International

Troops raced Tuesday to deliver food and water to typhoon-ravaged islands of the Philippines as charities appealed for aid to help hundreds of thousands left homeless by the deadly storm. At least 375 people were killed and hundreds injured when Typhoon Rai pummelled the southern and central regions of the archipelago on Thursday, wiping out wooden houses, uprooting trees and knocking out power across entire islands. "Never in my entire life have I encountered such a typhoon," said Catholic Bishop Antonieto Cabajog in Surigao, on the northern tip of Mindanao island. "To say 'super' is an understatement," he told a Catholic church-run news agency. More than 400,000 people were sheltering in evacuation centres or with relatives, the national disaster agency said, after their homes were damaged or destroyed by the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year. One of the hardest-hit islands was Bohol -- known for its beaches -- where at least 94 people have died, provincial Governor Arthur Yap said on Facebook. A state of calamity has been declared on the island. Yap said the province had run out of money and pleaded for President Rodrigo Duterte's government to send funds to buy food and water for desperate families. "If you won't send money to buy food, send soldiers and police because there will be looting here," Yap warned during an interview with radio station DZBB. While other parts of the Philippines celebrated Christmas, Bohol was "undergoing a Yolanda-like situation", he added, using the local name for Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. There has also been widespread destruction on Siargao, Dinagat and Mindanao islands, which bore the brunt of the storm, which packed winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour. Thousands of military, police and coast guard personnel have been deployed to deliver food, drinking water and medical supplies to survivors, who have been struggling to find basic necessities. "I have directed the (military) to deploy all available assets -- ships, boats, aircraft, trucks -- to bring relief goods to the stricken areas," Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Monday. Heavy machinery, including backhoes and front-end loaders, also have been sent to clear roads. The Red Cross is also flying relief to Siargao and Bohol islands -- popular tourist destinations that had been struggling to recover after Covid-19 restrictions wiped out visitor numbers. "The emergency appeal by IFRC helps us to act swiftly and do all we can to help people and families get back on their feet," said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines. The organisation has appealed for $22 million to fund urgent relief and recovery efforts. The UK has pledged around $1 million to the IFRC effort, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised financial assistance. Other non-government organisations are also appealing for donations. Farmers and fisherfolk on Palawan, the last island to be hit by Rai before it moved over the South China Sea, had seen their livelihoods destroyed, said Catholic priest Eugene Elivera in the provincial capital Puerto Princesa. Many on the island had "never" experienced such a strong storm, he said, adding: "The challenge now is how to begin again." Rai hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season: most cyclones develop between July and October. Scientists have long warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful and strengthening more rapidly as the world becomes warmer because of human-driven climate change. The Philippines -- ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change -- is hit by an average of 20 storms every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas. Typhoon Haiyan was the strongest storm ever to have made landfall, leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing. The death toll from Rai is not expected to get anywhere close to that number.

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year surged to 375 yesterday, as desperate survivors pleaded for urgent supplies of drinking water and food. The Philippine Red Cross reported “complete carnage” in coastal areas after Super Typhoon Rai left homes, hospitals and schools “ripped to shreds”. The storm tore off roofs, uprooted trees, toppled concrete power poles, smashed wooden houses to pieces, wiped out crops and flooded villages — sparking comparisons to the damage caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. “Our situation is so desperate,” said Ferry Asuncion, a street vendor in the hard-hit seaside city of Surigao, which was devastated by the storm. Residents urgently needed “drinking water and food”, he said. At least 375 people were killed and 56 are missing in the latest disaster to hit the archipelago, with 500 more injured, the national police said. More than 380,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Rai slammed into the country on Thursday. One of the hardest-hit islands was Bohol — known for its beaches, “Chocolate Hills” and tiny tarsier primates — where at least 94 people have died, provincial governor Arthur Yap said on Facebook. Many wooden houses in Bohol’s coastal town of Ubay were flattened and small fishing boats destroyed on the island, where a state of calamity has been declared. A senior official at the national disaster agency said he had not expected as many deaths. “I was proven wrong as it appears now coming from the reports,” said Casiano Monilla, deputy administrator for operations. Rai hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season: most cyclones develop between July and October. Scientists have long warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful and strengthening more rapidly as the world becomes warmer because of human-driven climate change. The Philippines — ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change — is hit by an average of 20 storms every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan was the strongest storm ever to have made landfall, leaving over 7,300 people dead or missing. The death toll from Rai is not expected to get anywhere close to that number. The Philippines has an established disaster management system that provides early warnings of approaching storms and moves vulnerable communities into evacuation centres. But the storm has dealt a savage blow to the tourism sector, which was already struggling after Covid-19 restrictions decimated visitor numbers. “SOS” has been painted on a road in the tourist town of General Luna on Siargao Island, where surfers and holidaymakers had flocked ahead of Christmas, as people struggled to find water and food. “There’s no water anymore, there’s a water shortage, on day one there was already looting in our neighbourhood,” Siargao resort owner Marja O’Donnell told CNN Philippines. There has also been widespread destruction on Dinagat and Mindanao islands, which along with Siargao bore the brunt of the storm when it hit, packing wind speeds of 195kms per hour. Police reported 167 deaths in the Caraga region, which includes Dinagat, Siargao and the northeastern part of Mindanao. At least 14 people died on the Dinagat Islands, provincial information officer Jeffrey Crisostomo told broadcaster ABS-CBN, saying the area had been “levelled to the ground”. But letters written by Dinagat residents, and posted to Facebook, expressed hope. “We are happy to be alive,” Aimee Antonio-Jimeno wrote to her sister. “Our houses are roofless but we are not hopeless!”

