World
ICC to investigate alleged misconduct by war crimes prosecutor – Reuters
The International Criminal Court's governing body will launch an external investigation into its chief prosecutor Karim Khan over alleged sexual misconduct, Reuters reported.
Khan is called on in an internal document circulated to member states to temporarily step down from his role at the world's permanent war crimes court, based in The Hague, while an inquiry is ongoing.
The undated and unsigned document, seen by Reuters, was circulated to member states by ICC staff.
Khan's office referred questions to his attorney and phone calls and repeated requests for comment sent to his lawyers went unanswered.
Khan has denied allegations of misconduct that were reported to the court's governing body last month. At that time he asked the court's own internal oversight body to investigate them.
A source with knowledge of the matter said an external probe was agreed at a meeting on Thursday of a core group of the court's governing body, the Assembly of States Parties.
Reuters couldn't determine who would conduct the investigation.
ICC judges are currently reviewing a request Khan made in May for arrest warrants against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and Hamas leaders. Khan has said the misconduct allegations coincided with a campaign of misinformation against his office.
The internal document, circulated for discussion, argued that the court's independent, internal body for assessing matters of conduct should have launched a formal inquiry into the allegations when they were first reported.
A source familiar with the matter said the alleged victim in the Khan case does not have confidence in the independence of the court's internal body, whose incoming head is a former member of Khan's staff, because details of reports to it about the alleged misconduct were leaked.
The current and future head of the independent body did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The document also shows pressure is mounting on Khan to temporarily step aside and let one of his deputy prosecutors take over while the investigation takes place.
"The prosecutor should step aside with immediate effect to pave the way for an independent investigation," the document says. It was unclear if the court's governing body has asked Khan to do so.
The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals. It's governing body holds its annual meeting early next month.
World
Israeli defense minister claims responsibility for first time for Hamas leader Haniyeh’s assassination
Haniyeh, normally based in Qatar, had been the face of Hamas’ international diplomacy as the war set off by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 has raged in Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted on Monday for the first time publicly to Israel's killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July, further risking tensions between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel's war in Gaza and the conflict in Lebanon, Reuters reported.
"These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran's defense systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand," Katz said.
Israel will "damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders – just as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana'a," Katz said during an evening honoring defense ministry personnel.
The Iran-backed group in Yemen has been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year to try to enforce a naval blockade on Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's year-long war in Gaza, read the report.
In late July, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was killed in Tehran in an assassination blamed on Israel by Iranian authorities. There was no direct claim of responsibility by Israel for the killing of Haniyeh at the time.
Haniyeh, normally based in Qatar, had been the face of Hamas' international diplomacy as the war set off by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 has raged in Gaza. He had been taking part in internationally brokered indirect talks on reaching a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, Reuters reported.
Months after, Israeli forces in Gaza killed Yahya Sinwar, Haniyeh's successor and the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
World
More than 30 dead in Brazil bus and truck collision
The truck driver fled the scene, and three occupants of a car that collided with the truck and became trapped underneath survived the accident, said the fire department.
A packed bus collided with a truck and burst into flames early on Saturday in Brazil, killing more than 30 people, the fire department said.
After removing all of the victims from a major highway near the town of Teofilo Otoni in Minas Gerais, the state's fire department reported that of the 45 people on the bus, 38, including the bus driver, had been confirmed dead.
The other passengers remained in critical condition after being transported to a local hospital.
The truck driver fled the scene, and three occupants of a car that collided with the truck and became trapped underneath survived the accident, said the fire department.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated on social media that the government was ready to provide whatever assistance was needed, and that the Federal Highway Policy was at the site.
"I deeply mourn and extend my prayers to the families of the more than 30 victims of the accident in Teofilo Otoni, Minas Gerais. I pray for the recovery of the survivors of this terrible tragedy," he wrote on X.
A forensic investigation will be required to determine the accident's cause, as differing accounts were gathered from witness testimonies, said the local fire department.
Initially, firefighters reported the bus had a tire blowout, causing the driver to lose control before colliding at around 4 a.m. local time, with an oncoming truck on the BR-116 federal highway, a major route connecting Brazil's densely populated southeast to the poorer northeast.
However, witnesses also reported that a granite block the truck was transporting came loose, fell on the road and caused the collision with the bus, said the fire department.
"Only the forensic investigation will confirm the true version," said the fire department in a statement.
The bus departed from Sao Paulo and was headed to the state of Bahia.
World
Biden approves $571 mln in defense support for Taiwan
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide $571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the State Department approved the potential sale to the island of $265 million worth of military equipment.
The United States is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, to the constant anger of Beijing, Reuters reported.
Democratically governed Taiwan rejects China's claims of sovereignty.
China has stepped up military pressure against Taiwan, including daily military activities near the island and two rounds of war games this year.
Taiwan went on alert last week in response to what it said was China's largest massing of naval forces in three decades around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas.
Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority "to direct the drawdown of up to $571.3 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan," the White House said in a statement without providing details.
Taiwan's defense ministry thanked the United States for its "firm security guarantee", saying in a statement the two sides would continue to work closely on security issues to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait.
The Pentagon said the State Department had approved the potential sale to Taiwan of about $265 million worth of command, control, communications, and computer modernization equipment.
Taiwan's defense ministry said the equipment sale would help upgrade its command-and-control systems.
Taiwan's defense ministry also said on Saturday that the U.S. government had approved $30 million of parts for 76 mm autocannon, which it said would boost the island's capacity to counter China's "grey-zone" warfare.
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