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The Republic of the Philippines is an archipeligo of over 7,100 islands located north of Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia in the Pacific Ocean and south of Taiwan. The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish- American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth. Manuel QUEZON was elected President and was tasked with preparing the country for independence after a 10-year transition. In 1942 the islands fell under Japanese occupation during WWII, and US forces and Filipinos fought together during 1944-45 to regain control. On...

I have created a public register of "bump lists" here on Free Republic. I define a bump list as a name listed in the "To" field used to index articles. Free Republic Bump List Register

A team of military intelligence and police drug enforcement units rounded up some 50 Muslim residents of the Al-Salam Mosque Compound in Barangay Culiat, Quezon City as part of intensified operations against illegal drugs and firearms in the metropolis. Senior Superintendent Procopio Lipana, chief of the Central Police District-Criminal Investigation Unit (CPD-CIU), said 12 suspects remained under their custody while the rest were released. Lipana identified the 12 as Dawabe Ben Albi Maulana, businessman from Basilan; Musa Sabaddin Abdurahman, 27; Awop Wadja Ignus, 26; Radjail Karawan Tirih, 34; Raquel Francisco Mabajo, 26; Pamaran Alain Awali, 48; Abubakar Cuevas Zunco, 34;...

HERO’S BURIAL: Gen. John MacDonald, official representative of the US army, hands over the American flag to Helen Therriem, mother of Fil-American US army specialist Solomon Bangayan (inset) who was killed in action in Iraq earlier this month. Bangayan was given the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal as he was buried in his hometown of Sudipen in La Union yesterday.

Malacañang will help deposed President Joseph Estrada secure a United States visa to allow him to undergo knee surgery in California, a ranking Palace official said yesterday. Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary Michael Defensor told The STAR he personally called up Estrada to assure him of assistance in securing a US visa. "I told him, ‘Mr. President, if you have any visa problems with the US Embassy (in Manila), please let us know and we will give you a line to them’," Defensor said. Malacañang made the offer after the Sandiganbayan on Tuesday allowed the former leader...

China developing `paralysis warfare'By Brian HsuSTAFF REPORTER Wednesday, Oct 08, 2003,Page 1 China's military is changing its strategy from deterrence to pre-emption, planning to use "paralysis warfare" against Taiwan in the future, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report delivered to the legislature's defense committee yesterday. "Paralysis warfare features Web-based information warfare, saturation ballistic missile attacks, joint precision strikes and seizure of the enemy's capital city by special operations units," the report says. "Such tactics will become a major option for the Chinese military in its choice of modes of attack against Taiwan in the future," it says....

<p>North Korea has admitted reprocessing 8,000 fuel rods from its Yongbyon nuclear reactor to boost its nuclear capabilities in response to threats from the United States.</p> <p>In a rare interview, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon told CNN of the move, saying North Korea's nuclear deterrence was not intended to attack other countries, but as a means to safeguard the country's territory.</p>

Official: NKorea Developing New Missile By GEORGE GEDDA Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Officials in the Bush administration have evidence that North Korea has been using Russian technology to develop a new intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching targets in the continental United States, an administration official said Thursday. The official, asking not to be publicly identified, estimated the potential range at 9,400 miles. The distance from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to San Francisco is about 5,500 miles. In theory at least, the new missile could strike any target on U.S. soil, the official said. There had...

Two hundred forty one active members and nine commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) abandoned the armed struggle for a separate Muslim state in Mindanao and formally pledged allegiance to the government yesterday. The ceremony was held at headquarters of the 4th Infantry division at Camp Edilberto Evangelista, in Cagayan de Oro City. Major Gen. Cristolito Balaoing, commander of the 4th Infantry "Diamond" Division, said the rebels also turned over to the government 140 high-powered firearms, including five 60 mm mortars and two 40 mm M-79 grenade launchers. According to Balaoing, the rebels who surrendered to the military...

The Philippine Star 07/12/2003 ZAMBOANGA CITY — A soldier was reportedly killed and a still undetermined number was wounded when a bomb fired by OV-10 bomber planes on Abu Sayyaf positions on an islet off this city last Thursday afternoon, missed its target and struck a military blocking force. An officer of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, however, said a number of Abu Sayyaf members were hit in the initial airstrike on Kabugan Island at about 2:50 p.m. Kabugan is one of the islets of Eleven Islands, some 60 kilometers off this city’s Curuan district, where Abu Sayyaf members have...

US vs Pyongyang: Watch RumsfeldBy Phar Kim Beng HONG KONG - As talks finally get under way between the United States and North Korea, the latter, which has made obstinacy and diplomatic misbehavior an art form, would do well to keep in mind the growing influence and staying power in Washington of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. With the US victory in Iraq all but declared, barely a year after a previous triumph in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld's influence has increased by several notches. Together with other neo-conservatives who urged the Iraq war, "Rummy", as he is affectionately known in Washington, is...

