Filipino troops began driving the country’s Isis affiliate from southern city of Marawi in earnest on Thursday. Backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, soldiers fought their way into the city of 200,000 inhabitants on the main southern island of Mindanao. Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera said:  "Attack helicopters fired rockets in a precision attack. We want to finish this problem as soon as possible." Reporters heard gunfire and saw plumes of smoke rising from the centre of the cordoned-off city as choppers roared overhead. Col Herrera said some 21 people had been killed so far, including 13 Abu Sayyaf gunmen and five soldiers. Lanao del Sur province Vice-Governor Mamintal Alonto Adiong said more than half the city’s population had fled. Abu Sayyaf seized the city on Tuesday night after a failed security forces raid to capture the extremists’ commander and preacher Isnilon Hapilon. They torched the city’s cathedral, took 14 hostages includi

Venezuela condemned Colombia on Sunday night for sending tanks to the border in a “provocation” amid surging unrest in both countries. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry released a statement slamming the deployment of armoured vehicles “scant metres from the frontier” in Paraguachon, Guajira department, on the Caribbean coast. The statement pointed out that in recent days Colombian authorities had “broadcast to the world that it they were preparing for waves of migrants from Venezuela to Colombia” fleeing violence in Venezuela. Caracas said: "The provocation aims to divert attention from the political and social crisis” in Colombia’s in the Cauca valley, Buenaventura, where a mass civic strike entered its seventh day yesterday, despite troops being deployed on the streets. Residents are demanding improvements to infrastructure and drinking water supply for the sake of their health. The Cauca Valley Patriotic Union yesterday sent a message of solidarity to Venezu

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte flew to Russia on Monday to sign defence and trade deals — turning his back on Western “double talk.” Speaking before the four day trip, Mr Duterte said: "Overdependence on traditional partners has limited our room to manoeuvre in a very dynamic, international arena. "Russia is a country that we must work with — there are opportunities that cannot be ignored." But in an interview with Russia Today TV on Sunday, Mr Duterte went further, telling the US: “You treat me as if I’m your colony still. I want my country to be treated with dignity.” “I want to deal with China and Russia. Because in Western world, it’s double talk.” “in the guise of the human rights, countries like EU and America are interfering into the affairs of other nations,” for example with claims of thousands of extrajudicial killings in his crackdown on drugs. “My orders were very clear: Go out and hunt for the drug lords. If they confront you with violence t

US President Donald Trump decried the “witch hunt” against him On Thursday — after a special counsel was appointed to probe claims the Kremlin swung last year’s election. He tweeted: “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” “With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign and Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!” On Wednesday the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the McCarthyite investigation into claims by the outgoing Obama government Russia orchestrated the defeat of Democratic candiate Hillary Clinton. Mr Mueller is a long-time colleague of James Comey, the FBI director Mr Trump sacked last week. Mr Comey was lambasted by Democrats after he reopened the probe into Ms Clinton’s use of a private server for classified emails weeks before the election date. "A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know — there was no collusion bet

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday US politicians whipping up Russophobia were either "stupid" or "dangerous." That followed Monday’s hysteria in Washington over President Donald Trump’s sharing intelligence — now rumoured to be from Israel —  on an Isis plot to bomb a Russian airliner with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week. Mr Putin offered to provide transcripts of the meeting. On claims Russia swung the election for Mr Trump, he said: “It's hard to imagine what the people who produce such nonsense can come up with next." Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman struck a jealous tone on Wedneday, saying: "The security relationship between Israel and our great ally the US is deep, meaningful and unprecedented in its scope.” On Tuesday an anonymous US official claimed he had seen a note scribbled by sacked FBI director James Comey that Mr Trump had asked him to halt the probe into former security adviser