China, Asean make progress on Code of Conduct, but…

Inquirer.net - Nov 12, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — China and Southeast Asian countries have made progress on a South China Sea pact but won’t be able to conclude decades of negotiations this year as agreed, three regional diplomats said on Wednesday. China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) began negotiating the so-called “code of conduct” (COC) in 2005

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Trump defends Iran war in Veterans Day address
Nov 12, 2026
Trump defends Iran war in Veterans Day address

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a U.S. Veterans Day commemoration Wednesday to defend the war against Iran — an increasingly unpopular conflict that helped trigger a Democratic takeover of Congress in last week's midterm elections. "The bravery and skill of our amazing American warriors has absolutely been incredible," Trump said in an address at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington. "When this conflict is over, and it will be soon, the entire world will be a much safer and better place, more peaceful place, and a place without the kind of danger that we had to suffer." The war, which began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, has so far cost the lives of 23 U.S. service members and wounded several hundred more, according to the latest Pentagon figures. Trump said in his remarks that the conflict was started not by Washington but by Tehran, which "has been waging war on America since 1979." He stressed that U.S. forces were acting in order to halt Iran's capacity to build a nuclear weapon. During his speech before troops, veterans and top

S. Korean envoy reaffirms Seoul's conditional approach to proposed Alaska LNG project
Nov 12, 2026
S. Korean envoy reaffirms Seoul's conditional approach to proposed Alaska LNG project

WASHINGTON — South Korea's top envoy to the United States on Wednesday reaffirmed Seoul's willingness to cooperate on a proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project while emphasizing commercial and legal conditions for participation. Ambassador Kang Kyung-wha made the remarks in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post, outlining progress in South Korea's US$350 billion investment commitment to the U.S. "Korea and the U.S. have also agreed to commence working on the Alaska LNG project, subject to meeting commercial reasonableness and applicable domestic legal requirements," Kang wrote. Her remarks came amid differences between Seoul and Washington over the status of the proposed project. The White House previously said $54 billion was tied to the Alaska project, but Seoul has maintained that its participation remains subject to a commercial viability review. Kang did not specify an investment figure for the Alaska project, even as she outlined financial commitments for other major energy initiatives in the United States. She said the two governments had agreed on a framew

World leaders urge stronger, faster action at UN climate talks over inadequate response
Nov 12, 2026
World leaders urge stronger, faster action at UN climate talks over inadequate response

ANTALYA, Turkey — World leaders called for urgent and decisive action on global warming Wednesday as formal talks began at the United Nations climate conference in Turkey, saying the crisis is disproportionately harming some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. “You might as well bomb us. That might have been easier than watching climate change tear apart our homes piece by piece,” said Surangel Whipps Jr., president of the island nation of Palau. “We are at war with a crisis we did not create. A war no peace treaty can end, only urgent action can.” The annual summit follows a year of deadly floods, heat waves and other disasters. Leaders said geopolitical conflicts had diverted attention from climate change. Leaders of the world’s three biggest polluting nations — China, the United States and India, which together account for more than half of global carbon dioxide emissions — skipped the summit at COP31. Their absence left a handful of national leaders and U.N. officials to press for action as a new report warned of a widening gap between countries’ climate ple

Mississippi elects Democrat Scott Colom as state's first Black US senator since Reconstruction
Nov 12, 2026
Mississippi elects Democrat Scott Colom as state's first Black US senator since Reconstruction

JACKSON, Miss. — Democratic nominee Scott Colom has defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's closely contested U.S. Senate race after a prolonged ballot counting process, giving the state its first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction. Colom's narrow victory is a seismic shift in Mississippi, which has been controlled mostly by white conservatives for generations, and it will echo through the country as well. The outcome adds to a decisive midterm rebuke of President Donald Trump, whose party suffered defeats in several Republican-controlled states, and it will bolster some Democrats' argument that their future runs through the American South. The Associated Press called the contest Wednesday in Colom's favor after local elections officials spent several days processing absentee and provisional ballots, called affidavit ballots in Mississippi. The last time Mississippi chose a new Democratic senator was 1947, and the winner then was a staunch segregationist. Colom, a 43 year-old local prosecutor, capitalized on the state’s large Black population,

Pope Leo returns to national party in his second homeland of Peru
Nov 12, 2026
Pope Leo returns to national party in his second homeland of Peru

LIMA, Peru — Pope Leo XIV arrived in his second homeland of Peru on Wednesday, returning to the place that he credits with teaching him how to be a pastor and where a nationwide party awaits to welcome their beloved “Padre Robert” home. The visit to Peru marks the final leg of Leo’s three-nation South America tour and its emotional highlight, given the more than two decades that the former Robert Prevost spent in Peru as a missionary priest and later bishop. As a dual citizen of the United States and Peru, he’s the first pope from each country. Leo’s charter plane touched down at a Lima-area air base, where he was welcomed by President Keiko Fujimori. Leo seemed genuinely moved as he emerged from his Aerolineas Argentinas charter plane, smiling broadly as he greeted Fujimori and embracing two children who brought him flowers. He plunged into the crowd of well wishers on the tarmac who waved flags of Peru and the Vatican and stopped to hold a baby and listen to a children's choir. The elation over the pope's return was felt across Peru. “My heart is so excited that it makes

