Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen removed from US Senate after Gaza protest
Ben Cohen was escorted out of a Senate hearing after protesting US funding for Israeli military actions in Gaza.
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Khaleej Times
30 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
Philippine Senate returns VP Sara Duterte's impeachment case to lower house
Philippine senators on Tuesday voted to return an impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte to the lower house to clarify its constitutionality, in a surprise move just hours after convening a trial that could end her political career. After heated debates among members that included efforts by a Duterte ally to dismiss the case, the senators agreed not to terminate the trial, but first send it back to the lower house to certify that its handling of the process had been lawful. The impeachment of the daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte follows an acrimonious falling out last year with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with whom she ran on a joint ticket that won the 2022 election in a landslide. The Senate's late-night move could provide a lifebuoy for presidential contender Duterte in her make-or-break trial and impact the policy agenda and succession plans of former ally Marcos. . Marcos is limited to a single term in office and has created a powerful enemy in Duterte. He is expected to try to retain influence and protect his legacy by grooming a successor capable of fending off his rival in the next election should she be acquitted. "I think we have upheld our oath to be politically neutral," said Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, a Duterte loyalist who presented the motion to return the case to the House of Representatives. The lower house in February voted to impeach the vice president for high crimes and betrayal of the public trust, alleging budget irregularities, amassing of unusual wealth and a threat to the lives of Marcos, his wife, and the house speaker. She has denied all allegations. The unprecedented move by the Senate could add fuel to fierce public debate on what is already an emotionally charged issue in the Philippines, with the spectre of discord in the bicameral legislature and more legal action to try to dismiss the case against the popular Duterte. The trial will officially proceed, according to senators, who issued a summons to Duterte to respond to the charges, despite sending the case back to the lower house until a time when a Congress newly-formed after last month's midterm elections is "willing and ready" to pursue the impeachment complaint. Duterte will have 10 days to comply. A new Congress will convene at the end of July. Duterte's office late on Tuesday reiterated an earlier statement that said she was ready to "expose the baselessness of the accusations". "The impeachment process must never be weaponised to harass, silence, or eliminate political opponents," it said. Duterte is the fifth top official in the Philippines to be impeached, only one of whom, Renato Corona, a former Supreme Court chief justice, was convicted.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Donald Trump defends sending US Marines to Los Angeles as immigration protests continue
US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to post National Guard and US Marines to Los Angeles, as protests against immigration raids continued. The Pentagon is sending about 700 active-duty US Marines and about 4,000 members of the National Guard in response to the protests. 'If I didn't 'send in the troops' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in LA due to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,' Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social, referring to a highly destructive wildfire that hit the city earlier this year. A defence official told Bloomberg on Monday that the Marines are based in Twentynine Palms, California. The estimated cost for the posting is about $134 million, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday. 'This isn't about public safety. It's about stroking a dangerous President's ego,' California's Governor Gavin Newsom said about the decision. 'This is reckless. Pointless. And disrespectful to our troops.' Mr Newsom added later that the purpose of the US Marines is defending democracy. 'They are not political pawns.' He said that the soldiers had been illegally posted to California 'so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend'. Washington will host a large military parade on Saturday to mark the US Army's 250th anniversary. It is also Mr Trump's 79th birthday. The California Governor and Mr Trump have exchanged insults over the past few days, with Mr Newsom saying Mr Trump was acting like a 'dictator' and Mr Trump saying he would arrest Mr Newsom, if he were border chief Tom Homan. California Democratic Representative John Garamendi told CNN that Mr Trump's response to the protests is 'about Trump pretending that he is the king of this nation, that he has the ultimate power and authority to do anything he wants to do'. While the original protest was peaceful, law enforcement responded after demonstrators blocked vehicles in an attempt to stop agents from removing people who had been detained in the raids. Protests intensified on Sunday, as demonstrators blocked a major motorway, throwing rocks, electric scooters and other items on to police vehicles. Several self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire. There have been reports of looting and vandalism in the city. Businesses reported graffiti and broken windows, as well as looted shelves. Police have been firing rubber bullets and flash-bangs into the crowd as they clashed with demonstrators. Scores of protesters have been arrested, in addition to those detained on immigration offences, and at least five police officers injured, according to KTLA 5. Solidarity protests have taken place in cities across the US, in Santa Ana and San Francisco in California, as well as New York, Atlanta and Dallas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the protests have begun to decrease in intensity. She blamed the federal government for aggravating the situation by sending in the National Guard and the Marines. 'I think we are an experiment, I think we are a test case for what happens if the federal government decides to take power from a governor and take over a city I think we are the laboratory rats right now for the administration,' she said. 'Stop the raids,' Ms Bass said in a post on X. 'We are a city of immigrants. Washington is attacking our people, our neighbourhoods and our economy. The Trump administration has made cutting down on illegal immigration a cornerstone of its domestic policy, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying out an increased number of raids in cities across the country.
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
United Nations (UN) expert urges Saudi Arabia to halt imminent execution of 26 Egyptian nationals for drug-related offences
The Government of Saudi Arabia must immediately halt the reportedly imminent execution of 26 Egyptian nationals sentenced to death for drug-related offences, in violation of international law, an UN expert said today. 'The Government's claim that applying the death penalty for offences such as smuggling, receiving and distributing narcotic substances under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act complies with international law is incompatible with its legal obligations under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,' said Morris Tidball-Binz, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. 'The right not to be arbitrarily deprived of life is a fundamental tenet of international law, from which no derogation is permitted,' Tidball-Binz said. The 26 Egyptian nationals, currently held on death row in Tabouk prison, have reportedly been informed that their executions will take place shortly after the Eid al-Adha holidays. This follows the execution of two other Egyptians from the same group, carried out on 24 and 25 May respectively, without prior notification to their families. UN experts previously raised these cases with the Government of Saudi Arabia in a formal communication, to which the Government responded. 'The death penalty for drug-related offences fails to meet the threshold of the 'most serious crimes, and lacks conclusive evidence of serving as an effective deterrent,' the expert said. According to court documents reviewed by the expert, some of the Egyptian prisoners were denied legal representation, while others were convicted based on self-incriminating statements which they later retracted in court, claiming that they were made under coercion. 'The right to effective legal representation must be ensured at all stages of criminal proceedings – during interrogations, preliminary hearings, trial, and appeal – and constitutes an effective safeguard against torture and other forms of ill-treatment,' the expert said. 'Violations of fair trial guarantees leading to the imposition of the death penalty render such sentences arbitrary and unlawful,' he added. Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed 141 individuals, approximately 68 of whom were foreign nationals. The vast majority were reportedly executed for non-lethal drug offences, in clear violation of international law. Imposing death sentences and carrying out executions for such offences significantly increases the number of people worldwide subjected to punishments fundamentally incompatible with human rights norms, and amounting to arbitrary deprivation of life. 'I urgently call on the Government of Saudi Arabia to halt the planned executions of the 26 Egyptian nationals, to abolish the death penalty for drug-related offences, and to ensure that its drug control policies fully comply with its international human rights obligations, notably the right to life,' the expert said. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
