Author: Worldcrew

Police in Washington have issued arrest warrants for 14 people, including Turkish security agents, for their alleged role in assaulting protesters outside the Turkish Embassy following a visit to the White House by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month.

“Using video of the incident, law enforcement has been able to identify the majority of the suspects who were involved in the assault,” Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham told a news conference Thursday.

WATCH: DC Mayor on arrests, charges

Thirteen men and one woman are still wanted. Two of these suspects have been identified as U.S. citizens, Newsham said, adding that they would release screen grabs from video footage of the incident to ask the public for help in identifying other suspects.

Two suspects were arrested Wednesday for their alleged role in assaulting protesters.

The Metropolitan Police Department said in a brief statement Wednesday that Sinan Narin was arrested in Virginia on an aggravated assault charge and Eyup Yildirim was arrested in New Jersey on charges of assault with significant bodily injury and aggravated assault. The department released no further details about the men.

It was not clear if the men were supporters of Erdogan or the protesters.

The fracas strained relations between the United States and Turkey, with Washington calling the conduct of Turkish guards “deeply disturbing.” Eleven people were hurt in what Washington’s police chief called a “brutal attack” on peaceful protesters.

The brawl took place outside the residence of Turkey’s ambassador to Washington shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Erdogan at the White House.

Video of the protest shot by VOA’s Turkish service shows security guards and some Erdogan supporters attacking a small group of protesters. Men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled up on a sidewalk. Another wrenched a woman’s neck and threw her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn was repeatedly kicked in the face.

WATCH: VOA Turkish service video of the incident

After police officers struggled to protect the protesters and ordered the men in suits to retreat, several of the men dodged the officers and ran into the park to continue the attacks. In all, nine people were hurt.

The Turkish Embassy claimed without evidence that Erdogan’s bodyguards were acting in “self-defense” during the incident, and that the protesters were affiliated with the PKK.
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President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered more money and a bigger role for private companies in designing apprenticeship programs meant to fill some of the 6 million open jobs in the U.S.

Trump signed an executive order to roughly double to $200 million the taxpayer money spent on learn-to-earn programs. The money would come from existing job training programs. The executive order would leave it to industry to design apprenticeships under broad standards to be set by the Labor Department.

“We’re training people to have great jobs and high paying jobs,” Trump said at a White House ceremony. “We’re here today to celebrate the dignity of work and the greatness of the American worker.”

Trump is directing the government to review and streamline some 43 workforce programs across 13 agencies. Senior administration officials have said Trump was reluctant to spend more federal funds on apprenticeships, so the boost would come from existing money, perhaps from the streamlining process. The officials spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity to preview Trump’s order.

Companies have long complained that they can’t find trained people to fill highly technical jobs, and apprenticeship programs have sprung up around the country. Companies now have to register with the Labor Department and adhere to government guidelines.

There are about 500,000 apprenticeship positions in the U.S.

Trump had campaigned on creating jobs. The executive order addresses the nation’s “skills gap” that have left millions of open jobs unfilled. Apprenticeships would give students a way to learn skills without the crippling debt of four-year colleges, and expand those opportunities to women, minorities and other populations underrepresented among the nation’s roughly 505,000 apprentices.

Trump accepted a challenge earlier this year from a CEO to create 5 million new apprenticeships.

The Trump administration has said there’s a need that can be met with a change in the American attitude toward vocational education and apprenticeships. A November 2016 report by former president Barack Obama’s Commerce Department found that “apprenticeships are not fully understood in the United States, especially” by employers, who tend to use apprentices for a few, hard-to-fill positions but not as widely as they could.

The shortages for specifically trained workers cut across multiple job sectors, from construction trades to agriculture, manufacturing, information technology and health care.

Critics say Trump can’t be promoting apprenticeships while he proposes cutting federal job training funding by as much as 40 percent – from $2.7 billion to $1.6 billion. There also are questions about oversight of apprenticeship programs that begin and operate almost completely under the control of the company.

Apprenticeships are few and far between. Of the 146 million jobs in the United States, about 0.35 percent – or slightly more than a half-million – were filled by active apprentices in 2016. Filling millions more jobs through apprenticeships would require the government to massively ramp up its efforts.

“Scaling is the big issue,” said Robert Lerman, a fellow at the Urban Institute.

