Manila, Dec 27 - At least four people were killed and 21 missing in a new passenger ferry sinking in the Philippines, the coast guard and Red Cross said Sunday.

The MV Baleno 9 sank late Saturday off Batangas City, 85 km south of Manila. Nearby ships rescued 63 people from the water, the coast guard said.

The accident occurred just days after a wooden-hulled passenger ferry collided with a fishing boat and sank off Cavite province on Christmas Eve, leaving three people dead and 24 missing.

Manila, Dec 25 : Nearly 50,000 people Friday celebrated Christmas in cramped evacuation centres amid persistent rumblings of a volcano in the eastern Philippines.

The evacuees were given food packages by the government and non-government organisations to celebrate the holiday away from home and the restive Mayon Volcano in Albay province, 360 km south-east of Manila.

Manila, Dec 24 - At least 27 people were missing as a wooden-hulled passenger vessel sank Thursday in the Philippines after colliding with a fishing boat, the coast guard said.

Forty-six people were rescued from the waters around Limbones Island off Cavite province, just south of Manila, where the accident took place before dawn.

The coast guard said the MV Catalyn B was carrying 14 crew members and 59 passengers when it left Manila on Wednesday evening for Lubang Island, 150 km southwest of the capital. (dpa)

Manila, Dec 15 - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday it has upgraded its economic growth forecast for developing countries in Asia due to the better-than-expected performance of many economies in the region, with India projected to grow seven percent this year and next year.

The bank also increased its economic growth forecast for South Asia to 6.4 percent in 2009 and 2010.

Manila, Dec 13 - Suspected Muslim rebels Sunday attacked a jail in the southern Philippines, freeing 31 prisoners in a pre-dawn raid that left two people dead, officials said.

The escaped detainees included Muslim separatist rebels accused of beheading 10 of 14 Marines killed in an ambush in July 2007.

About 30 gunmen broke the concrete wall of the jail in Sumagdang district in Isabela City, Basilan province, 900 km south of Manila, before dawn Sunday.

Manila, Dec 11 - Two soldiers were killed in an attack by communist rebels in an eastern Philippine province, a regional army spokesperson said Friday.

Lieutenant Colonel Armand Rico said the soldiers were constructing school buildings in Calbiga town in Samar province, 555 km southeast of Manila, when the guerrillas attacked them Thursday.

Rico said more troops have been dispatched to the area to secure the engineering team helping construct the school buildings.

Manila, Dec 10 - A group of armed men Thursday seized at least 65 people, mostly school children, in the southern Philippines, the military and police said.

Chief Superintendent Lino Calingasan said about 25 heavily armed men abducted the hostages in the village of San Martin in Prosperidad town in Agusan del Sur province, 870 km south of Manila.

Calingasan said police have yet to determine the motive behind the incident.

Manila, Dec 9 - Philippine police said Wednesday they have identified 161 suspects in last month's politically motivated massacre of 57 people in a southern province, a police official said.

Chief Superintendent Raul Castaneda said many of those who participated in the gruesome Nov 23 mass killing in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 km south of Manila, were government militiamen.

Manila, Nov 27 - A Filipino employee of Unicef was shot dead in southern Philippines, authorities said Friday.

The employee based in the southern city of Cotabato died Thursday with a gunshot wound on the abdomen, Xinhua news agency quoted a report from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao police as saying.

The slain official has been identified as Nestor Bulahan.

Police said Bulahan was on the way to meet a friend in Maguindanao province but was intercepted by his murderer and shot at from a close range, the local on-line news network inquirer. net reported.

Manila, Nov 27 - A scion of a powerful political family detained for allegedly masterminding a gruesome massacre of 57 civilians in the southern Philippines Friday blamed Muslim separatist rebels for the carnage.

Andal Ampatuan Junior maintained his innocence concerning Monday's grisly attack on mostly women and journalists in a hilly village in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 km south of Manila.

Manila, Nov 26 - The main suspect in the grisly killing of at least 57 people in the southern Philippines surrendered Thursday to a senior aide of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Datu Andal Ampatuan Junior was turned over by the members of his family, close political allies of Arroyo, to presidential aide Jesus Dureza in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

Manila, Nov 25 - The Philippine government on Wednesday rejected mounting calls for the immediate arrest of members of a prominent political family allegedly behind the massacre of 46 people.

Presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde said investigators must build a strong case against the Ampatuan family, close allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, before any arrests could be made.

Manila  - Six soldiers and a government militiaman were injured in an attack by communist rebels in an eastern Philippine province, an army spokesman said Monday.

The personnel were patrolling a remote village in Caramoran town in Catanduanes province, 345 kilometres south-east of Manila, when the guerrillas open fired at them late Sunday, according to Major Harold Cabunoc.

The injured were immediately taken to hospital for treatment while more troops were dispatched to the area to conduct pursuit operations.

Manila  - About 30 people, including journalists, were seized Monday by armed supporters of a prominent political clan in the southern Philippines, the military said.

The hostages included the wife, sister, brother and other relatives of Vice Mayor Ibrahim Mangudadatu of Buluan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner, a military spokesman, said about 100 gunmen, believed to be supporters of the Ampatuan political family, were reported to be behind the kidnapping.

Manila - Unidentified gunmen abducted the captain and two crewmen of a tugboat in the southern Philippines, the coast guard said Sunday.

The gunmen were aboard three pump boats when they approached the MT Marinero off Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte province, 810 kilometres south of Manila, late Saturday.

Commodore Rodolfo Isonera, a regional coast guard commander, said the suspects then forcibly boarded the Marinero.

Manila  - Seven people were injured Saturday in a grenade explosion on a southern Philippine city, a provincial police chief said.

The explosion occurred before dawn in front of a construction supply store in Iloilo City, 490 kilometres south of Manila, according to Senior Superintendent Melvin Mongcal.

Mongcal said a man riding a motorcycle hurled the grenade in front of the steel gate of EGC Construction Supply in the village of Molo.

Manila  - Philippine police Friday launched a manhunt for a British man suspected of killing the son of a senior aide of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during a traffic altercation.

The suspect, Jason Ivler, is the stepson of an executive at the Asian Development Bank, according to national police chief Jesus Versoza.

Versoza said Ivler was the main suspect in Wednesday's killing of Renato Vitor Ebarle, whose father is an aide of Arroyo, in a Manila suburb.

Manila  - Government troops killed a Muslim militant wanted for kidnappings and bombings in the southern Philippines, a military commander said Friday.

Major General Ben Dolorfino said the suspect, Abdulla Ajijul, a commander of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, had a 3.3-million-peso (71,000-dollar) reward for his capture.

Dolorfino said Ajijul was killed when he resisted arrest on Wednesday in Al Barka town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila.

Manila  - Philippine police were investigating an alleged 10-million-peso (214,132-dollar) ransom demand for three kidnapped employees of a plywood factory in a southern province, a military spokesman said Thursday.

The ransom demand was allegedly relayed to the owner of the plywood factory in Maluso town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said.

Manila - Iran's foreign minister on Thursday shrugged off the possibility of sanctions after rejecting a compromise deal to ship enriched uranium abroad for further processing.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who was in Manila for a two-day visit, said Tehran was open to hold further talks on "the best possible" way to resolve the matter.

"Don't take it so serious," he told a press conference in Manila when asked if Iran was prepared to face more sanctions for rejecting the compromise deal.

"Sanctions was the literature of the 60s and the 70s," he added. "I think they are wise enough not to repeat failed experiences. Of course, it is totally up to them."