MANILA, Philippines – Pampanga 3rd District Representative Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr is up against big names in the race for the speakership in the 18th Congress, but he believes he has an edge over them.

The party mate of President Rodrigo Duterte said unlike other candidates for the top House post, he has no plans to run for higher office in 2022. 

“Ang edge ko po sa kanila (My edge over them is), number one: I have no political ambition sa 2022,” Gonzales told reporters on Tuesday, June 4, ahead of his meeting with the 54-strong party-list coalition that vows to vote as a bloc in the speakership race. 

“Kasi iba kasi naririnig natin, ano? Kapag umupo ka sa taas, sa Speaker, you're planning for higher office for the next elections. But Dong Gonzales, wala po tayong ambition sa national. Wala po tayong ambition na maging senador, maging vice president, or something. Ang plano ko lang po eh gagawin ko ang buong makakaya ko sa House of Representatives,” said Gonzales.  

(Because we hear different things, right? That when you sit as Speaker, you’re planning for higher office for the next elections. But Dong Gonzales doesn’t have any ambition for a national post. I don’t have any ambition to become a senator, vice president, or something. My only plan is to do everything I can for the House of Representatives.) 

Gonzales, who first ran and won for congressman in 2013, also said he did not have any personal business interests to protect should he become Speaker. 

“Sinasabi ko lang 'yong totoo: Wala po akong negosyong pinoproteksyunan. Kilala 'nyo po ako. I'm just an ordinary congressman…. I came from a humble beginning, simpleng pamilya… My father is a farmer, my mother is only a tindera, and we are 12 in the family,” said Gonzales.

(I'm only saying the truth: I don’t have any business to proect. You know me. I’m just an ordinary congressman… I came from humble beginnings, from a simple family.... My father is a farmer, my mother is only a vendor, and we are 12 in the family.) 

He said that only half of his siblings, including himself, were able to finish their studies, and that education was the only – and most important – legacy bestowed upon them by their parents.

“Ang edukasyon ang naging behikulo ko sa lahat ng pinuntahan ko ngayon. Naging professional ako, naging negosyante ako. Papasok ako sa pulitika, naging congressman ako (Education became my vehicle to where I am now. I became a professional, I became a businessman. I entered politics, and became a congressman.)

He considered the death of his wife Elizabeth Panlilio Gonzales in the tragic Resorts World attack in 2017 as “the most painful experience” he had to go through in his life. 

Two years later, Gonzales found himself in what could be the most challenging part of his political career, so far – being one of 3 possible candidates for speaker of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

Apart from Gonzales, other PDP-Laban lawmakers vying for the speakership are Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco, who is believed to be backed by presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio, and Davao del Norte 1st District Representative Pantaleon Alvarez, the ousted Speaker who is eyeing a comeback.

PDP-Laban has left it to party chairman Duterte to decide on their candidate in the speakership race once the 18th Congress opens session on July 22.

Other prominent candidates for Speaker are Leyte 1st District representative-elect Martin Romualdez and Taguig City-Pateros representative-elect Alan Peter Cayetano, Duterte’s running mate in the 2016 elections. – Rappler.com

BEIJING, China – Chinese President Xi Jinping headed for Russia Wednesday, June 5, to mark a new era of friendship and reinforce economic ties that had benefitted from Moscow's isolation from the West.

Due to arrive in the early afternoon, Xi will be received with full honors.

He will have talks in the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin before attending a formal reception and in the evening he will attend a night out at the Bolshoi theater.

The visit comes 5 years after Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 led to a serious rift with its Western partners and subsequent turn toward its neighbor to the east.

From Moscow, Xi will travel to Russia's former imperial capital Saint Petersburg to attend the Economic Forum hosted by Putin on Thursday and Friday, June 6 and 7.

China and Russia "have strong political mutual trust and support each other firmly on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns," Xi said during an interview with Russian media ahead of the visit, according to a transcript released by Beijing's official Xinhua news agency.

Putin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the visit is "a crucial event for our bilateral relations". The Soviet Union was the first country to recognize Communist-ruled China in 1949, he remarked.

He said Xi and Putin would sign a new declaration on "global partnership and strategic cooperation, which enter a new era".

The Chinese delegation is bringing two pandas as gifts, which are bound for the Moscow Zoo. "The animal is a symbol of China and the gesture is very important to our partners," Ushakov said.

The partnership is yielding increasing trade, which has increased by 25% in 2018 to hit a record $108 billion, he said, calling China "Russia's most important economic partner".

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui praised the upcoming visit as having a "milestone significance in the development of bilateral relations".

Russia's 'pivot' paying off

Russia may have had unrealistic expectations from its pivot to the east following Western sanctions over Ukraine, said Alexander Gabuev, who heads the Asia program at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Nevertheless, China's share in Russian foreign trade has nearly doubled since then, he added.

"The pivot really is happening," he said.

"Despite all the difficulties, China became a significant creditor and rather significant investor" in Russia at a time when many other investors preferred to pack their bags.

For Russia, whose alternative for economic growth is launching deep reforms and reconciling with the West, gradually increasing dependence on China "is perceived as the lesser of two evils", said Gabuev – provided it did not reach critical levels.

