Philippine News

ROTTERDAM, May 19 ------ The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius was due to dock in Rotterdam for disinfection, with Dutch authorities preparing quarantine arrangements for the 25 crew members and two medical staff remaining on board. Local authorities said quarantine facilities had been set up for some of the non-Dutch crew, though it was not clear yet if they would stay there for the full recommended 42-day quarantine period. The Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship had been

DAKAR, Senegal, May 19 ------ The Congolese health minister announced the opening of three treatment centers in the Ituri region of eastern Congo as the country grapples with a new Ebola outbreak. “We know that the hospitals are already under stress because of the patients,” the minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said during a visit to Bunia, the capital and largest city in Ituri. "But we are preparing to have treatment centers at all three sites in order to be able to expand our

May 19 ------ Russian drones have hit two ships in the Black Sea approaching ports in Ukraine, including a Chinese-owned vessel, one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The Ukrainian navy ‌reported a strike on the KSL Deyang, the Chinese-owned cargo ship with a Chinese crew under the Marshall Islands flag. It posted a photograph of the ship showing its name with one of its sides partially charred. Russia has

May 19 ------ Turkey can exert influence over the wars in Ukraine and ​Iran, German Foreign Minister Johann ‌Wadephul said adding the European Union and Ankara should strengthen strategic ties. "Turkey has the potential to exert considerable influence on these trouble spots not only because of its geographical proximity, but also because of its enormous political and economic significance," Wadephul told reporters at a press conference with Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in

GENEVA, May 18 ------ The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern over Ebola spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. "The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), after having consulted the states parties is hereby determining that the Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concer

WASHINGTON, May 18 ------ President Donald Trump issued a fresh warning to Iran, saying it had to move quickly towards a peace deal or “there won’t be anything left of them.” Washington, locked in conflict with Tehran since US and Israeli forces launched major strikes on the Islamic Republic beginning February 28, has struggled to break an impasse and make any progress toward ending a war that has shaken the Middle East and sent energy prices climbing. “For Iran, the Clock is

May 18 ------ Ukraine has initiated the complex administrative and diplomatic groundwork required to execute the remaining phases of a high-stakes, large-scale prisoner exchange, aiming to repatriate a total of 1,000 detained citizens from Russian captivity. In a video address delivered late Saturday evening, May 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the inter-agency teams managing the delicate negotiations and emphasized that the humanitarian operation remains a top sover

May 18 ------ Following the high-stakes Beijing summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that both superpowers are actively working toward a rapid diplomatic conclusion to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Wang Yi emphasized that while complex geopolitical crises lack overnight solutions, both nations are committed to maintaining constant communication to facilitate political settlements. The world’s

CAPE CANAVERAL, May 17 ------ A NASA spacecraft chasing a rare metal asteroid swings past Mars this week for a gravity boost, snapping thousands of pictures as practice for the main encounter in 2029. Named Psyche like the asteroid it’s after, the robotic explorer will slingshot past the red planet at 12,333 mph (19,848 kph) on Friday. It will be an especially close flyby, with Psyche passing within 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) of Mars, equivalent to the distance between th

May 17 ------ Along a meandering river in a warm and arid region that is now Thailand, roughly 113 million years ago, a plant-eating behemoth almost 90 feet (27 meters) long browsed on the treetops without much fear of predators due to its sheer size. This was Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, the largest-known dinosaur from Southeast Asia. Researchers have unearthed skeletal remains of Nagatitan, a member of the dinosaur lineage called sauropods known for having a long neck, long t

AMMAN, Jordan, May 16 ------ Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Iran-backed Houthis reached a deal to free over 1,600 detainees in the largest swap during Yemen's 11-year civil war. The deal was signed in Amman, Jordan, after 14 weeks of negotiations, with U.N. officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross present as observers. Abdelkader al-Murtada, the Houthi head of the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, who was involved in the talks

WASHINGTON, May 16 ------ A passenger who was aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius and initially tested "mildly positive" for hantavirus has now tested negative for the rare disease, a spokesperson told AFP. Thomas Kayla -- a media coordinator at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where 16 patients who were on the ship are being monitored -- said, "both tests were negative by PCR and serology." The asymptomatic patient was initially being monitored in a biocontainment un

NEW DELHI, May 15 ------ Foreign ministers from the BRICS nations began a two-day meeting in New Delhi as the expanding bloc faces divisions over the war in Iran, rising energy prices, and growing global economic uncertainty. The meeting brings together diplomats from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, along with newer member countries. It comes as the war in Iran has disrupted global energy supplies and driven up oil prices, and coincides with U.S. President Don

BEIJING, May 15 ------ United States President Donald Trump on Friday (May 15) said he hoped Washington's relationship with China would be "stronger and better than ever before", ahead of a second day of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Trump added in his Truth Social post that Xi had congratulated him on "so many tremendous successes", including the US' relationship with Venezuela, its job market, and its military. In his post, Trump also said that Xi had

May 15 ------ US President Donald Trump said that the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine is “very close,” expressing confidence that Moscow and Kyiv will reach a settlement. “The end of the war in Ukraine, I really think it’s getting very close,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to China. Trump said he believes there will be a settlement between Russia and Ukraine, but did not provide details on the terms of any potential agreement or the status of

KYIV, May 15 ------ Russia carried out its largest aerial attack over a two-day period since the start of its war in Ukraine, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said. Russia had launched 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. At least 15 civilians have been killed over the two days, officials said. He said Moscow had launched more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles overnight, and a

BANGKOK, May 14 ------ Thailand will cut the visa-free stay period for tourists from 93 countries from 60 days to 30 days to help prevent criminal activity, the foreign minister said. Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkaeow said on Tuesday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will submit a plan to the Cabinet for approval to reduce the visa-free stay period for foreign tourists in Thailand to 30 days from 60 days. He did not say when. Thailand has set a visa-free period for t

ROME, May 14 ------ Italy is testing biological samples from two people for possible hantavirus infection, an Argentine tourist hospitalized with pneumonia and a man from Calabria in voluntary isolation, the Health Ministry said. The Argentine tourist had left an endemic area back home on April 30 and traveled to Italy on a Buenos Aires-Rome flight before later going to Sicily, where she was hospitalized with pneumonia, the ministry said in a statement. Local health authoriti

KYIV, Ukraine, May 14 ------ Russia fired at least 800 drones in a massive daytime barrage on about 20 regions of Ukraine on Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, including children, in one of the longest attacks by Moscow in the 4-year-old war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The attack began in midmorning and lasted for hours in the capital of Kyiv, the western city of Lviv near Poland, and the port of Odesa on the Black Sea, among other population

WASHINGTON, May 14 ------ Supporters of a bill to aid Ukraine and sanction Russia reached a critical threshold that allows them to bypass Republican leadership and force a vote on the House floor in the coming weeks. The legislation seeks to cement U.S. assistance for Ukraine by approving more than $1 billion in security aid and making another $8 billion available in the form of loans. Supporters have been calling on President Donald Trump to act more forcefully to deter Russ