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Leaders of Venezuela and Guyana Set to Meet over Ongoing Border Dispute
Title: Venezuelan and Guyanese Presidents to Meet Amid Territorial Dispute Date: [Date] Caracas, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali.....»»
5 Filipinos cross West Bank border to Jordan
Five Filipinos have crossed from the West Bank to Jordan amid the Israel-Hamas war, the Philippine embassy in Amman said yesterday......»»
Amid war, 46 Filipinos set to cross into Egypt
After several delays in the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, 46 Filipinos were set to cross into Egypt yesterday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs......»»
Nearly 29,000 people flee southern Lebanon
Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon amid deadly exchanges between Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army, a United Nations agency said Friday. A total of 28,965 people have been displaced, mainly in the country’s south, the International Organization for Migration said in an update, adding that the figure had risen by 37 percent since 23 October. Some have found refuge with family members elsewhere in the country, while those who can afford it have been able to rent apartments on a short-term basis. But with Lebanon in the grips of an economic crisis that has plunged most of the population into poverty, many are living in makeshift shelters in the south’s larger towns. Since Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October, Lebanon’s southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Hamas ally. At least 58 people have been killed in the cross-border exchanges of fire, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including at least four civilians, one of them Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. Soldiers and volunteers on Thursday were battling a blaze on Lebanon’s southern border caused by Israeli bombing overnight, local officials said. Mayor of the border village of Alma al-Shaab, Jean Ghafari, said fire broke out after Israeli bombing late Wednesday. “The blaze reached the edges of the village after midnight” and is still burning, he told Agence France-Presse, adding that it “has come close to houses.” The municipality said some 70 percent of the village’s population had fled due to Israeli attacks. The post Nearly 29,000 people flee southern Lebanon appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Flesh and blood
Perhaps in all the years in this lifetime that Israel has been at war, we Filipinos never made enough sense of what it is really about. Not until we learned, since 7 October, how cruel and bitter it can be — in the photos of a grown man forever captured screaming into the air over his dead nephew’s body; of shrouded bodies that may never be identified; or a clip of a father holding plastic bags of his kids’ remains. And the babies. And the burned bodies. And the blood splattered all over a bomb shelter. No one — unless it is you or yours — can imagine how it truly feels. If you can feel rage and grief at seeing images alone, how much more can your heart take if it were happening right before you? “We are all human,” a father said on Tiktok. It was he who posted about that father with the plastic bags. “There is no difference between me and this man. When we talk of kids getting killed, bombed, or put on fire, it doesn’t really matter what you believe in, where you come from, or what religion you follow. This is never acceptable! You just have to be a human being to stand up and say stop.” Now I am not sure whether this man was genuine (heaven knows there has been plenty of fake and biased news) or if it was propaganda designed to turn sympathy toward a specific cause. But what he said about being human was true. Amid all the atrocious crimes we have seen in the war raging in Gaza, we need to view the whole situation through our humanity. When Gaza struck Israel the way Hitler hit the Jewish people — with extreme violence and a detailed plan to eliminate the enemy in very specific ways — we recoiled. We remembered. But when Israel defended itself, many condemned it. Why? Many immediately concluded that the war was a Palestinian issue, or about Israel’s attempt at occupation or conquest. It is not. So, while it is natural to react the way we do over civilian casualties and collateral damage — likely letting our emotions get the better of us — we need to muster the sense to take it all in with the correct perspective. We must know more, learn more. Shooting from the hip or erupting without understanding — well, wouldn’t that be just as bad as the perpetrators of the war? What is fact and what is fiction? We must seek the truth in light of the misinformation being deliberately spread on social media. One such claim was debunked on Associated Press recently, about the bombing of a hospital in Gaza supposedly by the Israeli military. This was spread in a social media post written in Arabic. AP said, “No such post exists on the military’s actual social media pages and its top Arabic-speaking spokesperson confirmed his office had issued no such statement.” To think this is but one aspect of the entire issue. Let’s begin with the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization. It is not about Palestine, it is about pushing Islamic supremacy through force. Israel, if you think about it, has “no quarrel with Palestinians,” as Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss, himself emphasized in a talk with DAILY TRIBUNE on Monday. “We are in a war against Hamas, not Palestinians — we have to defend our citizens,” he said. It is a “war of survival,” he added. Israel has long been fighting against Islamic forces that want to see it obliterated from the planet. “We don’t have a choice. We will fight. We will win.” The ambassador added, “The charter of Hamas calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. And it says that there is no political agreement…no political agreement can be reached with Israel. Israel has to be eliminated, and Israelis and Jews have to be killed. That’s the agenda of their philosophy. It has to be an Islamic land. “So, when people ask me today, what is the political future here? I say this is a question that you have to ask Hamas or the Palestinians, because in Israel, we have a government that makes decisions, makes a lot more, and when we sign a document, we respect it, and we can negotiate. We’re a political entity. “Hamas is not in a negotiating position. It is in a war position to eliminate Israel. Very simple. And you see the history. I’m not going into the long history, but Israel had pulled out of Gaza since 2005. We are not controlling Gaza. We are on the international border. So, it’s not about a few patients. It is about an organization that, every few years, initiates again an attack against Israel. This time it was the biggest…” However, the ambassador admits, on a personal level, that a solution seems hazy “because it is continuing and we are living in a complicated neighborhood,” he told this columnist. The enemies are “fundamentalists that are promoting these Islamic states, promising these fundamentalistic terror agenda…” Ambassador Fluss may be keeping it all real as a diplomat, but what he may not ever say is that this war is about all of us, too — humans and families and connected lives. When a Filipino caregiver refuses to leave her ward, sacrificing her own life to the end, that is humanity. But to believe that life is only worth living if another race or culture is removed, where is the humanity in that?.....»»
