Philippine News

GENEVA, February 27 ------ US and Ukrainian officials concluded talks in Geneva to discuss advancing efforts to end Russia's four-year invasion of Ukraine, just as Moscow signaled it was in no hurry to sign a deal. An AFP reporter saw the US delegation leaving Geneva's Hotel des Bergues, the venue of the talks, and the Swiss agency ATS-Keystone published a photo of the Ukrainian lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, leaving the hotel. US leader Donald Trump is pushing for an end to

February 27 ------ The war in Ukraine will decide whether Europe or Russia becomes the “third pillar” of a new global order, Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said, two days after the conflict entered its fifth year. NATO member Poland shares borders with both Russia and Ukraine, and its government has been a trenchant critic of Moscow throughout the conflict. “This war will determine which actor becomes the third pillar -- alongside the United States and China -- o

MOSCOW/LONDON, February 26 ------ OPEC+ is likely to consider raising its oil output by 137,000 barrels per day for April, three sources with knowledge of OPEC+ thinking said as the group prepares for peak summer demand and a price boost from tensions between the U.S. and OPEC member Iran. The resumption of output increases after a three-month pause would allow OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and members such as the UAE to regain market share at a time when other OPEC+ members, such

February 26 ------ Iran and the United States are sliding rapidly towards military conflict as hopes fade for a diplomatic solution to their standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program, officials on both sides and diplomats across the Gulf and Europe say. Iran’s Gulf neighbors and its enemy Israel now consider a conflict to be more likely than a settlement, these sources say, with Washington building up one of its biggest military deployments in the region since the invasion of Ir

KYIV, Ukraine, February 26 ------ US President Donald Trump spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of a fresh round of talks Thursday aimed at ending Russia's invasion, both sides said. A White House official gave AFP no further details about the call, which came a day before Ukrainian and US envoys were to meet, and ahead of new trilateral talks with Russia expected in early March. But Zelensky wrote on social media that he had spoken with Trump, and t

KYIV, Ukraine, February 26 ------ More than 1,700 Africans are fighting for Russia in its war in Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, adding that Moscow was using deception to trick them into fighting. Speaking alongside his counterpart from Ghana, Sybiha said that discussions were taking place with governments across Africa to prevent their citizens from being drawn into such schemes. Ghana will chair the African Union regional bloc next year. "We clearly

WASHINGTON, USA, February 25 ------ Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s latest AI model, set to be released as soon as next week, was trained on Nvidia’s most advanced AI chip, the Blackwell, a senior Trump administration official said, in what could represent a violation of US export controls. The US believes DeepSeek will remove the technical indicators that might reveal its use of American AI chips, the official said, adding that the Blackwells are likely clustered at its data c

LOS ANGELES, United States, February 25 ------ A landmark social media addiction trial resumed with a YouTube executive insisting that the Google-owned company's aim was to give people value, not hook them on harmful binge-viewing. YouTube vice president of engineering Cristos Goodrow was pressed to defend the company's self-styled "big, hairy, audacious goal," set more than a decade ago, to increase viewer time to more than a billion hours a day by 2016. As he did last week

KYIV, Ukraine, February 25 ------ Vladimir Putin has not broken Ukraine, its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as the Kremlin marked the start of the fifth year of its invasion by vowing to keep fighting Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II until it achieves its goals. Moscow had hoped to take Kyiv in the days when it launched its invasion on February 24, 2022. Four years later -- with hundreds of thousands dead, millions forced to flee, much of eastern Ukraine destr

WASHINGTON/GENEVA, February 25 ------ The U.N. General Assembly adopted by a wide margin a resolution supporting Ukraine, backing its international borders and voicing concern over intensifying Russian attacks on civilians and critical energy infrastructure. The vote by the assembly, which has repeatedly supported Ukraine, passed with 107 in favor, 12 against, and 51 abstentions, and was seen as a test of solidarity with Ukraine on the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion.

NEW YORK/LONDON, February 24 ------ U.S. diesel exports to Europe hit an all‑time high in January after the continent strengthened its ban on imports of Russian-derived fuel, and as discounted Russian diesel displaced U.S. fuel in Brazil, data showed and analysts said. The developments show how Western sanctions, aimed at punishing Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, are reshaping markets, allowing U.S. producers to capture premium markets in Europe while forcing Russia to s

NEW YORK, February 24 ------ More than 40 million people were under blizzard warnings in the northeast United States as a winter storm dumped shin-deep snow and officials in New York enforced a citywide travel ban. The so-called "Nor'easter" pummeled the region overnight, disrupting flights and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered nonessential drivers off the road until midday Monday and shut down schools.

February 24 ------ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago launched Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, causing immense suffering for civilians and harrowing ordeals for soldiers while rewriting the post-Cold War security order. The fighting enters its fifth year and it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The U.S. has brokered talks with delegations from Moscow and Kyiv as part of the Trump administration’s yearlong push for peace. But reconciling key diffe

TOKYO, February 24 ------ Ukraine may expect the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to play a role in peace negotiations over Russia's invasion of the country, former Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda has suggested. Matsuda, 66, served as ambassador from October 2021 and October 2024, when the war in Ukraine began. "Ukraine has high expectations for the Takaichi administration," the former ambassador said in an interview with Jiji Press on

SYDNEY, February 23 ------ Share markets were hesitant, and the dollar slid in Asia on Monday as investors waited for some much-needed clarity on U.S. tariffs, while confidence in the entire AI trade was set to be tested by results from tech-diva Nvidia this week. Oil prices eased ahead of another round of talks between the United States and Iran due in Geneva on Thursday, with the risk of U.S. military strikes lingering if a deal is not done. Confusion loomed large after the

BIHSUD, Afghanistan, February 23 ------ Pakistan said it launched multiple air strikes targeting militants in neighboring Afghanistan, where the government reported children were among dozens of people killed and wounded. The overnight attacks were the most extensive since border clashes in October killed more than 70 people on both sides and wounded hundreds. Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups “in the afterma

February 23 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out any withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the eastern Donbas region as part of a potential peace agreement with Russia, insisting Kyiv will not abandon what he described as its “real defending line.” In an interview with Kyodo News in Kyiv, Zelensky rejected Moscow’s demand that Ukrainian forces pull back from the region, where some of the heaviest fighting of the full-scale war has taken place. “We can’t withdraw fr

KYIV, February 23 ------ Explosions rocked Kyiv before dawn after officials warned of a ballistic missile attack, just two days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists in the capital heard a series of loud blasts beginning around 4:00 a.m., shortly after an air raid alert was issued. “The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic weapons,” the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on Telegram, urgi

February 22 ------ A traditionalist Catholic community said it has decided to go ahead with ordaining bishops without Pope Leo XIV's approval, despite the Vatican's warning it could divide the Church. The Switzerland-based Society of Saint Pius X, which has about 600,000 followers worldwide, rejected an offer made by the Vatican last week for dialogue, and said it would perform the ordinations on July 1st as planned. Ordaining bishops without the pope's approval would mean ex

February 22 ------ Meta reduced its annual distribution of stock options by about 5 per cent for most of its staff, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg ploughs billions of dollars into its artificial intelligence goals, the Financial Times reported. The Facebook parent did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. Meta, which also owns Instagram, and other Big Tech companies are competing to outbuild each other with massive data c