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A predominantly Muslim region in the southern Philippines held its first elections for a regional parliament on Monday and Tuesday after years of delays, bringing it closer to self-rule following decades of insurgency and violence. Officials said voter turnout exceeded 80%, although five people were killed in election-related violence in the regional capital. Voting was also extended to a second day at some polling precincts following the discovery of a suspected cheating attempt. More than 20,000 soldiers and police officers were deployed to maintain security during the elections. Voters are electing 80 members of the regional parliament, who will elect a chief minister during their first session. The election results are expected to be announced by the end of Tuesday. Voting extended over suspected cheating Authorities extended voting for a second day in 36 of 86 precincts in Maluso town on Basilan island after discovering pre-filled ballots. New ballots were printed for around 16,000 affected voters and delivered late Monday, with polling kept open until 7pm Tuesday for those voters. Commission on Elections Chairman Erwin Garcia welcomed the high turnout and said those responsible for the suspected cheating would face charges for election sabotage. “The elections stand on generations of Bangsamoro struggle for homeland, identity, and self-determination, in the face of dispossession, marginalization, conflict and sacrifice,” Garcia said in an earlier statement. Mindanao recovering from decades of conflict The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was established under a 2014 peace agreement, replacing an earlier autonomous region with a larger, better-funded and more powerful territory. Since its creation, the region has been governed by an appointed transitional administration comprising former guerrilla leaders. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim rebel group, abandoned its demand for independence from the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines in exchange for greater autonomy. The group also promised to demobilize its around 40,000 fighters and help them return to civilian life. The region covers five provinces, three cities and 63 additional villages and has nearly 2.4 million registered voters. Around 150,000 combatants and civilians have died in the southern Philippines since the 1970s, while years of conflict have hindered development in the country's poorest region. Mindanao was once regarded as a haven for al-Qaida and Islamic State militants amid bombings and kidnappings. A Philippine military offensive backed by the United States later weakened the militant groups. In May 2017, Islamic State-linked militants laid siege to Marawi, leading to five months of ground fighting and airstrikes. More than 1,100 people, mostly militants, were killed, while much of the city's commercial and residential areas, including its mosque-dotted neighborhoods, was destroyed. “Whoever wins, hopefully we will see change,” said Sittie Ashuya L. H. Omar, a 22-year-old voter from Marawi. “Hopefully they can implement their promises.”

A predominantly Muslim region in the southern Philippines held its first parliamentary elections on Monday, seen as a crucial step in the long quest for self-rule after decades of insurgency and violence. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was set up under a 2014 peace deal that saw the largest Muslim rebel group give up the goal of a separate Muslim state in the south of the largely Catholic country in exchange for broader autonomy. The group’s 40,000 fighters promised to demobilize and join civilian life. Commission on Elections Chairman Erwin Garcia reported that Cotabato City has been put under the commission’s control, with an administrator to be designated after a shooting incident killed three people and injured 15 others late Sunday. In other incidents in the city, a blast from an improvised bomb injured the person carrying the explosive, and a gun was fired but no one was hurt. The town of Maluso in Basilan has also been put under the commission’s control after pre-shaded ballots were found in 36 out of 68 precincts. Garcia said he immediately ordered the reprinting of ballots for the affected precincts, where voting would be delayed. Since the 1970s, about 150,000 combatants and civilians have died in the southern Philippines, while development was stunted in the country’s poorest region. Western and Asian governments feared the tenacious insurgencies could help foster Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia. With bombing attacks and kidnappings, Mindanao used to be a haven for al-Qaida and the Islamic State group before a U.S.-backed Philippine offensive weakened the militants.    

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday warned that growing geopolitical tensions, disruptions to supply chains and climate-related crises are increasingly affecting people around the world, and called for stronger cooperation and support among countries of the Global South. Addressing the BRICS summit on its second day in New Delhi, Modi also cautioned that the "weaponization of technology and critical minerals" could hamper global development and shared prosperity. BRICS, founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, has expanded to 11 members, representing about half of the world's population and a significant portion of the global economy. The grouping has pushed for greater representation of developing countries in global institutions and promoted alternatives to Western-dominated financial systems. "The number of conflicts and tensions in the world is continuously increasing, and this is having an increasingly negative and far-reaching impact on the lives of ordinary people," Modi said in the presence of bloc leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. "Pandemics, climate disasters and supply-chain disruptions have shown that in today's interconnected world, no crisis remains confined to a single region," Modi said. He also announced that BRICS members had agreed to establish an integrated early warning system for infectious diseases to strengthen preparedness for and responses to future outbreaks. In a joint declaration issued Saturday, the group expressed concern over escalating tensions in the Middle East and Sudan and called for disputes to be settled through dialogue and diplomacy. The bloc reaffirmed its support for a multipolar world order and called for reforms to the United Nations, including its Security Council, as well as international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. BRICS leaders opposed unilateral sanctions and coercive economic measures and criticized sanctions that have not been authorized by the United Nations. They also criticized increasing tariffs and nontariff barriers, saying such measures undermine global trade and supply chains. The bloc supported greater use of local currencies in trade and stronger cross-border payment systems, while also calling for cooperation in food security, energy, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and climate action. The joint declaration marked a significant diplomatic breakthrough, as reaching consensus among Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — which have competing positions on major regional and geopolitical issues — posed a complex challenge amid ongoing conflicts and heightened tensions.

