WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States said Tuesday it was keen to work with whoever wins the presidential election in the Philippines, after Rodrigo Duterte claimed victory. “We look forward to working with and congratulating the winner,” State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said, after the 71-year-old firebrand declared himself the winner of Monday’s voting. Trudeau stressed that official results had not yet been confirmed, but said the United States would work with whichever […]
Asia
US and Afghan forces free kidnapped son of ex-Pakistan PM
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — US and Afghan forces freed the kidnapped son of a former Pakistani prime minister during a counter-terrorism mission in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said Tuesday, three years after he was kidnapped in a hail of bullets. Ali Haider Gilani, son of Yousaf Raza Gilani, was rescued in the Giyan district of Paktika province “by US Special Operations Forces and Afghan commandos in a partnered raid,” NATO said in the statement from Kabul. […]
North Korea willing to strengthen political ties with enemy nations
QUEZON City, Philippines – North Korea promised that it will not use its nuclear weapon unless there are threats to its sovereignty. North Korean leader Kim Jongun also announced the country’s readiness to strengthen political ties with hostile nations. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Dexter Magno, Uploaded by MRFaith Bonalos)
Taiwan enters South China Sea legal fray, as group seeks to sway international court
(Reuters) A Taiwanese group has intervened in the Philippines’ international court case against China’s claims in the South China Sea, pressing Taipei’s position that Taiwan is entitled to a swathe of the disputed waterway as an economic zone. The unusual submission has emerged just as judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague are poised to rule on the Philippines’ landmark case, brought under the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of […]
Saudi police shoot dead suspected jihadist
RIYADH , Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi security forces on Monday shot dead a suspected jihadist in the western province of Taif a day after a policeman was killed in a shootout, the interior ministry said. The gunman was killed after refusing to surrender to security forces hunting him over his suspected involvement in an attempt to infiltrate a police station parking area in the province on Sunday, a ministry statement said. It identified him […]
Russia and US to ‘redouble’ efforts for Syrian political settlement
MOSCOW ,Russia (AFP) — Russia and the United States on Monday agreed to step up efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict and extend a truce across the whole of the country. “The Russian Federation and United States are determined to redouble efforts to reach a political settlement of the Syrian conflict”, according to a joint US-Russian statement published by the Russian foreign ministry. The two sides, co-chairs of the International Syria Support […]
China landslide death toll rises to 31
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The number of bodies recovered from a landslide that engulfed workers at a Chinese construction site rose to 31 on Monday with seven people still missing, authorities said. Heavy rain at the weekend buried a temporary shed used by workers at a hydropower station construction site in Fujian province, in the southeast, under 100,000 cubic metres of mud and rock, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Major rescue efforts were continuing, […]
N. Korea detains, expels BBC reporter
SEOUL , South Korea (AFP) — A BBC reporter in North Korea was detained, interrogated for eight hours and eventually expelled over his reporting in the run-up to a rare ruling party congress, the British broadcaster said Monday. Foreign reporters invited to cover specific events in North Korea are subjected to very tight restrictions on access and movement. Numerous journalists have been prevented from returning because their previous coverage was deemed “inaccurate” or “disrespectful” — […]
China landslide death toll rises to 26
BEIJING , China (AFP) — The number of bodies recovered from a landslide that engulfed workers at a Chinese construction site rose to 26 on Monday with 13 people still missing, authorities said. Heavy rain at the weekend buried a temporary shed used by workers at a hydro power station construction site in Fujian province, in the southeast, under 100,000 cubic meters of mud and rock, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Major rescue efforts […]
N. Korea congress adopts policy to improve, expand nuclear arms
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s first ruling party congress for nearly 40 years formally adopted leader Kim Jong-Un’s policy of developing the country’s nuclear arsenal in tandem with the economy, state media said Monday. The congress, which opened on Friday, has largely been seen as an elaborate coronation for the 33-year-old Kim, securing his status as supreme leader and confirming his legacy “byungjin” doctrine of twin economic and nuclear development. On Sunday, the […]
Death toll jumps to 73 in Afghan road accident: health ministry
GHAZNI , Afghanistan (AFP) — At least 73 people were killed Sunday when two buses and an oil tanker burst into flames in a head-on collision in eastern Afghanistan, health officials said, in one of the worst road accidents in the war-battered country. Many of the dead, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition and dozens of others were left wounded in the accident in Ghazni province, near the Afghan capital, one of the areas […]
N. Korea’s Kim defends nuclear arsenal as test fears grow
by Simon MARTIN PYONGYANG , North Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s first ruling party congress since 1980 moved into a second day Saturday, after leader Kim Jong-Un opened with a defiant defense of his nuclear weapons program and amid fresh signs Pyongyang is readying a fifth nuclear test. The once-in-a-generation gathering of the country’s top decision-making body is being scrutinized for signs of any substantive policy change or major reshuffle in the isolated state’s ruling […]
