Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Marcos, son of strongman, triumphs in Philippines presidential election

Ferdinand Marcos Jr clinched a stunning runaway victory in the Philippines’ presidential election on Monday in the first win by a majority since a 1986 revolution that toppled his late father’s two-decade dictatorship.An unofficial tally showed Marcos, popularly known as “Bongbong,” had surpassed the 27.5 million votes needed for a majority, setting the stage for a once unthinkable return to rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its humiliating retreat into exile during a “people power” uprising.

Pushing productive coca seeds, Mexican cartels reshape Colombia’s drug industry

Emissaries of Mexican drug cartels are involving themselves more closely in cocaine production in Colombia, paying farmers in advance and pushing cultivation of highly-productive strains, coca growers, security officials and rights activists say.Top Mexican cartels like Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion – which have large areas of influence within Mexico and engage in brutal violence for control of drug routes – have long purchased cocaine from Colombia’s guerrilla groups and crime gangs.

U.S.imposes sanctions on Islamic State financial network

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on what it said was a network of five Islamic State financial facilitators working across Indonesia, Syria and Turkey in support of members of the extremist jihadist group in Syria.The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement accused those designated of playing a key role in facilitating the travel of extremists to Syria and other areas where Islamic State operates, and of conducting financial transfers to support the group’s efforts in Syria-based displaced persons camps.

In government reset, UK’s Johnson looks to Queen’s speech to win back voters

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hoping to reset his government on Tuesday by setting out plans aimed at winning back traditional supporters in southern England who abandoned his governing Conservatives at local elections.Queen Elizabeth on Monday pulled out of the ceremony that marks a new parliament, and instead her son Charles is due to read out the laws which the government wants the House of Commons to approve and will pinpoint Johnson’s priorities for the coming session in 2022-2023.

World could see 1.5C of warming in next five years, WMO reports

The world faces a 50% chance of warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, if only briefly, by 2026, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday.That does not mean the world would be crossing the long-term warming threshold of 1.5C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), which scientists have set as the ceiling for avoiding catastrophic climate change.

U.S. to announce plans to battle illegal fishing in the Pacific

The United States will soon announce plans to better battle illegal fishing in the Pacific, U.S Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said on Monday, as part of increased U.S.engagement with the region to counter China’s growing influence. Several countries in the Indo-Pacific region chafe at China’s vast fishing fleet. They say its vessels often violate their exclusive economic zones and cause environmental damage and economic losses.

Ukrainian Americans try many ways to bring in relatives

Twice daily, Yuliya Day reaches out by phone from Los Angeles to see how her mother and aunt are doing in the attic they´ve rented in Warsaw.The sisters, 68 and 70 years old, crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border with two cats and few belongings after fleeing Kharkiv. Between calls, Day resumes her months-long effort to bring her mom and aunt out of Europe and into the United States. The 42-year-old special needs instructor is among six Ukrainian Americans who spoke to Reuters about navigating any route they can find through what they described as the difficult and confusing legal process of bringing in loved ones fleeing war.

Putin’s Victory Day speech gives no clue on Ukraine escalation

President Vladimir Putin exhorted Russians to battle in a defiant Victory Day speech on Monday, but was silent about plans for any escalation in Ukraine, despite Western warnings he might use his Red Square address to order a national mobilization. In Ukraine, there was no let up in fighting, with missile strikes destroying buildings in the southern port of Odesa and a renewed push by Russian forces to defeat the last Ukrainian troops holding out in a steelworks in ruined Mariupol.

U.S.says it will increase pressure on Taliban if it does not reverse decisions on women, girls

The United States will take steps to increase pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban government to reverse some of its recent decisions restricting the rights of women and girls if the hardline group shows no sign of rescinding the actions on its own. “We’ve addressed it directly with the Taliban,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a briefing on Monday.”We have a number of tools that, if we feel these won’t be reversed, these won’t be undone, that we are prepared to move forward with.”

Sri Lanka prime minister resigns, curfew imposed after clashes

Sri Lanka’s prime minister resigned on Monday to make way for a unity government that would try to find a way out of the country’s worst economic crisis in history, but protesters said they also wanted his brother to stand down as president.Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation came hours after clashes broke out in Colombo, where supporters of the ruling party stormed an anti-government protest camp and were beaten back by police using tear gas and water cannon.