International
Planeload of 33 rescued lions to fly from Peru to S. Africa
by Luis Jaime CISNEROS LIMA , Peru (AFP) — A planeload of 33 lions rescued from abuse in Peruvian and Colombian circuses will fly to South Africa Friday in what campaigners call the largest ever airlift of big cats. The lions, with names such as Zeus and Shakira, were freed after the use of wild animals in circuses was outlawed in Peru in 2011 and Colombia in 2013. They have been rounded up with the […]
NOKOR sentences Korean American to 10 years hard labor
(REUTERS) North Korea’s Supreme Court sentenced a Korean American man to 10 years of hard labor on Friday for subversion, China’s Xinhua news agency reported, in the latest conviction of a foreigner for crimes against the isolated state. Kim Dong Chul was arrested in North Korea in October and had admitted to committing “unpardonable espionage” including stealing military secrets, the North’s official news agency reported earlier. “The Supreme Court of the Democratic People’s Republic of […]
U.S. urges ASEAN unity on South China Sea ruling; warns China on reputation
(Reuters) China risks “terrible” damage to its reputation if it ignores an impending international court ruling on the South China Sea, the United States said on Thursday, while urging Southeast Asian countries to rally behind the court decision. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to rule in coming weeks on a case the Philippines has brought against China’s claim to virtually all of the South China Sea, a strategic route for […]
Breaking News: N. Korea gives Korean-American 10 years hard labour: Xinhua
SEOUL , South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has jailed a detained Korean-American for 10 years after he was found guilty of subversion and espionage, China’s official Xinhua news agency said Friday. In a brief dispatch from Pyongyang, Xinhua said Kim Dong-Chul, who was arrested on espionage charges in October last year, was sentenced to 10 years with hard labour. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
Iglesia Ni Cristo, first Phl organization to conduct relief distribution to Japan quake victims
(Eagle News) –The Iglesia Ni Cristo has extended its assistance to the quake-affected regions, particularly in the island of Kysuhu, becoming the first from the Philippines to reach the area to help quake victims in Kumamoto. Aside from cash donations, INC volunteers distributed 5,500 emergency relief packages consisting of bottled water, canned goods, noodles, cookies, coffee, tea, toiletries and diapers in three sites in the town of Mashiki which was near the epicenter of […]
Venezuela opposition claims million signatures against president
by Alexander MARTINEZ CARACAS , Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s opposition tried to sack the food minister Thursday for shortages in the crisis-hit country and claimed a million people backed its call for a referendum to remove the president. President Nicolas Maduro promptly rejected the demand, the latest offensive in the battle to replace the government over a crisis that has families queuing up for food rations. “We are facing the worst food emergency in Venezuela’s […]
Large parts of Barrier Reef dead in 20 years: scientists
SYDNEY , Australia (AFP) — Large parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could be dead within 20 years as climate change drives mass coral bleaching, scientists warned Friday. The World Heritage-listed reef is currently suffering its worst bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of corals affected due to warming sea temperatures. Experts from the government-backed ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science said in a study that if greenhouse gases keep rising, similar […]
UN Security Council readies N. Korea missile test reply
by Carole Landry with Jung Ha-Won in Seoul UNITED NATION ,United States (AFP) — UN Security Council diplomats on Thursday warned North Korea to expect a response after Pyongyang’s repeated failed attempts to test-fire a powerful ballistic missile, the latest defiance of UN resolutions. At the request of the United States, the council held urgent closed-door consultations after North Korea’s unsuccessful launch earlier in the day of two medium-range missiles, as fears grew that the […]
Former US House speaker: Cruz is ‘Lucifer in the flesh’
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — Former US House speaker John Boehner, who stepped down last year, let fly with a stunning critique of fellow Republican and 2016 presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, labeling him the devil incarnate. “Lucifer in the flesh” is how the ever-blunt Republican heavyweight described the Texas senator, who is struggling to block billionaire Donald Trump’s march to the Republican presidential nomination, according to the Stanford Daily newspaper. “I have Democrat friends […]
Obama defends economic legacy, rebukes ‘fantasy’ Republicans
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — In the twilight of his presidency, Barack Obama has moved to defend his economic legacy and handling of the 2008 crisis, saying the financial system is now “substantially more stable.” Obama, in an interview published Thursday in The New York Times Magazine, also dismissed the “fantasy” economic platforms of Republican presidential candidates vying to succeed him at the November general election. The financial sector “is bigger, absorbs more resources […]
US, UN condemn Syria hospital bombing in war-ravaged Aleppo
by Karam al-Masri with Rim Haddad in Damascus ALEPPO , Syria (AFP) — The United States and the United Nations Thursday condemned an air strike on a hospital in Syria’s Aleppo, with Washington demanding that Russia restrain its Syrian ally. UN officials also voiced alarm at the “catastrophic deterioration” of the situation in Syria and appealed on world powers to salvage a February 27 truce. But in Aleppo on Thursday, fighting between rebels and regime […]