Politically, the two countries seem consistently aligned and often vote in unison as permanent members of the UN Security Council.

"The positions of Russia and China are very close or coincide completely on most international issues," including the North Korean nuclear program, the Venezuelan crisis and the Iran nuclear deal, Ushakov said, adding that all these issues would be discussed during the talks.

Both countries would also discuss their relationship with the "great Western powers, including the United States", he said.

Moscow's relations with Washington have been at a post-Cold War low for some time now, and Beijing is locked in a trade war with the US.

And after Washington criticized its rights record, Beijing issued a travel warning to Chinese nationals Tuesday, June 4, about crime and police harassment in the United States. – Rappler.com

SYDNEY, Australia – Australian police raided the headquarters of public broadcaster ABC on Wednesday, June 5, the second high-profile probe into news outlets in 24 hours, amid a crackdown on sensitive leaks.

ABC executives said police searched the corporation's offices in Sydney, targeting 3 journalists involved in a two-year-old investigative report.

In 2017, ABC obtained government documents that showed Australian special forces had killed innocent men and children in Afghanistan.

The Australian Federal Police said the search was "in relation to allegations of publishing classified material, contrary to provisions of the Crimes Act 1914."

ABC executive editor John Lyons said the search warrant demands access to reporters' handwritten notes, emails, story drafts, footage and passwords, among other things.

"It is highly unusual for the national broadcaster to be raided in this way," said managing director David Anderson, as the organisation tried to win legal redress. 

A day earlier police raided a journalist's home in Canberra over a report that detailed the authorities' bid to gain powers to spy on Australian citizens communications at home.

Both stories involved sensitive and potentially classified materials and were embarrassing to the Australian authorities and the security services in particular.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tried to distance himself from the raids, which come just days after his re-election, insisting they were police, not government, matters.

"Australia believes strongly in the freedom of the press and we have clear rules and protections for the freedom of the press," he said during a visit to London. 

"There are also clear rules protecting Australia's national security and everybody should operate in accordance with all of those laws passed by our parliament."

Shadow Home Affairs minister, the Labor party's Kristina Keneally, demanded an explanation about why the raids occurred. 

"Protecting our national security is complex work, but it always must have the right checks and balances."

Although the press in Australia can report largely free of political interference, strict defamation laws, court gag orders and state security statutes affect what can be said in print and broadcast.

Australia's Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance – a union – branded the raids a "disturbing attempt to intimidate legitimate news journalism that is in the public interest."

"Police raiding journalists is becoming normalized and it has to stop... it seems that when the truth embarrasses the government, the result is the Federal Police will come knocking at your door." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Schools and offices took a break on Wednesday, June 5, which is a holiday declared by President Rodrigo Duterte in observance of Eid'l Fitr.

The Islamic feast of Eid'l Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the monthlong period of fasting in Islam. What values does Eid'l Fitr seek to impart, and what is its significance?

Watch Dr Jamel Cayamodin, an Islamic Studies professor, as he explains one of the two great feasts in Islam. – Paterno Esmaquel II/Rappler.com

BARQUISMETO, Venezuela – Maria Lopez complains about gasoline rationing that Venezuela – home to the world's largest oil reserves – has started introducing in some areas to tackle extreme fuel shortages.

"It's a joke," Lopez said.

But for ordinary Venezuelans, it is a cruel joke without a punchline – a driver recently died of a heart attack after waiting in line for days to fill his tank.

Since Monday, drivers in the western state of Lara can buy only 30 liters (8 gallons) of fuel a week, while a rationing system based on vehicles' license plates has been introduced in Bolivar state in the south and Monagas in the west.

Fuel shortages have long been chronic in the smuggling-prone states close to the border with Colombia. But the situation worsened in recent weeks as the United States slapped more economic sanctions on Venezuela and its state-run petrol company PDVSA.    

Lopez had been waiting in line to fill her tank for 6 hours in Lara's capital Barquisimeto, but had to leave without getting any fuel because she had to go search for medicine for her ailing brother, who suffers from meningitis.

"It's a joke!" she fumed again as she left the gas station empty-handed, despite the fact that between state-regulated gas prices, hyper-inflation and black-market dollar exchange rates, a dollar could technically buy almost 600 million liters of fuel. 

Even though President Nicolas Maduro said last August that the rock-bottom fuel prices would go up, there has not been an increase so far.

Ivan Herrera had also run out of luck: he had been to 3 gas stations without managing to top up. According to industry sources, 40% of the 104 gas stations in Barquisimeto – a city of a million people – are shut.

"There shouldn't be any rationing in a country like ours, an oil nation," said Ivan Herrera. "It's just backwardness."

According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuela's oil output has dropped from 3.2 million barrels per day a decade ago to 1.03 million barrels in April this year. Other estimates put that output as low as 768,000 barrels per day.  

Sanctions imposed by Washington in an effort to force Maduro to step down have paralyzed gas deliveries from the United States, which are vital for meeting Venezuela's domestic demand, and have also hindered the import of the thinners needed to dilute and refine Venezuela's own heavy crude.  

