OVERSEAS | ABS-CBN News

Explainer: Don't panic about China's 'Black Death' plague cases

Reuters
Nov 18 04:44 PM

SHANGHAI - China reported a third case of bubonic plague on Sunday after two other plague cases were revealed last week, but the disease remains rare despite its fearsome reputation and authorities say the cases appear unrelated. Read more »

Sumatran tiger kills Indonesian farmer, injures tourist

Agence France-Presse
Nov 18 04:17 PM

 An endangered Sumatran Tiger has mauled to death an Indonesian farmer and seriously injured a domestic tourist, a conservation official said Monday. Read more »

Samoa makes measles vaccine mandatory to stop deadly outbreak

Agence France-Presse
Nov 18 03:42 PM

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Samoa finalized plans for a compulsory measles vaccination program Monday, after declaring a state of emergency as a deadly epidemic sweeps the Pacific nation. Read more »

Several dead as gunman opens fire at California backyard party

Reuters
Nov 18 02:34 PM

At least 9 people were shot, killing several, with others left in critical condition, a police spokesman said. Read more »

Protesters set fire to hold off police at Hong Kong campus

Anthony Wallace and Catherine Lai, Agence France-Presse
Nov 18 02:23 PM

China has refused to budge on any of the protesters' key demands, which include free elections for the city of 7.5 million people. Read more »

China says aircraft carrier on way to S.China Sea after Taiwan passage

Reuters
Nov 18 01:28 PM

BEIJING - China's first domestically-built aircraft carrier is on its way to the South China Sea for tests and to take part in exercises, the Chinese navy said on Monday, after sailing through the Taiwan Strait in a mission denounced by Taipei as intimidation. Read more »

China calls on US to 'stop flexing muscles' in South China Sea

Phil Stewart, Reuters
Nov 18 01:13 PM

China on Monday called on the US military to stop flexing its muscles in the South China Sea and to avoid adding "new uncertainties" over Taiwan, during high-level talks that underscored tension between the world's two largest economies. Read more »

Pope to visit Hiroshima on anti-nuclear weapon mission

Catherine Marciano and Ursula Hyzy, Agence France-Presse
Nov 18 12:34 PM

Pope Francis, who years ago hoped to be a missionary in Japan, travels to the sites of the world's only atomic attacks this week seeking a ban on nuclear weapons. Read more »

Keeping the barricade

Ye Aung Thu, AFP
Nov 18 11:14 AM

A protester walks on stairs at the barricaded main entrance of Hong Kong Polytechnic University as other protesters attempt to find safe passage out of campus, in Hung Hom district of Hong Kong on Monday. Read more »

Trump touts his 'very' good health after unscheduled medical check

Reuters
Nov 18 08:59 AM

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was in "very good" health after undergoing the first phase of an annual medical check the previous day.   Read more »

Bloomberg sorry for 'stop and frisk' as he mulls presidential bid

Maggy Donaldson, Agence France-Presse
Nov 18 08:37 AM

The 77-year-old had long defended his backing of the aggressive technique, which gave the city's police broad powers to search anyone they suspected of criminality. Read more »

Hong Kong police warn of 'live fire' as campus protest siege deepens

Aidan Jones and Yan Zhao, Agence France-Presse
Nov 18 08:26 AM

Hong Kong police Monday warned for the first time in months of unrest that they may use "live rounds" after pro-democracy protesters fired arrows and threw petrol bombs at officers at a besieged university campus, as the crisis engulfing the city sharply escalated.  Read more »

Leaked China documents reveal 'no mercy' in Xinjiang: NYT

Agence France-Presse
Nov 18 08:24 AM

Human rights groups and outside experts say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been rounded up in a network of internment camps across the far-western region.   Read more »

US Defense Sec. Esper slams China in meeting with ASEAN counterparts

Kyodo News
Nov 17 11:51 PM

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper rebuked China's behavior in the South China Sea in a meeting Sunday with his Southeast Asian counterparts. Read more »

China sails carrier group through Taiwan Strait amid election campaign

Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
Nov 17 11:46 PM | Updated Nov 17 11:47 PM

China has sailed a carrier group into the sensitive Taiwan Strait led by its first domestically built aircraft carrier as election campaigning kicked into high gear on the self-ruled island on Sunday. Read more »

US, South Korea postpone joint drills in 'act of goodwill'

Agence France-Presse
Nov 17 11:05 PM

The US and South Korea will postpone joint air drills in an "act of goodwill" towards the nuclear-armed North, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday, after months of deadlocked diplomacy with Pyongyang. Read more »

Anger, guilt stir Hong Kong's white collar rebels

Aidan Jones and Catherine Lai, Agence France-Presse
Nov 17 10:33 AM | Updated Nov 17 07:17 PM

Driven by anger at the authorities' response to massive protests - and guilt that the burden of defending democracy has fallen on the city's youth - a white collar rebellion is rippling out across Hong Kong. Read more »

Elizabeth Warren takes risk with ad blasting billionaires

Daniel Hoffman, Agence France-Presse
Nov 17 10:32 AM

The one-minute campaign ad shows clips of several leading businessmen criticizing her plans for a wealth tax and predicting economic ruin if she is elected to succeed Donald Trump, a billionaire himself.   Read more »

Great Barrier Reef annual mass coral spawning begins

Agence France-Presse
Nov 17 10:29 AM

A mass coral spawning has begun on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, with early indications the annual event could be among the biggest in recent years, local marine biologists said Sunday. Read more »

Bushfires conditions worsen in east and west Australia

Reuters
Nov 17 09:14 AM

Rising temperatures, lightning strikes and gusty winds further raised fire danger on both coasts of Australia on Sunday as the country already battles more than 120 bushfires and firefighters work day and night trying to contain them. Read more »

Britain's Prince Andrew 'categorically' denies sex claims

Andrew MacAskill and William Schomberg, Reuters
Nov 17 09:07 AM

Britain's Prince Andrew said he could not have had sex with a teenage girl at a socialite's London home because he returned to his house after a children's party on the night in question and has no recollection of ever meeting her. Read more »

Turkey says will use Russian S-400 defense system despite US warning

Agence France-Presse
Nov 17 12:26 AM

Last month, US said Turkey would be spared sanctions under a 2017 law if the S-400 system is not turned on. Read more »

China’s PLA soldiers help clean up HK streets, as protesters leave campuses

James Pomfret and Sarah Wu, Reuters
Nov 16 11:28 PM | Updated Nov 17 05:18 AM

The presence of PLA troops, even to help clean up roads near their base, could stoke further controversy over the Chinese-ruled territory's autonomous status.   Read more »

Trump attacks impeachment witness on Twitter, Democrats see intimidation

Reuters
Nov 16 11:42 AM

President Donald Trump launched a Twitter attack on a former US ambassador to Ukraine on Friday while she was testifying to an impeachment hearing in Congress, in an extraordinary moment that Democrats said amounted to witness intimidation. Read more »

Gunman in US school shooting dies as police hunt motive

Andrew Marszal, Agence France-Presse
Nov 16 11:24 AM

LOS ANGELES, United States – The teenager who gunned down classmates at a California high school before shooting himself died Friday, leaving detectives baffled over the motive of a Boy Scout with no obvious alarm bells in his background. Read more »