'The Last Jedi' picked up $68.4 million over the holiday weekend. 'Jumanji' opened with a robust $66.5 million.

Pope Francis described migrants and refugees as the world’s “weakest and most needy” on Monday, using his traditional New Year’s address to “give voice” to people he has urged leaders to do more to help.

Kim Jong Un warned the United States on Monday he had a “nuclear button” on his desk ready for use if North Korea was threatened, but offered an olive branch to South Korea, saying he was “open to dialogue” with Seoul.

Joint police and military forces are hunting down gunmen of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters suspected of setting off two separate roadside bombs that left a police officer dead and seven other state security personnel wounded over the New Year’s.

(UPDATE - 8:19 a.m.) Iranian protesters attacked police stations late into the night on Monday, news agency and social media reports said, as security forces struggled to contain the boldest challenge to the clerical leadership since unrest in 2009.

(UPDATE 3 - 12:17 p.m. January 2, 2018) Tropical depression “Agaton” was crossing the Sulu Sea and headed for Palawan late Tuesdday morning, January 2, after making landfall in the Dinagat Islands-Siargao Island area then veering away from Mindanao strike southern Negros Oriental.

Days after a presidential executive order banned the use of firecrackers, the Department of Health (DOH) reported a sharp -- 68 percent -- decline in the number of injuries in the end-2017 monitoring period heading into the New Year, and expressed hope that in future the goal of "zero casualty" can be met.

A 10-year-old boy is in critical condition at the Dr. Jose Reyes Medical Center after being shot during the New Year's revelry, but police said it was not a case of a stray bullet, but of having been in the crossfire of a drunken man's rampage in Maypajo, Caloocan City.

Retailers of petroleum products are not yet supposed to reflect the additional excise tax from the TRAIN law, even though the tax reform measure takes effect Jan. 1, 2018 , because they are still selling stocks that were not imposed the higher excise rates, DOE and DOF said Monday.

First, the good news: government hospitals that usually account for the bulk of firecracker victims showed a sharp decline in the number as 2017 crossed over to 2018. The bad news: from initial reports, there appeared to be a spike in the number of road crash victims and people injured in brawls and stabbings during the New Year revelry being brought to hospital.

Pope Francis in his year-end message said that 2017 had been marred by war, lies and injustice, and he urged people to take responsibility for their actions.

Solicitor General Jose Calida urged opposition lawmakers from the House "Magnificent 7" bloc who filed a petition to stop the one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao to concede to the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring President Rodrigo Duterte’s martial law declaration as constitutional.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte urged Filipinos to "embrace" the "uncertainty" of 2018 with "a glimmer of hope" despite various trials that have tested the nation, mainly from crime, corruption, illegal drugs and terrorism.

South Korean authorities have seized a Panama-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions, a customs official said on Sunday.

The play will run from February 2 to March 18, 2018 at the PETA Theater Center.