Philippines says Hague court is weighing complaint against Duterte over drug war deaths

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has told the Philippines that it has begun a preliminary examination of a complaint accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of crimes against humanity, his spokesman said on Thursday.
The complaint, which claims Duterte is complicit in the illegal deaths of thousands of Filipinos during his war on drugs, was “a waste of the court’s time and resources” and the examination would be the end of the process, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said…

‘It felt like a piece of me was cut from my chest,’ says man whose family was trapped by Taiwan quake

When a major earthquake struck Taiwan this week, Ryan Chang was horrified to learn that his parents and 15-year-old sister were among the dozens of families trapped in a collapsed residential building and hotel in the Hualien city centre.
“I got a call at midnight [on Tuesday] from my brother telling me our home had collapsed and our family was trapped on the eighth floor of the building,” Chang told the Post via text message the next day.
“I couldn’t stop…

Cambodia’s Supreme Court upholds conviction of prominent land rights activist Tep Vanny

Cambodia’s Supreme Court upheld a conviction on Wednesday on a prominent land rights activist who was jailed for two and a half years in 2017 for her role in a 2013 protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house.
Tep Vanny, who fought the evictions of thousands of residents from lakeside land in the capital Phnom Penh to make way for a luxury real estate project, was found guilty of inciting violence and assaulting security guards while trying to deliver a petition to Hun Sen on a…

Japanese ‘baby factory’ dad, who may have fathered dozens with surrogates, lays claim to his offspring in Thai court

A Japanese man who fathered at least 15 babies using Thai surrogate mothers appeared in a Thai court via video conference Tuesday, testifying in a case in which he is suing for paternal rights.
Mitsutoki Shigeta’s lawyer said that Bangkok’s Central Juvenile Court, where the “baby factory” case that has drawn wide attention is being heard, will issue its ruling on February 20.
Shigeta, the reputed son of a billionaire, was living in Hong Kong when news of his unusual…

Thailand’s former police chief admits ‘borrowing’ US$9.5 million from brothel owner who is now wanted for human trafficking

Thailand’s former national police chief has acknowledged he borrowed US$9.5 million from a brothel owner who is wanted on human trafficking charges.
Former police commissioner Somyot Pumpanmuang told reporters the brothel owner, Kampol Wirathepsuporn, has been his friend for more than 20 years, but he was unaware of where the money came from. Somyot’s remarks on Monday were widely reported in the Thai media on Tuesday.
Police since January have cracked down on several Bangkok…

Maldives chief justice, top judge arrested as President Yameen clashes with supreme court over jailed politicians

Maldives Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another Supreme Court judge were arrested at dawn on Tuesday, hours after President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency, police said.
Justices Saeed and Ali Hameed were arrested along with the court’s top administrator Hassan Saeed after security forces stormed the court complex in Male, with police citing complaints of corruption against them in a brief statement.
The high profile arrests followed the arrest on Monday of ex-president…

His work persuaded China to ban ivory trading – now he has been found stabbed to death at home in Kenya

A leading American investigator into the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade has been found stabbed to death in his home, Kenyan police and officials said on Monday.
A family member went to Esmond Bradley Martin’s house on Sunday to check on him after he did not respond to phone calls and found the body on a bed with a stab wound to the neck, said Nicolas Kamwende, head of criminal investigations in the capital, Nairobi.
“A passionate and committed man who made a big difference to…