MANILA (AFP) - The Philippines’ foreign ministry issued a rare rebuke to government officials and agencies on Sunday over public comments about China, stressing the need for a unified voice as the country heads into a key regional summit. The uniformed services of the Philippines have been engaged in a long-running war of words with the Chinese government over the South China Sea, a busy waterway that Beijing claims almost entirely despite an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. Multiple senators also called last month for Beijing’s ambassador to be declared persona non grata after he suggested China could “easily win” any confrontation with the Philippines.

 

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ASUNCION (AP) – Paraguayan prosecutors has formally charged ousted president Santiago Pena with breach of trust and administration for personal gain over alleged irregularities linked to the collapse of Ueno Bank. Prosecutors also requested pretrial detention for Pena and restrictions on his assets, according to local newspaper Ultima Hora. Former central bank chief Carlos Carvallo was charged with breach of trust, administration for personal gain and the production of false public documents. Prosecutors likewise requested his pretrial detention. According to the indictment, Pena allegedly used his position to influence the placement and retention of substantial public and pension funds at Ueno Bank, despite his previous financial ties to the lender.

 

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LOS ANGELES (Xinhua) -- Eight people were hospitalized after a car mounted a sidewalk and plowed into pedestrians outside a supermarket in Los Angeles on Saturday, according to local officials and media reports. The crash was reported at 12:51 p.m. local time in the Arlington Heights neighborhood, said the Los Angeles Fire Department in an update on its website. Ten patients were assessed at the scene, eight of whom were taken to local hospitals, said the department, adding that cause of the crash remained undetermined. The driver was a man approximately 60 years old who appeared to have remained at the scene, local television station KTLA 5 reported, citing police.

 

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DAKAR (AFP) - At least 21 people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off the Senegalese coast, the interior ministry said on Sunday. Authorities had rescued one survivor and found 21 bodies as of Saturday evening, the ministry said in a statement on X. The accident occurred off Kebemer, a town about 180 km north of Dakar. Search and rescue operations were continuing as authorities looked for possible additional survivors. The boat was carrying people seeking to migrate irregularly, the statement said. It did not say how many were on board. Thousands of people have died in recent years attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from West Africa, including 635 in the first five months of this year, according to migrant rights group Walking Borders

 

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CAPE TOWN (AFP) - South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party faces a major setback after last week’s municipal elections, leaving it in a weak position in coalition talks to form city governments. With 99 percent of the votes counted on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC had 31 percent nationally against 25 percent for its main rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA). That represents a drop of roughly 14 percentage points from its 2021 local elections performance. Former President Jacob Zuma’s party won about 10 percent of votes, putting it in third place, while the rest of the ballots were split between hundreds of smaller parties.