The Met Department forecasts generally fair weather, with partly cloudy conditions at times
The Philippine government said Friday it will postpone elections key to ending decades of sectarian bloodshed in a 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 youths in the region towards the more hardline groups 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.
The Met Department forecasts generally fair weather, with partly cloudy conditions at times
Studies indicate that approximately 28.2% of schoolgoing children and 34.7% of adolescents in the UAE are classified as overweight or obese
The consistent rise in rentals over the past three years has boosted property owners’ income
The athlete's proactive approach includes a balanced diet and carefully regulating his insulin pump to prevent drops in blood sugar during training
Some say the congestion starts as early as 6.30am and lasts until late morning
Passengers booked on these services are being assisted with travel arrangements, the airline said
Spot gold prices hit record high of $2,635.29/oz
UniCredit CEO Orcel aims to build Europe's biggest bank