Rebels hand in guns in Philippines peace deal
SULTAN KUDARAT (Philippines) • Muslim rebels in the mainly Catholic Philippines began handing over their guns to independent foreign monitors yesterday, as part of a treaty aimed at ending a decades-long separatist insurgency.
Just over a thousand guerillas in the country’s restive south were turning in 940 weapons in a single day, the start of a process that aims to turn the country’s largest rebel force into a regular political party.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Russia, Ukraine carry out prisoner swop
MOSCOW/KIEV • Russia and Ukraine carried out a long-awaited prisoner swop yesterday in a step that could thaw a deep freeze in relations since Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea region in 2014.
While the exchange of 35 prisoners on each side could help rebuild confidence between Moscow and Kiev and allow them to start negotiating seriously on other issues, any road to a full rapprochement is likely to be long and complex.
REUTERS
LA man’s death fifth in US linked to vaping
LOS ANGELES • A Los Angeles County resident has died from a lung illness possibly tied to vaping, bringing the total number of such US deaths to five, health officials said on Friday.
The unidentified person was described as an older adult with chronic underlying health conditions and was one of 12 people in the county who had severe and sudden lung disease after a history of vaping, said Dr Muntu Davis, the health officer of the county’s Department of Public Health.
REUTERS