KABUL, Afghanistan  (UPDATED) –  A suicide bomber killed 32 people including women and children and wounded 41 others when he blew himself up in a Shiite mosque in Kabul on Friday, October 20, officials said.

"Unfortunately this evening a suicide bomber detonated himself among the worshippers inside a mosque in Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul city," Kabul police spokesman Abdul Basir Mujahid told the Agence France-Presse

The interior ministry confirmed the toll of 32 dead and 41 wounded. 

Eyewitnesses earlier told local media that more than 30 people had been killed and around 50 others wounded in the attack but those figures could not be immediately verified.

A spokesperson for the interior ministry said the explosion happened at the Imam Zaman mosque in the west of the city in a Shiite neighbourhood. 

"Investigative teams have been deployed. The cause and nature of the explosion have not been determined yet," the spokesperson told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but recent assaults on Shiite mosques have been carried out by Islamic State militants, who belong to the rival Sunni branch of Islam. 

The last attack on a Shiite mosque in Kabul happened on September 29 as Muslims prepared to commemorate Ashura, one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar. 

Six people were killed when a suicide bomber posing as a shepherd blew himself up near Hussainia mosque, one of the biggest Shiite centres in the city, as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers. 

An attack on another Shiite mosque in the city on August 25 killed 28 people and wounded around 50 others. 

Four attackers who set off explosions and fired gunshots laid siege to the mosque in the north of the capital for four hours as dozens of men, women, and children had gathered for Friday prayers.

In recent years, the Taliban and Islamic State members have repeatedly targeted the minority Shiite community, who number around three million in overwhelmingly Sunni Afghanistan. – Rappler.com

ISCHIA, Italy –  G7 countries and tech giants including Google, Facebook and Twitter on Friday, October 20, agreed to work together to block the dissemination of Islamist extremism over the internet.

"These are the first steps towards a great alliance in the name of freedom,"  Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti said after a two-day meeting with his Group of Seven counterparts, stressing the role of the internet in extremist "recruitment, training and radicalization."

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the goal was to ensure pro-jihadist content "is taken down within two hours of it going online."

"Our enemies are moving at the speed of a tweet and we need to counter them just as quickly," acting US Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said.

While acknowledging progress had been made, Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd insisted "companies need to go further and faster to not only take down extremist content but also stop it being uploaded in the first place".

Senior executives from the internet giants and Microsoft attended the ministerial session devoted to the issue but did not offer any explanation of how they might go about clamping down on web extremists.

Jihadists fleeing Syria

The meeting on the Italian island of Ischia off Naples also focused on ways to tackle one of the West's biggest security threats: jihadist fighters fleeing Syria. The European Union has promised to help close a migration route considered a potential back door for terrorists.

Tens of thousands of citizens from Western countries travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic State group between 2014 and 2016. Some then returned home and staged attacks that claimed dozens of lives.

Minniti warned last week that fighters planning revenge attacks following the recent collapse of the IS stronghold in Raqa could hitch lifts back to Europe on migrant boats from Libya.

The United States and Italy signed an agreement on the sidelines of the G7 meeting to share their fingerprint databases in a bid to root out potential extremists posing as asylum seekers.

'De-radicalisation'

Earlier, EU President Donald Tusk promised the bloc would fork out more funds to help shut down the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy – a popular path for migrants who hope to journey on to Europe.

The EU would offer "stronger support for Italy's work with the Libyan authorities", and there was "a real chance of closing the central Mediterranean route", he said.

Italy has played a major role in training Libya's coastguard to stop human trafficking in its territorial waters, as well as making controversial deals with Libyan militias to stop migrants from setting off.

Minniti said the G7 ministers had discussed how to go about "de-radicalising" citizens returning from the IS frontline, to prevent them becoming security risks in jails.

The ministers had also brainstormed on how to tackle the legal headache of prosecuting returnees, amid questions over what sort of evidence, collected by whom, could be used in a domestic court.

'Malware of terror'

The Group of Seven – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US – said it had also called on the web giants to work with their smaller partners to bolster the anti-extremism shield.

"ISIS took to the technology world like a fish to water," Minniti said, adding that it was time to unleash the antidote to its "malware of terror".

Rudd said the UK government would do its part by changing the law so that those accessing and viewing extremist material on the web could face up to 15 years behind bars.

But Julian Richards, security specialist at BUCSIS (Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies), said the rest of the G7 was unlikely to get behind her on that front.

"The UK's fairly hard approach of introducing legislative measures to try to force companies to cooperate... and suggestions that people radicalising online should have longer sentences, are often considered rather unpalatable and too politically sensitive in many other advanced countries," he told AFP. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – After months enduring intense battle in Marawi, some Philippine soldiers are looking forward to rest and relaxation, and possibly a trip to Hong Kong care of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The trip was promised two months ago when Duterte visited Marawi on August 4. 

