MANILA: A year ago Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte promised to cleanse his Southeast Asian nation of illegal drugs in three to six months. He said he would tame corruption and began a profanity-spiked tongue lashing of America — which he called “lousy” last week. Those “shock and awe” declarations of a year ago have collided with reality. Drugs and corruption have persisted and he grudgingly thanked the United States recently for helping to quell a disastrous siege in the south by pro-Daesh group militants.
Thousands of protesters marched with Duterte’s effigy Monday to demand that he deliver on promises he made in his first state of the nation speech last year, from pressing peace talks with Marxist guerrillas, which is currently on hold, to upholding human rights and the rule of law.
A look at the major issues confronting Duterte as he enters his second year in power.
DAESH-LINKED SIEGE
Two months after more than 600 pro-Daesh group militants blasted their way into southern city of Marawi, the military is still fighting the last gunmen — fewer than 100, about 10 of them foreign — in the last three occupied villages. Congress overwhelmingly voted on Saturday to grant Duterte’s request to extend martial law in the south to the year’s end to allow Duterte to deal with the Marawi crisis, the worst in his yearlong presidency, and stamp out other extremist groups across the south, something five presidents before him have failed to do.
About half a million people have been displaced by the fighting, some of whom have threatened to march back to the still-besieged city to escape the squalor in overcrowded evacuation camps in nearby towns. Rebuilding Marawi will require massive funds and national focus and will be fraught with pitfalls. Amid the despair and gargantuan rebuilding, it’s important “to ensure that extremist teachings do not find fertile ground,” said Sidney Jones, director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.
DRUG WAR
During the campaign, he promised to rid the country of illegal drugs in three to six months and repeatedly threatened traffickers with death. But he missed his deadline and later declared he would fight the menace until his last day in office. When then-President Barack Obama, along with European Union and UN rights officials, raised alarm over the mounting deaths from the crackdown, Duterte lashed at them, once telling Obama to “go to hell.” Duterte’s fiercest critic at home, Sen. Leila del Lima, was detained in February on drug charges she said were baseless.
More than 5,200 suspects have died so far, including more than 3,000 in reported gunbattles with police and more than 2,000 others in drug-related attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen and other assaults, police said. Human rights groups have reported a higher death toll and called for an independent investigation of Duterte’s possible role in the violence.
Duterte “has unleashed a human rights calamity on the Philippines in his first year in office,” US-based Human Rights Watch said. In April, a lawyer filed a complaint of crimes against humanity against Duterte and other officials in connection with the drug killings before the International Criminal Court. An impeachment complaint against the president was dismissed in the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Duterte’s allies.
SOUTH CHINA SEA
More than a month into Duterte’s presidency, the Philippines won a landmark arbitration case before a tribunal in The Hague that invalidated China’s massive territorial claims in the South China Sea under a 1982 UN maritime treaty.
Aiming to turn around his country’s frosty relations with China, Duterte refused to demand immediate Chinese compliance with the ruling. He promised he would take it up with Beijing at some point. Confronting China, which has dismissed the ruling as a sham, risks sparking an armed conflict that the Philippines would surely lose, Duterte contended.
Nationalists and critics blasted Duterte for what they see as a sellout to China. After meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China allowed Filipino fishermen to return to the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal, where Chinese coast guard ships had driven Filipinos away since 2012.
The Philippines had been the most vocal critic of China’s aggressive behavior in the disputed waters until Duterte took power and reached out to Beijing, partly to secure funding for infrastructure projects.
His move has effectively de-escalated tensions in the busy sea, but critics have warned that Duterte’s friendly overtures to China may erode the country’s chances to demand that China comply with the ruling and relinquish its claims to waters regarded as the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
A look at major issues Duterte confronting in his 2nd year
A look at major issues Duterte confronting in his 2nd year
ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests, his lawyer says
- One of the agents told Greer by phone that they were executing a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa
- Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the US as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer
NEW YORK: A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s student encampment movement was arrested Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who claimed they were acting on a State Department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney.
Mahmoud Khalil was at his university-owned apartment blocks from Columbia’s Manhattan campus when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the building and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press.
One of the agents told Greer by phone that they were executing a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil, who graduated in December, was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer.
The arrest comes as President Donald Trump vows to deport foreign students and imprison “agitators” involved in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. The administration has placed particular scrutiny on Columbia, announcing Friday that it would be cutting $400 million in grants and contracts because of what the government describes as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus.
The authorities declined to tell Khalil’s wife, who is eight months pregnant, why he was being detained, Greer said. Khalil has since been transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
“We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being detained,” Greer told The AP. “This is a clear escalation. The administration is following through on its threats.”
A spokesperson for Columbia said law enforcement agents must produce a warrant before entering university property. The spokesperson declined to say if the school had received a warrant for Khalil’s arrest.
Messages seeking comment were left with the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
Khalil had become one of the most visible faces of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia. As Columbia students erected tents on campus last spring, Khalil was picked to serve as a negotiator on behalf of students and met frequently with university administrators.
When classes resumed in September, he told The Associated Press that the protests would continue: “As long as Columbia continues to invest and to benefit from Israeli apartheid, the students will continue to resist.”
Saudi Ambassador to Japan highlights the country’s attractions ahead of Osaka Expo
- The tour — held in various parts of Japan — aims to show how Saudi Arabia is not just a distant place, but a relevant and engaging destination for all
TOKYO: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Faisal Binzagr attended the Tokyo stop of the “Meet Saudi Arabia Tour” to promote the Kingdom’s pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo, which opens on April 13.
The tour — held in various parts of Japan — aims to show how Saudi Arabia is not just a distant place, but a relevant and engaging destination for all.
Ambassador Binzagr, emphasizing the unique aspects of Saudi Arabia’s “rich culture and a fascinating history,” believes these elements have a special appeal to the people of Japan.
