Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has assured troops that he will protect them from any legal action if they accidentally kill civilians while battling militants who have besieged a southern city.

A Filipino lawyer has presented documents to the International Criminal Court which he says contain evidence of the alleged involvement of President Rodrigo Duterte in extra-judicial killings of suspected drug dealers and other crime suspects.

The Dalai Lama’s visit to an Indian state that China claims as its own has seen the countries’ relationship take a turn for the worse, writes Shashi Tharoor.

A Norwegian man freed by militants after a year of jungle captivity in the southern Philippines has described the ordeal as "devastating".

Dozens of Philippine government and police officials turned themselves in yesterday, a day after president Rodrigo Duterte linked them to the drugs trade, stepping up a war on narcotics that has killed hundreds since he took office in June.