Philippines

An erupting Taal volcano in the Philippines remains life-threatening despite weaker emissions and fewer tremors, according to an official who advised thousands of displaced villagers not to return to the danger zone.

Maria Antonia Bornas, an official with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said on Friday that continuing volcanic quakes, the drying of the crater lake and other signs indicated magma was moving beneath.

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“When there is an explosion, that will be life-threatening, especially if people get very near, like on Volcano Island,” Renato Solidum, head of the institute, told The Associated Press news agency.

Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan, reporting from Batangas province, said she accompanied several top government officials on their very first reconnaissance flight over Lipa City towards Taal Lake in a helicopter.

“What we saw there was beyond human comprehension. What was once a popular tourist destination is now unrecognisable. From above, we

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/philippine-taal-volcano-life-threatening-lull-200117150240240.html

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In the Philippines, an erupting volcano is still threatening lives despite weaker emissions and fewer tremors.

Government officials have been travelling by helicopter to monitor the volcano’s crater.

Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan reports from Batangas province.

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/philippines-volcanic-eruption-poses-threats-200117131112223.html

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Warnings of another volcanic eruption in the Philippines have forced thousands more people to abandon their homes. 

Access to high-risk areas is limited near the Taal volcano in Batangas Province.  

Drone video shows a town near the volcano being blanketed with falling ash.

Buildings have collapsed and evacuation centres are almost full.

Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride joined scientists as they monitored the volcano – and sent us this report.

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/philippines-braces-volcanic-eruption-threat-200116125658710.html

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Coastguards in the Philippines say Taal Volcano on the island of Luzon is poses a grave threat as it could erupt at any time, possibly triggering a “volcanic tsunami”.

The volcano hurled ash and lava on Sunday as the government declared a state of emergency and moved 38,000 residents to safety.

But despite these warnings, fishermen whose livelihoods are dependant on their daily catch are still venturing into the waters surrounding Taal.

Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan reports from the province of Batangas in the northern Philippines.

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/philippine-volcano-taal-threat-fishermen-flock-200116083259685.html

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Communities around the Taal volcano have been deluged with volcanic ash from the eruption forcing tens of thousands to evacuate [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

Batangas, Philippines – Marilyn La Luz had always known that Taal Volcano Island was a danger zone, but she never thought of leaving.

Her parents lived there all their life and she grew up on its lower slopes amid patches of lush greenery, frolicking horses and a view of Taal Volcano’s crater just a few kilometres away through an easy climb.

“We lived in paradise. Everyone who comes to Taal Volcano even says so,” she said. 

It was a paradise that drew in thousands of tourists and ensured a comfortable income for 32-year-old La Luz who worked as a tour guide.

She would make 350 Philippine pesos (about $8) for every tour she booked. On average, she could book about two trips in a day.

But it

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/man-land-philippines-volcano-displaced-fear-future-200114234444635.html

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Red-hot lava spewed from a volcano near the Philippine capital of Manila on Monday as tens of thousands of people fled through heavy ash and frightening tremors, and authorities made plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands more for fear of a bigger eruption.

Clouds of ash from the Taal volcano reached Manila, 65km (40 miles) to the north, on Sunday, forcing the shutdown of the country’s main airport, with more than 500 flights canceled. The airport partially reopened on Monday after the ashfall eased.

There were no immediate reports of any deaths or major damage directly blamed on the eruption. A truck, however, skidded out of control on an ash-blanketed road, killing the driver and injuring three companions in Laguna province in an accident police said may have been linked to slippery conditions.

The government’s disaster-response agency and other officials reported more than 30,000 villagers fled their homes in the

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/pictures-taal-volcano-spews-lava-sends-ash-clouds-sky-200114065947295.html

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Tagaytay, Philippines – The Philippine government is on full alert, bracing itself for the possible eruption of the Taal volcano, the second most active in the Southeast Asian nation.

Forced evacuations took place on Sunday and about 8,000 people were moved to safer ground or housed in evacuation centres.

Roads to an evacuation centre in Talisay town on Monday were blocked with police saying that the volcanic ash had made the roads too dangerous to cross.

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There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage but there was no power in affected areas and water was in short supply.

“We have to be very cautious,” said Pong Mercado, the mayor of Taal town. “The roads are slippery and dangerous. I myself am making plans to move to safer ground.”

Volcanology and Seismology Department (PhilVocs) has been monitoring Taal since March last year.

On Sunday, it raised the alert level to

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/philippines-alert-volcano-spews-ash-steam-lava-200113050738645.html

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Kashmir has been without broadband and mobile data services since August 5 when the government revoked its special status [Athar Parvaiz/Thomson Reuters Foundation]

Braving the snow and cold, Abrar Ahmad, 18, is one of the thousands of Kashmiris who regularly spend hours journeying on a packed train just so that they can go online as the region grapples with the longest internet blackout imposed by the federal government.

Stepping off the crammed train – dubbed the “Internet Express” by Kashmiris – in the town of Banihal, about 100km (approximately 60 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar, the passengers make a beeline for cafes where they pay up to 300 rupees ($4.20) for hourlong broadband access.

