Philippines showers gymnast Carlos Yulo with praises, gifts after double Olympic gold

Double-gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo of Philippines celebrates on the podium in Paris, France on Aug. 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 05 August 2024
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Philippines showers gymnast Carlos Yulo with praises, gifts after double Olympic gold

  • Yulo is the first Filipino to win two golds at a single Olympics
  • Athlete dedicated victory to ‘Filipino people who supported me’

MANILA: From ordinary citizens, government officials to local brands, Filipinos are celebrating gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo’s historic double gold medal win at the Paris Olympics with high praises and pledges of gifts — including a hero’s parade, a new home and a lifetime supply of ramen.

Yulo earned the Philippines its first-ever Olympic medal in gymnastics when he won the men’s floor exercise final at the Paris Games on Saturday, making him only the second Filipino athlete to win an Olympic gold, after weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz in 2020.

The 24-year-old scooped his second gold medal in as many days after he soared to the top of the podium in the men’s vault event, becoming the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win two golds at a single Olympics.

“No words can express how proud we are of you, Caloy. You have achieved gold for the Philippines not once, but twice,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Facebook, using the athlete’s nickname.

“Filipinos all over the world stood united, cheering and rooting for you.”

Before this year’s Olympics, Yulo’s accolades had included winning gold in 2019 and 2021 at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship, five golds at the 2022 Southeast Asian Games and another three at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championship.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said on Monday that the city will hold a hero’s parade for Yulo, the date of which will be announced later.

The Philippine government will hand Yulo 10 million Philippine pesos ($172,750) – a reward promised to any gold medalists.

The House of Representatives has also pledged to give the gymnast an additional 6 million pesos in cash incentives, as the speaker of the lower house, Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, called him a “once-in-a-century Filipino athlete.”

He said: “Caloy’s achievements have not only brought glory to the Philippines, but have also highlighted the potential of our athletes to excel in the international arena.

“We will continue to support and invest in our sports programs to nurture and develop more world-class athletes like Caloy. His success is a shining example of hope and a source of inspiration for all of us.”

Private sector companies, big and small, have also announced a flurry of gifts for Yulo, including offers of free lifetime ramen from a Japanese restaurant in Calasiao and free baked mac and cheese for life from a Manila-based eatery.

A real estate firm has promised him a fully furnished, three-bedroom condominium at McKinley Hill, the largest condominium development in the Manila metropolitan area, while a Filipino doctor has pledged free consultation and endoscopic procedures for Yulo when he turns 45, as well as to any patients in need selected by the gymnast.

When he realized he had secured the gold on Saturday, Yulo collapsed to the ground in tears, a scene that has now been replayed millions of times on social media as his name trended on various online platforms over the weekend.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said. “We are a really small country … so, to be able to get a gold medal for us is big for us — huge. I dedicate this to the Filipino people who supported me.”

Yulo, who trained for seven years in Japan due to a lack of opportunity back home, hopes that his historic win will open the door for Philippine youth to take up the sport.

“Hopefully gymnastics in the country will grow,” he said.

For some Filipinos, Yulo’s historic win has filled them with pride.

“It makes me proud to be a Filipino because he carries the Philippine flag … because the Philippine flag was raised twice,” Joelina Picardal, a 23-year-old office administrator in Manila, told Arab News. “All I can say to him is: Keep it up!”

Carmelita Trinidad, a 77-year-old retiree also based in the capital, said that Yulo’s Olympics performance gave her hope for the younger generation.

“I’m very proud (of him). He also comes from a poor background, but he really persevered,” she told Arab News. “I hope that the young people will also be able to achieve what he achieved.”


Key UN committee adopts resolution paving the way for a first-ever treaty on crimes against humanity

Updated 1 sec ago
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Key UN committee adopts resolution paving the way for a first-ever treaty on crimes against humanity

