Philippines

It means Monday was the deadliest day for Philippine troops since President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in May.

Abu Sayyaf is one of the smallest and most violent jihadist groups in the southern Philippines.

Its name means "bearer of the sword" and it is notorious for kidnappings and attacking civilians and the army.

Mr Duterte said he might ask China and African nations to form another body. He also accused the UN of failing on terrorism, hunger and ending conflicts.

Mr Duterte, elected in May, has sanctioned the killing of traffickers to try to wipe out the drugs trade.

The UN has repeatedly condemned the drive as a violation of human rights.

Some 900 suspected drug traffickers have been killed since Mr Duterte was elected on 9 May.

Duterte: 'Punisher' to president

Among those named in a speech early Sunday in the southern city of Davao -- once President Rodrigo Duterte's mayoral stomping ground -- were government officials, members of the judiciary, congressmen and police officials.

While some are retired, many on his list were active officers, according to CNN affiliate CNN Philippines.

Robert Hall was kidnapped by the Islamist group in September along with three others from Canada, the Philippines and Norway.

Fellow Canadian John Ridsdel was killed by the group in April after a multi-million dollar ransom deadline expired.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had earlier said he believed it was "likely" Mr Hall was dead.

In a statement on Tuesday, outgoing Philippines President Benigno Aquino confirmed the killing.

He said with the nation preparing to host APEC leaders in November 2018, the Manila meeting is important for advancing the policy agenda that will be chaired by Papua New Guinea in three years.

“The main purpose of the APEC Leaders' Meeting each year is to review the work of ministers and officials that has taken place throughout the year, and to endorse APEC work program for the following year,” PM O’Neill said before his departure.

Senior Inspector Lawrence Gerald Bathan said the body of Kelvin Fleischauer was retrieved on Sunday and that of his 60-year-old wife Lolly Mangilaya Fleischauer the next day in the well near their home in Murcia town in Negros Occidental province.

Police responded late Sunday to a report of robbery in their home, and found a group of church members already looking for the couple. The church members discovered the man's body that night, Bathan said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from slow-moving Tropical Storm Linfa, which set off minor landslides in at least two mountainous provinces, officials said.

The storm, which had sustained winds of 85 kilometers (53 miles) per hour and gusts of 100 kph (62 mph), was expected to start blowing away from the country on Monday, according to government forecasters.

A Japanese surveillance plane and about 20 troops conducted the first of two days of joint training with the Philippine navy on Tuesday off the coast of Palawan, a strategically important island not far from contested islands claimed by several countries including China and the Philippines.

While the P-3C plane was being used for maritime search-and-rescue drills and disaster relief drills, the aircraft is also a mainstay of Japan's anti-submarine and other aerial surveillance efforts. In theory, it could help the U.S. keep an eye on the Chinese navy in the South China Sea.