World News Quick Take
ICC charges Duterte
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors have charged former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.” A heavily redacted charge sheet dated July 4, but only made public on Monday, lays out the accusations against the 80-year-old former leader, currently sitting in ICC detention in The Hague. The first count concerns his alleged involvement as a coperpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while mayor of Davao City. The second count relates to 14 murders of so-called “high value targets” in 2016 and 2017 when Duterte was president. The third charge is about 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers.
Photo: AP
NEW ZEALAND
Mother guilty of killing kids
A mother yesterday was found guilty of killing her two children and stashing their bodies in suitcases, in a high-profile case that drew international attention. Lee Hak-yung, a New Zealand citizen originally from South Korea, was extradited from Seoul in 2022 after the remains of her children were discovered in suitcases left at a storage unit in south Auckland. The children were aged eight and six at the time of their murders, and had been dead for three to four years before their bodies were found.
AUSTRALIA
Body returned without heart
Officials have demanded answers from Indonesian counterparts after the body of a young man who died on the island of Bali was repatriated without his heart. Queensland man Byron Haddow, 23, was found dead in the plunge pool of his Bali villa this year while on holiday. His body was returned to Australia four weeks later, where a second autopsy found he was missing his heart. “They just rung us to ask if we were aware that his heart had been retained over in Bali,” mother Chantal Haddow told Channel Nine. “Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any more heartbroken, it was another kick in the guts,” she said.
UNITED STATES
Trump links autism to Tylenol
President Donald Trump on Monday linked autism to childhood vaccine use and the taking of popular pain medication Tylenol by women while pregnant, elevating claims not backed by scientific evidence. In an extraordinary news conference at the White House, the Republican president delivered medical advice to pregnant women and parents of young children, repeatedly telling them not to use or administer the painkiller and suggesting that common vaccines not be taken together or so early in a child’s life. The advice from Trump, who acknowledged he is not a doctor, goes against that of medical societies.
CHINA
Fireworks prompt outcry
The Canadian outdoor brand Arc’teryx has issued an apology after a promotional fireworks display in the Tibetan Plateau led to an outcry over potential environmental damage. The Rising Dragon high-altitude show involved long stretches of pyrotechnics and colored smoke along snow-topped Himalayan ridgelines in the Tibetan region of Shigatse. The organizers said the display used biodegradable, environmentally friendly materials, but videos of the display posted online by the brand were met with a barrage of criticism. “Imagine selling US$800 jackets for mountain lovers, then nuking the mountains,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
RELAXED: After talks on Ukraine and trade, the French president met with students while his wife visited pandas, after the pair parted ways with their Chinese counterparts French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his fourth state visit to China yesterday in Chengdu, striking a more relaxed note after tough discussions on Ukraine and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a day earlier. Far from the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing where the two leaders held talks, Xi and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), showed Macron and his wife Brigitte around the centuries-old Dujiangyan Dam, a World Heritage Site set against the mountainous landscape of Sichuan Province. Macron was told through an interpreter about the ancient irrigation system, which dates back to the third century
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