World

One dead, six wounded in Philippines bus bombing

A child was killed and six others wounded after a bomb exploded on a public bus in the insurgency-plagued southern Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said, but no group has claimed responsibility.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Police said the explosion happened as the bus was travelling along a highway near Cotabato City on Mindanao island, a haven for multiple armed groups ranging from communist insurgents to extremist militants.

The bomb was “inside the bus, at the end part… where there were a lot of people sitting,” said Chief Master Sergeant Randy Hampac, police spokesman in Aleosan town.

A five-year-old boy died, while six others were wounded in the blast that shattered the back windows, Hampac said.

The wounded included a five-month-old baby and a three-year-old child.

A police report said one of the victims saw a male passenger leave “baggage” on the bus when he disembarked and it later exploded.

“It was the first time for this to happen in our town,” Hampac said.

“There were incidents of bombing of cell towers in previous years but this incident of an explosion in a bus, it’s the first time.”

Regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel John Baldomar said no group had admitted carrying out the “presumed attack”.

Militant attacks on buses, Catholic churches and public markets have been a feature of decades-long unrest in the region.

Manila signed a peace pact with the nation’s largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in 2014, ending their deadly armed rebellion.

But smaller bands of Muslim fighters opposed to the peace deal remain, including militants professing allegiance to ISIS. Communist rebels also operate in the region.

In May 2017, hundreds of pro-ISIS foreign and local gunmen seized Marawi, the country’s largest Muslim city.

The Philippine military wrested back the ruined city after a five-month battle that claimed more than a thousand lives.

Deaths in Philippines due to Typhoon Rai top 100, as mayors plead for food

More than 200 dead after year’s strongest typhoon slams Philippines

World

Russia’s Medvedev: Moscow forces may go to Kyiv or Lviv: RIA

Russian forces may have to advance as far as Kyiv or Lviv in Ukraine, Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview to Russian news agencies.

“Nothing can be ruled out here. If you need to get to Kyiv, then you need to go to Kyiv, if to Lviv, then you need to go to Lviv in order to destroy this infection,” RIA Novosti quoted Medvedev as saying on Friday.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Russia’s Medvedev says West won’t leave Russia, China alone: TASS

World

China, US Navy in row over guided-missile destroyer in South China Sea

China’s defense ministry said on Friday that it yet again had to monitor and drive away the US Navy destroyer USS Milius that entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands.

“We sternly demand the US to immediately stop such provocative acts, otherwise it will bear the serious consequences of unforeseen incidents,” a spokesperson said in a statement from the Ministry of National Defense.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

The US Navy said the guided-missile destroyer was asserting its navigational rights and freedoms.

“Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations,” the US Navy 7th fleet said in an emailed statement.

US forces operate in the South China Sea on a daily basis, the US Navy said.

It was the second straight day of a stand-off between the two super powers amid growing tensions in the South China Sea.

China claims vast swathes of the area that overlap with exclusive economic zones of various countries including the Philippines. Trillions of dollars in trade flow every year through the waterway.

China’s military says US warship illegally entered waters in South China Sea

World

Saudi Arabia on track to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030: Minister

Saudi Arabia is on track to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the country’s Deputy Minister for Water told the UN this week.

Dr Abdulaziz al-Shaibani – who headed the Kingdom’s delegation participating in the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York between March 22-24 – said the Kingdom will achieve its goals thanks to the restructuring of the water sector and the development of the National Water Strategy, state news agency SPA reported Friday.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Saudi Arabia has allocated $80 billion for water projects within the coming years as part of Saudi efforts to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

Dr. Al-Shaibani added that the Kingdom launched Vision 2030 and adopted the National Water Strategy in line with the goals of sustainable development.

The National Water Strategy aims to preserve water resources, protect the environment, and provide high-quality and efficient services.

The objectives of the National Water Strategy are in line with SDG6 in enabling access to clean and safe water globally.

“The Kingdom aspires to provide sanitation services to all by increasing the percentage of the population covered by sanitation services to be more than 95 percent by 2030. Also, KSA established the National Water Efficiency and Conservation Center,” Dr. Al-Shaibani added.

He noted that sustainable and resilient water management was on the G20 agenda during Saudi Arabia’s presidency and stressed that the Kingdom is on the right track to improving water demand management in agriculture to achieve SDG6.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, saw all 193 member countries of the UN unanimously adopt a landmark set of development goals intended to accelerate the world’s efforts to eradicate poverty, end hunger, protect the oceans and address climate change by 2030.

The 17 sustainable development goals are broken down into 169 specific targets that each country has committed to try to achieve voluntarily over the next 15 years.

Saudi Arabia progresses with its 2030 climate action plan: Energy Minister

Saudi Arabia announces 13 new renewables projects in latest move towards net-zero