Philippine News

November 25 ------ A long-dormant volcano in northern Ethiopia has erupted, sending plumes of ash across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman. The Hayli Gubbi volcano in the Afar region of Ethiopia, located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) northeast of Addis Ababa, erupted for several hours on Sunday morning, leaving the nearby village of Afdera covered in dust. There were no casualties from the eruption, which sent thick plumes of smoke up to 14 kilometers (nine miles) into the

NEW YORK, November 25 ------ The U.S. dollar dipped as investors weighed dovish remarks from Federal Reserve officials that boosted expectations for a rate cut next month and limited the greenback's upside against major currencies. The U.S. currency, however, rose against the yen, as investors remained on the lookout for signs of official buying from Tokyo to stem the slide in the Japanese currency. Volume was thinner than normal due to a holiday in Japan and a holiday-thinne

November 25 ------ United States and Ukraine were set to continue work on a plan to end the war with Russia after agreeing to modify an earlier proposal that was widely seen as too favorable to Moscow. The two sides said in a joint statement they had drafted a “refined peace framework” after talks in Geneva on Sunday, although they did not provide specifics. The White House separately said the Ukrainian delegation had told them it “reflects their national interests” and “addr

November 25 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a proposed peace plan now under discussion with the United States and Europe has incorporated "correct" points, but sensitive issues were to be discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump. "As of now, after (talks in) Geneva, there are fewer points, no longer 28, and many correct elements have been incorporated into this framework," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "Our team has already reported tod

November 24 ------ After taking office last month, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi promised to boost government spending despite concerns that such moves would delay progress on trimming Japan's national debt, which is about triple the size of its economy. Takaichi told reporters that the package aims to quickly deliver on her promises. "Through wise spending, we will change worries into hope and achieve a strong economy," she said. "What we should do now is to strengthen the n

HANOI, November 24 ------ The death toll from major flooding in Vietnam has risen to 90, with 12 people still missing, the environment ministry said, after days of heavy rain and landslides. Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October, and popular holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding. Whole sections of coastal Nha Trang city were inundated last week, while deadly landslides struck highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hu

WASHINGTON, United States, November 24 ------ The White House said that talks in Switzerland on a proposal to end the Ukraine war marked a "significant step forward," and reaffirmed that any eventual deal would "fully uphold" the war-wracked country's sovereignty. A joint US-Ukraine statement released minutes later by Washington said: "As a result of the discussions, the parties drafted an updated and refined peace framework." US Secretary of State Marco Rubio led a US delega

November 24 ------ In a secret production facility in western Ukraine, a team of entrepreneurs, engineers, and shop workers is building a better drone battery. It took months to develop, and frontline soldier feedback – which drove the design, testing, and transition from an experimental power source to mass production – is positive, Pawell Power company director Voldymyr Nebor told Kyiv Post. “We talk to the guys in the field constantly and they tell us what they need,” Nebo

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, November 23 ------ Billionaires in the world's leading economies made $2.2 trillion last year, which would have been enough to lift all the world's poor out of poverty, global campaign group Oxfam said. The British-based charity urged this weekend's summit of the powerful G20 group of major economies to back initiatives by the host, South Africa, to address massive global wealth inequality and the debt undermining developing countries. Billionaires

LONDON, United Kingdom, November 23 ------ About 23,000 deaths could have been prevented in England if the first COVID-19 lockdown had been introduced sooner at the start of the pandemic, a UK public inquiry found, also slamming a "toxic" and misogynistic culture at the top of government. The second report from an inquiry into the UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic criticized the government led by Boris Johnson for a "lack of urgency" in the early days of the pandemic in 20

ISTANBUL, November 22 ------ Japan is set to restart the world's largest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in central Niigata prefecture, Nikkei Asia reported. The prefectural governor is expected to approve Tokyo Electric Power's nuclear plant bringing the facility one step closer to reopening for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, according to the daily report. The 8.2-gigawatt facility, known as the world's largest nuclear plant

SYDNEY, Australia, November 22 ------ Australians younger than 16 will be removed from Facebook and Instagram on December 4, tech giant Meta said Thursday, as Canberra prepares to enforce sweeping laws banning teens from social media. From December 10, Australia will force social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, to remove users under the age of 16 or face hefty fines. Meta said that it would start removing teenagers from its platforms ahead of the b

TOKYO, November 21 ------ Japan sees currency intervention as a possibility in dealing with excessively volatile and speculative moves in the yen, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said in the strongest warning to date against recent falls in the currency. "We are alarmed by recent one-sided, sharp moves in the currency market," Katayama told a news conference, when asked about recent declines in the yen. "It is important for currency rates to move stably, reflecting fundamen

HOUSTON, November 21 ------ Oil prices fell as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump pushed for Ukraine's acceptance of a peace agreement with Russia to end a war that has gone on for more than three years. Brent crude futures settled at $63.38 a barrel, down 13 cents, or 0.2%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $59.14 a barrel, down 30 cents, or 0.5%. Both benchmarks rose earlier in Thursday's session on a larger-than-expected draw on U.S. cru

November 21 ------ German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Berlin is intensifying work with Kyiv on long-range strike capabilities, signaling a shift toward deeper military support as Russia escalates attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Speaking at a joint press conference in Berlin with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Merz said Germany had been “intensively” coordinating with Ukraine for months on projects related to “long-range fire.” Merz: “We are doing

KYIV, November 21 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has received the draft of a U.S. plan to revive a diplomatic end to the war, and will discuss the "key points required to achieve peace" in the coming days with President Donald Trump, Zelensky's office said. "We are ready now, as before, to work constructively with the American side, as well as with our partners in Europe and around the world, so that the outcome is peace," a statement published on Telegram said

November 20 ------ Major websites, including social network X and AI chatbot ChatGPT, were disrupted after US online services provider Cloudflare said it had been affected by a "latent bug". Web monitor Downdetector recorded disruptions for users of X, the video game "League of Legends," and some services from Google and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Cloudflare, which specializes in online security and says it manages some 20 percent of global internet traffic, saw its shar

TOKYO/BEIJING, November 20 ------ China has informed Japan that it will ban all imports of Japanese seafood, media outlets reported, in what appeared to be the latest salvo in an escalating diplomatic dispute between the East Asian neighbors. Tensions between the two countries ignited after new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said earlier this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s survival could trigger a military response. China has demanded she re

November 20 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara for a meeting that focused primarily on the diplomatic efforts surrounding Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine. At a joint press conference after their meeting, Erdoğan emphasized his government’s wish to revive the Istanbul process – a series of meetings between Ukrainian and Russian diplomats hosted by Turkey’s largest city – in light of Russia’s intensifying attacks, as per

November 20 ------ A new US peace proposal for Ukraine would see Kyiv ceding land and more than halving its army, a source told AFP, as a Russian strike in the west of the country killed 26 people, including three children. The proposal appears to repeat Russia's maximalist terms to end the war - demands consistently rejected by Ukraine as tantamount to capitulation. The surprise initiative comes as Russian missiles hit the western city of Ternopil, far from the front line, i