IS affiliate blamed for Davao blast

IS' affiliate in the Philippines has claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed at least 14 people and wounded 70 more at a bustling market.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared a nationwide “state of lawlessness” in the wake of the terror attack targeting his hometown of Davao, next to a hotel he frequently visits.

Visiting the scene of the blast on Friday night, he said the army and police would be deployed across the country but claimed the measures did not amount to martial law.

“These are extraordinary times and I'm authorised to allow the security forces of this country to do searches,” Duterte added, asking the public to cooperate and be vigilant.

An Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Rami, claimed responsibility for the blast near the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University, but Duterte said investigators were looking at the possible involvement of drug syndicates.

An improvised explosive device tore through the bustling market in the heart of Davao city and close to one of its top hotels just before 11:00pm (1500 GMT) on Friday.

Davao is part of the southern region of Mindanao, where Islamic militants have waged a decades-long separatist insurgency that has claimed more than 120,000 lives.

Duterte has in recent weeks pursued peace talks with the two main Muslim rebel groups, which each has thousands of armed followers. Their leaders have said they want to broker a lasting peace.

However the Abu Sayyaf, a much smaller and hardline group infamous for kidnapping foreigners to extract ransoms, has rejected Duterte's peace overtures. In response, Duterte deployed thousands of troops onto the small and remote island of Jolo to "destroy" the group.

Duterte had been mayor of Davao for most of the past two decades, before winning presidential elections in a landslide in May and being sworn in on June 30.

The military reported 15 soldiers died in clashes on Monday, but also claimed killing dozens of Abu Sayyaf gunmen.

'This is not a fight that any one country no matter how powerful can take alone. Some day we may see this as the moment that we finally decided to save our planet'

US President Barack Obama after ratifying the Paris climate Treaty 

Chinese President Xi Jinping urges restraint in dealing with NKorea in phone call with US President Donald Trump. Photo: AP

'Our response to climate change bears on the future of our people and the wellbeing of mankind. … Hopefully this will encourage other countries to take similar efforts'

Chinese President Xi Jingping expressing hope of a global effort to save Earth from global warming

'I want the closure of the camp as quickly as possible. … with the greatest determination in order to unblock Calais'
 

France's interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve vows to dismantle the 'jungle' refugee camp near Calais which houses around 7,000

'Yes, I was dead, it's true I was dead. I resurrected as I always do. Once I get back to my country I am real'
 

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, 90, laughs off death rumours after landing in Harare from a foreign trip