The News Journal

Three security guards were killed on Monday when gunmen opened fire at a polling station in southern Philippines, as millions of people voted in national elections . A fourth guard was wounded in the attack, police said. The deadly shooting took place shortly after voting began in the Buluan municipality on Mindanao island, AFP reported. The region experiences attacks from various armed groups including communist insurgents to Islamist extremists. Elections are a traditionally a volatile time in the Philippines. Voters ran for cover when the shooting started at the school that has been turned into a polling station, former mayor Ibrahim Mangudadatu said. The shooting came after the explosion of five grenades outside a polling station in Datu Unsay municipality late on Sunday that left nine people wounded. Minutes after that attack, a grenade exploded in the neighbouring municipality of Shariff Aguak, but there were no casualties. Both of those towns are also in Maguindanao province. Th...

 Thousands of people were ordered to leave their homes near a Philippines volcano on Saturday after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of metres into the sky. Taal volcano, which sits in a lake south of Manila, exploded with a "short-lived" burst at 7.22am, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. It said further eruptions were possible, which could trigger dangerous, fast-moving volcanic flows of gas, ash and debris, as well as a tsunami. The Taal Volcano near the Philippines capital Manila spews white steam and ash on Saturday. The agency "strongly" recommended residents living in vulnerable communities around the lake be evacuated, as it raised the alert level from two to three. The initial eruption was followed by "nearly continuous phreatomagmatic activity" that sent plumes stretching 1,500 metres into the air. A phreatomagmatic eruption happens when molten rock comes into contact with underground or surface water, said Prince...