Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Central Italy was hit by a powerful, 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, triggering the collapse of dozens of buildings and a red alert for the possibility of casualties and further damage. Witnesses in the area told Italian media that many buildings had collapsed in villages close to the epicentre of the quake near the town of Norcia in the region of Umbria. “Half the village has disappeared,” said Sergio Pirozzi, mayor of Amatrice, […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile entered Japan’s air defense identification zone for the first time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly said Wednesday. “This is the first time a missile from North Korea was launched from a submarine into our country’s air-defence identification zone,” Abe told reporters, according to public broadcaster NHK. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for calm Wednesday after North Korea carried out a ballistic missile test launch towards Japan, Jiji Press reported. “We hope that (the situation) will not become more tense and complicated,” he told reporters in Tokyo ahead of talks with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea, Jiji Press reported. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
by Park Chan-Kyong SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea conducted an apparently successful submarine-launched missile test on Wednesday, days after threatening a nuclear strike in retaliation at the start of large-scale South Korea-US military exercises. A statement from South Korea’s military Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile, launched in the early morning from a submarine in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), flew around 500 kilometers (310 miles) — a substantial improvement on […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday condemned a ballistic missile launch by North Korea earlier in the day as a “reckless act”, Jiji Press reported. “It is a grave threat to Japan’s security environment,” Abe told reporters, according to the news agency. “It is an unforgivable, reckless act.” © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
by Nicholas Kamm, with Andrew Beatty in Washington BATON ROUGE, United States (AFP) — After a much-criticized delay, President Barack Obama visited flood-stricken Louisiana Tuesday, defending his administration’s response and urging citizens to pitch in and help ravaged communities. Obama — decked out in hiking boots and with shirt sleeves rolled up — touched down in Baton Rouge and toured a hard-hit and debris-strewn parish, promising Louisianans they would get all the help they need. […]
RIGA, Latvia (AFP) – by Mike Collier with Mary Sibierski in Warsaw US Vice President Joe Biden promised unwavering commitment to NATO’s collective defence Tuesday as he sought to reassure Baltic allies spooked by a resurgent Russia and White House hopeful Donald Trump. “Let there be no doubt — America’s Article 5 commitment is rock solid and unwavering,” Biden said, referring to a cornerstone of NATO that an attack on one member state is considered […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) – Venezuelan civil servants who signed a petition for a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro from power must be sacked within 48 hours, a top aide to the president said. Five ministries have been given lists of employees in managerial posts who signed the petition in favor of a recall vote against Maduro, said Jorge Rodriguez, the embattled leftist leader’s designated aide to monitor the opposition’s referendum drive. “They have 48 […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – The number of tourists visiting France has dropped seven percent since January, with foreigners deterred by terror attacks but also by bad weather and transport strikes, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Monday. “Tourist arrivals since the start of the year have fallen by seven percent across the country,” with Paris worst- hit, said Ayrault, who is also tourism minister. France is the world’s top tourist destination. The sector accounts for around nine […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – by Stuart WILLIAMS Turkey on Tuesday pounded Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes as expectations grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group after a deadly suicide bombing on its soil. With tensions flaring on the Turkey-Syria border following the bombing in the nearby city of Gaziantep that left 54 people dead, Turkish howitzers on Monday hit jihadist and Kurdish rebel targets across the frontier. Turkey has […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The United Nations said Tuesday it was rushing to build camps to accommodate what it expects to be a mass exodus from Mosul once a battle begins for Iraq’s second city. The UN refugee agency warned that an expected battle to liberate Mosul, the Islamic State group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq, was likely to “dramatically worsen” the displacement situation in the country. Iraq is already facing one of the world’s […]
(Reuters) About 1,500 Americans floating down a river that separates the United States from Canada had to be rescued from the water when strong rains and winds sent them illegally into Canadian territory, the country’s coast guard said on Monday. The Americans were taking part in the annual Port Huron Float Down on Sunday in the St. Clair River, which runs between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. The […]