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year surpassed 200 on Monday, as desperate survivors pleaded for urgent supplies of drinking water and food. The Philippine Red Cross reported "complete carnage" in coastal areas after Typhoon Rai left homes, hospitals and schools "ripped to shreds". The storm tore off roofs, uprooted trees, toppled concrete power poles, smashed wooden houses to pieces, wiped out crops and flooded villages -- sparking comparisons with Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. At least 208 people were killed and 52 were missing in the latest disaster to hit the archipelago, with hundreds more injured after the storm ravaged southern and central regions, the national police said. More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Rai slammed into the country on Thursday as a super typhoon. "Our situation is so desperate," said Ferry Asuncion, a street vendor in the hard-hit seaside city of Surigao, which was devastated by the storm.  Residents urgently needed "drinking water and food", he said. One of the hardest-hit islands was Bohol -- known for its beaches, rolling "Chocolate Hills", and tiny tarsier primates -- where at least 80 people have died, provincial Governor Arthur Yap said on his official Facebook page. Many wooden houses in the coastal town of Ubay were flattened and small fishing boats destroyed on the island, where a state of calamity has been declared.    - Victims plea S.O.S - There has also been widespread destruction on Siargao, Dinagat and Mindanao islands, which bore the brunt of the storm when it slammed into the country packing wind speeds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour.  At least 10 people died on the Dinagat Islands, provincial information officer Jeffrey Crisostomo told AFP on Sunday. S.O.S was painted on a road in the popular tourist town of General Luna on Siargao island, where surfers and holidaymakers had flocked ahead of Christmas, as people struggled to find water and food. "There's no water anymore, there's a water shortage, on day one there was already looting in our neighbourhood," Siargao resort owner Marja O'Donnell told CNN Philippines.   The storm has dealt a savage blow to the country's tourism sector, which was already struggling to recover after Covid-19 restrictions decimated visitor numbers.  Swathes of the affected areas have no communications, hampering efforts by disaster agencies to assess the full extent of the storm's damage. Electricity also has been knocked out, affecting water-refilling stations and ATMs. Some victims expressed frustration at the government's response to the disaster.  "No one showed up -- I don't know where the politicians and (election) candidates are," said a visibly angry Levi Lisondra, an elderly resident in Surigao City, on the northern tip of Mindanao. "We paid big taxes when we were working and now they can't help us." President Rodrigo Duterte visited some of the hardest-hit areas on Saturday and pledged to release two billion pesos ($40 million) to assist recovery efforts.  Thousands of military, police, coast guard and fire personnel have been deployed to hard-hit areas. Coast guard and naval vessels, as well as aircraft carrying food, water and medical supplies, have been dispatched, while heavy machinery — like backhoes and front-end loaders — have been sent to help clear roads blocked by fallen power poles and trees. Rai hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season -- most cyclones typically develop between July and October. Scientists have long warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful and strengthening more rapidly as the world becomes warmer because of human-driven climate change. The Philippines -- ranked among the globe's most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change -- is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas. Typhoon Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, was at the time the deadliest storm ever to have made landfall and left more than 7,300 people dead or missing.                