"That's why soldiers are excited for the war to end because they will continue on to Hong Kong," said Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Major General Restituto Padilla on Friday, October 20, in a press briefing.

Duterte had enticed soldiers in Marawi with a trip to Hong Kong as reward for their efforts in retaking the city. The trip would go to soldiers awarded the Medal of Valor.

"Siguro may prize ako 'yung ano – 'yung Valor, 'yung mga tigas. Mga Hong Kong siguro," he said to applause from the uniformed personnel. (Maybe I will give a prize – for the [Medal of] Valor [awardees], the tough ones. Maybe, Hong Kong.)

"Hong Kong, that's free. If you want, bring a partner, your spouse," the President added.

In a later Marawi visit, Duterte told soldiers he would raffle off the all-expense-paid Hong Kong trips.

"I'll have a raffle. If you're lucky, you can bring your spouse and children," said the President on September 11.

He reasoned that a vacation without loved ones is meaningless: "They'd always hanker for the children and the wife."

If the soldiers would rather not go abroad, Duterte offered another option: a chance for the soldiers to meet a celebrity.

"Kung ayaw mo naman, ituro mo 'yung artista na gusto mo at pakiusapan natin," said Duterte in August. (If you don't want, identify the celebrities you like, and we will request an audience with them)

Rest from fighting

With the end of hostilities in Marawi in sight, Padilla said some troops are already being transferred out of Marawi so the soldiers can take a rest and then go back to training.

The first unit to be sent to Marawi, the First Infantry Battalion headed by Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Tampus, has been sent off following the AFP's rule of "first in, first out."

"They will also be going back to Luzon for a much-needed break and for their long-delayed training in Fort Magsaysay and in other camps of the Philippine Army," said Padilla.

The area vacated by Tampus' unit will be taken over by other military units to continue providing security during the recovery and rehabilitation phase.

The First Infantry Battalion is credited for the successful rescue of 34 hostages during the height of the conflict. The unit lost one soldier while several were wounded.

It received the Silver Cross Medal and a Command Plaque from the Western Mindanao Command, said Padilla.

Token of gratitude

Aside from his promise of a Hong Kong trip, the President also promised to give firearms to all soldiers who fought in Marawi.

Padilla said this commitment is being gradually fulfilled.

"There was a ceremonial turnover of 500 firearms, which our Commander-in-Chief gave to our soldiers," said the military spokesman.

Some 3,000 to 5,000 more firearms are set to be delivered. It has taken some time for this to be arranged because of the process of acquisition. The firearms were purchased from a local company.

The 5 months of armed conflict in Marawi saw the President visiting the besieged city a total of 7 times, more than once a month on average.

It was among the many ways the President wished to convey his concern and gratitude for the men and women risking their lives in the battlefield. – Rappler.com

MADRID, Spain – European Parliament president Antonio Tajani criticized those who "are sowing discord" by not following Spanish law in a speech in Spain on Friday, October 20 as the country grapples with the political crisis over Catalonia's independence drive.

"While some are sowing discord by deliberately ignoring law, I think we need to remind ourselves of the importance of respecting the rule of law," he said in his speech, with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker among the audience.

Tajani spoke in the northern city of Oviedo as the European Union accepted Spain's Princess of Asturias Concord Prize for its work in harmonizing relations between its member states.

"Nobody in the EU would ever dream of flouting the rules that have been agreed by all," Tajani said.

"The European Union does not have a police force to enforce judicial decisions; there is no need. When the Court of Justice delivers a judgement, it is applied and that's that."

Spain is facing its worst political crisis since the country returned to democracy following the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975, after Catalonia went ahead with an independence referendum on October 1 deemed unconstitutional by the courts that was marred by a police crackdown on voters.

Spain's central government announced Thursday that it would start seizing some of the Catalan regional government's powers after its leader said he could declare independence.

Rajoy will hold an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday to decide how his conservative government will intervene in Catalonia to stop its independence drive.

(READ: Spain to seek suspension of Catalonia's autonomy unless leader backs down)

'Hellish mess'

Final results from the referendum suggest 43% of Catalan voters turned out and 90% of them backed independence – but 'No' voters largely boycotted the ballot which did not meet international standards.

"Let us not build borders between Europeans. All too often in the past the prospect of redrawing borders has been presented as a heavenly panacea that has resulted in a hellish mess," Tajani said.

Spain's Constitutional Court ruled earlier this week that Catalonia's referendum law violated Spain's democratic constitution of 1978, which gave wide autonomy to the country's regions but affirmed "the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".

The constitution was approved by more than 90 percent of Catalan voters.

Tajani also recalled that the EU "stands for solidarity".

"There are net contributors in Europe as well. But prosperity for all also benefits those who provide the most," he added.

