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A pursuit in the senate, gunfire, now on the run: why is a former Philippines police chief in hiding?

Ronald dela Rosa, a former head of police in the Philippines, is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity over his role in a bloody “war on drugs” during Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016-2022 presidency. The controversial senator has gone into hiding after a dramatic entry, then escape from the senate building in Manila last week. The Philippines justice secretary has since ordered his arrest, calling him a “fugitive from justice”. Here’s everything to know about dela Rosa and the case against him: Who is Ronald dela Rosa? Dela Rosa, 64, is a Philippine senator and former head of national police, who is known for his role as the chief enforcer of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called “war on drugs”. Known by the nickname “Bato”, which translates as “rock”, he is a celebrity-like figure in the Philippines, where he cultivated a tough-talking image, often making violent threats against drug dealers. His close ties with Duterte date back to their shared roots in Davao, in Mindanao, southern Philippines, where dela Rosa served as city police chief from 2012-13 and Duterte was mayor for more than 20 years cumulatively. It was in Davao that Duterte first rolled out his ruthless approach to law enforcement and established the Davao Death Squad (DDS), a group of police officers and non-police hitmen whose task was to kill alleged criminals, including drug dealers, according to International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors. Dela Rosa is accused of helping to recruit individuals and direct the group. When Duterte was elected president in 2016, he appointed dela Rosa head of Philippine national police to implement his “war on drugs” on a national scale. Dela Rosa vowed to “crush” drug lords, and once told crowds of surrendering drug users they could “kill” drug lords. “Pour gasoline on their houses and burn them. Show your anger,” he said. Police say more than 6,000 suspects were killed in official anti-drug operations during Duterte’s presidency. Activists say the real death toll may never be known, with some estimates suggesting as many as 30,000 may have been killed. After leaving the police force, dela Rosa was appointed the director general of Bureau of Corrections, before successfully running for the senate in 2019. He won a second senatorial term in May 2025. Why is he wanted by the ICC? The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for dela Rosa for alleged crimes against humanity for his role in Duterte’s “war on drugs”. Duterte was arrested last year and is imprisoned awaiting trial in The Hague. The arrest warrant, first issued confidentially in November, but unsealed this month, accuses dela Rosa of implementing the “war on drugs” at a national level. This includes “encouraging the police to legitimise killings through fictitious self-defence scenarios, and promising impunity” and “ordering the police to kill specific targets and planning killing operations”. It also accuses him of “expressing approval and rewarding perpetrators of killings” and making public statements “authorising, condoning and promoting” the killing of alleged criminals. ICC prosecutors also accuse him of playing a role in recruiting individuals who he could “trust and control” to the DDS in Davao. Members were easily replaced, the warrant says, adding that members were killed for opposing orders, “wanting to leave the DDS, or having too much information about the DDS killings”. Dela Rosa has previously denied involvement in illegal killings. Duterte, who is accused of crimes against humanity, has also denied the charges against him. Where is Dela Rosa? Dela Rosa was last seen in public at the senate last week, when he made a surprise appearance after six months staying out of the public eye to avoid arrest. He attended the senate to take part in a vote that would benefit his ally, the vice-president, Sara Duterte, the daughter of the former imprisoned leader. In bizarre and dramatic scenes, he was chased through hallways and up staircases in the senate by government agents seeking his arrest. Dela Rosa managed to outpace them, and his allies in the senate granted him protective custody, a concept some deem legally dubious. Dela Rosa remained inside the senate for three days in a standoff with the authorities. Tensions escalated into gunfire, for unclear reasons, and he disappeared from the heavily guarded building in the early hours of Thursday, 14 May. Some reports suggested he drove off in an SUV with a fellow Duterte-aligned senator. His whereabouts are not known. What happens next? The justice secretary, Fredderick Vida, announced on Thursday that law enforcement had been ordered to apprehend dela Rosa, after the supreme court rejected the senator’s attempts to block his arrest. “We are pursuing this so that the ends of justice may be achieved,” Vida said. Many questions remain over dela Rosa’s case. It’s unclear how dela Rosa managed to escape from the heavily guarded senate building last week without detection. It’s also unclear why the authorities had not previously acted on the ICC arrest warrant, which was first issued confidentially in November. Vida said law enforcement agencies have “leads” on dela Rosa’s whereabouts and that the arrest would be carried out as soon as possible. In the unpredictable world of Philippine politics, it’s very difficult to know what might happen next.

