How TIME-featured sisters lead conservation efforts in Philippines’ biodiversity haven

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Updated 12 November 2024
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How TIME-featured sisters lead conservation efforts in Philippines’ biodiversity haven

How TIME-featured sisters lead conservation efforts in Philippines’ biodiversity haven
  • Ann and Billie Dumaliang were featured in TIME Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders last month
  • In 2024, Philippines was named deadliest country in Asia for environmental defenders for 11th year in a row

MANILA: On the outskirts of Manila, a 2,600-hectare nature reserve has been lauded by top climate activists and film stars after it gained international recognition for one of the largest collaborative reforestation efforts in the Philippines.

Behind the rescue of over 2,000 hectares of that land is sisters Ann and Billie Dumaliang. They have been at the forefront of conserving the biodiversity-rich Masungi Georeserve and nurturing it as a geotourism site, which is home to lush rainforests, 60-million-year-old limestone formations and over 400 species of flora and fauna.

They have become the faces of conservation in the Philippines, a country named in 2024 as the deadliest in Asia for environmental defenders — for the 11th year in a row — with the killings of 17 activists.

The Dumaliang sisters and the nearly 100 rangers at the reserve are no stranger to the deluge of threats that come with their work, which range from physical to legal, and include disinformation and harassment campaigns.

Over the years, rangers at the reserve have been shot at by intruders and were the targets of booby traps and improvised explosives set across the landscape.

But the dangers that come with their conservation efforts have not deterred them from the mission to protect Masungi.

“We’re a small group and a team of young people. All of these groups that we’re up against have unlimited resources … how do we compete with these very powerful and well-resourced interests?” Billie, 31, told Arab News.

The sisters were among the trailblazers featured in TIME Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders last month, recognized for their work protecting Masungi from illegal loggers, land grabbers and quarrying companies.

Billie says TIME’s “empowering” recognition was a “symbol” that the international community has been paying attention to their team’s work and the challenges they face.

“A lot of times when you don’t have enough support at home, if your organization is repressed or harassed, sometimes it’s really the international community that provides the much-needed support,” Billie said.

The Dumaliang sisters help manage the Masungi Georeserve Foundation, which they founded in 2015 to lead and strengthen conservation efforts that began in the 1990s.

Through a private conservation model and a highly controlled geotourism program, Masungi has shot to fame as a showcase for sustainable reforestation.

Their work has also garnered support from prominent figures, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio.

Despite the real dangers they face every day, some of Ann and Billie’s earliest memories were attached to the reserve — experiences that keep them passionate about their work today.

As children, they would visit Masungi with their father, a civil engineer and conservationist, as he worked on development, and later, conservation efforts.

“Instead of taking us to the mall on weekends, our dad would take us to these nature areas where he had projects,” Billie said.

The reserve was a regular destination for the Dumaliangs, back when it was still heavily barren — initially to give way to government housing projects that had eventually fallen through.

“The appreciation that we have for the outdoors, for the natural world came from seeing Masungi evolve from a place that was like that to the lush forest that it is now,” Ann, 33, said.

“The motivation for me and for Billie is really just to make sure that that stays and that it continues to exist past our time.”

Their foundation’s approach to conservation follows assisted natural regeneration, which allows these areas to naturally restore their ecosystems and regenerate through mitigating and preventing disruption.

This means the bulk of their work was focused on preventing encroachments on the area and securing the expansive reserve’s boundaries, with rangers guarding the area from intruders and deterring illegal activities such as logging and quarrying.

“They said in the early nineties, all that you could hear was the sound of chainsaws in the area. Today, it’s birds and different types of animals and the wind and the leaves. So, what it looks like now is a jungle and a thriving ecosystem,” Billie said.

“It took more than 20 years for that whole ecosystem to come back, and it started when we were able to make sure that we could manage disturbances to the landscape,” she added. “So we let nature do its thing, regenerate, reheal, and we assist through mitigating the threats.”

For Ann, the recent TIME feature was an encouragement not only for their team, but for the “frontliners of this work” in the Philippines and around the world, whose safety is often at risk for simply protecting the environment.

“These are constant harassments faced by the people who learn to love their land the most. And more often than not, they’re poorly heard, yet they’re the ones who are threatened the most.”


