Philippine News

NEW YORK, January 14 ------ The Japanese yen tumbled to its weakest level against the U.S. dollar since July 2024 on concerns about looser fiscal and monetary policy in the country. The dollar was broadly higher following a brief dip on data showing that consumer prices were largely as economists expected last month. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call an early general election, the head of her party's coalition partner said on Sunday, after media reported she was

LONDON, January 14 ------ The U.S. government has filed for court warrants to seize dozens more tankers linked to the Venezuelan oil trade, four sources familiar with the matter said, as Washington consolidates control of oil shipments in and out of the South American country. The U.S. military and Coast Guard have seized five vessels in recent weeks in international waters that were either carrying Venezuelan oil or had done so in the past. The seizures were part of Washingt

January 14 ------ Ukraine’s parliament voted to dismiss Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, approving a major wartime government reshuffle that President Volodymyr Zelensky says is aimed at making the military more technologically advanced as Russia escalates missile and drone attacks. A total of 265 lawmakers in the Verkhovna Rada backed Shmyhal’s dismissal. Shmyhal, who became defense minister in July 2025 after serving five years as prime minister – the longest tenure since Uk

January 14 ------ Russia’s army in 2025 failed to make useful ground gains at the price of crushing and, at times, debilitating casualties, vindicating the Ukrainian strategy of inflicting maximum losses against Kremlin forces in a war of attrition, Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) General Oleksandr Syrsky said in a statement. Russia’s top military leadership over the past twelve months set itself the objective of ending its war against Ukraine with the total co

WASHINGTON, January 13 ------ The US State Department said it has revoked more than 100,000 visas since President Donald Trump took office last year, setting what it said was a new record as his administration pursues its hardline immigration policy. The extent of the revocations reflects the broad immigration crackdown initiated when Trump returned to the White House last year, deporting an unprecedented number of migrants, including some who held valid visas. The administra

CANBERRA, January 13 ------ Meta has removed nearly 550,000 user profiles of users under the age of 16 as part of Australia's ban on minors accessing social media platforms, the first measure of its kind in the world. Between Dec. 4 and 11, over 330,000 Instagram accounts, approximately 173,000 Facebook accounts, and nearly 40,000 Threads accounts were deleted. The ban officially went into effect on Dec. 10, but Meta began removing users a week earlier, notifying affected use

January 13 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the world had to help Iranians build on protests to engineer change to free them from rule that brought evil to their own and other countries, including Ukraine. Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, described the nationwide protests gripping Iran as an “uprising”. He said the unrest showed that Russia had to rethink its close links with Iran, which have included its wide use of Iranian-made “Shahed

KYIV, January 13 ------ Emergency crews toiled to restore heat and power to beleaguered Kyiv residents, more than three days after Russian strikes on energy targets, and President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that new air attacks could be imminent. Officials said hundreds of apartment blocks in the capital remained without heat despite round-the-clock efforts by the crews. Humanitarian centers, dubbed "resilience points," were open for people to keep warm and charge electronic d

SINGAPORE, January 12 ------ Oil prices extended gains on growing concerns that intensifying protests in Iran could disrupt supply from the OPEC producer, although efforts to quickly resume oil exports from Venezuela are limiting price gains. Brent crude futures climbed 31 cents, or 0.49%, to $63.65 a barrel by 0006 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $59.42 a barrel, up 30 cents, or 0.51%. Both contracts rose more than 3% last week to clinch their biggest wee

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, January 12 ------ Iran's theocracy pulled the plug and disconnected the Islamic Republic's 85 million people from the rest of the world. Following a playbook used both in demonstrations and in war, Iran severed the internet connections and telephone lines that connect its people to the vast diaspora in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. Until now, even while facing strict sanctions over the country's nuclear program, Iranians still could ac

UNITED NATIONS, United States, January 12 ------ The UN Security Council will meet to discuss Ukraine, a revised scheduled showed, after Kyiv's mayor urged residents to leave the capital due to mass heating outages caused by Russian strikes. "The Russian Federation has reached an appalling new level of war crimes and crimes against humanity by its terror against civilians," Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk said in a letter to the Security Council seen by AFP. The latest str

KYIV, Ukraine, January 12 ------ A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s southern Volgograd region, officials said, after Russia launched a powerful hypersonic missile along with drones and other weapons that disrupted Kyiv's power supply and heating. There were no immediate reports of casualties, Volgograd Gov. Andrei Bocharov was quoted as saying in a Telegram post published on the channel of the local administration. The post did not specify the

HANOI, January 11 ------ Hanoi has proposed suspending passenger train services on the section of railway running through the so-called “railway cafe street”, a popular tourist spot where cafes line both sides of an active rail track in the city center. In a recent document sent to the Ministry of Construction, the municipal People’s Committee asked that passenger services on the national railway section between Hanoi Station and Gia Lam Station be adjusted. Under the proposa

January 11 ------ When people stop taking the new generation of weight-loss drugs they pile back on the kilos four times faster than they would after ending diet and exercise regimes, new research found. But this was mostly because they lost so much weight in the first place, according to the British researchers who conducted the largest and most up-to-date review of the subject. A new generation of appetite-suppressing, injectable drugs called GLP-1 agonists have become imme

January 10 ------ China has hacked emails used by staff members of powerful committees in the US House of Representatives, as part of a cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. China accessed email systems used by some staffers on the House China committee as well as aides on panels covering foreign affairs, intelligence, and the armed services, the report said. Reuters could not immediately verify t

SCHIPHOL, Netherlands, January 10 ------ More than 1,000 stranded passengers spent the night at Amsterdam's international airport as snow and ice that is pummeling parts of Europe grounded hundreds of flights and choked highways and railroads. In Paris, a skier slid along the snowy bank of the Seine river, and roads and parks around the Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum were blanketed in snow, which also snarled traffic in parts of France. There was good news for some Berlin res

WASHINGTON, USA, January 9 ------ United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday ⁠(Jan 7) signed a proclamation withdrawing the US from 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 UN entities that "operate contrary to US national interests", the White House said in a statement. The organizations include the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the International Energy Forum, the UN Peacebuilding Fund and the UN International Trade Centre. The White House said the organizations pr

January 9 ------ South Korea and China agreed to hold leaders’ meetings annually and seek strategic communication on sensitive issues – including long-unresolved maritime boundaries in the West Sea. The second summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday in Beijing “consolidated the momentum toward a full restoration of South Korea–China relations,” national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said during a press briefing following the summit. “I

KYIV, January 9 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted a new meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as their officials revisited the two most problematic issues in talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Kyiv is under U.S. pressure to secure peace, but wants security guarantees from allies and is pushing back on Russian demands to cede its eastern Donetsk region and give up control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Speaking to reporters o

KYIV, Ukraine, January 9 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky replaced the head of Ukraine’s security service, continuing a top-level reshuffle ahead of a trip to Paris, where he hoped to finalize agreements with allies on how to ensure that Russia doesn’t repeat its invasion if a peace agreement is signed. Zelensky is trying to revamp his administration as the grinding war of attrition with Russia marks its fourth anniversary next month. He is keen to keep up the momentum of