At least 109 people have been killed in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, official tallies showed yesterday, as efforts to deliver water and food to devastated islands ramped up. More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Typhoon Rai ravaged the southern and central regions of the archipelago. The storm knocked out communications and electricity in many areas, ripped off roofs, damaged hospitals, toppled concrete power poles and flooded villages. Arthur Yap, governor of the popular tourist destination Bohol, said on his official Facebook page that mayors on the devastated island had so far reported 73 deaths in their towns. Ten people also died on the Dinagat Islands, provincial information officer Jeffrey Crisostomo said. That took the overall number of reported deaths to 109, according to the latest official figures, making it one of the deadliest storms to hit the country in recent years. But the toll was likely to rise as disaster agencies assessed the full extent of the storm’s aftermath across the vast archipelago. Rai smashed into the country on Thursday as a super typhoon packing winds of 195kph. Thousands of military, police, coast guard and fire personnel are being deployed to assist in search and rescue efforts in the worst-affected areas. Coast guard and naval vessels carrying food, water and medical supplies are being dispatched, while heavy machinery - like backhoes and front-end loaders - are being sent to help clear roads blocked by fallen power poles and trees. “It’s going to be a long, tough road for people to rebuild and get their lives back on track,” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines. The organisation appealed for 20mn Swiss francs ($21.6mn) to fund urgent relief and recovery efforts. Pope Francis expressed hopes for “concrete aid” to be offered to the country. An aerial survey of damage to parts of Bohol showed “our people have suffered greatly”, Yap said. There has also been widespread destruction on Siargao, Dinagat and Mindanao islands, which bore the brunt of Rai when it slammed into the Philippines. Verified videos showed severe damage in the Siargao town of General Luna, where many surfers and holidaymakers had flocked ahead of Christmas, with buildings missing roofs, wooden structures crushed to pieces, trees stripped of leaves, and piles of debris on the ground. Tourists were being evacuated yesterday from the island by plane and boat. Dinagat governor Arlene Bag-ao has said the damage to the island’s landscape was “reminiscent if not worse” than that caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, was the deadliest cyclone on record in the country, leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing. “I saw how Typhoon Odette tore the provincial capitol apart, piece by piece,” Dinagat PIO Crisostomo told radio station DZBB, using the local name for Rai. “Big tables as heavy as a man went flying during the onslaught of the storm,” he said. In Surigao City, on the northern tip of Mindanao, shattered glass from smashed windows, roofing, power lines and other debris were scattered in the streets. Tricycle driver Rey Jamile, 57, braved flooded streets and “flying” sheets of corrugated iron roofing to get his family to safety at a school evacuation centre. “The wind was very strong,” he said, adding now that the storm was over he was struggling to find water and food.

More than 21,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to flooding caused by torrential rains in Malaysia, state news agency Bernama said on Sunday. Perak was the latest state to be hit by floods, with flooding worsening in six other states. "Altogether, more than 21,000 people had been evacuated from their flooded homes to relief centres by noon," the news agency reported. Over 11,000 people were driven from their homes on Saturday, as heavy rainfall that started Friday morning caused dozens of road closures and disrupted shipping. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told a media conference in Selangor, Malaysia's wealthiest and most populous region surrounding the capital Kuala Lumpur, that 15,000 people there had been evacuated to over 100 relief centres. He said the rainfall over the past day was equivalent to the total rainfall for a month in normal conditions. Rescue efforts are still underway for those trapped in vehicles and outside of their homes, while reports from Saturday of those trapped at home have been resolved, he said. More than 66,000 personnel from the police, army and fire department have been mobilised to help rescue people stranded by flood waters and take them to shelters late on Saturday. Rohkidah Yusof, 60, was delivering food to a customer but found herself trapped with her two children and two grandchildren in a neighbouring suburb, after rising waters made it impossible for the family to drive home on Saturday. They were rescued by boat by a group of volunteers, who took them to safety more than 24 hours later. Rohkidah, who had lived in Shah Alam city in Selangor state for more than 30 years, said the floods were the worst she had ever seen. "I've never experienced floods this bad. I want to go home but I’m not sure how we are going to get there," she said, still unable to go home as roads to her neighbourhood were closed. Selangor resident Mohammad Shahrul Azmir Selamat said his neighbourhood developed on higher grounds was spared the floods but access roads have been cut off. "For the time being (supplies are) still okay, at the moment 10 trucks have arrived. Floods have receded in some areas and the victims already went home," the 25-year-old who shot a dramatic drone footage told Reuters via text message. The Meteorological Department warned of dangerous level of continuous torrential rain in Perak, but has downgraded Selangor from danger level to alert. Ismail also announced that the government will allocated an initial sum of 100 million ringgit ($23.71 million) for house and infrastructure repairs, and will provide financial aid to affected households.