“I couldn’t have afforded to miss this opportunity,” Ahmad told the Thomson Reuters Foundation after filling out an online job application at a teeming internet cafe, where dozens of others hit

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/internet-express-helping-kashmiris-online-200113032942806.html

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The local disaster office said it had evacuated over 2,000 residents living on the volcanic island [Aaron Favila/AP]

A volcano near the Philippine capital of Manila has spewed a massive cloud of ash into the sky, forcing the precautionary evacuation of thousands of residents, authorities said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Sunday raised the alert level at the rumbling Taal volcano, 65km (40miles) south of Manila, to “level 3”, indicating “magmatic unrest” that could lead to a “hazardous eruption in weeks”.

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The highest alert is level 5, hoisted when magmatic eruption is under way.

The institute said it was strongly recommending that people evacuate the area around the volcano, which is on an island in the middle of Taal lake, and two nearby “high-risk” municipalities in Batangas province as it warned of “possible hazards of pyroclastic density currents and volcanic tsunami”.

“We have to

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/thousands-evacuated-restive-philippine-volcano-rumbles-200112113037828.html

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There are as many as two million Filipinos working across the Middle East region [File: Rolex Dela Pena/EPA]

It was early on Wednesday when the music at a bar near the United States consulate in Erbil abruptly stopped.

“They suddenly shut down all the … establishments still open at that time, and ordered us all to leave immediately,” recalled Mark, a Filipino migrant worker who asked to be identified only by his first name for safety concerns.

A commotion ensued, with people running towards every direction, Mark said. Meanwhile, at a military facility nearby, alarms rang out to warn of an impending attack.

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Iran on Wednesday launched missiles at bases in Iraq hosting US troops in retaliation for the assassination last week of its top military commander, Qassem Soleimani, near Baghdad’s international airport. Washington said Tehran fired 16 short-range ballistic missiles, with at least 11 striking Ain al-Assad airbase in

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/asian-workers-caught-bind-middle-east-tensions-soar-200108072754503.html

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Poll finds world sceptical President Donald Trump will do right in foreign affairs. [File: Alex Brandon/The Associated Press]

A poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre, before President Donald Trump signed off on a US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, found that the world was sceptical that after three years in office, the US leader will do the right thing on foreign affairs. 

The majority of people in many of the 33 nations surveyed by the nonpartisan research centre disapproved of a number of Trump’s most talked about policies, including imposing tariffs on imported goods as a way to gain leverage in trade disputes, withdrawing from international climate change agreements, building a wall on the US-Mexico border and putting tougher restrictions on immigration to the US.

Similarly, across the 33 countries, more people disapprove than approve of Trump’s decision to have the US be the

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/33-countries-majority-people-disapprove-trump-pew-200108154931109.html

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With Iran’s strike at US forces in Iraq dominating coverage internationally, below is a roundup of some of the stories you may have missed.

Putin visits Turkey to talk Libya, Syria and gas

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to host Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to inaugurate a new gas pipeline, with tensions in Libya and Syria also on the agenda.

Putin arrived late on Tuesday after paying a surprise visit to Syria – his first to Damascus since the war began – at a moment of acute uncertainty in the Middle East following the assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani Soleimani by the United States.

The ceremony in Istanbul is due to start at 1200 GMT.

Russia and Turkey remain on opposing sides in the Syria conflict and could be on a collision course in Libya [Sergei Chikirov/ AFP]

Snipers to cull

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/stories-missed-iran-missile-attacks-200108061836558.html

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Countries are considering the safety of their citizens in Iraq and Iran amid escalating tension between the US and Iran [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Iran fired more than a dozen rockets at two Iraqi military bases hosting US troops early on Wednesday morning, the Pentagon confirmed.

The missiles targeted the Ain al-Asad base in Anbar province and a facility near Erbil’s airport in northern Iraq and were fired in retaliation for the killing of its top commander Qassem Soleimani by the United States, Iran said.

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US President Donald Trump said he would make a statement on the attacks on Wednesday morning in Washington.

As tension increases, governments elsewhere in the world are calling for a return to diplomacy and considering plans to withdraw their citizens.

Below are reactions from around the world.

Iran has fired more than a dozen rockets at two Iraqi military bases hosting US troops, the Pentagon confirmed.   

The rockets fired at the Ain al-Asad base in Anbar province and a base in Erbil early on Wednesday came amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington. 

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The attacks follow the US killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq last week. Iran had vowed severe retailiation. 

Here are all of the latest updates as of Wednesday, January 8:

Philippines to evacuate citizens from Iraq

The Philippines has ordered a mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in Iraq, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday following the attack on US forces there.

“The Alert Level in the entire Iraq has been raised to Alert Level 4 calling for mandatory evacuation,” said Eduardo Mendez, spokesman at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Iranian official warns any US retaliation will lead to regional war

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/iran-fires-rockets-forces-iraq-latest-updates-200107235228432.html

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Presidents and vice presidents are elected separately in the Philippines, resulting in candidates from rival parties like Duterte and Robredo in the country’s top leadership [File: Bullit Marquez/AP Photo]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte‘s campaign against illegal drugs has failed to substantially eradicate the menace and ensnare major drug lords, and should be reformed to prevent further bloodshed, the country’s vice president said late on Monday.

Vice President Leni Robredo, who leads the opposition, also called for a stop to the police practice of home inspections that have led to the killings of petty drug suspects.

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The vice president has been a longtime critic of Duterte’s drug crackdown and her latest comments are likely to deepen the political divide between the two leaders.

Presidents and vice presidents are elected separately in the Philippines, resulting in candidates from rival parties like Duterte and Robredo ending up in the country’s

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/philippine-vice-president-brands-duterte-drug-war-failure-200107011632995.html

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