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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Mexico City Mayor Invites U2 to Perform at Iconic Zócalo Plaza

Irish rock band U2, which spent Tuesday and Wednesday filming a new music video for its song Street of Dreams in the Historic Center of Mexico City, received an invitation to perform at the capital’s iconic Zócalo square from Mayor Clara Brugada.

Brugada shared the invitation through social media posts accompanied by photos and a video showing her meeting with the band members.

“This is an invitation for you to perform in our wonderful public square, the Zócalo. You are welcome here, and we would love to have you,” Brugada said in the video while handing a document to Bono, the band’s lead singer.

Bono responded by saying that the group would like “to begin its new tour in Mexico City.”

Referencing one of the band’s most famous songs, In the Name of Love, Brugada said she was greeting Bono along with The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr..

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“Welcoming U2 to our capital means celebrating music, connection and the emotion that can be felt in every corner of this city,” Brugada wrote in one of her messages. “We are a city open to the world, vibrant and full of stories shared from the stage to the streets.”

She also described the Zócalo as “the country’s most important public square” and a cultural landmark for Latin America.

Over the years, the Zócalo has hosted massive concerts by internationally renowned artists and bands including Roger Waters, Paul McCartney, Manu Chao, Café Tacvba, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Los Tigres del Norte, La Maldita Vecindad, Silvio Rodríguez, Joan Manuel Serrat, Rosalía and Shakira, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans.

International

Marco Rubio Urges China to Help Restrain Iran Amid Gulf Tensions

Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington hopes to persuade China to take a more active role in stopping Iran from escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf, arguing that the crisis directly threatens Asian commercial interests.

“It is in China’s interest to resolve this situation. We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to stop what it is doing now and trying to do in the Persian Gulf,” Rubio said during an interview with journalist Sean Hannity on Fox News while traveling aboard Air Force One.

The top U.S. diplomat said the conflict and concerns over the possible disruption of the Strait of Hormuz have already affected China’s interests.

Rubio noted that “a Chinese cargo ship was struck over the weekend,” referring to the exchange of attacks reported last Friday between Iran and the United States.

The remarks come amid growing international concern over rising tensions in the region and the potential impact on global trade routes and energy supplies.

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International

Trump floats Vance-Rubio potential Republican ticket for 2028 election

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubiocould potentially form a Republican presidential ticket for the 2028 elections.

Speaking during a dinner with law enforcement officials as part of National Police Week, Trump publicly praised both officials and said they could make “an ideal team” for the next presidential race.

“Who likes JD Vance? Who likes Marco Rubio?” Trump asked attendees before adding that the pair “sound like a good combination.”

The president highlighted his vice president’s performance in office, stating that their current partnership has been highly effective. “JD is perfect, that has been a perfect formula,” Trump told reporters later.

He further suggested that a Vance-Rubio pairing could represent a strong presidential and vice-presidential ticket, although he stopped short of offering any formal endorsement.

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“I think it sounds like a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate,” he said, while clarifying that his remarks should not be interpreted as an official backing of any future campaign.

So far, neither Vance nor Rubio has publicly confirmed any intention to run in the 2028 presidential election.

Rubio previously sought the Republican nomination in 2016 but withdrew after losing the primary race to Trump. Later, in a December 2025 interview with Vanity Fair, he said he would be among the first to support Vance if he decided to run for the White House.

Vance, meanwhile, has recently dismissed speculation of any political rivalry with Rubio amid growing discussion about potential future GOP leadership.