Many Catalan separatists complain that their region, which is home to some 7.5 million people and accounts for one-fifth of Spain's economic output, pays more in taxes than it receives in investments and transfers from Madrid.

Juncker used his speech to praise Spain as "a driving force in Europe".

"Spain's place is and will be in the heart of Europe. Without Spain, Europe would be poorer," he added.

EU President Donald Tusk, who was also at the ceremony, said "the law must be respected by all".

The Concord prize is one of eight Asturias prizes handed out yearly by a foundation named for Crown Princess Leonor. 

Others categories include art, sports and scientific research. Previous Concord prize winners include UNICEF and Berlin city. – Rappler.com

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia – A suspected Islamic State recruiter has been arrested in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, officials said Friday.

Tajikistan national "Farkhod Nazarov, suspected of aiding terrorism, has been arrested and will be detained until December 12," said a statement from a court in Russia's second city, scene of a deadly underground train bombing in April.

The 33-year-old suspect recruited central Asian targets online "to wage jihad in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and to organize terrorist acts on Russian territory," according to security sources cited by the local press.

Nazarov was arrested on Thursday in the town of Kingisepp, near to the border with Estonia in the Saint Petersburg region. 

When Russian special forces arrested him he was carrying a pistol, a quantity of drugs and "literature of an Islamist nature," according to Russian media.

Since Russia – a decades-long ally of Damascus – first intervened militarily in Syria in 2015, it has faced reprisal threats from Islamic State and from the rebel jihadist group Al-Nosra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda.

(READ: Russian, U.S.-led strikes kill 35 civilians in Syria's Deir Ezzor – monitor)

ISIS has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia. In August, a man stabbed seven people on the street in the Siberian city of Surgut, before being shot and killed. 

The following week two men stabbed a policeman to death and wounded another in the volatile region of Dagestan in Russia's North Caucasus before he too was shot dead by police.

Earlier this month the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the killing of two policemen in Dagestan. – Rappler.com

MIAMI, USA – Three men were arrested after a shooting following white supremacist Richard Spencer's controversial speech at the University of Florida, police said Friday, October 21. 

Spencer, leader of the so-called "alt-right" movement – encompassing white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan – appeared Thursday on campus in Gainesville, in the north of the state.

Just over an hour after his speech ended, three of Spencer's followers stopped their car in front of a group of anti-racism protesters at a bus stop, police said in a statement.

Authorities said they then threatened the protesters with Nazi salutes, chanting slogans about Hitler, before one of them, 28-year-old Tyler Tenbrink, pulled out a gun and shot at the group. The bullet hit a nearby building.

Tenbrink was arrested along with brothers William and Colton Fears, aged 30 and 28 respectively. The three were charged with attempted murder.

"This incident and how quickly it was handled displays the true teamwork that went into yesterday's Unified Command Center activation," said Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell.

Spencer, who helped organize a white supremacist rally that erupted in deadly violence in Charlottesville earlier this year, was shouted down by hundreds of protesters Thursday -- forcing him to leave the stage at the University of Florida without delivering his planned speech.

Fearing a repetition of Charlottesville, Florida governor Rick Scott had declared a state of emergency Monday to beef up security ahead of Spencer's arrival – which also sparked a street protest of around 1,500 people.

Only around 30 supporters of the controversial white nationalist made it into the auditorium, massively outnumbered by protesters who chanted "No more Spencer!" – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON D.C, USA – The US budget deficit grew to $666 billion in just-ended fiscal year 2017, according to official data released Friday, after lawmakers took a step toward enacting $1.5 trillion in tax cuts.

The deficit climbed 13.6% from a year ago, or by $80 billion, with much of the nearly $4 trillion the US government spent last year associated with caring for the country's ageing population.

The deficit now accounts for 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), up from 3.2% in 2016. 

"Growth in spending outpaced growth in tax receipts for the second year in a row as a result of historically subpar economic growth," the Treasury Department said.

But the deficit came in $36 billion lower than forecast halfway through the fiscal year, which ended September 30, officials said.

"Today's budget results underscore the importance of achieving robust and sustained economic growth. Through a combination of tax reform and regulatory relief, this country can return to higher levels of GDP growth, helping to erase our fiscal deficit," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

"These numbers should serve as a smoke alarm for Washington, a reminder that we need to grow our economy again and get our fiscal house in order. We can do that through smart spending restraint, tax reform, and cutting red tape," added Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Spending grew 3.3% to $3.98 trillion while revenue fell 0.9% to $3.32 trillion, while the total federal debt rose to $14.67 trillion.

Higher outlays for social security, Medicare (a government medical program for the elderly), and Medicaid (for the low-income and disabled Americans) as well as interest on the public debt all contributed to the rise in outlays. 

