Armed Forces of the Philippines

This frame grab from handout video taken on June 17, 2024 and released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office on June 19 shows China coast guard personnel appearing to wield bladed weapons during an incident off Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

U.S. and Philippine forces sank a decommissioned China-made Philippine Navy ship Wednesday during South China Sea war games simulating an attack on an enemy vessel, officials said.

Such was its size that small vehicles would be able to travel within the tunnel, an AFP photographer granted access to it reported

The United States and the Philippines announced on Thursday an agreement to expand American military presence in the Southeast Asian country, where U.S. forces would be granted access to four more Philippine military camps, effectively giving them new ground to ramp up deterrence against China's increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.

At least 17 people were killed and 40 injured when a Philippine military aircraft carrying troops crashed after missing the runway in the country's south, officials said.

AFP

AFP

Director of US Joint Staff, Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie briefs the press on the strikes at the Pentagon in Washington on April 14, 2018. Saul Loeb / AFP