Thousands of Filipinos led by left-wing and church groups turned out for a rally in Manila today to protest against moves to rewrite the constitution, which they say is a ploy to prolong the president’s stay in power.

At least six people were killed and dozens of others injured when a powerful explosion rocked a crowded shopping centre in the capital of the Philippines today.

Vietnam began evacuating more than 180,000 people from its central coast as powerful Typhoon Xangsane approached from the Philippines, where it left at least 63 people dead and about 70 missing, officials said today.

A captain accused of helping lead hundreds of troops in a failed 2003 mutiny in the Philippines escaped from a court where he was awaiting a hearing on the case today.

A third of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Cabinet quit en masse today and urged the Philippine leader to step down, saying she has been crippled by an election scandal and has lost the ability to lead.