Confusion

In the town of Puerto Ordaz, in the state of Bolivar, Yackson Salas woke up in his car on Monday in a line at a gas station.  

"I slept in the queue," he told AFP, complaining about the confusion that surrounds the new system: drivers are supposed to fill their tanks according to their license plates, with alternating days for tags ending in odd or even numbers. 

"But lots of people join the line even on days when it's not their turn," Salas said. 

And despite the measures, the lines "stretch for kilometers," said John Velasquez, one of 300 or so drivers waiting for his quota. 

One of the waiting drivers tried to alter his license plate number with a felt-tip pen, but was spotted and thrown out of the line. 

The head of PDVSA, Manuel Quevedo, said last week that the government would guarantee supplies but the shortages persisted. Maduro, for his part, blamed the shortfall on sabotage carried out against oil tankers, but offered no details. 

Struggle

Even in Merida, a western state where there is no rationing yet, there are endless lines for gas. 

Humberto Trejo, a 60-year-old haulage contractor, died on Monday of a heart attack after having waited in line four days for fuel, local officials said.

Local media reports said Trejo suffered a cardiac arrest after becoming infuriated that some drivers were using dollars and Colombian pesos to bribe the soldiers guarding the gas station to allow them to jump the line that had formed. 

In neighboring Tachira state, residents have started smuggling in fuel across the border from Colombia, despite the crossings being officially closed, triggering long lines at pumps in the Colombian border town of Cucuta.

Until recently, the flow of smuggled fuel had gone the other way, from Venezuela into Colombia, because state-subsidized fuel was so cheap that smugglers could earn significant mark-ups in Colombia. – Rappler.com

BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand's new parliament convened on Wednesday, June 5, to vote for prime minister, with junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha tipped to sweep away the challenge of a charismatic billionaire leading the anti-military bloc.

Prayut, who seized power in 2014, is all but assured of completing his transformation from junta head to civilian leader with the support of 250 hand-picked senators.

The only competition is anti-junta coalition candidate Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who faces an uphill battle numerically and has been besieged by court cases after his Future Forward party scooped up millions of votes in a March poll. 

Thailand remains bitterly divided after 13 years defined by coups, violent street protests and short-lived civilian governments.

At root is a rivalry between an arch-royalist conservative establishment -- buttressed by the courts and the army -- and pro-democracy parties supported by many of the lower and middle class.

MPs in black suits filed into their seats for the opening after several gave speeches outside.

In a sign of the acrimonious debate to come, former prime minister and ex-Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva resigned before taking his seat to protest his party's decision on the eve of the session to support the junta chief.

"I cannot walk in and vote to support Prayut", he said.

Parliament is deciding on a premier more than two months after Thailand held its first election since the last coup, a poll marred by allegations of inaccurate counting and vote-buying.

Allies of Prayut say he is a stabilising figure who can steer Thailand away from its perennial political crises.

"Prayut has the qualities, has the capability, the leadership to do the job," Uttama Savanayana, the leader of junta proxy party Palang Pracharat, told AFP a day before the vote.

But his critics say the famously gruff ex-army chief represents a narrow elite and lacks the vision or temperament to govern as a civilian leader.

Unexpected third force

The election was cast as a choice between junta-backed rule and parties aligned with former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck, whose administration was toppled in 2014.

But an unexpected third force emerged led by billionaire auto-parts scion Thanathorn.

His Future Forward won more than six million votes and 81 seats to become Thailand's third largest party.

The social media savvy 40-year-old is now heading a coalition with the Shinawatra's main party -- Pheu Thai -- and five others.

Analysts say Thanathorn represents the greatest challenge to the junta and its establishment allies, with his articulate calls to bridge the kingdom's chasmic social inequality and end the military's influence over politics.

But Thanathorn is weighed down by legal problems that could see him banned from politics or jailed. 

Those led to his suspension from parliament and a dramatic walk-out from its early sessions.

He has said the complaints are politically motivated and that the suspension had nothing to do with qualifying as a candidate for prime minister.

"The most important thing is to return Thailand to democracy," he told reporters on the eve of the vote, calling on mid-sized parties to back him. "And to stop Prayut to come back as prime minister."

Assuming the Thai senate votes with the junta, Thanathorn would need a gargantuan 376 votes from the lower house to emerge as premier.

Prayut, who did not attend, only needs 126.

The late pledge of support from the Democrat Party – the oldest in Thailand – should smooth his path to office.

But analysts say troubles lie ahead for a military man unused to debate and consensus-building.

"Politicians will try to make scenes... to expose Prayut," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist as Ubon Ratchathani University. – Rappler.com

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sixty people have been killed in a two-day crackdown on Sudanese protesters carried out by security forces, a doctors' committee close to the demonstrators said on Wednesday, June 5.

A previous toll given by the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors had counted 40 dead since the bloody dispersal of a weeks-long sit-in outside army headquarters in Khartoum on Monday.

The committee said it held "the militias of the (military) council... responsible for this massacre."

Protesters have previously singled out the Rapid Support Forces, paramilitaries with origins in the 16-year-old war in the western region of Darfur whose commander is deputy chairman on the ruling military council.