A roadside bomb targeting police vehicle in northwest Pakistan kills 2 officers and wounds 14

A roadside bomb targeting police vehicle in northwest Pakistan kills 2 officers and wounds 14
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A roadside bomb targeting police vehicle in northwest Pakistan kills 2 officers and wounds 14

A roadside bomb targeting police vehicle in northwest Pakistan kills 2 officers and wounds 14
  • Police in Pakistan say a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan
PESHAWAR: A powerful roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least two officers and wounding 14 others, mostly passersby, officials said.
The attack took place in the city of Wana in South Waziristan, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local police chief Adam Khan.
Militant violence has surged in recent weeks, claiming the lives of dozens of security personnel.
Pakistan is also preparing for a military operation in Bajur, another northwestern district, where elders are in talks with the government and insurgents to avoid violence. Previous such operations years ago displaced thousands of residents.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on police, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, known as TTP. The group frequently targets security forces and civilians across the region.
TTP is a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces after two decades of war.
Since then, many TTP fighters and leaders have found refuge in Afghanistan, with some living openly under Taliban rule — a development that has emboldened the group in Pakistan.

Indonesia readies island medical facility for 2,000 wounded Gazans

Indonesia readies island medical facility for 2,000 wounded Gazans
Updated 07 August 2025
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Indonesia readies island medical facility for 2,000 wounded Gazans

Indonesia readies island medical facility for 2,000 wounded Gazans
  • Indonesia will convert a medical facility on its currently uninhabited island of Galang to treat about 2,000 wounded residents of Gaza, who will return home after recovery

JAKARTA: Indonesia will convert a medical facility on its currently uninhabited island of Galang to treat about 2,000 wounded residents of Gaza, who will return home after recovery, a presidential spokesperson said on Thursday.

Muslim-majority Indonesia has sent humanitarian aid to Gaza after Israel started an offensive in October 2023 that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, whether fighters or non-combatants.

“Indonesia will give medical help for about 2,000 Gaza residents who became victims of war, those who are wounded, buried under debris,” the spokesperson, Hasan Nasbi, told reporters, adding that the exercise was not an evacuation.

Indonesia plans to allocate the facility on Galang island, off its island of Sumatra and south of Singapore, to treat wounded Gaza residents and temporarily shelter their families, he said, adding that nobody lived around it now.

The patients would be taken back to Gaza after they had healed, he said.

Hasan did not give a timeframe or further details, referring questions to Indonesia’s foreign and defense ministries, which did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The plan comes months after President Prabowo Subianto’s offer to shelter wounded Palestinians drew criticism from Indonesia’s top clerics for seeming too close to US President Donald Trump’s suggestion of permanently moving Palestinians out of Gaza.

In response to Trump’s suggestion, the foreign ministry of Indonesia, which backs a two-state solution to resolve the Middle East crisis, said at the time it “strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians.”

A hospital to treat victims of the COVID-19 pandemic opened in 2020 on Galang, which had been until 1996 a sprawling refugee camp run by the United Nations, housing 250,000 of those who fled the Vietnam War.


Trump says likely to meet Putin ‘very soon’

Trump says likely to meet Putin ‘very soon’
Updated 07 August 2025
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Trump says likely to meet Putin ‘very soon’

Trump says likely to meet Putin ‘very soon’

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump said he could meet with Vladimir Putin “very soon,” following what the US president described as highly productive talks in Moscow between his special envoy and the Russian leader.

The potential summit was discussed in a call between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that, according to a senior source in Kyiv, included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Germany and Finland.

“There’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House, when asked when he would meet the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

He gave no indication where the meeting with Putin might take place. It would be the first US-Russia leadership summit since former president Joe Biden met with his counterpart in Geneva in June 2021.

The New York Times and CNN, citing people familiar with the plan, said Trump plans to sit down with Putin as early as next week, and then wants a three-way meeting with the Russian leader and Zelensky.

“It seems that Russia is now more inclined to agree to a ceasefire; the pressure on them is working. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us or the United States in the details,” Zelensky said on Wednesday evening.

Trump’s phone call with Zelensky came after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian leadership in Moscow earlier in the day for talks described by the Kremlin as “productive” — with Trump’s deadline looming to impose fresh sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“Great progress was made!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that afterward he had briefed some European allies.

“Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work toward that in the days and weeks to come,” he said.

Minutes later, however, a senior US official said that “secondary sanctions” were still expected to be implemented in two days’ time.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Witkoff was returning with a ceasefire proposal from Moscow that would have to be discussed with Ukraine and Washington’s European allies.

He also cast caution on the timeline for a Trump-Putin meeting, saying there was “a lot of work ahead,” adding it could be “weeks maybe.”



Trump, who had boasted he could end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office, has given Russia until Friday to make progress toward peace or face new penalties.

Three rounds of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul have failed to make headway on a ceasefire, with the two sides far apart in their demands.

