After the armed incident in Paris, which resulted in the death of 12 people, the government gave assurances that there were no Filipinos harmed in the said incident.
Europe
French police say 12 killed in Paris shooting including two police officers
(Reuters) – Black-hooded gunmen shot dead at least 12 people at the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a publication firebombed in the past after publishing cartoons lampooning Muslim leaders and the Prophet Mohammad, police said. President Francois Hollande headed to the scene of the attack and the government said it was raising France’s security level to the highest notch. “This is a terrorist attack, there is no doubt about it,” Hollande told […]
Salvage operations continue on stricken Italian-flagged ferry; 10 confirmed dead
(Reuters) — Two Albanian seamen were killed during an operation to salvage a multi-deck car ferry two days after it caught fire in rough seas off Greece’s Adriatic Coast, a port authority official said on Tuesday (December 30). The deaths add to a toll of 10 confirmed victims of the disaster, which prompted a 36-hour rescue operation during which Italian and Greek helicopters airlifted more than 400 people from the smouldering hulk of the Norman […]
Passengers of burning Italian ferry rescued, treated for dehydration and hypothermia
(Reuters) — Italian and Greek helicopter crews worked into the night to airlift passengers off a burning ferry adrift in the Adriatic Sea, battling darkness and bad weather that hampered rescue efforts by other ships throughout Sunday (December 28). Helicopters were plucking passengers off the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic and transferring them to a nearby vessel, after a dramatic day that began when a fire broke out on its lower deck in the early hours. Authorities […]
Over 15,000 gather in Dresden for latest anti-immigration demo – police
Anti-immigration movement PEGIDA gathered in Dresden on Monday (December 22) for the latest in a series of public actions criticising the German government for ignoring its fears of being overrun by Muslims. According to police estimates, 17,500 demonstrators from the grass-rootsmovement staged a rally in front of the city’s Semperoper opera house, waving flags and holding banners reading: “Against religious fanaticism”. Grass-roots movement PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, has drawn […]
Scotland may seek new independence vote if UK delays devolution – Salmond
(Reuters) – Scotland may seek another independence vote if Britain’s rulers fail to honour their pledge to grant it further autonomy, outgoing Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond warned on Friday, less than two months after Scots spurned independence. Salmond, in his final speech as party leader, told members that Scotland would eventually secure his dream of independence from London. He also delivered a warning to British Prime Minister David Cameron: “Let the message be […]
Scuffles break out in Italian anti-government protests
Scuffles broke out in Milan on Friday (November 14) as students took to the streets to demonstrate against Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s job reforms. There were anti-government protests in cities from Milan and Rome to Naplesand Palermo in the south, with isolated clashes in which several people suffered minor injuries. In a deliberate attack on one of the central credos of the Italian left, Renzi has pledged to scrap rules which offer workers in companies with more than 15 employees the right to go […]
Tomtato plant, developed in UK
In United Kingdom, a horticultural firm succeeded in developing a plant that bears both tomato and potato (tomtato). This and other news from the lighter side.
Climate change high on the French agenda
As the host of COP 21 in December 2015, France has placed climate change among its foreign policy priorities. “With the upcoming visit of President Hollande, we hope to be able to open new areas for cooperation, as well as to strengthen our existing partnership in various sectors, and among them is the environment,” the French envoy said. The Embassy of France to the Philippines is committed to work together with the Philippines to address […]
Climate change on the agenda of French President’s visit to the Philippines in 2015
After President Aquino’s historic official visit to France as part of his European tour last September, French President François Hollande is expected to reciprocate it with a visit of his own to the Philippines next year. President Aquino’s visit to France from September 17 to 18, 2014 was the first visit of a Philippine head of state since 1994. Both heads of state discussed issues of mutual interest and witnessed the signing of three agreements […]
Hollande popularity plumbs new low in mid-term French poll
(Reuters) – Half-way into his five-year mandate the popularity of French President Francois Hollande hit a new low on Thursday, hours before the Socialist leader addresses the nation to defend his shaky record on the economy. In the worst score for a president in modern-day polling, Hollande received a 12 percent approval rating in the monthly survey by pollster YouGov, down 15 percent from the prior month. Other recent polls have put his popularity at 13 […]
Europe won’t recognize vote in eastern Ukraine, Merkel tells Putin
(Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone that Sunday’s planned elections in eastern Ukraine were illegitimate and would not be recognised by European leaders, a Berlin government spokesman said on Friday. Merkel and Putin held a joint telephone conversation with French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Merkel’s spokesman Georg Streiter said at a government news conference. He said in the call there were diverging opinions on Sunday’s […]
