PHILIPPINES
US alliance ‘strong’: Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in a bid to bolster the countries’ “strong” alliance. Blinken is the most senior US official to visit the country — a treaty-bound US ally — since Marcos took office on June 30. “The alliance is strong and I believe can grow even stronger,” Blinken told Marcos, who hailed the “special relationship” between the two countries. Washington has a security pact with Manila and has backed its former colony in increasingly heated disputes in the South China Sea with Beijing.
NORTH KOREA
Pelosi called peace threat
The government yesterday slammed US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi over a visit earlier this week to the fortified Demilitarized Zone, calling her the “worst destroyer of international peace.” Pelosi became the highest-ranking US official to visit the area between the two Koreas since then-US president Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un there in 2019. Prior to the visit, Pelosi discussed the “grave situation” and growing threat posed by the North’s nuclear weapons program with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo. They called for “strong and extended deterrence against North Korea,” and vowed to support joint efforts to achieve Pyongyang’s denuclearization.
PAKISTAN
Lahore zoo to auction lions
A zoo is auctioning off a dozen lions to private collectors next week to free up space for a pride that will not stop growing. The Lahore Safari Zoo has so many lions that they have to take turns to access the paddocks, zoo deputy director Tanvir Ahmed Janjua said. The zoo is planning to next week auction 12 of its 29 lions, he said, adding that “expenses for meat to feed them will also decrease.” Conservationists are opposed to the sale, with the WWF saying the creatures should be moved to other established zoos, or breeding females sterilized or given contraceptives.
LIBYA
Clashes erupt in capital
Clashes between armed groups erupted overnight in Tripoli, local media reported. An Agence France-Presse journalist heard gunfire and explosions at about 1am yesterday. The fighting, with light and heavy weapons, occurred in the El Jebs district, media reports said. Tensions have been rising for months, as two prime ministers vie for power, raising fears of renewed conflict two years after a landmark truce ended a ruinous attempt by National Army Commander Khalifa Haftar to seize Tripoli. The clashes were between groups loyal to Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, head of the unity government based in Tripoli, and others following his rival Fathi Bashagha, named in February as prime minister by a parliament based in the east after he made a pact with Haftar.
NICARAGUA
Bishop prosecuted
Police on Friday said they had begun an investigation against a Catholic bishop who has been an outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega. They accused Bishop Rolando Alvarez of “organizing violent groups” and inciting them “to carry out acts of hate against the population.” Police blocked his attempt to go to the cathedral in Matagalpa on Friday so he instead celebrated Mass from home. The announcement came hours after first lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo criticized “sins against spirituality” and “the exhibition of hate” in an apparent reference to Alvarez.
The rivalry between Asia’s two biggest countries has extended into outer space. After India’s landing of its Chandrayaan-3 rover on the moon last month — becoming the first country to put a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and breaking China’s record for the southernmost lunar landing — a top Chinese scientist has said claims about the accomplishment are overstated. Ouyang Ziyuan (歐陽自遠), lauded as the father of China’s lunar exploration program, told the Chinese-language Science Times newspaper that the Chandrayaan-3 landing site, at 69 degrees south latitude, was nowhere close to the pole, defined as between 88.5 and 90 degrees. On Earth,
A cat wearing a black and yellow security vest strolls nonchalantly past security guards lined outside a Philippine office building waiting to receive instructions for their shift. Conan, a six-month-old stray, joined the security team of the Worldwide Corporate Center in the capital, Manila, several months ago. He is one of the lucky moggies unofficially adopted by security guards across the city, where thousands of cats live on the street. While the cats lack the security skills of dogs — and have a tendency to sleep on the job — their cuteness and company have endeared them to bored security guards working 12-hour
He is better known for rallying global support for Ukraine, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday picked up another favorite tool of diplomacy — his guitar. The lifelong music fan turned top US diplomat showed off his guitar chops, as he launched a new initiative of music diplomacy through which the US is to send top artists to countries including China and Saudi Arabia. After performances in the US Department of State’s formal reception room by the likes of jazz icon Herbie Hancock, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, and rising young pop singer Gayle, Blinken took
TEMPORARY HITCH? Biden said the US ‘cannot ... allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted,’ and he expects House Speaker McCarthy to come up with a solution The threat of a federal government shutdown suddenly lifted late on Saturday as US President Joe Biden signed a temporary funding bill to keep agencies open with little time to spare after the US Congress rushed to approve the bipartisan deal. The package dropped aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of Republican lawmakers, but increased federal disaster assistance by US$16 billion, meeting Biden’s full request. The bill would fund the US government until Nov. 17. After chaotic days of turmoil in the US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly abandoned demands for steep spending cuts
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