59 OFWs seek Lebanon exit
At least 59 Filipinos in Lebanon have expressed a desire to be repatriated amid the escalating tension between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon said Monday. Hezbollah is another Islamist militant group that controls the southern part of Lebanon. It has launched rockets into the northern part of Israel, which has fired back. “On Sunday morning, when we held our meeting with Filipino community leaders, we received 59 applications,” Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Raymond Balatbat said in a television interview. This developed as the Philippine government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, placed Lebanon under Alert Level 3, or voluntary repatriation. According to the DFA, there are an estimated 17,500 Filipinos in Lebanon, 67 of them residing on its southern border. Balatbat said only three of the 67 Filipinos on the southern border have asked to be repatriated. Since the surprise attack by the Palestinian Sunni-Islamic extremist group Hamas on Israel on 7 October, which left 1,400 Israelis dead, scores of foreigners have also been killed, including four Filipinos. Meanwhile, a total of 24 overseas Filipino workers, comprising the third batch of repatriates from Israel, arrived Monday afternoon at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. The repatriates — 21 women and three men — came from Israel via Abu Dhabi on board Etihad Airways flight EY424. Migrant Workers Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac assured all the repatriates of support from the government to ease their displacement and facilitate their reintegration. Two Filipinos shared on Monday their traumatizing experience during the attack of Hamas in Israel. Tersita Malapo, 35, of Baao, Camarines Sur, a caregiver for eight years, said she and other Filipinos were about to go to church when they heard a siren. “On Saturday morning, we were about to go to church in Jerusalem because we go to church every day off. Suddenly, we heard a siren. After a while, there was news that rockets were being launched from Palestine. We were so shocked,” Malapo said. She said that because of the bombings a loud noise like the banging of a door made her nervous. “That feeling that you always hear something, your feeling of nervousness is increasing. When a door slams, you think something has exploded. In Israel, there is an explosion anytime of the day. It explodes even without a siren. When there’s a bombing, our house and bomb shelter vibrates,” she said. Gerald Caniban, 35, of Iloilo City, a caregiver for five years, said he was asleep when he heard the sirens. “It was an overwhelming experience. I was in Tel Aviv that morning. I was sleeping with my girlfriend when we heard the alert on my phone. It was Saturday, our day-off. After a few minutes, we heard sirens all over Tel Aviv,” Caniban said. He said he did not have peace of mind and described the situation as a terrible nightmare. The post 59 OFWs seek Lebanon exit appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pentagon amps up posture in Mideast in response to ‘escalations’
The United States warned against any "escalation" in the Middle East in the wake of Israel's war with Hamas, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday, hours after the Pentagon moved to step up military readiness in the region. The United States has seen a "prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops" in the region, Austin said Sunday, adding that the US military was preparing for "the ability to respond." "If any group or any country is looking to widen this conflict and take advantage of this very unfortunate situation that we see, our advice is: don't," he told ABC News. "We maintain the right to defend ourselves and we won't hesitate to take the appropriate action," he added. His comments came hours after the Pentagon said it was upping readiness in the region in response to "recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces." Austin ordered the activation of air defense systems and notified additional forces that they may be deployed soon. Austin did not say how many US troops would be added to those already in the region. The Pentagon's moves came after what Austin had earlier described in a statement as "detailed discussions" with President Joe Biden. "These steps will bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase force protection for US forces in the region, and assist in the defense of Israel," Austin said. The steps continued the Biden administration's response since Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip stormed Israel on October 7, taking more than 200 hostages and killing at least 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials. tensions rising Israel has since vowed to destroy Hamas, and says around 1,500 of the group's fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area initially under attack. Austin said he had activated deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and additional Patriot battalions "throughout the region." "Finally, I have placed an additional number of forces on prepare-to-deploy orders as part of prudent contingency planning, to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required," Austin said. Tensions are rising along Israel's northern border with Lebanon after the Israeli army traded fire with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah amid fears of a new front opening as Israel battles Hamas. In south Lebanon on Saturday, Hezbollah said four of its fighters were killed. Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said one of its fighters was also killed. Armed factions close to Iran have threatened to attack US interests in Iraq over Washington's support for Israel. Multiple Iraqi bases used by US-led coalition troops have been targeted in several attacks in recent days. Israel's military said Saturday it would intensify strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza ahead of a planned ground invasion. The military has pounded Gaza with relentless strikes in response to Hamas's 7 October attack. The bombing campaign has killed more than 4,650 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and reduced swaths of the densely populated territory to ruins. A first trickle of aid entered the Palestinian enclave from Egypt on Saturday, but the 20 trucks permitted to cross have been described as a "drop in the ocean" given the needs of 2.4 million residents. The post Pentagon amps up posture in Mideast in response to ‘escalations’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Casualties on Israel-Lebanon border as army trades fire with Hezbollah
