Marcos says the Philippines will be pulled into any war over Taiwan, despite China's protest
Marcos also told a news conference that the Philippines' coast guard, navy and other vessels defending its territorial interests in the South China Sea would never back down and would stand their ground in the contested waters after the Chinese coast guard on Monday staged dangerous blocking maneuvers and used a powerful water cannon to try to drive away Philippine vessels from the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
2 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Suspected Islamist rebels kill 30 in Congo's North Kivu province
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Suspected Islamist rebels have killed at least 30 people in a series of attacks in Congo's North Kivu province in recent days, a Congolese military official said Saturday. The killings took place in Bapere village between Wednesday and Friday, according to Col. Alain Kiwawa, the military administrator of Lubero territory where the village is located. 'We have more than 30 people dead, and at least a hundred who are being held hostage,' Kiwawa told The Associated Press. A civil society leader, Samuel Kaheni, the president of the Bapere civil society organization, added that several houses were burned and victims were mostly killed with knives. The attacks are the latest in a string of recent attacks by Islamic State-aligned Allied Democratic Force (ADF) after its members killed nearly 40 people last month in an attack on a Catholic church in Ituri. Most of the victims were killed with machetes. The ADF, with roots in neighboring Uganda, operates in the border villages between Uganda and Congo. Both countries have launched a joint armed operation against the group, but the group has only increased its attacks in recent months. The incidence of ADF attacks adds to the complicated security challenges in the eastern region of Congo, where dozens of other armed groups are fighting, and the central government is battling the M23 rebels, which have taken control of Goma and other key cities. Lubero's military administrator called on the residents to be on guard against further violence. 'I ask the population to speak out and remain vigilant,' he said.
Winnipeg Free Press
32 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Druze demand self determination in largest protest held since deadly clashes in Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of people demonstrated in Syria's southern city of Sweida and elsewhere on Saturday to demand the right to self determination for the Druze minority, in the largest protests to take place since deadly clashes in the area last month. Some of the protesters waved Israeli flags to thank Israel for intervening on their side during heavy clashes in mid-July between militias of the Druze minority and armed tribal groups and government forces. Saturday's demonstration comes as Syria grapples with deep ethnic and religious divisions following the collapse of the Assad family rule last December. The transition has proven fragile, with renewed violence erupting in March along the coast and in July in Sweida, a city with a significant Druze population, highlighting the continued threat to peace after years of civil war. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian war monitor, said the protesters expressed their rejection of the interim central government in Damascus and demanded that those responsible for atrocities against Druze be brought to justice. The Observatory said some of the protesters called on Israel to intervene to support their demand of self determination. Rayyan Maarouf, who heads the activist media collective Suwayda 24, said Saturday's demonstration in Sweida was the largest since last months's clashes, and that there were similar gatherings in areas including the nearby towns of Shahba and Salkhad. He added that this is the first time people protested under the slogan of self determination. 'This is an unprecedented change for the Druze in Syria,' Maarouf told The Associated Press. Clashes erupted on July 13 between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Sweida. Government forces then intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up essentially siding with the Bedouins against the Druze. Israel intervened in defense of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even striking the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus. Atrocities were committed during the clashes that left hundreds of people dead. The new interim government set up a committee last month tasked with investigating attacks on civilians in the sectarian violence in the country's south. It is supposed to issue a report within three months. The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
Toronto Star
32 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Baby girl killed with parents in Gaza airstrike as Israelis urge a mass protest over the war
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents on Saturday, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said, while families of hostages called for a 'nationwide day of stoppage' in Israel to express growing frustration over 22 months of war. The baby's body, wrapped in blue, was placed on those of her parents as Palestinians prayed over them. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the girl were killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area.
