Philippine VP Duterte labelled ‘mastermind’ of assassination plot

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Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said that she herself was the subject of an assassination plot. (Reuters)
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Updated 25 November 2024
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Philippine VP Duterte labelled ‘mastermind’ of assassination plot

  • Security agencies at the weekend said they would step up their protocols

MANILA: The Philippines justice department on Monday labelled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the country’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena.

Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that President Ferdinand Marcos be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed.

“The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said at a Monday press briefing.

“The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind will now face legal consequences.”

Speaking to reporters an hour later, Duterte said she planned to respond to the subpoena.

“I will gladly answer the questions they want to ask, but they must answer my questions as well,” she said.

“We’ll just talk there when I get the subpoena.”

In his first public comments on the matter, Marcos earlier in the day vowed to “fight back” in the face of a threat he called “disturbing.”

The Marcos-Duterte alliance that swept to power in 2022 has collapsed spectacularly in the lead-up to next year’s mid-term elections, with both sides trading allegations of drug addiction.

Duterte, who is facing potential impeachment hearings, told reporters early Saturday that she herself was the subject of an assassination plot and had instructed that Marcos be killed should it succeed.

In the expletive-laced press conference, Duterte also singled out first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and presidential cousin Martin Romualdez as potential targets.

“I said, if I die, don’t stop until you have killed them,” she claimed to have told a security team member regarding the trio.

Hours later, the presidential palace said it was treating the comments as an “active threat.”

“That sort of criminal attempt must not go unchallenged,” Marcos said Monday. “As a democratic country, we need to uphold the law.”

“The vice president is not immune from suit. She can be the subject of any criminal or administrative case,” Andres told reporters, adding the subpoena was in the process of being served.

He added that a manhunt was underway for the “assassin” allegedly engaged by Duterte.

Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, was Marcos’ running mate in the 2022 presidential election that saw their ticket win in a landslide.

She remains his constitutional successor should he be unable to finish his six-year term.

But she is currently facing an investigation in the House of Representatives, led by Romualdez.

Both Romualdez and Duterte are widely expected to run for president in 2028.

Duterte’s Saturday press briefing came shortly after House officials threatened to transfer her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez — being held for contempt — from the lower chamber’s detention center to a correctional facility.

Lopez has been detained since Wednesday, when she was cited for allegedly interfering in a probe into Duterte’s finances.

Duterte stepped down from her cabinet post of education secretary in June as relations between the two families reached 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 have provided any evidence for their allegations.

In October, Duterte said she felt “used” after teaming with Marcos for the 2022 poll.


Pope Francis doing some work as condition slowly improves, Vatican says

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Pope Francis doing some work as condition slowly improves, Vatican says

It said a “mild kidney insufficiency” had been resolved but that his prognosis was still “guarded“
Francis, known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican from hospital

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis is doing some work in hospital while undergoing various treatments for double pneumonia, a Vatican official said on Thursday.
The 88-year-old pontiff was spending his 14th day in Rome’s Gemelli hospital with the severe respiratory infection, which triggered various complications.
The Vatican said he had spent a restful night, after saying on Wednesday evening that there had been a “further, slight improvement” in his condition.
It said a “mild kidney insufficiency” had been resolved but that his prognosis was still “guarded,” meaning he was not out of danger.
Francis, known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican from hospital, as staff appointments requiring his approval are announced daily.
On Wednesday, it said he had created a commission to encourage donations to help address
a widening gap in finances
, including an 83-million-euro ($87 million) budget shortfall.
The Vatican has been much more forthcoming about the pope’s health than in the past, trying to
pre-empt the spread of misinformation. Brief early-morning statements are followed daily by more detailed evening updates.
A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the pope’s condition, said Francis was alert, continuing his treatments, and able to eat normally and move about his room.
The official said it was unclear how long Francis would remain in hospital. He was still receiving supplementary oxygen from a small tube under his nose, but was breathing on his own.
The Vatican said a public audience on Saturday had been canceled, but did not say whether he would lead his usual weekly prayer with pilgrims on Sunday. Francis has not been seen in public since being admitted to hospital.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said for the first time that he was receiving respiratory physiotherapy, normally aimed at improving lung function, clearing secretions and making breathing more efficient.
Francis has suffered several bouts of ill health over the past two years. He is prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.
Double pneumonia is a serious infection of both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican said Francis suffered a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis” on Saturday, but there have been no repeats.
Hundreds of people have assembled in St. Peter’s Square over the past three evenings for prayer vigils, while well-wishers have also gathered outside the hospital.
“At this moment, I think I feel confident. I am happy with the news that I’m getting from Vatican News, that he is getting better,” said one of those, Sister Theodosia Baki from Cameroon.

Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate head to US after travel ban is lifted in Romania

Updated 4 min 25 sec ago
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Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate head to US after travel ban is lifted in Romania

  • The brothers are avid supporters of President Donald Trump
  • The case hasn’t been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania

FLORIDA: A travel ban was lifted on influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are both charged with human trafficking in Romania, and they are headed to the United States, officials said Thursday.
The brothers are avid supporters of President Donald Trump and have millions of online followers. It wasn’t clear under what conditions the Tates were allowed to leave Romania, or where in the United States they were headed.
Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 36 are dual US-British citizens.
Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X. He also runs an online academy where he says he teaches young men how to get rich and attract women. Tristan Tate is also a former kickboxer.
The Tates are avid supporters of President Donald Trump.
What are they charged with in Romania?
The Tate brothers and two Romanian women were arrested in Bucharest in late 2022.
The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism alleged the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania as well as the United States and Britain.
They were initially formally indicted last year. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that a trial could start but didn’t set a date.
In December, a court in Bucharest ruled that the case against the Tates and the two Romanian women couldn’t go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
The case hasn’t been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania.
Andrew Tate has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. But they were charged with forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, among other charges.
What led to the travel ban being lifted?
DIICOT, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors approved a “request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania,” but that judicial control measures remained in place. The agency didn’t say who had made the request.
The control measures include the requirement to “appear before judicial authorities whenever summoned,” the statement read.
The agency said the Tates were “warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.”
Their departure came after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a US official in the current Trump administration had expressed interest in the brothers’ legal case in Romania at the Munich Security Conference. The minister insisted it didn’t amount to pressure.


Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza resumes inpatient services

Updated 28 min 2 sec ago
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Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza resumes inpatient services

  • Hospital administration is working to reach 50 percent capacity by July 
  • Facility will be main referral hospital in north Gaza, parts of Gaza city 

JAKARTA: The Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza has resumed inpatient services, the Jakarta-based NGO that funded it said on Thursday, as the facility races to resume full operations after repairs to the building and equipment that were destroyed by Israeli forces.

The health facility in Beit Lahiya, funded by the Indonesian NGO Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, was one of the first sites hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023.

As relentless Israeli attacks pushed the enclave’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse, the Indonesia Hospital stood as one of the last functioning health facilities in the north.

Since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, the hospital has been gradually resuming essential services, with inpatient treatment being the latest. 

“The Indonesia Hospital is resuming its operations to handle sick patients,” Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C’s board of trustees in Jakarta, told Arab News. 

“We hope to renovate and rebuild every part of the facility that was destroyed, as well as fully supply the hospital to meet all of the patients’ needs.”

Israeli forces targeted and heavily damaged most of the medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. 

The Indonesia Hospital was treating about 1,000 people at one point during Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,300 people and injured over 111,000.

Since last month, it has resumed services for emergencies, surgeries, radiology, laboratory, outpatient and inpatient treatments, and is now operating at 30 percent of full capacity

“Six months from the beginning of the ceasefire, we are aiming to reactivate essential services to reach at least 50 percent of full capacity,” Dr. Hadiki Habib, chairman of MER-C’s executive committee, told Arab News. 

The Indonesia Hospital will be the main referral hospital in northern Gaza and some parts of Gaza City, after the former main referral hospital, Al-Shifa, was destroyed by Israeli siege and attacks. 

“There is a great need for essential services,” Habib said. “Over a year of displacement and limited access (to healthcare), many Palestinians with chronic illnesses need quality treatments.” 


Leaked calls cast doubt on Greek account of 2023 migrant boat disaster

Updated 35 min 33 sec ago
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Leaked calls cast doubt on Greek account of 2023 migrant boat disaster

  • Rescue officials appear to have coached boat captains on narrative later used by authorities
  • Survivors say witnesses forced to stay silent, 9 Egyptian men framed

LONDON: Leaked audio conversations involving Greek rescue officials have cast new doubt on the country’s claims surrounding one of the Mediterranean’s worst maritime disasters, when a migrant boat sank with up to 650 people onboard in 2023.

