Philippine News

October 21 ------ China’s military said, it had sent forces to watch a US warship that “illegally” entered waters around a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, while further north in the waterway, Taiwan reported a standoff with a Chinese vessel. China views almost all of the South China Sea as its own territory, despite overlapping claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam, with recent tension most pronounced between Beijing and Manila. The Chinese

MADRID, October 21 ------ Rising fuel costs, discontent with the state of schools, declining public services and a housing crisis are fueling an autumn of protests in Europe. Crowds have protested for weeks in major cities, with some demonstrations marked by arrests, looting, injuries and violence across France, Italy and Albania. In Spain and Portugal, tent camps have sprung up to protest unaffordable housing. Young Europeans are experiencing “a strong sense of uncertain

OSLO, Norway, October 21 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the United States hailed "very productive" talks in Oslo amid efforts to draw a line under a bitter feud between Kyiv's leader and US President Donald Trump over the war with Russia. After talks with Trump's envoys in the Norwegian capital, Zelensky thanked Washington for the resumption of US intelligence of looming Russian strikes on civilian targets and energy plants. Trump's special envoy Steve Wi

OSLO, Norway, October 21 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv is once again receiving early warnings from its partners following recent Russian missile attacks that occurred without enough notice. Zelensky said the change happened after talks with his American counterparts, including a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier in the day. “We are thankful that intelligence works now, and I’m speaking about early warning, which is very im

October 20 ------ Oil prices fell as markets weighed an executive order from US President Donald Trump that waived some sanctions and tariffs tied to Russian energy exports, while attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemen kept fears of Middle East supply disruptions in view. Brent crude futures fell 49 cents, or 0.45 per cent, to $109.06 a barrel by 0010 GMT. The US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) contract for November delivery, set to expire on Tuesday, eased 0.33 per cent to $1

TOKYO, October 20 ------ Japan's education ministry plans to expand Japanese-language education for foreign residents as their numbers reach a record high and many communities struggle to meet growing demand for classes. Japan had a record 4,281,026 foreign residents at the end of June, Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology plans to help local governments strengthen their teaching programs through subsidies

KYIV, October 20 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Washington was deliberately delaying deliveries of interceptor missiles to Ukraine, deepening a public rift with US counterpart Donald Trump. The remarks came as Kyiv questions US support in its war with Russia, accusing Washington of helping Moscow by failing to warn it of incoming missile strikes and hobbling Ukraine's military response through changes to the Starshield system it uses for communications. Th

October 20 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky updated Pope Leo XIV on Russia's war against Ukraine, including the ongoing crisis in occupied Oleshky, during a phone call. The call comes three days after the pope spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin to propose a ceasefire in Oleshky, a front-line town in Kherson Oblast where around 2,000 residents remain trapped without sufficient supplies of food or medicine. Zelensky said he and the pope discussed the humanitarian em

MEXICO CITY, October 19 ------ Hurricane Trudy brought heavy rain and strong winds to parts of Mexico's southwest and west-central regions as it maintained its strength and tracked parallel to the country's Pacific coast. The US National Hurricane Center said Trudy was about 150 miles (240 km) west of Manzanillo, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph). Trudy was moving northwest at about 10 mph (17 kph) and is forecast to remain near the coast through Sunday evenin

TOKYO, October 19 ------ Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars’ moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region. The unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe, a collaboration with US and European space agencies as well as numerous universities and tech companies, could also help lay the groundwork for eventual human exploration. The flagship H3

RUSSIA, October 19 ------ Ukrainian strikes set an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St. Petersburg as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial attacks of the war. The strikes came as tensions between Kyiv and Washington deepened, with U.S. President Donald Trump criticizing Kyiv’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and the prospect of further U.S. sanctions against Moscow still uncertain. Trump said Sunday that he decided to hold

October 19 ------ The United States has resumed providing Ukraine with critical intelligence to help it defend against Russian missile strikes, after a brief pause, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments. Ukraine has relied on US intelligence to spot the fast-moving ballistic missiles that Russia has fired in waves at its cities. US President Donald Trump had said earlier this week that Washington was still sharing intelligence, despite Ukrainian officials sa

HARRISBURG, Pa., October 18 ------ At least eight states are suing artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, saying the company's popular chatbot model violated state consumer protection laws by hurting children and deceiving adults in what prosecutors described as a reckless pursuit of profit. The company's chatbot model, ChatGPT, is giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging paranoia and coaching people to commit suicide or hurt or kill others, the lawsuits said. At the same

SAINT-GERVAIS LES BAINS, October 18 ------ France's tallest mountain was nearly two meters higher last month than its last reported measurement in 2023, surveyors said, putting the Alpine peak at 4,807.47 meters (15,772.5 feet). Mont Blanc's "summit is constantly shifting", said Jean des Garets, chief geometer in the Haute-Savoie department of southeastern France, after announcing the 1.88-metre increase. "Each individual measurement is not significant in itself," in the cont

BALI, Indonesia, October 17 ------ Restricting access to online platforms cannot address all the factors that contribute to the radicalization of young people, but governments have “valid” reasons for imposing bans, said I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, executive director of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR). “There is no perfect solution, especially when we are encountering this new kind of threat, a new kind of non-traditional security issue,” Puja to

DIVO, Ivory coast, October 17 ------ Kofi Alexis Amani has watched the trees on his cocoa plantation wilt and sometimes wither as rains became unpredictable and less abundant in Ivory Coast over the past several decades. "You can lose everything," he sighed. The west African country is the world's top cocoa producer, responsible for nearly 40 percent of global output. Its economy also depends on the crop, which accounts for 15 percent of GDP, supporting roughly five million

October 16 ------ Yemen's Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden, killing two security guards, two government officials told Reuters. Yemen's prime minister and cabinet members who were at the Maashiq presidential palace complex were unharmed, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said, adding that the Houthis had fired five missiles at the complex. The Houthi-run Saba news agency, citing a military official, said the group h

VATICAN, October 16 ------ Pope Leo‘s recovery from surgery is progressing as expected, and he has begun walking in his hospital room and eating normally, the Vatican said after doctors announced the 71-year-old pontiff was being treated for lung cancer. World leaders, Catholics across the globe and senior cardinals at the Vatican have offered prayers for Leo after he had part of his right lung removed in an operation on Tuesday, October 13. Blood tests and a chest X-ray ca

October 16 ------ The U.K. will send Ukraine more long-range Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets deep in Russia, Bloomberg reported. In a meeting in London on Oct. 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham agreed on a new shipment of the missiles, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. No official public announcement of this resupply has been made. Following U.S. President Donald Trump lifting sanctions on the sale of R

October 16 ------ Nearly 48 hours after Ukraine's Starshield terminals started mysteriously malfunctioning, nobody in Washington, nor at SpaceX, has taken responsibility for the apparent decision to hobble Ukrainian military communications. Starshield terminals — the militarized version of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet system — began losing connectivity as they approached a certain speed, causing havoc among Ukrainian drone units. The unexpected restriction disrupt