Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades

Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades
Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around neighboring Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages. (AP)
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Updated 27 September 2024
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Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades

Philippines says to evacuate thousands from Lebanon if Israel invades
  • Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around neighboring Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages

MANILA: The Philippines said on Friday it will evacuate 11,000 citizens from Lebanon the moment Israeli forces cross the border to launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah.

Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around neighboring Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages.

Israel has rejected a US-backed 21-day ceasefire call, and its military chief has told soldiers to prepare for a possible ground offensive.

“A ground invasion will lead to mandatory repatriation,” Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said at a press conference in Manila, adding the plan was to move thousands out of the country via the sea.

He did not provide other details.

Manila had earlier urged Filipinos to leave Lebanon before airlines stopped flying to Beirut but most of its citizens did not heed the call, Filipino diplomats said.

Millions of Filipinos work overseas — with large numbers concentrated in the Middle East — due to limited job opportunities at home. Around 90 percent of those working in Lebanon are women migrant domestic workers.

“To some of them, getting killed in war is preferable to starving to death,” de Vega said, adding there have so far been no Filipino casualties from the Israeli air campaign against Hezbollah.

After Israel’s war with Hamas erupted last year following the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack, Manila began voluntary repatriations of its citizens from the areas affected by the fighting.

The conflict has since spilled into Lebanon, with Israel’s ongoing bombardments in the country raising fears of an all-out regional war in the Middle East.

So far, only 500 Filipinos have taken up the government’s offer to leave Lebanon, De Vega said.

Filipino ambassador to Beirut Raymond Balatbat said 196 Filipinos have fled southern Lebanon, where the Israeli campaign has been concentrated.

Most Filipinos working in the country are based in central Lebanon around Beirut, he added.

Anthony Mandap, consul-general at the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv, said there are no plans as of now to repatriate some 30,000 Filipinos working in Israel.


Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway

Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway
Updated 17 sec ago
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Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway

Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway
  • Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia
  • This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations will take part over three weeks
MELBOURNE: The largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway and expected to attract the attention of Chinese spy ships.
Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia. This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations, including Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, will take part over three weeks, Australia’s defense department said on Sunday.
Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers.
The exercise will also take part in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s nearest neighbor. It is the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia.
Chinese surveillance ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to surveil the current exercise, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
“The Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017. It’d be very unusual for them not to observe it,” Conroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“We’ll adjust accordingly. We’ll obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we’ll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” Conroy added.
Conroy said the Chinese were not yet shadowing ships as of Sunday.
The exercise officially started on Sunday with a ceremony in Sydney attended by Deputy Commanding General of US Army Pacific Lt. Gen. J.B. Vowell and Australia’s Chief of Joint Operations Vice-Adm. Justin Jones.
The exercise, showcasing Australia’s defense alliance with the United States, started a day after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a six-day visit to China.
Albanese is expected to hold his fourth face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.
The Australian leader has been criticized at home for failing to secure a face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say

Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say
Updated 4 min 59 sec ago
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Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say

Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say
  • The suspect carjacked a vehicle after the traffic stop near Lexington’s airport and fled to Richmond Road Baptist Church, where he opened fire

Two women died Sunday at a church in Lexington, Kentucky, in a shooting rampage that began when a state trooper was wounded after making a traffic stop, police said. The suspect in both shootings was also killed.

The suspect carjacked a vehicle after the traffic stop near Lexington’s airport and fled to Richmond Road Baptist Church, where he opened fire, city Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said. Killed in the shootings at the church were a 72-year-old woman and a 32-year-old woman, the local coroner said.

Two other people were wounded at the church and taken to a local hospital, the police chief said. One victim sustained critical injuries and the other was in stable condition, Weathers said.

The suspect was shot by police and died at the scene, he said. The suspect was not immediately identified pending notification of family, he said.

“Preliminary information indicates that the suspect may have had a connection to the individuals at the church,” the police chief said at a news conference.

The trooper stopped the vehicle after receiving a “license plate reader alert” and was shot about 11:30 a.m., Weathers said. The trooper was in stable condition, he said.

Police tracked the carjacked vehicle to the Baptist church, the police chief said. The church is about 16 miles 26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot.

