Asia longest insurgency close to end

The leaders of the Philippines' biggest Muslim rebel group arrived in Manila on Sunday for a historic visit aimed at ending one of Asia's longest and deadliest insurgencies.

Flag MILF or MNLF [Flag fotw]

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim and other senior rebel figures emerged from their remote bases in the country's south to oversee the signing of an accord on Monday that outlines a road map for peace by 2016.

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The accord, announced by President Benigno Aquino a week ago, has won applause from foreign governments and the United Nations as a rare chance to end a rebellion that has killed an estimated 150,000 people since the 1970s.

Read more about it at Business Recorder

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Half of Manila submerged by Torrential Rains

Relentless rains submerged half of the sprawling Philippine capital, triggered a landslide that killed nine people and sent emergency crews scrambling to rescue tens of thousands of residents, some of whom called media outlets pleading for help.

The deluge, the worst to hit Manila since 2009 when hundreds died in rampaging flash floods, was set off by the seasonal monsoon that overflowed major dams and rivers in the city and surrounding provinces.

Manila and other parts of the country already were saturated from last week's Typhoon Saola, which battered the capital and the north for several days before blowing away Friday. That storm was responsible for at least 53 deaths.

"It's like a water world," Benito Ramos, head of the government's disaster response agency, said Tuesday.

Read more: C TV News

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