Following the deadly crackdown, the military council announced it was abandoning all previous agreements reached with protest leaders on a transition to civilian rule.

The protest movement in turn dismissed the generals' promise of elections within nine months instead.

On Wednesday hundreds of residents of the northern suburb of Khartoum Bahri blocked off streets with barricades made from stones, and waited by them in silence, a witness told AFP.

In the distance gunfire could be heard.

In the early morning, sporadic shooting could be heard in the Khartoum 2 neighbourhood, an area where there are several embassies, an AFP reporter said. – Rappler.com

EL DORADO, Mexico – Three synthetic drug labs producing an estimated $160 million worth of methamphetamine were dismantled in Mexico on Tuesday, June 4, in what officials called one of the country's biggest blows to drug trafficking this year.

Meth, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl are trafficked over the northern border and into the US – the world's largest consumer of drugs.

Authorities say new technologies used by the army – including drones that identify heatwaves in uninhabited areas -- have led to the discovery of an increasing number of drug laboratories over the last few months.

The 3 methamphetamine-producing labs were located in northwestern Sinaloa state, which a number of drug bosses use as a base, according to local police.

The state's secretary for public safety Cristobal Castaneda, said the labs were set to produce some 17 million doses worth some $160 million on the US market, and that the operation was the most important blow to meth trafficking so far this year.

Twenty laboratories have been dismantled in Sinaloa so far in 2019 – 17 making methamphetamine, two making fentanyl and one producing heroin. 

Eight meth labs were taken apart in the state in 2018.

The ultra-violent Sinaloa cartel – founded by Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, who is in jail in the US – continues to hold sway over the state it is named after. 

The cartel has focused on producing synthetic drugs after the legalization of marijuana forced down its price.

Some 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2017 -- 10 percent more than in 2016, according to official figures.

Recently, a majority of deaths have been caused by a new generation of drugs called synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, which is dozens of times more potent than heroin.

More than 250,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since 2006, when former president Felipe Calderon deployed the army to fight drug cartels.

Mexico's president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed a change in strategy, declaring the drug war over. 

But he has faced criticism for appointing a military general to lead his newly launched National Guard police force. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Leading the morning prayer for the feast of Eid'l Fitr, an Islamic Studies expert blasted vote buying and corruption in Muslim communities, even while Muslims observed the monthlong period of fasting called Ramadan. 

The imam for the Eid'l Fitr prayer at Quezon Memorial Circle on Wednesday, June 5, said that "the highest amount of vote buying is actually found in Muslim communities."

"We just experienced the elections recently, right? And we witnessed that even though the elections were conducted in the month of Ramadan, people still engaged in vote buying. Ramadan did not teach them. They did not reflect on the wisdom of Ramadan," said the imam, Dr Jamel Cayamodin.

Cayamodin is an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Institute for Islamic Studies. He led the Eid'l Fitr prayer at Quezon Memorial Circle around 6:35 am on Wednesday, a holiday in predominantly Christian Philippines to mark the end of Ramadan. 

Cayamodin said that if Muslims could stop themselves from eating, drinking, and having sex before sunset during the month of Ramadan, then surely they could avoid sins like vote buying – which is banned even outside Ramadan.

Vote buying was prevalent in the newly-created Muslim region in the southern Philippines during the last elections, said the think tank International Alert Philippines. The selling price of votes was between P300 and P3,000, said the group. 

International Alert also said intense political rivalries, intimidation, and violence were also prevalent in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the recently concluded midterm polls. The whole of Mindanao itself was declared an election hot spot.

In his sermon on Wednesday, Cayamodin also lamented how corrupt officials and institutions can be found in Muslim communities. He added that many Muslims "are actually engaged in usurious business activities," such as the money lending scheme called "5-6."

"Mas marami po ang gumagawa ng katiwalian, ng masama, sa Muslim communities, kaysa mga gumagawa ng mabuti," said Cayamodin. (More people commit evil in Muslim communities, compared to those who do good.)

The imam challenged Muslims to uphold righteousness, "the very purpose of Ramadan."

On the values that Eid'l Fitr aims to teach Muslims, Cayamodin said, "We just need to uphold the teachings of Ramadan during the 30 days, after Ramadan. The main teaching of Ramadan is taqwa, meaning righteousness."

The imam said, "Allah wants us to change."– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Governor-elect Kaka Bag-ao's "fight" in the Dinagat Islands is more than just to challenge the powerful Ecleo family, but also to address the perennial problems of residents of the province.

"Iyong laban ko sa Dinagat (My fight in Dinagat) is not simply against Ecleo," Bag-ao told Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug in an interview.

"Ang kalaban natin dito ay underdevelopment, iyong kahirapan, inequality natin (Our enemies are underdevelopment, poverty, inequality)."

Bag-ao, dubbed a "dragon slayer," won the 2019 gubernatorial race against Benglen Ecleo, whose family has had a strong hold on power in the province starting with the late Ruben Ecleo Sr who entered the political scene in the 1960s.

