Philippine News

BELEM, Brazil, November 17 ------ Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of the Amazonian city hosting COP30 talks, dancing to thumping speakers in the first large-scale protest at a UN climate summit in years. As the first week of climate negotiations limped to a close with nations deadlocked, Indigenous people and activists sang, chanted, and rolled a giant beach ball of Earth through Belem under a searing sun. Others held a mock funeral procession for fossil fuel

TOKYO, November 17 ------ The Japanese public is divided on whether Japan should exercise its right to collective self-defense if China attacks Taiwan, a Kyodo news agency poll found. The survey found 48.8% in favor and 44.2% against, while 60.4% backed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's plan to beef up the country's defense spending. The opinion poll comes at a time when a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing has intensified following Takaichi's remarks related to

November 17 ------ Ukraine is working to resume the exchange of prisoners with Russia, hoping for the release of 1,200 Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Security Council chief said. "We are counting on the resumption of exchanges," Zelensky said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday (Nov 16). "Many meetings, negotiations, and calls are now devoted to this." His security chief, Rustem Umerov, said that he had held consultations in Türkiye and

ATHENS/KYIV, November 17 ------ Ukraine has secured imports of U.S liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Greece to cover its winter needs from December through to March next year, Greek and Ukrainian officials said on Sunday during a visit to Athens by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine will import gas via a pipeline that runs across the Balkan peninsula to secure critical supplies after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and gas production facilities. Greek gas company D

BELEM, Brazil, November 16 ------ Brazil said it would extend negotiations at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) to give nations time to bridge divides over thorny differences on climate goals and the finances required to achieve them. These sticking points were supposed to be resolved during a session on Wednesday. But just minutes into the meeting, Andre Corrêa do Lago, the diplomat presiding over the talks, announced that more consultations were need

PARIS, France, November 16 ------ Global fossil fuel emissions are set to hit a new high in 2025, according to research published that also warns curbing warming under 1.5 °C would now be essentially "impossible". The annual Global Carbon Budget report looks at humanity's emissions of planet-heating CO2 from burning hydrocarbons, cement production, and land use -- like deforestation -- and relates the figures to the warming thresholds outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement. An

LONDON, United Kingdom, November 15 ------ Global oil and gas demand could grow until 2050, the International Energy Agency said, departing from previous expectations of a speedy transition to cleaner fuels following US criticism about its climate focus. The Paris-based energy security watchdog also predicted in its annual outlook that the world will likely fail to meet its goal to cap the rise in temperatures as close as possible to 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above

WASHINGTON, United States, November 15 ------ The United States will consider obesity or having children with special needs as reasons to reject immigrant visas, in the latest salvo by President Donald Trump to turn away foreigners. In a cable sent earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio asks US embassies to factor in conditions, including obesity, when issuing long-term visas, on the grounds that being obese can "require expensive, long-term care." It also asks em

HOUSTON, November 14 ------ Oil prices held largely steady after declining around 4% in the previous session as investors weighed concerns about global oversupply with looming sanctions against Russia's Lukoil. Brent crude futures rose 30 cents, or 0.5%, to $63.01 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude increased 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $58.69 a barrel, after a decline of 4.2%. "There should be considerable support to oil prices around $60/bbl, especially given there could

WASHINGTON, USA, November 14 ------ President Donald Trump signed legislation ending the longest government shutdown in US history, hours after the House of Representatives voted to restart disrupted food assistance, pay hundreds of thousands of federal workers, and revive a hobbled air-traffic control system. The Republican-controlled chamber passed the package by a vote of 222-209, with Trump’s support largely keeping his party together in the face of vehement opposition fr

LONDON/KYIV, November 14 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky visited troops near Ukraine's southeastern front warning of the need to shore up the lines after losing ground in increasingly high-intensity battles far from Russia's main offensive in the east. Zelensky, whose government is reeling from a corruption scandal, said the situation near the village of Orikhiv was "one of the most difficult" on a sprawling front and that thwarting Russian forces there was key to shieldi

WASHINGTON, November 14 ------ The International Monetary Fund will soon begin a staff mission to Ukraine to discuss its financing needs and a potential new lending program, spokesperson Julie Kozack said underscoring the need for continued anti-corruption efforts in the war-torn country. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko on Thursday announced an audit of all state-owned companies, including in the energy sector, following an alleged $100 million corruption scandal t

TAIPEI, November 13 ------ Taiwan evacuated more than 8,300 people from coastal and mountainous areas and closed schools before a tropical storm brushes the southern part of the island on Wednesday. Fung-wong had super typhoon strength when it battered the Philippines on Sunday, causing flooding, landslides, power outages, and at least 27 deaths. Still holding tropical storm strength on Wednesday morning, it was expected to continue losing wind speed and size as it approached

SYDNEY, Australia, November 13 ------ Australia and Indonesia agreed to sign a new security treaty, which includes closer military cooperation, the two countries' leaders said after talks in Sydney. Canberra has drawn ever nearer to longtime ally Washington, bolstering its military in an attempt to deter the might of a rising China in the Asia-Pacific region. Jakarta has walked a more neutral path, wary of drawing too close to Washington and far less willing to needle Beijing

November 13 ------ Russia’s chargé d’affaires in Turkey, Alexey Ivanov, has claimed that Moscow remains “ready to resume direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side,” according to comments published by Russian media. “The Russian side has repeatedly emphasized that we are ready to continue direct negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation,” Ivanov said. “Our Turkish partners consistently stress that the Istanbul platform remains available to us, and these doors remain open.”

NIAGARA, Ontario, November 13 ------ Top diplomats from the world’s leading industrialized democracies have converged on southern Ontario, Canada, with Russia’s war in Ukraine dominating their agenda. Before pivoting to discuss trade spats and defense spending demands, G7 foreign ministers will meet with Ukraine’s top diplomat early Wednesday to coordinate fresh aid as Russia intensifies its winter assault on the country’s energy grid. The sense of urgency is palpable. Russia

BANGKOK, November 12 ------ Thailand's military said that "hostilities still remain" with Cambodia, a day after Bangkok suspended the implementation of a United States-backed peace deal over a landmine blast that wounded four troops. The deal, brokered by US President Donald Trump in October, was meant to wind down a conflict that peaked with five days of clashes in July that killed at least 43 people and displaced about 300,000 civilians on both sides. Both sides agreed unde

HANOI, November 12 ------ Three men swept far from Vietnam's coast by Typhoon Kalmaegi have been plucked safely from the surf after drifting helplessly for more than 40 hours, a rescuer and the wife of one of the survivors said. They were rescued in an operation involving three vessels scouring the waters off Vietnam's central coast, said a sailor aboard one of the rescue ships. Phan Hau, 40, whose boat pulled one of the three men to safety, told Agence France-Presse (AFP): "

WASHINGTON, DC, November 12 ------ In a surprise reversal that has alarmed Ukraine and its allies in the UN, the Trump administration is pushing to strip language from a resolution that affirms the country’s territorial integrity and condemns Russia’s occupation of Crimea and other regions, according to two people familiar with internal UN discussions. The annual resolution, submitted by Ukraine to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly – formally titled: “Situation o

NIAGARA, Ontario, November 12 ------ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives today in Canada’s Niagara region for a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers, carrying the weight of President Donald Trump’s recalibrated approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a protectionist-tinged foreign policy agenda. Rubio is expected to press ahead with what the administration calls “President Trump’s peace initiatives in Ukraine and Gaza” while engaging allies on a wide sla