Philippines’ former leader Duterte seeks interim release from ICC
Philippines’ former leader Duterte seeks interim release from ICC/node/2604364/world
Philippines’ former leader Duterte seeks interim release from ICC
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is seen on a screen in the courtroom during his first appearance before the International Criminal Court on charge of crimes against humanity over his deadly crackdown on narcotics on March 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 13 June 2025
AFP
Philippines’ former leader Duterte seeks interim release from ICC
Duterte stands accused of crimes against humanity over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers
International Criminal Court prosecutors have agreed not to oppose the request, according to the filing
Updated 13 June 2025
AFP
MANILA: Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team at the International Criminal Court has filed a motion for his interim release to an unnamed country, stating the prosecution would not object.
The 80-year-old stands accused of crimes against humanity over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed thousands.
In a filing posted to the court’s website late Thursday, defense lawyers said the involved country – the name of which was redacted – had expressed its “principled agreement to receive Mr. Duterte onto its territory.”
ICC prosecutors have agreed not to oppose the request, according to the filing, which said discussions about an interim release had been under way since Duterte’s first court appearance at The Hague on March 14.
“The Prosecution has confirmed its non-opposition to interim release to (REDACTED) (REDACTED) State Party” as long as certain conditions were met, the filing reads.
An annex spelling out the conditions for Duterte’s release was not publicly available, but the defense team’s filing noted that the octogenarian posed no flight risk and cited humanitarian concerns around his age.
Lawyers representing relatives of those killed in Duterte’s drug war condemned the application for release, citing threats made against victims’ families, and saying they had legal avenues to oppose it.
“There is still a procedure within the ICC that requires the prosecution to comment and the ICC Pre Trial Chamber (PTC) to decide on the application for provisional release,” lawyer Neri Colmenares said in a statement.
In an interview with local radio, lawyer Kristina Conti said she believed it was “50-50” the former president would be released.
“I hope the (drug war) victims can weigh in but that would be difficult if (the release is based on) humanitarian grounds, and he is reportedly sick,” she said.
Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, flown to the Netherlands that same night and has been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison since.
ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang is currently overseeing the case against Duterte after Karim Khan stepped aside during an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
Requests for comment sent to the ICC prosecutor’s office were not immediately returned.
Historically Black colleges issue lockdown orders, cancel classes after receiving threats
Although lockdowns have since been lifted, schools that received the threats continue to act with an abundance of caution
"Any threat made against HBCUs is “a threat against us all,” US Rep. Troy Carte reacts
Updated 10 sec ago
AP
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: A series of reported threats toward historically Black colleges and universities across the US on Thursday led to lockdown orders, canceled classes and heightened security.
Authorities did not elaborate on the type of threats that were made and no injuries have been reported. The FBI told The Associated Press that they are taking the “hoax threat calls” seriously and that there is “no information to indicate a credible threat.”
Although lockdowns have since been lifted, schools that received the threats continue to act with an abundance of caution. In an era of mass shootings — and following a wave of violence Wednesday and a spate of hoax calls about active shooters at the start of the school year — some universities opted to call off classes for the rest of the week and send students home.
US Rep. Troy Carter, a Louisiana Democrat, called the threats “reprehensible attacks” and said that any threat made against HBCUs is “a threat against us all.”
“These attacks cannot be tolerated, minimized, or ignored,” he said. “They must be met with swift and decisive action.”
Southern University in Louisiana, which reported a “potential threat to campus safety” on the 8,200-student campus and put students under lockdown for about an hour. At Alabama State University, which sits near downtown Montgomery and has an enrollment of about 3,500, students were ordered to shelter-in-place as police searched each building on campus.
About two hours later, the university said that it had received the “all-clear” from police. However, the school said that while the “immediate threat has been resolved” students were asked to shelter in place in their dorms and classes were canceled for the remainder of the day.
Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, Virginia State University, Hampton University in Virginia and Bethune-Cookman University in Florida also reported threats.