More than 90 people have been killed in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, official tallies showed Sunday, as efforts to deliver water and food to devastated islands ramped up. More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Typhoon Rai ravaged the southern and central regions of the archipelago. The storm knocked out communications and electricity in many areas, ripped off roofs, damaged hospitals, toppled concrete power poles and flooded villages. Arthur Yap, governor of the popular tourist destination Bohol, said on his official Facebook page that mayors on the devastated island had so far reported 63 deaths in their towns. Ten people also died on the Dinagat Islands, provincial information officer Jeffrey Crisostomo told AFP. That took the overall number of reported deaths to 99, according to the latest official figures. But the toll was likely to rise as disaster agencies assessed the full extent of the death and destruction from the storm across the vast archipelago. Rai smashed into the country Thursday as a super typhoon packing wind speeds of 195 kilometres per hour. Thousands of military, police, coast guard and fire personnel are being deployed to assist in search and rescue efforts in the worst-affected areas. Coast guard and naval vessels carrying food, water and medical supplies are being dispatched, while heavy machinery -- like backhoes and front-end loaders -- are being sent to help clear roads blocked by fallen power poles and trees. "It's going to be a long, tough road for people to rebuild and get their lives back on track," said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines. The organisation appealed for 20 million Swiss francs ($21.6 million) to fund urgent relief and recovery efforts. An aerial survey of damage to parts of Bohol -- known for its beaches, rolling "Chocolate Hills", and tiny tarsier primates -- showed "our people have suffered greatly", Yap said. There has also been widespread destruction on Siargao, Dinagat and Mindanao islands, which bore the brunt of Rai when it slammed into the Philippines. Aerial photos shared by the military showed severe damage in the Siargao town of General Luna, where many surfers and holidaymakers had flocked ahead of Christmas, with buildings stripped of roofs and debris littering the ground. Tourists were being evacuated from the island on Sunday by plane and boat. Dinagat Governor Arlene Bag-ao has said the damage to the island's landscape was "reminiscent if not worse" than that caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, was the deadliest cyclone on record in the country, leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing. "I saw how Typhoon Odette tore the provincial capitol apart, piece by piece," Dinagat PIO Crisostomo told radio station DZBB, using the local name for Rai. "Big tables as heavy as a man went flying during the onslaught of the storm," he said. In Surigao City, on the northern tip of Mindanao, shattered glass from smashed windows, roofing, power lines and other debris were scattered in the streets. Tricycle driver Rey Jamile, 57, braved flooded streets and "flying" sheets of corrugated iron roofing to get his family to safety at a school evacuation centre. "The wind was very strong," he told AFP, adding now the storm was over he was struggling to find water and food. Rai's wind speeds eased to 150 kph as it barrelled across the country, dumping torrential rain, uprooting trees and destroying wooden structures. It emerged over the South China Sea on Saturday and headed towards Vietnam. Rai hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season -- most cyclones typically develop between July and October. Scientists have long warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful and strengthening more rapidly as the world becomes warmer because of human-driven climate change. The Philippines -- ranked among the globe's most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change -- is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas.

The feared death toll from a Typhoon that battered the Philippines has risen to 31, officials said yesterday, nearly triple the previous day’s number as rescue teams reach damaged areas and communication lines are restored. Four people have been confirmed dead after being hit by falling trees and another 27 people are feared to have died as a result of Typhoon Rai, the country’s disaster agency said in a statement. Rai was the 15th and among the deadliest of the tropical storms to strike the Philippine archipelago this year, driving more than 300,000 people to shelter in evacuation centres. Many areas were still without power yesterday. The hard-hit central provinces of Cebu and Bohol declared a state of calamity to access disaster funds and imposed a price freeze on basic goods. At one point a category 5 storm, the highest classification, Rai brought 195 km per hour winds before making landfall on Thursday. Typhoon Rai, locally named as Odette, swept out of the Philippines yesterday afternoon after making nine destructive landfalls, the first of which was in the holiday island of Siargao. “Odette was really strong. Almost 95% of houses in Dinagat Island are without a roof,” Nilo Demerey, vice governor of Surigao del Norte province, told a local radio station. Evacuation centres housed in churches, schools and gyms were also badly hit, Demerey added. Some 309,000 people remain in evacuation centres, data from the disaster agency showed. Many areas are still without power, and corn and rice plantations have been flooded, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor told the same radio station. Every year, about 20 tropical storms hit the Philippines, causing floods and landslides. The Southeast Asian nation, made up of more than 7,600 islands, is also prone to frequent earthquakes.

The death toll from a typhoon that slammed into the Philippines rose to 12 yesterday, and its president feared it could climb further as authorities assess the devastation caused by one of the strongest tropical storms to hit the country this year. President Rodrigo Duterte said he would visit battered central and southern areas today to see the extent of damage, as the government tried to figure out how much it could raise for the disaster response. Duterte said coronavirus (Covid-19) spending had already depleted this year’s budget. “I’m not so much worried about damage to structures,” he said in a televised briefing with disaster officials. “My fear is if many people died. I am as eager as you to go there to see for myself,” he told Ricardo Jalad, undersecretary at the disaster agency. Jalad said the death toll was preliminary and he was awaiting information from provincial units before a complete damage assessment could be made. Most of the reported deaths were due to fallen trees and drowning. Typhoon Rai, which saw winds of up to 195kph (121mph) before making landfall on Thursday, displaced more than 300,000 people, damaged homes and toppled power and communication lines, complicating the disaster response.