Spending on the military rose one percent to $569 billion, and 45% in education to $112 billion.

"Higher spending by the Federal Emergency Management Administration for hurricane relief and recovery also contributed to the increase," it added.

Trump pushes tax cuts

President Trump's administration has championed tax cuts which it says will spur economic growth, leading to future tax revenues.

The US Senate narrowly passed a 2018 federal budget Thursday that includes special instructions that allows Trump's party to pass historic tax reforms with a simple majority vote.

Fiscal conservatives worry a tax cut will add to the national debt, but the Trump administration argues that it will give businesses more money to create jobs and boost tepid economic growth, eventually turning in to higher tax receipts.

The Tax Policy Center, a Brookings Institution-Urban Institute joint venture, says the reforms will cost $2.4 trillion in lost federal revenues during their first decade, which raises questions about how they will be financed. – Rappler.com

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia's deadliest ever attack, a truck bomb in the capital Mogadishu, has now killed 358 people with 228 more injured, the government said late Friday, October 20, a major jump in the fatality toll.

A truck packed with explosives blew up in Hodan on October 14, destroying some 20 buildings in the bustling commercial district, leaving scores of victims burned beyond recognition.

Several experts told AFP the truck was probably carrying at least 500 kilos (1,100 pounds) of explosives.

"The latest number of casualties 642 (358 dead, 228 injured, 56 missing). 122 injured (people) flown to Turkey, Sudan & Kenya," Somali Minister of Information Abdirahman Osman tweeted.

The figures mark a sharp increase in the toll, which earlier this week was put at 276 dead and 300 wounded. 

The attack has overwhelmed Somalia's fragile health system, and allies from the US, Qatar, Turkey and Kenya have sent planeloads of medical supplies as well as doctors, with all except the US also evacuating some of the wounded.

Death tolls are notoriously difficult to establish in Mogadishu, with families often quickly taking victims away to be buried.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility, but Al-Shabaab, a terror group aligned with Al-Qaeda, carries out regular suicide bombings in Mogadishu in its bid to overthrow Somalia's internationally-backed government.

The group has a history of not claiming attacks whose scale provokes massive public outrage.

Already more than 100 unidentified people have been buried who were burned beyond recognition.

While the rapid burial is partly due to Islamic culture, the Somali government also has no proper morgue nor the capability to carry out forensic tests to identify the victims.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed vowed Wednesday to step up the war against Al-Shabaab, saying that the attack showed "that we have not done enough to stop Shabaab."

"If we don't respond to this now, the time will surely come when pieces of flesh from all of us are being picked up off the ground. We need to stand up together and fight Al-Shabaab who continue massacring our people," he said.

However it was unclear what Farmajo -- who came into office eight months ago also vowing to eliminate Al-Shabaab – planned to do to stop the terrorists from carrying out such attacks.

The previous most deadly attack in Somalia killed 82 people and injured 120 in October 2011. – Rappler.com

-Rappler.com

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – A billionaire populist dubbed the "Czech Trump" vowed a new stage in Czech politics as voters head to the polls Saturday, October 21, in day two of an election expected to sweep him into power.

Betting on his anti-euro, anti-migrant and anti-corruption ticket, ANO (Yes) movement chief Andrej Babis topped opinion polls by a wide margin ahead of the ballot that ends Saturday afternoon.

Babis said he expected his country to "enter a new stage" after voting near Prague on Friday, October 20, adding it needed "a government which will really tackle people's problems."

Voting at a school in central Prague, pensioner Vaclav Vachel told AFP that Babis's anti-corruption drive was "the key thing," seemingly unfazed by a fraud indictment Babis faces for alleged abuse of EU subsidies.

"I don't like the EU at all... They're incompetent, those people in Brussels... They're a disaster, this (European Commission chief Jean-Claude) Juncker especially," he added.

Far-right and far-left anti-EU parties are eyeing strong gains which could lead to a fragmented parliament with up to nine parties and few natural coalition allies. Analysts warn of instability and that the Czech Republic's system of liberal democracy could be disturbed.

ANO has already held key posts in the outgoing rocky centre-left coalition under Social Democrat Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, with Babis serving as finance minister from 2014 to May this year.

A 63-year-old Slovak-born chemicals, food and media tycoon, Babis captured around 25-30 percent support in recent surveys, putting ANO ahead of current coalition partner, with the left-wing Social Democrats on just 12.5 percent.

'Deep dissatisfaction' 

Parties protesting liberal democracy are poised to win a majority in parliament for the first time since communism fell in 1989, the leading Hospodarske Noviny daily said in a Friday editorial.

"And for the first time we face the threat that an openly xenophobic, extremist movement will earn more than 10 percent" of the vote, it added, pointing to the far-right anti-EU Freedom and Free Democracy (SPD) of Tokyo-born entrepreneur Tomio Okamura who won backing from France's far-right National Front.

