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  WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday he wants to build a global coalition against Iran during urgent consultations in the Middle East, following a week of crisis that saw the United States pull back from the brink of a military strike on Iran.   Pompeo said his first stop is Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates. Both U.S. allies work to counter Iran's influence in the region.     "We'll be talking with them about how to make sure that we are all strategically aligned, and how we can build out a global coalition, a coalition not only throughout the Gulf states, but in Asia and in Europe, that understands this cha...

Keep on reading: In Mideast, Pompeo seeks a global coalition against Iran

BANGKOK --- Southeast Asian leaders on Sunday pressed their call for self-restraint in the disputed South China Sea and renewed their alarm over the U.S.-China trade war, with one leader warning it may spiral out of control. The long-raging territorial conflicts and the protracted dispute between the two global economic powerhouses are high on the agenda in the final of two days of meetings of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It's an annual summit steeped in diplomacy, protocol and cultural color in the Thai capital. Facing regional predicaments such as the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, the leaders took the stage and clasped their hands together in...

Keep on reading: Asean leaders call for restraint amid sea row, US-China rift

  WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the U.S. was prepared to resume talks with North Korea "at a moment's notice" if the North signaled it wanted discussions about denuclearization.   Pompeo said he hoped that a letter recently sent by President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would "provide a good foundation for us to begin to continue these important discussions with the North Koreans to denuclearize the peninsula."     The North's state-run news agency on Sunday described Trump's letter to Kim as "excellent" and reported that Kim said he would "seriously contemplate" the content.   What was in t...

Keep on reading: Pompeo says US ready right now to resume talks with North Korea

NEW YORK - "Toy Story 4" brought the box office to life with a $118 million opening weekend after a three-week slump of underperforming sequels, but the Pixar film's below-expectations debut didn't quell continuing concerns about a rocky summer movie season.   The "Toy Story 4" opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, ranks as the fourth highest animated film opening ever, not accounting for inflation.     Above it are 2018's "Incredibles 2" ($182 million), 2016's "Finding Dory" ($135 million), and 2007's "Shrek the Third" ($121 million). It's the year's third largest debut, trailing only a pair of other Disney releases: "Avengers: Endgame" and "Ca...

Keep on reading: ‘Toy Story 4’ opens big but below expectations with $118M

  BERLIN - A ceremony has been held at the former site of Germany's Buchenwald concentration camp to remember people imprisoned there because they were thought to be gay.     The commemoration on Sunday was part of events in the nearby town of Weimar for Christopher Street Day, Germany's LGBT pride observance.   About 50 people marched through the grounds of the Buchenwald Memorial holding a rainbow flag and placed flowers at a marker for 650 camp prisoners who were assigned uniforms with pink triangles between 1937 and 1945.   Nazi Germany forced people to wear pink triangles to identify them as gay. Many of the prisoners lost their l...

Keep on reading: Gay prisoners of Buchenwald remembered at Nazi camp site

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - One person was killed and seven others were wounded in an attack by Iranian-allied Yemeni rebels on an airport in Saudi Arabia Sunday evening, the Saudi military said, as the U.S. secretary of state was on his way to the country for talks on Iran.   Regional tensions have flared in recent days.   The U.S. abruptly called off military strikes against Iran in response to the shooting down of an unmanned American surveillance drone on Thursday.     The Trump administration has combined a "maximum pressure" campaign of economic sanctions with a buildup of American forces in the region following the U.S. withdrawal fro...

Keep on reading: Yemeni rebels strike Saudi airport ahead of Pompeo visit

  MANILA, Philippines - A trough of a low pressure area (LPA) will bring rains to Metro Manila and other parts of the country, the state weather bureau said Monday.   Aside from Metro Manila, cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms are expected in Aurora, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Caraga and Davao regions as well as parts of the Visayas, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. Flash floods and landslides as a result of rain showers are possible in affected areas.   The LPA was last spotted 595 kilometers northeast of Borongan City, Eastern Samar.   Pagasa weather specialist Men...

Keep on reading: Pagasa: Brace for LPA-induced rains, thunderstorms

  MANILA, Philippines - A total of 36 domestic and international flights to and from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) have been delayed, while two others were diverted after a red lightning alert was raised early Monday morning.   In an advisory, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) announced that the state weather bureau issued a red lightning alert at 12:30 a.m.     This was lowered to yellow lightning alert at 1:12 a.m. and was lifted at 1:35 a.m.   This is the second time a red lightning alert was raised at the said airport due to inclement weather in a span of hours.   A red lightning alert was...

Keep on reading: Lightning alert delays Naia flights

ARRIAGA, Mexico - Authorities in southern Mexico have sent about 100 more migrants to a detention center amid the government's push to deter Central Americans and others from crossing the country to reach the United States.     Civil rights activist Luis Arbey Perez Cruz in the municipality of Arriaga said the group of migrants was transported to a center near the border with Guatemala on Sunday.   He says that "it was five immigration vans, returning to the border."   Pressured by the U.S., Mexico has deployed some 6,000 agents of the new militarized National Guard policing force along its southern and northern borders this month to help dete...

