INSIDER
The Catholic Church has a new leader and congratulations are pouring in as Pope Leo XIV prepares to celebrate his first Mass.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says his country and the Philippines will start talks on two proposed defense pacts to further boost their security alliance and would continue to fight aggression in disputed Asian waters in an obvious rebuke of China.
A 5-year-old girl and her parents were among the 11 people killed in a car attack during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver.
The body of Pope Francis was moved Wednesday morning to St. Peter’s Basilica for three days of public mourning for an Argentine pontiff remembered for his humble style, concern for the poor and insistent prayers for peace.
The United States, Japan and the Philippines have staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Trump administration will work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.
The Philippine defense chief has called China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea as “the biggest fiction and lie” that no Southeast Asian country will accept.
A Philippine official says U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to visit the Philippines, the first stop in his first trip to Asia next week, for talks that will include increasing deterrence against aggression in the disputed South China Sea.
Jailed former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appeared by videoconference before judges at the International Criminal Court.
A Philippine general says that ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened him with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and told law enforcers “you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague.”.
The International Criminal Court has taken custody of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity for anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office.
Philippine ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who left a savage legacy over his deadly anti-drugs crackdown, was arrested on an international warrant as he returned to Manila.
Philippine officials say arrested former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has left Manila on a plane and he will be turned over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
An unannounced trip by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to Hong Kong has set off speculations that he may be trying to evade a possible arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court over his bloody crackdown on drugs.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has asked the Supreme Court to void her impeachment and block a Senate trial that could remove her from office.
Philippine government investigators have filed criminal complaints including sedition against Vice President Sara Duterte over her public threat to have the president assassinated if she herself was killed in an escalating political storm.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte says her lawyers are preparing for a legal battle in her upcoming impeachment trial but refused to say if resignation is an option.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has been impeached on a range of accusations that include plotting to assassinate the president and engaging in large-scale corruption.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier seized in November 2023 at the start of their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.
China's relations are starting to improve with Japan, India and other countries that former U.S. President Joe Biden courted, just as Donald Trump brings his more unilateralist approach back to the White House.
Kamala Harris has hinted that she wants to stay involved in politics and foreign affairs after leaving the vice president's office, but she hasn't disclosed any plans so far.
A group of Afghan nationals have arrived in the Philippines to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the United States.
Filipino death row inmate Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso knelt to pray when officers came to take her to an execution site in May 2015, just feet from her isolation cell on an Indonesian prison island, where a 13-member firing squad was waiting.
A group led by left-wing activists has filed a second impeachment complaint against the Philippine vice president over her alleged misuse of government funds and demanded that she be permanently barred from holding public office.
An impeachment complaint has been filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing a legal storm over a death threat she made against the president and her alleged role in extra-judicial killings of drug suspects, corruption and failure to stand up to Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea.
Philippine police officials have filed criminal complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte and her security staff for allegedly assaulting authorities and disobeying orders in a recent altercation in Congress.
A major political storm set off by a bitter feud between the Philippine president and the vice president is testing an Asian democracy that has long been troubled by rowdy politics, poor law enforcement and bareface impunity.
Philippine authorities handed a subpoena to Vice President Sara Duterte’s office, inviting her to answer investigators’ questions after she publicly threatened to have the president assassinated if she were killed in an unspecified plot herself.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has described a public threat by the vice president to have him killed by an assassin as a criminal plot and vowed to fight it, in a looming showdown between the country’s top two leaders.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte says she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says a deal has been reached for Indonesia to send back a Filipino death-row drug convict, who was nearly executed by firing squad but got a reprieve due to years of pleadings from Manila.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has expressed regret that his Chinese counterpart chose not to hold talks with him during meetings of Southeast Asian defense chiefs in Laos, calling it a setback for the entire region.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has condemned China's dangerous actions against the Philippines and renewed a warning that the United States would defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in the disputed South China Sea.
The United States and the Philippines have signed an agreement to secure the exchange of highly confidential military intelligence and technology in key weapons the U.S. would provide to Manila.
Typhoon Man-yi has left at least seven people dead in a landslide, destroyed houses and displaced large numbers of villagers before blowing away from the northern Philippines, worsening the crisis wreaked by multiple back-to-back storms.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed two laws reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, where the new laws clash with Beijing’s extensive territorial claims.
