Asia

US, UN weigh in on Duterte’s Hitler remarks, call them “troubling”

  (Reuters) — The U.S. State Department on Friday (September 30) called “troubling” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s comments likening himself to Adolf Hitler and saying he would be happy to exterminate 3 million drug users. “America’s … partnership with the Philippines is … based on a mutual foundation of shared values and that includes our shared belief in human rights and human dignity,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. “President Duterte’s comments are a significant departure from […]

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3,800 civilians dead in year of Russian strikes in Syria: monitor

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — More than 3,800 civilians have been killed in one year of Russian air strikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad, a monitoring group said Friday as international outcry mounted. Assad’s regime and its key backer Russia are under growing pressure from world governments to halt a new offensive pounding rebel-held areas of the battleground city of Aleppo. More than 9,300 people have been killed in the Russian raids since September […]

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Obama arrives in Israel for funeral of Nobel laureate Peres

TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel on Friday for the funeral of the last of its founding fathers, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres. Obama is among leaders from across the world arriving for Peres’s funeral at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery, which begins at 9:00 am (0600 GMT). © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

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Saudi warns of ‘disastrous consequences’ over US 9/11 law

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned of “disastrous consequences” from a United States law allowing 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, in a major spike in tension between the longstanding allies. The warning came after the US Congress voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) on relations between states. JASTA allows attack survivors and relatives of terrorism victims to […]

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China warns Japan not to ‘play with fire’ in S. China Sea

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Thursday warned Japan against “playing with fire” in the contested waters of the South China Sea, after Tokyo announced it may patrol alongside the US in the region. China also sent fighter planes for the first time over a strait near Japan on Monday as part of a group of more than 40 jets headed to train in the West Pacific. The move followed remarks by Japanese Defence Minister […]

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Bahrain says Congress vote on Saudi 9/11 bill will harm US

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Bahrain warned Thursday that the United States would be the loser from Congress’s vote to override President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia. “The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act is an arrow launched by the US Congress at its own country,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa said on Twitter. “Are there no rational people among you?” he asked. Bahrain […]

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33 missing after China landslides: Xinhua

BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least 33 people are missing a day after landslides swept through two east China villages, state media reported Thursday, as rescuers combed through rubble for survivors. Heavy wind and rains brought by Typhoon Megi triggered the landslides around 5:30pm (0930 GMT) Wednesday, which struck the villages of Sucun and Baofeng in eastern Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Thirteen people had been rescued by early Thursday and 33 […]

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Israel mourns loss of Shimon Peres

TEL AVIV, Israel (CCTV) — Israel is mourning for the loss of former President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who died on Wednesday. The cabinet on Wednesday morning stood for a minute of silence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then spoke in a video address in which he praised the former president’s devotion to Israel and his work to promote peace with neighboring countries. Netanyahu said Peres will always be remembered as “the beloved of the […]

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Peres to lie in state as Israel honours last founding father

by Laurent Lozano with Daphne Rousseau in Ramat Gan JERUSALEM, Israel (AFP) — The body of Shimon Peres is to lie in state outside Israel’s parliament on Thursday as the world pays tribute to a statesman whose funeral is expected to draw leaders from around the globe. The ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner died on Wednesday at the age of 93 after suffering a stroke. In a career spanning seven decades, he held nearly […]

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Sun rises ‘beautifully’ on Philippines ties: China envoy

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Relations between China and the Philippines are improving “beautifully” under President Rodrigo Duterte, Beijing’s envoy has said as Duterte warms to China and Russia following US criticism of his bloody war on crime. Ambassador Zhao Jianhua offered effusive praise for Duterte in a speech at an embassy reception late Tuesday, saying China “firmly supports” his anti-drugs campaign that has prompted Western condemnation of alleged extrajudicial killings. Duterte has rejected the criticism, […]

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Singapore accuses Chinese paper of fabricating South China Sea story

BEIJING (Reuters)– Singapore’s ambassador to China on Tuesday accused a major state-run Chinese newspaper of fabricating a report about Singapore’s position on the South China Sea, but the paper stuck by its story. The Global Times said on Sept. 21 that at a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela, Singapore had raised the issue of the disputed waterway and an international tribunal’s ruling in favor of the Philippines in a case it lodged against […]

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Thailand rules out Zika link in two microcephaly cases; investigating two

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand ruled out on Wednesday Zika as the cause of two cases of microcephaly but is investigating two other cases that could be the first linked to Zika in Southeast Asia of the condition that results in babies being born with small heads. Microcephaly is a rare birth defect that has been linked, in Brazil in particular, to the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is spreading in Southeast Asia. Thai health authorities said […]

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