BEIJING: The Chinese coast guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, according to Beijing’s state media, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved awayContinue Reading
Nora Aunor, who became one of the biggest stars of Philippine cinema during a career that spanned seven decades, has died. Aunor died on Wednesday (Apr 16), according to social media posts from her children. She was 71. No further details on the cause or place of her death were immediately given.Continue Reading
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s late March visit to Manila – his first since assuming office – has elicited firm opposition from China, leading Beijing to express strong diplomatic and military concerns. Despite Hegseth’s assurances during his Asia-Pacific tour – which also took him to Guam and Japan – thatContinue Reading
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is now under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he has been accused of crimes against humanity related to his government’s brutal “war on drugs,” known locally as “Tokhang”. Duterte’s arrest in March followed months of investigation conducted by the House ofContinue Reading
The U.S. military has plans to leave a powerful anti-ship missile system in the Philippines after the conclusion of the upcoming joint military exercises in preparation for another exercise the following month. In a report published yesterday, Stars and Stripes quoted a U.S. Marine Corps spokesperson as saying that theContinue Reading
BEIJING: China’s coast guard said on Wednesday (Apr 9) it had allowed a Philippine civilian vessel to deliver provisions to a warship “illegally grounded” at the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed atoll in the South China Sea. The coast guard questioned and monitored the Philippine vessel throughout its supply mission, it saidContinue Reading
In late September 2024, following vague evacuation warnings from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israeli airstrikes targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, including the neighborhood of Dahieh, where Pavani* from Sri Lanka had lived for six years as a domestic worker for a Lebanese family. For weeks leading up toContinue Reading
MANILA: The Philippines took possession of the first of two corvette-class warships with “advanced weapons and radar systems” on Tuesday (Apr 8) as it faces growing pressure from Beijing in the disputed South China Sea. The arrival of the 3,200-ton BRP Miguel Malvar is part of a two-ship deal with SouthContinue Reading
Videos posted on social media showed a wide, billowing plume of smoke slowly stretching into the sky. “We were prepared for the eruption. The families within the 4km to 6km were already evacuated during the previous eruption last December,” John De Asis, a rescue official in Negros Occidental province’s LaContinue Reading
MANILA: The Philippines expressed alarm on Saturday (Apr 5) over the arrest of three Filipinos in China on suspicion of espionage, saying they were ordinary citizens and the arrests could be retaliation for Manila’s crackdown against alleged Chinese spies. Chinese authorities arrested the Filipinos and accused them of working forContinue Reading