Thousands of people in the Philippines fled their homes and beachfront resorts as super typhoon Rai slammed into the country Thursday, with a charity warning the storm could hit coastal communities "like a freight train". Rai was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) an hour as it made landfall on the southern island of Siargao at 1:30 pm (0530 GMT), the state weather forecaster said. It is the strongest storm to hit the disaster-prone country this year. "This monster storm is frightening and threatens to hit coastal communities like a freight train," said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines. "We are very concerned that climate change is making typhoons more ferocious and unpredictable." The weather bureau warned "very destructive" winds could cause "heavy to very heavy damage to structures and vegetation", along with widespread flooding and rain-induced landslides. More than 90,000 people sought emergency shelter as the storm charged across the Pacific Ocean, disaster agencies said. Evacuations were still under way in areas in the typhoon's path.  Among the evacuees were domestic tourists visiting the country's famed beaches and dive spots ahead of Christmas. Foreign travellers are still banned from entering the Philippines under Covid-19 restrictions. Verified video shot by tourists in Siargao showed trees swaying violently as people waited for the full impact of the typhoon. In the town of Dapa, families slept on the floor of a sports complex turned into a temporary evacuation centre.   - 'Brace for strong winds' -   Scores of flights have been cancelled and dozens of ports temporarily closed as the weather bureau warned several metre-high storm surges could cause "life-threatening flooding" in low-lying coastal areas. Weather forecaster Christopher Perez said the winds could "topple electric posts and trees" and damage houses made of light materials. "Brace for heavy rains, brace for strong winds too," Perez told a briefing. Rai, locally named "Odette", is hitting the Philippines late in the typhoon season, with most cyclones developing between July and October. It is the second super typhoon to threaten the country since September when Chanthu grazed the northeastern tip of the main island of Luzon. Scientists have long warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful, and strengthening more rapidly, as the world becomes warmer because of man-made climate change.  A super typhoon is also known as a category five hurricane in the United States. The Earth tends to experience around five storms of that power a year. Rai is expected to weaken slightly as it moves across the Visayas region, and the Mindanao and Palawan islands, before emerging Saturday over the South China Sea and heading towards Vietnam. The Philippines -- ranked as one of the world's most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change -- is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday withdrew his candidacy for a senate seat, the election commission's spokesperson said. Duterte's six-year term will end in June, 2022, and he is banned by the constitution from seeking another term as president. It was not immediately clear why Duterte was dropping out of the senatorial race, but he had said in October he was retiring from politics. There was no immediate comment from his political party. In a late night address on Monday, Duterte said his administration will "ensure an honest, peaceful, credible, and free elections" in 2022. Earlier on Tuesday, Duterte's aide, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, made official his decision to quit the presidential race after announcing last month he would no longer contest the country's top job.

* Says Indo-Pacific must be free from coercion, intimidation * Cites discontent over Chinese firms, loans, infrastructure * US to help keep internet free, secure - Blinken * Blinken visiting Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday touted a US strategy to deepen its Asian treaty alliances, offering to boost defence and intelligence work with partners in an Indo-Pacific region increasingly concerned over China's "aggressive actions". During a visit to Indonesia, Blinken described the Indo-Pacific as the world's most dynamic region and said everyone had a stake in ensuring a status quo that was without coercion and intimidation, in a barely veiled reference to China. He said United States, its allies and some South China Sea claimants would push back against any unlawful action. "We'll work with our allies and partners to defend the rules-based order that we've built together over decades to ensure the region remains open and accessible," he said in a speech at a university. "Let me be clear: the goal of defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down. Rather, it's to protect the right of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion and intimidation." China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, despite some overlapping claims with other coastal states and an international tribunal that ruled that China's vast claim has no legal basis. Beijing has rejected the US stance as interference from an outside power that could threaten Asia's stability. China's foreign ministry had no immediate comment on Blinken's remarks. Blinken is making his first visit to Southeast Asia since President Joe Biden took office in January, a trip aimed at shoring up relations after a period of uncertainty about US commitment to Asia under the administration of Donald Trump. Despite tensions in the South China Sea, Beijing's influence has grown in recent years as it pushes more infrastructure investment and integrated trade ties in the Asia-Pacific, in the perceived absence of a US economic strategy for the region. Blinken said the United States would strengthen ties with treaty allies like Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines and boost defence and intelligence capabilities with Indo-Pacific partners, as well as defending an open and secure internet. He stressed, however, that it was not a contest between a US-centric or China-centric region. He also said Washington was committed to pressing the military junta in Myanmar to end violence, free detainees and return to an inclusive democracy. The United States was also committed to a new comprehensive regional economic framework, which would include more US foreign direct investment and US companies identifying new opportunities in the region, he said, without providing details. The administration has yet to spell out what exactly Biden's envisaged economic framework will entail. The Trump administration walked away from a US-inspired multinational Pacific trade deal, in 2017. Blinken, who will also visit Malaysia and Thailand this week, said the United States would work to strengthen supply chains and close the region's infrastructure gaps, from ports and roads to power grids and the internet. In another swipe at China, he said the United States was hearing increasing concerns in the Indo-Pacific about opaque, corrupt processes of foreign companies that imported their own labour, drained natural resources and polluted the environment. "Countries in the Indo-Pacific want a better kind of infrastructure," he said. "But many feel it's too expensive - or they feel pressured to take bad deals on terms set by others, rather than no deals at all."

