NEW York, United States of America – The United Nations Security Council removed the sanctions against four large sea-going vessels owned by a North Korean shipping firm. According to a United States official, said decision to lift the sanctions was made at the request of China after said country assured the Security Council that said vessels will no longer be used by North Korea. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by […]
International
Awkward joint appearance for Castro, Obama
by Andrew Beatty HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Edging back from the podium during a joint press conference with Barack Obama, Cuban President Raul Castro began to fidget with his headphones and look around the room quizzically. “What did you say about political prisoners? Can you repeat that question about political prisoners?” the 84-year-old Castro asked. Obama and Castro talked up a new era in US-Cuba relations Monday, but two cultures, two political systems and two […]
Obama pushed human rights at historic news conference in Havana
HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama pushed Cuba to improve its record on human rights and sparred with President Raul Castro during a historic visit to the Caribbean island on Monday (March 21), while Castro hit back by decrying U.S. “double standards”. “We continue, as President Castro indicated, to have some very serious differences including on democracy and human rights. President Castro and I have had very frank and candid conversations on these […]
Clinton, Trump spar in addresses to pro-Israel lobby
by Michael Mathes Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump exchanged jabs Monday as they separately courted a massive crowd of pro-Israel lobbyists, putting their support for the Jewish state front and center in their White House battle. Democrat Clinton bashed her rival as prejudiced and insufficiently pro-Israel, signalling some of her likely points of attack should she face the Republican frontrunner in November’s US presidential election. Trump dismissed the former secretary of state as “a total […]
Obama, Castro hail ‘new day’ for US-Cuba relations
by Andrew Beatty and Sebastian Smith HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro vowed Monday in Havana to set aside their differences in pursuit of what the US president called a “new day” for the long bitterly divided neighbors. Castro acknowledged there were still “profound” differences over Cuba’s human rights situation and the decades-old, crippling US economic embargo on the island. In a sometimes comic, sometimes tetchy press conference — […]
Vessel preparing to ship plutonium to US arrives at Japanese port: media
Tokyo, Japan (AFP)—An armed nuclear transport vessel preparing to ship a huge cache of plutonium — enough to produce 50 nuclear bombs — to the United States arrived at a Japanese port on Monday amid tight security, local media said. The stockpile, provided by the US, Britain and France decades ago for research purposes, is being returned to the US as part of a bilateral storage deal. Television footage showed the Britain-registered ship entering a port […]
Russian court finds Ukrainian pilot Savchenko liable for journalist killings
Donetsk, Russian Federation (AFP)—A court in southern Russia on Monday found Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko guilty of murder over the killing of two Russian journalists in war-torn east Ukraine, at a trial condemned by Kiev and the West as a political sham. Savchenko “committed the premeditated murder as part of a group of people from the motives of hatred and enmity,” a judge in the town of Donetsk was quoted as saying by Russian news […]
Romanian, Uzbek among 13 female students killed in coach crash in Spain
Tortosa, Spain (AFP)—Seven Italians and two Germans were among the 13 young female students killed in a weekend coach crash in northeastern Spain, a regional official said Monday. The victims of Sunday’s crash, all aged between 19 and 25, also included a Romanian, a Frenchwoman, an Austrian and a student from Uzbekistan, Jordi Jane, the in-charge for interior matters in Catalonia, said on the radio. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
Chinese coast guards harass Filipino fishermen in West Philippine Sea
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs is still in the process of confirming new reports of harassment done by the Chinese Coast Guard against Filipino fishermen in the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea. According to the reports, Chinese rubber boats rammed the boats of the Filipino fishermen. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Jericho Morales, Uploaded by MRFaith Bonalos)
Ukraine pilot faces verdict in Russian murder trial decried by Kiev and the West
Donetsk, Russia (AFP)—Ukrainian helicopter pilot Nadiya Savchenko is set Monday to hear the verdict in her high-profile murder trial in southern Russia, which Kiev and the West have slammed as a political sham. Prosecutors are demanding 23 years in jail for Savchenko’s alleged involvement in killing two Russian state TV journalists in war-torn eastern Ukraine, with few doubting that the 34-year-old combat helicopter navigator will be found guilty, and Kiev already pushing for a prisoner […]
Indonesian man turns plastic waste into fuel
BEKASI, West Java Province, Indonesia (Reuters) — Some residents of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, frustrated by the mounting trash problem across the sprawling metropolis, have started taking matters into their own hands. Hamidi, a young “green entrepreneur” became so concerned by the overflowing Jakarta city dump that he began turning discarded plastic into fuel. “At the very beginning I just wanted to start a business,” said Hamidi, who started his waste-to-energy initiative a year ago in […]
S. Korea says prepared for another North nuclear test
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea is fully prepared for North Korea to carry out a fifth nuclear test in defiance of tough UN sanctions imposed over its surprise fourth test in January, officials said Monday. Military tensions have escalated sharply on the Korean peninsula in recent weeks, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un threatening further tests and missile launches, partly in response to ongoing South Korea-US military exercises. Last Friday, the North test-fired […]