This report examines the impact of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which struck the central Philippines on November 8, 2013, and the U.S. and international response.

This report discusses key issues in U.S.-Philippine relations and developments in Philippine politics, economics, society, and foreign relations. Global terrorism concerns have brought the United States and the Republic of the Philippines (RP) closer together, but they also have produced some bilateral tensions and highlighted weaknesses in Philippine economic, political, and military institutions. The RP faces terrorist threats through alleged cooperation among three groups — Jeremiah Islamiah (JI), the main Southeast Asian Islamic terrorist organization with ties to Al Qaeda; Abu Sayyaf, a small, violent Muslim separatist group which operates in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines; and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an armed separatist group with alleged ties to both JI and Abu Sayyaf. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has strongly supported the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

As a result of an initiative by Australia in 1989, the United States joined with eleven other Asia/Pacific nations in creating APEC, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization. This report discusses the annual Ministerial Meeting of APEC in Seattle, held from November 17 - 19, 1993.