let's turn to the philippines now, where the former president fidel ramos has died. he was 94. mccarthy reports. he earned a reputation as one of the country's most effective leaders. fidel ramos, nicknamed steady eddie, was not for his unflappable character during regular moments of upheaval in the philippines. he was the national police chief who helped enforce martial law during the authoritarian rule of president ferdinand marcos in the 1970s and 1980s. thousands of people were killed and jailed. but mr ramos defected and in 1986 was a leading force in the people power revolution which brought down the marcos regime. six years later he was voted in as the new president of the philippines and oversaw an unusually calm period of politics and economic growth. during his tenure the economy surged in poverty rates fell nearly 10% through his social reform agenda. a fighter in the political arena and on the battlefield, he graduated from the prestigious west point military academy in the united states and served in both the korean and vietnam was. ramos was an early supporter of

the former president of the philippines, fidel ramos, has died.ility and was a key figure in the popular uprising that ousted the authoritarian president, ferdinand marcos. the government in the philippines — which is now led by ferdinand marcoer, said mr ramos left behind a colourful legacy. police in sudan have fired tear gas to stop thousands of protesters from reaching the presidential palace in the capital khartoum. at least 116 people have been killed during the demonstrations which began after the military coup last october. at least 26 people are now known to have died in severe flooding in the us state of kentucky. storms have pounded the east of the state and the governor said he expected the number of fatalities to rise. more heavy rain is expected on tuesday. to asia now, as us house speaker nancy pelosi is visiting the continent this week. we know this much — her itinerary will include stops in singapore, malaysia, japan and south korea, but there is no mention of a stopover in taiwan which has, over the past week, been a huge source