RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Military chiefs from 39 countries met Sunday, March 27, in Riyadh for talks on a Saudi-initiated international "anti-terrorism" coalition.

Saudi Arabia announced the creation of the coalition in December, saying its members would share intelligence, counter violent ideology, and deploy troops if necessary to combat extremists.

"This coalition comes to complement previous efforts exerted" in the fight against "terrorist" groups, Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri told reporters following the talks.

"We are at the stage of laying the foundations. We have not discussed specific details," he said.

Several members of the group, including Saudi Arabia, are part of the US-led coalition bombing the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia is also leading a mainly Gulf Arab coalition that launched a military intervention against Iran-backed rebels last year in Yemen.

Assiri said that Riyadh has offered premises and funds for a coordination center for the new grouping. He said the coalition would operate within the limits of "UN resolutions and recognized conventions."

He said the meeting of military chiefs paved the way for a meeting of defense ministers in the "near future."

Member countries named previously by the Saudis range from the tiny African nation of the Comoros to major regional powers like Turkey. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The group Anonymous Philippines on Sunday, March 27, hacked the website of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a little over a month before the Philippines holds its 3rd automated elections.

Anonymous Philippines, which has hacked other government websites in the past, said it wants the Comelec to implement the security features of vote-counting machines (VCMs), previously known as precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.

"We request the implementation of the security features of the PCOS machines," the hackers said. "Commission on Elections, we are watching!"

The hacked Comelec website still displays a warning from Anonymous Philippines as of 11:30 pm on Sunday. The poll body's website was still functional at around 8 or 9 pm on the same day. The site has been restored as of early morning of Monday, May 28.

This comes after Comelec critics said they will file a new case against the poll body this week.

Digital signatures, voting receipts

The new case involves a security feature of VCMs – digital signatures – which, watchdogs said, "should belong to a person, not a machine."

Days before this, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Comelec to issue voting receipts as another security feature of VCMs. 

Critics said the poll body has ignored these security features since 2010, when the Philippines held its first automated elections.

In its message on the hacked Comelec website, Anonymous Philippines stressed that joining elections is "one of the processes by which people exercise their sovereignty."

"But what happens when the electoral process is so mired with questions and controversies? Can the government still guarantee that the sovereignty of the people is upheld?" the group said.

Rappler is still trying to reach the Comelec for comment as of posting time. – Rappler.com

LAHORE, Pakistan (3rd UPDATE) – At least 65 people were killed and hundreds injured, many of them children, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded park in the Pakistani city of Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday, March 27.

Officials said the bomber had detonated the explosives packed with ball bearings near a children's playing area in the popular Gulshan-i-Iqbal park.

Witnesses said they could hear children screaming as people carried the injured in their arms, while frantic relatives searched for loved ones in nightmarish scenes at the park near the center of the city of 8 million. 

Doctors described frenzied scenes at hospitals, with staff treating casualties on floors and in corridors, as officials tweeted calls for blood donations.

"It was a suicide attack. The bomber managed to enter the park and blew himself up near the kids' playing area where kids were on the swings," Lahore's top administration official Muhammad Usman told Agence France-Presse.

Javed Ali, a 35-year-old resident who lives opposite the park, said the force of the blast had shattered his home's windows.

"After 10 minutes I went outside. There was human flesh on the walls of our house. People were crying, I could hear ambulances.

"It was overcrowded because of Easter, there were a lot of Christians there. It was so crowded I told my family not to go."

Yousaf Masih, a father who was searching for his family, told Agence France-Presse: "My kids came here (to the park). I was at home, I saw the news on TV, but my wife and children were here."

Witnesses said the wounded were first rushed to hospital in rickshaws and other vehicles before dozens of ambulances arrived on the scene.

Usman said the death toll had reached 65 people, with more than 50 children among the injured. A Lahore rescue official confirmed the toll and said the number of injured stood at 340.

The attack was the year's deadliest, with officials saying the toll was set to rise. 

There was no official confirmation of who was behind the attack late Sunday.

'Cowardly, appalling'

Sunday's blast was condemned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who "expressed grief and sorrow over the sad demise of innocent lives," according to a statement by his office.

He was later phoned by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi who said "the people of India stand with their Pakistani brethren in this hour of grief", according to state media. 

The Vatican condemned the attack, calling it "fanatical violence against Christian minorities."

The United States meanwhile labelled the incident "cowardly" and "appalling", while Pakistan's Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai tweeted: "Pakistan and the world must unite. Every life is precious and must be respected and protected."

US presidential contender Donald Trump tweeted "Another radical Islamist attack, this time in Pakistan... I alone can solve." 

A military spokesman described the blast as a "suicide attack", adding that intelligence agencies were chasing all leads. Lahore officials said the army had been called to the scene of the attack.

On social media Pakistanis were retweeting the call for blood donations, while Facebook activated its "Safety Check" for Lahore.

The government of Punjab province declared 3 days mourning.

Christians are a minority in the Muslim giant of around 200 million people, making up an estimated 1.6% of the population, and have long faced discrimination.

A year ago, on March 15, the Taliban killed 17 people in twin suicide attacks that targeted churches in Lahore.

The attacks sparked two days of rioting by thousands of Christians and two men were lynched by an angry mob who suspected they were militants.

Attacks targeting children carry a special resonance in Pakistan, still scarred by its deadliest ever militant assault in which Taliban gunmen killed more than 150 people at a school in Peshawar in 2014, the majority of them students. 

A military operation targeting insurgents was intensified after that attack, and in 2015 the number of people killed in militant assaults dropped to its lowest since the Pakistani Taliban were formed in 2007.

