Briefly

COLOMBIA

Candidates advance to election runoff

Colombia's Abelardo de la Espriella, an independent candidate associated with the far-right Defenders of the Homeland movement, and Ivan Cepeda of the ruling left-wing Historic Pact coalition, advanced to the presidential runoff after emerging as the top two candidates in Sunday's first-round vote, according to preliminary results released by the National Civil Registry. With 97.58 percent of the ballots counted, de la Espriella received 43.77 percent of the vote, while Cepeda garnered 40.88 percent, according to the preliminary results. As no candidate crossed that threshold, de la Espriella and Cepeda will face each other in a runoff on June 21.

MALAYSIA

Social media curbs for under 16s enforced

Malaysia began enforcing age verification requirements for registering and opening social media accounts on Monday to protect children under 16 from online threats. The move is being implemented in line with the enforcement of the Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code, which also started on Monday under the Online Safety Act 2025 by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, reported Bernama. Under the new regulations, individuals under the age of 16 are no longer allowed to open any social media accounts, while those who wish to register must submit official identification documents such as MyKad, passport, or MyDigital ID, an officially issued digital identity, to verify their age. The requirement is not limited to new registrations.

Xinhua