The Daily Populous

Tuesday May 19th, 2026 day edition

image for Marcos says Philippines would be involved in any Taiwan conflict

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the Philippines does not want to be involved in any war over Taiwan but would be forced to be, given its geography.

– The Philippines would likely be involved in any potential conflict over Taiwan due to its proximity, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, reiterating a stance that risks riling Beijing.

“In the Philippines, we do not have a choice because Taiwan is so close to the Philippines and we have almost 200,000 Filipino nationals living and working in Taiwan,” Mr Marcos said in an interview with Japanese media in Manila on May 18 .

Ms Takaichi in late 2025 also made comments about being pulled into a conflict over Taiwan, causing a deep diplomatic rupture with China.

He didn’t elaborate on how the Philippines, a US treaty ally, would be involved or how it would be affected.

Mr Marcos has made similar comments on Taiwan before, angering Beijing in 2025 when he said a war over Taiwan “will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict”.

The South-east Asian nation under Mr Marcos has hosted US missile systems and has granted US military access to additional bases, including those near Taiwan. »

New York high school's graduating class breaks school record with 21 valedictorians

Authored by abc7.com

New York high school's graduating class breaks school record with 21 valedictorians.

JERICHO, Long Island -- Whoever said perfection is overrated, has never met the 21 valedictorians from this year's graduating class at Jericho High School in New York.

There were many nights where I wondered why I was putting myself through this," said Jericho High School Valedictorian Riya Shah. »

Former top Russian official admits the country is over Putin and can 'imagine a future without him'

Authored by fortune.com

In other words, Russia’s elites found a subtle way to no longer express solidarity with Putin, describing what “he” does rather than what “we” do.

“The irony is that Mr. Putin started the war to preserve power and the system he has created,” the official wrote.

“The system can persist for as long as Mr. Putin remains in power,” the former Russian official wrote in the Economist. »

Take-Two CEO says the original Borderlands' art style overhaul cost a year of dev time and $50 million: 'Had we not done that, Borderlands wouldn't have been a hit'

Authored by pcgamer.com

CEO of publisher Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick, said in a recent interview with podcaster David Senra that the game's final look took a big overhaul that cost $50 million dollars and an extra year of development time.

"We had not turned around the company yet, we had very limited capital, and we were developing a game that was about to be released two months later, which is to say it's done.

I mean, we had spent a lot of money," he said in the interview. »

Vance says ‘stealing’ $1B from treasury is theft – on the same day Trump pledged to give $1.7B taxpayer cash to his allies

Authored by independent.co.uk

open image in gallery Vice President JD Vance said US officials need to crack down on misallocated public funds on the same day Donald Trump pledged $1.7 billion in taxpayer money to help his allies ( Getty Images ).

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote, “Trump didn’t just pardon his followers who stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Dozens of other Democratic lawmakers condemned the $1.7 billion anti-weaponization fund, accusing Trump of misusing taxpayer dollars for his allies. »