Aussie nun wins reprieve

Troops clash with DAESH remnants

MANILA, June 18, (Agencies): An Australian nun ordered to leave the Philippines after angering President Rodrigo Duterte won a reprieve on Monday from imminent deportation but is still subject to proceedings to expel her.

Sister Patricia Fox, 71, was briefly detained in April after Duterte ordered her arrest, accusing her of political activism that violated the rules of her visa. The move came as the government cracked down on foreign critics of his human rights record.

The immigration service had cancelled her visa and directed Fox to leave the Philippines by Monday, but the justice department nullified the order as having no legal basis.

“What the (immigration service) did in this case is beyond what the law provides, that is why it has to be struck down,” said a statement from Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who oversees immigration matters.

The decision gave Fox a reprieve but the department also ordered the immigration authorities to hear a case on her visa’s cancellation along with pending deportation proceedings.

“Until a final resolution of the ... proceedings is reached, or until the expiration of her missionary visa, whichever comes first, Sister Fox may continue to perform her duties as a missionary in the Philippines,” the statement said.

Fox, who declared herself relieved after the decision, said her visa was valid until Sept 9.

“We are very pleased actually, because we weren’t sure what would

more than 20 meters high, the transportation ministry said in a statement on Monday that warned of the penalties.

Air Transportation Director General Agus Santoso said some balloons had been “reaching cruise altitude level at 10,000 meters above sea level.”

The transportation ministry issued its statement after pilots sighted dozens of

King Maha

Phalla

happen,” she told AFP. “I was just so relieved.”

Fox, who has been living in the Philippines since 1990, attracted Duterte’s wrath after joining a fact-finding mission in April to investigate alleged abuses against farmers — including killings and evictions by soldiers fighting guerrillas in the southern Philippines. Duterte, 73, has also launched a deadly crackdown on drugs and has railed against human rights critics, especially foreigners whom he accuses of meddling in his nation’s affairs.

In April Duterte accused Fox of “disorderly conduct”.

“Don’t let her in because that nun has a shameless mouth,” he said then.

A missionary of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion, Fox has denied engaging in politics, saying her actions were part of her work to advocate for justice and peace. She adds she enjoys freedom of expression.

Before Monday’s decision was released Fox said she would fight moves to deport her.

MANILA:

Also:

Philippine troops have clashed with remnants of a pro-Islamic State militant group that held a southern city for five months last year, the army said on Monday.

Colonel Romeo Brawner, the deputy commander of Joint Task Force Marawi, said security forces conducted air and ground assaults in the province of Lanao del Sur on Sunday in a bid to flush out Maute rebels and the group’s new leader.

balloons in the skies over the archipelago in the days after Eid, which fell on Friday in Indonesia this year. Most of the sightings were over the provinces of Central and East Java.

Novie Riyanto, head of AirNav Indonesia, said the balloons posed a “very significant” hazard, and there had been 84 sightings over the weekend, prompting complaints from dozens of domestic and international pilots.

“Yesterday a great deal of traffic could not travel on routes, and had to ascend to avoid these balloons,” he said in the statement. (RTRS)

Ranariddh sent to hospital:

A Cambodian prince who was a candidate in upcoming general elections was transferred early Monday to a hospital in neighboring Thailand after being injured in a road crash that killed his wife, said a fellow politician