The Philippines arrested firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday at the request of the International Criminal Court, a major step in the world body’s investigation into thousands of killings in a bloody “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.

Duterte, the maverick former mayor who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was served an arrest warrant on arrival from Hong Kong at Manila’s main airport and was now in custody, the office of his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a statement.

The “war on drugs” was Duterte’s signature campaign platform that swept the mercurial, crime-busting former prosecutor to power in 2016 and he soon delivered on promises made during vitriolic speeches to kill thousands of drug dealers and users, Reuters reported.

If transferred to the Hague, he could become Asia’s first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

Duterte has insisted he told police to kill only in self-defence and has repeatedly defended the crackdown, saying he was willing to “rot in jail” if it meant ridding the Philippines of drugs.

In a video posted on Instagram by daughter Veronica Duterte from Manila’s Villamor Air Base, where he has been placed in custody, the former leader questioned the reason for his arrest.

“What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?” he said in the video. It was unclear who he was speaking to.

“I was brought here not of my own volition, it is somebody else’s. You have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty.”

The president’s office has yet to clarify the next steps for Duterte and it was not immediately clear what the ICC has charged him with.

According to police, 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations that they say ended in shootouts. But activists say the real toll of Duterte’s crackdown was far greater, with many thousands more slumland drug users, some named on community “watch lists”, killed in mysterious circumstances.

The ICC’s prosecutor has said as many as 30,000 people may have been killed by police or unidentified individuals.

Police have rejected allegations from rights groups of systematic executions and cover-ups.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ahead of talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials that Washington hopes will deliver substantial progress towards ending Russia’s war with Ukraine, Reuters reported.

During the meeting in Jeddah, the crown prince underscored the kingdom’s support for international efforts to resolve Ukraine’s crisis and achieving peace, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported early on Tuesday.

The United States, once Ukraine’s main ally, has upended its policy on the conflict in its stated pursuit of a rapid end to the fighting, engaging directly with Moscow while stopping military assistance and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, which Russian troops invaded at scale in 2022.

Grappling with the new approach in the White House, Ukraine has pushed for “pragmatic” relations after a disastrous Oval Office encounter between Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump descended into acrimony last month.

Saudi Arabia has played a mediating role since Russia’s invasion, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting last month’s talks between Moscow and Washington.

Talks on Tuesday between U.S. and Ukrainian officials are the first official session since Zelenskiy’s abortive White House meeting, and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said he had high hopes, read the report.

“I think that we’re going over there with an expectation that we’re going to make substantial progress,” he said in an interview with Fox News.

Asked if he thought Zelenskiy would return to the U.S. to sign a minerals deal this week, Witkoff said: “I am really hopeful. All the signs are very, very positive.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a more cautious note, saying there were still details to be worked out on the minerals deal. He added that the talks could be a success without an accord being signed and stressed the need to gauge Kyiv’s readiness to make concessions to reach peace.

Under huge pressure from Trump, Zelenskiy has been at pains to show that Kyiv is committed to ending the war soon, despite failing to win the U.S. security guarantees that Kyiv sees as vital for any peace deal.

Zelenskiy has said he will not attend Tuesday’s talks with U.S. officials, and the Ukrainian delegation will include his chief of staff, his foreign and defence ministers and a top military official in the presidential administration.

“On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps,” Zelenskiy said in a post on X.

“Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”

U.S. officials said they were planning to use the meeting in part to determine whether Kyiv is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war.

One U.S. official said: “We want to see if the Ukrainians are interested not just in peace, but in a realistic peace.”

Trump said on Sunday he expected good results out of the upcoming talks, adding that Washington had “just about” ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

Rubio said Ukraine was already receiving all U.S. defensive intelligence. “All the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve … I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” he said.

On the eve of the talks, Russia launched air strikes targeting Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, with the Ukrainian air force saying the country was under a threat of a missile attack.

Witkoff, who has been arranging the talks, has said the idea is to “get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well”.

Zelenskiy has called for a truce in the air and at sea, as well as a prisoner exchange, in what he says could be a test of Russia’s commitment to ending the war.

Moscow has rejected the idea of a temporary truce, which has also been proposed by Britain and France, saying it was a bid to buy time for Kyiv and prevent its military collapse, Reuters reported.

Zelenskiy has said Kyiv is ready to sign the minerals deal with the U.S., which would create a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals. Washington says it is crucial to secure continued U.S. backing.

With U.S. support in question, Zelenskiy has been urging his European allies to ramp up their support as Kyiv’s battlefield position deteriorates and it faces mounting pressure to retreat from Russia’s Kursk region.

Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014, and its troops are also pressing in the eastern Donetsk region, having ramped up drone and missile strikes on cities and towns far from the front, read the report.

Russia has launched 1,200 aerial guided bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone, Zelenskiy has said.

Former central banker Mark Carney won the race to become leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party and will succeed Justin Trudeau as prime minister, official results showed on Sunday.

Carney will take over at a tumultuous time in Canada, which is in the midst of a trade war with longtime ally the United States under President Donald Trump and must hold a general election soon.

Carney, 59, took 86% of votes cast to beat former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in a contest in which just under 152,000 party members voted.

“There’s someone who’s trying to weaken our economy,” Carney said of Trump, spurring loud boos at the party gathering. “He’s attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses. We can’t let him succeed.”

“This won’t be business as usual,” Carney said. “We will have to do things that we haven’t imagined before, at speeds we didn’t think possible.”

Trudeau announced in January that he would step down after more than nine years in power as his approval rating plummeted, forcing the ruling Liberal Party to run a quick contest to replace him.

“Make no mistake, this is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given,” Trudeau said.

Carney, a political novice, argued that he was best placed to revive the party and to oversee trade negotiations with Trump, who is threatening additional tariffs that could cripple Canada’s export-dependent economy.

Trudeau has imposed C$30 billion of retaliatory tariffs on the United States in response to tariffs Trump levied on Canada.

“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect,” Carney said.

Carney’s win marks the first time an outsider with no real political background has become Canadian prime minister. He has said his experience as the first person to serve as the governor of two G7 central banks – Canada and England – meant he was the best candidate to deal with Trump.

The prospect of a fresh start for the Liberal Party under Carney, combined with Trump’s tariffs and his repeated taunts to annex Canada as the 51st U.S. state, led to a remarkable revival of Liberal fortunes.

At the start of 2025 the party trailed by 20 or more points but is now statistically tied with the official opposition Conservatives led by career politician Pierre Poilievre in several polls.

At a protest outside Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa on Sunday, dozens of Canadians held up signs protesting Trump with no reference to domestic politics.

“There is a rallying-around-the-flag moment that we would never have predicted a year ago,” said University of British Columbia politics professor Richard Johnston. “I think it’s probably true as we speak that the Liberals have been saved from oblivion.”

Polls though indicate that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives would be able to form a majority government. An election must be held by October 20.

Two Liberal Party sources said Carney would call an election in coming weeks, meaning one could take place much sooner.

Carney could legally serve as prime minister without a seat in the House of Commons but tradition dictates that he should seek to win one as soon as possible.

Liberals sought to compare Conservative leader Poilievre to Trump in a recent advertisement. Poilievre in turn ramped up attacks on Carney on Sunday.