The Philippines and Australia strengthen joint military deterrence at ASEAN summit

Southeast Asian leaders opened their annual summit in the Philippine capital of Manila on Sunday. Three days of talks will include world leaders and are expected to focus on trade, energy and conflict, including the war in Iran. That war was launched by Israel and the United States back in February, and Donald Trump is expected to land in Manila on Tuesday. Tommy Walker reports. Lots on the agenda for this three-day summit for the ASEAN countries in this regional bloc. They will be focusing on trade, economy, energy. And security, many of these countries, you know, have been affected by global conflict with fuel, rising household and business costs. We've seen in certain Southeast Asian countries, queues at gas stations, and it's really impacted the economies in Southeast Asia and countries apart of the ASEAN bloc. So that would be one of the main focuses and how these countries can reduce the impact and how its partners, the US, China. Can you know help and how further investment can be made? And that would be one of the biggest topics in this three day summit, of course. There will be ASEAN's own issues. We've seen conflicts at the Thailand-Cambodia border in 2025. Tensions still remain there. Land borders remain closed. There has been tensions between the Philippines and China and the South China Sea over disputed islands. And, of course, Myanmar's civil war will be into its sixth year in February. That appears to be continuing, and there'll be hopes that that can be... The solution can be made where the fighting stops. So there are many issues for the ASEAN countries to tackle.