Lahore, capital of Punjab province, has been relatively peaceful in recent years.

But the insurgents have demonstrated a chilling ability to continue attacks on soft targets.

In January 2016 the Pakistani Taliban launched an assault on a university in Charsadda, near Peshawar, that left 21 dead and spurred a call to arm teachers as parents spoke of fears for their children.

Chaos in capital

Sunday's blast came as the army was also deployed on the streets of the capital Islamabad after thousands of protesters clashed with police in chaotic scenes, throwing stones and setting part of a Metro station on fire.

The demonstrators were supporters of Islamist assassin Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged on February 29 for killing a Punjab governor over his call for blasphemy reform.

Analysts called the execution a "key moment" in Pakistan's long battle against religious extremism.

But it has also exposed deep religious divisions in the conservative country. – Khalid Ali, AFP / Rappler.com

BRUSSELS, Belgium (UPDATED) – Belgian riot police fired water cannon on Sunday, March 27, to disperse far-right football hooligans who disrupted mourners at a shrine for victims of the Brussels attacks, as police arrested several suspects in a series of new raids.

In scenes that compounded a week of grief for Belgians, black-clad protesters shouting anti-immigrant slogans moved in on the makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse where hundreds of people had gathered in a show of solidarity.

Under-fire Belgian authorities meanwhile detained 4 terror suspects after carrying out 13 raids as they seek to round up a web of jihadists with links to the carnage in the Belgian capital and to attacks and plots in France.

The clashes between the far-right demonstrators and police underscored the tensions in Belgium after Tuesday's (March 22) Islamic State suicide attacks on the airport and the metro system in which 31 people died and 340 were wounded.

"This is our home" and "The state, Daesh accomplice" around 300 hooligans chanted, using an alternate term for ISIS, as they gathered near the square by the stock exchange building, Agence France-Presse journalists witnessed.

Some trampled on the carpet of flowers, candles and messages left at the site by mourners in recent days while at least one wore a mask with a well-known far-right symbol.

'Fascists! Fascists!'

Police urged the mourners, who included some Muslims, not to provoke the hooligans, but some chanted "Fascists! Fascists! We're not having it!"

Riot police with helmets and shields corralled the hooligans before dispersing them with high power water jets, and marshalling them onto trains out of the city.

Around 10 people were arrested, police told Agence France-Presse.

Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said police had done "nothing" to stop the hooligans coming to Brussels despite having advance warning, adding that he was "appalled" that "such thugs have come to provoke residents at the site of their memorial."

The mourners gathered despite the fact that organizers had earlier called off a "March Against Fear" in Brussels on Easter Sunday at the request of Belgian authorities, who said police needed the resources for the attacks investigation.

In a homily at the medieval cathedral of Saints-Michel-et-Gudule in Brussels, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malines-Brussels Jozef de Kesel said the attacks "defy understanding."

"We are confronted with evil on an unimaginable scale which causes so much innocent and useless suffering," the Belga news agency quoted de Kesel as saying. 

'Urgency' to tackle ISIS

Meanwhile, the Belgian Crisis Centre said 31 people had died in the airport and metro attacks, up from an earlier toll of 28. The figure does not include the three suicide bombers.

All but 3 of the victims have now been identified, it said.

According to an earlier statement, a total of 340 people from 19 countries were wounded, of whom 101 remain in hospital – 62 of them in intensive care.

As Belgium struggles to come to terms with the tragedy, recriminations continue over whether the authorities could and should have done more to prevent the carnage, as the links to the November Paris attacks by ISIS grow clearer by the day.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday the Brussels attacks highlighted the "great urgency" facing Europe to tackle the problem of young jihadists returning from fighting in Syria to carry out attacks.

Police carried out 13 raids Sunday across Brussels and the towns of Duffel and Mechelen to the north, the federal prosecutor said, questioning nine people and holding four for further inquiries.

In the latest piece in the puzzle of the jihadist cross-border networks, police arrested a 32-year-old French national in Rotterdam Sunday on suspicion of planning a terror attack, Dutch prosecutors said, following a raid carried out at the request of French authorities.

The man is thought to have been planning an attack in France in the name of the Islamic State group along with Reda Kriket, a terror suspect who was detained near Paris on Thursday, March 24, a French police source told Agence France-Presse.

Belgian prosecutors at the weekend also charged two men with involvement in a terror group over the foiled plot to attack France. 

The third man

Those developments came after Italian police had overnight arrested an Algerian national in connection with a probe into fake IDs used by the Paris attackers, suggesting their networks spread far and wide and will not be easy to dismantle.

Prosecutors in Belgium, which issued the arrest warrant, said the fake documents were "probably" also used by Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving Paris attacks suspect. The probe was still determining if the same network also produced documents for those behind the March 22 attacks in Brussels.

The suspect, named as Djamal Eddine Ouali, 40, was interrogated Sunday but refused to speak, a judicial source said.

On Saturday, March 26, a Belgian suspect identified as Faycal Cheffou, widely thought to be the fugitive third bomber from the airport, was charged in Brussels with terrorist murder and participation in a terrorist group.

There has been intense speculation he is the man wearing a dark hat and light-colored jacket seen in airport surveillance footage alongside Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui who blew themselves up.

Brussels Airport said it would carry out a test run on Tuesday, March 29, to see if the repair work in the wrecked departure hall was satisfactory, but it could not give a firm date for resuming services. – David Courbet and Joshua Melvin, AFP / Rappler.com

LAGUNA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Gunmen ambushed Calauan Mayor Buenafrido Berris in Barangay Imok late Sunday afternoon, March 27, wounding the reelectionist mayor and killing two of his companions, local authorities said.