The cockiness, expletives and threats unleashed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in a Senate inquiry brought back the nightmare of the bloody “war on drugs” for many families of the thousands of victims who were gunned down under his rule.
Torrential rain set off by an approaching storm has swamped eastern Philippine cities and towns in widespread floods that have killed at least seven people, trapped others on their roofs and sparked frantic appeals for help.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian leaders Friday that the U.S. is concerned about China’s “increasingly dangerous and unlawful” activities in the disputed South China Sea during an annual summit meeting, and pledged the U.S. will continue to uphold freedom of navigation in the vital sea trade route.
Southeast Asian leaders have stepped up pressure on China to respect international law following clashes in the disputed South China Sea, but Chinese Premier Li Qiang remained defiant during annual summit talks as he blamed “external forces” for interfering in regional affairs.
Officials in the Philippines say former President Rodrigo Duterte has registered to run for mayor of his southern home city despite his notorious legacy over his brutal anti-drug crackdown that the International Criminal Court is investigating as a possible crime against humanity.
A Philippine televangelist, who calls himself the “anointed son of God” and once claimed to have stopped an earthquake, has pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking.
A dismissed town mayor who fled the Philippines after being accused of helping establish an illegal online gaming and scam center catering to clients in China has been arrested near Indonesia’s capital.
Hundreds of police, backed by riot squads, have raided a vast religious compound in a southern Philippine city in search of a local preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
The Philippines has agreed to temporarily host a U.S. immigrant visa processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in America.
With large parts of the world in turmoil and deep uncertainty over the future direction of America’s global role, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought this week to project an aura of calm normalcy as he traveled through Asia on his first overseas mission since President Joe Biden jolted the 2024 presidential race with his withdrawal.
Washington officials in Manila have announced $500 million in funding to boost Philippine defenses and progress in a proposed military intelligence-sharing pact amid shared concerns over China's increasingly aggressive actions in the region.
China has issued a rare compliment to the administration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his order banning widespread and Chinese-run online gaming operations.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered an immediate ban on the mostly Chinese-run online gaming operations in the country.
A recently signed agreement will open a direct line of communication between presidential offices of China and the Philippines to help prevent any new confrontation from spiraling out of control in the disputed South China Sea.
Japan and the Philippines have signed a defense pact allowing Japanese forces to deploy in the Southeast Asian country for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills.
The president of the Philippines says his country will not yield to “any foreign power” after Chinese forces injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged at least two military boats with machetes, axes and hammers in a clash in the disputed South China Sea, but added the Philippines will never instigate a war.
In the Philippines, where colonial rule under Spain and later the United States endured for nearly four centuries, June 12 is the real Independence Day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with the Philippine president on a rare Asian trip to urge regional leaders to attend a Swiss-organized peace summit on the war in Ukraine that he accuses Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine.
China’s defense minister has acknowledged the importance of newly renewed military-to-military communications with the United States as tensions escalate in the Asia-Pacific, while at the same time accusing Washington of causing the friction with its support for Taiwan and the Philippines.
United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has told a gathering of top security officials he doesn’t see war with China as imminent, nor unavoidable, despite rapidly escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met with his Chinese counterpart as the two countries seek to repair lines of communications between their militaries that could be critical as tensions continue to rise between them in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Philippine defense secretary says it will continue to build security alliances and stage joint combat drills in disputed waters to defend its territorial interests.
U.S. and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian air force surveillance aircraft, have unleashed a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship as part of largescale war drills in and near the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing.
The Commerce Department is announcing new restrictions on U.S. firearms exports in an effort to prevent the guns from ending up in the hands of drug traffickers and criminals in other nations.
American and Filipino forces have launched their largest combat exercises in years in a show of allied firepower that will include joint sails with the French navy and a ship-sinking drill near the disputed South China Sea that has alarmed Beijing.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says police have seized the largest haul of methamphetamine in the country in years without anybody being killed, in a subtle criticism of his predecessor’s notoriously deadly crackdown on illegal drugs.
The Biden administration is again reassuring the Philippines the U.S. commitment to the islands’ defense is steadfast amid increasing concerns about provocative Chinese actions in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
President Joe Biden is headed to his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to talk about who he believes should be paying more in taxes and who should be paying less.
The Biden administration is canceling student loans for another 206,000 borrowers as part of a new repayment plan that offers a faster route to forgiveness.