Another complication: only about half of apprentices finish their multi-year programs. Fewer than 50,000 people – including 11,104 in the military – completed their apprenticeships in 2016, according to Labor Department.

Trump’s resume includes the hit television show, “The Apprentice.”
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Members of the New York Army National Guard will gather at its upstate headquarters to mark the 242nd birthday of the United States Army.

Wednesday afternoon’s ceremony will be held at the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs facility in the Albany suburb of Latham.

State officials say the traditional cake-cutting ceremony for the Army’s birthday will feature one of the oldest soldiers and one of the youngest soldiers in the National Guard: Lt. Col. James Freehart, who has 36 years in the military, and 18-year-old Pfc. Jade Richards.

Brig. Gen. Raymond Shields, commander of the New York Army National Guard, will join them.

The U.S. Army considers June 14 its birthday. That’s the day in 1775 when the Continental Congress voted to create the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
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Steve Scalise, a Republican congressman from Louisiana and House Majority Whip was shot and wounded during a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, on June 14, 2017.

Gabrielle Giffords, former Democrat congresswoman from Arizona, was shot in the head in 2011 in her Tuscon district during a constituency meeting. She survived the attack and has gone on to become an active voice against gun violence in the U.S.

Leo Ryan, a Democrat congressman from California, was shot multiple times and killed in 1978 while boarding an airplane after an official visit to Guyana.

John Stennis, a Mississippi senator, was shot twice during a mugging outside his home in Washington, D.C. in 1973.

Robert Kennedy, who was a New York Senator at the time, was fatally shot in Los Angeles in 1968 after giving a speech for his presidential campaign.

In 1954, four Puerto Rican Nationalists shot Alvin Bentley of Michigan, Kenneth Roberts of Alabama, George Fallon of Maryland, Ben Jensen of Iowa, and Clifford Davis of Tennessee on the House floor in the Capitol building as they waited for their votes to be counted. All five members survived and eventually returned to Congress.
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A man dressed in a UPS uniform and armed with an “assault pistol” opened fire at a United Parcel Service package sorting hub in San Francisco, killing three people before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Police did not identify the suspect or say if he was a UPS employee. They told a news conference the incident was not terrorism-related and they recovered two firearms from the scene.

Two other people were shot and have been taken to an area hospital, police said.

The shooter and the victims were all drivers, said Steve Gaut, head of investor relations at UPS. The incident took place while the workers were gathered for their daily morning meeting before going out on their routes, he added.

Gaut said the facility’s employees have been released from work and he believes most have left the building. The company is providing trauma and grief counseling to employees.

Live video showed a massive police presence near the facility, with workers being led out and embracing each other on the sidewalk outside.

“The company is saddened and deeply concerned about affected employees, family members and the community we share. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those touched by this incident,” UPS said in a statement.

Victims were taken to the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, spokesman Brent Andrew said. He said he could not say how many patients were taken to the hospital or give their conditions.

In 2014, a man shot and killed two of his supervisors before turning the gun on himself at a UPS distribution center in Birmingham, Alabama. The gunman had recently been fired from the facility.
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Tony Sabia walks into a barbershop in Vienna, Virginia, for a haircut and shave. About 30 minutes later, he is on his way home for a shower. With his suit already pressed, it takes him only a few minutes to get dressed for the big dance.

For Kailey Margolies, it takes hours. “I had to get my dress, I had to get my shoes, I had to get a bracelet,” said the James Madison High School junior. “I had to put on all my makeup, I had to get my hair ready, and my friend, Allison, actually did it three times, ’cause we couldn’t decide how we wanted to do it.”

It’s a spring ritual common in the United States. The boys don tuxedos or suits, and the girls wear elegant dresses, shedding any appearance of adolescence, if just for one night.

A decades-old tradition, high school prom has been a defining feature in the teenage experience — a celebration for seniors and juniors weeks before graduation.

Lynn Sabia, Tony’s mother, remembers her prom night vividly. Her eyes light up as she describes the puffy-sleeved dress with the bare back that she wore. However, there are some fashion choices she would rather forget, like the big curly hair and side ponytail she sported to the dance.

Now, 27 years later, it’s her son’s turn. By hand, she presses out the wrinkles from his shirt and straightens his tie. Prom, she says, now has a different feel.