The elder Ecleo – and eventually his family also – banked on his influence as leader of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association. (READ: Dinagat: The hands that heal hold power)

The 2019 elections was the second time Bag-ao defeated a member of the influential clan. In 2013, she won the congressional seat against Gwendolyn Ecleo, Benglen's sister. 

Bag-ao sees her incoming role as governor as a chance to finally focus on implementing programs that will help alleviate "hardcore issues," including poverty and malnutrition.

"Laban ito para ipakita sa kanila na iyong kahirapan...hindi iyan normal (This is now a fight to show them that poverty isn't normal)," Bag-ao said. "Iyang mga problema dapat sino-solve (Problems should be solved)."

Located in the Caraga region, Dinagat Islands has a population of 127,152 people across 7 municipalities. It is one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines, with 36.7% poverty incidence as of the 1st quarter of 2019.

People should 'understand' projects

Bag-ao was first elected as Dinagat Islands representative in 2013. She previously served as Akbayan representative in 2010. Prior to entering Congress, she did grassroots work with farmers, women, the poor, and labor groups as a lawyer. (READ: Dinagat: Kaka cracks glass ceiling)

In her work with the community and eventually as a legislator, Bag-ao said she realized how it is important for people to be part of the process when crafting development plans and projects.

"Letting the people understand why they have to make the decision with you is very fundamental," she said.

"Kung meron tayong development na kaunlaran na gustong marating, hanggang hindi naiintindihan ng mga tao, walang value (If we have development that we want to achieve, as long as the people don't understand it, there's no value)."

Pursuing development for the province, however, is a job not only for the governor. It also lies in the hands of the congressional representative who, according to Bag-ao, "will be the voice outside the islands."

This may prove challenging for the local government as the newly-elected representative is Alan Ecleo, the brother of the two people Bag-ao defeated in previous elections.

"We expect that the congressman-elect understands the requirements to pursue the development initiatives in Dinagat Islands," Bag-ao said.

"Kung gusto nila akong i-eliminate para hindi ako nakakagulo sa kanila, medyo mahihirapan sila roon (If they want to eliminate me so I won't interfere with them, they will have a hard time doing so)." – Rappler.com

MELBOURNE, Australia – A Bangladeshi student who enrolled in an Australian university with the aim of killing someone in the name of the Islamic State group (ISIS) was jailed for 42 years on Wednesday, June 5, for stabbing her local host as he slept.

Momena Shoma, 26, admitted to engaging in a terrorist act when she stabbed Roger Singaravelu in the neck with a kitchen knife just 8 days after arriving in Australia.

Shoma, who wore a black niqab showing only her eyes at the sentencing hearing in Victoria state's supreme court, shouted "Allahu akbar" as she attacked Singaravelu, who survived and was also present at the hearing, the court heard.

"Your deeds and words, and the intentions accompanying them, are chilling," said judge Lesley Taylor in handing down the sentence of 42 years, with a non-parole period of 31 years and six months. She faced a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Taylor said her actions "sent ripples of horror throughout the Australian community".

"But they do not make you a martyr. They do not make you a beacon of Islam... They make you an undistinguished criminal," she said. 

Prosecutors said Shoma became radicalized in 2013 while living in Dhaka and became enamoured of the Islamic State and its calls for Muslims to engage in violent jihad against non-Muslims.

After failed attempts to study in Turkey – with the aim of crossing into ISIS-controlled parts of Syria – prosecutors said Shoma received a scholarship to study at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and arrived in the city on February 1, 2018.

She moved in with an Australian family under a homestay program for foreign students and immediately began planning an attack on them, the court heard.

She purchased night vision goggles on February 3 and on February 6 rehearsed an attack by repeatedly stabbing the mattress of her host couple when they were not home.

The family discovered the damage and immediately asked the homestay organisers to remove her from the home.

Shoma was then placed with Singaravelu's family and stabbed him 3 days later after watching videos about ISIS online, the court heard. 

Outside court Singaravelu, an immigrant from Malaysia, said he was amazed to have survived the attack, and questioned how Shoma could have obtained a visa to travel to Australia.

"We came from Malaysia, from a Muslim country. We came to Australia for a better life. And most importantly, the security of this country," he told reporters.

"She was red flagged in other countries; how she was allowed here?" he asked. – Rappler.com

LONDON, United Kingdom – US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, June 5, he was wowed by Prince Charles's passion for fighting climate change and that he also wanted a world that is "good for future generations."

Trump has rolled back environmental regulations and pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord since his surprise election in 2016.

But the mercurial White House chief said he was impressed with Prince Charles's commitment to green causes when he had tea with the heir to the British throne at Buckingham Palace on his arrival for a 3-day state visit Monday.

Trump told ITV in an interview aired Wednesday that Queen Elizabeth II's son dominated the conversation with climate talk.

"We were going to have a 15-minute chat. And it turned out to be an hour and a half. And he did most of the talking. He is really into climate change, and I think that’s great, I mean I want that, I like that," Trump said.

"He wants to have a world that is good for future generations and I want that too."

But he also stuck up for his own management of environmental policies.

"I did mention a couple of things, I did say, ‘Well the United States right now has among the cleanest climates there are, based on all statistics, and it’s even getting better'," Trump said.

