A POPULAR TV host was questioned by the authorities yesterday following a stampede that killed at least 74 people and injured more than 500 others at a suburban Manila stadium where a massive crowd turned up to watch a popular TV game show.

A PHILIPPINE judge said he will insist on local custody of four American Marines charged with raping a Filipino woman, which would test a visiting forces treaty between the two allies.

Philippine legislators, groggy from a marathon debate session, today threw out all three impeachment charges against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo - despite warnings the move could worsen her political crisis and spark a new “people power” revolt.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today repeated that she would not step down and announced the creation of a truth commission to look into vote-rigging allegations against her.

Opposition groups seeking to oust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on vote-rigging allegations today said they would consider impeachment when Congress convenes next week, as two more of her close aides announced their resignations.

Muslim militants are plotting bombings of shopping centres and other crowded places in Manila during next week’s Easter break, reportedly in retaliation for a Philippines jailbreak attempt that left 23 suspected guerrillas dead, police said today.

Pope John Paul’s condition stabilised today after he was rushed to hospital with breathing trouble, but the flu-stricken pontiff will spend several more days at the clinic, the Vatican said.

World leaders and aid workers were preparing today to co-ordinate the distribution of billions of dollars in aid to countries hit by the worst natural disaster in decades.

A passenger train has derailed and tumbled into a ravine, killing at least 10 people and injuring 120, Philippine officials said today.

A MILITANT group holding two Bulgarian truck drivers hostage in Iraq said last night it had executed one of them and planned to kill the other in 24 hours.

The Philippine government was waiting for information today after making a direct appeal to the insurgents holding a Filipino hostage to spare his life.

The Philippine government made a direct appeal early today to insurgents holding a Filipino hostage, pleading with them to show mercy for the man they pledged to kill if the country did not agree to pull its troops from Iraq early.

Security forces in the Philippines were on red alert today as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared she had a new mandate to govern after the final election tally showed her winning by 1.1m votes.

A new “people power” revolt will erupt in the Philippines if movie star Fernando Poe Jr loses the presidential election through fraud, his party warned today – fighting words in a nation where popular protests have knocked two leaders out of office.

Security officers shot and killed the Philippines’ former top civil aviation administrator, and a navy reserve officer, who had seized the airport control tower in the capital Manila at gunpoint early today.

THE Philippines ordered a nationwide manhunt on Monday after one of the region’s top Islamic militants escaped from a high-security prison in Manila, apparently with the connivance of his guards.

A POWERFUL bomb hidden in a backpack exploded yesterday at an airport in the southern Philippines, killing at least 19 people and wounding more than 100, including three Americans, authorities said. The government called it a “brazen act of terrorism.”

A powerful bomb hidden in a backpack killed at least 17 people today when it ripped through a crowd outside an airport in the southern Philippines.