International

Japan starts $9 departure tax for travelers

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Monday started levying a 1,000 yen ($9.22) departure tax on each person leaving the country, a measure aimed at raising funds to further boost tourism. The International Tourist Tax will cover everyone regardless of nationality — from business people to holidaymakers older than two years of age — and will be tacked on to the price of a airline ticket. The government wants to use an estimated 50 billion […]

French women reclaim ‘yellow vest’ protests with peaceful demo

PARIS, France (AFP) — Hundreds of women on Sunday marched in Paris to reclaim France’s “yellow vest” movement from violent activists, a day after protesters smashed their way into a government ministry. The women, wearing yellow vests, turned out after 50,000 people returned to the streets of France on Saturday amid violent clashes with police. Some of the women waved yellow balloons and pushed prams. Protests were also held in other French cities. “All the […]

Taiwan’s China-sceptic ruling party opts for moderate new leader

by Amber WANG Agence France Presse TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s ruling party elected a new chairman on Sunday, choosing a moderate to replace the post vacated by President Tsai Ing-wen after a recent electoral mauling, in a vote closely watched by China and the United States. Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a 2016 landslide poll, sweeping away a government that had built much closer ties to China over the previous decade. […]

Trump aide sets conditions for US Syria withdrawal

by Mike Smith Agence France Presse JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser on Sunday set out conditions for the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, saying the defence of allies must first be assured. The comments by John Bolton during a visit to Israel signaled a far more gradual US withdrawal than initially set out by Trump, whose December 19 announcement concerned allies and led to the resignation of fulfillment […]

Trump digs in on wall, as shutdown enters week three

by Jerome CARTILLIER Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump stood firm Sunday on his demand for billions of dollars to fund a border wall with Mexico, claiming “tremendous” support inside his camp on the contentious issue which has forced a government shutdown now entering its third week. “We have to build the wall,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for the Camp David presidential retreat. “It’s about […]

DFA still checking if Filipinos among casualties in Los Angeles shooting

(Eagle News)–The Department of Foreign Affairs is still checking if Filipinos were among the casualties in a shooting incident in a bowling alley in California last Friday. In a statement, the DFA said the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles was coordinating with the authorities of Torrance, where the shooting incident took place, for this. Consul General Adelio Angelito Cruz said that there were approximately 4,000 Filipinos in the coastal city. The shooting allegedly took […]

Record $3.1 million paid in New Year’s tuna auction at Japan’s new market

by Karyn NISHIMURA-POUPEE Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese sushi entrepreneur paid a record $3.1 million for a giant tuna Saturday as Tokyo’s new fish market, which replaced the world-famous Tsukiji late last year, held its first pre-dawn New Year’s auction. Bidding stopped at a whopping 333.6 million yen for the enormous 278-kilogram (612-pound) fish — an endangered species — that was caught off Japan’s northern coast. Self-styled “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura paid […]

Arrested driver in Tokyo admitted planning to set New Year crowd ablaze

by Tyra’nell Pille-Lu EBC Japan Correspondent TOKYO, Japan (Eagle News) — Nine injured on New Year’s day as a car drives over a crowd in Tokyo disrupting the usual January first Japanese tradition. One of the injured is a 19-year-old university student currently residing in Tokyo who is still unconscious at this time due to a critical head injury. Kazuhiro Kusakabe, the driver of the mini car admitted his attempts during an investigation on Friday, […]

Rakhine rebels attack police stations in pre-dawn raids: Myanmar army

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Ethnic Rakhine rebels carried out pre-dawn attacks on four police stations near the Bangladesh border, Myanmar’s army said Friday, with the militants claiming to have taken 14 “prisoners of war” as operations ramped up. The western state has seen a surge in violence in recent weeks between the rebels from the Arakan Army (AA) and security forces, displacing thousands. It has added a new dimension to the violence in a state […]

Tourists hunker down as Storm Pabuk hurtles towards Thailand

by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA Agence France-Presse SURAT THANI, Thailand (AFP) — Tourists marooned on Thai islands hunkered down Friday as Tropical Storm Pabukcarved its way towards the kingdom, forcing airports and ferries to close and bringing downpours and massive sea swells. Boats were recalled to shore across the Gulf of Thailand, while two key airports — Koh Samui and Nakhon Si Thammarat — were shut until Saturday, leaving tourists who remain on islands now cut off from the […]

Ghosn set for court hearing in Japan over detention

by Miwa SUZUKI Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn is likely to appear in a Japanese court next Tuesday to hear the reasons for his detention, after his lawyers deployed a little-used article of the Constitution. The shock move was the latest in a series of unexpected twists in a case that has gripped Japan and the business world since the once-revered auto tycoon was arrested on his private jet […]