Precautionary measures came at a time of heightened worry on school campuses over violence following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah Valley University and a shooting at a Colorado high school.
Swatting incidents typically increase after violent events, putting schools on edge, said Don Beeler, chief executive officer of TDR Technology Solutions, which tracks swatting calls and offers technology to prevent them. The safety measures that schools may implement following potential threats could be heightened, such as canceling class for a few days, instead of just one day.
“Anything that happens in the next week is going to get an overreaction than what you normally see,” Beeler said.
Other HBCUs that did not receive threats announced that they, too, were tightening security.
South Carolina State University required anyone coming on campus, in Orangeburg, to show a photo ID after the threats started surfacing. Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia — which neighbors a university that did receive a threat — issued a lockdown Thursday and said it was amping up security measures.
At the start of the school year, at least a dozen college campuses received hoax calls about active shooters. The realistic-sounding calls, some of which had gunshots that could be heard in the background, prompted universities to issue lockdowns with directions to “run, hide, fight.”
Russia drone incursion in Poland may have been by ‘mistake:’ Trump
Updated 46 min 48 sec ago
AFP
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the alleged incursion of Russian drones into neighboring Poland may have happened by “mistake.”
“It could have been a mistake,” Trump told journalists.
His remark that seemed to make excuses for Russia followed an ambiguous initial response to the provocative act by Moscow that has put the United States’ NATO allies in Europe on edge.
“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform late Wednesday morning, nearly a half-day after Poland announced that several Russian drones entered its territory over the course of many hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies.
Trump’s comment stood in sharp contrast to the strong condemnation by several European leaders and was notably less robust than that of his ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker.
“We stand by our @NATO Allies in the face of these airspace violations and will defend every inch of NATO territory,” Whitaker posted on X.
The incursion occurred as the US leader is struggling to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in direct peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to end Russia’s more than 3-year-old war in Ukraine.
Invasive plants and bacteria threaten Iraq’s Euphrates
Updated 11 September 2025
AFP
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Euphrates River is running at historically low levels as the drought-stricken country faces its worst water scarcity in living memory.
Its 46 million people face rising temperatures, chronic water shortages, and year-on-year droughts, in a country intensely impacted by climate change.
The impact has been felt most acutely in the south, where reduced flow is fueling water pollution and the rapid spread of algae.
The once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates, which have irrigated the country for millennia, originate in Turkey, and authorities in Iraq have repeatedly blamed upstream Turkish dams for significantly reducing river flows.
“In recent weeks, the Euphrates has seen its lowest water levels in decades,” particularly in the south, said Hasan Al-Khateeb, an expert from the University of Kufa.
Iraq currently receives less than 35 percent of its allocated share of the Tigris and Euphrates, according to authorities.
To maintain the flow of the Euphrates, Iraq is releasing more water from its dwindling reservoirs than it receives, a measure that may not be sustainable.
Khaled Shamal, spokesman of the Water Resources Ministry, said that water reserves in artificial lakes “are at their lowest in the history of the Iraqi state.”
Reserves have fallen from 10 billion cubic meters in late May to less than 8 billion, which is less than 8 percent of their capacity.
BACKGROUND
Iraq’s 46 million people face rising temperatures, chronic water shortages, and year-on-year droughts, in a country intensely impacted by climate change.
Reduced water flow has resulted in poor water quality and poses a threat to the Euphrates ecosystem.
Khateeb said that releasing water from aging reserves to feed the river has led to the spread of algae, which depletes oxygen and endangers aquatic life.
The environment ministry warned Sunday of increased bacterial pollution and large areas of algae in Karbala province.
Authorities have also warned of “very poor” water quality in the neighboring province of Najaf.
In Lake Najaf, a photographer said the once-lush lake has been reduced mainly to stagnant pools scattered across the basin.
In Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar province, a photographer saw water hyacinth blooming in the Euphrates.
