World Briefs: Militant attack kills 11 Philippine soldiers

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Militant attack kills 11 Philippine soldiers

MANILA • Militants linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria killed 11 Philippine soldiers and wounded 14 others on Friday in the group's deadliest attack in over a year, the military said.

The extremists belong to Abu Sayyaf - a group based in the southern Philippines that has engaged in bombings as well as kidnappings of Western tourists and missionaries for ransom since the 1990s.

Lieutenant-General Cirilito Sobejana, the regional military commander, told reporters the soldiers were ambushed while they were pursuing security operations against the militants in Sulu province.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Twitter loses legal bid for transparency

WASHINGTON • Twitter will not be able to reveal surveillance requests it received from the United States government after a federal judge accepted government arguments that this was likely to harm national security. This comes after a nearly six-year-long legal battle.

The social media company had sued the Department of Justice in 2014 to be allowed to reveal, as part of its draft transparency report, the surveillance requests it had received.

It argued its free-speech rights were being violated by not being allowed to reveal the details.

REUTERS

Low-key birthday for Queen Elizabeth

LONDON • Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will not celebrate her 94th birthday in any special way and has asked that there be no gun salutes to mark the occasion, because it would not be appropriate while the country battles a deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Ceremonial gun salutes, in which blank rounds are fired from various locations across London, are typically used by the royal family to mark special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays.

The Queen's birthday is on April 21. This is believed to be the first such request in the Queen's 68-year reign, a royal source said.

REUTERS

Fatal stampede in Nigerian town

KANO • At least five women and children died yesterday in a stampede when cash and clothes were handed out to thousands of displaced people in north-eastern Nigeria, the militia and local people have said.

A large crowd surged forward during the government's aid distribution and people were trampled underfoot in the town of Gamboru, near the Cameroon border, a region hit by extremist violence.

Gamboru, a border trading hub, has been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram insurgents since August 2014, when the militants seized the town along with nearby Ngala.