Philippine News

LONDON, October 24 ------ Britain called for a raft of measures against Russia to strengthen Ukraine's hand ahead of any future peace talks, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky heads to London for discussions with key allies. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said he would press a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" countries that have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine to take Russian oil and gas off the global market, use frozen Russian assets

October 24 ------ Spain will join a NATO initiative to jointly procure US weapons for Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, framing the move as part of Madrid’s broader backing for Kyiv and commitment to the Alliance. Trump’s Renewed Criticism of Madrid’s Defense Spending “Spain is a country committed to the Atlantic Alliance and to supporting Ukraine at all levels,” Sánchez told reporters ahead of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, as cited by El País, adding that Madr

WASHINGTON, United States, October 23 ------ US President Donald Trump confirmed that the White House's iconic East Wing is being torn down in its entirety to make way for a huge $300-million ballroom — a far more extensive demolition than previously announced. Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event that he had decided after consulting architects that "really knocking it down" was preferable to a partial demolition. The president was asked about the work at an event alo

ROME, Italy, October 23 ------ King Charles III landed in Rome for a state visit to the Vatican, where he will meet Pope Leo XIV and make history as the first British monarch to pray publicly with the pontiff since the Church of England broke away from Catholicism 500 years ago. The visit comes at a delicate time for the British king following new revelations about his brother, Prince Andrew, who is mired in a scandal surrounding late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After la

October 23 ------ Russian drones and missiles have pounded the Ukrainian capital and other cities, hours after the cancellation of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, killing six people including a six-month-old baby, a 12-year-old girl and a woman, and damaging key energy facilities and several high-rise residential buildings. The attacks, involving over 400 drones and 28 missiles, lasted most Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as Kyiv was hit by at leas

KYIV, Ukraine, October 23 ------ Ukraine’s state security service has unveiled an upgraded sea drone it says can now operate anywhere in the Black Sea, carry heavier weapons and use artificial intelligence for targeting. Ukraine has used the unmanned naval drones to target Russian shipping and infrastructure in the Black Sea. The Security Service of Ukraine, known by its Ukrainian acronym SBU, has credited strikes by the unmanned vessel known as the “Sea Baby” with forcing a

TOKYO, October 22 ------ Sanae Takaichi, a staunch conservative who admires the United Kingdom’s late premier Margaret Thatcher, became Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, but analysts say her rise does not necessarily signal a feminist victory. Instead, the 64-year-old, who won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership earlier this month, has positioned herself as a hardliner focused on defense and economic security. After forging a last-minute coaliti

JERUSALEM, October 22 ------ United States President Donald Trump warned Hamas it would be wiped out if it breaches the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as Vice President JD Vance traveled to Israel to shore up the fragile truce. Vance was due to land and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were already in the western Israeli city of Tel Aviv, where they were meeting hostages released by Hamas after two years of captivity in Gaza. The vice president w

October 22 ------ European nations are working with Ukraine on a 12-point proposal to end Russia's war along current battle lines, Bloomberg News reported. A peace board chaired by US President Donald Trump would oversee the implementation of the proposed plan, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. European leaders called on Washington on Tuesday to hold firm in demanding an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, with present battle lines to serve as the basis for

October 22 ------ Ukraine's military said late that it struck a chemical plant in southern Russia's Bryansk region that it described as vital to Moscow's war effort, in an attack that included Franco-British Storm Shadow air-launched missiles. "A massive combined missile-and-air strike was carried out, including with air-launched Storm Shadow missiles that penetrated Russia's air defense system," the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in a statement on the Telegram

HOUSTON, October 21 ------ Oil prices settled at their lowest since early May as investors weighed a potential global glut, with U.S.-China trade tensions adding to concerns about an economic slowdown and weaker energy demand. Brent crude futures settled down 28 cents, or 0.46%, at $61.01 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures settled down 2 cents, or 0.03%, to $57.52. Both benchmarks fell more than $1 earlier in the session, and both closed at their weakest levels si

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, October 21 ------ Popular internet services ranging from streaming platforms to messaging services to banking were offline for hours due to an outage in Amazon's crucial cloud network, illustrating the extent to which internet life depends on the tech titan. The disruption affected streaming platforms, including Amazon's Prime Video service and Disney+, as well as Perplexity AI, the Fortnite game, Airbnb, Snapchat and Duolingo. Mobile telephone s

KYIV, October 21 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he would be ready to join Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump at their summit in Hungary if he is invited. Trump and Putin said they would meet in the Hungarian capital, possibly in a matter of weeks, as the US leader continues to try to broker a peace deal to end the three-and-a-half-year war, triggered by Russia's 2022 invasion. "If I am invited to Budapest -- if it is an in

KYIV, Ukraine, October 21 ------ Ukrainians shared their disappointment that the U.S. may not provide Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles, while work to repair the damaged power supply to the country's Zaporizhzhia power plant soothed other concerns surrounding Europe's largest nuclear plant. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, after the U.S. leader signaled that Washington could provide Ukraine with the long

SYDNEY, October 20 ------ Asian share markets pushed higher on Monday amid optimism on earnings as reporting season gets into full swing, while a reading on U.S. inflation is expected to be no more than a speed bump on the way to further rate cuts.   Data on the Chinese economy are forecast to show growth slowed to 4.8 per cent in the third quarter, while retail sales and industrial output should underline the need for stimulus as policymakers convene to discuss the latest Fi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO, October 20 ------ The Israeli military said that a ceasefire in Gaza had resumed after an attack that killed two of its soldiers and prompted a wave of airstrikes that killed 26 people, in the most serious test yet of this month's US-brokered truce.   Aid into the enclave was set to resume on Monday following US pressure, an Israeli security source said, shortly after Israel announced a halt in supplies in response to what it said was a "blatant" violation by

WASHINGTON, October 20 ------ President Donald Trump called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” and end their brutal war following a lengthy White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.   Trump's frustration with the conflict has surfaced repeatedly in the nine months since he returned to office, but with his latest comments he edged back in the direction of pressing Ukraine to give up on retaking land it has lost to Russia. “Enough blood has been

October 20 ------ Russian forces attacked a coal mine in southeastern Ukraine and an unidentified energy site in the north near the Russian border, the operators of the sites said, adding to a series of recent assaults on Ukraine's energy network.   Private Ukrainian energy firm DTEK said Russian forces launched an attack on a colliery in Dnipropetrovsk region. The company said 192 miners were safely brought to the surface, with no injuries.   The company said it was the four

ROME, October 19 ------ A trip to Gaza is in Pope Leo XIV's heart, the Prefect of the Eastern Churches, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, told journalists when asked whether a papal visit to the Strip is possible. Speaking to journalists during the Silvestrini Prize event, Gugerotti said a papal visit to the war-torn territory is “certainly possible,” but logistical and safety issues must first be addressed. "I believe Pope Leo XIV deeply desires to visit Gaza, but we must also tak

BEIJING, China, October 19 ------ Rare earths are minerals used to make magnets crucial to the auto, electronic, and defense industries, as well as in renewable energy. The US Treasury Secretary slammed export curbs imposed by Beijing last week on technologies used for rare-earth mining, smelting, and other processing steps. Scott Bessent said it was "China versus the world". Here are some key things to know: Are they rare? Not really. With names like dysprosium, neodymium, a