Chinese authorities destroy villager’s ramshackle 10-storey Studio Ghibli-esque home

A ramshackle 10-storey home that had become an offbeat tourist attraction in south-western China has been torn down, ending a years-long battle between the structure’s owner and local authorities. Chen Tianming said local authorities took just hours to return the stone bungalow – which had been transformed into a pyramid-shaped structure of plywood rooms stacked upon one another – back down to its original single storey. “I don’t feel regret, because regret is useless,” Chen told the AFP news agency. “I also don’t blame myself for failing to protect it – it’s just that the force driving its destruction was simply too powerful.” The 43-year-old had spent about 200,000 yuan ($29,000) over eight years to convert his family home into an unlikely tourist attraction in the village of Xingyi in Guizhou province. Visiting tourists drew comparisons between Chen’s home and the intricately detailed, whimsical worlds created by Japanese animator and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. Authorities in Guizhou province have long threatened to remove the multi-storey structure that was held together by bamboo scaffolding, saying it lacked the necessary building permits and was a safety hazard. Chen’s home village of Xingyi was mostly demolished in 2018, as authorities planned to build a tourist resort in the region known for its otherworldly mountain landscapes. Chen’s family refused to leave, and as the resort’s construction faltered he began building his home higher and higher in defiance of demolition threats by authorities. In August 2024, authorities labelled Chen’s home an illegal construction and he was ordered to destroy everything except the original bungalow. On 18 May, Xingyi officials issued a final notice ordering Chen’s family to leave by 9am on Wednesday. After the deadline local law enforcement and public security bureau officials escorted Chen and his parents away from his home and confiscated his phone, holding him in custody as his home was demolished. Chen, who filmed the aftermath showing piles of building materials scattered around where the towering structure once stood, told AFP that he is now seeking legal help to have the forced demolition designated illegal. “Then I will have a chance to restore it,” he said. Additional reporting by Yu-chen Li

From Fiji to French Polynesia, how Pacific islands are uniquely vulnerable to the oil crisis