Casualties were reported along the Israel-Lebanon border Saturday as the army traded fire with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah amid fears of a new front opening as Israel battles Hamas. Israel already ordered the evacuation of Kiryat Shmona, a border town which is home to some 25,000 people, as the border area has come fire from Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions. In Lebanon, Hezbollah said one of its fighters had been killed while in Israel, two Thai farm workers were wounded, emergency services said. A senior Hezbollah official warned that the movement stood ready to step up its involvement as Israel masses troops on the Gaza border, vowing to destroy Palestinian militant group Hamas in response to its shock cross-border attacks on October 7. "Let's be clear, as events unfold, if something comes up that calls for greater intervention by us, we will do so," said Hezbollah number two Naim Qassem. In northern Israel, a strike in the Margaliot area of the border wounded two Thai farm workers, Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service said. One was wounded in the chest, the other sustained a limb injury, the service said. There are around 30,000 Thai labourers in Israel, many working in the agricultural sector. Since October 7, exchanges of fire across the border have killed at least four people in Israel -- three soldiers and one civilian. In southern Lebanon, at least 23 people have been killed. Most have been combatants, but at least four civilians, including a Reuters journalist, have also been killed. Saturday's exchanges came as Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited the northern border, where he called on troops to remain "vigilant". "Hezbollah has decided to participate in the fighting, and is paying a price for it. We must be vigilant and prepare for every possible (scenario). Great challenges await us," Gallant said. The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement, Lebanon's only armed faction that did not disarm after the 1975-1990 civil war, fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006. That war left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 dead in Israel, mostly soldiers, in a conflict that left the border bristling with guns. The post Casualties on Israel-Lebanon border as army trades fire with Hezbollah appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
First relief convoy enters Gaza devastated by ‘nightmare’ war
The first aid trucks arrived in war-torn Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, bringing urgent humanitarian relief to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave suffering what the UN chief labelled a "godawful nightmare". Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group carried out the deadliest attack in the country's history on October 7. Hamas militants killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death, and took more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Israel has retaliated with a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed more than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. An Israeli siege has cut food, water, electricity and fuel supplies to the densely populated and long-blockaded territory of 2.4 million people, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. AFP journalists on Saturday saw 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, pass through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza. The crossing -- the only one into Gaza not controlled by Israel -- closed again after the trucks passed. The lorries had been waiting for days on the Egyptian side after Israel agreed to a request from its main ally the United States to allow aid to enter. UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the relief supplies were "the difference between life and death" for many Gazans, more than one million of whom have been displaced. "Much more" aid needs to be sent, he told a peace summit in Egypt on Saturday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the aid and urged "all parties" to keep the Rafah crossing open. But a Hamas spokesman said "even dozens" of such convoys could not meet Gaza's needs, especially as no fuel was being allowed in to help distribute the supplies to those in need. 'Reeling in pain' Tens of thousands of Israeli troops have deployed to the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground offensive that officials have pledged will begin "soon". As international tensions soar, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was hosting a peace summit in Cairo on Saturday attended by regional and some Western leaders. "The time has come for action to end this godawful nightmare," Guterres told the summit, calling for a "humanitarian ceasefire". The region "is reeling in pain and one step from the precipice", he said. Guterres said "the grievances of the Palestinian people are legitimate and long" after "56 years of occupation with no end in sight". But he stressed that "nothing can justify the reprehensible assault by Hamas that terrorised Israeli civilians". "Those abhorrent attacks can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he added. Egypt, historically a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, has urged "restraint" and the relaunch of the long-frozen peace process. But diplomatic efforts to end the violence have made little headway, without the participation of Israel and its enemy Iran, a supporter of Hamas and other armed groups. 'Sliver of hope' A full-blown Israeli ground offensive carries many risks, including to the hostages Hamas took and whose fate is shrouded in uncertainty. So the release of two Americans among the hostages -- mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan -- offered a rare "sliver of hope", said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. US President Joe Biden thanked Qatar, which hosts Hamas's political bureau, for its mediation in securing the release. He said he was working "around the clock" to win the return of other Americans being held. Natalie Raanan's half-brother Ben told the BBC he felt an "overwhelming sense of joy" at the release after "the most horrible of ordeals". Hamas said Egypt and Qatar had negotiated the release and that it was "working with all mediators to implement the movement's decision to close the civilian (hostage) file if appropriate security conditions allow". Traumatised families with loved ones missing in Gaza demanded more action. "We ask humanity to interfere and bring back all those young boys, young girls, mothers, babies," Assaf Shem Tov, whose nephew was abducted from a music festival where Hamas killed hundreds, said Friday. Devastation Almost half of Gaza's residents have been displaced, and at least 30 percent of all housing in the territory has been destroyed or damaged, the United Nations says. Thousands have taken refuge in a camp set up in the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. Fadwa al-Najjar said she and her seven children walked for 10 hours to reach the camp, at some points breaking into a run as missiles struck around them. "We saw bodies and limbs torn off and we just started praying, thinking we were going to die," she told AFP. In Al-Zahra in central Gaza, Rami Abu Wazna was struggling to take in the destruction wreaked by Israeli missile strikes. "Even in my worst nightmares, I never thought this could be possible," he said. Israel's operation will take not "a day, nor a week, nor a month" and will result in "the end of Israel's responsibilities in the Gaza Strip", Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Friday. Regional tensions flare In Gaza, retired general Omar Ashour said the destruction was "part of a clear plan for people to have no place left to live". "This will cause a second Nakba," he added, referring to the 760,000 Palestinians who were expelled from or fled their homes when Israel was created in 1948. The United States has moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanon's Hezbollah, both Hamas allies, amid fears of a wider conflagration. Fire across Israel's border with Lebanon continued overnight, with one Israeli soldier killed, Israeli public radio said. The military said it hit Hezbollah targets after rocket and missile fire. Violence has also flared in the West Bank, where 84 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The post First relief convoy enters Gaza devastated by ‘nightmare’ war appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Shun mass protests in Egypt
Filipinos in Egypt have been advised to avoid joining any protests following the mass demonstrations, denouncing the bombing of a hospital in the Gaza Strip that reportedly killed at least 500 civilians. In an advisory, the Philippine Embassy in Egypt cautioned Filipinos against joining the random demonstrations and planned mass actions. “The Philippine Embassy in Cairo advises everyone to exercise caution, keep away from mass congregations, and stay home unless necessary,” it said. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, there are 1,990 Filipinos in Egypt. Egyptians took to the streets to express their anger over the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, which left hundreds of Palestinians dead. In one of the demonstrations, a Palestinian flag was raised while an Israeli flag was burned. The demonstrations came after Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called on Egyptians to express solidarity with the Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war. This developed as top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Friday denounced the ongoing war in the Middle East. End bloodshed In a statement, the foreign ministers of the 10-member regional bloc called for an immediate end to the bloodshed. “We strongly condemn the acts of violence which have led to the deaths and injuries of civilians, including ASEAN nationals,” the foreign ministers said. “We urge the immediate end of violence to avoid further human casualties and call for the full respect of international humanitarian law,” it added. Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are engaged in armed conflict following the surprise attack launched by the terror group on Israel last 7 October. The attack by Hamas has left more than 1,400 dead, most of them massacred on the first day of the assault. Meanwhile, the widespread airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have reportedly left at least 3,478 dead. ASEAN also called on “all parties to create safe, rapid and unimpeded passages of human corridors.” Last week, Israel imposed a 24-hour deadline for 1.1 million civilians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of its ground offensive in the Palestinian territory. Since then, millions of civilians, including foreign nationals, have scrambled to move from northern Gaza to southern Gaza in hopes of exiting the war-torn territory. The bulk of civilians are swarming to the Rafah border in an attempt to enter Egypt despite the border remaining closed and the restricted availability of food, water and electricity. Two-state solution Meanwhile, ASEAN reaffirmed its support for a “negotiated two-state solution that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live side-by-side in peace and security consistent with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.” “This will be the only viable path to resolving the root cause of the conflict,” it said. The regional bloc also called on the “international community to support the peace process in order to ensure long-lasting peace and stability in the region.” “We have issued our respective national statements on the escalation of armed conflicts in the Middle East,” it said. On Wednesday, the Philippines, one of the founding members of ASEAN, expressed its “profound sadness” over the bombing of a hospital in the Gaza Strip, which reportedly killed at least 500 civilians. Israel and Hamas denied being behind the attack and blamed each other for the bombing. The Philippines said all parties should “do their utmost to protect civilians in times of war and armed conflict.” “We support efforts of the United Nations to provide humanitarian relief in the conflict areas,” it said. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, there are 135 Filipinos in the Hamas-controlled Gaza. Deep concern In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is attending the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, the Chief Executive expressed deep concern over the rising number of victims and the safety of those affected by the conflict. In his intervention during the 1st ASEAN-GCC Summit here on Friday, Marcos said, “All parties (should) exert their utmost efforts to de-escalate the situation, stop all violence, and engage in dialogue and diplomacy.” He called on the members of the GCC and ASEAN to work together to promote peace, security, and stability in the South China Sea and the Arabian Sea. Marcos also underscored the importance of cooperation between member countries of the two regional groups to ensure their continued prosperity. “As the two regional organizations located astride the major sea gates and vital corridors of the world’s commerce and communications, it is imperative that we work together to promote peace, security, and stability in both our regions, the South China Sea and the Arabian Sea, grounded on the rules-based international order to ensure the stability and prosperity of our countries and the rest of the world,” Marcos said. “Peace and stability are indispensable to ensuring continued prosperity in our respective regions and the world,” he added. The six GCC member countries are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while the 10 ASEAN member countries are Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. President Marcos attended the ASEAN-GCC Summit, where he discussed business opportunities in the Philippines and urged investors to invest in the Maharlika Investment Fund, among other significant opportunities in the Philippines. The post Shun mass protests in Egypt appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
IN PHOTOS: A week of war brings grief to Israelis, Palestinians
The carnage began with a violent cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israeli civilians. Israel’s retaliatory response was swift, and by the middle of the week, the full destructive force of its military was bearing down on the Gaza Strip amid mounting threats of a ground invasion. The toll, whether caused by bullets or air strikes, has brought unimaginable grief for Israelis and Palestinians alike. In wrenching scene after wrenching scene, relatives weep over their dead, whose lives were suddenly and violently cut short in an erupting war that has shattered thousands of families. In the southern city of Sderot, an Israeli woman clings to a body lying in the road next to an overturned motorcycle. Now covered in a white sheet with a black boot poking out, the person was killed by Hamas militants the day they broke through the fortified border with Gaza. The woman cries in agony as she lays her head on the person’s chest. Miles away in Gaza City, two Palestinian women comfort one another in a crowd gathered to mourn those killed by an Israeli airstrike. One, looking weary and exhausted, gazes upward in sorrow. These images, taken by Associated Press photographers on the ground on both sides of the conflict, provide a window into the unbearable losses of this past week. RELATED STORIES Gaza braces for Israeli ground assault Israel troops start ground raids in Gaza A week into war, Gazans flee homes as Israeli ground offensive looms.....»»
