The Philippines’ top defence official has urged the government to review a decades-old defence treaty with its longtime ally United States.
Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana hinted at the risks of dragging Manila into a war with China.
He said the security environment in the region has become “much more complex” since the countries’ Mutual Defense Treaty was drawn 68 years ago.
Kate Fisher reports from Washington:
US and Iran launch new attacks as they wrestle for control of Strait
The US military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones as Tehran sought to thwart a new US naval effort to open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Putin, Zelenskyy proclaim rival ceasefires around Russia's commemorations
President Vladimir Putin has declared on Monday a two-day ceasefire in the conflict with Ukraine on May 8-9 to mark Russia’s World War Two victory, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy countered with his own proposed pause in fighting starting earlier, on the night of May 5‑6.
Blast at fireworks factory in China's Hunan kills 21
A blast at a fireworks factory in China's Hunan province has killed 21 people and injured 61, prompting President Xi Jinping to call for a thorough investigation, state media reported on Tuesday.
Three killed after small plane crashes into building in southeastern Brazil
A small airplane with five occupants crashed into a building on Monday in the city of Belo Horizonte in southeastern Brazil, killing three people, local officials and firefighters said.
Two killed, multiple injuries after car hits bystanders in Leipzig
Two people were killed and three others were seriously injured on Monday when a car drove into a central pedestrian zone of the eastern German city of Leipzig, Mayor Burkhard Jung said, the latest in a spate of such incidents in recent years in Germany.
