MANILA, Philippines – Situated squarely within the tropical solar belt, the Philippines receives an average of 4.5 to 5.5 kilowatt-hours of solar radiation per square meter per day. Yet, fossil fuels continue to dominate the nation’s power grid, with coal alone generating roughly 62% of its electricity, according to Department of Energy data cited by
BARRANQUILLA, Colombia — Colombia’s new right-wing leader has built himself a costly new presidential palace — a white-columned mansion far from Bogota that doubles as a political manifesto. Tucked inside a Caribbean military base, President Abelardo de la Espriella’s new headquarters is meant to embody two of his signature promises: a focus on Colombia’s security
MILAN — Shops in central Milan closed early and boarded up their windows on Monday, fearing a new wave of unrest after two days of protests that saw demonstrators clash with police, loot stores and vandalise property. Most stores in Milan's Via Montenapoleone luxury shopping district, home to brands including Chanel, Tiffany and Dior, had removed merchandise from their windows as a precaution, while police patrolled the street and a handful of tourists looked on. Several hundred hooded protesters, many believed to be minors, set bins ablaze and looted shops in the city centre over the weekend after an initially peaceful demonstration on Saturday over poor public services and rising costs. Among the stores ransacked were sports retailers Decathlon and Arc'teryx and mobile phone operator Vodafone, television footage showed. Stores such as clothing brands Levi's and Under Armour, as well as Decathlon, covered their shop windows with cardboard and wooden panels. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who faces a national election next year, condemned the violence and chaired a meeting with
CAIRO — Egypt's parliament is expected to vote next week on whether to authorise the armed forces to help defend Saudi Arabia against attacks by Yemen's Houthis if Riyadh requests its support. The move would bring the Arab world's most populous country closer to direct military involvement in the widening conflicts unleashed by the U.S.-Israeli air assault on Iran in February. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi requested the approval in a speech on Saturday, saying Egypt would "never, never forget our brothers in the Gulf" and telling Saudi Arabia's leaders that Cairo would "take any measure to protect you". Like the Gulf states that have come under attack from Tehran in the Iran war, Egypt is a longstanding partner in the U.S.-led security order that is being tested by the conflict. What is Egypt's stance on the Iran war? Sisi's comments marked a clear escalation from the more measured tone authorities have tended to adopt since the Iran war started. Though Egypt has repeatedly voiced strong support for its Gulf allies, Cairo has stopped short of publicly committing itself to a direct comb
MOMBASA, Kenya — A Kenyan court on Monday found starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie and about 30 others guilty of murder over the deaths of 190 children and one adult in one of the world's worst cult-related disasters in recent history. Mackenzie and his co-accused will be given their sentence on November 6. He was arrested in 2023 after police received a tip-off, and weeks later authorities began uncovering bodies in shallow graves in the Shakahola Forest near the coast in southeastern Kenya. Prosecutors say Mackenzie and his Good News International Church organised a Christian doomsday sect in which they ordered followers to starve themselves and their children to death to go to heaven before the world ended. Mackenzie denied murder charges, saying he did not force the victims to starve, but the court rejected that argument. In total, more than 400 bodies have been recovered from the Shakahola Forest. Many were severely decomposed, with only 26 bodies able to be identified. Monday's judgment covered 191 deaths while investigations into the other deaths are ongoing. Families in court t
PARIS — France's central government asked some local authorities to impose curfews as it faced pressure over security failings on Monday after a weekend of riots and looting stemming from nationwide anti-government protests. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ruled out a blanket curfew in Paris but not a state of emergency. But he said it was more appropriate for now to apply partial and localised curfews, without providing details. "My determination to restore order is absolute," he told reporters. Ariel Weil, the Socialist mayor of central Paris, said on BFM TV he favoured a curfew. Marseille banned gatherings and demonstrations. French unions meanwhile called for a new round of strikes and rallies on November 5. The weekend of looting and violence between some protesters and police followed weeks of student demonstrations, rocking France six months ahead of its next presidential election and highlighting pressures from a weak economy and surging debt. Minister blames far left Lecornu blamed far-left groups for some of France's worst unrest in years. "There is, after all, a far-left move
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched new attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, adding that Kyiv again received no early warning of the attack from partner countries that previously shared their intelligence. Zelenskyy is grappling with recent Washington moves benefiting Russian President Vladimir Putin, including waiving U.S. sanctions on Moscow and signing a deal to import diesel from Moscow. Moscow and Kyiv, meanwhile, were discussing the possible evacuation of the Russian-occupied front-line city of Oleshky in the southern Kherson region, where about 2,000 people have been cut off from food and medical supplies for months, according to a Ukrainian human rights official. Vital US supplies are running late, Zelenskyy says Zelenskyy said speed restrictions are still in place on Kyiv’s use of the military-grade version of U.S. company SpaceX’s satellite internet service. Full service was being restored at the end of last week, but Zelenskyy said Monday that the restrictions are still slowing U
ROME/BERLIN/WARSAW — Governments in Europe and Asia, including China, on Monday advised citizens travelling to France to avoid large crowds and exercise caution, warning of a deterioration in security conditions after thousands were arrested and shops looted in protests over the weekend. Demonstrations across France over high prices and declining public services erupted into riots on Saturday, with a town hall torched as violent groups clashed with police. In response, the foreign ministries of several European countries issued fresh travel warnings. Italy Italy said its citizens should register their presence in France on a website or an app to enable them to be located, as it warned them to avoid large crowds and exercise extreme caution. Germany The German foreign ministry said further riots in the coming days couldn't be ruled out and urged German nationals to follow instructions from local police. It warned citizens that they could face fines or claims for damages if they failed to leave unauthorised demonstrations when asked to do so. Czech Republic Czechs in France are advised to av
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday expressed uncertainty about the possibility of meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in China next month, saying he was not sure whether anyone had requested such a meeting. Trump made the remarks when asked by a reporter whether he expected to secure a meeting with Kim during his planned attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China, scheduled for November 18-19 in Shenzhen. "Oh, I don't know. I don't know," Trump said at the White House. "I'm not sure that anybody's asking for a meeting." The president nevertheless emphasized his personal ties with the North Korean leader. "I get along with him very well," Trump said. "But my relationship with Kim Jong-un is very good." In August, Trump said that he hoped to meet Kim later this year, adding to speculation that he might seek to rekindle his personal diplomacy with Kim that led to three bilateral in-person meetings: the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. Last Monday,
