Category Archives: Philippines

Duchess of Sussex ‘deeply distressed’ over child sexual abuse image claims against father

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Meghan reveals she was made aware of ‘disturbing allegations’ against him in 2018 by Met police

The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “deeply distressed” over accusations involving child sexual abuse images against her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, and revealed she was made aware of “disturbing allegations” against him in 2018 by the Metropolitan police.

Meghan issued a statement after the Sun newspaper published claims that her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr alleged he had found a stash of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines.

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People protecting nature and land set up self-defence units amid threat of murder

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Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin America

Nature and land defenders were murdered at the rate of one every three days last year, prompting many communities to set up self-defence units, according to the latest annual death toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness.

Organised crime groups or professional killers were implicated in more than a third of the 124 killings of defenders in 2025 as narco-trafficking activities overlapped with intrusions into indigenous territories and environmental crime, such as illegal logging and wildcat gold mining.

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Death toll from Philippines ferry fire rises to 35, as officials warn toll will grow

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The deadly fire had begun in the ferry’s cargo hold, then tore through the ship within seconds

The bodies of passengers killed in a ferry fire off the Philippines arrived at a port near the resort town of Coron, Palawan, on Saturday morning, as the country’s coast guard warned the death toll of 35 would grow.

Tents were being set up to receive 30 bodies brought from the M/V June Aster, which ran aground near the tourist hotspot after a fire erupted on Wednesday evening and tore through the vessel “in seconds”.

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Deadly Philippines ferry fire triggers search for scores of missing

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Multiple search and rescue vessels deployed after blaze off Palawan island leaves at least five dead, says coast guard

A large-scale ⁠search and rescue operation ​is under way off the western Philippine island of Palawan on Thursday after a passenger ferry caught fire, killing five people and leaving ⁠scores of passengers missing.

The Philippine coast guard said multiple vessels and other assets were searching for survivors as rescue teams used drift-modelling tools ⁠to identify areas where people may have been carried by currents.

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Torrential rains kill one in South Korea while Philippine capital battles major flooding

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More than 800mm of rain was recorded in the South Korean city of Geoje, which triggered a landslide that killed one person

Torrential downpours that have pounded southern parts of South Korea have killed one person and injured four others, officials have confirmed.

Heavy rains have been recorded in South Gyeongsang province, including the city of Geoje, where the 800-mm deluge triggered a landslide, the interior and safety ministry said.

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Torrential rains kill one in South Korea while Philippine capital battles major flooding

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More than 800mm of rain was recorded in the South Korean city of Geoje, which triggered a landslide that killed one person

Torrential downpours that have pounded southern parts of South Korea have killed one person and injured four others, officials have confirmed.

Heavy rains have been recorded in South Gyeongsang province, including the city of Geoje, where the 800-mm deluge triggered a landslide, the interior and safety ministry said.

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Deadly Philippines earthquake found to have raised seabed by up to 2 metres

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‘Coastal uplift’ exposes coral and kills marine life, as residents say shorelines extended by up to 200 metres

A powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as 2 metres (6.6ft), exposing coral and harming marine life, the country’s environment department has said.

At least 40 people are still missing after the 7.8-magnitude quake off southern Mindanao island on Monday, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency.

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Philippine politician wanted by ICC flees senate after days holed up in building

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Ronald dela Rosa, wanted over involvement in Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’, reportedly left heavily guarded building before dawn

A Philippine lawmaker wanted by the international criminal court for his alleged role enforcing Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody anti-drugs crackdown has secretly fled the senate after spending days holed up in the building to avoid arrest.

The senate president, Alan Peter Cayetano, confirmed to the media that senator Ronald dela Rosa was “no longer in the building” after reports that he had slipped out of the heavily guarded building before dawn.

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Gunshots fired in Philippines senate in standoff with senator wanted by ICC

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Ronald dela Rosa, accused of crimes against humanity by international criminal court, has holed up in building to evade arrest

Gunshots have been fired in the Philippines senate as a senator who is wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) remained holed up in the building to evade arrest.

Ronald dela Rosa, a Philippine senator accused of crimes against humanity for his role in overseeing the former president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs”, has spent two nights in the country’s senate in a standoff with the authorities.

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Chaos in Philippines as Duterte ally wanted by ICC takes refuge in senate to avoid arrest

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Former police chief Ronald dela Rosa spends night at senate office after another Duterte ally offers protective custody

The unusual pursuit was captured on CCTV cameras inside the Philippine senate. Ronald dela Rosa, a longtime ally of the former president Rodrigo Duterte, raced along the hallways of the upper house complex, stumbling on the staircase, as he fled government agents.

“They want to forcibly bring me to The Hague, to surrender me there,” Dela Rosa said later on a Facebook livestream, pleading for public support.

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Philippine presidential hopeful Sara Duterte impeached for second time

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Vice-president is accused of misusing public funds and threatening the lives of President Marcos Jr and his wife

The Philippine vice-president, Sara Duterte, has been impeached over allegations she misused public funds, amassed unexplained wealth and threatened the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his wife, in a case that could complicate her presidential ambitions.