External headwinds
The price shocks besetting Filipinos, now the main preoccupation of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., is a global phenomenon rippling down to the nation. Greatly affected are rice prices that had surged with the government hoping to tame them through price caps of P41 per kilo of regular-milled and P45 for well-milled grains. In its latest review of the domestic fiscal situation, an International Monetary Fund team said that while the economy has emerged from the pandemic strongly, it now faces “a confluence of global shocks.” Growth moderated from 7.6 percent in 2022 to 4.3 percent in the second quarter of 2023, which IMF attributed “to a weak global economy and tightened policy settings.” The IMF, thus, recognized that the weak state of the global economy has had a strong impact on the country and that the response through the tightening of the money supply by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas resulted in a growth slowdown. An acceleration in public spending and an improvement in exports is expected to lift the gross domestic product by year’s end to 5.3 percent in 2023 and 6 percent in 2024. The risks associated with the slowdown in the economy all originated beyond the Philippines. The IMF review said the main downside risks to the outlook include the persistently high global and domestic inflation that could necessitate a further tightening of monetary policy. This abrupt global slowdown may further weaken goods and services exports, intensifying geo-political tensions and depreciation pressures stemming from capital outflows under volatile market conditions. Recent surveys showed that rising inflation has been the major culprit for the weakening of the public ratings of President Marcos and other high officials. Consider the resolute actions taken to arrest the price upsurge, particularly the calculated measures to place a ceiling on retail costs while the National Food Authority intervenes to keep farmgate prices high. Another budding concern should be the weakening in foreign direct investments, or FDI, which needs to be reflective of the high confidence level of investors, according to Trade Secretary Fred Pascual. Pascual cited the capital being plowed back and the rising cost of business projects listed with the Board of Investments and other investment promotion agencies, which would mean optimism in long-term prospects. He said FDI numbers reflect investors’ decisions well before the funds were released that go into the BSP records. The past practices of market manipulators with political agendas were to hit the equities and foreign exchange markets while influencing the flow of investments. Keeping these economic indicators weak makes it easy for opportunists to paint the perception of a looming economic crisis where there is none. For instance, during the shortened term of President Joseph Estrada, the peso depreciation that caused a dip in the stock market and a supposed capital flight were thoroughly exploited to show mismanagement of government that resulted in his eventual downfall. The recent association of high prices and the plunge in the survey ratings of Marcos and other officials raises suspicions of another black operation, which had been heard since the new leadership assumed office. It is not farfetched that the playbook of EDSA 1 and 2 is underway to undermine the Marcos administration. Another element that should be considered is the growing insecurity of China amid the strengthened relations between the Philippines and the United States. Considering its economic clout, China can manipulate situations that may pave the way for political conditions to favor its interests. The accurate picture is that most of the problems confronting Marcos are outside his control since they emanate from beyond the border. The post External headwinds appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Ethnic cleansing fear drives Karabakh exodus
More than 13,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh have arrived in Armenia Tuesday and more are leaving the breakaway territory of Azerbaijan fearing ethnic cleansing under Azeris who have taken over the enclave in a lightning offensive over the weekend. Hundreds of vehicles also were heading to Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, an Agence France-Presse team at the scene said. The flow of vehicles was continuous, with families piling their belonging on top of their cars and stopping only a few seconds at the last Azerbaijani checkpoint before entering Armenia along the so-called Lachin Corridor, AFP reporters said. Refugees were seen crowding into a humanitarian hub set up in a local theater in the city of Goris to register for transport and housing. Amid the exodus that started Sunday, officials of the separatist government in the self-proclaimed republic said a fuel depot explosion on Monday had killed 20 people. They said 13 bodies were found at the scene of a fuel depot blast and seven more people had died of their injuries. Another 290 people had been hospitalized and “dozens of patients remain in critical condition,” they added. Armenia’s health ministry said it had sent a team of doctors to the rebel stronghold of Stepanakert by helicopter. The Azerbaijani presidency said Baku had also sent medicine to help the wounded. In Brussels, envoys from Baku and Yerevan prepared to meet in the first such encounter since Azerbaijan’s swift defeat of separatist forces last week. Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over the majority ethnic Armenian enclave within the internationally recognized border of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s operation on 19 September to seize control of the territory forced the separatists to lay down their arms under the terms of a ceasefire agreed the following day and brokered by Russia. with AFP The post Ethnic cleansing fear drives Karabakh exodus appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Israel strikes Gaza again amid new violence at border
The Israeli army launched a drone strike on the Gaza Strip on Saturday after violent protests in which three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire, sources on both sides said. The early evening strike is one of a series that has come amid near-daily protests at the border by Palestinians after Israel closed the Erez crossing from Gaza. A drone "struck a military post belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization, adjacent to the area where a violent riot was taking place", the army said. It added that "shots were fired toward" Israeli soldiers near the border during the strike, without reporting any casualties. A Palestinian security source told AFP that an "Israeli aircraft had targeted a Hamas surveillance site east of Gaza City", without mentioning any casualties. Earlier in the day, Palestinian demonstrators faced off against Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, an AFP journalist reported. Demonstrators set fire to tires and threw stones at Israeli soldiers. Three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire, according to the Gaza health ministry. Israel has imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the impoverished Palestinian enclave ever since the Islamist group Hamas seized control in 2007. Thousands of Palestinian workers from Gaza have been prevented from entering Israel by the closure of the Erez crossing, which an Israeli NGO, Gisha, condemned as "collective punishment". Israel has issued work permits to some 18,500 Gazans, COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, said on Tuesday. Since September 13, six Palestinians have been killed and nearly 100 wounded during violence at the border, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza. Armed conflict sporadically erupts between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. In May, an exchange of Israeli air strikes and Gaza rocket fire resulted in the deaths of 34 Palestinians and one Israeli. The post Israel strikes Gaza again amid new violence at border appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Floods wiped out quarter of Greek farm produce: experts
