
Philippines delays scrapping of US visiting forces agreement
CNN
The Philippines has again suspended a decision to scrap a crucial agreement governing the US troop presence in the country, its foreign minister said on Monday, amid continuing maritime pressure from China.
The Pentagon welcomed the announcement from Manila -- the third suspension of the decision covering the two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that had been due to expire in August -- but analysts said there would be disappointment in both countries that it was not renewed. Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said the suspension would be for a further six months while President Rodrigo Duterte "studies, and both sides further address his concerns regarding, particular aspects of the agreement."
Mutual distrust between federal and state authorities derailed plans for a joint FBI and state criminal investigation into Wednesday’s shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer, leading to the highly unusual move by the Justice Department to block state investigators from participating in the probe.

Vice President JD Vance’s claim Thursday that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis is “protected by absolute immunity” drew immediate pushback from experts who said the legal landscape around a potential prosecution is far more complicated.