After leaving Libya days earlier, the Adriana capsized on June 14, 2023, in international waters that are part of Greece’s rescue zone, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Authorities recovered 82 bodies but the UN has estimated that about 500 other people, including 100 women and children, died in the disaster.

Survivors later told the BBC that Greek coast guards had caused the overcrowded fishing vessel to capsize after attempting to tow it.

Greek authorities also forced witnesses to stay silent, and framed nine Egyptian men who were accused of causing the disaster, survivors said.

The Greek coast guard has denied these claims and insisted that the Adriana was not in danger, and that those onboard wanted to reach Italy, not Greece.

The leaked phone call, however, shows that rescue coordinators coached the migrant boat’s captain and the crew of a nearby vessel on the version of events that was later highlighted officially by Greece.

Greek website News247.gr obtained the audio, which involves calls between the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Athens and the Adriana, as well as the Lucky Sailor.

The first call sees an officer from the center telling the Adriana’s captain that a “big red ship” will soon approach the migrant boat to hand over supplies.

The officer says: “The boat proceeding to you in order to give you fuel, water and food. And in one hour we send you a second boat, OK? Tell captain to big red ship ‘We don’t want to go Greece.’ OK?” No reply is heard from the Adriana’s captain.

A second call involves a different rescue officer speaking to the captain of the Lucky Sailor, the “big red ship” mentioned in the first call.

The officer says: “OK, captain, sorry, before I couldn’t hear you. I couldn’t understand what did you say to me. You told me you gave them food, water and they told you that they don’t want to stay in Greece and they want to go to Italy, they don’t want anything else?”

The captain replies: “Yes because I asked them by megaphone ‘Greece or Italia?’ and everybody there screaming ‘Italia.’”

He was then instructed by the Greek rescue official to record the Adriana’s request in a logbook.

The Greek coast guard did not comment on the leaked recordings, but told the BBC that all relevant materials had been transferred to the Maritime Court Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the disaster.

Previous BBC analysis of the capsizing suggested that the Adriana had not moved for at least seven hours before it sank.

The Greek coast guard has maintained that the boat was on course to Italy and did not require assistance.

A Greek court last year threw out charges against nine Egyptian men accused of causing the disaster, who survivors say were framed by authorities.

Dimitris Choulis, a human rights lawyer who represented some of the accused Egyptians, said: “We know about the coast guard’s tactics of either pushing back or not rescuing people.”

There has been “an attempted cover-up from day one,” he added. “They (Greek authorities) told the story ‘they did not want to be rescued’ and so have insulted the memory of so many dead people.”

Leading human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have cast doubt on Greece’s official version of events and have called for an international investigation into the disaster.

As well as the Greek Naval Court, the Greek Ombudsman is also investigating the allegations of a cover-up.


City University of New York ordered to remove Palestine studies job advert by state governor

Updated 50 min 54 sec ago
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City University of New York ordered to remove Palestine studies job advert by state governor

  • Staff union: ‘It is an overreach of authority to rule an entire area of academic study out of bounds’
  • Staff union: ‘It is an overreach of authority to rule an entire area of academic study out of bounds’

LONDON: City University of New York has been ordered to remove a job advertisement for a Palestinian studies professor by the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul.

The listing, for the university’s Hunter College, said CUNY was looking for “a historically grounded scholar who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender, and sexuality.”

Hochul instructed the advert be removed after a backlash from several Jewish groups. Pro-Israel group StopAntisemitism posted on X that the listing was an “antisemitic blood libel.”

A spokesperson for Hochul told the New York Post that the governor had directed CUNY “to immediately remove this job posting and conduct a thorough review of the position to ensure that antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom.”

In a joint statement, the university’s chancellor, Felix Rodriguez, and its board of trustees chair, William Thompson Jr., said they “strongly agree with Governor Hochul’s direction to remove this posting, which we have ensured Hunter College has since done.”

However, the decision has prompted complaints from faculty members at CUNY, with the staff union saying in an open letter to Hochul and Rodriguez: “We strongly object to your removal of a job posting for a Palestinian Studies faculty position as a violation of academic freedom at Hunter College.

“We oppose antisemitism and all forms of hate, but this move is counterproductive. It is an overreach of authority to rule an entire area of academic study out of bounds.”

CUNY has been the setting for multiple pro-Palestine protests since the Gaza war started. Numerous demonstrators have been arrested on campus, while The Nation reported earlier this month that members of the student body were being investigated by the university for their roles in leading protests and boycotts of Israel.