Emmanuel Peña, a University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) alumnus who is running for councilor under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), and Leonardo Taningco, a driver, died on the scene after sustaining gunshot wounds, according to the Laguna Police Provincial Office.

The mayor, an independent candidate, was rushed to the San Pablo City Medical Center.

"Konsehal siya [Peña] ng barangay, tapos running for konsehal ng bayan. Active siya sa mga activities ng bayan... Isa siyang teacher sa PUP [Polytechnic University of the Philippines] Calauan," said Kevin Amante, whose house is right across the area where the shooting took place.

(Peña was a barangay councilor who was running for municipal councilor. He actively participated in many town events. He was a teacher at PUP Calauan.)

Amante said his neighbors heard gunshots at around 5 pm, Sunday, while the candidates were distributing food after a campaign sortie. 

In his last Facebook post, Peña shared his campaign video with the message, "Happy Easter everyone!"

{source}<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) {  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3";  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-video" data-allowfullscreen="1" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/videos/1094945180536583/"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/videos/1094945180536583/"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/videos/1094945180536583/">Sa Konseho ng Bayan ng Piña, Dapat May Peña! by Echo Marfori</a><p>Sa muling pagkabuhay ni Kristo, sumisilay sa atin ang isang malinaw na mensahe ng PAG-IBIG. Pag-ibig ang dahilan kung bakit tayo nabuhay, naligtas sa kasalanan, at patuloy na nabubuhay. Pag-ibig din ang dahilan kung bakit mas pinipili nating mabuhay, ngumiti sa kabila ng mga unos, at bumangon sa lahat ng pagkadapa. Pag-ibig pa din ang magdadala sa atin sa mas madami pang magagandang kabanata ng ating buhay. Dalangin kong sa lahat ng oras at sa lahat ng bagay, pag-ibig pa din ang mamayani sa puso ng bawat isa sa atin. Humugot tayo ng pag-asa sa mensahe ng pag-ibig na dulot ng muling pagkabuhay ni Kristo!</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/">Emman Peña</a> on Saturday, 26 March 2016</blockquote></div></div>{/source}

Peña earlier signed a peace covenant for a "secure and fair election" in Calauan.

{source}<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) {  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3";  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/posts/1062479013783200" data-width="500"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/posts/1062479013783200"><p>Hindi ito madali, oo. Pero seryoso po tayo sa ating mithiing makapaglingkod sa bayan. Buong puso ko pong iniaalay ang...</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/">Emman Peña</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/EmmanPena2016/posts/1062479013783200">Wednesday, 3 February 2016</a></blockquote></div></div>{/source}

In a Facebook post, Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo said Peña would have "given Calauan a public servant."

{source}

<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) {  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3";  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/alamentillo/posts/10208847386612846" data-width="500"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/alamentillo/posts/10208847386612846"><p>Emman Coronado Pena graduated cum laude in UPLB and worked as a public school teacher immediately after graduation. Few...</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alamentillo">Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/alamentillo/posts/10208847386612846">Sunday, March 27, 2016</a></blockquote></div></div>

{/source}

The ambush took place just on the second day of campaigning for local candidates in the May polls.– with reports from Movers James Andrew Malihan, Karla Sambajon, and Aera Ciar / Rappler.com

Abigail Abigan is Rappler's lead Mover in Laguna and Quezon. 

KIDAPAWAN, Philippines – Mt Apo was cleared of climbers as of 6 pm on Sunday, March 27, following the fire that broke out near its summit on Black Saturday.

"We recorded 441 mountaineers, and out of that, 379 used the Sta Cruz, Davao del Sur trail to start their trek," Kidapawan Tourism Officer Joey Recimilla told Rappler.

The mountaineers included more than 100 Boy Scouts.

As of Sunday afternoon, around 90 firemen and volunteers were still working to contain the fire at Mt Apo, the country's highest peak.

"The disaster group from the city together with the Energy Development Council and other volunteers are now stationed at Lake Venado and Lake Maag," Recimilla also said.

He added that Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista has provided food for the volunteers, but they need more support.

"We might need additional provisions because we don't know until when will we stay in the camp base," Remicillo explained.

Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the blaze, but some climbers claim that another group of mountaineers cooked along the Davao del Sur trail and failed to put out the fire completely.

"May nakakuha ng video, may climbers na nag-luto gamit ang kahoy. 'Yun ang sabi nila, may naka-video, iniwan nila ang apoy pero 'di talaga eksaktong napatay ang kalayo," mountaineer Sajid Mamadra told Rappler.

(Someone was able to take a video of a group of climbers cooking using firewood. That's what they said, someone was able to take a video. The climbers left but supposedly failed to properly put out the fire.)

Mamadra also said that around 4 pm on Saturday, they were advised to immediately leave Lake Venado because the fire was spreading fast.

"Marami ang nag-panic nung nalaman at nakita na malaki na ang sunog," he added.

(Many panicked when they learned about the fire and saw that it was already spreading fast.)

Recimilla said all climbers were advised to take the emergency exit in Kidapawan City as the Tinikaran Campsite of the Sta Cruz, Davao del Sur trail was already on fire. – Rappler.com

PALMYRA, Syria – As pro-government forces entered the famed Syrian city of Palmyra for the first time in nearly a year on Sunday, March 27, they feared they would find its treasured sites destroyed forever.

