Manila / AFP Chinese vessels have left the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a Philippine official said on Saturday, less than a week after President Rodrigo Duterte visited Beijing pledging closer ties. The firebrand leader used the trip to vaunt his move away from traditional ally the United States in favour of Beijing—which was previously at …

  Beijing / AFP Political concerns over the North Korean regime are stopping vital relief aid from reaching the victims of a major flood there, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Saturday. Nearly 70,000 people are estimated to have lost their homes in disastrous flooding in North Hamgyong province in August and September …

  Madrid / AFP Spain turns the page on a 10-month political crisis on Saturday as lawmakers ready to vote the conservatives back in power, although at the head of a government with unprecedented opposition. Aided by divisions among his rivals, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is widely expected to win a crunch parliamentary confidence vote on Saturday evening which will see …