Keep on reading: Mexican authorities send more migrants to detention center

MANILA, Philippines --- President Rodrigo Duterte has dared his family's political rivals to build a strong opposition in Davao City to challenge the leadership of his children, who currently control the city's politics. The President pointed out that a beefed-up opposition would give voters an option to try out other leaders outside of the Duterte clan. "By all means, I suggest other leaders here to put up a strong opposition so that the people will have a choice. That it is not only the Dutertes who know how to run things," he said in a speech 'This is democracy' The President added: "I encourage you to do that because this is democracy." He made the remarks during the o...

Keep on reading: Duterte dares political rivals to run in Davao

MANILA, Philippines --- The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) is not in favor of another postponement of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. 'Unacceptable' "It is unacceptable," said Namfrel secretary general Eric Alvia when sought to react to the plan of Senator-elect Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go to push for the postponement of the barangay and SK polls which were scheduled to be held next year. "Here we go again, postponing regular elections. There was already an attempt to do that the last time," said Alvia. He said Namfrel had objected to postpone the elections again, saying it is one of the ways to assess our local leaders,"It m...

Keep on reading: Deferment of barangay, SK polls bucked

Tens of thousands of Czechs filled Prague's Letna Plain park on Sunday, taking part in what its organizers described as "the biggest protest since the fall of Communism."

Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for a tit-for-tat action in response to his deportation from Hong Kong by detaining and expelling a Chinese diplomat.   'Tantamount to disrespect'   The country's most prominent critic of China's territorial grabbing in the West Philippine Sea said his denial of entry at the Hong Kong airport last Friday was tantamount to a "disrespect" of the Philippines since he was using a diplomatic passport at the time.   "My diplomatic passport carries the seal of the Republic of the Philippines. To show disrespect for the passport bearer is to disrespect the Republic,"...

Keep on reading: ‘HK action deserves tit for tat from PH’

MANILA, Philippines --- Despite the dwindling number of communist rebels, the government has been losing in the propaganda war, according to national security officials. "They (communist rebels) are still using Marcos propaganda. They no longer apply but they are effective. They are good at it and we are at a loss," National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica) Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo said of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP). In a recent meeting with Inquirer editors and reporters, Monteagudo said the government was launching its own information campaign aimed at bringing in everyon...

Keep on reading: Intel chief: Gov’t losing propaganda war

MANILA, Philippines --- The next Congress should make sure there won't be a repeat of the monthslong delay in the passage of the national budget, according to incoming Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez. Romualdez, president of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats and one of the top contenders for the speakership, said a "cohesive working relationship" was needed between Congress and the economic managers to ensure that the 2020 budget would be approved before end of the year. "No. 1 on the list of priority bills, of course, is the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for year 2020," he said in a statement. "In consultation with my colleagues in the 18th Congress, all of them agreed to work d...

Keep on reading: Martin Romualdez: Another budget delay must be avoided

A proposal for a term-sharing agreement between the front-runners in the House leadership race may result in a lame-duck Speaker, according to Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. Velasco, one of the candidates in the speakership contest, dismissed on Sunday the prospect of dividing the term of the Speaker in the last three years of the Duterte administration, saying most of his peers weren't sold on the idea. In a statement, he said he arrived at such a conclusion after a series of consultations with colleagues. "Majority of our lawmakers rejected the idea because they strongly feel that it will only weaken the speakership, disrupt the flow of legislative work and more important...

Keep on reading: Proposed term sharing of speakership post opposed

BANGKOK, Thailand --- The Philippines and Indonesia agreed to narrow their trade imbalance, currently in favor of Jakarta, by allowing more Philippine products into the Indonesian market. President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo forged the agreement during bilateral talks on Saturday evening on the sidelines of the 34th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Indonesian market reopened Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the agreement covered Philippine exports of bananas, shallots, coconut products, food and beverages, and auto parts. Government data showed that Indonesia exports $1 billion worth of products, mainly palm oil, to t...

Keep on reading: PH, Indonesia agree to fix trade gap

BANGKOK, Thailan --- President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to redouble its efforts against illegal drugs, terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime. Speaking at the plenary session of the 34th Asean Summit, the President said the bloc has "made significant strides in our community building efforts." "But we face sobering realities that challenge our established order," the President said. "Terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crimes continue to threaten our security. They divide our communities, destroy families and undermine the growth we fought hard to achieve," he said. "Illegal drugs, in particular, cor...

Keep on reading: Redouble moves vs drugs, Duterte urges Asean leaders

MANILA, Philippines --- President Rodrigo Duterte has directed government agencies to expedite the development of special economic zones in rural areas to spur economic growth outside of Metro Manila.   The President signed Administrative Order No. 18 on June 17 to spur "rural progress through robust development of special economic zones in the countryside."   Peza mandate   The presidential directive tasked the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) and other government agencies to accelerate the human capital and infrastructure development in rural areas.   "There is a need to promote rural development, ensure inclusive growth in the count...

Keep on reading: Gov’t eyes more economic zones in rural areas

MANILA, Philippines --- Con artists behind eight massive investment rip-offs in the country had been able to gyp about P66 billion from 2.2 million of their unsuspecting victims in nearly two decades, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian disclosed on Sunday. However, the senator said only one individual accused of operating a major pyramiding scam, similar to the scheme allegedly designed by Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. founder and Pastor Joel Apolinario, had been indicted and jailed since 2000. Gatchalian, chair of the Senate economic affairs committee, said the failure of the government to arrest the brains of investment scams had emboldened others to put up their own unlawful o...

Keep on reading: Con artists duped 2.2M victims of P66B