When 53-year-old Agbar Mohammad pulled into a petrol station in Fiji in May, he was expecting a queue. Instead, it was almost empty. “I could only see one or two cars at the service station, which was very unusual,” Mohammad says. The reason became clear very quickly: as Mohammad filled his car, the numbers on the fuel pump climbed so much faster than the needle on his dashboard. Normally he would put in about $40 of fuel, but this time $100 barely got his 60-litre tank halfway full. The Pacific region is already at the forefront of the climate crisis thanks to rising sea levels and increasing natural disasters. But the fuel crisis caused by the US-Israel war on Iran is revealing another fossil-fuel based vulnerability. The reliance of countries and territories in the Pacific on imported oil is expected to hit economic growth and increase inflation. The shortages are already showing up in the price of cassava, the cost of the school run, and in businesses’ bottom lines. Dr Rubayat Chowdhury from the Australian National University says Pacific Islands are very dependent on imports for food and basic necessities. And in a region that earns a lot from tourism, remittances and foreign aid, higher fuel prices will not just push up the cost of goods, but could also threaten incomes. “The Pacific will be hit hard,” says Chowdhury, for two main reasons. “The first is its remoteness. And the second is small populations.” Oil accounted for more than 80% of the region’s energy supply in 2023 – more than half of that for transport, and more than a third for electricity. At least eight Pacific countries generated more than half of their electricity in 2024 from oil products – over 90% in Solomon Islands and more than 80% in Tonga and Nauru. By comparison Australia and New Zealand derived 2.3% and 1.5% of their electricity from oil products in 2024, mostly from small, intermittent or temporary sources, such as remote or emergency generators. Many Pacific countries have a target to generate 100% of their electricity from renewables by 2030. Some, like Tokelau, have already achieved this, but most have not yet. Oil products accounted for about 20% of all imports for some Pacific countries in 2019, but many also import a lot of food and other staples that cannot be produced locally, meaning higher transport costs will affect a variety of goods and services. Data from the UN shows that in 2021-23, food made up over 20% of net imports in Samoa and Tonga, and over 29% in Kiribati. Many Pacific countries are already taking action, before oil supply shortages start to hit. Fiji’s parliament voted for a 20% pay cut for its members due to pressure on the budget from the global fuel price shock. Other countries have had to repeatedly hike fuel prices while introducing relief for businesses and residents. To help with fuel security, the Australian government has announced $30m in support for Fiji – including a supply and storage hub in the region. Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, said this would support the country’s upcoming national budget as Fijians brace for another fuel price increase this month. Guardian Australia analysis of global trade flows in 2024 found that Pacific countries received most of their fuel from just one of a handful of countries – Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and China. Some Pacific countries source 80%, 90% or more of their oil products from their largest supplier country. This kind of concentration could leave Pacific countries exposed if their suppliers have to prioritise their own domestic markets. Australia has already been warned that Malaysia or South Korea might need to do this if the crisis continues. Dr Chowdhury also notes that Australia is relatively protected from an oil supply shock by its purchasing power, and by being one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of liquefied natural gas. “It’s relatively easier for bigger nations like Australia to negotiate, right? To reach out to Brunei, for example, to secure the oil supply. “It’s not easy for Solomon Islands or the [Federated States of Micronesia] to do the same.” For Agbar in Suva, the fuel crisis so far has largely meant working longer hours to break even. For bus operators, tighter margins. For farmers from provinces like Tailevu, Naitasiri and Ra, it means paying more just to get produce into town. And for fellow driver Gerald Elaisa, every trip now comes with calculation. “We only buy fuel for the important runs – school, work, home,” he says. “The children now catch the bus or walk. We are cutting down on unnecessary spending.” For many Fijian families, fuel is no longer just filling their tanks. It is shaping how they live.

South Korea hosts America’s biggest overseas military base – but what does its future look like under Trump?