“It’s nostalgic. It’s a bittersweet thing because I’m so happy for him. I know he’s going to have a great time. And it’s prom, you’re a senior, you’re graduating, you’re going to go away,” she said.

For 18-year-old Tony Sabia, it’s about having fun his second “go round” at the dance. “Last year I went without a date and this time I do have a date,” he said. “While that doesn’t make the entire night, it definitely does change a lot of things.” This year, he adds, he plans to have no regrets.

He bought his girlfriend a red and white corsage to match her red dress. The corsage, a small floral arrangement fitted to the wrist, is an iconic staple boys present to their dates for prom. In return, the girls gift them a boutonniere, a simple flower pinned to the lapel of their jacket.

While traditionally seen as a couple’s event, more high schoolers are choosing to go alone or with a group of friends — such as Kailey Margolies, who says the real stress is for the seniors.

“This really is their last hurrah,” said Margolies. “They’re going to graduate in about a week, so I think there’s a lot of pressure for it to be like the night of all nights for high school.”

Adding to the pressure, moms and dads encircle the teens, demanding various poses for the many, many photos.

Lynn Sabia, 45, wanted lots of photos to show her husband, an Air Force fighter pilot who was finishing out a tour of duty in Iraq at the time of the dance.  

Tony Sabia drove his father’s BMW to the prom. Other students used party buses, limousines and luxury cars.

When they arrive, the room is energized by a sea of familiar faces, moving to beats reverberating through the speakers.

“It really gets even the most introverted person going,” said Tony Sabia.

Dancing continues for hours, with teens pausing only for selfies and water breaks.

“It’s all about making memories that you can kind of look back on and say, ‘Yeah, I was happy,”‘ Sabia said.
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Members of Army medic James McCloughan’s unit in Vietnam called him “Doc.”

Now, those soldiers, several of whom McCloughan saved during the ferocious, dayslong Battle of Nui Yon Hill in 1969, will have a new name for him: Medal of Honor recipient.

Army spokeswoman Valerie L. Mongello said Tuesday that the 71-year-old from South Haven, Michigan, will become the first person to be awarded the nation’s highest military honor by President Donald Trump.

“I feel honored to be able to accept this for the 89 men that fought that battle,” McCloughan (pronounced muh-CLOO’-uhn) said, referencing the number of American combatants, dozens of whom were killed, wounded or went missing during the 48 hours of fighting against hundreds of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.

Rescued wounded comrades while injured

 Then a 23-year-old private first class who was drafted a year earlier after earning a degree in sociology from Olivet College, McCloughan repeatedly entered the “kill zone” to rescue wounded comrades, despite being pelted with shrapnel from a rocket propelled grenade.

“It was a real bad sting,” McCloughan told The Associated Press during an interview at his South Haven home, not far from Lake Michigan. “But at that particular time, I was tending to two guys and dragging them at the same time into a trench line.

“I looked down, and I was covered with blood,” McCloughan said of the wound that prompted a captain to suggest he leave the battlefield to receive aid.

McCloughan had different ideas.

“He knew me enough to know that I wasn’t going, and he better listen to me.”

He did.

McCloughan stuck around until the battle’s conclusion, coming to the aid of his men and fighting the enemy, at one point knocking out an enemy RPG position with a grenade. In all, the Pentagon credits McCloughan with saving the lives of 10 members of his company.  

McCloughan called the battle “the worst two days of my life.”

Retired as a high school teacher

McCloughan has already earned a slew of awards, including the Combat Medical Badge, two Bronze Stars, the U. S. Army Valorous Unit Citation and the National Defense Medal. He also earned two Purple Hearts, having been shot in the arm in addition to taking the RPG shrapnel.

McCloughan left the Army in 1970, and for the next four decades he taught psychology and sociology and coached football, baseball and wrestling at South Haven High School before retiring in 2008.

Then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter recommended McCloughan for the Medal of Honor last year. There was a problem, however: The medal needs to be awarded within five years of the recipient’s heroic actions. But Congress can waive the time limit, which is what happened in McCloughan’s case.

Got the news inside IHOP

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow reached McCloughan on his cellphone to deliver the news while he and his wife, Cherie, were eating at an IHOP in Colorado. The McCloughans burst into tears at the conclusion of the call. James McCloughan said he told their server what was going on, because “I didn’t want her to think we were fighting or something.”

