GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

1 Filipinos raise flag

MANILA: Filipino forces and officials have marked the country’s Independence Day by raising the Philippine flag in a southern city where troops are trying to end a three-week siege by Islamic State group-aligned militants. The fighting erupted on May 23 and has left 270 combatants and civilians dead. The flag-raising ceremony yesterday was held at the city hall in southern Marawi, the heartland of Islamic faith in the country’s south.

2 Quake rocks island

JAKARTA: A strong earthquake rocked western parts of Indonesia’s main island early Monday, causing panic but no immediate reports of damages or casualties. The National Disaster Management Agency said the earthquake shook wide parts of western Java island including the capital, Jakarta. It said residents in some cities ran out of houses in panic.

3 Statehood favoured

SAN JUAN: Puerto Rico’s governor announced that the US territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a nonbinding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the US mainland. Nearly half a million votes were cast for statehood, about 7600 for free association/ independence and nearly 6700 for the current territorial status, according to preliminary results. Governor Ricardo Rossello from vowing to make the island the 51st US state. .