The Philippine Government Tries Once Again to Make Peace With Rebels

The Philippine government and the political wing of the communist rebels -- the National Democratic Front -- signed a joint declaration Aug. 26 to indefinitely extend a cease-fire to facilitate peace talks. The cease-fire extends a 7-day limited cease-fire that was issued by the communist side before the talks, and could pave the way for future discussions as both sides enter into the next round of negotiations -- currently set for October 8-12. The peace talks aim to end the world's longest-running communist insurgency. The conflict has left 40,000 people dead, more than 3,000 of whom were killed in the past eight years....