MANILA, Philippines – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s coalition swept to a historic election win on February 8, paving the way in which for promised tax cuts which have spooked monetary markets and army spending geared toward countering China.
“This election concerned main coverage shifts — significantly a serious shift in financial and monetary coverage, in addition to strengthening safety coverage,” Takaichi mentioned in a tv interview because the outcomes rolled in.
On February 9, the Philippine Senate permitted a decision condemning the Chinese language embassy within the Philippines for remarks they’ve made, after days of deliberation and debate in plenary — together with arguments from minority senators who didn’t need that decision handed.
The Division of Overseas Affairs, on February 11, publicly urged the Chinese language embassy in Manila to be “constructive in its statements” amid a phrase battle between Beijing’s envoys and varied people and businesses in authorities.
In the meantime, Adam Mosseri, the top of Instagram, defended the social media platform’s decisions round options that some firm insiders referred to as dangerous to younger customers, at a trial on claims the app helped gasoline a youth psychological well being disaster.
The highest govt testified on February 11 in Los Angeles as a part of a trial on what plaintiffs name “social media dependancy” in youngsters and younger adults. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg can be anticipated to testify within the coming weeks.
Catch extra tales in these photographs from the week that was:
Individuals stroll on a snow-covered road, subsequent to a board displaying posters of candidates, forward of the February 8 snap election, in Nagaoka, Japan, on February 7, 2026. PHOTO BY MANAMI YAMADA/REUTERS
A voter checks the discover board earlier than voting within the normal election at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY PATIPAT JANTHONG/REUTERS
A safety personnel carries poll packing containers towards a automobile whereas sending them to totally different constituencies from the election fee forward of the March 5 Home of Representatives elections, in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY NAVESH CHITRAKAR/REUTERS
North Korean chief Kim Jong-un salutes throughout a go to to the Ministry of Protection for the 78th anniversary of the founding of the armed forces, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY KCNA VIA REUTERS
Rap artist Unhealthy Bunny performs at halftime of the Tremendous Bowl LX match between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8, 2026. PHOTO BY KIRBY LEE/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS
A jail van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai, founding father of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Each day, arrives on the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts constructing in Hong Kong, for sentencing in his nationwide safety collusion trial, on February 9, 2026. PHOTO BY TYRONE SIU/REUTERS
A lady offers water to a detained demonstrator after protesters clashed with police at City Corridor Sq. throughout a protest in opposition to Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s state go to to Australia following the lethal mass capturing at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Seaside on December 14, 2025, in Sydney, Australia, on February 9, 2026. PHOTO BY JEREMY PIPER/REUTERS
Members of Extinction Rise up stage a protest with a determine depicting South African Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Assets, Gwede Mantashe, to spotlight the necessity for South Africa and different nations to maneuver away from coal manufacturing and honor their local weather commitments, throughout the Investing in African Mining Indaba convention in Cape City, South Africa, on February 9, 2026. PHOTO BY ESSA ALEXANDR/REUTERS
Soraida Gonzalez, mom of detainee Jose Miguel Estrada, reacts as individuals and relations of detainees collect outdoors Venezuela’s Nationwide Meeting as the federal government pledges to cross an amnesty legislation to free political prisoners, in Caracas, Venezuela, on February 10, 2026. PHOTO BY MAXWELL BRICENO/REUTERS
Worshippers collect round candles caught to jars with honey throughout a spiritual mass to mark the day of Saint Haralampi, the Orthodox patron saint of beekeepers, within the church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, on February 10, 2026. PHOTO BY SPASINAYA SERGIEVA/REUTERS
A person walks beneath lanterns put in at Thean Hou Temple forward of the upcoming Chinese language Lunar New Yr, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY HASNOOR HUSSEIN/REUTERS
A mannequin will get prepared backstage for the LoveShackFancy Fall 2026 presentation throughout New York Trend Week in New York Metropolis, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY ANGELINA KATSANIS/REUTERS
Comic Jo Koy poses with Gabriel Iglesias throughout a ceremony to put his handprints and footprints in cement within the forecourt of the TCL Chinese language Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS
Iranian girls pose for an image as they attend the forty seventh anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA VIA REUTERS
Crime scene tape surrounds a highschool with a Pleasure flag and ‘Everyone seems to be welcome right here’ painted on home windows, on the web site of a lethal mass capturing within the city of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS
Mariano Janin, Ellen Roome, and George Nicolaou sit outdoors a courtroom with photographs of their youngsters who died, throughout a trial in a key check case accusing Meta and Google’s YouTube of harming youngsters’s psychological well being by addictive platforms, in Los Angeles, California, on February 11, 2026. PHOTO BY DANIEL COLE/REUTERS
A member of the Filipinos Do Not Yield Motion locations a examine mark on a poster displaying the faces of senators who permitted a decision condemning the Chinese language embassy within the Philippines for the remarks they’ve made, throughout a rally on February 12, 2026. PHOTO BY ANGIE DE SILVA/RAPPLER
Activists attempt to relocate and lift the Pleasure flag to the unique pole whereas individuals collect on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument, the place the LGBTQ+ rights motion was born, after authorities eliminated it from the Greenwich Village web site in New York Metropolis, on February 12, 2026. PHOTO BY EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS
Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria, Eliot Grondin of Canada, Jakob Dusek of Austria, and Aidan Chollet of France are seen in motion within the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics Males’s Snowboard Cross Large Last in Livigno Snow Park, Livigno, Italy on February 12, 2026. PHOTO BY DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS
A whole bunch of scholars from St. Scholastica’s Faculty Manila elevate their fists and shout slogans throughout the ‘One Billion Rising’ occasion on the faculty grounds, as a part of the worldwide marketing campaign to finish violence in opposition to girls and ladies, on February 13, 2026. PHOTO BY RAPPLER
– with reviews from Reuters/Rappler.com
