The Philippines and China held a bilateral meeting on Tuesday, November 10, the first in two years, to ease tensions ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on Tuesday at the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Pasay City. The two discussed preparations for the visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping, who is attending the APEC Summit. On Tuesday, Wang also paid a courtesy call on Aquino to discuss preparations for the APEC Summit. Aquino assured Wang “that it is in the culture of the Filipinos as hosts to make our guests feel the warmth of Filipino hospitality,” Aquino’s spokesman Herminio Coloma Jr said. Beijing has said that the APEC should not be the venue to discuss the regional sea dispute.

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Representatives of the Philippines will finally present the state’s case against China’s expansive claim over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) at The Hague, Netherlands. The oral hearings will take place on November 24 to 30, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). China and the Philippines are engaged in an arbitration case under the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). But China has refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal over the case.

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The Philippines has swept 20,000 homeless from the streets, cancelled hundreds of flights and declared public holidays in Manila to ensure a safe and efficient summit of 21 world leaders next week, officials say. Presidents Barack Obama of the United States, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are among the world leaders flying to the November 18-19 event. Security remains a primary concern. About 18,000 police will be deployed to guard the summit venues and roads. The government has also taken steps to temporarily move families living in the streets to other areas. The Philippines last hosted the APEC summit in 1996.

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After years of remaining in power, the ruling party of Myanmar conceded defeat to the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), headed by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The NLD has bagged 49 of the first 54 lower house seats announced so far. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was braced for a rout after taking just three of the declared seats, with many party heavyweights losing. The NLD needs to win 67% of contested seats to claim majority status in a parliament where 25% of seats are reserved for the military.

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Fifteen senators passed a resolution on Tuesday, November 10 stating that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) would need Senate approval, calling the current deal “invalid and ineffective.” The deal – which would give the US military greater access to Philippine military bases – is being reviewed by the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) who may issue a decision ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the country for the APEC Summit. Three senators: Franklin Drilon, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV abstained while only senator Antonio Trillanes IV dissented. Malacañang has argued that the EDCA is an executive agreement that does not require Senate approval.

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Britain’s foreign minister said Monday, November 9, it is highly likely that a bomb planted by an Islamic State (ISIS) group supporter downed the Russian passenger jet lost over Egypt. British foreign minister Philip Hammond said the British government received information that caused it to suspend flights to the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh and order the evacuation of British tourists there. He also pointed to the possible involvement of ISIS, although did not provide any conclusive link between the crash and the radical group.

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The House of Representatives committee on ways and means approved on Tuesday, November 10, a bill seeking to impose excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages like soda and energy drinks. The bill puts a P10 tax for every liter of sugary drinks with a mandatory increase of 4% every after January 1, 2017 as a revenue-generating measure. Beverage makers are opposed to the bill arguing the tax will damage their business and be an added burden to Filipino consumers.

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A terminally ill man who was an avid fan of the ‘Star Wars’ franchise has died, days after being given an advance screening of the movie. Daniel Fleetwood, 32, who suffered from cancer got his last wish to see the Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie before his death. An online campaign to convince producers to grant his wish quickly went viral. “Daniel put up an amazing fight to the very end. He is now one with God and with the force,” said his wife, Ashley Fleetwood.

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Russia’s athletics federation should be suspended from all competition, including the 2016 Olympic Games, over widespread doping, a damning report by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Monday, November 9. The report outlined evidence of systematic cheating with the consent of the government in Moscow, noting that drug tests for athletes were conducted at a Russian lab which totally lacked credibility. The panel’s findings called for athletics’ governing body (IAAF) to suspend Russia’s athletics body (ARAF) and declare it “non-compliant” with globally agreed doping regulations. The WADA revelations were greeted with astonishment in the world of athletics.

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US theme park SeaWorld announced Monday, November 9 that it planned to phase out its signature killer whale show, which has come under intense criticism in recent years. It will replace the show with a new “informative” attraction in a more natural setting by 2017. SeaWorld suffered a backlash and saw attendance plummet at its 11 parks, particularly in California, in the wake of the critically-acclaimed 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which spotlighted the impact of captivity on orcas. SeaWorld responded by saying that it treated its animals with dignity and that it had not captured a whale in the wild in 35 years.

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