President Barack Obama signed legislation in late 2016 that allowed for the time-limit waiver in McCloughan’s case, paving the way for him to receive the medal. But it didn’t happen before Obama left office in January, meaning it now falls to Trump to do the honors.

“President Donald Trump will be putting that on me for the first time in his experience of doing such a thing,” McCloughan said. “That’s pretty special.”

 
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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has defended President Donald Trump’s proposal to sharply cut spending on diplomacy and foreign aid while proposing large increases in military spending.

The president’s 2018 proposed budget would cut spending at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by 32 percent and boost Defense Department spending by about 10 percent.

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee budget hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Senator Ben Cardin, the committee’s top Democrat, criticized Trump’s budget proposal – saying it would endanger the lives of Americans.

“Slashing our foreign operations and foreign assistance makes the world more dangerous for Americans and for America,” Cardin said. “Yet that is precisely what that budget would do. The budget takes a penny wise, pound foolish approach that would cost lives and endanger Americans here at home.”

“I’m convinced we can maximize the effectiveness of these programs and continue to offer America’s helping hand to the world,” Tillerson told committee members during his first public testimony on Capitol Hill since his confirmation hearing in January.

Congress is responsible for setting the federal budget and the president’s budget proposal faces bi-partisan opposition in both the Senate and the House.

Committee Chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, predicted Trump’s budget proposal would not remain intact as it makes its way through Congress.

“The budget that’s been presented is not going to be the budget that we’re going to deal with,” Corker said.

Tillerson told lawmakers a review of the State Department and USAID is underway to determine how to reorganize them. He said the review would be completed at the end of 2017.

The Trump administration has defended the cuts by maintaining that other countries must do their “fair share” as the U.S. plans to reduce the amount of money it has traditionally committed to overseas spending.

Sixteen retired generals and other former military officers said they would submit joint testimony to the Senate Wednesday emphasizing the importance of foreign aid to national security.
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China has granted provisional approval for four additional Ivanka Trump trademarks since April 20, and her brand has continued to seek more intellectual property protection in China, with at least 14 applications filed around the time she took on an official White House role, Chinese public records show.

Trademarks provide essential – and valuable – protection to businesses in China, whether they want to manufacture or sell their goods in the world’s second-largest economy, or simply protect their brand against squatters. But critics point to Ivanka Trump’s ongoing ownership interest in her fashion and lifestyle brand and say the trademarks, which are granted by the Chinese government, present potential conflicts of interest for the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump.

All told, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has at least 24 trademarks that were granted provisional or full approval in China, plus 43 pending marks and three invalid marks, according to Trademark Office database records.

At least seven of those provisional approvals were published after March 29, when Ivanka Trump announced she would become a federal employee, serving as an adviser to her father. Four preliminary approvals were published on April 20, May 13 and May 27. If there are no objections, those marks – covering wedding dresses and jewelry among other things – will be registered after 90 days. All were applied for in 2016.

Three additional trademarks for jewelry, bags and spa services were initially published in China’s Trademark Gazette on April 6, the same day Ivanka Trump dined with President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, her father’s resort in Florida, as reported previously by The Associated Press. The record of initial approval for one of them has subsequently disappeared from the database. It was not immediately clear why.

Ivanka Trump Marks LLC also applied for at least 14 new trademarks in China on March 28, the day before she announced her official White House role. A 15th application, with a small typo in the Chinese version of the name of the company, was filed on the same date. The applications, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, cover a wide range of goods and services, including real estate and financial services, construction, furniture, carpets, and alcohol except beer. Detailed records of these filings were not available Monday on the Trademark Office’s public online database.

China has defended its handling of trademarks for both Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump as fair and in line with normal legal practice.

Ivanka Trump’s brand has said the 2017 Chinese trademarks were filed defensively, to protect against squatters using her name.

“The brand has filed, updated, and rigorously protected its international trademarks over the past several years in the normal course of business, especially in regions where trademark infringement is rampant,” Abigail Klem, president of Ivanka Trump’s brand, said in a statement.

To address ethical concerns, Ivanka Trump shifted the brand’s assets to a family-run trust valued at more than $50 million and pledged to recuse herself from government issues that present conflicts. She has stepped back from day to day management, but retains her ownership interest in the company.
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June is Gay Pride Month in the United States, but this year protests are mingled with the celebrations amid concern hard-won civil rights could be under threat from the Trump administration.