The daily called the elections a "turning point... both for the country's internal functioning and its anchoring in the European Union."

Despite their country's economic success, many Czechs who are heavily in debt or working long hours for low wages feel they have been left behind and are turning to anti-system parties to vent frustration, Hospodarske Noviny added.

With joblessness at 3.8% in September, the Czech economy which is heavily reliant on car exports is slated to grow by 3.6% this year. 

While Babis has vowed to steer clear of the eurozone and echoes other eastern EU leaders who accuse Brussels of attempting to limit national sovereignty by imposing rules like migrant quotas, he favors a united Europe and balks at talk of a "Czexit."

Le Pen endorsement

Babis's main rival, Social Democrats leader and Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, said Friday he hoped that the future government would ensure that the Czech Republic does not drift to the EU's periphery.

Opinion surveys showed the anti-EU Communists could win 10.5 percent, ahead of Okamura's SPD with 9.5 percent and the anti-establishment Pirates party with 8.5 percent.

Leader of France's far-right National Front Marine Le Pen sent Okamura a letter of support, saying that their parties want to create "a Europe of nations and liberties to which we adhere."

On Saturday, voting for the 200-member lower house of parliament begins at 0600 GMT and ends at 1200 GMT, with no exit polls scheduled and results expected in the evening. – Rappler.com

SANTIAGO, Chile – International experts announced Friday that Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda did not die of cancer, but could not conclusively determine if he was assassinated by late dictator Augusto Pinochet's regime.

Neruda, a celebrated poet, politician, diplomat and bohemian, died in 1973 aged 69, just days after Pinochet, then the head of the Chilean army, overthrew Socialist president Salvador Allende in a bloody coup.

The writer, who was also a prominent member of the Chilean Communist party, had been preparing to flee into exile in Mexico to lead the resistance against Pinochet's regime.

He died in a Santiago clinic where he was being treated for prostate cancer.

The subsequent death of former president Eduardo Frei at the same clinic, where he had come for a routine operation, reinforced the thesis that Neruda was murdered.

"The (death) certificate does not reflect the real cause of death," Aurelio Luna said at a news conference on behalf of a panel of experts, referring to the official explanation that cancer killed the famed writer.

The group of 16 experts from Canada, Denmark, the US, Spain and Chile, 12 of whom worked in Santiago while the rest worked from abroad, could neither confirm nor rule out the hypothesis that Neruda was murdered.

"We do not have that definitive conclusion, we do not have the determination that there was indeed intervention of third parties," said investigating Judge Mario Carroza, who is handling the case.

The experts discovered bacteria that is already being studied in labs in Canada and Denmark, and could offer more insight into the cause of Neruda's death.

"We are waiting to precisely establish the origin and whether it is bacteria that comes from a laboratory, modified and cultivated for the purpose of use as a biological weapon," Luna said.

Following the exhumation of Neruda's remains in 2013, studies in Chile and abroad discovered Staphylococcus aureus, a highly-infections bacteria that can be lethal, but not conclusive evidence that it was the cause of death.

The investigation began in 2011 after Manuel Araya, Neruda's former driver and personal assistant, claimed that he was given a mysterious injection in his chest just before he died.

"Neruda was assassinated," Araya told AFP in 2013.

His assertion is supported by the Neruda family, which maintains a lawsuit seeking to clarify the circumstances of Neruda's death.

Pinochet, who ruled Chile for 17 years, installed a regime that killed some 3,200 leftist activists and other suspected opponents.

He died in 2006 at age 91 without ever being convicted for the crimes committed by his regime.

Neruda won the Nobel prize in 1971 "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams," in the words of the award committee.

He is remembered especially for his sensual, longing love poems. – Rappler.com

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MANILA, Philippines – A DNA test has confirmed the death of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, the supposed emir of the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Southeast Asia, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Saturday, October 21.

"We have received an official report that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that the DNA sample taken from a body recovered by our operating units in Marawi matches that of Isnilon Hapilon," said Lorenzana.

"This process of verification is also being conducted on the cadavers of the other terrorists that have been recovered so far," Lorenzana added.

Hapilon was killed in Marawi on October 16 in an assault led by the Scout Rangers.

Omar Maute, another top leader of the siege, was killed in the same assault.

A day after their deaths, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the "liberation" of Marawi from "terrorist influence." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said on Saturday, October 21, that the drug suspect in the viral 'Pieta' image that came to be used to criticize President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs was not killed by the police, but by drug syndicates.

"Authorities have put closure on the death of Michael Siaron, whose photo was compared to the Pieta image, after ballistics examination from a recovered firearm revealed that he was killed by a member of a syndicate also involved in the illegal drug trade," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement on Saturday.

