PHILIPPINES
Military kills nine militants
Nine Islamist militants including three suspects in a Catholic Mass bombing have been killed in a clash with troops, the military said yesterday. Army soldiers shot it out with about 15 Dawlah Islamiyah suspects hiding out at a mountain farm close to the remote southern municipality of Piagapo on Thursday, the commander of the military unit said. The firefight left nine of the militants dead and four soldiers wounded, including two with “serious” wounds, army Brigadier-General Yegor Rey Barroquillo said. Three of the six suspects in the bombing of a Catholic Mass at a school in the southern city of Marawi last month were among those killed in Thursday’s fighting, he added.
UNITED STATES
Hundredth Maui victim found
A 100th victim has been identified from the wildfire that ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui over the summer, police said on Friday. Lydia Coloma, 70, was initially listed on a tally of missing persons that has since dwindled to just a handful of people. The Aug. 8 fire largely destroyed the city of Lahaina, the old capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Among the charred debris and buildings reduced to ashes, the search for and identification of human remains has been difficult, often requiring DNA samples from living relatives of those listed as missing.
VENEZUELA
Machado ban upheld
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice on Friday upheld a ban on the candidacy of Maria Corina Machado, a longtime government foe and winner of the primary held by the opposition faction backed by the US. Machado, a former lawmaker, won the opposition’s independently run presidential primary in October last year with more than 90 percent of the votes. Her victory came despite the government announcing a 15-year ban on her running for office just days after she formally entered the race in June. She insisted throughout the campaign that she never received an official notification of the ban, and said that voters, not ruling-party loyalists, are the rightful decisionmakers of her candidacy. After the court issued its ruling, Machado wrote on social media that her campaign’s “fight to conquer democracy through free and fair elections” is not over. “Maduro and his criminal system chose the worst path for them: fraudulent elections,” she wrote. “That’s not gonna happen.”
MEXICO
Passengers back wing man
The Mexico City International Airport on Friday said that a man had opened an emergency exit and walked out on a wing of a plane that was parked and waiting for takeoff on Thursday. The airport said in a statement the man had been turned over to police. However, at least 77 passengers aboard the AeroMexico flight to Guatemala signed a copy of a written statement saying the airline made them wait for four hours without ventilation or water while the flight was delayed. According to photographs of the statement posted online, fellow passengers said he acted “to protect everyone, with the support of everyone,” adding that “the delay and lack of air created conditions that endangered the health of the passengers. He saved our lives.” An incident report filed with airport authorities largely confirmed that version, stating that the incident occurred at 11:37am, after the plane was held for maintenance. “The passengers were unhappy and one of them opened the emergency door and stepped out on the wing,” the report said.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
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