https://www.scmp.com/rss/522265/feed University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): A prominent UK-based public university, primarily located in Preston, Lancashire, with additional campuses in Burnley, Cumbria, and Cyprus. Established in 1828, UCLan is dedicated to providing accessible higher education and fostering potential, empowering students for global success. It offers a wide array of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including medicine, engineering, and forensic science, alongside impactful research. Recognised for... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Jeoffrey Maitem Jeoffrey Maitem Washington and its allies are drawing up plans to establish an ammunition production facility in the Philippines, a move critics warn would turn the Southeast Asian nation into a logistics arm of US “warmongering”. The proposal emerged last week from the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR), a US-led initiative founded in 2024 to reduce supply chain vulnerabilities and help allies produce and sustain military equipment closer to potential flashpoints. Members agreed to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347561/us-eyes-philippine-ammo-facility-opposition-warns-warmongering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347561/us-eyes-philippine-ammo-facility-opposition-warns-warmongering?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 08:00:15 +0000 Jeoffrey Maitem Jeoffrey Maitem The United States has begun pulling missile-defence systems from South Korea to feed its war with Iran, prompting fresh questions in the Philippines about Washington’s military commitments to the Asia-Pacific. The transfer of Patriot batteries from the Korean peninsula, accompanied by reports that parts of a THAAD anti-missile system were also on the move, did not directly affect the US military presence in the Philippines. But the episode has forced a question that Manila would rather not have... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346226/us-missiles-leave-south-korea-philippines-asks-are-we-next?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346226/us-missiles-leave-south-korea-philippines-asks-are-we-next?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:00:23 +0000 Jeoffrey Maitem Jeoffrey Maitem The Philippines cannot afford an aircraft carrier, could not sustain one if it had it and, according to most analysts, does not need one. What it needs is messier, cheaper and harder to photograph, they say: a web of missiles, patrol boats, frigates and surveillance assets designed not to project power, but to deny it. Two recent developments have made that choice harder to ignore. Last month, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr openly mused that an aircraft carrier with “accompanying... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344910/indonesia-getting-aircraft-carrier-philippines-isnt-does-it-matter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344910/indonesia-getting-aircraft-carrier-philippines-isnt-does-it-matter?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 02:00:22 +0000 Jeoffrey Maitem Jeoffrey Maitem The South China Sea is about to become more militarised as the United States commits to deploying cutting-edge missile and drone systems in the Philippines. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the move during high-level talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on Monday US time, signalling Washington’s push to create a “strong shield of real deterrence” against growing Chinese influence and prepare for potential crisis scenarios. The new weapons would form part of a broader... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3319250/will-more-us-missiles-philippines-deter-or-provoke-south-china-sea-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3319250/will-more-us-missiles-philippines-deter-or-provoke-south-china-sea-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Jul 2025 07:13:38 +0000 Jeoffrey Maitem Jeoffrey Maitem A discreet but strategically significant US-funded boat maintenance hub in the western Philippines is poised to strengthen Manila’s maritime presence in the contested South China Sea while avoiding raising the risk of political escalation. The new facility in Quezon, a coastal town on Palawan Island less than 260km (162 miles) from the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal, could enable the Philippine Navy to maintain a more persistent and responsive posture amid rising tensions with China, in what... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318432/us-build-philippines-boat-hub-south-china-sea-edge-low-footprint-deterrence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318432/us-build-philippines-boat-hub-south-china-sea-edge-low-footprint-deterrence?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:30:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through our solar system – only the third ever spotted, though scientists suspect many more may slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre, is likely the largest yet detected. It has been classified as a comet. “The fact that we see some fuzziness suggests that it is mostly ice rather than mostly rock,” Jonathan McDowell, an... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3316726/giant-object-deep-space-spotted-blazing-through-our-solar-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3316726/giant-object-deep-space-spotted-blazing-through-our-solar-system?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jul 2025 01:59:40 +0000