A quarter of Greece's annual agricultural production was wiped out in last week's deadly flash floods triggered by Storm Daniel, which drenched the central region of Thessaly, according to experts. The floods, which killed 15 people, have also left thousands of people in temporary shelters in hotels, schools or with relatives while 30 villages were inaccessible amid the threat of waterborne diseases. Officials were trying to determine if a body found on a beach in Pelion, central Greece, was that of an Austrian missing with his wife since last week. As government officials began the daunting task of mapping the damage dealt to the plain that feeds much of Greece, one pressing need was to dispose of tens of thousands of decomposing farm animals. Out of over 110,000 dead sheep, goats, pigs, cows and chickens reported lost by farmers, fewer than half have been buried or incinerated, officials said. Inspection crews were still unable to reach half the areas with reported dead livestock, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday. "The damage is difficult to fully assess at the moment, but according to the most optimistic scenario, 70 percent of the cotton crop and almost all of the clover has been damaged," said farmer Athanasios Karaiskos, president of the farm cooperative of the town of Farsala. Health hazard The region's apple and kiwi productions have also been hit, while warehouses storing large quantities of wheat were flooded. Some parts of Thessaly received "an astonishing 910 millimeters (three feet) of rain" more than a year's rainfall in normal conditions, said Katerina Kasimati, an agriculture engineer at the Agricultural University of Athens. "These floods caused nearly 25 percent of the year's crop production to be lost, amounting to losses in the hundreds of millions of euros," she told AFP. Commonly called 'the Plain' in Greece, Thessaly accounts for nearly a third of the country's arable land and over 18 percent of its crops. "Farmers and particularly livestock breeders are in a state of panic," said Christos Yannadakis, vice-president of the union of Greek farm cooperatives. In addition to knocking out power and flooding roads and infrastructure, the floodwater carries pesticides and waste from both farms and urban areas. The health ministry has reported dozens of cases of gastroenteritis, warning residents in several areas that tap water was still not suitable for drinking or showering. The fire department has rescued over 4,500 people from flooded areas. Seven villages are still stranded, the government said this week. Transport links hit The heavy rains and flooding followed devastating fires in Greece this summer that killed at least 26 people, most of them migrants trapped in a forest near the northeastern border with Turkey. In Strasbourg this week to discuss the issue with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece faced a "catastrophe of immense proportions". It was, he said, "beyond" the government's "scale of prediction and comprehension". The EU said Greece could access 2.25 billion euros in pending and additional funds for reconstruction. A part of the Athens-Thessaloniki national highway in central Greece is under water. Serious damage to the rail network will take months to repair, Panayiotis Terezakis, managing director of the Hellenic Railways Organisation, told Star TV. "The initial tally for all the damage dealt to the Thessaly rail network is 150-160 million euros," he said. Rail services from Athens to Thessaloniki in the north will likely be restored in a month, Terezakis said. For the national highway, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Nikos Tachiaos on Wednesday admitted: "There is nothing we can do. We cannot drain the waters and dump them on the plain because the water is coming from the plain... we have to wait for the natural flow," he told state TV ERT. Government under fire Mitsotakis' government, which comfortably won reelection in June, has come under fire for failing to adequately prepare after major flooding caused by a hurricane-like storm dubbed Ianos in 2020. "Millions of euros were spent on flood prevention after Ianos and three years later, Thessaly is again plunged in water and mud," the main opposition Syriza party said. The liberal Kathimerini daily over the weekend said the prime minister had put "lightweights" in key cabinet posts and urged him to "get serious". Mitsotakis is rumored to be planning a cabinet reshuffle, having already replaced two ministers since his re-election. A judicial investigation has been opened into possible failings by public officials in dealing with the storm. The post Floods wiped out quarter of Greek farm produce: experts appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Climate change ‘dystopian future already here’: UN rights chief
Climate change is sparking human rights emergencies in numerous countries, the UN rights chief said Monday, stressing the need to fight the impunity of those who "plunder our environment". Speaking before the United Nations Human Rights Council, Volker Turk pointed to recent examples of the "environmental horror that is our global planetary crisis". He described visiting Basra, Iraq, where date palms once lined canals, but now "drought, searing heat, extreme pollution and fast-depleting supplies of fresh water are creating barren landscapes of rubble and dust". "This spiraling damage is a human rights emergency for Iraq, and many other countries," he said in his address opening the 54th council session in Geneva. "Climate change is pushing millions of people into famine. It is destroying hopes, opportunities, homes and lives. In recent months, urgent warnings have become lethal realities again and again all around the world," Turk said. "We do not need more warnings. The dystopian future is already here. We need urgent action now." Turk was speaking after the G20 at the weekend failed to commit to a phase-out of fossil fuels, something he said was desperately needed. - 'Nonchalance' at migrant deaths - At a time when the ravages of climate change are forcing more and more people to leave their homes, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said