ILIGAN, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine Red Cross says the death toll from a storm that ravaged a wide swath of the south has risen to 652 with 808 others still missing.Red Cross Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said Sunday that flash floods set off by Tropical Storm Washi killed 346 people in Cagayan de Oro city and 206 in nearby Iligan city. Deaths were also reported in five other southern and central provinces.Pang said more people have reported missing relatives, including 447 in Iligan an

CAIRO (AP) ― The U.S. military’s departure from Iraq opens the door to expanded Iranian influence in the Middle East, though that door could close fast if Iran’s closest Arab ally Bashar Assad falls from power in Syria.That’s among the uncertainties looming over the Middle East in the wake of President Barack Obama’s decision to remove all U.S. troops by the end of this month, fulfilling a campaign promise to end the unpopular war and abandoning efforts to negotiate an extension of the year-end

   HONG KONG -- China stressed Sunday that it needs to grow in wisdom rather than using military power in its foreign policy as the country's global prowess escalates.   In the wake of Beijing's increasing influence, Washington has moved to reassert its presence in the Asia-

MOSCOW (AP) — An oil drilling platform capsized Sunday in the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia's east coast, leaving four workers confirmed dead and 49 missing.The Emergencies Ministry said in a statement Sunday that there were 67 people aboard the platform as it was being towed about 200 kilometers

BEIRUT (AP) ― The Arab League has given Syria until Wednesday to allow observers into the country or else it will likely turn to the U.N. Security Council for action to try to end the deadly violence against regime opponents, Qatar’s prime minister said Saturday.Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani said in Qatar that Arab foreign ministers will hold a “decisive and important” meeting in Cairo on Wednesday to decide on next steps. He said there is near unanimity on taking the Arab League’s pl

BEIJING (AFP) ― An open revolt against officialdom by Chinese villagers last week demonstrated the challenge social unrest poses to the Communist party as it prepares for a generational leadership handover.Angered by decades of government land grabs, the villagers of Wukan drove out local Communist officials and police, erecting roadblocks to stop them re-entering and electing their own leaders.The protest has become a symbol of rising public anger over a plethora of perceived injustices, from c

TUNIS (AP) ― About one year ago, in a hardscrabble town in Tunisia’s arid interior, the death knell sounded for the decades-old system of dictatorships across the Arab world.With a desperate act of self-immolation, a 26-year-old Sidi Bouzid fruit-seller unwittingly unleashed a year of turmoil that toppled at least three autocrats in a region once thought to be immune to democracy.Tunisia’s new leaders together with thousands of others took part in a festival starting Saturday in the town honorin

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The United States, facing a rising China but a tighter budget, expects to station several combat ships in Singapore and may step up deployments to the Philippines and Thailand, a naval officer said.The United States has been increasingly vocal about defending freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where tensions over territorial disputes between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations have been on the rise.In an academic article forecasting the shape of the U.S. Navy in 202