A widely-cited report released by the Rhodium Group in January found that US carbon dioxide emissions rose by 3.4% in 2018.

The increase was the biggest in 8 years.

Prince Charles has spent many years bucking UK conventions that frown on members of the royal family sticking up for political causes.

His environmental activism has seen the 70-year-old modify his Aston Martin so that it can run on a fuel mixture that includes white wine.

He also told The Daily Telegraph last year that he tried to run the royal train on recycled cooking oil.

"But I don’t know," the prince told the paper. "They say it clogs up the engine or something." – Rappler.com

MAPUTO, Mozambique – The Islamic State group (IS, formerly known as ISIS or the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq) has claimed responsibility for the first time for an insurgent clash in northern Mozambique, according to SITE Intelligence which monitors jihadist activities worldwide.

An Islamist insurgency has been growing in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, with more than 200 people killed and many villages torched.

Islamic State issued a statement late Tuesday, June 4, claiming involvement in an apparent gunfight with the Mozambique military in Cabo Delgado province, although an insurgency expert expressed caution over the claim.

"The soldiers of the Caliphate were able to repulse an attack by the Crusader Mozambican army in Metubi village, in the Mocimboa area," said the statement, according to a SITE translation.

"They clashed with them with a variety of weapons, killing and wounding a number of them.

"The mujahideen captured weapons, ammunition, and rockets as spoils."

The Mozambican government and military decline to confirm any rebel activity.

Insurgents regularly attack villages, kill local people – sometimes beheading them – and burn down houses despite a heavy police and military presence in the northern province.

An insurgency expert who declined to be named said Islamic State were unlikely to have direct contact with the local fighters.

He said the claimed attack on Monday, June 3, had not been reported locally, and the village of Metubi was not in Mocimboa da Praia district.

"Islamic State is not in Mozambique. It is just propaganda, but they might have links," the expert said.

Islamist fighters have targeted remote communities in gas-rich, Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province since October 2017.

"The country is falling victim and we all need to understand the real reasons," President Filipe Nyusi said last month in an interview with the privately-owned Canal de Mocambique newspaper.

According to local sources, 16 people were killed in a highway ambush on May 31, in the highest single death toll of the insurgency.

Attackers threw home-made explosives into a truck – a new tactic – and then opened fire. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is set to close its Manila field office on July 5, as the Trump administration is seen restricting immigration to the United States.

In a statement, the USCIS said the US embassy in Manila "will assume responsibility for certain limited services previously provided by USCIS to individuals residing in the Philippines."

The last day the USCIS Manila field office accepted applications and petitions was May 31.

For those filing petitions for alien relatives (Form I-130), petitions can be filed "by  mail with the USCIS lockbox facility in Chicago," said the USCIS. More filing information can be found on the Form I-130 webpage. 

The USCIS "is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States." 

The USCIS said affected individuals, who had previously been assisted by the agency's Manila field office, can follow filing instructions here. 

Reuters earlier reported that this move "is the latest from an administration that has worked to limit both legal and illegal immigration since Trump took office in January 2017, including cuts to the US refugee program and heightened vetting of US visa applications." – Rappler.com

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday, June 5, slammed a US Middle East peace plan as a "great betrayal of the Islamic world," and warned Gulf rivals not to back it.

Washington is gearing up to roll out economic aspects of its long-awaited plan for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians – dubbed the "deal of the century" – at a conference in Bahrain later this month.

"The aim of this conference is to realize America's traitorous, dastardly plan on Palestine which they have named the 'deal of the century'," Khamenei said in a live television address at prayers for the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

"The 'deal of the century' will, god willing, never take root...this is a great betrayal of the Islamic world. We hope the leaders of Bahrain and Saudi (Arabia) will realize into what a quagmire they are stepping and how harmful it will be for their future."

The peace plan, fronted by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, has already been rejected by the Palestinians, who say the White House's policies have been blatantly biased in favor of Israel.

US allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are set to attend the Bahrain conference on June 25-26, but the Palestinians are boycotting it and have encouraged other Arab states to stay away.

Palestinians have cut off all contacts with the Trump administration since the president broke with decades of bipartisan policy to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017.

In comments released on his official website later on Wednesday, Khamenei insisted the Islamic republic did not seek to "throw Jews into sea" and saw a referendum as the solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"The view of the Islamic republic, contrary to past Arab leaders who believed that Jews should be thrown into the sea, is not so," Khamenei said in a speech to state officials.

He repeated Iran's proposal of holding a vote with the participation of "Muslim, Christian and Jewish residents of Palestine as well as Palestinian refugees" on a system of government.

He added that "the struggle of the Palestinian nation must continue" until a referendum is held. – Rappler.com

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea approved $8 million in humanitarian aid for the impoverished North on Wednesday, June 5, authorities said, with negotiations over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal deadlocked and inter-Korean relations at a standstill.

It will be the first such aid Seoul has provided Pyongyang since 2015 and follows the North's lowest recorded harvest for a decade, according to the United Nations.

The donation – to be made through the UN – comes as President Moon Jae-in seeks to salvage diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington following the breakdown of the Hanoi summit, when Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump failed to reach a deal on the North's nuclear program and sanctions relief.

