Other News

Obama says global climate deal must include emerging economies

(Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday a new global agreement on climate change must include strong commitments from emerging economies and move past the rich-poor country divide that has hampered progress in United Nations negotiations. Obama addressed the U.N. climate change summit with a statement meant to build political momentum for a global deal on climate change in 2015 and a list of commitments his administration has made to address. He said a “global […]

Aquino urges more active global action vs climate change

(ENS) – President Benigno Aquino addressed the international community at the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit on Tuesday (September 23), urging countries to “do everything they can to address climate change.” The Climate Summit is meant to add political momentum to a U.N. process to negotiate a climate-change agreement in Paris by 2015, and Aquino took this as an opportunity to remind world leaders of their shared responsibility to find a solution to the issue. Aquino said the Philippines, which felt the […]

SC dismisses Sandiganbayan justice with links to Napoles

MANILA, Philippines (ENS) – Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong was dismissed by the Supreme Court Tuesday, becoming the first Sandigabayan justice to be dismissed since the anti-graft court was created in 1978. In a vote of 8-5, the high court decided to dismiss Ong from the service for lying, showing “corrupt inclinations” and “fraternizing” with alleged pork barrel scam queen businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles whom he acquitted in 2010 on bribery and corruption charges.  This […]

ASEAN Parliament Commits to Stronger Co-op

(Courtesy ASEAN Secretariat News) VIENTIANE, 23 September 2014 – Taking on the theme “Strengthening Parliamentary Cooperation in the ASEAN Community Building,” the 35th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) was held on 15-19 September in the capital of Lao PDR. It was attended by six Speakers and four Deputy-Speakers of AIPA Member Parliaments, Chairs of Committees of the respective parliaments, and eight Observer Parliaments from Australia, Belarus, People’s Republic of China, India, Japan, Russia, Republic […]

Why cultural values cannot be ignored in international relations

Author: Kadira Pethiyagoda, Canberra Courtesy East Asia Forum One hundred years ago began the war that was supposed to end all wars. This inauspicious centenary has allowed the foreign affairs commentariat to indulge in one of the things it is best at — drawing historical analogies. It is true that aspects of the global landscape look similar to a century ago. States push the boundaries of international law and act unilaterally, returning to old-school territoriality. A major […]

U.S., Arab allies, launch first strikes on fighters in Syria

(Reuters) – The United States and Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time on Tuesday, killing dozens of Islamic State fighters and members of a separate al Qaeda-linked group, pursuing a campaign against militants into a war at the heart of the Middle East. “I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against (Islamic State) terrorists inSyria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles,” Rear Admiral John […]

Pnoy to sign anti-dynasty bill?

(Cambridge, Massachusetts) — President Benigno S. Aquino III has said he welcomes the thought of having new people in government as he remains positive toward signing the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill into law. “At the end of the day, new blood has to bring new ideas, new methodologies, new energies that perhaps can improve on that which was already set,” President Aquino told students of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government during a forum held […]

Lady Gaga sheds quirky image for jazz album with Tony Bennett

(Reuters) – Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, bridging a 60-year age gap to form one of music’s unlikeliest pairs, launched a jazz album on Monday that lets the pop diva put aside her wacky image to sing sweet harmonies with the elder statesman of cool. “Cheek to Cheek,” on sale on Tuesday after a launch concert in the ornate Renaissance setting of the Grand-Place in Brussels, features jazz standards by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and […]

Asian relief as China’s factories top low expectations

(Reuters) – Asian shares recouped early losses on Tuesday while commodities won a break from recent selling pressure after a reading on China’s massive factory sector outpaced the market’s bleak expectations. The HSBC flash reading on manufacturing (PMI) for September rose to 50.5, from 50.2 in August and confounding forecasts for a dip to 50.0. ECONCN The market had been braced for something even worse and the relief helped Chinese stocks move into the black […]

Philippine debt lessened

The foreign debt of the Philippines has lessened in the 2nd quarter of the year, from 58.3 billion dollars in the 1st quarter to currently 58.1 billion dollars.