Philippines wants United States to provide aid without conditions

The Philippines on Friday appealed to former colonial ruler the United States to reconsider a decision to withhold humanitarian aid, with Manila's foreign minister asking for the assistance to be provided without any conditions.

President Rodrigo Duterte told US President Barack Obama to "go to hell" in October, and has alluded to severing ties, after being infuriated by US criticism of his war on drugs, which has claimed 2,000 lives since he took office on July 1.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US poverty reduction agency, said on its website its board had "deferred a vote on the re-selection of the Philippines for compact development, subject to further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties".