In the Philippines, a housing shortage has forced many families to live in unsafe and high-risk areas.
Nov 4, 2026
In the weeks leading up to the midterm elections, US President Donald Trump displayed unwavering confidence in his star power, urging supporters to close their eyes and “pretend I’m on the ballot”. But Tuesday night’s disastrous results for the Republicans – the first time in 20 years both houses of Congress have changed hands at the same time – have punctured the aura of invincibility that once shielded Trump and allowed him to keep potential critics in line with the threat that opposing him...
MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian urged Congress to immediately pass a proposed measure prohibiting government officials’ relatives from securing government contracts to protect public funds and prevent corruption. “It is important that we enact this as soon as possible so that we can ensure that public funds go to programs and projects that
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa should first be brought before a Philippine court if arrested, before being transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Wednesday. According to Lacson, this will allow dela Rosa to avail himself of legal remedies in the country, including seeking relief from the
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Wednesday reminded authorities to uphold their duties and refrain from violating the law following allegations that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was allowed to leave jail with the help of a jail warden. Retired columnist Ramon Tulfo alleged that a jail warden had cut off the power supply, disabling CCTV cameras
The refund is small – 10 Singapore cents (8 US cents) per bottle – for each return under Singapore’s Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS). But the uproar is big. Since BCRS reverse vending machines became fully operational on October 1, Singapore’s social media has been flooded with videos and posts criticising people for raiding bins and holding up others by returning containers by the bag-load. A recent controversy was sparked by a post on October 28 showing two town council workers...
MANILA, Philippines — Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said on Wednesday that he is recruiting Gabriel Go of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to join the Department of Transportation (DOTr). He announced it more than a week after returning to the DOTr as its secretary. Go heads the MMDA’s Special Operations Group-Task Force for Road
MANILA, Philippines — Eight farm-to-market (FMR) road projects flagged by budget watchdogs for faulty coordinates originated in the executive branch’s initial spending proposal. These were not added through amendments by the House of Representatives. A Department of Agriculture (DA) official made the statements on Wednesday. Speaking at a congressional briefing, Agriculture Assistant Secretary U-Nichols Manalo
Follow the SCMP’s live coverage here After almost two years in which the transatlantic alliance verged on collapse, a Democratic landslide in the US midterm elections was welcomed in Europe on Wednesday, even if few believed it would be a panacea for ailing ties. The Democratic Party swept both chambers of the US Congress in a crushing rebuke of US President Donald Trump’s two-year record. For Europe, that period has led to a shattering of the post-war order and deep schisms in the Western...
With just a fortnight until the Apec summit in Shenzhen, preparations are reportedly under way for the first meeting between the leaders of China, Russia and the United States. If the talks go ahead, they could bolster Beijing’s diplomatic standing, although the different priorities of each power were likely to limit consensus and yield few, if any, concrete concessions, observers said. Officials from Beijing, Moscow, and Washington had been holding serious talks to arrange the first trilateral...
Philippine police said on Wednesday that three memory cards and a mobile phone turned over by the son of Meghan Markle’s estranged father contained child sexual abuse material. Last week, Philippine police said they were investigating a laptop found alongside images of child abuse at an alleged former residence of Thomas Markle, whose daughter is married to Britain’s Prince Harry. Philippine interior minister Jonvic Remulla said at the time the country planned to take “appropriate legal actions”...
BACOLOD CITY — Several local governments in Negros Occidental have announced the suspension of face-to-face classes on Wednesday, after a forecast heat index of 42 degrees Celsius, a level labeled “dangerous” by the state bureau. As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the state weather bureau measured the heat index in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental,
Singapore’s parliament on Wednesday passed tougher penalties against companies responsible for forest fires in Indonesia, including curbs on related business dealings, as the city state doubles down on enforcement following one of its worst haze episodes in more than a decade. The amended Transboundary Pollution Haze Act will see penalties on such companies increase tenfold to a maximum fine of S$1 million (US$780,000) a day, capped at a total of S$20 million. The Act has been invoked twice...