Backed by Russian ground and air forces, the Syrian troops had made their final push into the desert city early on Sunday, expelling Islamic State (ISIS) group jihadists.

The extremist Sunni group had destroyed some of Palmyra's most iconic artifacts, including the Temple of Bel and the Arch of Triumph. 

"We were so scared we would enter the ruins and find them completely destroyed," one Syrian soldier said, speaking on condition of anonymity on the outskirts of the city. 

"We were afraid to look... But when we entered and saw it, we were relieved," he told Agence France-Presse. 

Much of the ancient city of Palmyra, including the Agora and the celebrated Roman theater, appear to have survived ISIS's nearly 10-month reign over the city. 

Syrian soldiers, pro-government militiamen, and Russian fighters strolled among the ruins in awe, incredulous they were still intact. 

They walked slowly in fear of roadside bombs or hidden mines that ISIS may have left behind, but their joy and relief were palpable. 

Some fighters began casually kicking a football around just under Palmyra's famed citadel, west of the city. 

Another soldier began playing an upbeat rhythm on a small traditional drum as his peers sang songs praising President Bashar al-Assad. 

But one Syrian fighter stood sobbing loudly in the old ruins.

"I'm sad to see some of the old city destroyed, but I'm also weeping for my brother, who died in the battle here," the soldier said.

"By taking the city, I feel I've avenged his death." 

The modern district of Palmyra, where 70,000 people lived before the war, was not as lucky as the old city.

Days of heavy street fighting battered the rows of 2- to 3-story apartment buildings, and some completely collapsed into a pile of rubble.

Those neighborhoods were deserted on Sunday, in eery contrast to the relative serenity of the ancient ruins. 

"The battle at Palmyra has dispelled this aura surrounding Daesh fighters. They're just regular fighters, and we can demolish them," one fighter said, using a the Arabic acronym for ISIS. 

Syria's army began a major offensive to retake Palmyra earlier this month, and their victory is a major strategic and symbolic win for the embattled government. 

"We've been completely cut off for the past 10 days," one soldier said. 

"We're waiting to have proper mobile phone reception again so we can tell our parents that Palmyra is back and that we're okay." – Maher Al Mounes, AFP / Rappler.com

BANGKOK, Thailand – The personal details of thousands of foreign nationals living in southern Thailand were briefly leaked online in what the site's developer admitted on Monday, March 28, was a data breach during a test for police.

The leak comes as the junta-ruled nation pushes ahead with a much publicized crackdown against foreign visa overstayers and criminals, with immigration police adopting the official slogan "Good guys in, bad guys out." 

The gaffe was spotted by social media users late Sunday when a database appeared online containing the names, addresses, professions, and passport numbers of more than 2,000 foreigners living in Thailand's southern provinces. 

The website carried an immigration police seal but used a private Thai web address, not one usually associated with government sites.

It was taken down early Monday, but not before the site's existence had gone viral.

Thai Netizens, a digital advocacy group, tracked down the website's owner, a developer called Akram Aleeming, who later posted a statement on Facebook saying the site had mistakenly been made public during testing stages.

Akram confirmed the error to AFP and said immigration police had commissioned the website.

"We were doing a demo," he told AFP. "As people were concerned it might affect security we closed it (the website)."

Immigration police did not respond to requests for comment. 

Away from its booming tourist sector, Thailand has lurched towards a mistrust of foreigners under junta rule, with generals routinely blaming outsiders for a range of ills including crime and stoking political unrest. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II shrugged off the support of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada for rival Grace Poe.

"Tulad ng sinabi ko ay natural na pipiliin niya yung kandidato ng katunggali ko, so ganun lang yun, simple lang yun," he told reporters in a chance interview on Monday, March 28. (READ: Erap endorses 'my goddaughter' Grace Poe for president)

(Like I said, it's natural for him to pick my rival. That's it, it's that simple.) 

Roxas is allied with Estrada’s rival for the mayoral race, former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim.

Roxas and Lim went around and campaigned in Manila on Monday, ahead of the ruling party's proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda. It's the LP's kickoff for the start of the campaign period for local races. (READ: Lim: Erap won in 2013 due to 'mass buying of votes')

Estrada is endorsing Poe for president and Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr for  vice president.

A former president who was convicted and later pardoned for plunder, Estrada remains a popular figure in the city of Manila and the rest of the Philippines. He is the patriarch of the Estrada-Ecerjito political clan, which hold positions or exert influence in Manila, San Juan City, and Laguna province. Two of his sons – Jinggoy Estrada and JV Ejercito – are incumbent senators. 

Roxas once served as trade and interior secretary during Estrada's presidency. Estrada used to praise Roxas for his performance in his Cabinet, fueling speculation that the LP bet would get his endorsement. 

But that was doused in late 2015, when Estrada declared he was only choosing between Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay for his presidential candidate. 

Lim, speaking to reporters Monday, claimed Estrada's popularity in Manila has waned because of unpopular policies under his term. 

Manila is home to close to 1 million voters and is part of the National Capital Region, traditionally an opposition bailiwick. Roxas' preferrebce numbers in NCR are low; they have never gone past 11%. – Rappler.com

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Bangladesh's high court on Monday, March 28, rejected a petition by secular activists to scrap Islam as the state religion in the wake of nationwide protests by hardline Islamist groups.

A special bench of 3 judges threw out the petition within moments of opening the case and without allowing any testimony, an AFP correspondent at the court said.

The petition, which was first launched 28 years ago, has triggered countrywide protests by Islamist groups in the impoverished nation.