Pyongyang has since largely cut off contact with both Seoul and Washington, with the South's unification minister saying this week he had last spoken to a North Korean official at the beginning of May.

Seoul's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, said the government had approved a plan to provide the funds amid concerns over the "worsening food situation."

It will given $4.5 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help address malnutrition, along with $3.5 million to UNICEF for health issues among children and pregnant women.

More than 10 million North Koreans – 40% of the population – were suffering from severe food shortages, according to recent UN estimates. The figure is similar to recent years.

"WFP and other international bodies have requested assistance to the North on the back of concerns for deteriorating conditions among the vulnerable there," the ministry said in a statement.

It is the first humanitarian aid implemented by Moon's government, but a North Korean propaganda outlet has already dismissed it as "non-essential" for inter-Korean relations.

If the South "sincerely wishes for sustained development, peace and prosperity," it should implement the inter-Korean economic joint projects agreed last year instead of "raising the issue of humanitarian aid," the state-run Uriminzokkiri website said in a commentary last month.

Several sets of sanctions, imposed on the North over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, currently block many proposed developments. – Rappler.com

PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom (UPDATED) – US President Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth II gathered with 300 veterans on the south coast of England on Wednesday, June 5, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day – one of the heroic turning points of World War II.

More than a dozen other world leaders joined them in Portsmouth for Britain's national event honoring the Allied cross-Channel invasion of the Normandy beaches.

It remains the largest amphibious assault in history, and left 4,400 troops dead on the first day.

Mixing somber recitals of soldiers' last letters home with festive period song-and-dance numbers, the ceremony saw leaders ranging from Trump to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel take turns honoring one of history's most hallowed days.

With some in the audience shedding tears and a few of the surviving veterans, now all in their 90s, sitting upright in the front rows, Trump read excerpts from the prayer President Franklin Roosevelt delivered by radio on D-Day.

"They will need Thy blessings for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces but we shall return again and again," Trump read, in what will be one of his last acts on a three-day state visit to Britain.

Portsmouth was the main staging point for 156,000 US, British, Canadian and other Allied troops who sailed for northern France.

The Battle of Normandy on June 6, 1944 led to the liberation of Europe and helped bring about the end of World War II the following year.

Resilient generation

The hour-long ceremony included theatrical productions and newsreel footage watched by presidents and prime ministers from across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

"When I attended the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings, some thought it might be the last such event," Britain's 93-year-old queen said.

"But the wartime generation – my generation – is resilient, and I am delighted to be with you in Portsmouth today."

The gathered drew silent when a recording of the stirring battle cry Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered in the UK parliament as Nazi forces advanced across Europe in June 1940 piped in.

"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender," Churchill said.

Fear of being afraid

British Prime Minister Theresa May read a letter written by Captain Norman Skinner to his wife Gladys on June 3, 1944, which was found the day before his death in Normandy on June 7.

"I am sure that anyone with imagination must dislike the though of what's coming," his letter said.

"But my fears will be more of being afraid than of what can happen to me."

Macron read the last letter of French resistance fighter Henri Fertet, who was executed when he was just 16.

"The soldiers are coming to get me. I must hurry," it said. "I am not afraid of death, my conscience is completely clear."

Trump sows confusion

The D-Day commemorations are among May's last official duties before she steps down as leader of the governing Conservatives on Friday, June 7.

That will trigger a leadership contest. The winner, chosen from 11 candidates, will become the next prime minister by the end of July.

May's meetings with Trump have gone smoothly. The US leader tweeted on Wednesday that he "could not have been treated more warmly in the United Kingdom by the Royal Family or the people."

He reaffirmed his commitment to a "very big Trade Deal" with Britain after Brexit.

But he also sowed some characteristic confusion, walking back a series of comment he made at a joint press event with May on Tuesday, June 4.

Trump announced then that he had turned down Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn's request for a one-on-one meeting, calling the socialist politician "a somewhat negative force."

But the US leader told ITV television in an interview aired Wednesday: "I didn't think it was appropriate to meet him, but I would. I certainly would have no problem with it."

He also told ITV he did not mean to say that US pharmaceutical companies' access to Britain's state-run health care system would need to be up for negotiation in the free trade talks.

"I don't see it being on the table," Trump told ITV. – Rappler.com

CEBU, Philippines – The corpse of a 57-year-old British man was found floating in a fish sanctuary in Barangay Balud, Dalaguete, south of Cebu, at around 2 pm on Tuesday, June 4.  

Police Master Sergeant Arnold Froenal of the Dalaguete Police Station told Rappler that fishermen found the body, and immediately alerted the barangay tanods.  

The victim was identified as Ian Parkinson. He was taking a vacation with his friend, Howard Philip, 63.  

Parkinson and Philip were reportedly swimming at 9 am at the fish sanctuary, near where his body was found hours later.  

Philip left and went back to their pension house alone, because Howard wanted to stay longer. 

Froenal also said their initial findings suggest that Parkinson drowned. They found no wounds on his body, so they rushed him to the hospital. However, the attending physician declared him dead on arrival.  