In Los Angeles, Alexei Romanoff, a long-time LGBTQ civil rights activist, served as grand marshal of this year’s gay pride parade and festival. Romanoff, 80, has dedicated his life to normalizing the image of same-sex couples along with advocacy for protection against AIDs.

Romanoff’s mother brought him to the United States from Russia when he was 4 years old. At the age of nine, he made a startling discovery: he was attracted to boys.

Seventy years ago, homosexuality was considered a psychiatric illness in America. If you acted on your impulses, you could have been sent to a hospital or jailed for “lewd conduct.”

Romanoff recalls what happened to two friends of his, partners who were together at a bar years ago in Silver Lake, California.

“They were in a bar, and Sal was sitting in a chair and Steve was standing over him, and they were talking to a couple other people, and they were drinking,” he says. “[Steve] looked away and talked to someone, and his glass tipped, and it spilled a little onto Sal, and…he brushed his chest off, Sal’s chest. And there were two vice officers in there, and they arrested them for lewd conduct.”

On New Year’s Eve in 1967, just at the stroke of midnight, policemen burst into the Black Cat gay bar and arrested 14 people who were celebrating with a kiss. In response, hundreds of gays and supporters took to the streets in what is thought to be the first mass gay rights demonstration. Romanoff was one of its organizers.

“I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we had to do something to change the status quo,” he says.

WATCH THE VIDEO:

Over the last 15 years some states have legalized same-sex marriage. Alexei and his partner made their relationship legal in 2008. They say that marriage was necessary for them to protect each other legally.

“We found that out once when I was in a hospital, I nearly died from a ruptured aneurysm,” says David Farah, Alexei’s spouse. “I was taken to the hospital by ambulance, Alexei followed and he was denied admission to me in the emergency room because he wasn’t my spouse”.

In June of 2015, same-sex marriage became legal in the whole country. But there are still no laws prohibiting discrimination against sexual minorities.

“In the majority of the States of the U.S., it is legal to fire me or to deny me housing because I am gay,” Farah says.

Last weekend’s gay pride parade and festival in Los Angeles, during which Romanoff proudly served as grand marshal, not only celebrated gay pride, but also called for civil rights for all — gay, women and immigrants.
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The state of Hawaii on Monday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to grant the Trump administration’s emergency request seeking to revive his plan to

temporarily ban travelers from six Muslim-majority nations after it was blocked by lower courts that found it was discriminatory.

Lawyers for Hawaii, which challenged Trump’s ban in court and won a nationwide injunction blocking it, said in court papers that his executive order is a “thinly veiled Muslim ban.”

In deciding whether to allow the ban to go into effect, the Supreme Court’s nine justices are set to weigh whether Trump’s comments as a presidential candidate can be used as evidence that the March 6 order was intended to discriminate against Muslims. Trump during the presidential campaign called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United

States.”

Monday is the deadline for the ban’s challengers to respond to the administration’s request that the order be allowed to go into effect.

In a separate challenge brought to Trump’s order in Maryland backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 25 declined to lift a Maryland federal judge’s injunction halting the temporary ban.

 
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Somali and U.S. military forces have destroyed an al-Shabab training base in Somalia’s Middle Jubba region.

Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo said Sunday he authorized the country’s special forces with support from international partners to conduct a pre-dawn strike against an al-Shabab training camp near Sakow.

He said the strike destroyed a key al-Shabab command and supply hub, which will “disrupt the enemy’s ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia.”

The U.S. military confirmed it participated “as a direct response to al-Shabab actions,” including recent attacks on Somali and African Union forces. It says eight al-Shabab militants were killed in the strike.

Farmajo said Somalia has long suffered in the hands of al-Shabab, which he says is supported by global terror networks.

He did not say if any senior al-Shabab commanders were at the camp during the strike. Sakow is in the heartland of al-Shabab controlled region of Middle Jubba, ruling out ground troops involved in the attack.

In recent years U.S. drone strikes have targeted a number of key al-Shabab commanders, including former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane who was killed on September 1, 2014.

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White says the United States is “committed to working with our Somali partners and allies to systematically dismantle al-Shabab, and help achieve stability and security throughout the region.”