Water hyacinths, present in Iraq since the 1990s, have become more prevalent due to the low water flow, which also worsen their impact, according to Al-Khateeb.
This invasive plant can absorb up to 5 liters of water per plant per day and obstructs sunlight and oxygen, which are vital for aquatic life.
The Environment Ministry said Monday it purifies water to strict standards, and the quality is so far “acceptable” and safe for use in cities in south and central Iraq.
LILONGWE, Malawi: Malawians vote for a new president next week in an election clouded by economic hardship as incumbent Lazarus Chakwera squares off against his predecessor in a race where few voters see a real alternative.
Three of the 17 candidates for the Sept. 16 polls have already served as president of the southern African nation, and another is the current vice president.
While the list of contenders is unusually crowded, voters have lost faith in the political class to deliver meaningful change to one of the poorest countries in the world, analysts say.
“Whether it is Chakwera or (his predecessor Peter) Mutharika, nothing changes for us. It’s like choosing between two sides of the same coin,” said Victor Shawa, a 23-year-old unemployed man in the capital, Lilongwe.
Optimism that accompanied Chakwera’s coming to power has long since been eroded by runaway inflation of around 30 percent, chronic fuel and foreign exchange shortages, and corruption scandals touching senior government figures.
“People feel trapped,” said Michael Jana, a Malawian national and political scientist at South Africa’s Wits University.
“The economy is in crisis, the politicians are the same, and many Malawians don’t believe this election will change their lives,” he said.
FASTFACT
Three of the 17 candidates for the Sept. 16 polls have already served as president of the nation, and another is the current vice president.
Chakwera, a 70-year-old preacher, wants a second term after a mixed performance during his first run, which was handed to him only after the 2019 election result was canceled over rigging claims.
The 2020 rerun gave Chakwera, leader of the Malawi Congress Party or MCP, nearly 59 percent of ballots, denying a second term to Mutharika, a lawyer, from the Democratic Progressive Party, who had been ahead in the tarnished first round.
“I will vote for Chakwera because he has improved road infrastructure and supported youth businesses,” said 20-year-old Mervis Bodole, a small trader from central Malawi.
“But the cost of living is still too high, and many of us are struggling.”
Mutharika, 85, is banking on discontent with Chakwera to revive his political fortunes.
But his own term, which ran from 2014 until 2020, was marked by economic stagnation, shortages of basic goods, and allegations of cronyism.
According to a survey of 2,400 voters by the Institute of Public Opinion and Research, or IPOR, released last week, Mutharika leads with 41 percent ahead of Chakwera at 31 percent.
As outright victory requires 50 percent plus one vote, analysts say a second round is all but inevitable.
Results are due a week after voting.
Joyce Banda, Malawi’s only female president (2012-2014), and Vice President Michael Usi are also running, but their chances are seen as slim, and any role of kingmaker may go to former Central Bank Gov. Dalitso Kabambe, who polls a distant third.
For most Malawians, the choice on election day — when hundreds of local and parliamentary seats are also up for grabs — boils down to a single issue.
“The economy, the economy, and the economy — in that order — is what is driving this election,” said Boniface Dulani, a lecturer in politics at the University of Malawi.
“Inflation, fuel shortages and corruption have eroded public trust in Chakwera, whose support has nearly halved since 2020,” he said.
While Chakwera has been in power, the country has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023’s Cyclone Freddy which killed more than 1,200 people, and successive droughts.
But critics argue that these exposed, rather than excused, the administration’s lack of strategy.
“When people cannot afford food, when jobs are scarce, when inflation is out of control — those factors influence the vote more than anything else,” said Bertha Chikadza, president of the Economics Association of Malawi.
“Young people are told we are the future,” Shawa said.
“But when we look at these elections, all we see are the same old faces fighting for power while we fight to survive.”
LONDON: ’s leading defense organizations are this week taking part in Defense and Security Equipment International in London, an arms fair that brings together global leaders from the security and military industries.