Russia has escalated drone and missile attacks against its neighbor, a US and European Union ally, to a record high and accelerated its advance on the ground.

“A quite useful and constructive conversation took place,” Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists, including AFP, after the three-hour meeting with Witkoff.

The two men exchanged “signals” on their positions, Ushakov said, without elaborating.

Zelensky confirmed his call with Trump and confirmed European leaders had taken part, although he did not name them.



Trump has voiced increasing frustration with Putin in recent weeks over Russia’s unrelenting offensive.

The White House has not officially outlined what action it would take against Russia, but Trump told reporters it plans to impose “a lot more secondary sanctions” targeting Russia’s key trade partners, possibly targeting China.

Earlier in the day he had ordered steeper tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.

Without explicitly naming Trump, the Kremlin on Tuesday slammed “threats” to hike tariffs on Russia’s trading partners as “illegitimate.”

Russia’s campaign against Ukraine since February 2022 has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed swaths of the country and forced millions to flee their homes.

Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede more territory and renounce US and EU support if it wants the fighting to stop.

Kyiv is calling for an immediate ceasefire, and Zelensky last week urged his allies to push for “regime change” in Moscow.



The Witkoff visit came as Moscow-Washington tensions are running high.

Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be moved following an online row with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, and that they were now “in the region.”

Moscow then said that it was ending a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear-capable intermediate-range missiles, suggesting that it could deploy such weapons in response to what it alleged were similar US deployments within striking distance of Russia.


UK pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action

UK pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action
Updated 07 August 2025
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UK pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action

UK pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action
  • Pensioner Marji Mansfield never imagined she would end up suspected of terrorism for protesting against the banning of a pro-Palestinian group

LONDON: Pensioner Marji Mansfield never imagined she would end up suspected of terrorism for protesting against the banning of a pro-Palestinian group.

But the British grandmother was arrested on July 5 for joining a demonstration in support of Palestine Action just days after it was added to the UK government’s list of proscribed organizations.

“It’s a terrible shock to be accused of potentially being a terrorist,” said Mansfield, 68, who described herself as a “proud grandmother” of seven.

She “was never politically interested,” the former banking consultant from the southern town of Chichester told AFP. “I just worked hard, raised my family, lived an ordinary life.”

In early July, the UK government banned Palestine Action under the UK’s Terrorism Act, after activists broke into an air force base in England and damaged two aircraft.

Since then, the campaign group Defend Our Juries has organized protests around the country to challenge the ban, described as “disproportionate” by the United Nations rights chief.

More than 200 people have been arrested, according to Tim Crosland, a member of Defend Our Juries. They risk prison sentences of up to 14 years.

A new demonstration in support of the group, which was founded in 2020, is planned on Saturday in London. Organizers expect at least 500 people to turn up, and police have warned all demonstrators could face arrest.

People “don’t know what the nature of this group is,” interior minister Yvette Cooper has said, claiming that “this is not a non-violent group.”

But Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has launched a court bid to overturn the ban and a hearing is set for November.

Mansfield has long supported the Palestinian people, but the start of the current war, sparked by Hamas’s attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, galvanized her into action.

“When it started happening again ... it was the most horrible feeling, that children’s homes were being blown up, that their schools were being destroyed,” she said.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s subsequent campaign to eradicate the Palestinian militant group in Gaza has killed more than 60,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the United Nations.

For Mansfield, the Palestine Action ban was the final straw, fueling her feelings that the government was silencing her political views.

The night before attending the July demonstration, Mansfield said she was “terrified.” But she did not change her mind.

Images on British media showed her being moved by several police officers after she refused to get up from the pavement. An 83-year-old woman was by her side.

Mansfield spent 12 hours in custody, and is now banned from parts of London, meaning she cannot visit some museums with her grandchildren as she would like to do.

“It was just ordinary people,” said Mansfield. “We came from all backgrounds ... we’re not terrorists.”

Alice Clark, a 49-year-old doctor, also does not regret attending the protest where she was arrested in London on July 19.

“Nobody wants to be arrested. I just feel that there’s a responsibility,” said Clark, who also accused the government of undermining “our civil liberties.”

Cooper said the ban on Palestine Action was “based on detailed security assessments and security advice.”

The ban says the group’s “methods have become more aggressive” by encouraging members to carry out attacks which have already caused millions of pounds in damage.

But Clark, a former volunteer for medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said she felt “growing disgust and horror” at the images of starving children in Gaza.

The 12 hours in custody after her arrest were a shock. If convicted, she risks losing her license to practice medicine.

“There were points where I was close to tears. But I think just remembering why I was doing it kind of helped me keep calm,” said Clark.

