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by W.G. Dunlop / Allison JACKSON Agence France-Presse MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The United States and the Philippines are expected to announce a deal Thursday that will give US troops access to another four military bases in the Southeast Asian nation, as the longtime allies seek to deter Chinese aggression in the region. The agreement to expand cooperation will be announced during a visit by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a senior Philippine official told […]
A 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Philippines on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, with local authorities warning of aftershocks and possible damage. The shallow quake struck at 6:44 pm (1044 GMT), near Monkayo municipality in Davao de Oro province on Mindanao island. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones, but there were no immediate reports of major damage in the remote and mountainous gold mining region. Monkayo police Staff Sergeant Harvey […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines’ economic growth beat expectations last year, fuelled by strong consumer spending despite rising consumer prices, officials said Thursday. Gross domestic product expanded 7.6 percent in 2022, the state statistics agency said in a briefing, faster than the pandemic-blighted 5.7 percent output in 2021. The reading topped the government’s target of 6.5-7.5 percent growth. “There was so much pent-up demand… and that significantly improved economic activities,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio […]
Beijing and Manila on Wednesday vowed to resolve maritime disagreements through consultation, during a visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to the Chinese capital amid heightened tensions over the hotly disputed South China Sea. Marcos and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping both called for “friendly consultation to appropriately resolve maritime issues,” at a meeting on Wednesday, China’s state-owned broadcaster CCTV said. China and the Philippines are at odds over the South China Sea, with Beijing […]
Beijing, China (AFP) Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Wednesday he hoped to strengthen ties with Beijing on his first state visit to China since taking office. China and the Philippines are at odds over the hotly disputed South China Sea, with Marcos expected to sign a deal in Beijing this week to establish direct communication on maritime issues. Manila considers it “of primary importance to… strengthen the relationship between China and the Philippines”, Marcos said […]
Manila, Philippines (AFP) Tens of thousands of travellers were stranded at Philippine airports on Sunday after a power outage knocked out communication and radar equipment at the country’s busiest hub in Manila, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled, delayed or diverted. Aviation authorities detected a “technical issue” on Sunday morning involving the air traffic management centre at Manila’s domestic and international airport. More than 360 flights in and out of Manila were cancelled, diverted […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – Holiday floods in the Philippines forced the evacuation of nearly 46,000 people from their homes, civil defense officials said Monday. Two people were killed and nine others were missing after heavy seasonal rain inundated parts of the southern region of Mindanao, the officials added. The disaster dampened celebrations on the mainly Catholic nation’s most important holiday. “The waters rose above the chest in some areas, but today the rains have ceased,” civil […]
Agence France Presse — The Philippines has jailed a Spanish man after he was convicted for weapons possession, nearly five years after his arrest, the Philippine justice department said Thursday. Army counter-terrorism troops in January 2018 arrested Abdelhakim Labidi Adib, 20 at the time, at a checkpoint on the southern island of Basilan, a stronghold of armed Islamist militants. They alleged Labidi Adib, a Spanish citizen of Tunisian descent who described himself as a tourist, […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines said Wednesday it was “seriously concerned” over a report that China has started reclaiming several unoccupied land features in the disputed South China Sea. Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing satellite images from US officials, that new land formations have emerged around the contested Spratly Islands in the sea, where a Chinese vessel with a hydraulic excavator was seen operating over the years. “We are seriously concerned as such activities contravene […]
by Shafiqul ALAM / with Aishwarya KUMAR in New Delhi / and Mikhail FLORES in Manila Agence France-Presse SREEPUR, Bangladesh (AFP) — Hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to Qatar in recent years to work on giant construction schemes as it boosted its infrastructure ahead of the World Cup. Drawn by the prospect of making more money than they could ever hope to at home, migrants make up nearly 90 percent of Qatar’s population […]
Puerto Princesa, Philippines | AFP | by Allison JACKSON US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday visited a Philippine island near waters claimed by China to show support for the longtime US ally and counter Beijing’s growing influence in the region. Harris is the highest-ranking US official ever to visit the western island of Palawan, the closest Philippine landmass to the Spratly archipelago in the hotly contested South China Sea. Beijing claims sovereignty over […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippine navy on Monday accused the Chinese coastguard of “forcefully” seizing a floating object that its troops had just recovered in disputed South China Sea waters. A senior Filipino navy official made the allegation on the eve of a visit by US Vice-President Kamala Harris to a nearby Philippine island aimed at boosting ties amid China’s growing regional clout. A Chinese coastguard vessel on Sunday “blocked” a Filipino rubber boat […]
