MANILA, (APP/AFP) – Incoming Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte will resume stalled peace talks with communist rebels next month, negotiators said, a step towards ending one of Asia’s longest insurgencies that has killed tens of thousands of people. The long-running talks collapsed in 2013, but Duterte had made a campaign pledge to revive the negotiations aimed […]
International News
Philippines to resume communist peace talks in July
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Putin to meet EU, UN leaders at key Russian economic forum
SAINT PETERSBURG, (APP/AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will look to refashion himself as a more reliable partner for the West as Moscow struggles to come in from the cold at its flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg. Putin will host European Union Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and Italian premier Matteo Renzi at the conference […]
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Kidnapper of Hong Kong heiress jailed for 12 years
HONG KONG, (APP/AFP) – A member of a kidnap gang that abducted a Hong Kong heiress for a multi-million-dollar ransom was jailed for 12 years Thursday after what the judge described as a “terrible ordeal” for the victim. Queenie Rosita Law, granddaughter of late textiles tycoon Law Ting-pong, who founded the Bossini clothing chain, was […]
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Facing threat of stagnation, Russia promises reforms
SAINT PETERSBURG, (APP/AFP) – Russian authorities, increasingly concerned that the current recession will be followed by prolonged economic stagnation, are redoubling efforts to persuade investors that much-needed reforms will be pushed through. The Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum which runs from Thursday to Saturday will be dominated by discussion of ways to breathe new life […]
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Obama meets Dalai Lama behind closed doors
WASHINGTON, (APP/AFP) – US President Barack Obama hosted the Dalai Lama at the White House Wednesday — a now familiar ritual that took place off-camera and out of the public eye to avoid irking China. Obama carried out what has become a political rite in Washington, spiriting the exiled Tibetan religious leader into the White […]
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S. Korea holds navy drill near disputed border with North
SEOUL, (APP/AFP) – South Korea on Thursday kicked off a live-fire naval exercise near its disputed sea border with North Korea — a move likely to fan already elevated military tensions with Pyongyang. The three-day exercise in the Yellow Sea is aimed at practising responses to simulated incursions by North Korean vessels and aircraft, the […]