MANILA -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has named Rear Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo as the new Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy, Department of National Defense Spokesman Arsenio Andolong said on Friday.
Bacordo will replace Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad, who is reaching the compulsory retirement age of 56 on Feb. 3. (Philippines-Navy-New Chief)
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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani senior officials on Friday assured support to visiting U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad for his peace efforts in war-shattered Afghanistan.
Khalilzad met Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. (Pakistan-U.S.-Afghanistan)
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TOKYO -- Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on Friday said that releasing radioactive water from the disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean would be a preferable option than releasing it into the atmosphere.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the operator of the crippled nuclear plant that underwent core meltdowns after being pummeled by a devastating earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2011, has said that it is running out of storage tanks to hold water used to cool the melted-down cores. (Japan-Radioactive Water-Disposal)
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HONG KONG -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam announced a string of measures on Friday to further contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, including extending the suspension of classes at schools for at least two more weeks.
Primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and special schools across Hong Kong will not resume class until March 2, Lam told a press conference, adding that the date may be further postponed pending the HKSAR government's future assessment of the development of the epidemic, the supply of anti-epidemic materials and the readiness of schools. (HK-Schools-Suspended)
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan -- Seven civilians have been confirmed dead as fighting planes struck a suspected Taliban hideout in Dasht-e-Archi district of the northern Kunduz province on Thursday, locals said Friday.
According to two eyewitnesses who declined to be identified, the victims including two women and five men were going from Chardara district to the neighboring restive Dasht-e-Archi district when unmanned planes targeted them, killing the seven on the spot. (Afghanistan-Taliban-Civilians) Enditem