A source tells VOA Somali an airstrike took place near Sakow and that it may have targeted a group of about 10 al-Shabab members, including key figures.

Al-Shabab has reportedly sealed off the area and are questioning people in an attempt to identify who may have collaborated with the operation.

“We and our international partners will take every possible precaution to protect our civilian population from harm during these operations while targeting terrorists,” Farmajo said.

The Somali president reiterated his call to al-Shabab to take advantage of his amnesty issued on April 6.

“To the members of al-Shabab, I tell you that we are bringing the fight to you. If you, however take advantage of my amnesty offer and denounce violence, we will integrate you into our reform program,” he said.

“You have no future with the terrorists, but you can still be a part of Somalia’s future; a peaceful and prosperous future.”
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Italy says the top environment official in U.S. President Donald Trump administration is leaving a Group of Seven summit before it ends.

Italy’s environment minister, Gian Luca Galletti, who is leading the two-day environment meeting in Bologna, told reporters that Scott Pruitt participated in an opening session about climate Sunday morning but then was departing due to a commitment.

Pruitt heads the Environmental Protection Agency for Trump, who recently announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal.

The other six countries in the G-7 – Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy – all agreed at last month’s political summit of national leaders in Sicily to work toward making the Paris climate accord effective.

Galletti said that despite the split, dialogue must continue, including on other environmental issues.
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President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday he did not seek support from Washington to end the siege of a southern Philippines town by Islamist militants, a day after the United States said it was providing assistance at the request of the government.

Duterte told a news conference in Cagayan de Oro City, about 100 km (62 miles) from the besieged town of Marawi, that he had “never approached America” for help.

When asked about U.S. support to fight the pro-Islamic State militants in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, Duterte said he was “not aware of that until they arrived.”

The cooperation between the longtime allies in the battle is significant because Duterte, who came to power a year ago, has taken a hostile stance towards Washington and has vowed to eject U.S. military trainers and advisers from his country.

It is unclear whether the pro-American military went over Duterte’s head in seeking U.S. help.

The Philippines military said on Saturday U.S. forces were providing technical assistance but had no “boots on the ground”, confirming a statement from the U.S. embassy in Manila which said the support had been requested by the government.

The seizure of Marawi on May 23 by hundreds of local and foreign fighters has alarmed Southeast Asian nations, which fear the ultra-radical group Islamic State is trying to establish a stronghold on Mindanao that could threaten their region.

The Pentagon, which has no permanent presence in the Philippines but for years has kept 50 to 100 special forces troops in the south of the country on rotational exercises, confirmed it was helping the Philippine military in Marawi.

It said in a statement on Saturday it was providing Philippine forces with security assistance and training in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It said it had an additional 300 to 500 troops in the country to support regular training and activities, without giving further details.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said support included aerial surveillance and targeting, electronic eavesdropping, communications assistance and training. A U.S. P-3 Orion surveillance plane was seen over the town on Friday.

‘Our soldiers are pro-American’

Duterte, who declared martial law on Mindanao — an island the size of South Korea — after the Islamist fighters overran Marawi, said that under martial law he has authority over the defense department.

He did not say the armed forces had gone over his head but noted that, because of years of training from the United States, “our soldiers are pro-American, that I cannot deny.”

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement U.S. forces were participating directly in combat operations, which is prohibited by Philippines law.

“The fight against terrorism, however, is not only the concern of the Philippines or the United States but it is a concern of many nations around the world,” he said. “The Philippines is open to assistance from other countries if they offer it.”

As of Saturday the number of security forces killed in the battle for Marawi stood at 58. The death toll for civilians was 20 and more than 100 had been killed overall.

At least 200 militants are holed up in a corner of the town.

An estimated 500 to 1,000 civilians are trapped there, some being held as human shields, while others are hiding in their homes with no access to running water, electricity or food.

One of the main Islamist factions dug in around the heart of the city is the Maute group, a relative newcomer amid the throng of insurgents, separatists and bandits on Mindanao.

Maute joined forces with Isnilon Hapilon, who was last year proclaimed by Islamic State as its Southeast Asia “emir.”

Military officials believe Hapilon is still in the town.

The military has said it is aiming to end the siege by Monday, the Philippines’ independence day.
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