Pompeo sworn in as U.S. secretary of state
Former CIA director Mike Pompeo has overcome stiff opposition in the Senate from Democrats who warned he would add fuel to President Donald Trump's aggressive foreign policy

State of calamity in Boracay, Philippines on Villa expulsion, George RR Martin’s new book | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler's evening newscast with Acor Arceo

Kanye West, doubling down, voices 'love' of Trump
'You don't have to agree with Trump but the mob can't make me not love him,' Kanye tweets

#ThewRap: Things you need to know, April 26, 2018
Hello! Here's a roundup of news you need to know this Thursday.

France's Macron pushes back at 'America First' agenda
The French leader's feisty speech to lawmakers is a dramatic twist near the end of a 3-day visit that has showcased his warm personal relationship with US President Donald Trump, despite the gulf between their visions of world affairs

Trump, Russia, China media attacks 'threaten democracy'
Reporters Without Borders accuses the world's 3 superpowers – the US, China and Russia – of leading the charge against press freedom

North Korea slams U.S. censure on rights ahead of inter-Korea summit
The US State Department's rights report on the North has described 'egregious human rights violations' in the authoritarian state, from public executions to widespread surveillance of citizens

Trump, Macron call for 'new' nuclear deal with Iran
(UPDATED) US President Donald Trump eyes a broader 'deal' that will also limit Iran's ballistic missile program and support for militant groups across the Middle East
Roque on Boracay closure, Pulse Asia survey, Aquino on 2019 elections | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler's evening newscast with Marguerite de Leon

Iran threatens to 'vigorously' resume enrichment if U.S. quits deal
'America never should have feared Iran producing a nuclear bomb, but we will pursue vigorously our nuclear enrichment,' says Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

North Korea's Kim promises no more nuclear or missile tests
(2nd UPDATE) World powers hail the announcement, but analysts caution that the declaration was promising but limited

Pulse Asia survey, Duterte on contractualization, Comey’s memos on Trump | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler's evening newscast with Marguerite de Leon

Comey memos show Trump's obsession with Russia probe
Trump 'said he was trying to run the country and the cloud of this Russia business was making that difficult,' FBI director James Comey writes in a memo on a conversation they had on March 30, 2017
U.S. Senate narrowly confirms Trump's new NASA chief
Jim Bridenstine has expressed an interest in returning humans back to the moon, has spoken of closer ties between NASA and the commercial space industry, and has voiced skepticism about human-caused climate change

Albayalde on PNP, Bello on ‘endo,’ Trump on Kim | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler's evening newscast with Marguerite de Leon

Playboy model free to discuss Trump 'affair'
'I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story when asked, and I look forward to being able to return to my private life and focus on what matters to me,' says model Karen McDougal

Trump says hopeful for Kim summit, but not afraid to walk away
Ever disposed to set out the options in the starkest terms possible, US President Donald Trump predicts a 'very successful' May or June summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-Un
#ThewRap: Things you need to know, April 19, 2018
Hello! Here's a roundup of news you need to know this Thursday.

Duterte on Fox, Law groups on Duterte, North and South Korea | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler's evening newscast with Marguerite de Leon

Trump-Merkel meeting set for April 27 – White House
After enjoying a close relationship with president Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has seen ties with Washington worsen under Donald Trump

Filipino immigrant fighting deportation wins U.S. Supreme Court case
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joins in a 5-4 ruling stating that the legal definition of a crime of violence – which is being used to deport Philippines-born James Garcia Dimaya – is too vague

Trump reveals direct North Korea contacts, OKs peace talks
Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un have not spoken directly, but the US president confirms that Washington and Pyongyang had been in contact at 'very high levels' to prepare for a historic meeting between them

Trump hosts Abe with North Korea, trade on the agenda
With Shinzo Abe's approval rating languishing at its lowest level in years and Donald Trump mired in controversies and crises too numerous to list, both are under pressure

Malacañang on PES official, PCOO on Facebook fact-checking, Comey on Trump | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler's evening newscast with Bea Cupin

[OPINION] Duterte and Trump: Dirty old men
Sexual reprobates, like these two presidents, like their women weak and submissive to hide their impending impotence but, more importantly, because they want to conceal what they are terrified of: strong women

Trump 'morally unfit' for office, fired FBI chief Comey says
(UPDATED) 'Our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country. The most important being truth. This president is not able to do that,' former FBI director James Comey says

