MANILA (AFP) – Japan and the Philippines said Friday they will start negotiations for a defense pact that would allow the countries to deploy troops on each other’s territory. Tokyo and Manila -- longtime allies of the United States -- are deepening their defense cooperation. The accord would create the legal basis for the countries to send defense personnel to each other’s territory for training and other operations. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the start of reciprocal access negotiations following talks in Manila.

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MOSCOW (RT) – U.S. House Republicans are fast approaching a point where they will have to decide whether to impeach President Joe Biden, but following the evidence and observing due process takes time, speaker Mike Johnson said. “I do believe that very soon we are coming to a point of decision on it,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters on Capitol Hill. “We’re gonna follow the evidence where it leads and we’ll see, and I’m not gonna predetermine it this morning.” Johnson pointed out that Democrats had twice used impeachment for “raw partisan political purposes” against president Donald Trump.

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KYIV (AP) - President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will visit Ukraine this month, the TSN.ua media outlet reported, citing Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishina. During her visit, von der Leyen will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the European Union (EU) announcement of its decision regarding the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, Stefanishina said. The parties will discuss Ukraine’s progress toward EU membership, which will be presented by the European Commission in the final report on Nov 8, she said.

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HELSINKI (AFP) - Finland and the United States have concluded the fifth round of negotiations for a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced this week. Finland’s chief negotiator Mikael Antell said that the draft agreement would proceed to the political process. The text of the agreement will not be considered final until both parties have signed it. Subsequently, it will be published, but its entry into force is contingent on approval by the parliament. According to Finnish media, parliamentary approval is not expected by the end of 2023.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s capital New Delhi was wrapped in a thick layer of toxic haze on Friday and some schools were ordered closed as the air quality index (AQI) plummeted to the “severe” category. New Delhi again topped a real-time list of the world’s most polluted cities compiled by Swiss group IQAir, which put the Indian capital’s AQI at 640 in the “hazardous” category on Friday, followed by 335 in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Regional officials said a seasonal combination of lower temperatures, a lack of wind and crop stubble burning in neighboring farm states had caused a spike in air pollutants. Many of New Delhi’s 20 million residents complained of irritation in the eyes and itchy throats with the air turning a dense grey as the AQI hovered around 480 in some monitoring stations.