In his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 27 July, President Rodrigo Duterte stated that, “Within ASEAN and beyond, the Philippines will continue to work with partners to address global perils and ramp up cooperation to secure for our peoples, greater peace, progress, and prosperity. The Filipino nation claims its rightful place in the community of sovereign states.

Anthony Fauci, the United States' (US) top infectious disease official, raised concerns Friday regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines under development by China and Russia.Several Chinese companies are at the forefront of the global vaccine race, while Russia has said it hopes to be the first in the world to produce a vaccine for the public, with a target date of September.But the medicines will likely face heightened scrutiny given that the regulatory systems in both countries are ve

Workers removed the United States (US) insignia from the consulate in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday, a day after Beijing ordered its closure as relations deteriorated in a Cold War-style standoff.The Chengdu mission was told to shut in retaliation for the forced closure of Beijing's consulate in Houston, Texas, with both sides alleging the other had endangered national security.The deadline for the Americans to exit Chengdu remains unclear, but reporters saw a worker on a small

Malaysia reached a US$3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs on Friday over the Wall Street titan's role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal in exchange for the country ending all criminal proceedings against the bank. Billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a fraud that allegedly involved former prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies. The cash plundered from state coffers bankrolled a global spending spree, and was spent

The United States (US) and China are at loggerheads over a long list of issues, from the cause of the novel coronavirus to Hong Kong, and trade.An overview, after Washington ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston within 72 hours, accusing it of being a centre for spies.CoronavirusWashington and Beijing have been engaged in a war of words over who is to blame for the novel coronavirus, since Trump described it as a "Chinese" virus in March.China's Foreign minist

Two Chinese nationals have been indicted for seeking to steal COVID-19 vaccine research and hacking hundreds of companies in the United States (US) and abroad, including defense contractors, the US Justice Department said Tuesday.Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, also targeted human rights activists in the US, China and Hong Kong, Assistant Attorney General John Demers said.The indictment comes amid rising tensions between the global superpowers fuelled by the coronavirus pandemic which Pre

Until recently, China was unmistakably trying to be a hegemon in the image of the United States (US), increasingly complementing its growing hard power with soft power. But China seems to have missed its opportunity to build a serious rival to, or even supplant, the existing world economic order fashioned by the US following World War II.All the elements of success seemed to be falling into place for China.

United States (US) rapper Kanye West's chaotic launch of his unlikely campaign to oust Donald Trump in November's presidential election has sparked anger, concern for his mental health and questions about whether he is seriously running.Wearing a bullet-proof jacket marked "security," West broke down in tears during a rambling speech in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday that was supposed to kickstart his White House bid.Instead, controversial comments about renowned Ame

Tensions are mounting by the day between the United States (US) and China, leading to talk of a new Cold War.

Seven months after the emergence of the worst global health crisis in a century the race is on to find the medical equivalent of the Holy Grail – a COVID-19 vaccine.To date the novel coronavirus has killed about 590,000 people worldwide and infected close to 14 million in 196 countries since the outbreak first emerged in China late last year.How to stop in its tracks a pandemic which has wreaked havoc on the world economy is now the pressing multi-billion-dollar issue for vaccine developers a