Wed, Dec 01, 2021 page5

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  PHILIPPINES

  Duterte’s aide quits race

  Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, the preferred successor of President Rodrigo Duterte, yesterday said he was withdrawing his candidacy for presidency. Go, Duterte’s long-time aide, had recently hinted he might drop out of the race and his withdrawal leaves the administration without a presidential candidate. “I and President Duterte are ready to support whoever will truly serve, and can continue and protect Duterte’s legacy towards a more comfortable and safe and prosperous life for our children,” Go said in a short speech streamed on Facebook. He said he was making the “supreme sacrifice for the good of the country and for the sake of unity among our supporters and leaders.” Duterte’s daughter, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is running for vice president alongside the son of late dictator and namesake, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has emerged as an early frontrunner.

  JAPAN

  France issues arrest warrant

  French authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a Japanese woman whose two children have been kept from their father in a case that has revived debate about “parental kidnapping” in the nation. The children’s French father, Vincent Fichot — a resident in Japan — has drawn international attention over his attempts to re-establish contact with his son and daughter, who he says were kidnapped by their mother in 2018. French authorities issued the international warrant over allegations of parental abduction and endangering a minor, a source close to the issue and Fichot said. The French embassy declined to comment on the case. Japanese law does not include a provision for shared custody when parents separate, and authorities have long been accused of turning a blind eye when one parent denies the other access to their children. A lawyer for Fichot’s wife declined to comment on the warrant. “Divorce proceedings are ongoing. We have no desire to fight outside of court,” he said.

  UNITED STATES

  Frontline workers honored

  Holiday decorations unveiled on Monday for Joe and Jill Biden’s first White House Christmas honor frontline workers who persevered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses, doctors, teachers, grocery store workers and others are recognized in this year’s gigantic Gingerbread White House, which was turned into a 159kg gingerbread village, with the addition of a school and police, fire and gas stations, as well as a hospital, a post office, a grocery store and a warehouse to honor workers who stayed on the job. Fewer people are likely to see the decked-out mansion in person this year, with public tours still suspended because of the continuing threat from COVID-19. However, videos, photographs and other details about the decorations are available for viewing at WhiteHouse.gov/Holidays.

  JAPAN

  Man, 69, rescued at sea

  A 69-year-old man has been rescued in rough seas off the nation after spending 22 hours drifting in open water, with one official calling his survival a “miracle.” The man, whose name has not been released, was alone on a boat off southwestern Kagoshima Prefecture and en route to the Yakushima resort island on Saturday afternoon when his boat capsized. He managed to call a colleague on the island to alert him, but was not found until nearly a full day later, when rescuers spotted him sitting on the engine of his capsized boat, clasping a propeller part, the coastguard said. “He was out in the sea alone for 22 hours. I am amazed by his survival skills,” a coastguard official said, declining to be identified.
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