"We are saddened (at the ruling). It's a sad day for the minorities of Bangladesh," said Subrata Chowdhury, who represented the secular activists in the case.

The court did not allow the petitioners to state their case or present any arguments, he said. "The judges simply said the rule is discharged."

Bangladesh was declared officially secular after the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan which created the nation from what was previously East Pakistan.

In 1988 the then-military ruler, General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, elevated Islam to the state religion in an attempt to consolidate power.

Secularists have argued for decades that having Islam as the state religion conflicts with Bangladesh's secular charter and discriminates against non-Muslims.

More than 90% of Bangladesh's population is Muslim, with Hindus and Buddhists the main minorities.

'Victory'

The country's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, responded to the court's decision by withdrawing a call for a nationwide strike. It described the outcome as a "victory of 160 million people."

Hefazat-e-Islam, a hardline Islamist group that has staged violent demonstrations in recent years, also welcomed the court's move.

"We thank the high court for rescuing the country from a massive disaster," Hefazat's organizing secretary Azizul Hoque Islamabadi told AFP.

The court's decision to throw out the case threatens to heighten tensions between secularists and hardliners in the conservative nation, which has recently seen a spate of killings of atheist bloggers, religious minorities, and foreigners.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for many of these incidents, but the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina blames the banned domestic group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh for the upsurge in deadly violence.

Some 7,000 activists had taken to the streets of the capital Dhaka after prayers last Friday, chanting anti-government slogans and holding banners to protest against the high court's move to hear the plea.

Bangladesh has been plagued by unrest in the last 3 years and experts say a long-running political crisis has radicalized opponents of the government.

The secular government launched a nationwide crackdown on Jamaat in 2013, detaining or prosecuting tens of thousands of activists.

A controversial war crimes tribunal has ordered the execution of several top Jamaat leaders, dividing the country and sparking deadly protests.

Constitutional changes dating back over 3 decades have put Bangladesh in the unusual position of being officially secular while still having Islam as a state religion.

Hasina's government has brought back secularism as a pillar of the constitution, but promised it would not ratify any laws that go against the central tenets of Islam. – Sam Jahan, AFP / Rappler.com

BOOKMARK THIS PAGE TO WATCH LIVE ON MARCH 29, 11 AM

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Senate is set to hold its third hearing on the Bangladesh Bank fund heist on Tuesday, March 29.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), the bank at the center of the controversy, previously said that $81 million was deposited in its Jupiter branch in Makati City. This was after Bangladeshi officials discovered that hackers targeted the Bangladesh Bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

During the second Senate hearing last March 17, RCBC customer service head Romualdo Agarrado quoted former branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito as saying that she would rather release millions of dollars than get killed. 

Deguito also declined to answer questions during the hearing and asked for an executive session with the senators, citing the money laundering complaint filed against her. Senator Teofisto Guingona III later revealed that Deguito claimed businessman William Go wanted 10% of the stolen $81 million – an allegation Go has denied.

Deguito, however, may not be able to attend the third hearing, as she requested for a week-long rest from the Senate investigation to "regain her health and balance."

Watch the hearing here LIVE. – Rappler.com

PARIS, France – Tens of thousands of homes were without power in northwestern France early Monday, March 28, after the region was pounded overnight by winds gusting to hurricane force that also triggered flight cancellations and outages in southern England.

Seven departments, or counties, in Normandy and Brittany were placed on "orange" alert, the second highest in Meteo-France's 3-stage warning system.

At least 60,000 homes were without power, more than half of them in the French western peninsula of Brittany, electricity grid operator ERDF said.

Firemen across the two regions were called out more than 400 times, mainly to clear roads blocked by fallen trees and debris, emergency services said.

The strongest gusts were recorded on the Breton tourist island of Belle-Ile, of 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour.

Coastal dwellers in 3 departments on the Atlantic – Finistere, Morbibhan and Loire-Atlantique – were warned of storm-surge waves.

In Britain, the same weather system – dubbed "Storm Katie" – left a trail of disruption in its wake as it swept across southern England overnight, leaving debris and roadwork barriers strewn across London's streets.

Winds gusting to 170 kph an hour forced the cancellation of around 150 flights in and out of Britain and left around 2,000 homes without power.

Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, reported around 130 cancellations with other flights delayed or diverted to other airports.

Some 20 flights in and out of London's Gatwick Airport were cancelled and another 4 diverted.

The Met Office national weather service issued an amber warning for winds for London and southeast England, advising people to be "prepared for disruption to outdoor activities and travel."

The service recorded gusts of 170 kph off the southern England coast, with winds of over 112 kph registered across the south.

A bridge crossing the River Thames in southeast England and the Severn Bridge which connects England and Wales were also closed, according to Highways England.

UK Power Networks said they were dealing with problems across Sussex, Surrey and Kent in southern England, leaving at least 2,000 households without electricity.

"It is particularly southern parts of England bearing the brunt of Storm Katie but also into parts of East Anglia as well, with these potentially damaging and disruptive gusts of wind of 60 to 70 mph – but possibly more in the most exposed areas," said BBC weather forecaster Nick Miller.

Weather forecasters in both countries expected the storm to fade by the afternoon. – Rappler.com

TAIPEI, Taiwan – The Taiwanese coastguard said Monday, March 28, it had arrested 41 Chinese fisherman in possession of 15 tons of illicit coral reef and endangered turtles near a disputed atoll in the South China Sea.

Taiwanese authorities detained the fishermen on March 22 after their 300-ton vessel was discovered operating illegally off the shore of Tongsha island, the coastguard said, in the island's largest mission targeting rampant poaching in the contested waters.  

