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WASHINGTON --- The White House said Monday that the United States administration is continuing to work with Congress on ways to "reinforce deterrence" against any changes to the status of Taiwan. Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre did not detail specifics or lay out the administration's view on Taiwan legislation currently under consideration. China claims the self-ruled island as its own. RELATED STORIES With Biden and Xi to meet, China warns US on Taiwan briefing Analysis: Biden hints at risky policy shift on Taiwan independence Biden looks to tamp down Taiwan tension during China Xi call In Tokyo, Biden says would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan...

Keep on reading: Biden admin working with Congress on ‘deterrence’ over Taiwan – White House

WASHINGTON --- Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc on Monday threatened to remove news from its platform if the United States Congress passes a proposal aimed at making it easier for news organizations to negotiate collectively with companies like Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook. Sources briefed on the matter said lawmakers are considering adding the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to a must-pass annual defense bill as a way to help the struggling local news industry. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone in a tweet said the company would be forced to consider removing news if the law was passed "rather than submit to government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard a...

Keep on reading: Facebook owner Meta may remove news from platform if US Congress passes media bill

Washington,United States --- The conservative-majority US Supreme Court appeared poised Monday to rule in favor of a Christian graphic designer who refuses to make wedding websites for same-sex couples. The case, one of the most consequential being heard by the nation's highest court this term, pits free speech rights against anti-discrimination laws. Lorie Smith, an owner of 303 Creative, a website design firm in Colorado, is challenging a state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating on the basis of gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Smith claims that creating marriage announcements for same-sex couples would be "inconsistent" with her Christian belie...

Keep on reading: US Supreme Court hears case pitting free speech against LGBTQ rights

Kinshasa,DR Congo --- Around 300 people died last week in an attack on villagers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo blamed on the M23 rebel group, government minister Julien Paluku said Monday. The government has been locked in a months-long conflict with the notorious armed group M23 -- with the latest violence coming just five days after a ceasefire was agreed between the rebels and Congolese forces. The Army originally accused the M23 insurgents of killing at least 50 civilians in Kishishe village in eastern North Kivu province last week, before the government put the number of dead at more than 100. But Paluku and government spokesman Patrick Muyaya laid out updated f...

Keep on reading: ‘Around 300’ dead in east DR Congo massacre

Marseille,France --- Two newborn babies whose corpses were found ina woman's freezer in southern France did not die of natural causes, prosecutors said Monday. "The two children were not stillborn," Florence Galtier, a prosecutor in the southern town of Avignon, told AFP, citing an autopsy. Their deaths were "not natural in origin," she added, after the discovery at the home of a 41-year-old woman arrested last Thursday in the southern village of Bedoin. The woman was charged Friday on suspicion of murder of two minors. It is not known if she is the mother of the victims, both girls. The autopsy showed one of the babies had suffered a blow leaving "cranial and intracranial...

Keep on reading: Bodies of two newborn babies found in French freezer

With no suspects or motive announced, the FBI is joining the investigation into power outages in a North Carolina county believed to have been caused by "intentional" and "targeted" attacks on substations that left around 40,000 customers in the dark Saturday night, prompting a curfew and emergency declaration.

• Goalkeeper's shootout heroics lift Croatia • England star leaves World Cup after intruders break into family home

WASHINGTON---The perennial question of whether it's "soccer" (as Americans call it) or "football" prompted Twitter wisecracks between President Joe Biden and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte this weekend, as the Netherlands sent the United States crashing out of the World Cup. "It's called soccer," Biden said in a video posted on Twitter wishing the US team luck ahead of their last-16 clash against the Dutch side on Saturday at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. But the clinical Netherlands soon ended the United States' World Cup dream, sweeping into the quarter-finals with a ruthless 3-1 victory---and Rutte was quick to respond to Biden's tweet. "Sorry Joe, football ...

Keep on reading: ‘Football’ or ‘soccer’? Biden, Dutch PM banter on Twitter

Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison for embezzling millions of dollars from four of his clients and obstruction.

Yeng Guiao sounded like a coach trying to make sense of showing up for quarterfinal match that he feels Rain or Shine has little hopes of winning. The best he could muster was "we'll try to stay in [the game] as long as we can." One of his gunners, Rey Nambatac managed to dig up some trite form of optimism. "Bilog ang bola (the ball is round)," Nambatac said, rehashing that overused basketball soundbite that generally means anything can happen. "That is surely a David and Goliath kind of game. But nothing is impossible [if] we try." The feeling of dread came after Rain or Shine survived a tough knockout match against NLEX, 110-100, late Sunday night to lay claim to the No...

Keep on reading: After surviving tough knockout match, Guiao now dealing with the hard part: Trying to beat peerless Dragons—twice

Nike cut ties with Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving Monday.