There are school bus routes, baseball diamonds and American football fields. Soldiers queue for lunch at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Arby’s outlets. A postbox stamped with the logo of the US postal service stands outside the commissary stocked with American groceries. The signage is all in English and the US dollar is the currency in use. Beyond the perimeter fence, military helicopters rise above the airfield and cut across the blue sky. The scene is a slice of contemporary America, despite being more than 5,000km from the US mainland. Camp Humphreys, located in the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek, is the largest American military base outside the US: 1,372 hectares (3,390 acres), nearly a thousand buildings and with a population of roughly 41,000, including American service members, their families and Korean nationals. It serves as headquarters for United States Forces Korea (USFK), the clearest physical expression of the alliance between Washington and Seoul that has underpinned stability on the Korean peninsula since the Korean war ended in an armistice in 1953. Yet the alliance that planted this piece of America in South Korea is now being tested. From trade tensions to security guarantees, relations under President Donald Trump are increasingly transactional in a way that has unsettled Seoul, which has long depended on Washington as a guarantor in its defence against North Korea. “Reliability and credibility issues are worse than they were before,” says Mason Richey, a professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. The alliance retains deep operational ties, he says, but the political surface has become far more fraught. When Trump announced earlier this month that he would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany after the country’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said Washington was being “humiliated” by Iran – with the US president also threatening reductions elsewhere in Europe – Korean media raised the question of whether South Korea would be next, reviving speculation that has persisted throughout Trump’s presidency. The defence ministry and presidential office moved quickly to deny that any troop reduction discussions were under way. Asked about reported adjustments to troop numbers and assets, USFK said the current 28,500 troops was “a baseline, not a limit or a ceiling”, and that the command’s focus was on capabilities rather than fixed numbers. But under Trump, tensions in the alliance – including an immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia last year, and threats to hike tariffs on South Korean goods to 25% – have begun to spill out into national security. The US reportedly partly restricted intelligence sharing after a South Korean minister publicly identified a suspected North Korean nuclear site. And in April, fallout from a US-incorporated company’s data breach stalled talks on the development of nuclear-powered submarines. Amid these tensions, South Korea is debating how dependent it can remain on American protection. An advantage ‘no other US ally can replicate’ Behind the suburban veneer of Camp Humphreys is a military installation training for war. At the state-of-the-art Vandal Training Center, US and Korean soldiers run water-survival drills in a massive pool designed to simulate a helicopter crashing into the sea. In a darkened medical room filled with artificial smoke and the piped-in sounds of combat, troops wearing night-vision goggles practise battlefield evacuations on $400,000 mannequins with severed limbs that are rigged to bleed on command. Upstairs, virtual-reality simulators allow units to run combat scenarios in almost any country or terrain in the world. An official at the base says the readiness standard is “fight tonight”. For years, their focus has been across the northern border. North Korea possesses nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles theoretically capable of reaching the US mainland. In late 2024 it deployed more than 12,000 troops to support Russian forces in Ukraine and is widely believed to have received advanced military technology and training from Moscow in return. But Washington is becoming more explicit about recalibrating the division of labour. The Pentagon’s national defence strategy – published in January – states that South Korea is capable of taking “primary responsibility” for deterring North Korea, with increasingly limited US support. Washington is also pushing to expand its mission beyond the Korean peninsula. From Camp Humphreys, the US has China in view. The base is positioned roughly 800km (500 miles) from Shanghai and under 1,400km from Taiwan. “Korea sits at the centre of the regional security geometry, with a positional advantage no other US ally can replicate,” a USFK official told the Guardian. Xavier Brunson, the commander of USFK, says the base’s presence “complicates every calculation” an adversary makes. In Seoul, though, there are fears that hosting a launchpad for US regional operations beyond North Korea could drag South Korea into unwanted conflict with China. “Many South Koreans, particularly among more progressive constituencies, are reluctant to see USFK reoriented toward containing China,” says Jaechun Kim, a professor of international relations at Sogang University in Seoul. “There is strong concern about entrapment in broader US-China strategic competition, particularly over potential Taiwan contingencies.” Trump’s recent calls for allies, including South Korea, to join US-led operations in the strait of Hormuz sharpened concerns in Seoul about how far the alliance could extend beyond the peninsula. At Camp Humphreys, four new barracks are nearing completion, and a new elementary school is under construction. The base is going nowhere, and for now at least, large-scale troop withdrawals remain unlikely. A sculpture commemorating the US-South Korea alliance stands outside the USFK headquarters. Inscribed on one side, in Korean, are the words: “함께 갑시다” (hamkke gapsida) – we go together.

Protests at new US consulate after Trump envoy says time for US ‘to put its footprint back’ on Greenland

