During his campaign, Rodrigo Duterte threatened drug dealers with death. Now the Senate is investigating a wave of killings by police and vigilantes during Duterte's first seven weeks in office.

A five-year-old girl has become the youngest victim of tough-talking Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" that has left more than 1900 people dead in seven weeks. Danica May died from a gunshot wound to the head after unidentified gunmen opened fire on her family as they sat down to lunch in their home in Dagupan, a city of 170,000 north of Manila.

Years ago Christopher Tubo caught a 660-pound blue marlin in the South China Sea. The fishing was good there, he says. Tuna fishermen would come home from a trip with dozens of the high-value fish as well as a good haul of other species. “Here there’s none of that,” he says, looking toward the Sulu Sea, the Philippine sea where he’s been fishing for the past four years. His two boats, traditional Filipino outriggers called bancas, float in the shallow water nearby, new coats of white paint drying in the sun.

At least 12 people have been killed and 60 injured in an explosion at a night market in Davao City in the Philippines, an official told CNN Philippines. Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan, the director of Region 11 of the Philippine National Police, told CNN Philippines that 10 people had died at the scene, and two had died after being taken to the Southern Philippines Medical Center.

Controversial Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte has labelled US counterpart Barack Obama a “son of a bitch” and warned him not to question his policy of extrajudicial killings. Since gaining power in June, Mr Duterte has engaged in a vicious war on drugs, which has seen around 2,400 people killed with impunity by hit squads, drawing international criticism. But before heading to Laos for the ASEAN Summit on Monday, Mr Duterte said he was a leader of a sovereign country and answerable only to the Filipino people.

President Barack Obama called off a planned meeting Tuesday with new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, seeking distance from a U.S. ally's leader during a diplomatic tour that's put Obama in close quarters with a cast of contentious world figures. It's unusual for one president to tell another what to say or not say, and much rarer to call the other a "son of a bitch." Duterte managed to do both just before flying to Laos for a regional summit, warning Obama not to challenge him over extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

US President Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who had earlier called him a "son of a whore". Mr Duterte was responding to the US president's promise to raise the issue of drug-related extra-judicial killings in the Philippines at their meeting. The Filipino leader is known for his colourful language, though this time it has had a diplomatic impact, correspondents say. He has now said he regrets the remark.

Losses in Philippine stocks are accelerating as foreigners keep pulling money from Asia’s most expensive market, amid speculation that the outbursts of President Rodrigo Duterte are hurting investor sentiment. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 1.3 per cent to 7,619.10 in its biggest decline in five weeks. The gauge has dropped 6 per cent from a 15-month high on 21 July, paring its gain this year to 9.6 per cent. 

The people of the Philippines and their president know all too well the hypocrisy of being lectured by the United States about violence, human rights and democracy.

A former Filipino militiaman testified before the country's Senate on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was still a city mayor, ordered him and other members of a liquidation squad to kill criminals and opponents in gangland-style assaults that left about 1,000 dead. Edgar Matobato, 57, told the nationally televised Senate committee hearing that he heard Duterte order some of the killings, and acknowledged that he himself carried out about 50 deadly assaults...

The man who publicly accused Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte of running a hit squad and personally killing people won't be given state protection. Senate President Koko Pimentel announced on his verified Facebook page that Edgar Matobato won't be put in protective custody because his life has not been threatened. "I've denied the request for protective custody of the witness (Edgar) Matobato because there is no Senate rule to justify it," he said. "There's even no showing that his life or safety is threatened."

President Duterte let loose a fresh string of tirades against the European Union, on Tuesday, after it called for a halt to extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the Philippines. “I read the condemnation of the EU against me. I will tell them, ‘fuck you.’ You’re doing it in atonement for your sins,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech before local government officials in Davao City. Duterte said members of the European Union have become strict about the behavior of other nations due to their “guilt feelings” over the atrocities they had committed in the past.

When comparing yourself to world leaders or historical figures, there are perhaps less controversial choices than Adolf Hitler. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday likened himself to the Nazi leader, saying he wants to kill millions of drug addicts, just as Hitler killed Jews during the Holocaust. "Hitler massacred 3 million Jews. Now there is 3 million, what is it, 3 million drug addicts (in the Philippines), there are," he said in a speech in his hometown of Davao City.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday hit out anew at the United States and the European Union in yet another tirade against criticisms of his administration's crime war. “Instead of helping us, ang unang tumira, itong [US] State Department. So, you can go to hell. Mr. Obama, you can go to hell," he said, referring to American president Barack Obama. "EU, better choose purgatory. Puno na ang impiyerno. Bakit ako matakot sa inyo?" he added.

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte called U.S. President Barack Obama, the European Union and United Nations "fools" on Thursday, and warned they would end up humiliated and outsmarted if they accepted an invitation to investigate his war on drugs.

Typhoon Sarika will blast Luzon Island of the Philippines with flooding rain and damaging winds this weekend before taking aim at southern China and northern Vietnam.

In what could be another approach to deal with the drug problem in the country, President Duterte has formed a super task force to look into the treatment and rehabilitation of more than three million drug dependents all over the country. Duterte has been criticized for the killings happening in the course of his war against drugs, as various sectors noted that cutting supply through police operations was not the only solution to the problem. The drug menace is said to be a health concern as well, and treating people with addiction will reduce demand.

Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, says the motivation for his brutal clampdown on drugs comes in part from being sexually abused by a Catholic priest as a child. The 71-year-old has attracted attention for a tough crackdown on the Filipino drug trade that has seen almost 4,000 people killed by police and vigilante gangs since he took office on 30 June. Asked about how being abused had influenced him, Mr Duterte told Al Jazeera: “It’s what you get along the way that shapes your character. At that time [it influences] your politics and how you look at the world."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from the United States on Thursday, declaring he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks. Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he is visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate.