https://www.scmp.com/rss/521482/feed The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a prominent international judicial body based in the Hague, Netherlands and is the principal judicial organisation of the United Nations. Established in 1945, its primary mission is to settle legal disputes between states and provide advisory opinions on international legal questions. Located at the Peace Palace, it is the sole principal UN organisation outside of New York. The ICJ is recognised for its crucial role in fostering international peace,... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thirty-four European states plus Australia, Costa Rica and the EU said on Friday they would join a future special tribunal for Ukraine to prosecute Russia over its invasion of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an accord with the Council of Europe last year to create a legal body to prosecute the “crime of aggression” in the invasion Russia launched in February 2022. The Council of Ministers, comprising foreign ministers from the organisation’s 46-member states, in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3353763/ukraine-war-36-nations-approve-tribunal-creation-prosecute-russia-over-invasion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3353763/ukraine-war-36-nations-approve-tribunal-creation-prosecute-russia-over-invasion?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 13:44:54 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles The Philippine Senate has witnessed political coups, scandals and the occasional shouting match. It had never, until this week, seen a sitting senator sprint down its corridors in a muddy olive shirt, knocking aside female investigators like bowling pins, to avoid an international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity. That was Monday. By Wednesday night, gunshots were ringing out in the building that houses the upper chamber of the country’s Congress. “I worked in the Senate for 15 years... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3353668/gunfire-farce-and-fugitive-philippine-senator-bato-dela-rosa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3353668/gunfire-farce-and-fugitive-philippine-senator-bato-dela-rosa?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 09:00:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A Philippine senator wanted by the International Criminal Court for an alleged crime against humanity has fled from the Senate, where he sought refuge to evade arrest, officials said on Thursday. Senator Ronald dela Rosa’s exit from the heavily guarded Senate came after volleys of gunshots were fired on Wednesday night by the building’s security personnel during an argument with a government agent, sparking chaos that apparently helped the senator to slip out. President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr made... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353591/philippine-senator-wanted-icc-flees-senate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353591/philippine-senator-wanted-icc-flees-senate?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 May 2026 12:09:50 +0000 Reuters Reuters Gunshots broke out at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday and people ran for cover after a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court said his arrest was imminent and security forces entered the building. There were no immediate reports of casualties, however, Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza told reporters following the chaos at the legislature in the capital Manila. Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a former police chief who was the main enforcer of former Philippine president... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353460/gunshots-fired-chaos-erupts-philippine-senate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353460/gunshots-fired-chaos-erupts-philippine-senate?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 May 2026 12:21:26 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran A clip of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa running through the Senate halls to evade an International Criminal Court arrest warrant has become one of the most startling images in recent Philippine politics. By Tuesday, the former national police chief was still inside the Senate under protective custody, turning the chamber into the centre of a legal and political stand-off over whether one of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s closest allies could be handed over to The Hague. But Monday’s chase... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3353303/dela-rosas-flight-turns-philippine-senate-battleground-icc-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3353303/dela-rosas-flight-turns-philippine-senate-battleground-icc-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 12:27:30 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli lawmakers approved a bill on Monday setting up a special tribunal that would try and have the authority to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of taking part in the 2023 Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in Gaza. The measure passed 93-0 in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, reflecting widespread support for punishing those found responsible for what was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting. Rights groups... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353236/israel-pushes-ahead-eichmann-style-tribunal-october-7-attackers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353236/israel-pushes-ahead-eichmann-style-tribunal-october-7-attackers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 06:19:43 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Philippine authorities said on Monday they would not arrest for now a lawmaker wanted by the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, capping a lengthy Senate stand-off. Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who served as police chief and Duterte’s top enforcer during the bloody drug crackdown, will be treated as if in the custody of the Senate, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Melvin Matibag told reporters after the politician had taken... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353186/philippine-lawmaker-holes-senate-icc-confirms-drug-war-warrant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353186/philippine-lawmaker-holes-senate-icc-confirms-drug-war-warrant?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 14:22:57 +0000 Reuters Reuters Lawmakers in the Philippines started voting on Monday on whether to impeach Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, in what could create a major hurdle for her bid to run for the presidency in 2028. A house justice committee last month found probable cause for her impeachment in ‌a petition from activists accusing her of misusing public funds, accumulating unexplained wealth and of threatening the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, his wife and the former house speaker. With ally-turned-enemy... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353127/philippine-parliament-prepares-vote-sara-dutertes-impeachment-bid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3353127/philippine-parliament-prepares-vote-sara-dutertes-impeachment-bid?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 07:22:40 +0000 Alan Robles Alan Robles Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa was once one of the most visible faces of Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs, a tough-talking national police chief who was seen as the hatchet man carrying out the former Philippine president’s crackdown against alleged criminals of the narcotics trade. Now a senator, Dela Rosa has somewhat fallen off the radar – for six months, he has not appeared for work after reports circulated that he could face arrest in connection with the International Criminal Court’s crimes... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3352535/icc-fugitive-duterte-allys-paid-philippine-senate-vanishing-act-draws-fire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3352535/icc-fugitive-duterte-allys-paid-philippine-senate-vanishing-act-draws-fire?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 May 2026 03:00:08 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles Families of victims of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs hailed as a “vindication” on Wednesday the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber’s refusal to throw out the crimes against humanity case against him. Duterte has been held by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague since March 2025 over killings linked to his anti-drugs campaign while he was in office. His lawyers argued that the court had no authority to try him because the Philippines... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3351050/icc-chamber-rules-case-against-rodrigo-dutertes-war-drugs-killings-proceed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3351050/icc-chamber-rules-case-against-rodrigo-dutertes-war-drugs-killings-proceed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:37:40 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse EU’s top court ruled on Tuesday that anti-LGBTQ legislation Hungary enacted in 2021 breached the bloc’s rules, including an article which sets out the fundamental values on which the EU is founded. The European Commission, 16 of 27 member states and the European Parliament took Hungary to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the law, in what has been billed as the largest human rights case in the bloc’s history. Originally aimed at toughening punishments for child abuse, the law was amended... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3350888/hungarys-anti-lgbtq-law-breaches-eu-rules-court-ruling-hailed-historic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3350888/hungarys-anti-lgbtq-law-breaches-eu-rules-court-ruling-hailed-historic?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:58:55 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Famine. Massacres. And now badly needed food and other supplies are under strain. Sudan on Wednesday enters a fourth year of war that is being called an “abandoned crisis” as a new conflict in the Middle East throws into shadow the fighting that has forced 13 million people to flee their homes. Sudan has been described as the world’s largest humanitarian challenge, notably in terms of displacement and hunger. There is no end in sight to the fighting between the military and the paramilitary... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350197/sudan-enters-4th-year-war-abandoned-crisis-grows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350197/sudan-enters-4th-year-war-abandoned-crisis-grows?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:45:07 +0000 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar A genocide complaint filed with Indonesian prosecutors against Myanmar’s newly elected President Min Aung Hlaing marks a further step by rights activists to hold the country’s military rulers accountable for their alleged international crimes, regardless of where they were committed. The complaint, lodged on Monday with Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office (AGO), accuses the former military chief of genocide against the Rohingya, including mass rape, forced eviction, killings and arson attacks... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349532/indonesian-activists-target-myanmars-president-genocide-case-against-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349532/indonesian-activists-target-myanmars-president-genocide-case-against-him?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:00:12 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles The International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to issue a written decision by April 28 on whether former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte will stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity over his war on drugs. However, even if the judges decide to proceed with the trial, observers predict that the proceedings will progress at a “glacial pace”, potentially taking years to reach a ruling. Duterte, who governed the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was surrendered to the ICC in March... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349504/will-philippine-ex-president-duterte-stand-trial-icc-and-how-long?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349504/will-philippine-ex-president-duterte-stand-trial-icc-and-how-long?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Threatening to destroy Iran’s electricity grid and to reduce the country of 90 million to destitution, US President Donald Trump is shattering precedent by not just accepting but gloating about acts seen as potential war crimes. The consequences for Trump, at least in the near term, are probably none, experts say, as his administration works hard to undermine international institutions tasked with keeping norms. The Geneva Conventions governing the laws of war, agreed following World War II,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348912/trumps-stone-age-threats-against-iran-spark-war-crimes-alarm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348912/trumps-stone-age-threats-against-iran-spark-war-crimes-alarm?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 06:26:47 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Growing disinformation in the Philippines and distrust in authorities could have led to a sharp drop in public support, particularly among Gen Z Filipinos, for the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) proceedings against former president Rodrigo Duterte and his deadly war on drugs. Only 32 per cent of Filipino respondents of different age groups approved the ICC’s move to prosecute Duterte in April last year, a month after he was arrested and flown to The Hague, according to a survey by WR... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347184/gen-z-filipinos-lead-collapse-support-duterte-icc-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347184/gen-z-filipinos-lead-collapse-support-duterte-icc-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 10:30:30 +0000 Alan Robles Alan Robles As judges in The Hague consider whether former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity case should proceed to trial, a parallel battle over the narrative has taken hold online. Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have accused Duterte of overseeing a campaign of extrajudicial killings linked to his signature “war on drugs”. Rights groups say the campaign left thousands dead during his 2016-2022 presidency, allegations he has repeatedly denied. Analysts... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3345198/allies-philippines-duterte-step-online-attacks-drug-war-trial-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3345198/allies-philippines-duterte-step-online-attacks-drug-war-trial-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 06:00:10 +0000 Reuters Reuters Former Philippine president Rodrigo ⁠Duterte was “pivotal” in the ⁠murder of thousands of people during his ⁠reign, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Monday, as they pushed for his trial to go ahead. The prosecutors at the Hague-based war crimes court have charged Duterte with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, involving dozens of ‌victims that accusers say were only a fraction of the real death toll in his clampdown on alleged drug users and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344365/duterte-was-pivotal-murder-thousands-icc-prosecutors-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344365/duterte-was-pivotal-murder-thousands-icc-prosecutors-say?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:02:13 +0000 Meredith Chen Meredith Chen Abraham Newman is an American political scientist and a professor in the School of Foreign Service and Department of Government at Georgetown University. His research focuses on the ways in which economic interdependence and globalisation have transformed international politics. Along with Henry Farrell, he is co-author of the book Underground Empire: How America Weaponised the World Economy, published in 2023. In this interview, he discusses how the concept of weaponised interdependence has... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344243/trumps-neo-royalist-world-order-and-weaponised-interdependence-abraham-newman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344243/trumps-neo-royalist-world-order-and-weaponised-interdependence-abraham-newman?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 22:00:15 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press France will summon US ambassador Charles Kushner to protest against comments by the Trump administration over the death of a far-right activist, the foreign affairs minister said. Jean-Noel Barrot was reacting to a statement by the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, which posted on social media that “reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all”. Deranque, a far-right activist, died of brain... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3344278/france-will-summon-us-envoy-charles-kushner-over-comments-activists-death?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3344278/france-will-summon-us-envoy-charles-kushner-over-comments-activists-death?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 17:47:48 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Mary Ann Pajo watched quietly as cemetery workers opened her son’s tomb in Manila this week and removed his body for examination by a forensic pathologist. Accused of dealing drugs, 30-year-old Joewarski Pajo was shot dead while playing a game on his phone, one of thousands of extrajudicial killings alleged to have taken place under former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. A hearing begins at the International Criminal Court on Monday that will determine whether Duterte will stand trial over... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344173/families-philippine-drug-war-victims-seek-icc-justice-duterte-trial-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344173/families-philippine-drug-war-victims-seek-icc-justice-duterte-trial-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:11:47 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to South Africa has arrived in the country where he will seek to improve fraught ties between the two states. An embassy official told Reuters on Monday that ‌the envoy, conservative activist and writer Leo Brent Bozell III, had arrived. Bozell is expected to present his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa before officially taking up his post. Relations between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated in the past year as Trump has accused... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3343771/trumps-new-ambassador-south-africa-arrives-country-amid-strained-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3343771/trumps-new-ambassador-south-africa-arrives-country-amid-strained-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 22:21:11 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to publicly name two sitting Philippine senators as alleged “co-perpetrators” in Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity case has shifted the spotlight to Manila, sharpening both the former president’s legal exposure and the country’s already fraught political fault lines. A more detailed version of prosecution filings posted on the ICC website on Friday identified Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go among eight officials... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343761/icc-naming-dutertes-allies-sharpens-philippines-political-fault-lines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343761/icc-naming-dutertes-allies-sharpens-philippines-political-fault-lines?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 13:18:33 +0000 Cale Holmes Cale Holmes The United Nations is broke. According to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the institution can’t pay its bills. Members, such as the US, haven’t paid their dues. The UN doesn’t just face a liquidity crisis. An old rule obliges it to pay members back for unspent money, even from dues it never received. The UN Secretariat and some major operations could close by July. The UN is far from ideal. The secretariat and agency headquarters are massive bureaucracies, the General Assembly is widely... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3343337/more-funding-un-needs-restructuring?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3343337/more-funding-un-needs-restructuring?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Over a hundred top figures from the world of entertainment signed an open letter on Saturday in support of UN Palestinian human rights expert Francesca Albanese, who faces calls to resign over comments about the war in Gaza. France and Germany have called for Albanese to step down over remarks last weekend in which she referred to a “common enemy of humanity” after criticising “most of the world” and the media for enabling Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza. Critics and Israel have accused the UN... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3343596/world-artists-back-palestine-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-despite-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3343596/world-artists-back-palestine-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-despite-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:17:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “co-perpetrators” in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court, documents released by prosecutors show. Senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document posted to the court’s website on Friday. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3343572/philippine-senators-go-dela-rosa-helped-duterte-wage-drug-war-icc-prosecutors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3343572/philippine-senators-go-dela-rosa-helped-duterte-wage-drug-war-icc-prosecutors?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:05:06 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s late long-time ruler, was killed on Tuesday by gunmen who stormed his home in western Libya’s Zintan, his French lawyer Marcel Ceccaldi said. “He was killed today at 2pm ... in Zintan in his home by a four-man commando,” Ceccaldi said. Saif al-Islam, 53, had been seen by some as his father’s successor, despite being targeted by a warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity. In 2021, he announced he would run for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342304/son-libyas-late-ruler-gaddafi-killed-gunmen-who-stormed-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342304/son-libyas-late-ruler-gaddafi-killed-gunmen-who-stormed-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 02:12:59 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte will face a hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) next month, judges ruled on Monday, rejecting arguments the 80-year-old was unfit to take part. Duterte will face a so-called “confirmation of charges” hearing starting on February 23, where judges decide whether the prosecution’s allegations are strong enough to proceed to trial. “Having regard to the relevant legal principles, the medical assessment of the independent experts … and all of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341279/philippines-duterte-face-icc-hearing-next-month-judges-toss-out-health-defence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341279/philippines-duterte-face-icc-hearing-next-month-judges-toss-out-health-defence?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:54:30 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An overnight Russian bombardment left thousands of residential buildings in Kyiv without heating and water in -14 degrees Celsius (6.8 Fahrenheit) temperatures on Tuesday, when the Ukrainian capital was already scrambling to restore vital utilities destroyed in earlier attacks. The barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles, which targeted energy facilities across Ukraine, killed at least one 50-year-old man near Kyiv. Air raid sirens and explosions were heard in the capital as Ukrainian air... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3340587/almost-half-kyiv-without-heat-and-power-after-massive-russian-drone-strike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3340587/almost-half-kyiv-without-heat-and-power-after-massive-russian-drone-strike?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 12:16:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The United Nations on Wednesday said decades of discrimination and segregation of Palestinians by Israel in the West Bank were intensifying, and called on the country to end its “apartheid system”. In a new report, the UN rights office said the “systematic discrimination” against Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories had “drastically deteriorated” in recent years. “There is a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank,” UN rights chief Volker Turk... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339072/un-accuses-israel-west-bank-apartheid-citing-discrimination-against-palestinians?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339072/un-accuses-israel-west-bank-apartheid-citing-discrimination-against-palestinians?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 11:02:45 +0000 Reuters Reuters President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law changes that give Russia the right ‌to ignore judgments in criminal cases issued by foreign and international ‍courts amid Ukrainian and European attempts to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. The move, which comes as US President Donald Trump is trying to broker a peace ⁠deal in Ukraine, appears to be a response to several initiatives to go after Russian officials and military officers for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, something Moscow... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3338067/putin-signs-law-allowing-russia-ignore-foreign-court-rulings-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3338067/putin-signs-law-allowing-russia-ignore-foreign-court-rulings-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 13:44:43 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran As the Philippines wraps up a tumultuous year punctuated by colourful barbs thrown across warring political houses, an ongoing corruption scandal surrounding flood control projects threatens to derail President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration. Externally, Manila has been embroiled all year in a long-standing territorial row with Beijing in the South China Sea that shows no signs of waning, while also gearing up for the hot seat as next year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337692/philippines-2025-year-crisis-corruption-scandal-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337692/philippines-2025-year-crisis-corruption-scandal-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Dec 2025 08:00:10 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran The Philippine Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of three policemen who killed a teenage boy at the height of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in 2017, a watershed moment that legal analysts say affirms the country’s justice system. In a decision made public on Monday, the court found Arnel Oares, Jeremias Pereda and Jerwin Cruz guilty of murdering 17-year-old high school student Kian delos Santos while conducting an anti-drug operation in the city of Caloocan in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3337685/philippine-court-upholds-murder-verdict-drug-war-case-what-does-it-mean-duterte?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3337685/philippine-court-upholds-murder-verdict-drug-war-case-what-does-it-mean-duterte?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Dec 2025 05:41:18 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘It’s life’: ex-NBA star in Singapore for brain cancer treatment exudes hope Former National Basketball Association (NBA) centre Jason Collins, who has a deadly form of brain cancer, is undergoing an experimental treatment in Singapore, with those involved in the trial... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3336583/ex-nba-player-fights-cancer-singapore-porn-star-mocks-bali-arrest-7-asia-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3336583/ex-nba-player-fights-cancer-singapore-porn-star-mocks-bali-arrest-7-asia-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 05:03:26 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo It’s not for nothing that John Locke famously wrote that “life, liberty and property” are inalienable rights. The West, after all, has taught the world that property ownership, legally obtained, is sacrosanct. But what the West has imposed, it can also break. That is the real meaning of the rules-based international order, as opposed to international law: do what I say, not as I do. So the hardline European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been pressuring member states to support... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3336405/emerging-axis-lawlessness-european-union-united-states-and-israel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3336405/emerging-axis-lawlessness-european-union-united-states-and-israel?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Dec 2025 14:15:09 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China desalination tech makes fresh water cheaper than tap water – plus hydrogen China has launched a revolutionary facility in the eastern province of Shandong that produces fresh water from seawater for just two yuan (US$0.28) per... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3335986/chinas-desalination-technology-hong-kong-legco-election-turnout-scmps-7-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3335986/chinas-desalination-technology-hong-kong-legco-election-turnout-scmps-7-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 04:30:08 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles A former spokesman for Rodrigo Duterte has claimed that the International Criminal Court is preparing to arrest two of the ex-Philippine leader’s closest allies over his administration’s bloody war on drugs. Harry Roque told This Week in Asia that President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr intended to use such arrests to “destroy the [political] opposition”, arguing that clearing Duterte-allied senators from the chamber would secure the votes Marcos needed to oust Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio – his... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3335662/could-icc-warrants-against-duterte-allies-alter-philippines-senate-balance-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3335662/could-icc-warrants-against-duterte-allies-alter-philippines-senate-balance-power?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:13 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Thailand and Cambodia took their renewed border dispute to a United Nations forum on landmine prohibition in Geneva this week, each vying for international support as their ties continued to unravel. Both governments used the meeting of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention, to appeal to the international community. Cambodian Senior Minister Ly Thuch met International Committee of the Red Cross vice-president Gilles Carbonnier on the sidelines of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335030/thailand-cambodia-clash-un-mine-ban-talks-fragile-border-truce-teeters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335030/thailand-cambodia-clash-un-mine-ban-talks-fragile-border-truce-teeters?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2025 08:01:49 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles The International Criminal Court’s ruling that Rodrigo Duterte is too politically connected to be trusted on interim release – citing his entrenched networks and even a “joke” from his daughter about breaking him out – has entwined the former president’s legal predicament with the political dynamics shaping the 2028 race. Analysts told This Week in Asia that the decision has narrowed the 80-year-old’s room for political manoeuvre while potentially strengthening, under some circumstances, the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334797/iccs-denial-dutertes-release-raises-philippines-political-stakes-ahead-2028-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334797/iccs-denial-dutertes-release-raises-philippines-political-stakes-ahead-2028-race?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 11:48:45 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will remain in detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC) after appeals judges on Friday rejected a request to release him on health grounds. The 80-year-old is facing charges of crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in dozens of killings as part of his so-called war on drugs when in office, first as the mayor of a southern city and later as president. Duterte’s lawyers failed to show that an October decision by the lower chamber... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334540/icc-rejects-philippines-ex-president-dutertes-request-release?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334540/icc-rejects-philippines-ex-president-dutertes-request-release?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Nov 2025 10:35:52 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Senator Imee Marcos, the estranged sister of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, said there is a void in the nation’s leadership as politicians grapple with a growing corruption scandal and instead is backing his deputy as a potential replacement. “There is a vacuum at the top,” Imee Marcos said during an interview in her Manila office on Thursday. “And that’s a problem because all sorts of sinister and malignant forces have jumped in to fill that void.” Tensions between the siblings... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334449/marcos-sister-says-philippines-faces-leadership-vacuum-new-jab-president?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334449/marcos-sister-says-philippines-faces-leadership-vacuum-new-jab-president?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Nov 2025 03:07:47 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr refused to respond on Monday to an allegation by his estranged sister, a senator, that he has been a long-time drug addict whose cocaine dependence has undermined his governance, saying with a sombre tone that he did not want to discuss a family rift in public. Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro has said that Senator Imee Marcos’ accusations against her own brother before a huge religious rally in Manila last week were “a web of lies”, and may... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334012/philippines-marcos-sisters-drug-claims-were-worried-about-her?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334012/philippines-marcos-sisters-drug-claims-were-worried-about-her?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Nov 2025 01:30:37 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Bangladesh’s fugitive former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has expressed regret over the “needless” bloodshed as her administration tried to squash student-led protests that resulted in her losing power after 15 years, but poured scorn on a tribunal due to rule if she committed crimes against humanity by ordering the crackdown. In a defiant interview with This Week in Asia just days before the verdict in her trial in absentia, the 78-year-old accused the interim government that replaced her of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3332682/bangladeshs-hasina-regrets-student-bloodshed-slams-trial-judicial-mockery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3332682/bangladeshs-hasina-regrets-student-bloodshed-slams-trial-judicial-mockery?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 12:12:44 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Cambodia’s prime minister said a villager was killed when shooting broke out on Wednesday along the volatile border with Thailand, as the ceasefire partly brokered by US President Donald Trump that ended five days of combat between the two nations appeared to be breaking down. The reported death occurred two days after a Thai soldier lost a foot to a landmine while patrolling another area of the border. Thailand blamed Cambodia for the blast and announced it was suspending honouring the terms of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3332568/villager-killed-thai-cambodia-border-shooting-ceasefire-wobbles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3332568/villager-killed-thai-cambodia-border-shooting-ceasefire-wobbles?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 02:02:14 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran The Philippine government is facing mounting legal and political uncertainty after reports emerged that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may have issued an arrest warrant for Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa – the former national police chief widely seen as the main enforcer of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s violent war on drugs. Dela Rosa, a long-time Duterte ally and now a sitting senator, oversaw the Philippine National Police during the early years of Duterte’s presidency, when... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3332521/were-rumours-philippines-icc-warrant-duterte-ally-dela-rosa-calculated-leak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3332521/were-rumours-philippines-icc-warrant-duterte-ally-dela-rosa-calculated-leak?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 02:00:25 +0000 Reuters Reuters The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Philippine Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who oversaw then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, according to the nation’s ombudsman, although the ICC denied the assertion. Duterte, in office from 2016 to 2022, was arrested and taken to The Hague in March on a warrant linking him to murders committed during his war on drugs, in which thousands of alleged narcotics peddlers and users were killed. “The ICC has issued a warrant... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3332048/icc-arrest-imminent-dutertes-philippine-drugs-war-ally-dela-rosa-ombudsman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3332048/icc-arrest-imminent-dutertes-philippine-drugs-war-ally-dela-rosa-ombudsman?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 10:34:18 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s sharp decline in public trust and approval, set against Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s steadier numbers, underscores the shifting balance of power between two of the most influential political dynasties in the Philippines. While both leaders remain broadly popular, analysts say the latest figures suggest Duterte-Carpio’s camp may be regaining momentum as Marcos grapples with scandals, governance missteps and waning confidence in his leadership – deepening a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3331977/philippines-marcos-main-casualty-political-issues-trust-ratings-plummet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3331977/philippines-marcos-main-casualty-political-issues-trust-ratings-plummet?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Nov 2025 11:53:19 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The United States was working with both sides in Sudan’s war for a possible humanitarian truce, a US envoy said on Monday, while International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors said they were trying to preserve evidence from last week’s rampage through a besieged city in the Darfur region. The latest alleged atrocities in famine-hit El-Fasher “are part of a broader pattern of violence that has afflicted the entire Darfur region” and “may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity”, the ICC... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331393/us-seeks-humanitarian-truce-sudan-icc-investigates-possible-war-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331393/us-seeks-humanitarian-truce-sudan-icc-investigates-possible-war-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 18:58:20 +0000 Reuters Reuters Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, has appealed last week’s decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to continue its case against him and is seeking his release, court documents showed on Wednesday. Last week, ICC judges ruled that the court had jurisdiction over Duterte’s case, despite his team’s contention that the court did not open a full-fledged investigation into alleged crimes in the Philippines until after the country had withdrawn from the ICC in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3330787/ex-philippines-president-duterte-demands-icc-release-claims-unlawful-detention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3330787/ex-philippines-president-duterte-demands-icc-release-claims-unlawful-detention?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:19:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The International Court of Justice said on Wednesday that Israel must allow the UN aid agency in Gaza, known as UNRWA, to provide humanitarian help to the Palestinian territory. The Hague-based court was asked last year by the UN General Assembly to determine Israel’s legal obligations after the country effectively banned the agency, the main provider of aid to Gaza, from operating there. Israel “is under the obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3329980/icj-orders-israel-allow-unrwa-aid-gaza-amid-ceasefire-and-famine-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3329980/icj-orders-israel-allow-unrwa-aid-gaza-amid-ceasefire-and-famine-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 14:37:39 +0000