Visiting Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been briefed on a campaign by Hawaii’s two senators to get compensation promised six decades ago to Filipino soldiers who fought for the US during World War II.
One of the senators, Daniel Inouye, has inserted US$198 million for them into the economic stimulus bill making its way through the US Senate. Inouye is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
It was uncertain whether the money remained in the bill that Senate negotiators apparently agreed to on Friday night.
Arroyo met on Friday with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, but a State Department official who spoke about the meeting did not mention the Filipino veterans and their long drive for compensation.
The two exchanged compliments when they greeted each other outside the State Department.
Arroyo congratulated Clinton on her new job.
“I am very happy to be here to congratulate you on your appointment and your love fest of a confirmation,” the Philippine president said, and Clinton laughed.
Clinton described the Philippines, a former US commonwealth in Southeast Asia, as “one of our closest and most important allies, not just in Asia, but on so many issues around the world.”
A State Department official who outlined their private talks did not indicate that they discussed the Filipino veterans.
About 200,000 Filipinos served alongside US soldiers to defend the Philippines, then a US commonwealth, from the 1941 Japanese invasion and to resist subsequent Japanese occupation.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two civilians — were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that 150 Russian troops were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers
A shark attack off Egypt’s Red Sea coast killed a tourist and injured another, authorities said on Sunday, with an Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs source identifying both as Italian nationals. “Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other,” the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said in a statement. A source at the Italian foreign ministry said that the man killed was a 48-year-old resident of Rome. The injured man was 69 years old. They were both taken to hospital in Port Ghalib, about 50km north
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland on Tuesday expressed concern about “the political crisis” in Georgia, two days after Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of the South Caucasus nation, cementing the ruling party’s grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. “We strongly condemn last week’s violence against peaceful protesters, media and opposition leaders, and recall Georgian authorities’ responsibility to respect human rights and protect fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to assembly and media freedom,” the three ministers wrote in a joint statement. In reaction
BARRIER BLAME: An aviation expert questioned the location of a solid wall past the end of the runway, saying that it was ‘very bad luck for this particular airplane’ A team of US investigators, including representatives from Boeing, on Tuesday examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea, while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video showed the aircraft, without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshoot a runaway at Muan International Airport before it slammed into a barrier and burst into flames. The plane was seen having engine trouble.
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