The shootings remain under investigation, Weathers said.

Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the church is home to a small, tight-knit congregation.

“Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence, and let’s give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a social media post.

State Attorney General Russell Coleman said detectives with his office were ready to support local and state agencies. “Today, violence invaded the Lord’s House,” Coleman said in a statement. “The attack on law enforcement and people of faith in Lexington shocked the entire Commonwealth.”


Trump says US will send Ukraine Patriot air defense systems as Russian attacks continue

Trump says US will send Ukraine Patriot air defense systems as Russian attacks continue
Updated 14 July 2025
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Trump says US will send Ukraine Patriot air defense systems as Russian attacks continue

Trump says US will send Ukraine Patriot air defense systems as Russian attacks continue
  • Says Russian President Putin “talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening”
  • Trump set to meet NATO chief as plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sales

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, saying they are necessary to defend the country because Russian President Vladimir Putin “talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening.”

Trump did not give a number of Patriots he plans to send to Ukraine, but he said the United States would be reimbursed for their cost by the European Union.

The US president has grown increasingly disenchanted with Putin because the Russian leader has resisted Trump’s attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked for more defensive capabilities to fend off a daily barrage of missile and drone attacks from Russia.

“We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening. But there’s a little bit of a problem there. I don’t like it,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington.

“We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 percent for that, and that’s the way we want it,” Trump said.

Trump is set to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte this week to discuss his plan to sell NATO allies US weaponry that they can then pass on to Ukraine.

Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and plans to hold talks with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well as members of Congress.

“I’m gonna have a meeting with the secretary general who’s coming in tomorrow,” Trump told reporters as he arrived in Washington on Sunday night. “But we basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated (weapons) and they’re gonna pay us 100 percent for them.”

“Inflection point”

A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back Russia. It’s a cause that Trump, who during his campaign made quickly ending the war a top priority, had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.

“In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He added: ”One of the biggest miscalculations (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there’s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.”

The Rutte visit comes after Trump last week teased that he would make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday and as Ukraine struggles to repel massive and complex air assaults launched by Russian forces. Trump on Sunday declined to offer further details on his coming announcement.

“We’re going to see what we will see tomorrow,” he said.

“It’s time to do it”

Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who also appeared on CBS, said there is also growing consensus on Capitol Hill and among European officials about tapping some of the $300 billion in Russian assets frozen by Group of Seven countries early in the war to help Ukraine.

“It’s time to do it,” Blumenthal said.

Rubio said Friday that some of the US-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be more quickly transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the US, he said.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, in an interview published Sunday in La Tribune Dimanche, said European officials have been making the case to the Trump administration to bolster air defense capabilities with any coming packages.

He added that France is in a “capacity hole” and will have to wait until next year before being able to provide Ukraine new ground-air missiles.

Hitting Russia’s enablers

Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats as well as European allies to support legislation in the Senate that aims to cripple Russia’s oil industry and hit Moscow with US sanctions for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The legislation, in part, calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It would have an enormous impact on the economies of Brazil, China and India, which account for the vast majority of Russia’s energy trade.

“The big offender here is China, India and Brazil,” Graham said. “My goal is to end this war. And the only way you are going to end this war is to get people who prop up Putin — make them choose between the American economy and helping Putin.”

That revenue is critical in helping keep the Russian war machine humming as the US and Europe have imposed significant import and export bans on a wide range of goods to and from Russia, affecting sectors like finance, energy, transport, technology and defense.

Trump for months had threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against Russia’s oil industry.

Congress has been prepared to act on the legislation, sponsored by Graham and Blumenthal, for some time.

The bill has overwhelming support in the Senate, but Republican leadership has been waiting for Trump to give the green light before moving ahead with it.

The White House had expressed some reservations about the legislation. Trump made clear he wants full authority over the waiver process to lift the sanctions, tariffs or other penalties, without having to cede control to Congress.

Under the initial bill, the president “may terminate” the penalties under certain circumstances, but immediately reimpose them if the violations resume. Graham has said the president would be allowed to waive the sanctions, for 180 days, and could also renew a waiver.

Some Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about the waivers. But Blumenthal downplayed the differences and said the legislation would give Trump a “sledgehammer” to utilize on Putin.

