World
Philippine forces sail to hotly disputed shoal without incident for first time since deal with China
Philippine government personnel transported food and other supplies Saturday to a fiercely disputed shoal occupied by a Filipino navy contingent but closely guarded by Beijing’s forces in the South China Sea and no confrontations were reported, Philippine officials said.
It was the first Philippine government supply trip to the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of increasingly violent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine forces, since the Philippines and China reached a deal a week ago to prevent clashes, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said in a statement.
CHINA, PHILIPPINES ANNOUNCE DEAL TO STOP CLASHES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA
“The lawful and routine rotation and resupply mission within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone is a credit to the professionalism of the men and women of the Philippine navy and the Philippine coast guard and the close coordination among the National Security Council, Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs,” the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department said, without providing other details.
In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a Chinese coast guard ship uses water canons on a Philippine Coast Guard ship near the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea as they blocked its path during a re-supply mission on Aug. 5, 2023. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP, File)
A top Philippine security official told The Associated Press that the Chinese and Philippine coast guards communicated for coordination Saturday, and their ships did not issue two-way radio challenges like in the past to demand that each other’s ships leave the shoal immediately.
Also, for the first time at the shoal, Chinese coast guard ships did not shadow or block the Philippine vessels as they had repeatedly done in the past, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authorization to discuss the delicate issue publicly.
China’s coast guard said the Philippine ship delivered daily necessities “in accordance with a temporary arrangement reached between China and the Philippines.”
“The China Coast Guard confirmed it, supervised and managed the entire process,” spokesperson Gan Yu said in a statement posted online.
The deal was reached by the Philippines and China after a series of meetings between the two country’s diplomats in Manila and exchanges of diplomatic notes aimed to establish a mutually acceptable arrangement at the shoal — which Filipinos call Ayungin and the Chinese call Ren’ai Jiao — without conceding either side’s territorial claims, Philippine officials said.
The deal has not been made public by either side.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the news that the resupply mission was completed without a confrontation.
“We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward,” said Blinken, who was in Laos for a meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a group that includes the Philippines.
China’s coast guard and other forces have used powerful water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers to prevent food and other supplies from reaching Filipino navy personnel at Manila’s outpost at the shoal, on a long-grounded and rusting warship, the BRP Sierra Madre.
In the worst confrontation, Chinese forces on motorboats repeatedly rammed and then boarded two Philippine navy boats on June 17 to prevent Filipino personnel from transferring food and other supplies, including firearms, to the ship outpost in the shallows of the shoal, according to the Philippine government. The Chinese seized the Philippine navy boats and damaged them with machetes and improvised spears. They also seized seven M4 rifles, which were packed in cases, and other supplies. The violent faceoff wounded several Filipino navy personnel, including one who lost his thumb, in a chaotic skirmish that was captured in video and photos that were later made public by Philippine officials.
China and the Philippines blamed each other for the confrontation and each asserted their own sovereign rights over the shoal.
The United States and its key Asian and Western allies, including Japan and Australia, condemned the Chinese acts at the shoal and called for the rule of law and freedom of navigation to be upheld in the South China Sea, a key global trade route with rich fishing areas and undersea gas deposits.
In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have been locked in separate but increasingly tense territorial disputes in the waterway, which is regarded as a potential flashpoint and a delicate fault line in the U.S.-China regional rivalry. The U.S. military has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets for decades in what it calls freedom of navigation and overflight patrols, which China has opposed and regards as a threat to regional stability.
Washington has no territorial claims in the disputed waters but has repeatedly warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
Hungary’s parliament has approved a constitutional amendment to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office, with Prime Minister Péter Magyar accusing him of being Orbán’s puppet. But he refuses to resign and argues the move in unconstitutional. What happens next? Euronews explains:
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jordan Walker wore his Cardinals hat backward, chewed a big wad of bubble gum and wore the top of his jersey splayed open as he dug in for his final Home Run Derby swing.
The picture of Cardinals cool, Walker chased down Kyle Schwarber, shut up a rambunctious Philly crowd and introduced himself to a much wider baseball world.
Walker used six swings to swat six homers, besting Schwarber in a dramatic final round that silenced all those boo birds and made him the first St. Louis Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby on Monday night.
Schwarber hit 11 homers during his 15-swing turn in the final round. Philly fans, who jeered everyone but Schwarber and Bryce Harper throughout the night, quietly headed toward the exits when Walker’s winning shot soared over the left field wall.
“I was once told you don’t boo nobodies,” Walker said. “So it feels pretty good.”
The 24-year-old Walker sported the Derby champions’ chain, slipped on a leather jacket and still wore his batting gloves as he broke down what it took to take down Schwarber on his home turf.
“My thought was Philly is brutal,” Walker said. “I mean, honestly. But I think it’s pretty special because they love their players and that’s what you want from your home, like, where you play. I mean, I’d never hear people cheer so loud for, like, Schwarber and Harper. And those guys did their thing, for sure.