History student Zahra Ali, 18, was also arrested on July 19, before being released under supervision. None of the three women has been charged.

She is also appalled by the scenes from Gaza.

“The starvation in Gaza, it’s disgusting. And our government isn’t doing anything about that,” she told AFP.

Imagining herself in prison at 18 is “a big thing,” but “if people who are in their 80s can do it, then I can do it,” Ali said.

She also does not describe herself as an activist, but as “a normal person ... who decided that what our government is doing is wrong.”


South Korea, US militaries will stage large-scale drills this month to address North Korean threats

South Korea, US militaries will stage large-scale drills this month to address North Korean threats
Updated 07 August 2025
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South Korea, US militaries will stage large-scale drills this month to address North Korean threats

South Korea, US militaries will stage large-scale drills this month to address North Korean threats
  • The announcement of the exercise came a week after the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed overtures by Lee Jae Myung’s government

SEOUL: South Korea and the United States will launch their annual large-scale military exercise this month to bolster readiness against North Korean threats, the allies said Thursday, in a move likely to irritate Pyongyang amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy.

The exercise also comes against the backdrop of concerns in Seoul that the Trump administration could shake up the decades-old alliance by demanding higher payments for the US troop presence in South Korea and possibly move to reduce it as Washington puts more focus on China.

Ulchi Freedom Shield, the second of two large-scale exercises held annually in South Korea, following another set of drills in March, typically involves thousands of troops in computer-simulated command post training and combined field exercises.

The Aug. 18-28 exercise may trigger an angry reaction from North Korea, which calls the joint drills invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear program.

Doubling down on its nuclear ambitions, North Korea has repeatedly rejected Washington and Seoul’s calls to resume diplomacy aimed at winding down its weapons program, which derailed in 2019. The North has now made Russia the priority of its foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

About 18,000 South Korean troops will take part in this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson, Col. Lee Sung Joon, said during a joint briefing with US Forces Korea, which did not disclose the number of participating US troops.

Both Lee and US Forces Korea public affairs director Col. Ryan Donald downplayed speculation that South Korea’s new liberal government, led by President Lee Jae Myung, sought to downsize the exercise to create momentum for dialogue with Pyongyang, saying its scale is similar to previous years. However, Col. Lee said about half of the exercise’s originally planned 40 field training programs were postponed to September due to heat concerns.

The threat from North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile programs will be a key focus of the exercise, which will include training to deter North Korean nuclear use and respond to its missile attacks, Lee said.

The exercise will also incorporate lessons from recent conflicts, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and the clash between Israel and Iran, and address threats from drones, GPS jamming and cyberattacks, Lee and Donald said.

“We look across the globe at the challenges we may face on the battlefield and incorporate that so we can challenge the participants in the exercise,” Donald said. “We are focused on ensuring the alliance is sustainable and credibly deters aggression from the DPRK and addresses the broader regional security challenges,” he said, using the initials of North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The announcement of the exercise came a week after the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed overtures by Lee Jae Myung’s government, saying that Seoul’s “blind trust” in its alliance with Washington and hostility toward Pyongyang make it no different from its hard-line conservative predecessor.

Kim Yo Jong later issued a separate statement dismissing the Trump administration’s intent to resume diplomacy on North Korea’s denuclearization, suggesting that Pyongyang — now focused on expanding ties with Russia — sees little urgency in resuming talks with Seoul or Washington.

On the other side of Seoul’s security concerns is whether its alliance with Washington will see dramatic shifts during the second term of President Donald Trump, who has rattled allies and partners with tariff hikes and demands that they reduce their reliance on the US and spend more for their own defense.

Dating back to his first term, Trump has regularly called for South Korea to pay more for the 28,500 American troops stationed on its soil. Recent comments by key Trump administration officials, including Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, have also suggested a desire to restructure the alliance, which some experts say could potentially affect the size and roles of US forces in South Korea.

Under this approach, South Korea would take a greater role in countering North Korean threats while US forces focus more on China, possibly leaving Seoul to face reduced benefits but increased costs and risks, experts say. During Thursday’s news conference, Donald did not provide a specific answer when asked whether US and South Korean troops during their combined exercise will train for any possible realignment of US troops to face broader regional threats.

The future of the alliance will possibly be a topic in a summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee, which is expected this month. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Lee’s foreign minister, Cho Hyun, downplayed the possibility of significant changes to the US military presence in South Korea.

“We are talking with the United States, but there is no concern about the US forces in Korea. We believe that they will remain as such and their role will remain as of today,” he said.