Jakarta governor Basuki (Ahok) Tjahaja Purnama has won the first round of gubernatorial elections, the first step in securing re-election before a run-off vote in April.
President Donald Trump sent a letter wishing his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a happy Lunar New Year and extending his well-wishes to the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lantern Festival, the first one-on-one communication between the two world leaders.
The government of Myanmar arrested a Buddhist monk on Tuesday for hiding over four million methamphetamine pills and a cache of “a grenade and ammunition” in his monastery. The incident highlights one of the world’s most sprawling drug epidemics in a nation former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has regaled as an Obama White House success story.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte received 228 policemen accused of corruption and misconduct at Manila’s presidential palace Tuesday, berating the men in a live broadcast in which he invited the policemen to challenge him to a duel and ordered them to serve in the Muslim-majority south of the country.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Philippine people on Sunday to join him in hell as his government continues to implement policies meant to eradicate drug crime, which has killed thousands since Duterte took office in June 2016.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis arrived in Japan Friday to meet with senior defense officials and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reaffirming America’s commitment to helping Japan defend itself against an increasingly belligerent North Korea.
President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte announced Thursday that he will not appoint an ambassador to the United States because “I don’t feel like sending one.”
Secretary of Defense James Mattis arrived in South Korea Tuesday to meet his counterpart in Seoul and acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn.
A study published by the firm BMI Research predicts that the People’s Republic of China will become the world’s largest nuclear power by 2026, surpassing the United States.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis spoke with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday in anticipation of his arrival to the region later this week, expressing commitment for the defense of the region against North Korean belligerence.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced he would extend the war on drugs that won him the presidency in order to postpone anti-drug operations while the police conducted a “cleansing” of corrupt police abusing their authority.
Senior Philippines defense officials have confirmed that Islamic State loyalists in the Asian island nation have established contact with terror group leaders in the Middle East. President Rodrigo Duterte delivered a plea to Islamic groups in the nation to reject the Islamic State and help police contain its supporters.
A poll released Friday shows that over four in five Philippine nationals support confronting China over their colonization of Philippine territory in the South China Sea, just as the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte announced it would honor an agreement to expand America’s military footprint in the country.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte alleged that he had been molested as a teen by a Catholic priest and accused clergy of having bad breath while administering Confession in a blistering rant against the “full of sh*t” Catholic Church Tuesday.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has demanded that President-elect Donald Trump ban a delegation representing Taiwan from his inauguration ceremony, accusing the delegation of attempting to “undermine Sino-U.S. relations.”
Under pressure from Catholic leaders to put an end to a spate of extrajudicial killings against suspected drug criminals, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte insisted that priests and bishops should “use shabu,” the local name for crystal methamphetamine, to “understand” how devastating it is to communities.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly threatened to impose martial law on his nation and threatened to killed hostages taken by Islamic State affiliate Abu Sayyaf to eradicate the jihadist group.
The Philippines recorded a 60 percent drop in the number of firecracker-related injuries this New Year’s Eve, good news the nation’s health secretary attributes to fears of attracting police attention following President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated claims he will pardon police who kill suspects on the job.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua is promoting statements by President Xi Jinping made last month demanding a “new trend toward socialist family values” in China as the Communist Party faces a 2017 teeming with new challenges from separatist groups, religious minorities, and even Maoists who reject Xi’s autocratic capitalist reforms.
Indonesian courts have commenced the trial of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, facing charges of blasphemy for having joked about a paragraph in the Quran that implies Muslims should not be governed by non-Muslims.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte twice claimed to have personally killed drug suspects as mayor of Davao City this week, claiming at two different events that he enjoyed getting on his motorcycle and “looking for a confrontation.”
A mob of more than 1,000 people armed with batons, guns, and stones has reportedly attacked a mosque of the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect in Pakistan, prompting the provincial government to deploy the army to bring the situation under control.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to speak to President-elect Donald Trump by phone on Friday evening, according to his office, the first one-on-one exchange between the two heads of state.
The American business press is filled with doomsday scenarios about the trade war that the President-elect is supposedly about to unleash on the world.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte claimed earlier this week that his Russian counterpart and “idol” Vladimir Putin had offered him a “buy one, get one free” deal on rifles.
China’s state-run Global Times newspaper ran an article this week announcing that citizens of its western, largely Muslim province of Xinjiang were required to hand over their passports. The news went around the world before the Times apparently deleted the article and published a correction claiming the ordinance only affects citizens “suspected of having links to terrorism.”
The office of South Korean President Park Geun-hye has denied any corrupt motive for a large order made of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra as well as anti-aging medications and vitamin injections.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to take in any refugees seeking to make a home in his country, calling Western nations “hypocrites” for promoting human rights abroad but expressing concerns about migrant overflow in nations unprepared to take them in.
Indonesia police announced Wednesday that Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, is a suspect in a probe of a blasphemy law violation for joking about the Quran forbidding non-Muslims to rule over Muslim people.
North Korea has finally commented on America’s election of Donald Trump as its next president, insisting that Pyongyang has no plans to change its policies based on the new head of state.
An estimated million South Koreans took to the streets over the weekend demanding their president, Park Geun-hye, step down over allegedly sharing classified information with a friend. The scandal, erupting in late October, has damaged Park’s economic proposals and threatens to herald in an opposition government that may undo her work in office.
American President-elect Donald Trump spoke to his soon-to-be Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, on Monday, with both promising to meet in person soon and establishing a “clear sense of mutual respect.”
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has once again threatened to eschew international human rights norms in the context of battling the Islamic State, warning that the impending liberation of ISIS hotbeds like Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria may result in a stream of jihadists making a new home in his nation.
Fidel Ramos, a former Philippine president tapped by incumbent Rodrigo Duterte to serve as a special envoy to China, resigned this week after penning a scathing opinion piece referring to Duterte as “full of S…. T!!!” regarding his foreign policy.
Choi Soon-sil, a friend of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who Park has admitted was privy to presidential speeches and other unspecified sensitive information without clearance, says she has committed a crime that “deserves death” upon returning to Seoul.
While the struggle to eradicate the Islamic State terrorist group focuses largely on Syria and Iraq, its affiliates outside of the Middle East have been gaining strength, largely through the generation of revenue. The Philippines affiliate, Abu Sayyaf, reportedly generated over $7 million in ransoms in the first six months of 2016.
In a move that may jeopardize his hard-earned political capital with China, Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte expressed a willingness to engage in joint military exercises with Japan during his trip to Tokyo this week. His remarks follow repeated demands that the U.S. vacate its military posts throughout the Philippines.
In a private speech shortly after leaving her post as Secretary of State, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton reportedly asserted that China has “a right to assert themselves” with regard to the South China Sea, a region in which the communist government has usurped the sovereign territory of six countries.
Three months into his presidency, more than three out of four Filipinos report being satisfied with Rodrigo Duterte’s time in office, an indication that the President’s profane tirades and austere war on drugs have not deterred supporters, and perhaps curried him favor with some who were skeptical of Duterte as a candidate.
Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte told his U.S. counterpart, President Barack Obama, to “go to hell” Tuesday, then ordered the European Union to “purgatory” because “hell is full already.”