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Tuesday triggering a tsunami warning and sending residents fleeing from their homes but causing only minor damage and injuring one person, authorities said. The tsunami warning was lifted about two hours after the quake struck at 0320 GMT in the Flores Sea, about 112 km northwest of the town of Larantuka, in the eastern part of Flores island. "Everyone ran out into the street," Agustinus Florianus, a resident of Maumere town on Flores, told Reuters. Maumere was badly damaged by a quake of a similar magnitude in 1992. Tsunami warnings were issued for the areas of Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Southeast and South Sulawesi. The US Geological Survey said the quake, had a magnitude of 7.3. It struck at the shallow depth of 12 km. "It felt like a wave, up and down," Zacharias Gentana Keranz, a resident of Larantuka told Reuters. The disaster mitigation agency said one person was injured in Manggarai, on Flores, and a school building and several homes were damaged on Selayar island, in South Sulawesi. The quake, from an active fault in the Flores Sea, was followed by at least 15 aftershocks with the biggest registering magnitude 5.6, the meteorological agency said. But the quake caused no significant increase in sea levels. Indonesian earthquakes have triggered many deadly tsunamis, most notably in 2004 when a 9.1 magnitude quake off Sumatra island in the north produced tsunami waves that killed more than 230,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries. The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had earlier warned that based on preliminary earthquake parameters, hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts located within 1,000 km of the earthquake's epicentre. Indonesia straddles the "Pacific Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity that rests atop multiple tectonic plates.

Accepting her Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, Philippine journalist Maria Ressa launched a vitriolic attack against US tech giants, accusing them of fuelling a flood of “toxic sludge” on social media. Ressa, the co-founder of news website Rappler, accepted this year’s prize at a ceremony at Oslo’s City Hall together with her co-laureate Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, one of the rare independent newspapers in a Russian media landscape largely under state control. Speaking to a scaled-down crowd due to the pandemic, 58-year-old Ressa attacked “American Internet companies” such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube without mentioning them by name. “With its power”, their technology “has allowed a virus of lies to infect each of us, pitting us against each other, bringing out our fears, anger and hate, and setting the stage for the rise of authoritarians and dictators around the world,” she said. “Our greatest need today is to transform that hate and violence, the toxic sludge that’s coursing through our information ecosystem, prioritised by American internet companies that make more money by spreading that hate and triggering the worst in us,” she said. Ressa stressed the importance of reliable facts at a time when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic or facing upcoming elections in countries like France, the US, the Philippines and Hungary. These companies “are biased against facts, biased against journalists. They are — by design — dividing us and radicalising us,” she said. A vocal critic of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and his deadly drug war, Ressa is herself facing seven criminal lawsuits in her country, which she said could see her sent to prison for 100 years. Currently on bail pending an appeal against a conviction last year in a cyber libel case, she had to apply to four courts for permission to travel to Norway for yesterday’s ceremony.

Veteran Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, who will accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday, has battled multiple legal cases and online abuse in her campaign for press freedom under President Rodrigo Duterte. The former CNN correspondent co-founded investigative news site Rappler in 2012, bringing together multimedia reporting and social media to offer an edgy take on Philippine current events. Ressa, 58, has been a vocal critic of Duterte and the deadly drug war he launched in 2016, triggering what media advocates say is a grinding series of criminal charges, probes and online attacks against her and Rappler. She was named a Time Person of the Year in 2018 for her work on press freedom, but a series of arrests and one conviction for cyber libel further grew her international profile and drew more attention to her struggle. Rappler has had to fight for survival as Duterte's government accused it of violating a constitutional ban on foreign ownership in securing funding, as well as tax evasion. It has also been accused of cyber libel -- a new criminal law introduced in 2012, the same year Rappler was founded. Duterte has attacked the website by name, calling it a "fake news outlet", over a story about one of his closest aides. Though the government has said that it has nothing to do with any of the cases against her, press freedom advocates disagree. Yet through the campaign against her, Ressa, who is also a US citizen, has remained based in the Philippines and continued to speak out against Duterte's government despite the risks. Ressa is on bail pending an appeal against a conviction last year in a cyber libel case, for which she faces up to six years in prison. It is one of seven cases she is fighting after two cyber libel suits were dismissed earlier this year. Ressa's position at the head of the Rappler news site meant getting, by her own estimate, up to 90 abusive messages per hour online at one point towards the end of 2016. The threats came in the months after Duterte took power and launched his narcotics crackdown that rights groups estimate has killed tens of thousands of people. Rappler was among the domestic and foreign media outlets that published shocking images of the killings and questioned its legal basis. International Criminal Court judges have authorised a full-blown investigation into a possible crime against humanity during the bloody campaign. It was an entirely new set of threats for Ressa, who was a veteran of conflict zones before co-founding Rappler. As CNN's former bureau chief in Manila and Jakarta, Ressa specialised in terrorism, where she tracked the links between global networks like Al-Qaeda and militants in Southeast Asia. The Princeton graduate later returned to the Philippines to serve as news chief at the nation's top broadcaster ABS-CBN, which has also fallen foul of the Duterte administration. Ressa's new book "How to stand up to a dictator" is due to be released ahead of the country's 2022 presidential elections, which Duterte is not allowed to contest due to constitutional term limits, although he is planning to run for the Senate. But the son and namesake of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos has a commanding lead among front runners for the top job. After the Nobel Prize was announced in October, Ressa was defiant in her defence of her battle for freedom of expression and independent journalism. "What we have to do as journalists is just hold the line," she said. bur-amj/je/jah

