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Philippine troops kill 10 militants in clash

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine forces killed 10 suspected Muslim militants Friday in the deadliest clash so far this year in the south where troops have been fighting remaining rebels waging a considerably weakened separatist insurgency, officials said.

Decades of secessionist violence in the south, homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation, considerably eased in 2014 after the largest armed group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which had thousands of armed guerrillas, signed a Muslim autonomy deal with the government.

A number of smaller armed groups that refused to get involved in the peace talks, however, continued to wage sporadic guerrilla attacks for a separate Muslim state.

The latest clash started when suspected members of the Muslim separatist group called Dawlah Islamiya-Maute opened fire on police officers and army troops trying to serve warrants for the arrest of their commander for murder and other reported crimes in a village in Lanao del Sur province, police Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico said.

Amerol Mangoranca and his fighters, who had aligned themselves with the Islamic State group in the past, had been blamed by the military for recent guerrilla attacks, including an ambush that killed four soldiers in nearby Lanao del Norte province in January, military officials said.

Detained French widow returns home

PARIS — The 85-year-old widow of an American military veteran held in federal immigration detention returned home to France on Friday, according to the French government and her family.

Marie-Thérèse Ross entered the U.S. last June to begin a new life with a retired U.S. soldier she had met decades ago when he was stationed in France, court records show. But after her husband’s death, Ross’ stepson — a U.S. federal employee — reportedly intervened to have her taken into immigration custody earlier this month amid a dispute over the estate, an Alabama judge found.

“She returned to France this morning. This is a satisfaction for us,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters during a visit to the southern city of Montpellier on Friday. Barrot said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement methods are “not in line” with French standards and are “not acceptable to us.”

Federal immigration agents detained Ross in Alabama on April 1 after she overstayed her 90-day visa, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She was then held at a detention facility in Louisiana as French officials expressed concern about her well-being.

Brazilian former official released by ICE

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s former intelligence agency chief Alexandre Ramagem celebrated on Thursday his release by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a two-day detention. He thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for his release, though he provided no evidence that the leader had had any connection with the move.

Ramagem, a former lawmaker, was sentenced in Brazil in September to 16 years in prison for his role in the coup attempt by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in 2023. He fled the South American nation before he would have started serving his sentence.

“I am here to thank the U.S. government, the highest-ranking members of the Trump administration,” Ramagem said on his social media channels. He added that his release “did not require any bail payment, which is common in migration cases” like his.

The former intelligence chief was arrested Monday in Florida, the same day Brazilian senator Jorge Seif told the U.S. embassy in Brasilia that his ally should not remain in custody because he was reportedly being persecuted at home.

Local media reported he was released late Wednesday.

Ramagem had already filed for political asylum before this week’s incident, but his case has not yet been decided.

London police check items near embassy

LONDON — Police in London said Friday they were investigating an incident near the Israeli Embassy involving a number of discarded items.

The Metropolitan Police said the embassy was not attacked but that its officers, including some in protective clothing, were combing the area around the plush neighborhood of Kensington Gardens.

A cordon was set up and access to the gardens and the surrounding area was restricted. Police vans and a white tent can be seen at scene.

“We do not believe there to be any increased public safety risk at this stage, but we would urge people to avoid the area while officers carry out their work,” a police spokesperson said.

The police also said detectives were investigating whether the unidentified items found near the embassy are linked to a video posted online claiming it was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances. It said Counter Terrorism Policing London is aware of the video.

The video, which appears to have been shared by the group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, shows a target over an image of the Israeli embassy and people dressed in hazmat suits flying drones, according to PA Media.