Zamboanga City, Philippines - A Philippine court on Wednesday ordered the release of seven people arrested for allegedly providing support to Muslim militants holding captive two European Red Cross workers.
The suspects - three police officers, two village captains and two alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group - were freed two days after police filed criminal charges of kidnapping for ransom and illegal detention against them.
Manila - The Philippines on Wednesday mounted search and rescue operations for a missing air force helicopter carrying senior staff of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo amid reports that the chopper could have crashed and exploded.
The Bell 412 helicopter, carrying five passengers and two pilots, was on its way to Banaue town in Ifugao province, 270 kilometres north of Manila, from the nearby mountain resort city of Baguio when it went missing Tuesday.
Manila - Twelve factory workers were killed and five injured when a boiler at a Styrofoam packaging plant exploded in the Philippines, police said Wednesday.
The explosion occurred Tuesday evening as night shift employees worked at the factory in Santa Maria town in Bulacan province, just north of Manila.
The town's police chief, Superintendent Marcos Rivero, said five workers died on the spot while others were trapped under concrete and steel debris as the blast destroyed the factory.
Manila - Australia on Tuesday pledged to provide 100 million Australian dollars (71.3 million US dollars) for road improvement projects in the central and southern Philippines.
Australian Ambassador Rod Smith said the money will be used to repair and maintain more than 1,000 kilometres of provincial roads in 10 provinces in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao.
The funds will be given over a five-year period starting this year, he added.
Manila - The Philippines' inflation rate fell to 6.4 per cent in March as prices of food and other basic commodities eased, the government said Tuesday.
The March index was down from 7.3 per cent in February and was the same level as in March 2008, the National Statistics Office said.
The office said inflation decelerated "as slower annual inflation rates were registered in the indices of all commodity groups," such as food, electricity and fuel.
Manila - Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged the Philippine government to investigate and dismantle an alleged "death squad" that has killed more than 800 people in the past decade in one of the country's most prosperous cities.
The New York-based rights watchdog warned that police officers and local government officials appeared to be involved in the targeted killings of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals and even street children in Davao City, 990 kilometres south of Manila.
Zamboanga City, Philippines - A Philippine court on Wednesday ordered the release of seven people arrested for allegedly providing support to Muslim militants holding captive two European Red Cross workers.
Manila - The Philippines on Wednesday mounted search and rescue operations for a missing air force helicopter carrying senior staff of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo amid reports that the chopper could have crashed and exploded.
Manila - Twelve factory workers were killed and five injured when a boiler at a Styrofoam packaging plant exploded in the Philippines, police said Wednesday.
Manila - Australia on Tuesday pledged to provide 100 million Australian dollars (71.3 million US dollars) for road improvement projects in the central and southern Philippines.
Manila - The Philippines' inflation rate fell to 6.4 per cent in March as prices of food and other basic commodities eased, the government said Tuesday.
Manila - Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged the Philippine government to investigate and dismantle an alleged "death squad" that has killed more than 800 people in the past decade in one of the country's most prosperous cities.
