US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Manila on Thursday to strengthen cooperation in the fight against Abu Sayyaf militants. US Special Forces have been stationed in the country to train Filipino troops for the past eight years.
Typhoon Mirinae has killed at least one person as it smashed through the Philippines overnight, worsening floods in areas that were struggling to recover from recent deadly storms.
The death toll in the Philippines has passed 540 after two weeks of storms and floods. At least 181 were killed in rain-triggered landslides on Thursday night.
High water released from dams after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides in the northern part of the main Filipino island of Luzon. Rescue officials believe at least 94 people were killed in the past week.
Typhoon Parma pummeled the northern areas of the Philippines, killing at least four people. Millions in Manila continue to struggle to recover from rains that submerged most of the capital, claiming nearly 300 lives, last weekend.
After deadly floods killed almost 300 people and affected over three million more last week, President Gloria Arroyo (photo) is preparing the nation for a typhoon, expected on Saturday, by declaring a nationwide "state of calamity".
Typhoon Ketsana has killed 86 people in Vietnam and at least 277 people in Philippines, according to government officials, as the Southeast Asian region struggled to cope with the havoc wrought by landslides and rising flood waters.
Typhoon Ketsana has killed at least 49 people and caused widespread floods in Vietnam and Cambodia, adding to the 246 deaths in the Philippines. The storm is now making its way towards Laos.
Typhoon Ketsana has killed at least 31 people in Vietnam, adding to the 246 known to have died in the Philippines when Ketsana, then a weaker tropical storm, devastated Manila at the weekend.
