Philippine News

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

TOKYO, November 19 ------ Japan has warned its citizens in China to be careful of their surroundings and to avoid big crowds amid a diplomatic row over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan. The escalating spat has already seen Beijing advise Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan and hit Tokyo stocks. “Pay attention to your surroundings and avoid as much as possible squares where large crowds gather, or places that are likely to be identified as being used

LONDON, November 19 ------ Ultra-processed foods are a major public health threat that must be urgently addressed, according to a new series of papers authored by 43 global experts in the Lancet medical journal. The scientists, including the Brazilian professor who coined the term with colleagues around 15 years ago, argue that UPFs are now increasingly common worldwide and linked to a decline in diet quality and a number of diseases, from obesity to cancer. “It’s about the e

November 19 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced a series of key international meetings, including negotiations set to take place in Turkey where US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is reportedly also expected to arrive. In a Telegram post, Zelensky said he is in Spain on Tuesday for talks with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. He noted that Ukraine expects new agreements that will boost its defense capabilities and better protect civilians. “Ev

November 19 ------ Ukraine and Greece will jointly produce unmanned surface vessels, which will subsequently be used by the armed forces of both countries, Kathimerini reports. According to the publication, the agreement on the manufacture of drones is one of the most important outcomes of the meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to media sources, the agreement on the joint production of naval drones co

TOKYO, November 18 ------ A volcano on Japan's major western island of Kyushu erupted multiple times, sending a plume of smoke and ash as high as 4.4 kilometers (2.73 miles) into the air and causing dozens of flight cancellations. The volcano, which is called Sakurajima and is located on the southern tip of Kyushu near the city of Kagoshima, erupted at about 1 a.m. (1600 GMT on Saturday), the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. There were two more eruptions at about 2:

HOUSTON, November 18 ------ Oil prices eased as loadings resumed at Russia's Novorossiysk export hub after a two-day suspension at the Black Sea port that had been hit by a Ukrainian attack. Brent crude settled 19 cents, or 0.3 per cent, lower at $64.20 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude eased 18 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $59.91. Both benchmarks rose more than 2 per cent on Friday to end the week with a modest gain after exports were suspended at Novorossiysk

PARIS, November 18 ------ Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Paris in a new bid to secure weaponry to defend his country against increasingly lethal Russian missile and drone attacks. Zelensky’s visit is part of a brief tour of his western allies that saw him seal an energy deal with Greece on Sunday, and will include a visit to Spain today. The Ukrainian leader has said that “a major deal with France” will be announced soon, but it was not known if that would be f

November 18 ------ Dutch children’s organization Emile Foundation held a press conference in Paris on Monday to raise awareness of the more than 20,000 Ukrainian children abducted and forcibly deported to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, as per AFP. Mariam Lambert, one of its co-founders, told AFP that it was time to give the parents of abducted children “a voice.” The press conference was attended by the parents and guardians of some of the abducted chi

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