A top aide to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to journalist and government critic Maria Ressa was proof that "press freedom is alive" in the country.Ressa, co-founder of news website Rappler, and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were awarded the prize on Friday for their efforts to "safeguard freedom of expression".Since Duterte took power in 2016, Ressa and Rappler have faced a series of criminal charges and investi

The World Health Organization's (WHO) vaccine advisers on Monday recommended people with weakened immune systems should be offered an additional dose of all WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines.The United Nations (UN) health agency's experts also said over-60s fully immunised with China's Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines should be offered an additional third vaccine dose.The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) stressed it was not recommending an additional booste

On 11 May 2017, Crisanto Lozano set off early in the morning from his home in Manila. He was going to renew his security guard licence, a requirement for his profession. By afternoon, he still hadn’t returned, nor was he picking up his phone. Then the family realised that Crisanto’s younger brother, Juan Carlos, was also missing.The next day, they heard news that two bodies had been discovered nearby.

Taiwan will not bow to pressure by Beijing and will defend its democratic way of life, President Tsai Ing-wen said Sunday, following a spike in incursions by Chinese warplanes into its air defence zone.Self-governed Taiwan's 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary."The more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China," Tsai sa

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:106 Days Later  Elated Sydney residents emerge from almost four months of COVID lockdown in Australia's largest city, designed to limit the march of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Veteran Philippine journalist Maria Ressa on Saturday said her Nobel Peace Prize was for "all journalists around the world", as she vowed to continue her battle for press freedom.Ressa, co-founder of news website Rappler, and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were awarded the prize on Friday for their efforts to "safeguard freedom of expression"."This is really for all journalists around the world," Ressa, a vocal critic of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte,

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday it was about to restart the process of approving Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine following a series of problems with the dossier.WHO authorisation has been sought for the Sputnik V jab created by Russia's Gamaleya research institute, which is already being used in 45 countries, according to an AFP count.Several COVID-19 vaccines have been given the WHO green light for emergency use during the pandemic: Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen

Pfizer on Thursday requested emergency approval from United States (US) health authorities to use its COVID jab on children aged five to 11.

Do the United States (US) and China have an agreement on Taiwan’s political status?The question was raised on Tuesday when US President Joe Biden told reporters that he and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had agreed to “abide by the Taiwan agreement”, leaving many around the world scratching their heads.Biden made the remark at the White House in response to a reporter’s question about rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait, with Beijing sending more than 150 military planes towards Taiwan

The new prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Thursday he will "uncover the truth" in his investigation into Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called war on drugs.Duterte said earlier this week he would prepare his defence against the probe by the Hague-based tribunal into the anti-narcotics campaign, which rights groups estimate has killed tens of thousands of people, after previously insisting he would not cooperate."My investigation will see