Renewed fighting between the US and Iran has overshadowed the ASEAN gathering in Manila.
The Philippines has begun holding active school shooter drills after a rare act of violence in Tacloban City last month during which two teenage students opened fire, killing three schoolmates and injuring 20 others. On Wednesday, at one educational campus in Manila, hundreds of students and teachers practised barricading classrooms with desks and chairs and staying silent as an armed actor wearing a black hoodie scoured the halls and rooms. “We acknowledge the increasing number of violent...
China’s flagship Communist Party newspaper has joined a sweeping rhetorical offensive against rival maritime claimant the Philippines, days ahead of the 10th anniversary of a South China Sea arbitration ruling rejected by Beijing as “illegal”. In twin commentaries published on Friday, the People’s Daily branded the July 12 decision of 2016 a “destabilising force” and demanded that Manila pivot to direct talks. The commentaries from official media cap a multi-agency initiative from Beijing in...