The Philippine government and the country’s largest Muslim rebel group have reached a preliminary peace deal that is a major breakthrough toward ending a decades-long insurgency that killed tens of thousands and held back development in the south.

A 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines today, killing at least one person in a house collapse, knocking out power in several towns and generating negligible tsunami surges.

A landslide tore through a small gold mining site in the southern Philippines today, killing at least 25 people and burying dozens more.

A consignment of emergency supplies from Ireland has arrived in the Philippines where thousands of families have been left homeless due to flooding.

Ireland is to airlift emergency shelter supplies to the flood-hit Philippines.

The Government is donating €100,000 to the relief effort following the typhoon in the Philippines.

DISASTER agencies yesterday delivered body bags, food, water, and medicine to crowded evacuation centres in the southern Philippines as officials ordered the digging of graves to prevent disease after hundreds died in flash floods.

The death toll from storm-triggered flash floods that devastated a wide swathe of the southern Philippines has risen to 521, the Philippine Red Cross said today.

Pounding rain from a tropical storm swelled rivers and sent walls of water crashing into two southern Philippine cities in the thick of night, killing at least 436 people, many caught in their beds, officials said today.

The death toll from storm-triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines has risen to more than 120, with over 100 people missing.

A bomb-maker was killed by his own device as he tried to give Islamic school pupils a lesson in how to make explosives, it has emerged.

Elderly priest Fr Michael Sinnott made an emotional return to Ireland today for the first time since his month in captivity at the hands of Philippine rebels.

Three suspected Muslim separatist rebels have been charged in connection with the kidnapping of an Irish priest in the Philippines, the national police chief said today.

A KIDNAPPED Irish priest freed after over a month in captivity in the Philippines has vowed to remain in the Asian islands and continue his work.

An elderly Irish priest released after 32 days in captivity in the Philippines today told how he hiked through jungles, survived raging seas and slept in a swamp under a tarpaulin before his release.

It has been confirmed tonight that Fr Michael Sinnott, an elderly Irish priest held captive by a kidnap gang in the Philippines, has been released.

THE superior of kidnapped Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott has said he was happy that video footage showed the 79-year-old alive but concerned as to how long his health can hold out.

The elderly Irish priest snatched by a kidnap gang in the Philippines is believed to be alive and has received vital medicine for a heart problem, it emerged today.

KIDNAPPED Irish priest Michael Sinnott is in critical condition due to malnutrition and lack of medicine for his heart condition.

FEARS are growing about the wellbeing of kidnapped Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott, who is entering his third week of captivity in the Philippines today.

A rally will be held in the Philippines later today to demand the release of an Irish priest being held captive there.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs has discounted speculation that kidnapped Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott has died in captivity.

A massive public rally will be held tomorrow in the Philippines demanding a kidnap gang release an ailing Wexford-born priest snatched almost a fortnight ago.

RELEASED GOAL aid worker Sharon Commins’s thoughts were for the need to continue humanitarian work and for the people of Sudan who helped secure her release, when she spoke just hours after the end of her 107-day captivity.

THE Philippine military said yesterday it knows where a kidnapped elderly Irish priest is being held on a remote southern island and contact had been made with his abductors to get the hostage lifesaving medicine.

Fears were growing today for the health of an elderly Irish missionary who was dramatically kidnapped in the Philippines by armed raiders who burst into his home.

A 79-YEAR-OLD Irish priest has been kidnapped in a southern region of the Philippines after he was bundled into the back of pickup truck.

An Irish priest was kidnapped by an armed gang in the Philippines tonight.

Yes, there is public feeling about the Palestinians and their rotten deal. I’ve never heard Chechnya being discussed on the DART, whereas I have heard Israel being trashed on buses as well as at smart dinner parties. Besides, who’s ever heard of a “Sri Lanka out of Tamil Eelam” march through Cork or calls for a boycott of Russia?

American and Philippine experts began DNA tests today to determine whether remains found in a jungle grave are of an elusive terror suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings who authorities believe was killed in a clash with US-backed troops.

THE Filipino bride of a British clergyman has confessed to his murder, police said yesterday.

A five-year-old boy was killed and dozens of people wounded today wounded when a powerful bomb ripped through a teeming bus terminal in the Philippines.

Philippine security officials raised the terror alert to the highest level in two southern regions, including one where authorities foiled a bomb attack on a national athletic event, due to the threat of bombings, police said today.

U2 frontman Bono will present an award in Dublin today honouring people dedicated to defending human rights.

Troops in the Philippines captured three al Qaida-linked militants but missed two top terror suspects, including an Indonesian wanted for alleged involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings, during a raid on a rebel hide-out today, military officials said.

At least six people were killed and another 29 wounded when a bomb exploded during a town festival today in the southern Philippines.

At least 5,000 villagers have fled their homes in nearly a week of sporadic clashes between Muslim guerrillas and pro-government militiamen in the southern Philippines, rebels and officials said today.

The Philippine military has crippled a suspected coup plot by identifying and investigating 14 officers who were allegedly involved, the army chief said today.

‘DEMOLITION Man’ and ‘Moneyman’ are suspected of being the masterminds behind the latest Bali bombings.

JAPANESE diplomats are investigating an astonishing claim that two former Japanese soldiers have been hiding in the mountains of the southern Philippines since World War Two.

THE Philippine president said yesterday authorities had arrested four militants and seized 80 pounds of explosives, averting a “Madrid-level” terrorist attack.

THE PHILIPPINE president yesterday flew to the devastated island of Leyte, where authorities declared a calamity following weekend floods and mudslides that killed at least 160 people in the region.

THE death toll from devastating mudslides in the Philippines rose to at least 119 yesterday, with searchers saying they have dug up the bodies of entire families huddled together in their buried village homes.

Landslides and floods have killed about 80 people in the southern and central Philippines, following several days of rain, officials said today.