Abuse of power?: A lady mayor knocks out a sheriff in southern Philippines

A fuming mayor punched a sheriff during a demolition operation in the shanties of Davao City in southern Philippines today.

City mayor Sara Duterte is seen in the attached YouTube video to have made hand gestures for Regional Trial Court Sheriff Abe Andres to approach her. Duterte collared Andres and punched him four times.

Somalia becomes the sixth country attacked by US drone planes

Following Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Yemen, Somalia became the sixth country to have been attacked by US drone fighter planes when it hit the southern coastal town of Kismayo on 23 June.

The strike that injured two fighters was conducted targeting two senior members of the anti-Somalia government group, al-Shabab, Al Jazeera said.

Ex-Taiwan leader accused for misuse of public funds

A surprised Taiwan former president Lee Teng-Hui was accused on Thursday for misappropriation of public funds during his 12-year term.

The healthy 88-year-old was said to be shocked over the decision of local prosecutors of him pilfering US$7.79 million from national security funds during his presidency between 1988 and 2000, Focus Taiwan News Channel reported.

Behold, Facebook now has 750 million users

Nearly a year after Facebook announced it reached half a billion users, the popular social networking site now has 750 million active members.

That number makes Mark Zuckerberg’s company cover close to eleven percent of the world's 6.9-billion population.

If Facebook were a country, it will be the third largest after China and India, displacing the US.

Cambodia's Khmer Rouge quartet face trial

Standing before a UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh are four aging senior members of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge that ruled the country from 1975 to 1979.

In more than 30 years, the quartet—former President Khieu Samphan, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and former Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith—are facing justice for the first time, The Guardian stated.

Afghan War: Why US will pullout 33,000 troops

As US President Barack Obama announced military pullout in Afghanistan by autumn next year, 24,498 people had already been killed between 2004 and 2009 alone, according to data released by WikiLeaks last year.

Of these, 4,000 were private citizens, nonmilitary persons. These civilian deaths represent 16.3 percent of all deaths during that time period, said UK’s The Guardian.

Iran condemns US for terrorism

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei labeled the US as having "dark record of terroristic behaviors" for its drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan that have allegedly killed a number of civilians.

During his speech at the two-day anti-terrorism conference in Tehran this weekend, Khamenei added that a state who is engaged in such activities cannot lecture the world in battling terrorism, Daily India reported.

WikiLeaks' cables reveal US twists Haiti's arm for its own interests

Recently released diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks show how much pressure Washington is giving to Port-au-Prince that seem to ruin the country's road to recovery after the 12 January 2010 earthquake.

An Al Jazeera report in the attached YouTube video says the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere was bullied to American pressure. Several US companies are profiting from it since the January 2010 quake, the cables said.

Incessant rains bring havoc to N Philippines

Tropical storm Meari continue to bring much floods in many areas in northern Philippines including the capital since yesterday.

Eleven people were reported missing according to a report by the National Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Italy: End the Libyan war

WARNING: The attached YouTube video shows the shocking conditions of civilians who were killed during NATO attacks in Libya.

The Italian foreign minister urged the immediate cessation of aggression in the war-torn north African state in order for humanitarian help reach the people, Sky News said.

5 Abu Sayyaf members nabbed in southern Philippines

Five alleged members of the militant group Abu Sayyaf were captured early Wednesday morning by security forces in Sulu Archipelago, south of Manila.

The suspected bandits who did not resist their captors in a surprise raid in Upper Cabengbeng village, Sumisip town, Basilan province, were not immediately named, Malaysia's Bernama.com said.

Italy warns NATO's credibility is at risk for killing civilians in Libya

Concerned with NATO's accidental killing of civilians in Tripoli, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told the media during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, "NATO's credibility is at risk. We cannot run the risk of killing civilians. This is not good at all."

But the bloc instead urged the use of frozen funds to finance Libya's insurgents who warned they are running out of money to finance the war as they enter the fifth month of struggle against the government. They want NATO to fulfill their promise of financial support, the AFP said.

Libya calls for global jihad vs. the West

A Twitter message from Libyan foreign minister "urges all Muslims to launch global jihad against the West."

The oil-rich state's information minister, however, insisted that it is not a call for violence, Bulawayo24 News said.

SCO: NATO's would-be rival?

A what? This is the first time I've ever heard of that acronym.

SCO, which stands for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, is an intergovernmental mutual security organization that was founded in 2001 by the heads of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In the attached 25-minute YouTube video, Al Jazeera's Inside Story tackles deeper what the organization is all about.

NATO kills Libyan rebels inadvertently, again

Oh no, not again.

NATO expressed remorse on Saturday for accidentally hitting vehicles of Libyan insurgents during an airstrike in an eastern oil town on Thursday.

An unknown number of people died when the coalition body that was mandated to protect civilians against the 42-year-old rule of Col. Muammnar Gaddafi struck a column of military vehicles in Brega they believed were government forces.

Falklands: Would word war turn into another armed war?

Let's pause a bit from the Spratlys issue and focus our attention to another territorial dispute.

Argentina's president called the UK "a crass colonial power in decline" because it refuses to discuss the contested South Atlantic archipelago.

Yahoo! Japan, newspaper ordered to pay damages over old photo

This may serve as warning to Internet news sites.

A court in Tokyo ruled on 15 June that Yahoo Japan Corporation and a national daily, the Sankei Shimbun, pay the damages for publishing a photo of a suicide victim in handcuffs after his death.

The Tokyo District Court ordered the two companies to compensate the widow of Kazuyoshi Miura the sum of 660,000 yen (US$8,200) for publicizing the 1985 photo of him in iron rings accompanied by the Japanese police over the Los Angeles killings, The Mainichi Daily News stated.

Son says Gaddafi ready for an election, rules out exile

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is ready to relinquish his post after an election but will not be swayed to go into exile.

Saif al-Islam, the second son of the strong man, in a report by Corriere della Sera on Thursday said that his father would agree to hold an internationally-supervised election in three months' time or at the end of the year at the most, Reuters said.

Iran intensifies efforts to combat Western-cultural invasion

The government of Iran wants to strictly enforce its "moral security plan" within the country—from men's hairstyles, to women's dress code to pet ownership.

The attached YouTube video shows a report by Al Jazeera that says over 70,000 specially trained forces called "moral police" have been mobilized in the streets to implement the regime's dress code where exposure of women's skin as well as wearing necklaces and classy hairstyles for men are not allowed.

World's first floating nuclear plant being built by Russia

Just when the world is beginning to stay away from nuclear energy, Russia is building what could be the first floating nuclear reactor in the world.

The attached YouTube video shows one of the eight floating nuclear reactors being built in St. Petersburg, with each reactor costing US$336 million, Al Jazeera said.