ST. PAUL — Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has begun serving his 27-year and three-month prison sentence for his role in the attempted coup d’etat in 2022. The 70-year-old conservative leader is being held at the Federal Police Superintendence in Brasília — the country’s equivalent of a central police headquarters — where he was recently taken…
JAKARTA – This Indonesian capital city has officially become the world’s most highly populated city, according to the United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report. Jakarta now has 41.9 million inhabitants, surpassing Tokyo, which slipped to third place with 33.4 million people, and Dhaka, Bangladesh, which climbed to second with 36.6 million. The Indonesian capital city,…
TOKYO – Japanese Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has recently met with his Philippine counterpart, Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., in Manila and urged the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries to begin importing Japanese grapes, including the renowned Shine Muscat variety. After the meeting, Koizumi told reporters online that the Philippine official showed a positive response about…
CHANGCHUN – Tang Renjian, former minister of agriculture and rural affairs of China, on Sunday was handed the death penalty with a two-year reprieve for taking massive bribes. Tang, also a former secretary of the agricultural ministry’s leading Party members group, has been deprived of his political rights for life, while all of his personal property…
VATICAN CITY – Sex must not become a form of entertainment, Pope Leo XIV said during an audience on Tuesday with a group of young French catechumens who are in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth. The American pontiff stressed the importance of “renouncing a culture of death that is so widespread in our society.” “This…
BRUSSELS – The European Commission has criticized US President Donald Trump’s tariff imposts on three countries, saying they disrupt global trade and are harmful to all, and vowing to hit back if targeted. “The European Union (EU) regrets the U.S. decision to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China,” an EU spokesman was quoted by local…
WASHINGTON – Newly installed US President Donald Trump has announced a USD500 billion investment from OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the United States. At a White House event Tuesday afternoon, Trump said the three companies are set to partner on a new AI infrastructure company called Stargate, which will build “the…
ISTANBUL– The global population aged 65 and over has nearly doubled to 10.3%, and this trend is expected to continue. The world’s population, which continues to grow at varying rates in different regions, has already surpassed 8 billion people. According to the UN Population Fund’s (UNFPA) “2024 State of World Population Report,” global population dynamics…
JAKARTA — The Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB has reported at least 498 houses and three public facilities damaged by the eruption last March 18 of Mount Ruang in Sitaro Islands District, North Sulawesi. The head of BNPB’s Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center, Abdul Muhari, said that in addition to 135 mildly damaged houses and 363 moderately to severely damaged houses, two churches and…
VATICAN — Pope Francis has expressed concern over the conflict situation in the Middle East and called for dialogue and diplomacy among leaders in the region. During his traditional Sunday Angelus prayer at the Vatican, the pope said: “I continue to follow the situation in the Middle East with concern and sadness. I reiterate the plea not to yield to the claims of…
