Philippine News

TEHRAN, June 17 ------ Iran said that talks with the United States on its nuclear program and sanctions relief were likely to begin later this week, as US President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would “completely open” once the foes sign their deal. Officials say negotiations over a final agreement would take place in a 60-day window after the memorandum of understanding to end nearly four months of war triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran is physically signed.

NAIROBI/DAKAR, June 17 ------ The head of Africa's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the Ebola outbreak in Congo could be the worst ever, saying that currently tens of thousands of contacts of those ill with the disease had not been traced. "If we don't stop the outbreak very soon it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC," Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told a virtual meeting of African heads of state in Burundi. He wa

KYIV, June 17 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Group of Seven leaders agreed at a summit in France that Russia was not winning its war in Ukraine, and they discussed additional sanctions to bring Moscow to the negotiating table. Speaking by video link in an interview at the Reuters NEXT Europe summit in London, Zelensky said he had detected a shift in mood among the G7 leadership: an understanding that Russia had lost the initiative on the battlefield

BRUSSELS, June 17 ------ Ukraine officially started European Union membership negotiations, launching a process that will require its government to commit to years of political reforms even as it fights a Russian invasion. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka took part in an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg to open talks that will help Kyiv align with the 27-member bloc’s laws, standards and values. “Aggression against Ukraine and threats against Europe is

NEW YORK, June 16 ------ Oil prices dropped towards US$80 a barrel and stocks rallied after Washington and Iran reached a framework deal to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, spurring relief across global markets. The announcement lifted the Dow to a fresh record, while the tech-dominated Nasdaq piled on more than 3 per cent behind a nearly 20 per cent surge in SpaceX following its impressive market debut Friday. "A deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

LONDON, June 16 ------ Britain will ban children under 16 from using a range of social media apps including Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube to protect young people from harmful content and excessive screen time, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. Starmer told a news conference that he will fight back if technology companies resist the move and acknowledged some teens would try to find their way around a ban. But he said he is “not prepared to compromise on the safety and happi

KYIV, June 16 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had offered to meet Vladimir Putin at a G7 summit in France this week or even in the United States for talks to end a four-year war. Zelensky, speaking at a historic monastery in Kyiv that was damaged in an overnight attack by Russia, said the United States had agreed to inviting Putin to the gathering, which starts on Monday in Evian-les-Bains. "We gave message that we are ready to meet with Putin du

BRUSSELS, June 16 ------ The EU has made its emergency cyber security support available to Ukraine, the European Commission said. Ukraine can now activate incident response services from trusted private providers to help address significant or large-scale incidents, the Commission said. Moldova had already been added to the support system in 2024. Source: channelnewasia.com

June 15 ------ The United States and Iran agreed to a peace deal and an "immediate and permanent" end to military operations on all fronts including Lebanon, signaling the apparent end to more than three months of war in Middle East. The initial announcement from mediator Pakistan was quickly confirmed by Washington and Tehran, and an official signing ceremony was scheduled for June 19 in Switzerland. "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," US President

ISTANBUL, June 15 ------ Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire on paper after SpaceX priced its record initial public offering at $135 per share, according to calculations based on company and Tesla filings. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, priced 555.6 million Class A shares at USD135 each, raising about USD75 billion in the largest IPO in history. The offering values the company at about USD1.77 trillion and is expected to make Spa

KYIV, Ukraine, June 15 ------ A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and injured three in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local officials said as part of Kyiv's campaign of strikes on military and energy targets deep inside Russia. Drone debris sparked a fire at a sea terminal, local Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said. He did not give details, but Russian news outlets reported that a Black Sea export terminal transporting terminal crude oil, petroleum products and liquefie

KYIV, June 15 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump and discussed efforts to achieve an end to the more than four-year war, ahead of a G7 meeting in France this week. Zelensky, writing on Telegram, said he had wished Trump a happy 80th birthday and thanked him for the assistance provided by Washington throughout the conflict. "I wished President Trump every success, first and foremost in his efforts to end Russia's war a

BARCELONA, Spain, June 14 ------ Pope Leo XIV said Christians could not consider themselves such if they "promote war" -- a thinly veiled reference to US President Donald Trump's administration. In a homily at Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica, Leo also appeared to refer to migration, saying Christians could not "abandon... those who flee from misery". "We cannot believe in Jesus and promote war. We cannot believe in Jesus and kill the innocent," the pope said in front of

LONDON, June 14 ------ As travelers prepare to set off on summer trips, scorching temperatures lie in wait. Above-average temperatures could be on the books this summer, according to forecasters, and a developing El Nino event could spell out warmer weather later in the year or next summer. Sizzling temperatures are more than an inconvenience: They can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke. Travelers can take precautions to have fun with heat preparedness in

JAKARTA, Indonesia, June 13 ------ Climate change-fueled landslides wiped out nearly one in ten of the world's rarest great ape species on Indonesia's Sumatra island, scientists said. A single weather event last November pushed the Tapanuli orangutan of which there are fewer than 800 left in the wild -- even closer to extinction, according to a study published in the science journal Current Biology. An estimated 58 Tapanuli orangutans died as a result of mudslides triggered b

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 13 ------ Nuclear-armed countries swelled their spending on atomic weapons by a fifth last year to a record high of nearly $119 billion, with plans to ramp up those investments for decades, campaigners said. The world's nine nuclear-armed states jointly increased their spending on their arsenals by nearly $17 billion last year, according to a new report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. At a time of growing geopolitical tens

LONDON, June 12 ------ The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has led to global energy disruptions "never seen before", the chief executive of British oil giant Shell said. More than 10 per cent of global oil production has been removed from the market since the start of the Middle East war, Wael Sawan told a summit of top business leaders hosted by the Wall Street Journal. He said the impacts are "disproportionately painful" in Asia, where countries including India, Indonesia,

TOKYO, June 12 ------ Japan's wholesale inflation accelerated in May at the fastest pace in three years as price pressures from the Middle East war broadened, adding to the case for further interest rate hikes by the central bank. The Bank of Japan meets next week and is expected to deliver its first interest rate hike since December to cope with mounting inflationary pressures from a weak yen and the war-induced energy shock. Japan's producer price index in May rose 6.3 per

NEW YORK, June 11 ------ Oil prices closed up nearly $2 after President Donald Trump said the U.S. is going to attack Iran "very hard" ‌if no peace deal is finalized. Brent crude futures settled at $93.10 a barrel, up $1.65 or 1.8%. U.S. crude futures finished at $90.03 a barrel, up $1.83, or 2%. Both contracts jumped about $3 in afternoon trading after Trump reiterated that Iran would be attacked again following an exchange of fire overnight that was one of the most signific

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 11 ------ The Trump administration is telling European nations that they need to step up their travel restrictions for people coming to the continent from Ebola-hit countries in Africa, hinting that failure to do so may result in increased US regulations on travel from Europe, including for the World Cup soccer tournament. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday called European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convey the concerns and “to d