(Eagle News)– Aside from leaders of Southeast Asian nations, Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose on Friday revealed that President Rodrigo Duterte will hold face-to face meetings with leaders of Australia, India, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Laos. Concerns such as the President’s war on drugs and West Philippine Sea dispute are likely to be discussed at the summit. Earlier, Duterte reiterated […]
Asia
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 […]
Taiwan faces new rout of China ties over controversial diplomat
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) – Taiwan’s already frosty relations with Beijing are set to cool further after the appointment of a controversial diplomat to handle cross-strait ties sparked a backlash. Beijing still sees self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory and has been piling pressure on new president Tsai Ing-wen to acknowledge that there is only “one China”. It deeply mistrusts Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is traditionally pro-independence. Beijing has cut official communications with Tsai, who […]
17 unaccounted for in typhoon-hit northern Japan
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — 17 people were unaccounted for in Japan Thursday after Typhoon Lionrock tore through the north of the country, leaving 11 people dead and some 1,600 cut off in isolated communities, officials said. Ten died in the town of Iwaizumi after it was hit by surging river water and mud, with nine of them perishing in a care home for the elderly. The typhoon, which packed wind gusts of over 160 kilometers […]
South Korea prosecutors summon Lotte Group family member
South Korean prosecutors summoned the elder son of the founder of Lotte Group for questioning on Thursday (September 1), signalling the resumption of a criminal probe against the conglomerate following the suicide of a senior executive last week. Shin Dong-joo was ordered to appear for questioning by 10 a.m. on Thursday, a spokesman for the son of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho told Reuters. He did not comment on the reasons for the summons. Prosecutors rescheduled […]
G20 offers Putin one more stab at Obama on Syria, Ukraine
by Maria PANINA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The G20 summit starting in China on Sunday gives Russian President Vladimir Putin one more chance to try to strongarm US leader Barack Obama over Syria and Ukraine as their fraught relationship nears an end. In recent years the two world leaders have barely been able to hide their disdain for each other as ties between Washington and Moscow fell to their lowest level since the Cold War […]
Philippines’ Duterte: Obama must listen to me on human rights
(REUTERS) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week, but added that the U.S. president must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights. Washington has expressed concern about a surge in drug-related killings since Duterte became president two months ago promising to wipe out narcotics in the Southeast Asian nation. Asked if he would […]
Japan’s military seeks record spending to counter North Korea, China moves
GOTEMBA, Japan (Reuters) — Japan’s defense ministry on Wednesday (August 31) asked for a hike in spending to record levels, as it juggles its responses to a growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea and China’s assertive moves in the East China Sea. If approved, the hike of 2.3 percent will take the defense budget to 5.17 trillion yen ($51.47 billion) in the year starting April 1, for a fifth consecutive increase as Prime Minister Shinzo […]
G20 to go long on rhetoric, short on economic policy: experts
by Benjamin CARLSON BEIJING, China (AFP) — G20 leaders will meet in China this weekend in a climate of economic uncertainty and sluggish global growth –- but the absence of an urgent crisis means the forum will be short on breakthroughs, analysts say. Eight years after the first G20 summit in Washington, when countries coordinated a response to the financial meltdown, Beijing has set a modest agenda for the Hangzhou gathering — focusing on making […]
Japanese police corner suspect in deadly shooting
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese gunman accused of shooting dead a construction worker and wounding three others before going on the run, was locked in a tense standoff with police on Wednesday. Yasuhide Mizobata fled into an apartment building on Tuesday afternoon after firing repeatedly at officers who challenged him, a force spokesman said. He spent the night holed up in the building, surrounded by heavily-armed police who were trying to convince him to […]
9 found dead in Japan elderly home after typhoon: police
by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Surging flood water brought by a powerful typhoon left nine people dead in an elderly care home in Japan, officials said Wednesday. The bodies were discovered in a riverside care complex half buried in mud and rubble after Typhoon Lionrock ripped through the region, dumping torrential rain over a wide area. Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed a helicopter hovering over the building in Iwaizumi, as rescuers tried to […]
IS says spokesman Adnani killed in Syria’s Aleppo
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Islamic State group said Tuesday its spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in the Syrian province of Aleppo, as the US confirmed an IS “senior leader” was targeted in the same area. Quoting an IS “military source”, the group’s news agency Amaq said: “Sheikh Abu Mohamed al-Adnani… was martyred while surveying operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo.” It said he died after a “long voyage crowned by sacrifice” […]
