Over 14,000 armed forces personnel from the US, the Philippines, and several other countries started yet another massive military exercise near China’s borders on Wednesday.

Activists stage protests across the United States against the expansion of the “Freedom Shield” military exercises

Both the US and Philippines have refused to withdraw the US Typhon missile system deployed in April near Chinese borders despite earlier claiming it to be a temporary move.

The US has increased joint military exercises in the last few years and built up its military infrastructure in the region

In a communiqué, the Peoples’ Congress declared that this military action was an attack on the sovereignty and independence of several Latin American countries

As the president of Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr delivers his State of the Nation Address, we spoke to leaders of the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) on how the people of the country have assessed the first year of the Marcos’ administration.

The annual US-Philippines military exercise has nearly doubled in size, with close to 18,000 troops participating in the exercise, of which over 12,000 are from the US alone.

NewsClick’s Prabir Purkayastha talks about the situation in Europe after three rounds of discussions around Ukraine and the demands Russia has put to NATO and the US failed to produce any breakthroughs

The event brought together 800 people and defined an agenda of mobilization for 2020

Russia has launched its own military exercises in response to the NATO exercises which involve over 50,000 troops and have been met with protests across Europe

The alleged exercises, along with the cancellation of Mike Pompeo’s visit to South Korea, have placed further obstacles to the peace process

The two countries are key components of US strategy in the region that seeks to counter rising Chinese influence