiers after Japan’s defeat in World War II, while North Korea’s recent firing of two missiles over the country in less than a month has focused minds on security. […]

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Manila government to push through with “conversion and redevelopment” of Rizal sports complex

(Eagle News) — Despite opposition from heritage advocates, the Manila City government is pushing through with the “conversion and redevelopment” of the pre-war Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, saying “everything (was) old already.” “Oo, sigurado ‘yun,” Mayor Joseph Estrada said when asked if plans to that effect would push through. According to Estrada,the conversion of RMSC–which is owned by the government— is part of his administration’s urban development program.  “E, wala nang gumagamit. Wala nang kinikita. Luma […]

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75 years ago, Pearl Harbor attack brought US into WWII

PARIS, France (AFP) — The December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor triggered the United States to join its European allies in World War II. With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe due later this month to become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, AFP looks at the sequence of events that led to the US changing the course of the war. Japanese expansionism Japan’s policy of territorial expansionism, launched in the late 19th […]

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‘Real heroes don’t wear Spandex’: Mel Gibson

by Ella IDE VENICE, Italy(AFP) — “Real heroes don’t wear Spandex,” Mel Gibson told Venice Sunday as he unveiled his new World War II drama “Hacksaw Ridge”, starring Andrew Garfield of “Spiderman” fame. The film tells the true story of Desmond Doss (played by Garfield), who enlists and is determined to save lives on the front line as a medic, but refuses to carry a gun on moral grounds. The flick’s title comes from a […]

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Japan’s Abe in Russia to warm ties with Putin

by Maria PANINA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s far east on Friday as the countries step up efforts to boost trade ties and resolve a lingering territorial dispute. Tokyo-Moscow relations are hamstrung by a row dating back to the end of World War II when Soviet troops seized the southernmost islands in the Pacific Kuril chain, known as the Northern Territories […]

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President Duterte orders release of funds for benefits of WWII widows

QUEZON City, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the release of Php 4.7 billion payment for unpaid benefits of widows of World War II veterans as well as for retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In his message during the commemoration of National Heroes Day in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, he said that Php 3.5 billion is for the payment of arrears of widows of WWII veterans while the remaiing Php 1.2 […]

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Japan’s first lady visits Pearl Harbor

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited Pearl Harbor, bombed by Japanese planes nearly 75 years ago in an attack that brought the United States into World War II. It was not clear exactly when Akie Abe made the visit. But she posted 11 pictures on her official Facebook page, apparently early Monday. “I offered flowers and my prayers at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor,” she wrote. […]

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Japan protests to Russia over man detained on disputed island

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Monday lodged a diplomatic protest with Russia over the detention of a Japanese citizen visiting an island disputed by the two countries. Tokyo and Moscow are working to resolve decades of tensions over four islands occupied by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II and now controlled by Russia. The man, who has not been identified, was detained following baggage checks conducted ahead of his […]

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