We know you probably have Trump/Musk fatigue from all the stories we’ve been giving you on them, and we promise there’ll be much less of them this time around… Or so we hope. Here are three other international news that intrigued us this week:
- Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on Tuesday in Manila. The charge? Crimes against humanity. The charges stem from his alleged “War on Drugs,” which he carried out when he came into office in 2016.
Background:
Duterte, a lawyer turned politician, started his political career in the 80s as vice (deputy) mayor of Davao City, shortly after the People Power Revolution that toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. He is credited for cleaning the once crime-ridden city and making it one of the most urbanised and investor-friendly cities in the Philippines. How he did this, however, remains mired in controversy as he has been linked to the Davao Death Squad, which allegedly carried out the killings of street children and alleged drug dealers on his orders.
He remained in this position for 22 years before running for president in 2016. One of his campaign promises? Killing at least five criminals every week. “”Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I’d kill you,” he said in May 2016.
Well, Duterte won the election, becoming the oldest person in Phillipines history to enter office at the age of 71. Months after his 30 June 2016 inauguration, Duterte’s war on crime was setting records for the number of people killed. By December 2016, the police had killed more than 2000 people, most of them poor men.
The government of the Phillipines put the number of people who died under the supposed drug war at over 6000, but human rights organisations estimate that between 12,000 and 30,000 were killed during this time.
In 2018, the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation into Duterte and the killings, which lead to him removing the Phillipines from ICC for what he called “outrageous attacks.”
But know, the ICC has him and he has vowed to accept responsibility for his role in the drug war. “Whatever happened in the past, I will be the front of our law enforcement and the military. I said this already, that I will protect you, and I will be responsible for everything,” Duterte said in a video aboard a plane taking him to The Hague in the Netherlands.
- Canada has a new incoming Prime Minister. Central Banker Mark Carney will replace current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who resigned earlier this year. Carney, 59, won the race to lead the country’s federal Liberal party with over 85% of the vote on Sunday.
Carney has lead both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England from 2008 – 2013 and 2013 – 2020, respectively.
He is only the second Canadian PM to be elected without having formal ties in government. Carney is expected to announce an election as soon as he is sworn in where his Liberal Party is expected to do well against the Conservative Party lead by Pierre Poilievre, who Carney has called a “a “career politician” who he said was running a deeply divisive campaign. Poilievre has been increasingly likened to US President Donald Trump, and we bet Canadians aren’t too keen on their own home grown despot.
Speaking of Trump (sorry for breaking our promise!), Carney has been openly critical of the US leader, comparing him to the Harry Potter villain, Lord Voldemort. “”When you think about what’s at stake in these ridiculous, insulting comments of the president, of what we could be, I view this as the sort of Voldemort of comments,” Carney said. “Like I will not even repeat it, but you know what I’m talking about.” Trump wishes he was like Voldie!
Carney has also vowed to fight Trump’s tariffs. He vowed that Canada will maintain their own tariffs against the US “until the Americans show us respect … and [make] credible and reliable commitments to free and fair trade.” Looks like Trump is in for a true trade war.
- Staying with Trump (unfortunately), he revealed on his Truth Social platform on Friday that the US would welcome any farmers and their families fleeing South Africa because of what he called “reasons of safety.” Trump revealed that the US would immediately offer rapid pathways for citizenship for South African farmers.
We told you last month about Trump’s invitation to white Afrikaner South Africans to apply for refugee status in the US because of claims they’re facing “unjust racial discrimination” under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s land reform policies.
It’s not clear whether this latest invitation will include black farmers and their families.
Trump signed an executive order in February freezing all aid to South Africa. Relations between Pretoria and Washington remain strained but the South African government is working on a trade deal to ease the tensions.
We also told you last week that Trump was gunning for Ukraine after a tense meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. After that meeting, Trump ordered CIA Director John Ratcliffe to halt all intelligence sharing with Ukraine as well as military aid. Well, Trump has now resumed these after negotiators agreed on a 30-day ceasefire in talks held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The US now hopes Russia will agree to the terms of the ceasefire.
While the world is watching the reality show that is US politics, the stories above are proof that life is continuing, despite the madness. We’ll be watching these stories closely and keep you updated on any latest developments.
Tshego is a writer and law student from Pretoria. A keen follower of social media trends, his interests include high fantasy media, politics, science, talk radio, reading and listening to music.
He is also probably one of the only people left who still play Pokemon Go.