“But, you know, I can’t hate them, because that’s their guy, so I just got to play the game.”
Walker played a pretty great game in the first half for the Cardinals.
Walker is a first-time All-Star and having a breakout season in St. Louis. He already has a career-high 22 homers this season after struggling with a combined 11 over the previous two years.
Those final six in Philly all flying high with Iron Man on his bat are now stamped on the Derby highlight reel.
His cap backward just like Hall of Famer and Derby great Ken Griffey Jr., Walker celebrated with his family immediately on the field. His father rejoiced in recalling how Walker started hitting long home runs when he was 6 years old.
“When things got tough, they were always there in my corner to talk to them about it,” Walker said of his family. “They kept the energy levels high. They kept the feelings high.”
He fulfilled this childhood dream in striking fashion. Walker hit his seventh homer with two swings remaining and his eighth on the next swing to earn bonus swings. Needing to hit four straight homers to win, the right-handed Jordan knocked one off the top of the center field fence 401 feet away. He reached 10 homers and Philly fans booed with all their might, only for Jordan to finish the sensational surge and celebrate as fireworks shot off around him.
“You can’t say enough about how he was able to kind of slow the moment down, too, and lock it in,” said Schwarber, a Derby runner-up for the second time. “All of our fans were we’re raring and trying to will me to it.”
A revamped Derby format delivered great drama
MLB ditched its timed clock this season and returned to a swing format, with each hitter continuing to swing if he went deep on his final one.
The extra time between swings gave hitters time to track their home runs — and Philly a smidge more time to unleash those throaty boos at Contreras and Walker.
Each player had 20 swings in the first round and the top four advanced. Hitters were seeded for the second round, where No. 1 faces 4 and 2 meets 3.
Each player got 15 swings in the second round, with batters homering on their final swings continuing until not homering.
Boston’s Willson Contreras, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, New York’s Ben Rice and Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone, and Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami also participated.
Philly came ready to celebrate its slugging stars
Phillies fans were wildly optimistic that Schwarber and Harper could somehow reach the final and crown the franchise’s third Derby champion.
Harper hit only eight in the first round and was the final slugger to try and advance. Schwarber could only watch as Harper failed to join him. Schwarber, then with the Chicago Cubs, made the finals in 2018 at Nationals Park before losing to Harper when he played with the Nationals.
Schwarber and Harper — the first pair of teammates to participate in the Derby since 2018 — received roaring ovations when famed ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced them ahead of the competition.
As for the other six sluggers in the field, all wearing their home jerseys with red, white and blue uniform numbers?
Yeah, they were about booed out of the ballpark, with the loudest jeers saved for Rice. He gamely laughed as he walked out of his Liberty Bell entrance.
Harper — who said earlier Monday this would be his last Derby — waved his arms and exhorted the crowd to get louder as he walked to the home plate platform placed at second base. Harper about broke the ring ropes as he shook them like a pro wrestler, and the Philly crowd went bonkers for the star known as The Showman.
The ball-shagging kids in the outfield were even booed.
The Derby’s public address announcer implored the fans to cheer during some quiet stretches when homers — non-Phillies edition — were hit.
The fans did get a rise when Caglianone smoked one into Ryan Howard territory into the third deck in right field. Contreras socked ’em into the rarified air of the left field upper deck. One homer cleared the last row of stands in that section and bounced off the concourse in front of a bar. His 490-footer was the longest of the first round.
This was the first Home Run Derby and All-Star Game held at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004 and the first derby in Philadelphia since Barry Bonds outslugged Mark McGwire in 1996 to win an afternoon event in front of thousands of empty seats at Veterans Stadium.
This derby was sold out and aired on Netflix for the first time, with the streamer getting into the game this season with a three-event package. Netflix already aired the opening night game, and the third attraction is the Field of Dreams game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 13.
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The U.S.-designated terrorist Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen condemned Saudi Arabia for allegedly targeting the Sanna airport with airstrikes, sparking a possible new front with Iran’s terror-proxy.
While the Houthis agreed to a 2022 truce with the Saudi-led coalition that opposes its rule, the Houthis have frequently disrupted commercial shipping in the Red Sea since they joined Hamas following its invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The latest flare up of military strikes could lead to a resumption of war between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree called the attacks “blatant aggression” and said they had ended a period of de-escalation. He said Saudi Arabia would bear the consequences and that the attack would not go unanswered. The Houthis threatened to strike King Khalid Airport in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Iran’s Press TV reported on its X account that, “Iran condemns Saudi attack on Sana’a airport as breach of law, Yemen sovereignty.”
