Philippine first lady's dinner photo falsely linked to Rodrigo Duterte arrest
The post features a collage of ICC judges Iulia Motoc, Reine Alapini-Gansou and Socorro Flores Liera -- who ordered Duterte's arrest -- on top of a picture of Philippine First Lady Liza Marcos at a dinner table with two women (archived link).
It spread across X, Facebook and YouTube as misinformation flooded social media on Duterte's arrest for a crimes against humanity charge over his brutal drug crackdown in which thousands were killed.
Victims' families have welcomed the ICC proceedings as a chance for justice while Duterte supporters believe he was sent to The Hague amid a spectacular fall-out with the family of his once-ally President Ferdinand Marcos.
Philippine senators on March 20 grilled government officials over their decision to hand the former president to the ICC, with the country's justice minister denying coordinating the arrest ahead of time (archived link).
The Philippine government had steadfastly repeated its refusal to cooperate with ICC investigators, citing their lack of jurisdiction since Duterte pulled the country out of the international body in 2019.
But that changed with recent statements from government officials that they would be obligated to act if they received a request to do so from Interpol.
Comments on the posts indicate people believed the picture shows Liza Marcos dining with two ICC judges.
"Those judges would've been paid off by 'Lizatanas,'" one wrote combining the first lady's name with the Tagalog word for satan. Another said: "Ooh, you've been found out Madame!"
AFP has not found official reports that Marcos met with ICC judges days before Duterte's arrest and the women with her in the photo have been misidentified.
A search on Liza Marcos's verified Facebook page surfaced the original photo which identified the woman on her right as Evie Evangelou and to her left as Gina Diez Barroso (archived link).
The caption says it was taken during the First Ladies' Luncheon held on September 20, 2022 in New York City.
US agency Getty Images published pictures of the women at the event in the same outfits as those in the false post (archived here and here).
Evangelou is president and founder of the United Nations-backed nonprofit Fashion 4 Development, the organisers of the event (archived here and here).
Diez Barroso meanwhile was honoured during the luncheon for her work in Mexico (archived link).
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Newsweek
12 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Trump's Russia-Ukraine Talks Raise Two Conditions Key to Ending War
Based on factual reporting, incorporates the expertise of the journalist and may offer interpretations and conclusions. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The fast-moving developments in President Donald Trump's near-back-to-back summits with the heads of Russia, Ukraine and European powers have raised two items increasingly as critical to ending the war between Moscow and Kyiv: territorial exchanges and security guarantees. While the latest talks held Monday between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of the Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO did not produce an agreement to end the three-and-a-half-year war, the gathering laid the groundwork for a long-anticipated trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump met in Alaska on Friday. Perhaps most notably, however, the U.S. leader did not walk back from the position of Ukraine needing to offer territorial concessions as part of an eventual settlement, a stance long opposed by Kyiv and its European backers. "We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact," Trump said during a press engagement alongside Zelensky and European counterparts. Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities think tank, said the comments were indicative of a broader reality that has set in over the conflict. "Ukraine will have to cede some territory to end the war, the question is how much and how," Kavanagh told Newsweek. "At the very least, it will not go back to its pre-2022 borders. Crimea will not be returned to Ukraine." "Ukraine can choose to keep fighting now rather than settle for Putin's terms that require withdrawing from the Donbas, but they are losing territory at a more rapid rate and their frontlines are overstretched," Kavanagh said. "More time may not buy them a better deal but force them to settle for much less." A combination of pictures shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left), U.S. President Donald Trump (center) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). A combination of pictures shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left), U.S. President Donald Trump (center) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). DREW ANGERER/SAUL LOEB/ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images Land for Peace The Kremlin has thus far maintained an ambitious set of demands outlined by Putin to put an end to the conflict. These include recognition of Russia's full control over four Ukrainian provinces—Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia—annexed without international recognition during a September 2022 wartime referendum, as well as Crimea, seized and annexed during a similar vote held in March 2014 amid the initial Russia-backed uprising in the Donetsk and Luhansk that sparked the conflict. Moscow also demands that Kyiv forego its aspirations to join NATO in addition to undergoing a process of "demilitarization" and "denazification," though Ukraine strongly denies any ties to far-right ideology. Zelensky has long expressed an unwillingness to cede territory to Russia but expressed his openness earlier Monday to discussing territorial control over "where the front line is now." Russian forces currently occupy all of Crimea, nearly the entirety of Luhansk and approximately three-quarters of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory held by the Russian military was on full display on a map stood in the Oval Office on Monday as Trump and Zelensky spoke in front of the press ahead of their discussions. In the Oval Office, a large map of Ukraine was displayed across from where Trump and Zelensky sat. The eastern part, shaded pink, showed the roughly 20% of the country under Russian control — a stark reminder of the nearly four-year war and a possible tool for Trump to pressure… — KyivPost (@KyivPost) August 18, 2025 The comments marked one of the most notable shifts in the Ukrainian leader's position since the Trump administration has recalibrated the U.S. approach to Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. Trump reiterated his belief that Ukraine would have to make territorial concessions and abandon its quest to join NATO in a statement issued Sunday via his Truth Social platform. "President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight," Trump wrote. "Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!" Yet Trump has also shifted gears on his earlier calls for a ceasefire, now emphasizing that a comprehensive peace deal should be prioritized, a position that has been challenged by some European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Franz-Stefan Gady, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, argued that, without a cessation of hostilities, Moscow would likely continue its press to obtain more territory as talks continued. "The Russians obviously don't think they've run out of military options," Gady told Newsweek. "Just having returned from Ukraine a couple of weeks ago, I can attest that there are no signs that the Russian offensive operations are in any way slowing down." "On the contrary, the Russians have been picking up their advance in southern Donetsk, for example," he added, "and they're very focused on seizing the towns of Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, and also possibly encircling Soviansk and Kramatorsk eventually." As such, he argued that Merz "is absolutely right in setting a ceasefire as a precondition, because only once Russia agrees to a ceasefire, I think that would be a test of Russia's sincerity." The 'Guarantee' Debate On the same day as Trump's social media post, Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in Moscow prior to the Alaska summit, told Fox News Sunday that the Russian leader had committed to taking legislative steps toward foregoing any further territorial expansion in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe once a peace deal was secured. In addition to reiterating his point about potential land swaps, Trump also on Friday revealed that Putin had agreed that Russia "would accept security guarantees for Ukraine." It was "a very significant step," according to the U.S. leader, that could include Western military presence in post-war Ukraine. But it remains uncertain the degree to which Putin would tolerate the presence of NATO forces following a conflict he argued was partially justified by the U.S.-led alliance's post-Cold War expansion into Eastern Europe. From the European perspective, Gady said questions still linger about the commitment from nations to actually enforce any deterrent measures on the ground beyond merely empowering Ukraine's military. "It's important to see that Europe will need to carry the bulk of the burden here," Gady said. "And I think the major issue with Europe is that hiding behind U.S. military power and a U.S. commitment to support the war Ukraine, Europe never had to ask hard questions." He argued that "the hardest question that remains unanswered for Europe" boils down to "what does Ukraine really mean for Europe's security architecture, and what is Europe prepared to risk to ensure that Ukraine will remain an independent, pro-Western country is it?" "Are European countries prepared to go to war against Russia? If the answer is no, then any sort of European reassurance force in Ukraine, integrated with Ukrainian forces, will not be able to deter future Russian aggression," he added. Kavanagh also pointed out that Trump's fundamental opposition opposed any NATO "Article 5-like" guarantees for Ukraine as suggested by Witkoff. "Planning in that direction is a waste of time because it's a nonstarter as a condition for peace," she said. "Putin may be willing to accept an Istanbul 2022-style arrangement where it has a veto over any sort of military intervention to defend Ukraine, but Ukraine will reject this." "There is just no way that Russia would fight for three years to keep Ukraine out of NATO and stop its western integration to allow Western forces in Ukraine after the war--especially now that they have the battlefield advantage," she added. "Finally, the West has little leverage over Putin. They can discuss their terms all they want, but an end to fighting right now is in Putin's hands and on his timeline." U.S. President Donald Trump sits across the table from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right), and European leaders during a meeting at the White House on August 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. U.S. President Donald Trump sits across the table from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right), and European leaders during a meeting at the White House on August 18, 2025, in Washington, Dilemma European leaders have long expressed concern regarding the Trump administration's foreign policy outlook as it relates to transatlantic security. Since first coming to office in 2017, Trump has accused European allies of taking advantage of U.S. defense guarantees. Trump's position has prompted both NATO and the EU, who share the majority of their respective member states, to undergo great defense spending initiatives. The EU also agreed to spend what Trump described as "hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of military equipment" from the U.S. as part of a trade deal reached last month and NATO has since begun coordinating large-scale arms transfers from member states to Ukraine, predominantly consisting of U.S. weapons. The moves mark a more conciliatory approach from Europe toward the Trump administration; a tone made all the more apparent by the relatively amicable environment that surrounded the high-stakes talks on Friday despite underlying differences over the course of the war. Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, described what he saw as "a strong show of European unity" in which each leader—including Germany's Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Marcon, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen President and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte—"brings something to the table that works for the Trump playbook." "Merz brings the big fiscal spending that Germany is committed to on defense," Rahman told Newsweek. "Macron and Starmer are obviously committed to a reassurance force with British and French troops on the ground." "Meloni has the ideological affinity and proximity to the Trump administration and key people in the Trump ecosystem like [Vice President] JD Vance and others," he added. "Alex [Stubb], even Commission President von der Leyen, have managed to build something of a good rapport with him." Rahman argued that Europe walked into the talks with three overarching goals, including to "ensure whatever guarantees the administration is talking about are credible and robust," to "push back strongly on this idea of territorial exchanges" and to "really shape and influence and work this potential trilateral meeting," where Macron also "raised the stakes" Friday by suggesting European representation there as well. Trump has expressed confidence on the possibility of a joint meeting with Putin and Zelensky. Zelensky has also expressed openness to the idea, while the Kremlin has said Putin would only meet his Ukrainian counterpart following "preparatory work at the expert level." So far, the results of Trump's direct meetings with Putin and Zelensky, alongside European allies, have yet to achieve a breakthrough, though they may pave the way for further discussions on issues Rahman said would need to be addressed even before a settlement on top-line items like territorial control and security guarantees. Such issues, according to Rahman, include "prisoner exchange, return of abducted Ukrainian children" as well as the "sequencing" of a deal, and whether or not it be preceded by a ceasefire to freeze the current lines of control. "It's way too premature to begin talking about territorial exchanges," Rahman said. "I think the European side is still focused on protecting the principles that emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War, that borders can't be redrawn by force, primarily." If Russia did remain in control of the territory it currently possesses in Ukraine, Rahman said "any recognition will be de facto, certainly not de jure."
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Iran says it will resume talks with UN nuclear watchdog
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran plans to hold another round of talks with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog in the coming days, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in Tehran on Monday. He did not say when exactly the meeting would take place, nor did he name a location. Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in July, accusing the organization of failing to condemn Israeli and U.S. attacks on the country's nuclear facility in the prior month. Israel attacked Iran on June 13, bombing targets across the country in what the government said were preemptive strikes to prevent the Islamic Republic from building a nuclear bomb. Iran, which has always insisted its controversial nuclear program only serves civilian purposes, denies this and responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel. After 12 days of war, during which the U.S. dropped its most powerful conventional weapons on key Iranian nuclear sites, a ceasefire is now in place. Last week, IAEA Deputy Director General Massimo Aparo traveled to Tehran for the first time since the end of the fighting, to discuss what future cooperation might look like. However, Tehran refused to grant the IAEA access to its nuclear facilities after previously having expelled the body's inspectors. Prior to the Israeli attacks, Washington and Tehran had been negotiating on a new nuclear deal for some two months, but failed to come to an agreement before the war broke out. Baghaei said no new negotiations have been planned with the U.S. so far, while Tehran is looking to continue talks with Germany, France and Britain, co-signatories of the 2015 Vienna nuclear deal. Both sides last met in this format in Istanbul in July. The Vienna agreement, which the U.S. exited unilaterally in 2018 during the first presidency of Donald Trump, was designed to restrict Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. The European signatories of the deal have until mid-October to apply to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions on Iran to be reintroduced, before the deal formally expires. Their central demands of Tehran include renewed access for IAEA inspectors to the country's nuclear facilities as well as information on the fate of some 400 kilograms, or about 880 pounds, of near-weapons grade uranium. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Putin claims Ukraine should give up Donetsk because Russia will conquer region by October —despite a decade of failing to do so
Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly told President Trump his forces could conquer the long-sought-after Donetsk region by October if Ukraine didn't give up the land as part of a peace deal — but Kyiv and US observers point out that the Kremlin has failed to take it for more than a decade. While intelligence varies on Russia's advancements along the frontlines, one US assessment agrees that Putin could succeed in conquering the remaining 30% of Donetsk that he does not control by October, Axios reported. Experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank that has tracked the granular progress of the war since its start, however, point out that Russia has been unable to seize the region through three and a half years of bloody war — and 11 years of Kremlin-backed rebellion before that. 6 Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told President Trump at the Alaska summit last week that he will be able to capture Ukraine's Donetsk region by October. POOL/AFP via Getty Images And there's no reason Moscow will suddenly break through Ukraine's most heavily fortified frontline. 'Even if we're being generous to the Russians and say they can maintain their current advance, which we know they can't keep up and have been pushed back from… It would take about 475 days for Russia to take the entirety of Donetsk, that's December 2026,' George Barros, the head of the ISW's Russia team, told the Post. 'And I think that's putting it generously. To say Moscow can take it by October seems hyperbolic.' Ukrainian sources who also spoke with The Post were incredulous about the alleged intelligence assessment that Kyiv could lose Donetsk. 'Donetsk by October? They've been saying that since February of '22,' an American serving in the Ukrainian Armed Services said. 6 A Ukrainian soldier giving an order to a captured Russian troop in the Donetsk region on Aug. 17, 2025. Getty Images Speaking with Trump in Alaska on Friday, Putin demanded Donetsk be handed to him as a condition for ending his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, along with demanding the Luhansk, Crimea, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has scoffed at the proposal to give up land where his forces have fended off Russian soldiers who have outgunned and outnumbered the defenders. A source familiar with the talks described negotiations over the fate of Donetsk as 'the ball game.' 'Every issue is an ancillary issue, except Donetsk,' the source previously told The Post. 6 Ukrainians firing an anti-aircraft gun at Russian drones in the Donetsk region on Aug. 15, 2025. Getty Images Moscow has launched four notable campaigns over the last year to take the remainder of Donetsk, with each major operation failing and resulting in Russia's advancement of just over six miles, according to the ISW. The quagmire is emblematic in the Russian operation to take the town of Toretsk, which finally fell under Moscow's control on Aug. 1 after 14 months of fighting, with the Kremlin currently struggling to keep the 6.4 miles of land. 'Russia's big push is happening in the summer, which has always been the case, but come fall, with the muddy season, things are going to slow down again,' Barros noted. 'Russia won't be able to sustain this push.' 6 Putin demanded that Ukraine give up Donetsk as a condition for ending the invasion. Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Moscow faced a similar struggle in taking the city of Avdiivka, with a US military veteran, known by the callsign 'Jackie,' noting that Ukraine's defenses continue to defy the odds. 'It took the Russians from 2017 to 2024 to take Avdiivka,' Jakie, a spokesman with the 3rd Assault Battalion said. 'I fought in the Battle of Bahkmut where I counted eight Russian shells fired for every one Ukrainian response. 'And that was during the lulls, during enemy pushes they were shooting 15-to-1 and it still took them 10 months,' he added. 6 A man carrying his belongings out of a building hit by a Russian strike in Bilozerske in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Aug. 12, 2025. Photo by GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images After claiming Avdiivka, Moscow set its sights on Pokrovsk, a logistical hub in eastern Ukraine that Russia claimed to be making advancements in last week along with Dobropillia. The city, however, continues to repel Russia's soldiers, with more than 400 Moscow troops killed after last week's push, according to Kyiv. Zelensky and his top commanders also noted that Kyiv still holds the strategic cities of Sloviansk and Kramators, which have served as a 'fortress belt' protecting Donbas, the land comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. 6 A house destroyed by Russian shelling in Donetsk seen on Aug. 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko 'They remain Ukraine's main strongholds in Donbas, and the enemy does not have sufficient forces to storm them,' Kyiv said in a statement. 'Russia's capture of the entire Donetsk region — including the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Dobropillia, and others — by October is impossible given the scale of losses and the inability of Russian forces to advance at the required pace,' the officials added. Kyiv claims that Russia is suffering 1,200 casualties per day, matching estimates from western officials and think tanks, with the US veteran Jackie saying that Ukrainian soldiers will continue to fight to the last man to keep the invaders out of Donbas. 'If you think Ukrainians are going to give up Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, I suggest asking a Texan if Davy Crockett should have given up the Alamo,' the American said. Despite the Trump administration's latest suggestion that Ukraine will have to concede land to end the war, Kyiv maintains that territory not currently occupied by Russian soldiers is off the table. 'It's not acceptable, but we don't want to be the person who said 'no,' because for us, it's important to go forward [with the US],' a Kyiv official exclusively told The Post. 'We definitely, honestly, believe that just Trump can end this war.'