The Philippine president says his government will take action against what he called dangerous attacks by the Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships in the disputed South China Sea, saying, “Filipinos do not yield.”.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has underscored Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to help defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack against its forces.
President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a White House summit next month.
The Philippine navy says it will not allow China to remove a Philippine military outpost in a fiercely disputed South China Sea shoal where four Filipino navy personnel were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships.
An increasingly assertive China and a humanitarian crisis in Myanmar are likely to be high on the agenda when Southeast Asian leaders meet in Australia for a rare summit this week.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has told Australia’s Parliament that the strategic partnership between the two nations is more important than ever with the rule of law and peace in the region under threat from China.
Germany’s top diplomat says China’s actions in the South China Sea violate the rights of Asian coastal states like the Philippines and threaten freedom of navigation, but adds that the territorial disputes have to be resolved peacefully because “the world doesn’t need another crisis.”.
The United States and the Philippines are conducting joint air and maritime patrols in the South China Sea, which come as the two countries step up cooperation in the face of growingly aggressive Chinese activity in the area.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr_ says the situation for his nation in the South China Sea “has become more dire.”.
The United States and the Philippines have signed a nuclear cooperation pact under which U.S. investment and technologies are to help the Southeast Asian nation transition to cleaner energy and bolster its power supply.
The pace of Palestinian civilians fleeing the combat zone in northern Gaza has picked up as Israel’s air and ground campaign there intensifies.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says 40 Filipinos have fled from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip into Egypt through the Rafah crossing after Filipino diplomats negotiated for their safe passage and Qatar mediated for the border to be opened.
A radio anchor has been fatally shot by a man inside his southern Philippine station in a brazen attack that was witnessed by people watching the program live on Facebook.
The leaders of Japan and the Philippines have agreed to start negotiations for a key defense pact that will allow their troops to enter each other’s territory for joint military exercises.
The United States has renewed a warning that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels in the South China Sea.
In talks with Southeast Asian leaders Wednesday in the Indonesian capital, Chinese Premier Li Qiang underscored his country’s importance as the world’s second-biggest economy and as the top trading partner of the region.
Myanmar won’t take over the rotating leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as scheduled in 2026, in the latest blow to efforts by its ruling generals to gain international recognition after violently seizing power in 2021.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered an indefinite suspension of 22 major land reclamation projects in Manila Bay to allow a study of their environmental impact and legal compliance.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says a request for his country to temporarily host a U.S. immigrant visa processing center for thousands of Afghans faces security and other concerns but is still being considered by his administration.
Nearly 20,000 people have fled from an erupting volcano in the Philippines and are sheltering in schools, disrupting the education of thousands of students.
A gentle eruption of the Philippines’ most active volcano has forced nearly 18,000 people to flee to emergency shelters and may create a protracted crisis that could last for months.
The Philippines is evacuating residents near Mayon Volcano as its increasing unrest indicated a violent eruption is possible in weeks or days.
Residents of Guam are cleaning up after Typhoon Mawar tore through the remote U.S. Pacific territory and ripped roofs off homes, flipped vehicles and shredded trees.
President Joe Biden reiterated U.S. commitment to the Philippines’ security and noted the “deep friendship” of the two nations as he met with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House as concerns grow about the Chinese navy’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.
American and Filipino forces have fired a barrage of high-precision rockets, airstrikes and artillery in their largest war drills in Philippine waters facing the disputed South China Sea that would likely antagonize China.
China’s foreign minister says his country is willing to work with the Philippines to resolve their differences, as tensions rise over Beijing’s behavior in the disputed South China Sea and Manila’s deeping military cooperation with the U.S. Foreign Minister Qin Gang held talks in Manila with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo.
President Joe Biden will host Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for talks at the White House next month as the two countries look to continue to tighten relations.
U.S. and Filipino forces have blasted vehicles with anti-tank missiles in combat-readiness drills in the Philippines that are part of a show of American firepower that has alarmed China.
American and Filipino forces have launched their largest combat exercises in decades in Philippine waters across the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where Washington has warned China over its increasingly aggressive actions.
The Philippine government has identified four new military camps, including some across the sea from Taiwan, where rotating batches of American forces will be allowed to be stationed indefinitely despite strong objections from China.
The Philippine president says the Chinese coast guard’s use of military-grade laser against a Philippine patrol vessel in the disputed South China Sea was not enough for him to invoke a mutual defense treaty with the United States.