Hundreds of people protested against the opening of a new US consulate in Nuuk after comments by the US special envoy to Greenland that it was time for Washington “to put its footprint back” on the Arctic territory. Many Greenlandic politicians, including the prime minister, said they would not attend the official opening on Thursday. Protesters carried Greenlandic flags and signs that read “USA Asu” (Stop USA) and shouted “Greenland belongs to Greenlanders” outside the Greenlandic parliament before shouting “go home” outside the US consulate. The US special envoy, Jeff Landry, arrived in Nuuk uninvited with a delegation including a doctor, who caused fury by saying he was there to “assess the medical needs of Greenland”. Landry briefly attended a business conference with the US ambassador to Denmark, Kenneth Lowery, and left Nuuk on Wednesday night. During his visit, Landry told Agence France-Presse he thought it was “time for the US to put its footprint back on Greenland”. He said: “Greenland needs the US. I think that you’re seeing the president talk about increasing national security operations and repopulating certain bases in Greenland.” Meanwhile, negotiations between the US, Greenland and Denmark are continuing, despite the fact Copenhagen is without a fully functioning government amid record-long coalition talks. While Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, reiterated this week that the largely autonomous territory – a former Danish colony that remains part of the Danish kingdom – was not for sale, he also said Greenland was “obliged to find a solution” with the US. The US already had a consulate in Nuuk, in a modest traditional-style building, but the move to new premises in a modern high-rise is symbolic of its growing presence. Aqqalukkuluk Fontain, 37, an IT account manager who organised the protest because of the strength of feeling against the US presence in Nuuk, said: “It’s very important, now more than ever, to show the American people what we already said, that no means no, and that the future and self-determination of Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people.” Fontain added: “The protest itself is not to provoke Donald Trump or Jeff Landry but to show the world that Greenland has its own democracy.” He said the future of Greenland was a concern for the entire world. “It is very dangerous what the United States is trying to do, because if Greenland falls, the world will fall and it might lead to world war three.” Christian Keldsen, the chief executive of Greenland Business Association, which organised the Future Greenland conference, said Landry did not get the reception he was hoping for. “Three months ago Greenland was under threat of invasion and takeover and he [Landry] was one of the people supporting that statement,” he said. “Then three months later you show up here wanting to make friends, handing out chocolate to children and trying to hand out Maga caps.” Among the conference speakers was Rufus Gifford, the US ambassador to Denmark between 2013 and 2017, who criticised comments by Landry to reporters that had suggested no high-level diplomats had visited Greenland before Trump became president. In a video posted on social media, Gifford said: “He wants Greenlanders to be grateful to Donald Trump. You are way in over your head, man. Way in over your head. Go home.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to invade Greenland, which he claims he needs for US national security. As well as its location on the shortest route for missiles between the US and Russia, Greenland is also attracting global attention for its rare-earth minerals and its critical location for shipping as the polar ice melts. A US Northern Command (Northcom) spokesperson told the Guardian last month the US was “evaluating options to strengthen homeland defence efforts in Greenland” and that any new defence areas would be established “in accordance with the 1951 agreement on the defence of Greenland”. That included plans for “significant investment” in Pituffik, where the US already has a base, and the possibility of “expanding defence areas beyond Pituffik”. Among additional sites under consideration, the spokesperson said, was Narsarsuaq, a settlement in southern Greenland, but they said no final decisions had been made. Northcom said the US was also looking at the use of deep-water ports and longer airfields, “particularly to support maritime surveillance and operations in the North Atlantic and to track activity past the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap”. They said they US was “coordinating with the kingdom of Denmark on site surveys and assessments”, which were expected to take several months. While coalition talks between political leaders in Copenhagen have entered their eighth week after a general election in March, the foreign policy committee continues to meet. Denmark’s acting foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, will attend Thursday’s Nato meeting of foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will also be there. In an interview with the Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq, Landry appeared to try to capitalise on Greenland’s future hopes for full independence from Denmark. “I think there are some incredible opportunities that can actually lift Greenlanders from dependency to independence,” he said. “I think that the president of the United States would like to see the country become economically independent. And I think it’s possible here.”