Michael Siaron was shot dead in the EDSA-Taft area on July 23, 2016, around two months after Duterte took office as President. Siaron was photographed being cradled by partner Jennilyn Olayres, like Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus in the Michelangelo masterpiece Pieta.

(READ: Was the PNP’s war on drugs illegal? Here’s why lawyers think so) 

It was prominently featured by Philippine news outlets and was carried by international news outfits including The New York Times, earning the ire of Duterte when he delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, 2016. 

"The Siaron case verifies what government has said from the start of the campaign against illegal drugs: Many of these killings were perpetrated by those involved in drug operations as well; drug traffickers and pushers eliminating each other," Abella said.

In the 14 months (it was suspended for a month from January 30 to February 27, 2017) that the Philippine National Police (PNP) conducted the war on drugs, they reported to killing 3,906 drug suspects in their operations.

Another 2,290 deaths were recorded with motives to be drugs, killed by vigilantes. 

Duterte has suspended the police's Oplan Double Barrel twice in 2017 and has now appointed Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as the 'sole agency' to carry out the campaign. 

"The relentless attribution of such killings to police operations was both premature and unfair to law abiding enforcement officers who risk life and limb to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs in our society," Abella said.

Abella added: "Government assures the public and the families of victims of deaths under investigation that authorities will pursue cases until the truly guilty are brought before the bar of justice."

In an interview with Al Jazeera on October 7, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that “every single one” of the deaths are being investigated.

But as of September 27, the PNP has only managed to submit 10 inquest reports out of the 3,800 deaths at the time.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has prosecuted only 71 drug-related deaths, and of those, only 19 has reached the courts, as per DOJ’s own data as of August 22. – Rappler.com

MADRID, Spain – Spain on Saturday, October 21, will take unprecedented steps to seize powers from Catalonia's separatist government after Madrid won powerful backing from the king and the EU in its battle to keep the country together.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will meet with his cabinet at 10.00 am (0800 GMT) to set out specific powers it plans to take away from the wealthy northeast region, which currently enjoys wide autonomy including control over its own policing, education and healthcare.

The measures – which take the country into uncharted legal waters – come after Spain's King Felipe VI on Friday blasted what he said was an "unacceptable secession attempt" and said the crisis sparked by the region's banned October 1 independence referendum must be resolved "through legitimate democratic institutions".

"We do not want to give up that which we have built together," he pleaded.

Madrid enjoys constitutional powers to wrest back control of rebellious regions in one of the Western world's most decentralised nations, but it has never used them.

Autonomy is a hugely sensitive issue in semi-autonomous Catalonia, which saw its powers taken away under Spain's military dictatorship. Home to 7.5 million people, the region fiercely defends its own language and culture.

'Critical point'

There are fears of unrest if Madrid seeks to impose direct rule of any kind, and Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has said such a move could push regional lawmakers to declare unilateral independence.

But Rajoy said Friday that Spain had reached a "critical point" after weeks of political limbo and that his government had to act to stop the rule of law being "liquidated".

Rajoy is likely to announce plans to take control of Catalonia's 16,000-strong police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, whose leader Josep Lluis Trapero could face up to 15 years in jail on sedition charges for failing to contain separatist protests ahead of the referendum.

Madrid could also seek to force new elections – its preferred solution to Spain's most protracted political crisis since it returned to democracy in 1977 – as early as January.

Rajoy is due to hold a press conference early Saturday afternoon to announce his plans, which must pass through the Senate where his conservative Popular Party holds a majority -- a process that would take about a week.

Speaking on Friday night at the Princess of Asturias Awards – Spain's answer to the Nobels – King Felipe described Catalonia as "an essential part of 21st century Spain".

'Hellish mess'

EU leaders, who were at the ceremony to collect a prize for encouraging harmony in Europe, used their acceptance speeches to demand respect for the law in words that offered implicit backing to Madrid.

"Some are sowing discord by deliberately ignoring law," European Parliament president Antonio Tajanisaid at the awards night in the northern city of Oviedo.

He added pointedly: "All too often in the past the prospect of redrawing borders has been presented as a heavenly panacea that has resulted in a hellish mess."

As tensions continue to run high, independence supporters are set to rally in Barcelona Saturday evening calling for the release of Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez, the leaders of two powerful grassroots separatist groups who have been in jail since Monday pending investigation into sedition charges.

Puigdemont says he has a mandate to declare independence after the referendum, which his administration says resulted in a 90% Yes vote.

But turnout was given as only 43% as many Catalans who back unity stayed away from the banned vote.

Accounting for about a fifth of Spain's economic output, Catalonia is evenly split over whether to break away from Spain, according to polls.

Supporters say the wealthy region does too much to prop up the rest of the national economy and would thrive if it went its own way, but opponents say Catalonia is stronger as part of Spain and that a split would spell economic and political disaster.

Nearly 1,200 companies that have shifted their registered domiciles to other parts of Spain since the referendum, hoping to minimise instability.

Madrid this week cut its national growth forecast for next year from 2.6% to 2.3%, saying the standoff was creating uncertainty. – Rappler.com

CEBU CITY, Philippines – To give Cebuanos the chance to pay their last respect and witness the burial of the late Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) has requested Malacañang to declare October 26 a holiday in Cebu.

In a statement, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino said he has communicated to the Office of the President, through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the Cebuanos’ wish to have October 26, Vidal’s scheduled burial day, to be declared a holiday.

“Indeed a pivotal shepherd for 29 years in our Archdiocese, the declaration of a holiday on the occasion of his interment will enable our people to pay their last respects to the beloved Cardinal,” Dino said.

Attached to the letter are endorsements from the provincial government and some Cebu City councilors. Dino added that the Office of the Executive Secretary is now studying the request.

“I am looking forward to a positive response from Malacañang,” he added.

While the Archdiocese of Cebu has not officially requested for the holiday, media liaison officer Monsignor Joseph Tan said the church welcomes the move of Dino and other local officials.

“If it is extended to us, by all means, we are more than grateful for the thoughtfulness of paying respect for the funeral of Cardinal Vidal,” Tan told reporters.

The late Cardinal Vidal was transferred from the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral to the San Pedro Calungsod Shrine inside the Archbishop's palace Saturday morning.

The late Cardinal will be brought back to the Cathedral on October 26 though a funeral procession.

Tan said a number of VIPs are expected to attend the funeral, including a representative of Pope Francis. The regional vicar of Opus Dei in the Philippines is also expected to fly to Cebu and preside over one of the Sunday Requiem Masses.

Vidal’s younger brother, Juanito, said relatives and family members in Marinduque have expressed interest to attend the wake and burial of the late cardinal but the bad weather have prevented them from sailing.

“I hope the weather will calm down in the next few days so our relatives can get here from Marinduque,” Juanito said.

The 84-year-old brother of Vidal arrived in Cebu ahead when he learned that the cardinal was rushed to the hospital last October 11. – Rappler.com

TANJUNG BUNGAH, Malayasia – Two workers were found dead and 12 others were missing Saturday, October 21, after a landslide at a construction site on the popular Malaysian tourist island of Penang, officials said.

Rescuers rushed to the Tanjung Bungah area on the north of Penang after the accident was reported just before 9:00 am (0100 GMT), the fire and rescue department said.

Pictures showed large piles of earth had slipped off a hillside onto the site, where houses were being built.

Two bodies were pulled from the mud and twelve others were still missing, said Anuar Omar, a local police official. He said the victims were believed to be migrant workers. 

Many foreigners work in low-paying, physically-demanding industries such as construction in Malaysia.

Penang Island City Council mayor Maimunah Sharif said it was not clear what caused the accident but ruled out the possibility of wet weather as there had not been heavy rains for some days.

The rapid pace of construction on Penang has raised concerns about damage to the environment and that rules regarding safety are not always adhered to. 

Tanjung Bungah, north of Penang's capital George Town, is home to beaches and some hotels, and is popular with expatriate residents.

George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a former British colonial trading outpost famed for its mix of architectural and religious influences and vast range of street food. – Rappler.com

TOKYO, Japan – A powerful typhoon was bearing down on Japan Saturday, October 21, a day ahead of national elections, with experts predicting severe winds and heavy rains as the country goes to the polls.

Super typhoon Lan, described as "very large" and "very strong" by Japan's Meteorological Agency, was packing gusts up to 252 kilometers (157 miles) per hour Saturday above Pacific waters south of Japan.

As Lan drew closer, voters on remote southern islands in the path of the storm cast their ballots early for Sunday's (October 22) election.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the US Navy called it a super typhoon.

The Japanese agency said Lan would move just east of Okinawa Sunday before grazing the country's coastal areas, possibly directly hitting Tokyo or surrounding regions, Monday morning, October 23.

Meteorologists expect strong winds and heavy rain across much of Japan on Sunday.

Regardless of weather, however, national surveys have largely predicted that the ruling bloc, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was likely to claim a landslide victory.

Abe has called on voters to cast their ballots early to avoid bad weather.

Turnout has declined to below 60% in the last two general elections. The last vote in December 2014 saw a record-low rate of 52.66%. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division on Saturday, October 21, welcomed soldiers fresh off an almost 5-month deployment to Marawi City.

Troops from the 1st Infantry Battalion, led by Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Tampus, were met with a hero’s welcome at Camp General Mateo Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

Tampus and his troops were among the first to arrive in Marawi to augment local forces after local terrorists attemped to take over the city on May 23.

 praised his men and women, who helped in the recovery of firearms and rescue of hostages.

