OVERSEAS | ABS-CBN News

Greta Thunberg awarded international children's peace prize

Agence France-Presse
Nov 21 08:17 AM

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg was awarded an international children's peace prize on Wednesday, for her work in the struggle against climate change which has resonated with schoolchildren across the world. Read more »

Ukraine widens probe against Burisma founder to embezzlement of state funds

Ilya Zhegulev, Reuters
Nov 21 07:47 AM

KIEV - Ukraine has widened its investigation into the founder of energy company Burisma to include suspicion of embezzling state funds, Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka said on Wednesday. Read more »

Top levels of Trump administration in on Ukraine pressure, says US diplomat

Patricia Zengerle and Andy Sullivan, Reuters
Nov 21 07:29 AM | Updated Nov 21 09:20 AM

WASHINGTON - A senior U.S. diplomat on Wednesday described broad involvement at the upper levels of the Trump administration in a pressure campaign against Ukraine, giving testimony that for the first time put the secretary of state and vice president at the heart of the impeachment probe against President Donald Trump. Read more »

Aung San Suu Kyi to lead Myanmar defense against ICJ case

Agence France-Presse
Nov 21 01:50 AM

Myanmar's civilian leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will head up a delegation to the UN’s top court to defend a case accusing the mainly Buddhist country of genocide against Rohingya Muslims, the government said Wednesday, a decision that blind-sided observers. Read more »

After the Philippines, Angola hit by polio outbreak after years without cases

Agence France-Presse
Nov 21 12:57 AM

The vaccination campaign is expected to reach 2.5 million children aged five and under. Read more »

Pope Francis in Thailand

Thai Organizing Committee, AFP
Nov 20 07:19 PM | Updated Nov 20 08:25 PM

In this handout photo released and taken by the Thai Organizing Committee on Wednesday, Pope Francis greets a Thai child during arrival at the Military Air Terminal at Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Read more »

‘Absolutely no mercy’: Leaked files show China’s mass detentions in officials’ own words

Austin Ramzy and Chris Buckley, The New York Times
Nov 20 07:09 PM | Updated Nov 21 07:40 AM

Beijing has sought for decades to suppress Uighur resistance to Chinese rule in Xinjiang. The current crackdown began after a surge of anti-government and anti-Chinese violence, including ethnic riots in 2009 in Urumqi, the regional capital, and a May 2014 attack on an outdoor market that killed 39 people just days before Xi convened a leadership conference in Beijing to set a new policy course for Xinjiang. Read more »

Woman endangers herself to rescue scorched koala from Australian bushfire

Reuters
Nov 20 06:41 PM

A woman rescued a badly burnt and wailing koala from an Australian bushfire on Tuesday. Read more »

'Wide-scale' Israeli strikes kill 11 fighters, including 7 foreigners, in Syria

Agence France-Presse
Nov 20 06:09 PM

In a rare confirmation of their operations in Syria, the Israeli army said they carried out dozens on strikes against the Iranian elite Quds Force and the Syrian military, in response to four rockets fired at Israel a day before. Read more »

Mental health at risk as California wildfire threat grows

Ellen Wulfhorst, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Nov 20 06:04 PM

PARADISE, California - Tasha Ritza lost her house, her job and her hometown on the day a wildfire destroyed Paradise, California. A year later, her life is still in tatters, she said.   Read more »

Thai court disqualifies rising opposition party leader as MP

Reuters
Nov 20 05:00 PM

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday disqualified the leader of an opposition party and fierce government critic from parliament after finding him guilty of violating election law. Read more »

Pope Francis begins visit to Thailand as faithful jostle for selfies

Jiraporn Kuhakan, Reuters
Nov 20 02:48 PM

Waiting for a glimpse of the pontiff, excited Catholics thronged around the Vatican's Bangkok embassy and St. Louis Hospital to take selfies. Read more »

White House officials fault Trump's Ukraine call

Michael D. Shear, The New York Times
Nov 20 12:22 PM

Two senior national security officials at the White House challenged US President Donald Trump’s description of his call with the Ukraine president as “perfect,” testifying Tuesday about how concerned they were as they listened in real time to Trump appealing for investigations into a political rival. Read more »

'You will fail': Trump spokeswoman says Obama aides left mean notes in White House

Agence France-Presse
Nov 20 09:51 AM

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's spokeswoman claimed Tuesday that Barack Obama staffers left behind catty notes in White House offices for the incoming administration, telling them "you will fail." Read more »

US Senate unanimously passes bill backing human rights in Hong Kong

Agence France-Presse
Nov 20 09:29 AM

The lawmakers also approved a measure that would ban the sale of tear gas, rubber bullets and other equipment that has been used by security forces to suppress the protests that have rocked Hong Kong for months.   Read more »

Climate impacts 'to cost world $7.9 trillion' by 2050

Patrick Galey, Agence France-Presse
Nov 20 08:41 AM

Climate change could directly cost the world economy $7.9 trillion by mid-century as increased drought, flooding and crop failures hamper growth and threaten infrastructure, new analysis showed Wednesday.  Read more »

Man falsely imprisoned for 23 years gets US$7 million

Alan Feuer, The New York Times
Nov 20 08:37 AM

City officials in New York and New Haven, Connecticut, agreed Friday to pay Derrick Hamilton a total of $7 million to settle a lawsuit he had filed against three police officers, accusing them of fabricating evidence against him. Read more »

Trump shift on Israeli settlements fulfills wish list of evangelical base

Maria Caspani and Matt Spetalnick, Reuters
Nov 20 08:31 AM

Evangelicals have been a core base for Trump since the 2016 election. Many are also staunch supporters of Israel, feeling a religious connection with the Jewish people and the Holy Land. Read more »

Uber, distracted backup driver cited by safety agency in fatal self-driving crash

David Shepardson, Reuters
Nov 20 08:09 AM

The NTSB voted 3-0 that the probable cause was the failure of the back-up safety driver to monitor the driving environment "because she was visually distracted throughout the trip by her personal cell phone." She was behind the wheel and was supposed to act in the event of an emergency. Read more »

US prison guards charged over Epstein death

Peter Hutchison, Agence France-Presse
Nov 20 08:03 AM

Two prison guards on duty when Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide were charged Tuesday over their alleged failure to monitor him, the latest development in the mystery surrounding his death. Read more »

US aircraft carrier transits Strait of Hormuz

Agence France-Presse
Nov 20 07:45 AM

The US aircraft carrier strike group Abraham Lincoln sailed through the key Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday to show Washington's "commitment" to freedom of navigation, the Pentagon said, amid tensions with Tehran. Read more »

Influential US doctors group calls for ban on vaping products

Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters
Nov 20 07:33 AM

The American Medical Association (AMA) on Tuesday called for a total ban on all e-cigarette and vaping products that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as smoking cessation tools.   Read more »

Japan's Abe sets record as longest-serving PM as allegations of misdeeds persist

Linda Sieg, Reuters
Nov 20 07:32 AM

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became Japan's longest-serving premier on Wednesday - a remarkable feat for a leader who once quit in humiliation - amid economic worries and allegations that he violated election laws.   Read more »

US House votes to avert shutdown as deadline looms

Agence France-Presse
Nov 20 07:30 AM

The Senate is expected to clear the measure later this week and send it to the White House before agencies run out of funding at midnight on Thursday.   Read more »

Filipino workers opt to stay put in Hong Kong amid worsening crisis

ABS-CBN News
Nov 19 09:13 PM

The Filipino community in Hong Kong is still coping well despite the worsening crisis in the city.   Read more »