Officials later recovered the harvested reef from the ship along with 3 endangered turtles and about 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of chemicals used to kill fish. 

"The damage they caused to the Tongsha ecological system is hard to estimate," Allen Chen, a research fellow at Taiwan's Biodiversity Research Center, told AFP. 

"The Chinese ship would have earned a large fortune if they could have sped away with the huge amount of valuable reef and sold it at home," he said, adding that Chinese demand for coral has surged in tandem with its continued economic development. 

The atoll resides about 240 nautical miles from Taiwan's southern Kaohsiung port and is also claimed by China.

Prosecutors are preparing to indict the Chinese crew on charges of violating a wildlife protection law and the statutes governing trade between Taiwan and the mainland. If convicted, the fishermen could face up to a year in jail along with fines.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, however, ties have improved since 2008 after the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power on the island.  

Rival claimants in the South China Sea have been beefing up their military presence in the disputed region, and other countries have complained China is becoming increasingly aggressive in pressing its case.

China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have partial claims. (READ: Philippines: Does China think it's above the law?) – Rappler.com

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian forces strengthened their hold on Palmyra on Monday, March 28, and pushed forward against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadist group after dealing it a major blow by retaking the ancient city.

Antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim said that with UNESCO's approval the treasured monuments damaged or destroyed by the jihadists could be restored in 5 years. 

Government troops and allied militia, backed by Russian air and ground support, overran Palmyra on Sunday morning after nearly 10 months of ISIS rule.

President Bashar al-Assad hailed the victory as "fresh proof of the efficiency of the Syrian army and its allies in fighting terrorism.

Regime forces turned to nearby ISIS-held towns on Monday, including Al-Qaryatain, southwest of Palmyra, and Sukhnah towards the northeast. 

"The army was concentrated around Al-Qaryatain, and today (Monday) the military operations began there," a military source in Palmyra told Agence France-Presse.

"That is the next goal for the Syrian army. They also have their eyes on Sukhnah." 

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the capture of Sukhnah would bring government forces to the gates of oil-rich Deir Ezzor province, an ISIS bastion. 

ISIS overran Palmyra – a UNESCO world heritage site known as the "Pearl of the Desert" – in May 2015 and used its ancient amphitheater for public executions as the world watched in horror. 

The extremist group blew up temples and tower tombs, as part of it campaign against pre-Islamic monuments it considers "blasphemous." 

An Agence France-Presse correspondent in Palmyra saw the Temple of Bel and the Arch of Triumph in pieces on Sunday, with some large stones marred by spray painted messages in support of ISIS. 

'Five years' to restore

On Monday, army sappers continued to defuse roadside bombs and mines that ISIS had planted in the ancient city as it retreated.

One soldier said more than 50 bombs had already been defused as other units worked on the controlled detonation of more complex devices. 

Antiquities chief Abdulkarim said his department would need five years to restore the Temple of Bel and other monuments destroyed by IS. 

"If we have UNESCO's approval, we will need five years to restore the structures damaged or destroyed by IS," he told AFP.

He said "several experts" had arrived in Palmyra on Monday to assess the damage, but that a preliminary assessment showed 80 percent of the ancient site was "in good shape."

The famed Lion of Al-Lat, shattered by IS last year outside the city's museum, could be put back together and there was not the widespread looting that had been feared, he said. 

"We need to start with the damage in the citadel immediately, because it can't afford all the damage that it has suffered."

'Undeniable loss' for ISIS

As government troops made their final push on Sunday, ISIS militants fled to Sukhnah and to Deir Ezzor in the Euphrates valley further east. 

The US-based Soufan Group said ISIS "suffered an undeniable loss" with its defeat in Palmyra.

The jihadist organization has come under growing pressure from Syrian and Iraqi forces set on breaking apart its self-proclaimed "caliphate." 

The group has been responsible for a spate of deadly attacks abroad, most recently in Brussels, where 35 people were killed last week.  

"The past week exemplifies the future of the Islamic State: relentless internal setbacks amid persistent external attacks," the Soufan Group said in a briefing paper.

"While the group maintains the ability to seize minor towns in both Iraq and Syria, it is facing a larger tactical defeat."

Long keen to portray his army as the vanguard of the fight against the jihadists, Assad hailed Sunday's victory in Palmyra as an "important achievement."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government provided both air and ground support for the offensive, congratulated Damascus on its success.

Assad's other key ally, Iran, hailed the victory and pledged its continued financial and military assistance.

The Syrian army has vowed to build on its recapture of Palmyra with assaults on other IS-held towns, including the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital Raqa to the north. 

A second government fighter in Palmyra told AFP the army's immediate concern was "securing the area around Palmyra specifically, and eastern parts of Homs province in general."

Then, government forces would concentrate on "clearing the (IS) fighters that fled from Palmyra to nearby areas."

Finally, they would aim to "find out what happened to the families that were in Palmyra... We're afraid they've been kidnapped."

Some 15,000 of Palmyra's 70,000 residents had stayed on under IS rule. 

The residential area of the city saw heavy fighting between government forces and IS.

Most apartment blocks bore marks of the fighting and several had completely collapsed, the Agence France-Presse correspondent reported. – Maher Al Mounes with Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Agence France-Presse / Rappler.com

LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistan's army launched raids and arrested suspects Monday, March 28, after a Taliban suicide bomber targeting Christians over Easter killed 72 people including many children in a park crowded with families.

Hundreds more were injured Sunday when explosives packed with ball bearings ripped through the crowds near a children's play area in the park in the eastern city of Lahore, where many had gathered to celebrate Easter.

