Maniolas

A man looks over near the front page of a Chinese newspaper showing a photo of the typhoon damage in the Philippines and the white characters on blue which reads “U.S. and Europe hype up Chinese aid to Philippines as ‘Not Generous’ “, at a newsstand in Beijing, China, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013. The outpouring of international aid to the Philippines makes China’s contribution for typhoon relief look like a trickle – and that won’t help Beijing’s campaign to win over neighbors with its soft power. AP BEIJING — The outpouring of international aid to the Philippines makes China’s contribution for typhoon relief look like a trickle — and that won’t help Beijing’s campaign to win over neighbors with its soft power. The world’s second-largest economy has pledged less than $2 million in cash and materials, compared to $20 million provided by the United States, which also launched a massive military-driven rescue operation that includes an aircraft carrier. Another Chinese rival, Japan, has pledged $10 million and offered to send troops, ships and planes. Australia is giving $28 million, and even Swedish furniture chain Ikea’s offer of $2.7 million through its charitable foundation beats China’s. China’s reluctance to give more — driven by a bitter feud with Manila over overlapping claims in the South China Sea — dents its global image at a time when it is vying with Washington for regional influence. “China has missed an excellent opportunity to show itself as a responsible power and to generate goodwill,” Read More …

US Marines sent to PHL to help ‘Yolanda’ victims. US Marines board a KC-130J Hercules aircraft on Sunday, November 10, at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, moments before departing for a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission to the Philippines. Super typhoon Yolanda has impacted more than 4.2 million people across 36 provinces in the Philippines, according to the NDRRMC. AFP/USMC / Lance Cpl. David Hersey TACLOBAN – US marines on Monday joined a frantic effort to rescue famished survivors of a typhoon that may have killed 10,000 people in the Philippines, as the government declared a national emergency and security forces struggled to contain looting. Three days after Super Typhoon Haiyan flattened entire towns across the central Philippines and left countless bodies scattered across wastelands, desperation was building with devastated communities devoid of food, water and medicines. President Benigno Aquino late Monday declared a national state of calamity, which allows the government to impose price controls and quickly release emergency funds. “In the coming days, be assured: help will reach you faster and faster,” he said in a televised address. “My appeal to you all is: remaining calm, praying, cooperating with, and assisting one another are the things that will help us to rise from this calamity.” Relief cannot come soon enough for Joan Lumbre-Wilson, 54, who was among a large crowd of people gathered around one of the few relief centres in the ruined city of Tacloban. “We want an organized, coordinated brigade to collect the Read More …