US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Smoke rises following an airstrike at Sanaa International Airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, July 13, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a video. (Al Masirah Handout via Reuters)
The official slogan of the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) is: “God is great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
Earlier on Monday, the government’s defense ministry said the runway at Sanaa International Airport had been targeted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. An armed forces spokesman later said the aircraft had landed at Houthi-controlled Hodeidah airport.
Salman Al-Ansari, a prominent Saudi geopolitical analyst, told Fox News Digital, “The Iranian-backed Houthi militia is now in a desperate position, attempting to demonstrate its usefulness to its Iranian masters amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.”
Yemen’s Iran-backed armed Houthi group has warned they will move to shutter the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait through missile-drone attacks if Gulf nations join the US-Israel war on Iran. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
He said, “This is an action taken by Yemen’s legitimate government in response to the violation of its airspace and sovereignty. It was not carried out by Saudi Arabia or the coalition. Yemeni forces struck the runway at Sana’a International Airport after the terrorist Houthi militia defied international law by allowing unauthorized Iranian flights into Yemen, despite measures intended to prevent the smuggling of weapons and explosives.”
According to Al-Ansari, “The Houthis know that these flights can land normally if they follow the agreed-upon route through a Jordanian airport, for inspection purposes. The Houthis are currently at one of their weakest points, particularly after Yemen’s legitimate government consolidated effective authority over 80% of the country’s territory. This is a marked departure from the past, when the legitimate government was fragmented between two rival camps.”
ISRAELI AMBASSADOR WARNS IRAN’S GRIP ON LEBANON IS A ‘WARNING SIGN’ FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE
A Houthi rebel fighter fires in the air during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for their movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of Sanaa by the Houthis, who drove out the internationally-recognized government. Months later, in March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched its air campaign to prevent the rebels from overrunning the country’s south. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Lebanon and other Sunni Gulf countries have expressed concerns about the Iranian regime’s plan to establish a so-called “Shiite crescent” that stretches from Iran to Lebanon and includes such terrorist proxies as the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Al-Ansari noted that “By confronting the Houthis, Yemen’s legitimate government is not only defending its own sovereignty; it is helping safeguard the region and the wider world from Iran’s network of terrorist proxies.”
Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an expert on Yemen and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital that, “The Houthis’ warning that the strike on Sana’a airport ‘will not go unanswered’ should be taken seriously. But the significance of the incident extends well beyond the prospect of retaliation.”
She said, “The dispute was never really about civilian aviation or simply returning a Houthi delegation from Tehran. The Yemeni government had agreed to facilitate the delegation’s return aboard a Yemenia aircraft. The issue was the Iranian aircraft itself.”
Houthi terrorists walk over British and U.S. flags at a rally in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and the recent Houthi strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Feb. 4, 2024, on the outskirts of Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
She added that “By proceeding with the Mahan Air flight despite Yemeni objections and ensuring that it reached Houthi-controlled Yemen anyway, Iran and the Houthis were sending a political message: Tehran intends to normalize direct and public ties with Houthi-controlled Yemen and is willing to challenge the restrictions that have governed access to the country since 2015.”
The U.S. government sanctioned Mahan Air for its role in supplying weapons and technology to terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.
Al-Dawsari said, “What we are increasingly seeing is a pattern in which Iran and its proxies create facts on the ground, betting that regional and international actors have little appetite for escalation and will eventually adjust to them. We have seen the same approach in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Pro-Iran protesters brandish billboards depicting the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, flags of Yemen and Iran, weapons, and chant slogans as they take part in a rally held to condemn the US-Israel aerial attacks on Iran and killing the Iranian supreme leader and several military officials on March 1, 2026, in Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
She said, “The episode also highlights the Houthis’ growing importance within Iran’s regional network. While other members of the Axis of Resistance have been weakened in recent years, the Houthis have emerged as Tehran’s most capable and strategically important partners, particularly in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.”
According to Reuters, the Saudi government’s communication office did not immediately respond to the accusations.
Muhammad Al-Farah, a member of the Houthi Political Bureau, wrote on Telegram, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), that the alleged Saudi attack will lead to the Bab al-Mandab Strait joining the Strait of Hormuz with respect to disruption and possible closure. As a result, the price of a barrel of oil will rise to $200 and the attacks give the Houthis a reason to “strike back and liberate Yemen from occupation.”
President Donald Trump welcomes Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that, “We are aware of these reports and monitoring closely. The United States and Saudi Arabia share a strategic partnership that has only grown stronger under President Trump. The United States stands firmly with Saudi Arabia against Iranian aggression, including Iranian-supported Houthi attacks, and remains committed to the Kingdom’s security and regional stability.”
The spokesperson added, “We continue to actively enforce the Trump Administration’s designation of the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and condemn Iran’s flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty in support of their Houthi proxies.
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“The Administration’s National Security Strategy states that our core interests in the region include ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism. It is critical to continue efforts to counter the Iran-backed Houthis and other terrorist groups in Yemen who threaten these U.S. interests.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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