The General Authority for Military Industries is supporting the pavilion at the event, which includes entities such as n Military Industries, Saudi Chemical Co. Ltd., Saudi Co. GDC Middle East and the World Defense Show.
is currently undergoing significant changes to its defense sector. As part of Vision 2030, it plans to become a global manufacturing and technology hub and localize more than half of its military spending.
A view of ’s pavilion at the Defense and Security Equipment International arms fair in London. (Bahar Hussain/AN Photo)
Although the Kingdom is one of the world’s major arms importers — sourcing nearly 74 percent of its weapons from the US, with the rest coming from Spain, the UK and France — its spending on foreign weapons fell by almost 41 percent between 2020 and 2024, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The drop was due to temporary delays in deliveries, resulting from the gap between using and replacing weapons, the institute said.
In May, the US and signed a $142 billion arms deal, which the White House described as the largest defense sales agreement in history.
wants to position itself as a kind of core around innovation. So the show’s theme really is about positioning the Saudi defense industry as a hub for innovation
Andrew Pearcey, CEO
The third edition of the World Defense Show will be held in Riyadh in February. More than 80 countries and 925 exhibitors are expected to take part in the event, whose theme is “The Future of Defense Integration.”
WDS CEO Andrew Pearcey said: “The future of defense integration is really mirroring what’s going on in the industry, which is this move to the seamless integration between all of the (military) domains.
“ wants to position itself as a kind of core around innovation. So the show’s theme really is about positioning the Saudi defense industry as a hub for innovation.”
Ahmad Al-Ohali, the governor of GAMI, on Tuesday launched the Saudi pavilion at the London exhibition in the presence of representatives from the country’s military and diplomatic corps. (GAMI)
One of the features of the show will be the “Future Defense Lab,” which showcases how innovative integration across air, land, sea, space and security can create new commercial and collaborative opportunities.
Others include the “Naval Zone,” which focuses on maritime technology, assets and crafts, and the “Unmanned Systems Zone,” which Pearcey described as one of the highlights.
“We are in the desert and that’s great,” he told Arab News. “We’ve got the area to demonstrate unmanned vehicles and bring in all the latest unmanned technology, (including) robotics in one area and showcase it … in the air or on the ground.”
Since its creation in 2022, the WDS has supported many Saudi small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in the military and security sectors.
We created an area called the ‘Saudi supply chain’, which aims to bring Saudi companies, authorities and international arms manufacturers to work together to try to localize the 50 percent of spending by 2030
Mansour Al-Babtain, VP Commercial Partnerships
Mansour Al-Babtain, vice president for commercial partnerships and liaison, told Arab News that next year’s event aimed to, “put in a position of one of those big countries in the defense sector.”
“We created an area called the Saudi supply chain, which (aims) to bring Saudi companies, authorities and international (arms manufacturers) to work together to try to localize the 50 percent (spending) by 2030,” he said.
The former Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilot said the WDS had, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and 80 colleges and universities, set up the “Future Talent Program” to support the next generation of Saudi defense professionals.
On the aim of February’s show, he said: “Our target is not only to bring exhibitors (to the WDS), but also to bring investors to our country. We are holding an investor program … to encourage international and local investors to be a part of the (Saudi defense) sector.”
GAMI was established in 2017 and is ’s military regulator. (Bahar Hussain/AN Photo)
The show would also include a “Meet the KSA” feature that would enable investors to meet government authorities who could explain “how the ecosystem works,” he said.
Ahmad Al-Ohali, the governor of GAMI, on Tuesday launched the Saudi pavilion at the London exhibition in the presence of representatives from the country’s military and diplomatic corps. It showcases key products and the industrial capabilities will use to enhance its defense sector.
GAMI, which is the Kingdom’s military regulator, was established in 2017 and formed the WDS as part of a broader strategy to support national security and promote sustainable economic development.