“The waiver language we will have in this bill is very much like the provisions have existed in past similar measures,” Blumenthal said. He added, “What I think is most important right now is our unity.”

 


Trump to make unprecedented second state visit to UK in September

Trump to make unprecedented second state visit to UK in September
Updated 14 July 2025
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Trump to make unprecedented second state visit to UK in September

Trump to make unprecedented second state visit to UK in September
  • The visit is seen as part of Starmer’s effort to keep Trump close and lessen the impact of some of his polices on the UK The relationship between the two appears amicable, and has helped the UK from facing the sort of hefty US tariffs

LONDON: US President Donald Trump will make an unprecedented second state visit to the UK between Sept. 17 and 19 when he will be hosted by King Charles II and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace said Monday.

Trump, who is a big supporter of the royal family, particularly of the monarch, will be accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump during the three-day visit, the palace confirmed.

No US president has been invited for a second state visit. Trump previously enjoyed the pomp and pageantry of the state visit in 2019 during his first term when he was hosted by Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The invitation for the second state visit from the king was hand-delivered by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in February during a meeting at the White House.

After reading it, Trump said it was a “great, great honor” and appeared particularly pleased by the fact he will be staying at Windsor Castle, to the west of the capital. “That’s really something,” he said.

Precedent for second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

State visits are ceremonial meetings between heads of state that are used to honor friendly nations and sometimes smooth relations between rivals. While the king formally issues the invitation for a state visit, he does so on the advice of the elected government.

The visit is seen as part of Starmer’s effort to keep Trump close and lessen the impact of some of his polices on the UK The relationship between the two appears amicable, and has helped the UK from facing the sort of hefty US tariffs that other nations are seeing.

But like Trump’s previous visit, it’s unlikely he will be welcomed by all. Last time, a day of protests saw the flying of a giant blimp depicting Trump as an angry orange baby from outside Parliament.

Lawmakers from Starmer’s Labour Party have also questioned whether the honor should be extended to Trump at a time that he is supporting Israel’s war in Gaza and threatening the sovereignty of allies such as Canada and Greenland.

Charles could also face some challenges during the visit because he is head of state of both the United Kingdom and Canada, which Trump has suggested should become the 51st US state. During a speech to the Canadian parliament in May the king highlighted Canada’s “unique identity” and “sovereignty,” while echoing the words of the country’s national anthem when he said “The True North is indeed strong and free.”

State visits to Britain are particularly prized by heads of state because they come with a full complement of royal pomp and circumstance, including military reviews, carriage rides and a glittering state banquet hosted by the monarch.

The events normally take place in and around Buckingham Palace in central London. But like last week’s state visit from French President Emmanual Macron and his wife Brigitte, the Trumps will stay at Windsor Castle. Buckingham Palace is undergoing extensive remodeling.

 


Britain launches $675 million fund for vulnerable children

Britain launches $675 million fund for vulnerable children
Updated 30 min 50 sec ago
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Britain launches $675 million fund for vulnerable children

Britain launches $675 million fund for vulnerable children
  • Better Futures Fund aims to provide support for struggling families
  • It also gives children access to better education and a safe home over the next 10 years

MANCHESTER, England: Britain on Sunday announced a £500 million ($675 million) fund intended to help up to 200,000 vulnerable children.

The Better Futures Fund aims to provide support for struggling families and give children access to better education and a safe home over the next 10 years, the government said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his finance minister Rachel Reeves are under pressure from their own Labour Party lawmakers to provide more support for low-income families.

Earlier this month, Starmer was forced to gut key parts of his welfare reform plan in order to pass legislation through parliament.

“This fund will give hundreds of thousands of children, young people and their families a better chance,” Reeves said in a statement.

“Our ‘Plan for Change’ will break down barriers to opportunity and give them the best start in life.”

The finance ministry said it planned to raise another 500 million pounds from local government, social investors and philanthropists.

Mel Stride, finance spokesman for the opposition Conservative Party, said he welcomed the new funding but said Labour’s economic policies had hurt struggling families.

The government is also considering whether to abolish a two-child limit on welfare payments to parents as it reassesses several unpopular policies to reverse a slide in its poll ratings.