MOSCOW, January 15. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov yesterday held talks with Shigeru Ishiba, the head of the Japanese Defence Agency. According to the Foreign Ministry's press service, Ishiba was visiting Russia at the invitation of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. During the meeting, the two men touched on the issue of creating a missile defence shield in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Ivanov, the creation of such a system on a bloc basis 'could arouse concern among other countries, which would complicate the situation in the region.' The participants in the meeting came to the conclusion that in order...

April 23, 1951 It is Easter Monday in Korea, and the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Colonel James R. Stone) are in their rest area, a village called Kap'yong. At midnight, a massive Communist force of about 200,000 Chinese and North Korean soldiers attacks about 20 km to the north, driving the US I Corps and IX Corps out of the line and leaving the route to Seoul defended only by two regiments of the 6th South Korean (ROK) Division. At 3 a.m., 2 PPCLI is headed back into action. Col Stone places his companies...

GeoStrategy Direct Intelligence Briefing Headline Index April 23, 2002 (Some text subscriber only)FOCUS ON IRAN:U.S. Sees Iran Behind Anti-American violence in BahrainBACKGROUNDER COLUMN:Russia Modernizing It's ABM System, Al Qaeda in Canada..., and in Singapore.., Russian Intellligence Says Chechen Commander DeadDOSSIER: Marwan Barghouti-Documents Captured by Israel Detail Chaotic Regieme of Yasser Arafat and his Key TerroristFOCUS ON CHINA:Chinese Leaders Quietly Touring Arab RegionNORTHEAST ASIA REPORT:Japan's Nuclear Talk Rattles China, Taiwan Develops New Air Defense System, PLA Bans Cell Phones and Pagers, North Korea Helped Cuba in 1962MIDDLE EAST REPORT:Deep divisions within Bush White House on Mideast Policy, Israel's Military Performs Poorly...

US emphasizing its `six assurances' for TaiwanCNATOKYOThe George W. Bush administration has been paying increased attention to Taiwan's security and has recently reiterated the "six assurances" aimed at deterring China from attacking Taiwan militarily, a Japanese daily reported yesterday. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Bush administration has decided to apply the policy of the "six assurances" that were made to Taiwan by the Ronald Reagan administration in July 14, 1982, for the security of Taiwan. The six assurances are that the US has not agreed to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, it has not agreed...

A panel on US-China trade is scrutinising money flows between the two countries to see if they threaten United States national security, according to the group chairman. "Because of the nature of the relationship, there is a huge transfer of resources from the US to China at this time," Richard D'Amato, chairman of the US-China Security Review Commission, said on Wednesday. Mr D'Amato said the panel, scheduled to make recommendations to Congress in June, was examining the large trade surplus China enjoys with the US and the access Chinese companies have to the US stock market to raise funds against...

The Associated Press, Thu 11 Apr 2002 NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The three Chinese nationals accused of stealing trade secrets from Lucent Technologies also victimized four other companies, according to a new indictment returned Thursday. The three men, including two scientists who worked at Lucent's Murray Hill headquarters, now face 24 counts, including the original conspiracy charge, 14 counts of possessing trade secrets, and nine counts of wire fraud. They were first charged in May with plotting a joint venture with Datang Telecom Technology Co. Ltd., of Beijing. The trio planned to become ``the Cisco of China'' by selling a...

A US military team is to soon travel to Taiwan, bearing proposals for the sale of up to eight diesel electric submarines, to make good on a promise by President George W. Bush, a Pentagon spokesman said. The team, consisting of US Navy officials and members of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, are to deliver a variety of design and construction proposals drawn up by contractors, Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis said. "The president made a commitment to Taiwan last April to help it procure diesel submarines," he said. "That commitment was made in earnest and we intend to make good...

TOKYO: A conservative Japanese political leader has warned Beijing that Japan can arm itself with nuclear weapons overnight if China goes ahead with an excessive military build-up, press reports said on Sunday. The warning from opposition Liberal Party chief Ichiro Ozawa is likely to provoke sharp reaction from China and the rest of Asia, sensitive to any signs of Japan's military revival. In a lecture in the provincial city of Fukuoka on Saturday, Ozawa said he had referred to the nuclear option during a recent meeting with an official from the intelligence division of the Chinese Community Party, the reports...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The leader of Japan's opposition Liberal Party, Ichiro Ozawa, said on Saturday it would be a simple matter for Japan to produce nuclear weapons and surpass the military might of China if its neighbour got "too inflated". Inviting a sharp response from Beijing, which is sensitive to any signs of militarism in Japan, Ozawa told a seminar in the southern city of Fukuoka that "China is applying itself to expansion of military power". "If (China) gets too inflated, Japanese people will get hysterical," Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying. "It would be so easy for us...