Anguished families spent Easter Monday burying their dead.

"I tried to pump my son's chest and give him CPR but he was no more. He died right in front of me," Javed Bashir told Agence France-Presse as relatives wailed at his son Mutahir's funeral.

"My son, my son, nobody should lose their sons," sobbed the mother of another victim as other women restrained her.

A spokesman for the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan told AFP the group had carried out the attack as "Christians are our target," and vowed more assaults on schools and colleges. 

The attack was the worst so far this year in a country grimly accustomed to atrocities, and will further undermine fractious inter-religious ties in the Muslim-majority nation.

(READ: TIMELINE: Deadliest insurgent attacks in Pakistan)

In response the country's powerful army announced it had carried out raids in Lahore as well as in Faisalabad and Multan, two other major cities in Punjab province. More were planned.

"Number of suspect terrorists and facilitators arrested and huge cache of arms and ammunition recovered," army spokesman Asim Bajwa tweeted.

Witnesses told of children screaming as people carried the injured in their arms in the aftermath of Sunday's attack, while frantic relatives searched for loved ones.

Rescue spokeswoman Deeba Shahbaz said the death toll had risen to 72 Monday, with 29 children among the dead. 

A spokesman for the Lahore city administration put the number of Christians killed at "10-15" as authorities scrambled to identify the dead. 

Bits of human flesh and torn cloth could be seen Monday around the bloodstained swings and merry-go-round.

Authorities said the park had seen a surge of visitors thanks to Easter and the warm spring weather.

Some 8,000 were still there when the bomb was detonated in the early evening, park officials said. 

"The militants went for a softer target because there was tight security for churches in Lahore," said Cecil Shane Chaudhry, executive director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, a Christian organisation.

Mourning period  

There were frenzied scenes at hospitals in the immediate aftermath, with staff treating casualties on floors and in corridors as officials tweeted calls for blood donations.

Lahore's top administration official Muhammad Usman said around 100 of the wounded were either treated at the scene or quickly discharged. He said a further 180 had been admitted to hospital.

Schools and other government institutions were open Monday but three days of mourning were announced in Punjab.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed "grief and sorrow over the sad demise of innocent lives."

The US labelled the bombing "cowardly" while Russian president Vladimir Putin branded it a "crime."

The Vatican condemned the attack, calling it "fanatical violence against Christian minorities", and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for Islamabad to protect religious minorities.

Pope Francis also appealed for tighter security for religious minorities.

Christians make up an estimated 1.6 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people and have long faced discrimination.

Twin suicide attacks against churches in Lahore killed 17 people in March last year, sparking two days of rioting by thousands of Christians.

The country is still scarred by a Taliban assault on a Peshawar school in 2014 that killed 150 people, mostly children.

A military operation targeting insurgents was stepped up in response. Last year the death toll from militant attacks fell to its lowest since the Pakistani Taliban were formed in 2007.

But analyst Imtiaz Gul said despite significant progress in military operations against the Taliban, the group was still able to carry out major attacks. 

"Even if they are 50 people they can plan an attack of this scale and execute it," he said. "They're all over: they have affiliates, sympathisers and supporters." – Khurram Shahzad, Agence France-Presse /  Rappler.com 

Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr takes his vice presidential campaign to Tarlac, home of the Aquinos, his family's harshest critics.

He visits Ilocano-speaking towns and gets endorsement from local executives. Some belong to the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC). 

The endorsement comes almost a month after national officials of the NPC announced their support for the tandem of senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero.

Patty Pasion reports. – Rappler.com

On his return to the campaign trail from the Lenten Season, Bongbong Marcos visits the province of Tarlac. 

Tarlac is known to be the bailiwick of the Aquino family the Marcoses' mortal enemy in politics. 

He went around the towns of San Manuel, Moncada, Paniqui, Camiling, and Santa Ignacia – home to many Ilocanos. 

He was well-received by the mayors, who threw their support behind his bid. 

Some of them are from the Nationalist People's Coalition or NPC. NPC earlier announced that they would support senators Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero. 

But for these mayors, their support for Marcos is personal. 

BENNY AQUINO, MONCADA MAYOR: Before, we were undecided here, but we came into an agreement the other day that we are going to support him. 

QUESTION: Ah, but sir, NPC is endorsing Chiz Escudero, right? 

BENNY AQUINO, MONCADA MAYOR: Ah no, never. I just don't know about them. What I am standing for is my own decision. 

NEIL SAN AGUSTIN, CAMILING MAYOR: You know in NPC, I sought for their clearance. Besides, my term is about to end and I am a Marcos loyalist. I was the one organizing loyalists here in Camiling town back in the days. 

Marcos explained that the NPC's announcement of support for Escudero was unofficial. 

He added that the local executives' support for him was approved by NPC head Danding Cojuangco. 

BONGBONG MARCOS, VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tito Danding, he said that he is open to everything, it's okay. He also gave me his word that it is okay with him. 

Marcos calls Cojuangco godfather because he was one of the trusted men of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. 

It is also notable that Cojuangco and Escudero had a rift back in 2010. 

Marcos and Escudero remain statistically tied in surveys. 

Would the seemingly weak NPC endorsement of Escudero be the key for Marcos to win the vice presidency? 

Patty Pasion, Rappler, Tarlac.

BANGUI, Central African Republic – The Central African Republic's new president takes office Wednesday, March 30, faced with the challenge of reconciling a divided population and rebuilding a shattered country.

