Philippines says did not consider invoking US pact over South China Sea clash
Voice of America
FILE - An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023.
The Philippines did not consider invoking a mutual defence treaty with the United States after accusing China of disrupting a resupply mission in the disputed South China Sea, officials said on Friday.
FILE - Venancio Mondlane gestures to supporters gathered to celebrate the results in the local elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Oct. 12, 2023. Mondlane finished second in Mozambique's presidential election on Oct. 9, 2024.
FILE - Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski speaks to reporters during his visit in Kyiv, Dec. 22, 2023.
FILE - The Chinese ship, the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, right, is anchored and being monitored by a Danish naval patrol vessels in the sea of Kattegat, near the City og Granaa in Jutland, Denmark, Nov. 20, 2024.
FILE - In this May 28, 2017, photo, members of the Biafran separatist movement gather in Umuahia, Nigeria. Police in Finland said on Nov. 21, 2024, the movement's leader and four others were arrested for alleged terror-related activities.
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Nov. 22, 2024, shows Ukrainian firefighters working on a spot following an air attack, in Sumy.
Palestinians check the rubble of a building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike south of Gaza City on Nov. 22, 2024.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during an opening ceremony of a defense exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea, Nov. 21, 2024.
FILE - Activists participate in a demonstration against fossil fuels at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16, 2024. FILE - Pipes are stacked up to be used for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project in Durres, Albania, April 18, 2016, to transport gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan, across Turkey, Greece, Albania and undersea into southern Italy.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi arrives on the opening day of the agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Nov. 20, 2024.
FILE - Estonia's Kaja Kallas, nominee for European Union High Representative and Vice President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks during her hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Nov. 12, 2024.
