The New York Times

MANILA, Philippines -- Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was proclaimed the next president of the Philippines by a joint session of Congress on Wednesday following a landslide election triumph 36 years after his dictator father was ousted in a pro-democracy uprising. The Senate and House of Representatives also declared that his separately elected vice presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, had won by a wide margin. She is the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, whose turbulent six-year term ends on June 30. They will lead a nation battered by COVID-19 lockdowns, crushing poverty, gaping inequality, Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime and political divisions further inflamed by the May 9 election . Marcos Jr., a 64-year-old former governor, congressman and senator, has refused to acknowledge or apologize for massive human rights violations and plunder under his father's strongman rule and has defended his legacy. When they take office, Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte will likel...

LONDON -- The British government says a long-awaited report into lockdown-breaching parties in government offices has been handed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It is due to be published later Wednesday, and Johnson will address Parliament on its findings. Johnson's future may hinge on the conclusions of senior civil servant Sue Gray. She investigated 16 gatherings attended by Johnson and his staff in 2020 and 2021 while people in the U.K. were barred from socializing under coronavirus restrictions imposed by Johnson’s Conservative government. A separate police investigation saw 83 people hit with fines, including Johnson — making him the first British prime minister ever found to have broken the law while in office. Johnson has apologized, but insisted that he didn’t knowingly break the rules. That is hard to square with accounts by staffers of “bring your own booze” parties and regular “wine time Fridays” in the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. office at the height of the pan...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- China wants 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries in what one leader warns is a “game-changing” bid by Beijing to wrest control of the region. A draft of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that China wants to train Pacific police officers, team up on “traditional and non-traditional security" and expand law enforcement cooperation. China also wants to jointly develop a marine plan for fisheries — which would include the Pacific's lucrative tuna catch — increase cooperation on running the region's internet networks, and set up cultural Confucius Institutes and classrooms. China also mentions the possibility of setting up a free trade area with the Pacific nations. China’s move comes as Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a 20-strong delegation begin a visit to the region this week. Wang is visiting seven of the countries he hopes will endorse the “Common Development Vis...

KYIV, Ukraine -- A regional governor in eastern Ukraine says that at least six civilians have been killed by the latest Russian shelling in a town at the epicenter of fighting three months into the war. Luhansk region Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Wednesday that another eight people have been wounded in the shelling of Sievierodonetsk over the past 24 hours. He accused the Russian troops of deliberately targeting shelters where civilians were hiding. The town is located in in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, where the Russian forces have been pressing their offensive despite stiff Ukrainian resistance. Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas for eight years and hold large swaths of territory. Sievierodonetsk and neighboring cities are the only part of the Donbas’ Luhansk region still under Ukrainian government control. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday that the country's forces in the region faced a difficult situati...