  • The International Criminal Court was established to punish major perpetrators of war crimes
  • ICC has 124 countries that are parties to it
UNITED NATIONS: A key UN General Assembly committee adopted a resolution late Friday paving the way for negotiations on a first-ever treaty on preventing and punishing crimes against humanity after Russia dropped amendments that would have derailed the effort.
The resolution was approved by consensus by the assembly’s legal committee, which includes all 193-member UN nations, after tense last-minute negotiations between its supporters and Russia that dragged through the day.
There was loud applause when the chairman of the committee gaveled the resolution’s approval. It is virtually certain to be adopted when the General Assembly puts it to a final vote on Dec. 4.
“Today’s agreement to start up negotiations on a much-needed international treaty is a historic achievement that was a long time coming,” Richard Dicker, Human Rights Watch’s senior legal adviser for advocacy, told The Associated Press.
“It sends a crucial message that impunity for the kinds of crimes inflicted on civilians in Ethiopia, Sudan, Ukraine, southern Israel, Gaza and Myanmar will not go unheeded,” he said.
The resolution calls for a time-bound process with preparatory sessions in 2026 and 2027, and three-week negotiating sessions in 2028 and 2029 to finalize a treaty on crimes against humanity.
Dicker said Russia’s proposed amendments left in question whether treaty negotiations would have been completed.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Maria Zabolotskaya said Russia withdrew the amendments “in a spirit of compromise.” But she said Russia “dissociates itself from consensus.”
“This, of course, does not mean that we are not ready to work on this crucial convention,” Zabolotskaya told the committee.
The International Criminal Court was established to punish major perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and it has 124 countries that are parties to it. The ICC says crimes against humanity are committed as part of a large-scale attack on civilians and it lists 15 forms including murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, sexual slavery, torture and deportation.
But the ICC does not have jurisdiction over nearly 70 other countries.
There are global treaties that cover war crimes, genocide and torture — but there has been no specific treaty addressing crimes against humanity. And according to sponsors of the resolution, led by Mexico and Gambia and backed by 96 other countries, a new treaty will fill the gap.
Kelly Adams, legal adviser at the Global Justice Center, also called the resolution “a historic breakthrough” after many delays.
Pointing to “the proliferation of crimes against humanity around the world,” she expressed hope that a treaty will be “strong, progressive and survivor-centric.”
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard expressed disappointment that the timeline had been extended until 2029, but said, “What’s important is that this process will deliver a viable convention.”
“It is long overdue and all the more welcome at a time when too many states are intent on wrecking international law and universal standards,” she said. “It is a clear sign that states are ready to reinforce the international justice framework and clamp down on safe havens from investigation and prosecution for perpetrators of these heinous crimes.”
After the resolution’s adoption, Gambia’s Counselor Amadou Jaiteh, who had introduced it hours earlier, called its approval “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a difference,” to hope for a world without crimes against humanity, “and a world where voices of victims are heard louder than their perpetrators.”

Philippine VP made ‘active threat’ on Marcos’ life: palace

Updated 10 min 19 sec ago
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Philippine VP made ‘active threat’ on Marcos’ life: palace

  • The statement followed an expletive-laced press conference in which Duterte alleged she was the subject of an assassination plot
Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos’ security detail has been put on alert over what his office is calling an “active threat” against his life by Vice President Sara Duterte, the palace said Saturday.
The statement followed an expletive-laced press conference in which Duterte alleged she was the subject of an assassination plot and said she ordered a member of her security team to kill the president should it succeed.
The Duterte and Marcos families have seen their alliance unravel in spectacular fashion in recent months, trading accusations of drug addiction and increasingly extreme rhetoric ahead of next year’s mid-term elections and presidential polls in 2028.
“I already talked to a person in my security. I told him if I get killed, kill BBM (Ferdinand Marcos), (first lady) Liza Araneta and (the president’s cousin) Martin Romualdez. No joke,” Duterte said at a press conference that began after midnight.
“I said, if I die, don’t stop until you have killed them.”
Hours later, the palace communications office said it had referred “this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action.”
“Any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms,” it said in a statement.
Duterte is facing the threat of impeachment in the House of Representatives, led by Marcos’s cousin Romualdez, who is widely expected to run for president in 2028.
She has also had a messy falling out with the president’s wife Liza Araneta-Marcos, who has accused her of laughing at a January event where her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, accused Marcos of being a “drug addict.”
Duterte called her late-night press conference after House officials said they would transfer her chief of staff — detained after being cited for contempt — from the lower chamber’s detention center to a correctional facility.
Zuleika Lopez was detained on Wednesday after being accused of “undue interference” in House proceedings focused on Duterte’s spending of public funds.
Duterte stepped down from the cabinet post of education secretary in June as relations between the two families reached a breaking point.
Months earlier, her father had accused Marcos of being a “drug addict,” with the president the next day claiming his predecessor’s health was failing due to long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl.
Neither provided evidence of their allegations.
In October, Duterte said she felt “used” after teaming with Marcos for the May 2022 election, which they won by a landslide.
Duterte remains the constitutional successor to the 67-year-old president.