he was "shocked by the nonchalance" seen towards surging numbers of migrant deaths. "It is evident that far more migrants and refugees are dying, unnoticed," he said, pointing to the more than "2,300 people reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean this year, including the loss of more than 600 lives in a single shipwreck off Greece in June." He also highlighted migrant deaths in the English Channel, the Bay of Bengal, in the Caribbean, along the US-Mexican border, and at the Saudi border, where he said his "office is seeking urgent clarification about allegations of killings and mistreatment". The UN rights chief also highlighted a wide range of other concerning situations around the world, including in Russia, Pakistan and the Palestinian territory. On China, he reiterated concerns raised in a report by his office a year ago about the situation in the far-western Xinjiang region, which cited possible crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. "As my Office highlighted a year ago, the concerns in the Xinjiang ... requires strong remedial action by the authorities," Turk said Monday, also voicing concern at "continued detention of human rights advocates". - 'Ecocide' - Turk also spoke about the situation in Lebanon, decrying a total lack of accountability for the 2020 Beirut port blast, that killed more than 220 people, urging "an international fact-finding mission to look into human rights violations related to this tragedy." And he mentioned the situation in Iran, one year after the death of Mahsa Amini in custody after her arrest for allegedly breaching the strict dress code for women. Turk voiced concern at a bill that would impose harsher penalties for breaching the dress code, and "renewed deployment of the morality police." Climate change and environmental degradation played a role in a number of the rights situations he mentioned, including in Africa's Sahel region. Turk insisted on the need to "counter the impunity of people and businesses who severely plunder our environment", welcoming a proposal to recognize "ecocide" as an international crime. Amid the towering problems facing the world, Turk decried "politics of deception". "Helped by new technologies, lies and disinformation are mass-produced to sow chaos, to confuse, and ultimately to deny reality and ensure no action will be taken that could endanger the interests of entrenched elites," he said. "The most apparent case of this is climate change." nl/apo/yad © Agence France-Presse The post Climate change ‘dystopian future already here’: UN rights chief appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Greece forest fires death toll hits 20
Eighteen suspected migrants were found dead Tuesday in a Greece forest fire near the Turkish border as scores of firefighters battled to contain the second deadly wave of blazes to hit the country in a month. Fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said the victims were found north of the city of Alexandroupoli. As no local residents had been reported missing "the possibility that they are people who entered our country illegally is under investigation," Artopios said in a televised address. The area is a frequent entry point for irregular migrants. The latest deaths pushed the overall toll from this week's fires to 20, after another suspected migrant was found dead in the area Monday. An elderly shepherd had also been found dead north of Athens on Monday. Flames continued to spread unchecked in northeastern Greece as well as the islands of Evia and Kythnos and the region of Boeotia north of Athens, amid a dangerous mix of gale-force winds and temperatures of up to 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit). "It's a similar situation to July," a fire department spokeswoman told AFP, referring to a wave in several parts of the country that left five people dead. Over 60 fires had erupted in the last 24 hours, and six countries were sending help via the European Union's civil protection mechanism, the fire department said. Some 120 firefighters from Cyprus, Romania, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, and Serbia will pitch in, fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told state TV ERT. A new fire broke out Tuesday at a landfill in the industrial zone of Aspropyrgos near Athens, covering the area in a noxious black cloud. Officials shut down the nearest section of the Athens ring road and advised residents to stay indoors. Another fire broke out in the foothills of Mount Parnitha near the capitals, prompting evacuations. Late Monday, an evacuation was ordered at the hospital of Alexandroupolis, a northeastern Greek port city located in an area where fires were raging for a fourth day. The coastguard said it had moved 65 patients to a waiting ferry at the city harbor. On the island of Evia, near the capital, officials late Monday evacuated the industrial town of Nea Artaki, where the fire has damaged poultry and pork farms. The fire near Alexandroupolis is also threatening the national park of Dadia, one of the most important protected areas in Europe that is home to rare birds. The very hot and dry conditions which increase the fire risk will persist until Friday, according to meteorologists. Amid a heatwave, a fire that started on 18 July and was fanned by strong winds ravaged almost 17,770 hectares (more than 43,000 acres) in 10 days in the south of Rhodes, a popular tourist island in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Around 20,000 people, mostly tourists, had to be evacuated. The post Greece forest fires death toll hits 20 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Thirteen Senegalese migrants die in boat capsize off Morocco
At least 13 Senegalese migrants from the same town died when their boat sank off the coast of Morocco late last week, the town's mayor told AFP on Thursday. The news comes amid heightened attention on the Atlantic migration route -- from the coast of West Africa to the Spanish Canary Islands -- after several boats have sunk or gone missing there in recent weeks. Oumar Cisse, mayor of Rufisque, near the capital Dakar, told AFP 13 residents of the town had perished. He said he had spoken to survivors who told him a total of 18 people had died. "They were in a 63-person pirogue that capsized," he said, referring to the long wooden fishing boats often used for irregular migrant crossings. "The survivors are being looked after in the municipality of Dakhla", in southern Morocco, he added. Cisse said he was working with local authorities to repatriate survivors. He said six people from his town had also been hospitalised. Moroccan authorities did not confirm the information. Senegal's President Macky Sall "paid tribute to the memory of those who died in the recent accidents at sea", according to a government statement late Thursday. He called on government to intensify controls at potential departure sites, as well as to deploy more "measures of surveillance, awareness-raising and support for youth" and reinforce public programs that "combat clandestine emigration". On Tuesday, Morocco's navy said it had "rescued" nearly 900 irregular migrants -- 400 of whom were in its territorial waters -- in a one-week period this month. Most were from sub-Saharan Africa. At least 14 people died eight days ago when a pirogue capsized off the Senegalese city of Saint-Louis, near the border with Mauritania. NGOs regularly report fatal shipwrecks in Moroccan, Spanish and international waters, with unofficial estimates putting the death toll in the dozens, if not hundreds. The post Thirteen Senegalese migrants die in boat capsize off Morocco appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Hot and dangerous weekend’: US bakes under relentless heat dome
Brutally high temperatures threatened tens of millions of Americans Saturday, as numerous cities braced to break records under a relentless heat dome that has baked parts of the country all week. The National Weather Service warned of an "extremely hot and dangerous weekend," with daytime highs routinely ranging between 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in the US West. Residents of central and southern California, for example, could expect to see thermometers peaking at 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (38 to 43 degrees Celsius), it said. By mid-day Saturday, California's famous Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, had reached a sizzling 119F (48C), with Sunday's peak predicted to soar as high as 130F (54C). Even overnight lows there could exceed 100F (38C). The heat is forecast to remain anchored over the West for the weekend, "growing hotter in the South by early next week." Authorities have been sounding the alarm for days, advising people to avoid outdoor activities in the daytime and to be on the watch for signs of dehydration, which can quickly become fatal in such temperatures. In the hardest-hit areas, residents face a daily endurance marathon against the sun. The Arizona state capital of Phoenix has recorded 16 straight days above 109F (43C). It had reached 111F by noon Saturday, en route to an expected 115F. Las Vegas, Nevada was broiling amid similar temperatures. In Texas, the border city of El Paso had seen 29 consecutive days of temperatures topping 100F (38C). At a construction site outside Houston, Texas, a 28-year-old worker who gave his name only as Juan helped complete a wall in the blazing heat. "Just when I take a drink of water, I get dizzy, I want to vomit because of the heat," he told AFP. "I need something else, a Coca-Cola, a Gatorade -- and cold -- just to be able to keep going." Residents of the Texas metropolis have been asked to conserve energy from 2:00 to 10:00 pm Saturday through Monday by provider Reliant Energy, in an attempt to mitigate high demand. One local news station in the city, KPRC, heralded the prospect of "finally seeing an end to this heat wave" -- by Sunday of next week. 'Not typical' Heat waves are occurring more often and more intensely in major cities across the United States, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, with a frequency of six per year during the 2010s and 2020s compared to two per year during the 1960s. "This heatwave is NOT typical desert heat," the National Weather Service's Las Vegas branch tweeted, specifying that "its long duration, extreme daytime temperatures, & warm nights" were unusual. In Canada, which is suffering from warm temperatures combined with months of below-average rainfall, the amount of land burned by devastating wildfires climbed to 24.7 million acres (10 million hectares) so far this year on Saturday. The prior all-time high occurred in 1989, when 18 million acres were burned over the course of an entire year, according to national figures. "We find ourselves this year with figures that are worse than our most pessimistic scenarios," Yan Boulanger, a researcher at Canada's natural resources ministry, told AFP. Smoke from the wildfires was meanwhile creating unhealthy air quality conditions in parts of the upper-central United States -- similar to episodes in June when blazes in the Canadian province of Quebec cloaked the US East Coast in a noxious haze. While it can be hard to attribute a particular weather event to climate change, scientists insist that global warming -- linked to humanity's dependence on fossil fuels -- is responsible for the multiplication and intensification of heat waves in the world. The US heat wave comes after the EU's climate-monitoring service said the world saw its hottest June on record last month. bfm/mdl/bbk/acb © Agence France-Presse The post ‘Hot and dangerous weekend’: US bakes under relentless heat dome appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
German far-right party notches up another win
Germany's far-right AfD notched up another first Sunday when its candidate was elected a full-time town mayor, in a further boost for the anti-immigration party. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to record highs in opinion polls, and the latest result comes just a week after they won their first district election. Hannes Loth was elected mayor of the small town of Raguhn-Jessnitz, in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, in a run-off against independent candidate Nils Naumann, according to results on the town's Facebook page. Loth, reportedly a 42-year-old farmer who was already a member of the local parliament, won 51.1 percent of the vote against 48.9 percent for Naumann in the town of about 9,000 inhabitants. It marks the first time the party has won an election race for a full-time mayor's position, German media reported. AfD members have held positions as voluntary, or part-time, mayors in smaller places. An AfD member was a full-time mayor of a town in southwest Germany from 2018 to 2020 but was not elected under the party's banner -- he joined the outfit during his term. Loth thanked his supporters for the "wonderful result." "I will be mayor for everyone in Raguhn-Jessnitz," he wrote on social media. In last week's election, Robert Sesselmann, a lawyer and regional lawmaker, won a runoff for district administrator in Sonneberg in the central state of Thuringia, near the border with Bavaria. Recent surveys have put support for the AfD at a record 18 to 20 percent, neck-and-neck with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats and behind only the conservative CDU/CSU bloc. Thomas Krueger, head of the federal agency for civic education, warned this weekend the party should not be dismissed as a "mere protest movement". "Voters want this party... the situation is serious," he told the RND media group. Created in 2013 as an anti-euro outfit before morphing into an anti-Islam, anti-immigration party, the AfD has benefited from growing discontent with Scholz's three-party coalition amid concerns about inflation and the affordability of the government's climate plans. High immigration also remains a key voter concern. The AfD stunned the political establishment when it took around 13 percent of votes in the 2017 general elections, catapulting its lawmakers into the German parliament. It slid to around 10 percent in the 2021 federal election. sr/gw © Agence France-Presse The post German far-right party notches up another win appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»