MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — Philippine energy officials held a tour inside the country’s only nuclear plant which was built four decades ago but never used, as they look into its revival to address the growing power shortage.
ASEAN IN FOCUS
Hostage freed by Abu Sayyaf says he is ‘lucky to be alive’
MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — Messages of thanks are rolling in for the Philippine government and President Rodrigo Duterte after months of negotiation and weeks of fighting with Abu Sayyaf militants finally paid off last weekend. The first message of thanks came from Kjartan Sekkingstad, the Norwegian resort manager who spent nearly a year in captivity after he was nabbed along with three others from Samal Island last September.
Thais search for missing as 15 die in pilgrim boat accident
by Lillian Suwanrumpha AYUTTHAYA, Thailand (AFP) — Divers located the body of a young boy on Monday as they resumed their search for missing passengers after an overcrowded boat carrying Muslim pilgrims sank on Thailand’s Chao Phraya river, leaving at least 15 people dead. The accident happened on Sunday afternoon near the ancient city of Ayutthaya, a popular tourist attraction, when a boat packed with pilgrims returning from a mosque hit a concrete bank in strong […]
Southeast Asian haze crisis killed over 100,000: study
by Sam Reeves Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP) — A smog outbreak in Southeast Asia last year may have caused over 100,000 premature deaths, according to a new study released Monday that triggered calls for action to tackle the “killer haze”. Researchers from Harvard and Columbia universities in the US estimated there were more than 90,000 early deaths in Indonesia in areas closest to haze-belching fires, and several thousand more in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia. The […]
Thais search for missing as 15 die in pilgrim boat accident
by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AYUTTHAYA, Thailand (AFP) — Divers resumed the search Monday for missing passengers after an overcrowded boat carrying Muslim pilgrims sank on Thailand’s Chao Phraya river, leaving at least 15 people dead. The accident happened on Sunday afternoon near the ancient city of Ayutthaya, a popular tourist attraction, when a boat packed with pilgrims returning from a mosque hit a concrete bank in strong tides. Scores of people lined the bank on Monday […]
Norwegian hostage freed by Philippine militants ‘lucky to be alive’
INDANAN, Philippines (AFP) – A freed Norwegian hostage said he was “lucky to be alive” Sunday, after being kidnapped by Islamic militants and held in the southern Philippine jungle for more than a year. Kjartan Sekkingstad appeared gaunt and frail as he was handed over to a government envoy along with three Indonesian seamen who had been held captive with him. “I am so very happy and lucky to be alive,” Sekkingstad, heavily bearded […]
Russian Navy arrives in China for joint drills in South China Sea
MANILA, Philippine (Eagle News) — The Russian Navy arrived in Southern China’s Guangdong province on Monday (September 12) for eight days of naval drills in the South China Sea.
President Duterte’s arrival speech from Indonesia
President Rodrigo Duterte on his arrival speech from Indonesia stressed that he would be pursuing an independent foreign policy as he insisted that this was to protect the Filipino people.
Highlights of President Duterte’s state visit in Indonesia
The international debut of the President at the ASEAN summit in Laos was described as very successful by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Although it had been clouded by controversy involving United States President Barack Obama, over harsh words said before he departed for the ASEAN summit, this had not marred the president’s resolve to lay down the Philippines’ position to the ASEAN community and its partners. On Friday night, the President arrived at […]
China, Russia naval drill in South China Sea to begin Monday
(REUTERS) China and Russia will hold eight days of naval drills in the South China Sea off southern China’s Guangdong province starting from Monday, China’s navy said. The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in The Hague ruled in July that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticized its environmental destruction there. China rejected the ruling and refused […]
President Duterte visits Indonesia
(Eagle News) — After his participation to the 28th and 29th ASEAN summits in Vientiane, Laos, President Rodrigo Duterte went straight to Jakarta, Indonesia for a state visit. Duterte arrived at the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in Jakarta on Thursday night via a Philippine Airlines chartered flight PR001 for a working visit to the Republic of Indonesia from September 8-9, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLf5oPIyTQILA The President was welcomed by Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia Maria […]
President Duterte accepts ASEAN 2017 chairmanship for the Philippines
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday (September 8) accepted the Philippine chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit scheduled for next year, 2017, when ASEAN will be celebrating its 50th year. Duterte accepted the symbolical gavel of the ASEAN chairmanship for next year from Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith during the closing ceremony of the ASEAN Summit and handover of the ASEAN chairmanship to the Philippines. ASEAN leaders gathered in Vientiane for […]