Indonesian rescuers launched a search operation Sunday after losing contact with a passenger ship carrying more than 240 people in the Java Sea while it was traveling from East Java to South Kalimantan, officials said. The Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan on Borneo island, said it received a report about two hours after contact with the Virgo Transport 8 was lost at around 2 a.m. Sunday. The vessel had departed Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in East Java province, for Banjarmasin. "The ship's operator reported the incident to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather," said I Putu Sudayana, head of the Search and Rescue Office, during a video briefing. Initial information showed that the ship's last known position was in the Java Sea, about 148 kilometres (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin. According to the vessel's manifest, it was carrying 241 passengers. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The ship's operator, PT Virgo Yoel Rihi, reported the loss of contact and said the vessel had left Surabaya at 10:13 a.m. local time Saturday. Following the report, a rescue team was deployed to the Basirih Search and Rescue pier in Banjarmasin, while a rescue vessel headed toward the ship's estimated last known location. Sudayana, who is coordinating the search operation, said authorities were mobilising all available personnel and resources because of the large number of passengers and crew aboard the vessel. He said the search was being conducted in coordination with maritime authorities and other relevant agencies, while officials were closely monitoring weather conditions in the area.

Rescuers recovered more bodies from a passenger ferry that was engulfed by fire in the Philippines, raising the death toll to 76, while 13 people remained missing on Saturday. Forty-three passengers survived Wednesday night's blaze, which broke out while 132 people were aboard the vessel. The ferry had departed Manila and was about 39 kilometres (24 miles) from its destination in Coron, southwestern Palawan province, when the fire broke out. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. However, a coast guard spokesperson said a survivor reported that it may have started in the cargo hold. The survivor said they heard a blast before smoke and flames rapidly spread through the vessel, helped by strong winds, officials said. Tents were erected at the Port of Borac in Coron as body bags were brought ashore from a ship that had transported the recovered remains from the burned ferry. Commodore Noemie Cayabyab, a coast guard spokesperson, said authorities were searching for the vessel's captain, who reportedly survived the incident but was not included on the list of survivors. She said a multiagency maritime safety and criminal investigation would examine all aspects of the incident, including any possible liability of the captain and crew. According to Cayabyab, survivors said the fire spread so quickly that they had no time to put on life jackets. She also said a tarpaulin covering the ship's open areas to protect passengers from rain "may be a possible contributing factor," although investigators could not yet determine whether anyone was trapped inside. Investigators will also determine whether proper emergency procedures were followed, including whether the captain sounded an alarm or issued warnings and instructions, and whether crew members helped passengers evacuate, she said. Ferries are a common means of transportation across the Philippine archipelago, where maritime accidents frequently occur due to storms, poorly maintained vessels, overcrowding and inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations, particularly in remote provinces. In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people in what remains the world's deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Saturday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi, marking the latest effort by the rival neighbors to repair relations damaged by a deadly border clash six years ago. Xi said that China views its relationship with India from a "strategic and long-term perspective," calling on both nations to draw on each other's strengths, support one another and pursue common development. Urging "high-quality cooperation," Xi said China and India, as major members of the Global South, should promote a more multipolar world and contribute to global peace and stability. BRICS world's most influential platform for emerging markets cooperation: Xi Modi thanked Xi for China's cooperation in hosting the summit, noting that China will host the event next year. The leaders previously held talks in China last year when Modi attended a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional political, economic and security bloc founded by Beijing. The summit marks Xi's first visit to India since 2019 and represents a cautious thaw six years after a 2020 military clash in the cold desert region of Ladakh left at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese dead. Although both nuclear-armed powers have taken steps to ease tensions, deep mistrust persists over unresolved border disputes, India's substantial trade deficit with China, restrictions on Chinese investment and technology, and competing Asian strategic interests. Additionally, India has significantly expanded military infrastructure along the disputed frontier, while Beijing has constructed roads and defensive positions on its side. Xi's visit is expected to test whether recent progress can lead to broader diplomatic stabilization. Since their 1962 war, both economies have expanded substantially; however, China has far outpaced India and maintains a large trade surplus, fueling economic rivalry alongside territorial and strategic friction. Seeking to leverage China's rising labor costs and Beijing's strained ties with the United States and Europe, India is positioning itself as an alternative base for foreign manufacturers. New Delhi also views China's multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative with concern and remains strongly opposed to it. Conversely, India's growing strategic partnership with the U.S. has raised concern in Beijing, which views the alignment as an effort to counter China's rise.

The head of the Houthis' Supreme Political Council on Thursday claimed that the situation along Yemen's west coast has stabilized following the conclusion of strikes against Saudi reinforcements. According to a statement by Mahdi al-Mashat reported by the Houthi-run  media, an amnesty decree for Saudi-backed government troops has also been implemented. The announcement follows overnight military advances in which Houthi fighters captured territory along the Red Sea coast, including the strategically important port city of Mocha. With inputs from Al Jazeera

Indonesian rescuers are searching for eight people who went missing at sea while traveling to Anak Krakatau volcano to cover its latest eruption, officials said Wednesday. The missing group includes five journalists, two boat crew members and a guide. They were traveling by speedboat from Carita in Banten province to the volcanic island in the Sunda Strait. Banten Search and Rescue Office chief Al Amrad said the last message from the group was received by a journalist’s relatives at 6:13 p.m. Monday, saying they had reached waters near Anak Krakatau. Their last known location was about 18.5 kilometers from the coast. Rescue teams have been searching since Tuesday but have yet to locate the boat or establish contact with those aboard. The journalists work for Indonesia’s Antara news agency, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Merdeka and iNews, while another is a freelance photographer. Anak Krakatau’s initial eruption ended Sunday but the volcano has continued to erupt intermittently, sending lava, ash and glowing volcanic material into the air. The eruption forced airport closures on Sunday and Monday, disrupting nearly 2,961 flights and affecting around 341,000 passengers. Authorities have also allowed schools in areas affected by volcanic ash to temporarily shift to online classes. Anak Krakatau, meaning “child of Krakatau,” emerged from the remains of the volcano whose massive 1883 eruption devastated the surrounding area and contributed to global cooling. An eruption in 2018 triggered a tsunami that killed at least 430 people in Sumatra and Java. The volcano has remained at Indonesia’s second-highest alert level since July, with authorities advising people to stay at least 3 kilometers from the crater. Indonesia has more than 120 active volcanoes and frequently experiences eruptions because it lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Iran will announce a restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days and impose sanctions on ships that attempt to pass through the area without coordinating with Tehran, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said. In an interview with state-run IRIB TV aired Sunday night, Rezaei said the zone would stretch from the point where the US naval blockade begins toward the Strait of Hormuz and into the Persian Gulf on the opposite side of the waterway. He said vessels entering the zone without prior coordination with Iran could face sanctions that would affect their insurance coverage and their ability to use the waterway in the future. Rezaei described the planned move as part of a wider change in Iran’s military and diplomatic strategy aimed at putting greater pressure on Washington. He also rejected US claims that ships and oil tankers are continuing to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, insisting that the strategic waterway is completely closed. According to Rezaei, some vessels have attempted to cross through a route near Oman, sometimes turning off their navigation systems to avoid detection. He claimed that most of those ships “receive blows.” However, he said Iran does not currently plan to sink the vessels because of concerns over possible environmental damage. Rezaei also said Iran had test-fired a domestically developed anti-destroyer missile over a US aircraft carrier for the first time about 48 hours earlier. He described the test as a warning that the US naval blockade could be challenged. “The special missile created a hell for the Americans, and they fled,” he said. Rezaei said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States takes practical measures to meet its commitments under a peace memorandum of understanding signed by Tehran and Washington in June. He added that Iran and Oman would announce a new international corridor for ships seeking to pass through the strait in the coming days. The corridor, he said, would be managed by Iran. The latest restrictions followed US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran subsequently limited passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while US forces imposed a naval blockade targeting vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports and coastal waters.

Rescue teams searched through the remains of a collapsed building in New Delhi on Monday as the death toll from the incident rose to six, officials said. The five-story building, which operated as a hostel for male students, collapsed Sunday in Satya Niketan, a densely populated area known for private student accommodations near a Delhi University campus. Police, firefighters and teams from India’s disaster response agency continued search operations for a second day. Earthmoving machines removed large amounts of debris while sniffer dogs were deployed to help locate people who might still be trapped under the rubble. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said rescuers had pulled at least 12 people alive from the debris. About 80% of the rubble had been removed by Monday, with only debris from the basement still left to clear. Gupta said six people had died and six others were injured in the collapse. Residents said the building was at least 55 years old and had been undergoing renovation for several months. Although the work was reportedly incomplete, the building was reopened to tenants, most of them students, in August. Prakash Chand, a local resident, said workers were digging in the basement when the building suddenly collapsed. Gupta said preliminary investigations indicated that water had accumulated in the basement and that ongoing repair work on the aging structure may have contributed to the collapse. She said the government would introduce a policy requiring regular structural inspections and safety certificates for buildings used by the public. The proposed rules would cover student accommodations, nursing homes, schools and similar facilities. “No public activity will be permitted” in buildings that fail to meet the required safety standards, Gupta said. Building collapses are a frequent danger in some parts of India during the June-to-September monsoon season, when heavy and prolonged rainfall can weaken older structures and increase the risk of collapse.