“Nagpaabot pa mi sa resulta sa autopsy na gi pahigayon ganina,” said Froenal. (We are waiting for the results of the autopsy that was conducted earlier.) – Rappler.com 

BEIJING, China – China launched a space rocket from sea for the first time on Wednesday, June 5, its space agency announced, the latest step in Beijing's push to become a major space power.

The Asian giant now spends more than Russia and Japan on its civil and military space programs– unveiling ambitious plans for missions to the moon and beyond in the coming decade.

A Long March 11 rocket was launched from a ship in the Yellow Sea just after midday, the China National Space Administration said in a statement.

"This is the first time that China has...[tested a] launch vehicle at sea," it added.

The rocket carried two experimental satellites and 5 commercial ones.

State broadcaster CCTV, in a post on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, hailed it as "a new launching mode for China to enter space quickly."

The test marks another win for Beijing's space program.

Earlier this year, China became the first nation to land a rover on the far side of the moon.

It also unveiled ambitious plans to build a research base on the lunar surface, send a probe to Mars and build a space station in Earth orbit.

In 2003, China became only the third nation to have the capability of launching humans into space.

And with sea launches, China now has the ability to deploy satellites from a mobile platform.

Most recently, Russian-backed firm Sea Launch used a floating platform to launch dozens of rockets between 1999 and 2014.

According to Russian company Energia, the majority shareholder in Sea Launch, launching from sea has a number of advantages, such as the ability to send off rockets from a variety of locations on Earth, as well as reduced costs and risks. – Rappler.com

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines – Seven hundred forty-four (744) days and counting.

That's how long half of the population of Marawi have been displaced, and during the Eid'l Fitr celebration on Wednesday, June 5, their only prayers are fortitude and for them to return home in the Most Affected Area (MAA) of this city.

At the Sarimanok 1 Tent City where 210 tents are still home to more than 200 families, life goes by but not without the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) looking over the other side of the city where their homes are.

Maranaos living here are still unsure of what lies in the future for them. 

For Olowan Magarang, a former overseas Filipino worker who worked as a medical technologist, life in the tent city is made more difficult with the uncertainties of when they are moving from the tent to the transition shelter in Buganga, near Lake Lanao.

Magarang and his wife Rohaina are even luckier than other IDPs. They were able to buy equipment for their business when the government has given them P63,000 as livelihood package.

"It was supposed to be P73,000, but they gave us only P63,000 because they said we owe them P10,000 when the DSWD-Region 10 gave the P10,000 last year," Rohaina said.

Sarah Abbas, a mother of 4 and illiterate, wasn't as lucky. Sarah and his family were not able to register for the biometrics the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) conducted earlier this year.

Sarah won't be able to receive from the government anymore unless the TFBM includes them in the list.

Twenty-one (21) Christian families also live in this tent city, and they are also unsure of what the government's plans for them are, as they are considered as renters and thereby not qualified for compensation and transition shelters.

Rohaima's prayer for the Eid'l Fitr is for them to go home to ground zero.

"I really want to go home, live there, start from the start, build our home all over again," Rohaima said.

Magarang's neighbor Omar Pancatan also prayed for strength to weather their lives' challenges inside the tent city.

"I pray for guidance for us people, how to live, but we also need help," Pancatan said.

Pancatan said that they don't want to rely on dole outs.

"We don't need to ask money – it can be spent. We need [a] livelihood project that is sustainable for us to get back on our feet," Pacatan said.

The lack of investment in Marawi City and the government's failure to spend its rehabilatation fund means that there is little livelihood to do around. (READ: Marawi residents to gov't: Unreleased donations deprive us of basic needs)

Pedicab drivers here while away their time at the newly constructed access road connecting the city to Sagonsongan, waiting for passengers wanting to go to the city proper or to Sagonsongan.

"There [are] few passengers here, people would rather walk because they have no money for having too little work," one driver said.

"We wonder when will this stop when no one can give us assurance that it will be over," another driver said.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer during his visit here on Monday, June 3, said that the work of the ICRC in Marawi City is not yet done.

"In my visit to Marawi City this week, I saw a community dealing with the physical and psychological impact of conflict. I met a family of a missing person that hasn't lost hope that news about their relative will arrive soon," Maurer said.

"I see indicators of hope, fortitude, and of shared determination to rise from the ravages of the conflict in Marawi and other areas in Mindanao still affected by sporadic armed fighting," Maurer said.

Maurer said that in his discussions with the Philippine government's high-ranking officials, he felt the commitment and resolve to find effective, long-term solutions to the humanitarian issues of concern.

"Despite considerable constraints they deal with. The people need to be able to count on the authorities to be responsive to their needs," Maurer said.

Drieza Lininding, chairman of the Moro Consensus Group, said that this Eid'l Fitr, he prayed that the national government will open their hearts to the real situation of the Marawi IDPs.

"I pray that the Muslim Ummah in general will keep and practice the lessons of Ramadan, to be kind and respectful regardless of religion and creed," Lininding said.

"May the rest of the Filipinos accept us for who we are and what we believe in, to realize that we are not a threat but partner towards peace and progress," Lininding said. – Rappler.com