News

Ottawa confirms China has detained second Canadian

Agence France-Presse
Dec 14 03:43 AM

Canada's foreign ministry confirmed Thursday that China has detained a Michael Spavor under what Beijing has said is suspicion of threatening its national security. Read more »

Trump maintains innocence in legal scandal, blames lawyer

Sebastian Smith, Agence France-Presse
Dec 14 03:39 AM

Trump tried to shield himself from rising legal heat Thursday with tweets insisting that he never ordered his former lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law. Read more »

US House calls on Myanmar to release Reuters journalists

Patricia Zengerle, Reuters
Dec 14 02:59 AM

National security advisor John Bolton denounced China for its aggressive quest for natural resources and its rising military and maritime presence. Read more »

No Filipinos hurt in Turkey train crash: DFA

ABS-CBN News
Dec 13 09:25 PM

No Filipino was hurt after a high-speed train crashed and left nine people dead in Turkey's capital on Thursday, the DFA said. Read more »

Pope Francis to visit Bulgaria, Macedonia in May

ABS-CBN News
Dec 13 08:58 PM

Pope Francis will visit Bulgaria and Macedonia in May, the Vatican announced Thursday, adding to a 2019 schedule which is already swiftly filling up. Read more »

Pope removes scandal-hit cardinals from inner circle

Agence France-Presse
Dec 13 06:57 PM

 Pope Francis has removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle months after they were tainted by pedophile scandals and ahead of a Church-wide meeting on the "protection of minors" next year. Read more »

21 Islamic State militants escape Iraqi jail, most recaptured

Reuters
Dec 13 06:10 PM

BAGHDAD - A total of 21 prisoners, most of them members of Islamic State jailed on terrorism charges, broke out of a prison in northern Iraq but 15 of them have been recaptured, Kurdish security officials said on Thursday.   Read more »

China says second Canadian being probed for harming state security

Christian Shepherd and Michael Martina, Reuters
Dec 13 03:00 PM

Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, who worked with North Korea, is being investigated on suspicion of harming China's state security, officials said, days after a former Canadian diplomat was detained in China in an escalating diplomatic row. Read more »

Japan takoyaki seller found guilty of 130 million yen tax evasion

Kyodo News
Dec 13 11:12 AM

OSAKA - The operator of a snack stand serving "takoyaki" octopus batter balls near Osaka Castle was found guilty Wednesday of evading about 130 million yen ($1.1 million or P60.3 million) in income tax. Read more »

Canadian man missing in China after being questioned by authorities: Canadian foreign ministry

Reuters
Dec 13 11:11 AM

Canada's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it has been unable to contact Canadian businessman Michael Spavor since he notified the government that he was being questioned by Chinese authorities. Read more »

Japanese med school admits rigging entrance exams

Kyodo News
Dec 13 11:02 AM

TOKYO - Another university admitted Wednesday to rigging entrance exams for its medical faculty in favor of children of its graduates, raising the total tally of Japanese medical schools found having manipulated their admission process to nine. Read more »

Tabloid says it worked with Trump campaign to pay 2016 hush money: prosecutors

Reuters
Dec 13 08:33 AM

NEW YORK - The publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper has admitted it paid hush money to a former Playboy magazine model to prevent her from going public ahead of the 2016 election with claims that she had an affair with President Donald Trump. Read more »

Aging Japan: Dementia puts financial assets of the elderly at risk

Hideyuki Sano, Reuters
Dec 13 08:15 AM

Dementia has been diagnosed in more than 5 million Japanese. The government estimates that number will increase to 7 million to 8 million, or 6 to 7 percent of the total population, by 2030. Read more »

Climate talks must be rescued, warns UN chief

Agence France-Presse, Marlowe Hood
Dec 13 07:29 AM

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sought to rescue deeply troubled climate talks in Poland on Wednesday, warning the battle against global warming is a "matter of life and death today." Read more »

Fentanyl surpasses heroin as deadliest drug in US

Agence France-Presse
Dec 13 06:36 AM

WASHINGTON - Fentanyl has surpassed heroin as the deadliest drug in the United States, taking more than 18,000 lives in 2016, federal health officials said Wednesday. Read more »

Hillary Clinton joins Bollywood stars as super-rich Indians wed

Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Francis Mascarenhas, Reuters
Dec 13 06:35 AM

MUMBAI - The daughter of India's richest man got married on Wednesday in a traditional ceremony in Mumbai attended by Bollywood stars and former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Read more »

British PM May survives party confidence vote but 117 dissent

Kylie MacLellan, Elizabeth Piper, and William James, Reuters
Dec 13 06:00 AM | Updated Dec 13 08:29 AM

LONDON - Prime Minister Theresa May survived a confidence vote from her Conservative party on Wednesday, but more than a third of her lawmakers said she was no longer the right leader to implement Britain's exit from the European Union.   Read more »

Trump ex-lawyer Cohen given 3 years in prison, blames 'blind loyalty'

Brendan Pierson, Nathan Layne, and Karen Freifeld, Reuters
Dec 13 05:54 AM

NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in prison on Wednesday for orchestrating hush payments to women in violation of campaign laws before the 2016 election and financial crimes, posing potential legal and political risks to Trump. Read more »

Vatican, hinimok din ang Amerika na ibalik ang Balangiga bells

ABS-CBN News
Dec 13 01:52 AM

Simbolo ng pananampalataya ng mga taga-Balangiga, Eastern Samar ang mga kampanang inangkin ng higit isang siglo ng mga Amerikano. Read more »

Peaceful Korea

South Korean Defense Ministry/AFP Photo
Dec 13 12:31 AM

This handout photo taken on Wednesday, December 12, and provided by South Korean Defense Ministry shows a South Korean soldier (right) shaking hands with a North Korean soldier (left) before crossing the Military Demarcation Line to inspect the dismantled North Korean guard post inside the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas in Cheorwon.  Read more »

Climate talks ongoing in Polish coal city of Katowice

ABS-CBN News
Dec 13 12:27 AM

At the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland, multiple nations sounded the alarm on the growing need to address the threat caused by rising global temperatures. Read more »

'We thought it was a joke': Strasbourg stunned by attack

Reuters
Dec 12 11:44 PM

STRASBOURG, France - Armed police patrolled the streets and manned checkpoints; shops and restaurants stayed shuttered, and residents laid tributes as Strasbourg recoiled on Wednesday from the deadly shooting at a Christmas market. Read more »

'Thumbs up' pics for Myanmar Reuters reporters as they mark year in jail

Agence France-Presse
Dec 12 05:09 PM

Messages of solidarity poured in Wednesday from around the world on the one-year anniversary of the arrest of two Myanmar Reuters journalists who exposed a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.  Read more »

After quakes and flooding, Japan picks 'disaster' as 2018 symbol

Agence France-Presse
Dec 12 04:26 PM

A total of 20,858 people out of 193,214 chose the character "disaster." Read more »

Former Malaysian PM Najib, 1MDB ex-CEO face fresh corruption charges

Reuters
Dec 12 03:20 PM

Malaysian prosecutors on Wednesday filed new graft charges against former prime minister Najib Razak and the former chief executive of scandal-linked state fund 1MDB, in the latest cases over alleged theft of billions of dollars from the fund. Read more »