Vienna, The Philippines and Australia signed agreements to receive tsunami warning information from the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) on Friday.

These countries can now use CTBTO data from the organization's 232 seismic monitoring stations that were set up all over the globe to detect nuclear weapons tests.

"This will improve the capability of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology to determine the occurrence of a tsunami in the archipelago and issue public warnings," Alberto G Romulo, the Philippines' Secretary of Foreign Affairs, said after signing the agreement.

Manila - US soldiers are backing the Philippine military's offensive against Muslim rebels in the south but the Americans are not directly involved in combat operations, the country's armed forces chief said Friday.

General Alexander Yano belied claims by government critics that hundreds of US soldiers stationed in the southern region of Mindanao were engaged in combat operations against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas.

"There is no direct participation," he said. "They [the US troops] may be involved in combat-related activities, but these are not combat in itself."

Manila - A peace advocacy group on Thursday called for a ceasefire between the military and Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines, where more than 500,000 people have been displaced by fighting since last month.

More than 200 people, including nearly 70 civilians, have also been killed in the hostilities that started in August when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels launched a series of attacks in the southern region of Mindanao.

The Mindanao People's Caucus appealed to Arroyo to declare a ceasefire to allow the government to focus on the growing number of evacuees due to the conflict.

Manila  - The Supreme Court's swift action to punish several appellate court justices involved in a multimillion-peso bribery scandal has boosted anti-corruption efforts in the Philippines' graft-ridden judiciary.

After two months of investigation, the high tribunal on Tuesday dismissed from service Court of Appeals Associate Justice Vicente Roxas for multiple violations of the canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

The decision was hailed as a warning to erring magistrates.

"This should now instill fear in the hearts of those in the legal system that the Supreme Court will not take lightly any act that will smear the integrity of the legal profession and our justice system," House Speaker Prospero Nograles said.

Zamboanga City, Philippines - A homemade bomb was found Thursday near a government building in a southern Philippine city amid tight security on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, police said.

The explosive device, made with 3 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, was concealed in a black plastic bag left in a vacant lot in front of the local legislative building in Zamboanga City, 875 kilometres south of Manila.

Manila - The Philippines on Wednesday dispatched a three-member team to mediator Malaysia to explain the collapse of peace talks with Muslim secessionist rebels in the southern region of Mindanao.

Secretary Jesus Dureza said the team, headed by presidential peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon, would explain the official status of the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Malaysia has been brokering the peace negotiations between the 12,000-strong MILF and the Philippine government, which started in 1997.