Trump to host Nigerian president April 30 – White House
Nigeria, West Africa's largest economy, is among the countries combatting Islamist extremism with help from the United States

Filipinos in Syria urged to stay home amid U.S.-led air strikes
(UPDATED) 'So far, the Embassy has not received any reports of Filipino casualties in the attacks that appear to have targeted military installations in and around Damascus,' says Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato

Pompeo, Trump's pick to be secretary of state, vows diplomatic approach to Iran
Mike Pompeo disavows his reputation as a 'war hawk' and an anti-Muslim hardliner as he seeks to woo support from senators to become the next US secretary of state

Duterte on Sereno, Duterte apologizes to Hong Kong, Comey’s book | Midday wRap
Watch Rappler's midday newscast with Marguerite de Leon
Trump considers rejoining Pacific trade pact he once spurned
'Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama,' US President Donald Trump says in a tweet

#ThewRap: Things you need to know, April 13, 2018
Here are the stories you shouldn't miss this Friday

Ex-FBI chief Comey: Trump ran White House like a 'mob boss'
Former FBI director James Comey also says in a new book that President Donald Trump lives in 'a cocoon of alternative reality' that he tried to pull others around him into

Zuckerberg on Facebook, Duterte and Xi on West Philipines Sea, Trump on Russia | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler’s evening newscast with Mara Cepeda

UN warns against letting Syria crisis 'spiral' out of control
With the UN Security Council failing thus far to find a diplomatic solution, Secretary General Antonio Guterres warns that time is running out

Trump says Russia ties worse than Cold War, blames Mueller
US President Donald Trump mocks Moscow's threat to shoot down any US missiles targeting Syria and pilloried Moscow for its ties to the regime of Bashar al-Assad

Philippines not taking sides in China-U.S. trade row – Malacañang
Nevertheless, President Rodrigo Duterte thinks 'it's high time for China to protect the east and the cause of trade liberalism,' says Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque

Aquino on Senate Dengvaxia report, LTFRB on Grab, White House on Mueller | Evening wRap
Watch Rappler's evening newscast with Marguerite de Leon

Rappler Talk: Did Duterte's campaign team work with Cambridge Analytica?
The Duterte presidential campaign's chief social media strategist claims the Cambridge Analytica CEO "influenced" his work

Trump can fire Russia prosecutor Mueller, says White House
After months of denying Mueller's removal is under consideration, the change in tone comes as President Donald Trump reacts furiously to an FBI raid of his private lawyer's offices

Malacañang on Cambridge Analytica, Sereno vs De Castro, Sandiganbayan on Napoles | Evening wRap
Watch the evening newscast with Marguerite de Leon

Xi vows to further open China economy as U.S. trade spat simmers
(UPDATED) Promising a 'new phase of opening up,' Chinese President Xi Jinping says during the Boao Forum for Asia that Beijing 'does not seek a trade surplus' and hopes to increase imports

#ThewRap: Things you need to know, April 10, 2018
Hello! Here are the stories you shouldn't miss this Tuesday

Quo warranto petition oral arguments, Zuckerberg on Facebook, FBI raids Cohen office | Midday wRap
Watch Rappler's midday newscast with Bea Cupin

Kim makes first official mention of U.S.-North Korea talks
(UPDATED) At the meeting of party officials, the North Korean leader delivers a report 'on the development of the recent situation on the Korean peninsula'

FBI raids offices of Trump's personal lawyer
(UPDATED) 'It's a disgraceful situation. It's a total witch-hunt, I have been saying it for a long time,' US President Donald Trump says as he angrily denounces the raid

Duterte social media campaign manager: ‘Nix influenced my work’
(UPDATED) Jose Gabriel 'Pompee' La Viña, who appears in a photo with Cambridge Analytica's Alexander Nix, says he never worked with the parent company but took some lessons from the talk of Nix himself when he visited Manila in 2015
Duterte on Day of Valor, North Korea on denuclearization, Markle biography | Midday wRap
Watch Rappler's midday newscast with Mara Cepeda

North Korea ready to discuss denuclearization with U.S. – report
'The US has confirmed that Kim Jong-un is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,' a Trump administration official says

Macron condemns Syria 'chemical attacks' – Elysee
The statement from the Elysee Palace says Macron 'strongly condemned the chemical attacks on April 7 against the population of Douma'