The death toll from the eruption of Indonesia's Mount Semeru volcano rose to 34 on Tuesday, the national disaster agency said, as aid was rushed to the affected region. The biggest mountain on the island of Java on Saturday ejected a mushroom of volcanic ash high into the sky and rained hot mud as thousands of panicked people fled their homes. The disaster left entire streets filled with mud and ash, swallowing homes and vehicles. "The latest update from the ground... (is) 34 people died, 17 are missing," the disaster agency spokesman Abdul Muhari told AFP. Almost 3,700 have been evacuated from the affected area, he added. Rescuers have been battling dangerous conditions since the deadly weekend eruption, searching for survivors and bodies in the volcanic debris, wrecked buildings and destroyed vehicles. Search crews deployed dogs on Tuesday to aid the operation. Mt Semeru has remained active since Saturday, with small eruptions keeping emergency workers and area residents on edge. There were three small eruptions on Tuesday, each spewing ash around a kilometre into the sky, authorities said. Officials have advised locals not to travel within five kilometres of Semeru's crater, as the nearby air is highly polluted and could affect vulnerable groups. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity, and the country has nearly 130 active volcanoes.

Five people were killed and at least 15 arrested after Myanmar security forces in a car rammed into an anti-coup protest on Sunday morning in Yangon, local news portal Myanmar Now reported. Witnesses on the scene told Reuters dozens had been injured. Photos and videos on social media show a vehicle that crashed through the protesters and bodies lying on the road. Another protest was held in Yangon in the afternoon despite the morning violence. Anti-military protests are continuing despite the killing of more than 1,300 people since the Feb. 1 coup. The scattered protests are often small groups voicing opposition to the overthrow of an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of military rule. On Sunday, a "flash mob" protest in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, was rammed minutes after it started, and witnesses told Reuters police arrested several people. "I got hit and fell down in front of a truck. A soldier beat me with his rifle but I defended and pushed him back. Then he immediately shot at me as I ran away in a zig-zag pattern. Fortunately, I escaped," a protester who asked not to be identified for security reasons told Reuters by phone. A civilian car occupied by soldiers hit the mob from the back, two witnesses said, and followed the scattered protesters arresting and beating them. Some were seriously injured with head wounds and unconscious, according to the witnesses. A spokesman for the ruling junta did not answer calls seeking comment on Sunday. The military has said that protesters who have been killed instigated the violence. It says it staged the coup because a November election won by Suu Kyi's party was rigged. The election commission has dismissed the assertion. Wars with ethnic minority insurgents in remote frontier regions in the north and east have intensified significantly since the coup, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to United Nations estimates. Suu Kyi, 76, faces a dozen cases against her including incitement and violations of Covid-19 protocols. She has rejected all the charges to date.

Ten people trapped after Indonesia's Semeru volcano erupted have been evacuated to safety, the disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said on Sunday, as the death toll from the disaster climbed to at least 13 with dozens injured. Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java island, threw up towers of ash and hot clouds on Saturday that blanketed nearby villages in East Java province and sent people fleeing in panic. The eruption severed a strategic bridge connecting two areas in the nearby district of Lumajang with the city of Malang and wrecked buildings, authorities said. BNPB official Abdul Muhari said in a news release that 13 people were killed after the eruption, two of whom have been identified. Ninety-eight were injured, including two pregnant women, and 902 have been evacuated, the statement said. Most injuries were burns, authorities said. In the Sumberwuluh area, thick, grey ash coated damaged houses, while volunteers tried to turn away motorists who wanted to go back to their homes near Semeru, a Reuters witness said. An official at Indonesia's search and rescue agency told news channel Metro TV that evacuations have been suspended due to hot clouds hampering efforts. Other obstacles include heavy rocks and hot volcanic sediment that is limiting movement, a local disaster mitigation agency official said. Thoriqul Haq, a local official in Lumajang, said earlier that sand miners had been trapped around their work sites. Indonesia's transportation ministry said on Sunday the eruption caused no disruption ton flights, though pilots have been alerted to watch out for the ashfall. Semeru, more than 3,600 metres high, is one of Indonesia's nearly 130 active volcanoes. It erupted in January, causing no casualties. Indonesia straddles the "Pacific Ring of Fire", a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