Former maths teacher Faustin-Archange Touadera, 58, was the surprise winner of February's run-off election in the country that had been wracked by three years of communal violence.

The spiral of unrest between Muslim and Christian militias has left thousands dead, displaced more than 400,000 and disrupted farming, transport and public services in one of the world's poorest nations.

The violence was so serious that it prompted a military intervention by France – the former colonial power – and led to the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force.  

Several heads of state and delegations from the region and partners including the UN and France are expected to attend Touadera's swearing-in in the capital Bangui.

The ceremony marks the last stage of the political transition that began after the toppling of Christian former president Francois Bozize in 2013 by a rebellion of the predominantly Muslim Seleka militia.

And though a new president has been elected and a new constitution adopted, the country's parliament is still not in place. The second round of postponed legislative elections is scheduled for Thursday. 

The elections came after 93 percent of voters backed a constitutional referendum that cleared the way for the vote.

It also followed Pope Francis' groundbreaking trip to the country in November, his first to a war zone, during which he made an impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation.

'Weight of responsibility'

Immediately after his election Touadera declared he "understood the weight of responsibility" on his shoulders.

Previously prime minister under Bozize between 2008-2013, Touadera will face enormous economic and security pressures from the moment he sets foot in the presidential palace.

Part of his popular appeal stems from a measure he introduced during his time as premier: paying government salaries directly into bank accounts, ending decades of pay arrears and unpaid wages.

But another former prime minister has warned that Touadera faces an uphill struggle raising revenues.

"(The country) remains cut off from its income due to the systematic bleeding of revenue by armed groups that have set themselves up as customs officers, tax officials," said Enoch Derant Lakoue, a presidential candidate.

Central African economist Achille Nzotene added: "It's a balancing act in terms of security, and he must engage in a titanic economic recovery effort."

And if he fails, "returning to square one will be fatal."  

Like his predecessors, Touadera will be largely dependent on the international community to underwrite the finances and security of his government.

Ten thousand UN peacekeepers and several hundred French soldiers are still deployed in the country.

But despite the challenges, Touadera takes office with a strong mandate having secured almost 63 percent of the vote despite not being among the favourites at the start of the campaign.

His main opponent Anicet-Georges Dologuele polled just 37 percent. 

"Touadera is the candidate of the people... and is already a considerable asset for the reconstruction of the country," said Muriele Nzondo, a Bangui shopkeeper.

But despite his obvious popularity, many consider him at least partially responsible for the failings of the Bozize era.

Student Euloge Ngate Linzonzo said: "It is true that he has the people with him, but not all of them. He is responsible for the management of the Bozize regime that threw the country into chaos through its inaction.

"We can't be sure today that he'll have a firm enough hand to deal with the militias that have sown terror."– Christian Panica, Agence France-Presse / Rappler.com

HAVANA, Cuba – Cuba's Fidel Castro signaled continued resistance to rapprochement between Washington and Havana, writing in an opinion piece on Monday, March 28, that his country "has no need of gifts" from the United States.

The former president, 89, remained out of sight during last week's historic visit to the communist island by US President Barack Obama which aimed to cement normalization.

In his first published remarks about the visit, Castro seemed unwilling to forgive and forget more than a half-century of enmity between the two countries, declaring in the Granma newspaper that Cuba "has no need of gifts from the empire." 

He made his remarks in a piece entitled "El Hermano Obama" – "Brother Obama."

"Listening to the words of the US president could give anyone a heart attack," Castro said, in an ironic barb.

"Nobody has any illusion that the people of this noble and selfless country will surrender glory and rights and the spiritual wealth that has come through the development of education, science and culture."

Obama during last week's three-day visit – the first by a US president in 88 years – thrilled Cubans by calling for democracy and greater freedoms, and took part in baseball diplomacy during a match between Cuban and American professional players.

The landmark visit was spearheaded by the US president and Cuba's current leader Raul Castro, who has proven to be far more reform-minded than the revolutionary icon brother whom he succeeded as the island's president a decade ago.

Since handing the presidency over to his younger brother, Fidel Castro has spent his time writing reflections which occasionally appear in the communist party press. – Rappler.com

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Protests greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping as he arrived in Prague on Monday, March 28, on the first visit by a Chinese head of state to the Czech Republic.

Pro-Tibet demonstrators put up a giant picture of Dalai Lama with the late Czech president Vaclav Havel in a park near the road leading to the airport ahead of his arrival.

Dozens of Chinese flags hung up in Prague streets to welcome Xi were also defaced at the weekend.

Xi will meet President Milos Zeman during his two-day trip, which is focused on business cooperation and investment in the Czech Republic.

Zeman has described the visit as a "new start" in Prague's relations with Beijing, saying China might invest close to two billion euros in his country. – Rappler.com

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The sole suspect charged over last week's Brussels attacks was released Monday following a lack of evidence linking him to the carnage, Belgian prosecutors said.

"The indications that led to the arrest of Faycal C. were not substantiated by the ongoing inquiry. As a result, the subject has been released by the examining magistrate," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement, without giving further details.

Belgian media had identified the man as Faycal Cheffou who claimed to be a freelance journalist.

Cheffou was charged on Saturday with "taking part in a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder".

A source close to the inquiry previously told Agence France-Presse that prosecutors were looking into the theory that he was the third man seen in CCTV footage alongside two suicide bombers at Zaventem airport. 

Belgian police earlier on Monday released some of the CCTV images in a bid to identify the suspect. 

In the video, a man in a hat and white jacket is seen pushing a trolley with a large bag through the departure hall next to bombers Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui. – Rappler.com