Islamic militants who specialize in kidnappings-for-ransom have reported killing a German sailor and abducting her elderly male companion from their yacht in waters off the southern Philippines, the military said on Monday.
Hundreds of movie lovers emerged bleary-eyed but enthusiastic Thursday after the longest competition contender in the 66-year history of the Berlin film festival, shown in an eight-and-a-half hour marathon screening with just one break.
Two Germans kidnapped by Islamic militants in the Philippines are safely back at their Manila embassy, officials said on Saturday after a harrowing six-month ordeal in which they endured threats of beheading and seemingly routine cruelty.
Islamist militants in the Philippines have reportedly threatened to kill one of their two German hostages over German support for the US-led campaign against jihadists in Iraq and Syria.
A German couple who disappeared while on a sailing trip in the Philippines could have been kidnapped by a Muslim extremist group with ties to Al-Qaeda.
Germany flew out 70 tonnes of aid to the Philippines on Wednesday to help the 11 million people affected by typhoon Haiyan. Transportable water treatment plants were among the equipment destined for the crisis-hit country.
The German government upped its aid to the Philippines on Tuesday to €1 million, after giving an initial €500,000 at the weekend. The money will go to German charities working at the scene of hurricane Haiyan.
Three German tourists and their Filipino tour guide were crushed to death when one of the Philippines' most active volcanoes spewed a giant ash cloud and a hail of rocks on Tuesday, authorities said.
Two German tourists and an Australian have been rescued following two days in the sea in the central Philippines after their boat capsized while they were island hopping, the coast guard said Friday.
Five policemen in the Philippines forced a German tourist to buy them laptop computers by threatening him with false drug and terrorism charges, a police chief said Tuesday.
