Manila  - Six soldiers were wounded Friday in a landmine explosion on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are still holding captive two foreign Red Cross staff, a navy spokesman said.

The explosion occurred after a military truck loaded with marines hit a landmine in Patikul town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, according to Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo.

Arevalo said all the injured soldiers suffered shrapnel wounds and were being treated at a military hospital in Jolo.

Manila  - Philippine shares rose 2.3 per cent Friday after world leaders vowed to pump in more money into the International Monetary Fund to help troubled countries.

The Philippine Stock Exchange 30-share composite index gained 45.71 points to finish at 2,028.59, from Thursday's close of 1,982.88.

A total of 1.33 billion shares valued at 2.87 billion pesos (59.79 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers outpaced losers 82 to 20, with 30 issues unchanged.

Manila - A twin-engine plane with seven people on board went missing on Thursday in the northern Philippines, a senior aviation official said.

Ruben Ciron, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said the missing Islander aircraft came from Tuguegarao City in Cagayan province, 330 kilometres north of Manila.

Ciron said the plane was bound for the nearby town of Maconacon, just a 35-minute flight away, but it did not reach its destination.

Wellington  - Six Filipino immigrants will keep their jobs at a New Zealand factory despite a row that broke out after 28 local workers were made redundant, news reports said Thursday.

The immigrants were recruited by MCK Metals Pacific Ltd of Bell Block in Taranaki province in October 2007 to do specialized aluminium welding and polishing after the company was unable to get skilled New Zealand workers to fill the vacancies.

Manila  - Three government soldiers were killed in an ambush by communist rebels while they were on their way to a market in the eastern Philippines, an army spokesman said Thursday.

Two soldiers were also wounded while one was able to flee unharmed from the attack that occurred Wednesday, Major Chris Morales said.

Morales said the soldiers were aboard four motorcycles when ambushed by the guerrillas in Ragay town in Camarines Sur province, 210 kilometres south-east of Manila.

Beijing  - Police in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou have arrested 11 suspects in an illegal gambling network linked via the internet to a casino in the Philippines, state media said on Thursday.

A local businessman, identified only by the surname Li, set up the network last March after meeting representatives of the unidentified casino during a gambling trip to Macao, the official China Daily quoted police as saying.