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Ferdinand Marcos, the son of the Philippine ruler overthrown in a popular uprising 36 years ago, was sworn in as the country's president on Thursday, promising to strive for unity and a better future while praising his late father's legacy.

Marcos, 64, won last month's election in a landslide, capping off his wealthy family's decades-long quest to regain the presidency and transform its image after it was driven out in 1986.

"We are here to repair a house divided, to make it whole and to stand strong again," he said in an inauguration speech that echoed his campaign slogans of unity.

In a rousing, 30-minute address with sister Imee, a senator, and mother Imelda, a former congresswoman, seated nearby, Marcos Jr thanked voters for giving him "the biggest electoral mandate in the history of Philippine democracy", and said the country would go far on his watch.

The elder Ferdinand Marcos ruled for two decades from 1965, almost half of it under martial law, helping him to extend his power until his overthrow and his family's retreat into exile during a "people power" revolution.

Thousands of his opponents were jailed, killed or disappeared during his rule, and the family name became synonymous with cronyism, extravagance and billions of dollars of missing state wealth. The Marcos family denies embezzlement.'

"I am here not to talk about the past. I am here to tell you about our future," Marcos Jr said before thousands of cheering supporters, waving flags, and wearing red, a colour associated with his father.

"No looking back in anger or nostalgia."

Marcos Jr, who closely resembles his late father, defended his father's legacy and said he would emulate his achievements.

"I once knew a man who saw what little had been achieved since independence ... but he got it done. Sometimes with the needed support, sometimes without, so, will it be with his son. You will get no excuses from me," he said.

Marcos took his oath at the heavily guarded National Museum, once a legislative building that witnessed frequent demonstrations against his father's presidency.

'REJECT, MARCOS'

Close by, hundreds protested against Marcos, angered by a campaign his critics say relied heavily on social media to win votes by debunking narratives of Marcos-era abuses and decadence and offering alternative versions of history.

Carrying banners saying "Reject, Marcos" they gathered at the Plaza Miranda, where some of his father's opponents were killed and injured in a bombing blamed on communists.

Marcos campaigned on the slogan "together, we shall rise again", invoking nostalgia for his father's rule, which his family and supporters have portrayed as a golden age for the Philippines.

At a heroes' monument, victims of persecution under martial law gathered for their own oath-taking, promising to guard against what they called tyranny and lies.

"The survivors are a vanishing breed, if not an endangered species and the time to correct falsehoods and lay bare the truth is now," said Cristina Bawagan, who said she suffered abuse under the elder Marcos' rule.

His son has pledged to deliver jobs and bring down consumer prices in a country of 110 million people, nearly a quarter of whom live on less than $2 per day.

He said he would not disappoint the public and would improve food sufficiency, education, infrastructure and energy supply, tackle plastics pollution and better support millions of overseas Filipino workers.

"I am ready for the task," he said. "I will get it done." (Reuters)

Large crowds of protesters in Sudan faced tear gas and a communications blackout on Thursday as they staged a major round of rallies against the country's military leadership, witnesses said.

It was the first time in months of protests against an October coup that internet and phone services had been cut, and security forces were more heavily deployed than in recent weeks.

The protests mark the third anniversary of huge demonstrations during the 2019 uprising that overthrew long-time autocratic ruler Omar al-Bashir and led to a power-sharing arrangement between civilian groups and the military.

Last October, the military led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan toppled the transitional government, triggering rallies that have called on the army to quit politics.

In central Khartoum, security forces fired tear gas and water cannon to block protesters from marching towards the presidential palace, one witness said.

Some carried banners calling for justice for those killed in previous protests while others chanted, "Burhan, Burhan, back to the barracks and hand over your companies," a reference to the Sudanese military's economic holdings.

Earlier, protesters barricaded some of the capital's main thoroughfares with stones and burning tyres, witnesses said.

After the military takeover, extended internet blackouts were imposed in an apparent effort to hamper the protest movement.

Staff at Sudan's two private sector telecoms companies, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities had ordered them to shut down the internet once again on Thursday.

BRIDGES SHUT

Phone calls within Sudan were also cut and security forces closed bridges over the Nile between Khartoum and its twin cities of Omdurman and Bahri - another step typically taken on big protest days to limit the movement of marchers.

In recent days there have been daily neighbourhood protests in the build-up to Thursday's rallies.

On Wednesday, medics aligned with the protest movement said security forces shot dead a child during protests in Bahri, bringing the number of protesters killed since the coup to 103.

There was no immediate comment from authorities, who have previously said that peaceful protests were allowed and casualties would be investigated.

Military leaders said they dissolved the government in October because of political paralysis. But as a result, international financial support agreed with the transitional government was frozen and an economic crisis has deepened.

Burhan said on Wednesday the armed forces were looking forward to the day when an elected government could take over, but this could only be done through consensus or elections, not protests.

Mediation efforts led by the United Nations and the African Union have so far yielded little progress. (Reuters)

South Korea's president warned a NATO summit of the threat to universal values at a time of new conflict and competition, a reference to Russia's aggression in Ukraine and China's engagement with Russia, a South Korean official said.

President Yoon Suk-yeol became the first South Korean leader to attend a NATO summit, joining national NATO leaders as an observer at a meeting in Spain as Russian forces intensified attacks in Ukraine.

"As a new structure of competitions and conflicts is taking shape, there is also a movement that denies the universal values that we have been protecting," Yoon said in a speech on Wednesday, according to a South Korean official.

While he did not identify Russia or China, Yoon said the international community was facing complex security threats that a single country could not solve, the official cited him as saying in his speech that was not made public.

"He was referring to the Ukraine war, and as most other participating countries did, he raised concern about Russia's responsibility for the war and China's responsibility in the international community," the official, who declined to be identified, said on Thursday.

South Korea is a staunch U.S. ally and hosts some 28,000 U.S. troops. It has also developed a crucial economic relationship with China, South Korea's largest trading partner.

Yoon, like his predecessors, will have to balance those two relationships while at the same time facing a belligerent North Korea developing its arsenal of nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.

Yoon hopes to build relations with NATO members in the face of an unpredictable international situation and promote international cooperation on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, South Korean officials said before the summit.

South Korea's approach to NATO comes as the alliance is looking east towards a region it refers to as the Indo-Pacific, a new focus that Yoon welcomed, the official said.

NATO in its new strategic concept unveiled on Wednesday, for the first time described China as a challenge to NATO's "interests, security and values", as an economic and military power that remains "opaque about its strategy, intentions and military build-up".

China firmly opposes NATO's new strategic concept and called on NATO to "immediately stop groundless accusations and provocative remarks", Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

"NATO's strategic concept document ignores the facts...discredits China's foreign policy, speaks ill of China's normal military development and national defense policy and encourages confrontation," Zhao said.

Yoon, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, also attending the NATO summit as an observer, met and agreed that the progress of North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes posed serious threats to not only the Korean peninsula but also East Asia and the world.

Chinese state media had warned against South Korea and Japan attending the NATO summit and criticised the alliance's broadening partnerships in Asia. North Korea said this week that NATO involvement in the Asia-Pacific region would import the conflict raging in Europe.

Australia and New Zealand also attended the summit, making four observers from the region. The South Korean official said the four were "exploring their own Indo-Pacific strategies".

"At the heart of that, there are concerns and various dilemmas about China," the official said.

Asked on Thursday about South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand's attendance at the NATO summit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao said that third parties should not be targeted, or their interests undermined as different countries develop relations with each other.

"China will pay close attention to the relevant trends of NATO and will not sit idly by and do nothing if matters are harming China's interests," he said. (Reuters)

Russia's Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that in certain circumstances, sanctions against Moscow may be seen as an act of aggression and a justification for war.

"I would like to point out once again that under certain circumstances such hostile measures can also qualify as an act of international aggression. And even as a casus belli (justification for war)," Medvedev said, adding that Russia has the right to defend itself.

Russia has faced a barrage of crippling economic sanctions from Western countries in response to its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a "special military operation".

Medvedev, a former Russian president who was once seen as a liberal, has emerged as one of the most hawkish proponents of the war, delivering a series of scathing denunciations of the West. (Reuters)