Philippine News

May 8 ------ The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets after an attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran accused Washington of striking first. The violence threatened to unravel a fragile truce in effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic, which has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipment

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, May 8 ------ A total of 30 passengers left the hantavirus-stricken Hondius during its call at the remote British island of Saint Helena, the cruise ship's Dutch operator said. "Thirty guests disembarked MV Hondius on Saint Helena on April 24, 2026. This number includes the body of the guest who passed away on board MV Hondius on April 11," Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement. The company added that all people who left the ship had been contacted.

May 8 ------ Ukraine struck Russian oil refineries in Perm, around 1,500 km (932 miles) away from the border. Russian officials acknowledged attacks on industrial sites, while local media confirmed the oil refineries were hit. Ukrainian forces later claimed responsibility for the attack. Perm is located in the Ural Mountains, the range separating Europe and Asia within Russia. Its distance from Ukraine makes the strike one of Kyiv’s rarer long-range attacks deep inside Russia

MIAMI, May 8 ------ Ukraine's top negotiator Rustem Umerov met his US counterparts in Florida in a bid to revive mostly frozen talks on ending Russia's invasion, Kyiv and Washington said. US-mediated talks on ending Europe's worst conflict since World War II have shown little progress since February, when Washington shifted focus to its war against Iran. "The Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine will hold a series of meetings today with envoys of

NEW YORK, May 7 ------ World oil prices dived, and stock markets rallied on fresh hopes for an end to the Iran war. US President Donald Trump said he believed a deal with Iran was "very possible", but threatened to resume his bombardment of the country if negotiations fell apart. International oil benchmark Brent North Sea made a double-digit plunge to under US$100 a barrel, before cutting losses, finishing down 7.8 per cent at US$101.27 a barrel. Major US indices extended a

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, May 7 ------ Officials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to determine if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise. The health emergency aboard the ship that's moored across the ocean comes as Argentina sees a surge of hantavirus cases that many local public health researchers attribute to the recently accelerating effects of climate change. Argentina, where the cruise to Antarctica departed,

KYIV, May 7 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had decided to reject efforts to halt fighting and save lives by launching fresh attacks on Ukraine, which had called a unilateral ceasefire. His comments raise the specter of retaliatory Ukrainian strikes on Moscow during mass public events celebrating the end of World War II on May 9, after the Kremlin announced it would hold off attacks on Ukraine that day, hoping Kyiv would do the same. "Russia's c

May 7 ------ Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned of a severe humanitarian crisis in parts of the Russian-occupied Kherson region, accusing Russian forces of blocking evacuations and restricting access to basic necessities. The ministry said the situation is particularly dire in Oleshky, Holа Prystan, Stara Zburivka, and Nova Zburivka, where residents lack adequate access to food, medicine, clean water, and other essential supplies. According to Ukrainian official

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 6 ------ The World Health Organization said it was tracing people on a flight between the island of Saint Helena and Johannesburg taken by a cruise ship passenger who died of hantavirus. There had been 82 passengers and six crew onboard the April 25 flight, South African-based carrier Airlink told AFP. They included a Dutch woman whose husband died of the virus on the ship and whose condition "deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg," the WHO sai

WASHINGTON, May 6 ------ The United States has completed its offensive operations against Iran, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, even as Washington warned it was ready to unleash a "devastating" response to any new attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio's remarks came after Washington's top military officer said American forces remain ready to resume combat operations if ordered, as clashes in the vital waterway threatened to unravel a fragile ceasefire. The w

KYIV, Ukraine, May 6 ------ Russian drone and missile strikes targeting Ukraine’s power grid during the night killed at least five people and wounded 39 others, Ukrainian authorities said, less than a day before Kyiv said that it would enact a ceasefire and three days before Moscow promised its own pause in hostilities. President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked Moscow for what he said was its “utter cynicism” in launching the attacks after Russia announced a unilateral ceasefire o

May 6 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed a potential drone cooperation agreement with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa during a meeting. In a Telegram post, Zelensky described the talks as “productive” and said he had proposed making a “drone deal” to expand cooperation, with both sides agreeing that their teams would work out the details. The Ukrainian leader said Kyiv is ready to share its experience in defending against large-scale drone

NEW YORK, May 5 ------ Oil prices jumped after a drone strike sparked a fire at an Emirati energy installation, threatening a fragile US-Iran ceasefire, while US warships entered the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Seoul and Taipei hit record highs as Asian traders joined the rally in tech shares, but US equity indices retreated from record finishes last week. Oil prices climbed, with the benchmark international contract Brent crude for July delivery jumping more than five per cent

MELBOURNE, Australia, May 5 ------ The prime ministers of Japan and Australia agreed to deepen cooperation in a wide range of areas, including energy security, defense, and critical minerals, as the Iran war threatens global supply chains. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met her Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, at Australia’s Parliament House on Monday during Takaichi's first visit to the country as national leader. Takaichi said they held strategic discussion

KYIV, May 5 ------ Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine between May 8-9, when Moscow marks its annual World War II Victory Day commemorations, and threatened a "massive missile strike" on Kyiv if Ukraine violated it. Ukraine responded by declaring a truce of its own between May 5 and 6, saying it was "not serious" to expect it to observe a ceasefire during a Russian military holiday. The quarrelling between the two sides comes with a lull in US-led diplomatic e

May 5 ------ European countries are increasingly striking joint production deals with Ukraine, particularly in the drone sector, as Kyiv’s ability to rapidly produce affordable battlefield hardware improves. The latest such announcement was made this week when Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Kyiv will help Warsaw build the country’s new drone fleet, although he did not outline the size of the future fleet. These joint production deals allow European companies to access

PRAIA, CAPE VERDE, May 4 ------ Three people have died on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, the WHO said, one a confirmed case of hantavirus – an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents. The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.“To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases,” the WHO told AFP. “Of the six affected individuals, three have died,

May 4 ------ President Donald Trump said that he was reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war, but also expressed doubt it would lead to a deal. Iran's 14-point proposal calls for an end to the war, rather than just an extension of the truce. The proposal, a rebuttal to the U.S. nine-point plan, also calls for the U.S. to lift sanctions on Iran, ending the naval blockade, withdraw forces from the region, and cease all hostilities, including Israel's operations in Leb

KYIV, Ukraine, May 4 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking details of a short-term ceasefire Russia proposed to U.S. President Donald Trump, he said in a post on Telegram. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a May 9 ceasefire to coincide with Victory Day in Russia in a phone call with Trump the previous day, according to the Kremlin. “We have instructed our representatives to contact the United States president’s team and clarify the details of the

LONDON, May 4 ------ Britain is set to enter talks to join the European Union’s 78 billion-pound ($106 billion) loan to Ukraine, the government said, in a further sign of deepening European defence ties under rising US pressure. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected on Monday to tell a summit in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, of the European Political Community – a discussion forum set up after Russia’s invasion in 2022 – that Britain wants to work with the EU to support Ukr