MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government said Friday that China’s imposition of sanctions, including an entry ban, against Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. was “an unfriendly act” that could further strain relations, while he vowed to continue defending Manila’s interest against Beijing’s aggression. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing announced Thursday that…
By Giulia Paravicini, Clement Bonnerot and Fiston Mahamba June 11 (Reuters) – By the time the truck pulled away from the morgue in Bunia, the morning heat hung heavily over the road to Mongbwalu. The body of a 44-year-old Congolese pastor lay inside a wooden coffin strapped into the back of an aging Nissan SUV…
BENI, Congo (AP) — The memories come flooding back whenever Vianney Kambale Kombi hears the word Ebola. He remembers the pain and fear in his community in the eastern Congo city of Beni during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak, history’s second-biggest with more than 3,400 reported cases and over 2,200 deaths. It was stopped with the…
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A spearfisher was killed on Saturday in Australia’s third fatal shark attack in four weeks, police said. The 35-year-old man was spearfishing with family off Michaelmas Island near the port city of Albany in Western Australia state when he was attacked before noon, a police statement said. The man was brought…
STOCKHOLM, June 4 (Reuters) – Brazil has expressed an interest in potentially buying 20 additional Gripen model E and F fighter jets from Sweden’s Saab, Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson said on Thursday. The aircraft would be manufactured in Brazil, Jonson told a joint press conference in Stockholm with his Brazilian counterpart, Defense Minister Jose…
TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the January-March quarter, the government said Tuesday, showing its resilience despite rising energy prices because of the war in Iran. Japan’s real gross domestic product, or GDP, the sum value of a nation’s goods and services, grew at a seasonally adjusted…
MADRID (AP) — A Spanish court acquitted Shakira in a tax fraud case, ordering the government to return more than 55 million euros ($64 million) in wrongly imposed fines and interest, a court document seen Monday by The Associated Press said. The decision follows years of tax troubles in Spain for the Colombian superstar. The…
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — After three years as a prisoner in Beijing, Cheng Lei is busy rebuilding her life. She’s written a memoir and a play, tried her hand at stand-up comedy and is pursuing her career as a journalist. She has shone a rare spotlight on the harsh conditions within the secretive Chinese prison…
ITURI, Congo (AP) — At least 80 deaths have been reported in Congo’s new Ebola disease outbreak in the eastern Ituri province, authorities said, as health workers raced Saturday to intensify screening and contact tracing to contain the disease. Officials first announced the outbreak on Friday, with 65 deaths and 246 suspected cases. Meanwhile, Associated…
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A contemporary art fair has been held in the Ukrainian capital with an unusual premise: that art can help a society come to terms with what war has made normal. “Holding the event during wartime means not waiting for a better moment, but working with reality as it is,” said Anna…