JAKARTA: Around 35 foreign and domestic tourists are believed to be trapped and two others died after landslides hit a waterfall site on Indonesia’s tourist island of Lombok on Sunday, a disaster agency official said.
Two moderate earthquakes struck Lombok, triggering the landslides, when around 40 Malaysian and domestic tourists were visiting the Tiu Kelep waterfall, north of the island, Muhammad Rum, head of West Nusa Tenggara disaster agency told Kompas TV.
Search and rescue efforts have only managed to evacuate three of the 40 and two were found dead, Rum said.
“We hope they all survive. We cannot be sure yet, the evacuation is still underway,” Rum said. He could not confirm the nationality of those who died or were rescued.
A series of quakes and aftershocks killed nearly 500 people in Lombok last year and caused damages to buildings and public infrastructure worth an estimated total of $500 million.
In a separate incident, flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain in the easternmost province of Papua have killed at least 58 people, injured dozens and displaced more than 4,000, authorities said on Sunday.
Around 35 tourists believed trapped after landslides in Indonesia’s Lombok
Around 35 tourists believed trapped after landslides in Indonesia’s Lombok
- The landslide was triggered by two moderate earthquakes
- Rescuers only managed to evacuate 3 individuals
Philippines eyes closer cooperation on advanced defense tech with UAE
- Philippine-UAE defense agreement is Manila’s first with a Gulf country
- Philippines says new deal will also help modernize the Philippine military
MANILA: The Philippines is seeking stronger cooperation with the UAE on advanced defense technologies under their new defense pact — its first such deal with a Gulf country — the Department of National Defense said on Friday.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation was signed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Abu Dhabi earlier this week, which also saw the Philippines and the UAE signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, marking Manila’s first free trade pact with a Middle Eastern nation.
The Philippines-UAE defense agreement “seeks to deepen cooperation on advanced defense technologies and strengthen the security relations” between the two countries, DND spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
The MoU “will serve as a platform for collaboration on unmanned aerial systems, electronic warfare, and naval systems, in line with the ongoing capability development and modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he added.
It is also expected to further military relations through education and training, intelligence and security sharing, and cooperation in the fields of anti-terrorism, maritime security, and peacekeeping operations.
The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described security and defense as “very promising fields” in Philippine-UAE ties, pointing to Abu Dhabi being the location of Manila’s first defense attache office in the Middle East.
The UAE is the latest in a growing list of countries with defense and security deals with the Philippines, which also signed a new defense pact with Japan this week.
“I would argue that this is more significant than it looks on first read, precisely because it’s the Philippines’ first formal defense cooperation agreement with a Gulf state. It signals diversification,” Rikard Jalkebro, associate professor at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, told Arab News.
“Manila is widening its security partnerships beyond its traditional circles at a time when strategic pressure is rising in the South China Sea, and the global security environment is (volatile) across regions.”
Though the MoU is not an alliance and does not create mutual defense obligations, it provides a “framework for the practical stuff that matters,” including access, training pathways, procurement discussions and structured channels” for security cooperation, he added.
“For the UAE, the timing also makes sense, seeing that Abu Dhabi is no longer only a defense buyer; it’s increasingly a producer and exporter, particularly in areas like UAS (unmanned aerial systems) and enabling technologies. That opens a new lane for Manila to explore capability-building, technology transfer, and industry-to-industry links,” Jalkebro said.
The defense deal also matters geopolitically, as events in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region have ripple effects on global stability and commerce.
“So, a Philippines–UAE defense framework can be read as a pragmatic hedge, strengthening resilience and options without formally taking sides,” Jalkebro said.
