![On Monday night, an exasperated Duterte told his nation of 110 million Filipinos that he does 'not know what to do' if the Delta variant spreads wider, warning that another lockdown could be imposed [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021-07-26T112151Z_239931543_RC28SO98SX8V_RTRMADP_3_PHILIPPINES-POLITICS-e1627449521399.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
July survey shows president leading as probable vice presidential contender amid ‘failed’ COVID-19 response.
![As cases of the Delta variant pop up a health expert said that the 'biggest problem' in the pandemic response seems to be vaccine hesitancy [File: Lisa Marie David/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021-05-26T070235Z_1024065569_RC2JNN9VK6LB_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-PHILIPPINES-VACCINE.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Philippine president’s last State of the Nation address on Monday comes amid a pandemic that has killed more than 27,000
![Duterte, whose term ends next year, has pledged that his government will not cooperate with the possible ICC investigation [File: Erik De Castro/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021-03-16T000000Z_1286943939_RC2ACM9F3CLA_RTRMADP_3_PHILIPPINES-ICC.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Families of victims have until August 13 to submit to The Hague more documents detailing alleged rights abuses.
![Hotter and longer summers, as well as wetter rainy months could pose more risks on main urban centres in China, including Beijing and Shanghai, according to a new Greenpeace study [File: Aly Song/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2012-08-02T120000Z_310980033_GM1E8821AWQ01_RTRMADP_3_CHINA.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Environmental group warns of more heatwaves in Beijing and floods in Shanghai as it calls for measures to mitigate risks
![Chinese President Xi Jinping greets his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte during the latter's visit to Beijing in 2019 [File: Kenzaburo Fukuhara/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/000_1FX0RI.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Experts say China’s maritime gains ‘impossible’ to reverse, urging Manila to boost military capability, alliances.
![The Uighurs have been practising Islam for centuries, tracing their religious influence to the Karakhanid, a Turkic fiefdom that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the 13th century [File: Frederic J Brown/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/000_Hkg341707.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
China has been accused of genocide against the largely Muslim group, but Beijing says it is only tackling extremism.
![Miners search for jade stones at a mine dump at a Hpakant jade mine in Kachin State, Myanmar, November 27, 2015. Using heavy earth excavators and explosives, miners have been tearing into Myanmar's northern hills in recent months, in a rush to excavate more jade from the world's richest deposits of the gemstone before a new government takes office next year [File: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2015-12-16T120000Z_2083767828_GF10000265644_RTRMADP_3_MYANMAR-CHINA-JADE-1.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing’s son implicated in importation of dynamite used in open pit jade mines.
![Aquino took on China in the International Court of Arbitration over the South China Sea dispute [File: Ted Aljibe/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/000_9D23Z4-1.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Aquino’s family have not spoken yet, but sources say the former president had been ill for a while.
![Duterte said that those who are refusing to get inoculated should just 'leave the country' [File: Erik De Castro/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-06-16T131019Z_388305306_RC2P1O95QRDW_RTRMADP_3_PHILIPPINES-POLITICS.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Philippine president also threatens to use ‘shots for pigs’ on Filipinos who refuse to get inoculated against COVID.
![According to the UNHCR, more than 680,000 people are currently internally displaced in Myanmar, including more than 200,000 in the last four months following February's coup [MNWN / AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/000_9BU9B2.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Refugee numbers worldwide increase for a ninth year in a row as people continue to be displaced amid the COVID crisis.