Manila, Rodrigo Duterte arrested for crimes against humanity

Today's news: Agreement reached between Syria's al-Sharaa and  SDF Kurds; overnight Israeli raids on military positions; In North Korea  publicly executes three men for attempting to escape by sea; TikToker is convicted of blasphemy in Indonesia after ‘talking’ to an image of Jesus; India's Byrnihat is the most polluted city in the world.

PHILIPPINES

The Philippine police have arrested former president Rodrigo Duterte on the basis of a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing him of crimes against humanity for his bloody ‘war on drugs’. The 79-year-old was taken into police custody shortly after arriving at Manila airport from Hong Kong. His actions led to the deaths of thousands of people during his presidency from 2016 to 2022, and before that during his term as mayor of the city of Davao.

SYRIA

Syria has announced that it has reached an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to integrate the latter into state institutions. The Syrian presidency made the announcement after a signing ceremony attended by interim President al-Sharaa and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi. Meanwhile, during the night Israeli military aircraft carried out attacks in the southern Syrian province of Dar'a, against military positions of the former regime of Bashar al-Assad.

NORTH KOREA

North Korea has publicly killed three men, shooting each of them 90 times with a machine gun, for trying to escape to the democratic South Korea. The authorities then burned their bodies in front of the terrified residents of the city, who were forced to watch. The three men, all in their thirties, had been captured in January while trying to flee south by boat. Lost at sea in fog, they thought they had crossed the border when they encountered a North Korean patrol boat.

INDIA

The World Air Quality Report 2024 identified Byrnihat, in Assam, as the most polluted city in the world. Six of the ten most polluted cities in the world are still in India. Delhi remains the most polluted capital city globally, while India ranked fifth in 2024, down from third in 2023. According to the report, the country recorded a 7 per cent reduction in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, with an average of 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre.

INDONESIA

An Indonesian TikToker has been sentenced to almost three years in prison after allegedly ‘talking’ to an image of Jesus on her phone and telling him to cut his hair. Ratu Thalisa, a Muslim influencer, was live streaming and responding to a comment telling her to cut her hair to look more like a man. The court said her comments could undermine ‘public order’ and ‘religious harmony’ in society, and she was charged with blasphemy.

KAZAKHSTAN

Once again this year, journalists in Kazakhstan were disappointed by the lack of a press conference by President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, despite his promise that it ‘would be a tradition’, and that in six years in power he has only granted rare interviews to television channels and publications of his liking. The last interview with a Kazakh media was published in February 2022.

TAJIKISTAN

The president of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmon, has praised the role of women in the country, who ’ can hold the highest offices in all sectors’, even if in reality the representation of women at the highest levels is very low, with 3 ministers out of 22 members of the government, the deputy prime minister Dilrabo Mansuri, the minister of culture Matlubakhon Sattorien and the minister of labour and migration, Solekha Kholmakhmadzoda.

• Asia
• Today