“Your accomplishments is the proof of the combat expertise and excellence of the Jungle Fighters wherever we may be deployed in country,” he said.

Parayno also commended the female soldiers who, he said, were the “embodiment of the modern Maria Clara – strong, aggressive, determined, patriotic and above all, ladylike and charismatic.”

On May 23, soldiers tried to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, Abu Sayyaf commander and supposed emir in an attempt to establish an Islamic State in the Philippines. Government officials were surprised to find armed fighters, wearing black and brandishing the ISIS flag, emerging to clash with government troops as a response to the operation.

Nearly 5 months later, on October 16, Hapilon and Omar Maute, leader of the Maute group, were killed in a military operation. The following day, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the “liberation” of Marawi, although clashes continued in some areas. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte has warned that he may bring the police back to the frontlines of his deadly war on drugs.

Duterte made the comments late Friday, October 21, following his announcement more than a week earlier to withdraw the police from his anti-drug war after they were accused of rights abuses in killing thousands of people while following his orders to eradicate illegal drugs.

He replaced them with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), which has about 2,000 officers compared with the 165,000-strong police force.

Duterte has repeatedly insisted he has not ordered or incited police to murder drug addicts or suspects, while at other times he has said he would be happy to slaughter them or have tens of thousands killed.

On Friday, Duterte said he was already considering bringing the police back to run the drug war.

"Okay, let us see, 6 months from now. If things get worse again, I will say to these apes: 'Go back to this job. You solve this problem of ours,'" he said, referring to the police.

Barely a week after Malacañang released the President's memo removing the PNP from the helm of the anti-drug campaign, top cop Director General Ronald dela Rosa said he would ask Duterte to reverse his decision if there would be a spike in drug-related crimes. (READ: If crimes rise, I'll ask Duterte to order PNP back to drug war – Dela Rosa)

The President also said Friday night that he would be prepared to kill criminals himself, as he raised doubts about the PDEA being able to contain illegal drugs. 

"Those who rape children, who rape women, those sons of – if you don't want the police, I am here now. I will shoot them. That's true! If nobody would dare it, I will pull the trigger," he said.

Duterte was elected to office in 2016 after vowing during the campaign that 100,000 people would die as he eradicated illegal drugs in society.

Since then, police have reported killing more than 3,900 "drug personalities." Another 2,290 purple have died in unsolved "drug-related" killings, government figures show.

Many Filipinos continue to support the charismatic Duterte, seeing him as the solution to crime and corruption.

But human rights and Catholic Church leaders charge thousands of extra-judicial killings have been carried out by police and vigilantes as part of the drug war. (READ: The Impunity Series) 

Authorities insist police only kill in self defense. While a majority of Filipinos support the government's campaign against illegal drugs, most of them also fear ending up as collateral damage in the campaign like teenager Kian delos Santos, whose death sparked public outrage.

Duterte in January made a similar move to give the appearance of sidelining the police from the drug war after revelations that officers murdered a  South Korean businessman in the police headquarters under the guise of an anti-drug operation.

He had then described the police as "corrupt to the core" and gave PDEA the lead role in the drug war.

But Duterte quickly reinstated the police without making any major reforms. Police officials swiftly announced a revitalised anti-drug campaign named "Double Barrel Re-Loaded."

Asked for a reaction to Duterte's latest comments, PDEA spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon conceded the agency faced a tough battle and was prepared to stand aside for the police.

"If the president so decides, we will welcome that," Carreon told Agence France-Presse.

"We are strained. Definitely it will be an uphill climb." 

PDEA chief Aaron Aquino himself had earlier said that the police was still needed in the government's war on drugs because of the lack of manpower of his agency. – with reports from Agence France-Presse / Rappler.com

KABUL, Afghanistan – The death toll in the Shiite mosque attack in Kabul has jumped to 56, officials said on Saturday, October 21, as the Afghan capital reels from the latest deadly violence. 

"The toll from yesterday's Imam Zaman mosque attack has increased to 56 killed, including women and children, and 55 wounded," an interior ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Officials had previously put the number of dead at 39 and 45 wounded in the attack claimed by the Islamic State group, which belongs to the rival Sunni branch of Islam. 

The lone suicide attacker struck as worshippers gathered for evening prayer on Friday at the mosque in a heavily Shiite neighbourhood in the west of the city. 

It was one of 2 deadly mosque attacks in the country on Friday, capping one of the bloodiest weeks in Afghanistan in recent memory.

The second assault happened in the impoverished and remote province of Ghor where a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 20 and wounding 10 others, the interior ministry said. 

People expressed anger at the government's inability to protect its citizens in the Afghan capital, which accounted for nearly 20 percent of the country's civilian deaths in the first half of the year. – Rappler.com