Filipino Directory

Japan and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval drill this month in the South China Sea near a disputed shoal claimed by Beijing, sources in Tokyo and the Philippines said. The May 12 maritime safety exercise, which will practice the code for unplanned encounters at sea, known as CUES, is part of an agreement signed by Japan and the Philippines in January aimed at tightening security cooperation.

(Reuters) Norwegian Ambassador Leif Larsen, Philippine Ambassador Domingo Lucenario and the wives of the ambassadors of Malaysia and Indonesia were killed, along with two pilots and a crew member, military spokesman Asim Bajwa said in Twitter posts.

Typhoon Noul is forecast to bring gusts of up to 122mph as well as sustained speeds of 100mph, plus heavy rain that prompted warnings of landslides in mountainous areas and a 2.5m storm surge along the coast.

Many poor farming families train at least one son as a wrestler, and for a lucky few it provides an escape route from a life of poverty and caste discrimination.

Taiwan currently has 160 universities in a country with just 23 million people. It's also got one of the world's lowest birthrates, 1.3 children per woman. Already high schools and middle schools are seeing empty seats. In 2014 just 200,000 babies are born in Taiwan, according to the Taipei Times.

Japan?s identity as a pacifist nation, as defined by Article 9 of its constitution, is increasingly at odds with reality. The Japanese Naval Self-Defense Force is the second-most powerful naval force in the region, trailing only its close ally, the United States Navy. Japan has the seventh-largest defense budget in the world; its Ministry of Defense is the largest department in the entire Japanese government.

(Reuters) - China has warned Philippine air force and navy planes at least six times to leave areas around the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine military commander responsible for the region told a Senate hearing on Thursday.

Manny Pacquiao could face disciplinary action from Nevada boxing officials for failing to disclose a shoulder injury before his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Over the past several months a gradual but significant shift has taken place in China's policy toward Japan. The change is a result of Beijing's recognition that its unrelenting pressure on Tokyo since the Japanese Government purchased several of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands from a private owner in September 2012 has produced far greater costs than benefits for China.

William Bradley (blog): Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's just completed trip to Washington, D.C. and California points up Japan's new status. Our bitter enemy of the mid-20th century is poised to become America's most important ally in the early 21st century.