Turkey's president calls war in Gaza 'ecocide' at UN climate summit
Nov 12, 2026
Turkey's president calls war in Gaza 'ecocide' at UN climate summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called for the world to recognize the environmental impacts of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and asked the Israeli government to grant more aid access to the Palestinian territory. Erdogan was speaking at the U.N. climate summit, known as COP31, in Antalya, Turkey. “What has taken place in Gaza is not only a genocide, but it is also an ecocide,” Erdogan said to applause by world leaders and other climate envoys. A U.N.-backed panel of independent experts concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegations and has accused the panel of antisemitism. “Centuries old olive trees have been cut down. The soil and water have been polluted in Gaza, and cities in Gaza have been turned into enormous piles of rubble,” Erdogan said. “With Gaza’s destroyed infrastructure, compounded by torrential rain and by flooding, tens of thousands of tents and shelters have been inundated.” Israel's Foreign Ministry responded in a post on X, accusing Erdogan of “using an international forum to pu

Nvidia is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang, WSJ reports
Nov 12, 2026
Nvidia is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang, WSJ reports

Nvidia's board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang after he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The board is preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday to determine his future, the report added. Earlier in the day, the New York Times reported that Huang had an extramarital affair with a company executive who reported to him. The relationship was with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, the New York Times said, citing five people who worked at the company. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports. The reports on Wednesday come days after Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife, as Nvidia's board investigates whether he was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The latest revelation escalates a controversy that has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers, investors and Nvidia's board over Huang's conduct and his relationship with Alice Huang, a woman who U.S. intelligence has s

World leaders urge stronger and faster action at UN climate talks over inadequate response
Nov 12, 2026
World leaders urge stronger and faster action at UN climate talks over inadequate response

ANTALYA, Turkey — It's time to act decisively and urgently to curb global warming, which is wreaking havoc with deadly floods, heat waves and other disasters, the United Nations chief told world leaders Wednesday as formal talks began at the U.N. climate conference in Turkey. “We know the truth. Now we must act on it because climate action is more than a fight over a number or a thermometer," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in an opening speech. “We are in the fight for our lives and our children’s future." But top leaders of the world’s three biggest polluting nations — China, the United States and India, together responsible for more than half of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions — skipped the summit, known as COP31. Their absence left a handful of national leaders and U.N. officials to press for action as a new report warned of a widening gap between countries’ climate pledges and actual emissions cuts. Scientists say global warming is likely to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. Limiting warming to that t

Trump to flex muscles on Asia tour after midterms losses
Nov 12, 2026
Trump to flex muscles on Asia tour after midterms losses

WASHINGTON — After his party suffered a midterms hammering, President Donald Trump faces a new challenge: proving he is still the boss of U.S. foreign policy on the global stage. With Trump politically hamstrung as he enters the remaining two-year "lame duck" period of his White House tenure, world leaders may be quietly wondering how to leverage the new balance of power in Washington. The 80-year-old Republican heads to the ASEAN summit in the Philippines and APEC summit in China from a radically transformed and hostile political landscape at home after the Democrats seized both the House of Representatives and Senate. Constitutionally banned from seeking a third term in the 2028 presidential race, the unpredictable billionaire could be all the more inclined to focus his energy on the international stage. "After bad midterms, this is how presidents reset," Edgard Kagan, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told a news briefing. Iran, trade, China That is especially true for Trump on his Asian tour, where he is unlikely to be pressed publicly on domestic

Firefighters rescue multiple survivors from rubble after Brooklyn building collapse kills at least 2
Nov 12, 2026
Firefighters rescue multiple survivors from rubble after Brooklyn building collapse kills at least 2

NEW YORK — Firefighters dug through the rubble of a three-story building in Brooklyn on Wednesday after it collapsed at the edge of a construction site, killing at least two people and trapping others beneath the wreckage. Firefighters were called to the scene in the borough's Flatbush section around 4 p.m. News helicopter footage showed dozens of firefighters scouring the debris, clambering over the rubble pile and using their hands and power saws to cut through the ruins. One person died, and at least four others were rushed to a hospital in critical condition, according to the New York City Fire Department. Six additional people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. At around 6:30 p.m., firefighters pulled a dust-covered person — still alive and moving — out of a hole they had dug into the rubble pile, hoisting them up on a stretcher and rushing them to a waiting ambulance. The building that collapsed had been perched at the edge of a lot where another one-story building had been torn down for a construction project. The site was being excavated, and the building that fel

Who Is Kimberly Powell, Nvidia Executive Who Had Affair With CEO Jensen Huang?
Nov 12, 2026
Who Is Kimberly Powell, Nvidia Executive Who Had Affair With CEO Jensen Huang?

Powell, 48, joined the chipmaker company in 2008. She oversees the company's worldwide healthcare business, including hardware and software platforms for accelerated computing, AI, and visualisation that power the ecosystem of medical imaging devices.

Trump Approved Crackdown On Nvidia Chip Diversions To China 3 Times. Who's The Roadblock? Howard Lutnick
Nov 12, 2026
Trump Approved Crackdown On Nvidia Chip Diversions To China 3 Times. Who's The Roadblock? Howard Lutnick

The latest approval came last Thursday, November 5, when Trump authorised measures against suspected chip diversion after consulting billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

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