Duterte, the daughter of the detained former president Rodrigo Duterte, was impeached by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, which is dominated by allies of Marcos.

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Philippines’ ex-president Rodrigo Duterte to face trial for crimes against humanity

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ICC judges say there are substantial grounds to believe Duterte guided anti-drugs crackdown that killed thousands

The former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, will face trial at the international criminal court (ICC) after judges unanimously confirmed charges of crimes against humanity over his “war on drugs”.

Pre-trial judges concluded on Thursday that there were substantial grounds to believe Duterte was responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder in relation to anti-drugs crackdowns that led to the killing of thousands of people.

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Philippines declares ‘national energy emergency’ and boosts coal power as Iran war grinds on

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President’s declaration allows officials to tackle fuel hoarding or profiteering, while energy secretary says country will lean more heavily on coal

The Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos, has declared a state of “national energy emergency” as a result of the Middle East war, which his administration said posed “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply”.

The state of emergency, which will initially last for a year, was declared just hours after the country’s energy secretary said the Philippines planned to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the war wreaks havoc with gas shipments.

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Philippines declares ‘national energy emergency’ and boosts coal power as Iran war grinds on

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President’s declaration allows officials to tackle fuel hoarding or profiteering, while energy secretary says country will lean more heavily on coal

The Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos, has declared a state of “national energy emergency” as a result of the Middle East war, which his administration said posed “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply”.

The state of emergency, which will initially last for a year, was declared just hours after the country’s energy secretary said the Philippines planned to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the war wreaks havoc with gas shipments.

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Asia scrambles to confront energy crisis unleashed by Iran war – with no end in sight

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From fuel caps to four-day work weeks, the Middle East conflict has left the world’s top crude oil importing region desperate to shore up supplies

Donald Trump has scrambled in recent days to reassure the world that the economic impact of his war on Iran can be contained.

Sure, one of the most important waterways in global trade has, in effect, been shut for almost two weeks – but it might reopen before long. In the meantime, US oil-related sanctions on “some countries” will be lifted. And besides, the entire conflict could be over soon.

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Asia scrambles to confront energy crisis unleashed by Iran war – with no end in sight

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From fuel caps to four-day work weeks, the Middle East conflict has left the world’s top crude oil importing region desperate to shore up supplies

Donald Trump has scrambled in recent days to reassure the world that the economic impact of his war on Iran can be contained.

Sure, one of the most important waterways in global trade has, in effect, been shut for almost two weeks – but it might reopen before long. In the meantime, US oil-related sanctions on “some countries” will be lifted. And besides, the entire conflict could be over soon.

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Philippines orders energy cuts in response to Middle East war

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South-east Asian country limits air conditioning and travel for public officials amid soaring fuel prices

The Philippines is searching for ways to conserve energy in response to surging fuel costs, with public officials ordered to cut back on air conditioning usage and reduce travel.

All national government agencies, state universities and colleges, and local government branches have been told to reduce fuel consumption by at least 10% in response to the crisis in the Middle East.

Government offices have been told to adopt flexible work arrangements, and to set air conditioning units no lower than 24 degrees.

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Jordanian arrested for visa offences after alleged Bondi attackers visited his coffee shop during Philippines stay

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Military used in arrest of Mohammad Odeh Saleh, owner of business allegedly visited by the Akrams before Australia’s deadliest terror attack

A Jordanian national whose coffee shop was visited by the alleged gunmen behind December’s Bondi beach terrorist attack – and who frequently traveled to Australia and the Middle East – has been arrested in the Philippines for overstaying his visa.

Authorities investigating the gunmen’s month-long stay in Mindanao Island, in the country’s south, alleged that Mohammad Odeh Saleh, 65, had travelled to Australia in the years before his arrest in Pagadian City on Monday.

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Duterte at ‘very heart’ of murderous drug crackdowns in Philippines, ICC told

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Ex-president, accused of crimes against humanity, selected targets and promised immunity for death squad members, prosecutor says

Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, was “at the very heart” of brutal anti-drugs campaigns that led to the killing of thousands of people, prosecutors at the international criminal court (ICC) have argued, as they called for charges against him to proceed to trial.

Duterte, 80, who was arrested in Manila last year and flown to The Hague, is facing three counts of crimes against humanity over campaigns against drug users and dealers during his presidency, and his earlier tenure as mayor of the city of Davao.

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Philippine vice-president Sara Duterte announces 2028 presidential bid

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Sara Duterte, daughter of a former president who is facing charges of crimes against humanity at the Hague, pledged to offer her ‘life, strength and future’ in service of the Philippines

Philippine vice-president Sara Duterte, daughter of the imprisoned former leader Rodridgo Duterte, has announced she will run for president in the country’s 2028 election.

Sara Duterte, 47, said she would offer her “life, strength and future” in service of the Philippines, in a speech on Wednesday that accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, of presiding over a period marked by rampant corruption.

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