“We have beautiful, exciting things to showcase, but this is just a small glimpse of what we have to show about the past, the present and the future of Saudi Arabia,” Ambassador Binzagr told Arab News Japan.
“There are lots of things that you can touch and feel about our culture, from our heritage, from the emotion of our cities today and our life in the midst of a very exciting transformation that we are undergoing in Saudi Arabia.”
The Tour offers visitors a chance to experience various aspects of Saudi culture, including Saudi Arabian coffee and date pairing, a cooking demonstration of traditional sweets, and traditional Saudi music and costumes.
“We’re counting down to the last days before our opening in Osaka,” Ambassador Binzagr said about the Expo. “We’re almost completed and ready. I had the privilege of touring the site two days ago, and the final touches are being made now. With glimpses of the future we’re heading towards, I am very excited to welcome everyone to Osaka.”
One of the main themes of the Saudi Arabian pavilion is the building itself. The pavilion has been described as a “masterpiece” and is said to embody the flow of Saudi Vision 2030 and the transformation from past to future, sensitivity to the environment, and design elements that blend heritage with technology and vision.
“Looking at it, I see the transformation of Saudi Arabia and what’s happening in our vibrant country,” Dr. Binzagr said. “But our focus is not just on the present, but also on the promising future of Saudi Arabia. We want to inspire people with the potential and relevance of our future. We want people to see a sample of it so that they think not just about joining us in Osaka, but beyond that to visiting our country.”
Thematically, it projects an invitation to the world to step inside Saudi Arabia and to experience it. The building itself aims to reflect harmony – melding the desert environment with architectural aspects that both shield people from nature’s elements and celebrates those elements at the same time.
US Secret Service shoots armed man near White House: spokesman
- Man had been hospitalized and his condition was “unknown”
- Statement did not specify whether the White House or Trump may have been his intended target
WASHINGTON: US Secret Service agents shot an armed man near the White House during the night, an agency spokesman said early Sunday, while President Donald Trump was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
The man had been hospitalized and his condition was “unknown,” the spokesman said in a statement that did not specify whether the White House or Trump may have been the intended target.
No injuries to Secret Service agents were reported, according to the statement posted by spokesman Anthony Guglielmi on social media platform X.
The agents had been warned by local police of a “suicidal” man traveling to Washington from Indiana and around midnight found his parked vehicle near 17th and F Streets, the statement said — very near the White House.
They then spotted an individual nearby who matched the description they had been given, the statement said.
“As officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm and an armed confrontation ensued, during which shots were fired by our personnel,” the statement said.
“The suspect was transported to an area hospital and his condition is unknown,” it said, adding that Washington police were investigating.
Bangladeshi businesses seek closer ties with UAE on skills development, trade
- Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently signed MoUs with Dubai, Sharjah chambers
- Bangladeshi private sectors see UAE as ‘major gateway’ to Middle East, North Africa
Dhaka: Bangladeshi businesses are seeking closer ties with the UAE on skills development, trade and investments, the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Sunday after it signed agreements with its Emirati counterparts to strengthen economic cooperation.
The UAE is Bangladesh’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, with their bilateral trade volume valued at around $2 billion in 2024.
The Gulf state — home to about 1.2 million Bangladeshi expats — is also Bangladesh’s fifth-largest foreign investor.
DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed led a 29-member business delegation to the UAE last month, where he signed preliminary agreements with the Dubai Chambers and the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to boost trade and investments between their two countries.
Bangladeshi businesses are eyeing cooperation in a number of key areas, including trade and market access, energy and financial sectors, tourism and hospitality, infrastructure and logistics, Ahmed said.
“Closer trade relations between Bangladesh and the UAE present a significant opportunity to strengthen our economic landscape across multiple sectors. I firmly believe that enhanced trade ties with the UAE can be a game-changer for Bangladesh,” he told Arab News.
“The UAE serves as a major gateway to the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond. Expanding our trade partnership will create greater market access for Bangladeshi products.”
The Dhaka Chamber is also seeking stronger collaboration in technology and skills development.
“The UAE is highly advanced in digital infrastructure, logistics, and financial services. Stronger collaboration can facilitate knowledge transfer and capacity-building, helping Bangladeshi industries adopt global best practices, enhance productivity, and become more competitive,” Ahmed added.
Under the newly signed memoranda of understanding, DCCI is set to collaborate with its Emirati counterparts “to promote bilateral trade, investment matchmaking and joint economic discussions,” with activities focused on exchanging trade delegations and strengthening business networking platforms.
“To further boost collaboration, Bangladesh aims to activate the Bangladesh-UAE Business Council, focusing on trade finance, private equity, and expanding Islamic finance,” Ahmed said.
Business leaders from the two countries are also involved in discussions to set up training centers “to improve the skill set of Bangladeshi workers” who are seeking employment in the UAE, while a direct shipping route between Chattogram and Dubai is being discussed to enhance trade efficiency.
“I believe that this mutual cooperation will enhance the value of our national bilateral relations … These initiatives will further deepen the economic and trade relationship between Bangladesh and the UAE following the MoU signing.”
Russia says captures another east Ukraine village
MOSCOW: Russia announced Sunday the capture of another eastern Ukrainian village, in the Donetsk region, as its forces advanced toward the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
The defence ministry said in a briefing that its troops had captured the village of Kostyantynopil, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the Russia-controlled city of Donetsk.
Russian troops have been advancing steadily in the Donetsk region and are now close to Dnipropetrovsk, which so far has been free of fighting. Kostyantynopil is around 13 kilometres (eight miles) from the regional border line.
The village was founded in the 18th century by Greek settlers from Crimea, who named it after the ancient city of Constantinople.