Thai authorities intercepted nearly 900kg (2,000 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine hidden in a cargo shipment at Bangkok’s Port Custom Office and bound for Taiwan where it could be sold for up to $79mn, a customs official said yesterday. The drug was seized by customs officials late on Friday, hidden in powder form inside 161 white silicon slabs in packages destined for Taiwan. “The 897kg of crystal meth is worth about 500-600mn baht ($15-$18mn), but once they reach their destination they will be worth 2.7bn ($79mn) baht in market price,” Thai Customs director-general Patchara Anuntasil told a press conference yesterday. Patchara said that Thai and Taiwanese authorities are both investigating. The methamphetamine market has continued to expand and diversify in East and Southeast Asia, unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic. In October, police in neighbouring Laos seized a record haul of 55mn methamphetamine tablets and over 1.5 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine tablets in the Golden Triangle region where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet. The Golden Triangle has a long history of illicit drug production and has recently served as a massive production centre for amphetamine-type stimulants, especially methamphetamine, used by Asian crime syndicates with distribution networks reaching as far as Japan and New Zealand.

Indonesia’s Mount Semeru volcano erupted yesterday, killing at least one person, leaving dozens with burns and forcing thousands to flee. Two other people were reported missing and eight were trapped in debris, authorities said. More than 300 families with children took shelter in badly hit Curah Kerobokan village in Lumajang in East Java after their houses were destroyed by volcanic ash and lava. Residents in other nearby villages fled in panic as cold lava and volcanic ash reached their neighbourhoods, local authorities said. Rescuers in Curah Kerobokan found a body after a one-hour search. Lumajang deputy regent Indah Masdar said 41 people suffered serious burns after being hit by hot lava. “We brought the injured to health centres and for those whose burns are very serious were rushed to hospitals,” she said. Two of the injured being treated at health centres were pregnant women, she added. The disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said later that 35 patients were being treated at local medical facilities. Masdar asked for helicopters to rescue people trapped inside buildings. “We’re in big distress,” she said, adding there were at least 10 people trapped. “It’s harrowing, their families are all crying.” Thick debris and knee-level cold lava floods made it difficult for rescuers to search for the two missing locals and to evacuate eight people trapped in a building covered by mud. Access to Lumajang was also cut after cold lava flow destroyed a bridge, the deputy regent said. The national mitigation agency said it has dispatched a team to help people at shelters but thick debris from volcanic ash had prevented them from reaching the destination. The Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said its satellite images show volcanic ash has entered the Indian Ocean in the southern part of Java island. A video released by the agency showed locals, including scores of children, running for safety as Mount Semeru, Java’s highest mountain at 3,676m, erupted at 3pm local time (0700 GMT) yesterday. AirNav Indonesia, which controls Indonesian airspace, said in a statement the eruption did not “cause significant impact” on flights. Semeru last erupted in January, causing no casualties. Semeru’s alert status has remained at its second-highest level since its previous major eruption in December last year, which also forced thousands of people to flee and left villages covered. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. The Southeast Asian archipelago nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes. In late 2018, a volcano in the strait between Java and Sumatra islands erupted, causing an underwater landslide and tsunami which killed more than 400 people.

* Administration has no presidential bet with Go's withdrawal * Duterte has yet to say who he will now back in the 2022 polls * Move may benefit ticket with Marcos Jr and Duterte's daughter Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte's preferred successor, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, announced on Tuesday he was dropping out of the presidential race, leaving the administration without a candidate in next year's polls. Go, Duterte's long-time aide, had recently hinted he may pull out of the presidential contest and said the president respected his decision. His withdrawal raises questions over who the popular Duterte will now support in the May 2022 election. The 76-year old leader is not eligible to seek re-election, but will be standing for a senator's seat. "I and President Duterte are ready to support whoever will truly serve and can continue and protect Duterte's legacy towards a more comfortable and safe and prosperous life for our children," Go said in a speech streamed on Facebook. Analysts have said Duterte wants to ensure an ally succeeds him so he can be insulated from potential legal action at home or by the International Criminal Court, which has launched a probe into the thousands of killings in his "war on drugs". Duterte's daughter, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is running for the largely ceremonial deputy post  alongside the son of late Philippine dictator and namesake, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has emerged as an early frontrunner. Political observers say Go's withdrawal from the race would likely benefit the Marcos/Duterte-Carpio ticket as it would consolidate the Dutertes' voter base behind the 43-year-old mayor and that support could extend to Marcos. "There is no more confusion in terms of administration support," said Aries Arugay, visiting fellow at the ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute and political science professor at the University of the Philippines. Marcos is up against other presidential aspirants, including former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, vice president Leni Robredo, Manila mayor Francisco Domagoso, and senator Panfilo Lacson. He is facing several disqualification cases grounded on a nearly three-decade old conviction for tax evasion.