Philippines

  • SportAFP News

    Former number one Momota retires from international badminton at 29

    Two-time world champion Kento Momota said Thursday he is retiring from international badminton aged 29, admitting he had never been the same since a serious car crash four years ago.- 'A lot of hardship' - Smiling broadly throughout his 45-minute press conference but pausing often to choose the right words, Momota said he had no regrets about retiring from top-level badminton.

    3-min read
  • NewsAFP News

    X working with Pakistan govt to 'understand concerns' over ban

    Social media platform X said Thursday it would work with Pakistan's government "to understand its concerns" after authorities insisted an ongoing two-month ban was based on security grounds."We continue to work with the Pakistani Government to understand their concerns," X's Global Government Affairs team posted, in their first comments since the site was disrupted.

    3-min read
  • NewsAFP News

    Indonesia evacuating thousands after volcano erupts, causes tsunami threat

    Indonesian rescuers raced to evacuate thousands of people Thursday after a volcano erupted five times, forcing authorities to close a nearby airport and issue a warning about falling debris that could cause a tsunami.- Tsunami warning - Authorities also warned of a possible tsunami as a result of the eruptions. 

    4-min read
  • NewsAFP News

    Russian missile barrage on Ukraine city kills 18

    Rescuers were removing mountains of rubble on Thursday from the site of a lethal Russian missile strike on Ukraine's historic city of Chernigiv, where at least 18 people were killed in an attack that has prompted fresh pleas for allies to boost Kyiv's overstretched air defence systems.The official death toll rose to 18 as of Thursday morning, with 77 people -- including four children -- injured, according to Ukraine's emergency services department.

    3-min read
  • NewsAFP News

    Taiwan's next president among Time 'Most Influential'

    Taiwan's incoming president Lai Ching-te has made Time Magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People of 2024", which the island hailed Thursday as a recognition of its "democratic achievements".Taiwan's Presidential Office praised Lai's entry to the list, calling it an "important recognition from the international community to the democratic achievements" of the Taiwanese people.

    2-min read
  • SportAFP News

    Englishmen abroad: Kane relishes Champions League duel with Bellingham

    Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane looked forward to the Champions League semi-final meeting with England teammate Jude Bellingham's Real Madrid, saying it was "why we moved abroad."Kane said making it to this year's Champions League final, to be held at Wembley, was both his and Bellingham's dream. 

    3-min read
  • NewsAFP News

    Dubai roads, airport reel from floods after record rains

    Dubai's giant highways were clogged by flooding and its major airport was in chaos as the Middle East financial centre remained gridlocked on Wednesday, a day after the heaviest rains on record.Tailbacks snaked along waterlogged, six-lane expressways after up to 259.5 millimetres (10.2 inches) of rain, the most since records began 75 years ago, fell on the desert United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.At least one person was killed, a 70-year-old man who was swept away in his car in Ras Al-Khaimah, one