US restricts food, metal imports on Uyghur forced labor concerns

Updated 23 November 2024
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US restricts food, metal imports on Uyghur forced labor concerns

  • Goods wholly or partially made by the sanctioned firms will be restricted from entering the US, says the Department of Homeland Security
  • China is accused of incarcerating over 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, although officials strongly deny this

WASHINGTON: The United States said Friday that it is barring imports from dozens more China-based companies — ranging from businesses in the metals to food industries — citing worries over forced labor.
Officials are adding around 30 entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act entity list, meaning that goods wholly or partially made by these firms will be restricted from entering the United States.
The new additions bring the total number on the list to 107, said the Department of Homeland Security.
The reason is that the companies were found to either source materials from China’s northwestern Xinjiang region or work with its local government “to recruit, transfer, and receive workers, including Uyghurs, out of Xinjiang,” said the US Trade Representative’s office.
Beijing has been accused of incarcerating over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities in Xinjiang, although officials strongly deny this.

The newly-targeted companies make goods ranging from agricultural to aluminum products, along with polysilicon materials.
They also mine and process metals like copper, gold and nickel, the USTR statement added.
Among them are companies tied to Chinese electric vehicle battery manufacturer CATL and China-linked Gotion too, a bipartisan US congressional committee noted on Friday.
Earlier this year, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and others flagged CATL and Gotion’s ties to two businesses, Xinjiang Nonferrous and Xinjiang Joinworld.
Both were included in the latest update.
The committee’s chairman John Moolenaar and other lawmakers released a statement saying: “While we are pleased with this initial step, we remain concerned that CATL and Gotion’s supply chains are deeply tied to the Xinjiang region.”
The rule comes into effect on November 25.
“Companies should not secure unfair advantages by exploiting workers,” said US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
“We will enforce our laws to address forced labor and prevent companies that violate workers’ rights from benefiting from the US market,” she added in a statement.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was signed into law in 2021.
 


Trump plans to assemble investigative teams to look into 2020 election, Washington Post reports

Updated 23 November 2024
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Trump plans to assemble investigative teams to look into 2020 election, Washington Post reports

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump plans to assemble investigative teams at the Department of Justice to search for evidence in battleground states that fraud tainted the 2020 election, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing a source.
Trump, who won the 2024 election but lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, has falsely claimed that he lost the 2020 election due to extensive voter fraud, a view shared by millions of his supporters.
Trump was indicted last year on federal charges for his attempts to overturn the election. The charges stemmed from an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
The Washington Post, citing two people close to Trump’s transition team, reported that Trump plans to fire the entire team that worked with Smith.


Dutch court weighs a lawsuit against arms sales to Israel

Updated 23 November 2024
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Dutch court weighs a lawsuit against arms sales to Israel

  • Opening the case at the court in The Hague, Judge Sonja Hoekstra noted: “It is important to underline that the Dutch State does not contest the gravity of the situation in Gaza, nor is the status of the West Bank”

THE HAGUE: Pro-Palestinian groups took the Dutch state to court on Friday, urging a halt to arms exports to Israel and accusing the government of failing to prevent what they termed a genocide in Gaza.
The NGOs argued that Israel is breaking international law in Gaza and the West Bank, invoking, among others, the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
“Israel is guilty of genocide and apartheid” and “is using Dutch weapons to wage war,” said Wout Albers, a lawyer representing the NGOs.
“Dutch weapons are killing children every day in Palestine, including my family,” said Ahmed Abofoul, a legal adviser to Al-Haq, one of the groups involved in the suit. Israel furiously denies accusations of genocide as it presses on with the offensive in Gaza.
Opening the case at the court in The Hague, Judge Sonja Hoekstra noted: “It is important to underline that the Dutch State does not contest the gravity of the situation in Gaza, nor is the status of the West Bank.”
“Today is about finding out what is legally in play and what can be expected of the state if the state can be expected to do more or act differently than it is currently acting,” she added.
She acknowledged this was a “sensitive case,” saying: “It’s a whole legal debate.”
The lawyer for the Dutch State, Reimer Veldhuis, said the Netherlands has been applying European laws in force for arms exports.
Veldhuis argued the case should be tossed out.
“It is unlikely that the minister responsible will grant an arms export license to Israel that would contribute to the Israeli army’s activities in Gaza or the West Bank,” said Veldhuis.
The case comes one day after another court based in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister.