International
Philippines postpones self-rule vote in restive Muslim region
AFP
The Philippine government said Friday it will postpone elections key to ending decades of sectarian bloodshed in a troubled Muslim region, with the pandemic and a stalling peace process blamed for the delay.
The vote was a key provision in a 2014 peace agreement aimed at ending a conflict estimated to have claimed 150,000 lives and was due to take place next May in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
But former rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) group appointed to lead a transitional government have said they needed more time before elections to a local legislature can go ahead and the vote will instead be held in 2025.
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed… (the bill) yesterday resetting the elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to 2025,” his spokesman Harry Roque told reporters.
The law grants Duterte the authority to appoint members of the 80-member transition authority whose terms would end with the 2025 election, Roque said.
Former MILF rebels have warned that the failure of the peace process would likely draw disillusioned Muslim youths in the region towards the more hardline Islamists still waging an armed campaign in the southern Philippines.
But restrictions imposed because of the pandemic and the transitional government’s inability to draw up an election code had left them with little choice but to delay the poll, Georgi Engelbrecht, senior analyst for the Brussels-based peace monitor International Crisis Group, told AFP last month.
“The extension is not the most perfect solution but nonetheless it’s a start,” he said.
A report by the monitor warned in April that the process of decommissioning the MILF’s 40,000 fighters was “sputtering”, with fewer than a third having laid down their weapons.
And the Duterte government “has been slow to distribute to them the economic packages meant to entice them to cooperate”, it added.
Violence has also persisted despite the peace deal, with radical Islamic groups setting up shop in what remains the poorest part of the country.
In May 2017, hundreds of pro-Islamic State foreign and local gunmen seized Marawi, the country’s largest Muslim city.
The Philippine military wrested back the ruined city after a five-month battle that claimed more than a thousand lives.
An insurgency first emerged in the mainly Catholic Asian nation in the early 1970s as a bid to set up a separate Muslim state in the Mindanao region, though the rebels later scaled down their goals to autonomy.
An earlier peace treaty between Manila and a rival Muslim rebel faction had created a self-ruled area in 1996, but it was hampered by a lack of funding and corruption while the MILF fought on.
The new entity is better-funded and slightly larger. The national government retains police powers.
International
U.S. classifies CV and PCC as terrorist groups in major policy shift
The United States government announced on Thursday that it will add the Brazilian criminal organizations Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), a designation set to take effect on June 5, 2026.
The State Department justified the decision by stating that both groups are among the most powerful criminal organizations in Brazil and accused them of coordinating violent attacks against police officers, public officials, and civilians.
The designation comes just days after Brazilian senator and presidential hopeful Flávio Bolsonaro directly asked U.S. President Donald Trump to classify these groups as “narco-terrorist” organizations during a visit to the White House.
Bolsonaro, who is running in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election in October, has made tougher action against organized crime and prison-based gangs a central part of his campaign platform.
He is part of a political dispute with current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has opposed the U.S. classification, warning it could open the door to potential foreign military intervention in Brazilian territory.
The Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital emerged in Brazilian prisons during the 1970s and have since expanded their influence, now controlling extensive criminal activities including drug trafficking, extortion, smuggling, and other illicit operations.
According to security experts and Brazilian authorities, both organizations have tens of thousands of members and support networks spread across multiple states in the country.
The U.S. measure aims to increase financial and operational pressure on these groups by restricting funding sources, limiting international mobility, and expanding cooperation in security enforcement efforts.
International
U.S.–Iran pre-agreement aims to de-escalate tensions and secure key trade route
The United States confirmed on Thursday that its negotiators have reached a preliminary agreement with Iran aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and extending the current ceasefire, though the understanding still requires final approval from U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. government sources confirmed information first reported exclusively by Axios, stating that the deal now only awaits the president’s endorsement.
According to Axios, citing two senior U.S. officials, the draft agreement stipulates that navigation through the Strait of Hormuz—previously blocked by Iran in response to U.S. and Israeli military actions—would be “unrestricted.”
The agreement reportedly includes provisions under which Iran would not impose transit fees in the strategic waterway, a critical route for global oil shipments. In parallel, the United States would lift maritime restrictions on vessels entering and leaving Iranian ports.
The memorandum of understanding also contains a commitment from Iran not to develop nuclear weapons, a key red line for President Trump. However, discussions on limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment would be postponed to later negotiations.
These issues are expected to be addressed during a 60-day extension of the ceasefire, which has been in place since April.
In addition, the United States would consider easing sanctions on Iran and releasing frozen Iranian assets as part of the broader diplomatic framework.
Negotiations between Washington and Tehran have intensified over the past week with mediation from Pakistan, as both sides seek to formally end the conflict that began on February 28 involving the United States and Israel.
The White House has recently stated that a deal was “a matter of days away,” while Tehran has tempered expectations, suggesting that an agreement is not yet imminent.
International
Interpol Operation Leads to 8,700 Arrests and Massive Drug Seizures Across Latin America
Interpol and the Organization of American States (OAS) announced the arrest of more than 8,700 people and the seizure of over 3,300 firearms and 56 tons of illegal drugs across 20 countries in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean following a six-week multinational security operation.
According to a statement released by the OAS, the operation — known as Operation Orca XI — was carried out between October 15 and November 30, 2025, under the coordination of Interpol, with support from the OAS and funding from the European Union.
The operation resulted in 8,701 arrests linked to illegal firearm possession, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities. Authorities also confiscated nearly 200,000 rounds of ammunition, $256,025 in cash, and 210 vehicles connected to criminal operations.
Participating countries additionally reported the seizure of 6.9 tons of cocaine, 659,403 coca plants, 9.3 tons of coca paste, 38.5 tons of marijuana, two tons of methamphetamine, and 11 kilograms of ketamine.
In its statement, the OAS emphasized that illegal arms trafficking in the region is closely tied to other forms of organized crime, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and cybercrime.
“Criminal organizations behind these crimes often use the same routes for multiple illicit goods,” the organization stated, adding that Operation Orca XI exposed the strong links between these criminal networks.
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Interpol Operation Leads to 8,700 Arrests and Massive Drug Seizures Across Latin America
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