Duterte calls international court 'rude'
MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte urged other governments on Sunday to abandon the International Criminal Court, saying the world tribunal -- where he's facing a possible complaint for the thousands of killings of drug suspects under his crackdown -- is "rude."
Although the Philippine Senate has ratified the Rome Statute that established the international court, Duterte said in a speech that the treaty was never enforced in the country because it was not published in the government journal as required by law.
As a result, Duterte said the international court can never have jurisdiction over him, "not in a million years."
"I will convince everybody now who are under the treaty at ICC: 'Get out, get out, it's rude,'" he said.
Last month, an International Criminal Court prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced that she was opening a preliminary examination into a complaint by a Filipino lawyer of suspected extrajudicial killings under Duterte's anti-drug campaign, which could amount to crimes against humanity.
The move angered Duterte, who announced Wednesday that he was withdrawing the Philippine ratification of the Rome Statute "effective immediately."
5 Afghan students hurt in grenade attack
KABUL, Afghanistan -- An attacker dressed in a school uniform set off a grenade amid a group of hundreds of university students in Afghanistan's capital on Sunday, killing himself and wounding five students, according to the district police chief.
Nasir Nadery said the attacker, who slipped past two guards, was wearing an explosives vest that failed to explode. The students were inside a private compound where they were taking classes to prepare for university exams.
The attack took place in a Kabul neighborhood dominated by ethnic Hazaras, a Shiite minority frequently targeted by the Sunni extremists. No one immediately claimed the attack, which resembled previous assaults carried out by the Islamic State group.
On Saturday, a sticky bomb attached to the motorcycle driven by a retired Pakistani army officer exploded in southern Zabul province's Shahjoy district, killing the officer and his guard, according to the provincial government spokesman, Gul Islam Seyal.
Pakistan has been criticized by both the United States and Afghanistan for aiding Taliban insurgents, a charge it denies. Seyal said the retired officer was aiding the Taliban, although he did not provide any proof of his claim.
Kashmir shelling kills 5 family members
JAMMU, India -- Five members of a family were killed and at least eight other people injured Sunday in cross-border shelling between Indian and Pakistani soldiers in disputed Kashmir, officials said, as the two rivals traded blame for initiating the violence.
The five were killed after a shell fired by Pakistani soldiers hit their home in the Poonch region of India-controlled Kashmir along the militarized Line of Control that divides the Himalayan territory between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, said S.P. Vaid, the region's police chief.
A police statement said the dead included a 35-year-old man and his 32-year-old wife, and three of their children -- two young boys and a teenage boy. Two of the couple's daughters, one 7 and the other 12, were among the injured.
Authorities in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir said at least six civilians, including five women, were wounded in the Indian firing and shelling along the frontier.
Israel destroys new Hamas tunnel
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said Sunday that it destroyed a tunnel built by the Hamas militant group.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the new tunnel was intended to connect to an old one that Israel partially destroyed in the southern Gaza Strip during the 2014 war, in what appears to be the first case of Hamas trying to "recycle" part of its devastated network.
Conricus said Israel has been following Hamas' progress for some time and that the targeted tunnels will now be impossible to rebuild. Conricus called it a "futile effort" by the Islamic militants and a waste of resources that could be used to aid Gaza residents. The coastal territory had been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas took over in 2007.
Israel has placed a high priority on halting the tunnel threat since Hamas infiltrated Israel during the 2014 war.
This marks the fourth such tunnel Israel has destroyed over the past four months. The operation followed Israeli airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza over the weekend in response to bombs planted along the border that were detonated in an attempt to harm Israeli troops.
A Section on 03/19/2018