Single-sex toilets must exclude transgender people, says EHRC

Single-sex toilets and changing rooms in England, Wales and Scotland must exclude transgender men and women, according to a new code of practice from the equalities watchdog. But the long-awaited guidance also says that businesses and service providers have to offer practical alternatives such as gender-neutral toilets for people who do not wish to use services for their biological sex. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) document sets out how public bodies, businesses and other service providers should respond in practical terms to April 2025’s landmark supreme court ruling that sex in the Equality Act refers only to biological sex. The guidance will be seen as an incremental victory for gender-critical campaigners, who have long argued that trans women specifically should be excluded from women-only services. But critics fear it will consolidate a chilling effect as trans people avoid public places altogether. Trans advocacy groups had hoped that amendments made to the code by the EHRC in April, after feedback from the government, as well as consultation responses and extra legal advice, might result in a less blanket exclusion. The guidance does suggest it is feasible for clubs and associations to remain trans inclusive, by making themselves open to several protected characteristics at once, for example women or men and trans people. But in healthcare, where mixed-sex accommodation is not available, trans patients must be accommodated on the single-sex ward that accords with their biological sex. But the code also states it would not be proportionate to exclude a trans man from obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient services based on the objections of female patients. The government’s own equality impact assessment that accompanies the updated code acknowledges that the likely impact on transgender people is “negative”, but highlights mitigating factors like the ability of services to create “third-space” provision. The guidance is clear that if a service provider admits a trans person to a service that aligns to their lived gender, that service can no longer be described as single sex and the provider is “very likely” to be at risk of legal challenge. The chair of the EHRC, Mary-Ann Stephenson, said: “The supreme court was very clear … if you are providing separate toilets for women and men, that has to be on the basis of biological sex.” Stephenson suggested that people had “got caught up in a hyperfocus on: which toilets can trans women use?” She said: “It would take a lot of the heat out and we might be able to provide some solutions if we could take a bigger step back and say: ‘Lots of us have different needs in terms of accessing toilets.’” She called for a “wider conversation about how we make that work in practice”, referring to services supporting women who are escaping violence, where a provider will often provide a variety of accommodation including communal space and self-contained accommodation, which it might offer to women who have teenage sons, for example, or to trans women. While campaign groups continued to digest the 340-page document on Thursday evening, early responses reflected continued divisions over how to interpret the supreme court ruling. The Trans+ Solidarity Alliance director, Alexandra Parmar-Yee, said the guidance was “a section 28 moment for this Labour government” and “worryingly similar to a US bathroom ban condemned by the UK Foreign Office in 2016”. “The law here is a mess, and clearly many businesses will just go gender neutral to avoid the headache, but the government risks pushing trans people yet further out of public life.” For Women Scotland, the gender-critical campaign group that brought the original case to the supreme court and has heavily criticised the length of time taken by the UK government to review the code described this as “a significant milestone in ensuring women’s rights are upheld and protected across the UK”. Co-founder Susan Smith said: “Hopefully, this will put an end to the unjustified excuses and delays in implementing the supreme court ruling. There is now no reason for public bodies and organisations to evade their responsibilities to women.” The updated code of practice for service providers, associations and those delivering public functions – which remains in draft form – was laid before parliament by the equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson, on Thursday afternoon. MPs now have 40 days to consider the document before the minister issues a final order and it comes into force across England, Scotland and Wales. In a written statement, Phillipson said the draft code’s content on sex and gender reassignment had “changed substantially” in light of the supreme court’s judgment and thanked the commission for its work ensuring the document was “accessible and provides a wide range of examples for duty bearers”. Many businesses have raised concerns that the required changes could undermine inclusion, and be unworkable, for example, in hospitality, where venues differ drastically in terms of size, space and age of buildings. The code gives the example of renovation to a shopping centre. The management recognises that providing only male and female toilets would disadvantage trans users and could cause safety risks and distress if they were required to use toilets designated for those of the same biological sex. “The service provider therefore decides to also provide toilets in individual lockable rooms with hand basins, which can be used by people of either sex.” This cost would be borne by the business itself. When the Equality Act 2010 was passed, the impact assessment estimated costs in the first year alone could amount to more than £300m. Another example concerns a community advice centre with single-sex toilets extending the use of its accessible toilets to trans people. The code advises the group to monitor whether this arrangement has any negative impact on both trans and disabled people. Disabled rights campaigners have previously told the Guardian they were watching “in horror” as the trans community faces similar toilet segregation and exclusion from public spaces that they do. The guidance states that while it is unlikely to be “practical or appropriate” to question an individual using single-sex facilities, such as toilets, about their sex, it may be legitimate if concerns are raised about that person’s “physical appearance, behaviour or concerns raised by other service users”.

Turkish court ruling removes head of main opposition party

A Turkish court has issued a ruling that removes the head of the main opposition party, in the latest blow to challengers of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The ruling, issued by an appeals court in Ankara on Thursday, annulled a 2023 leadership contest within the Republican People’s party (CHP), deposing the party’s leader, Özgür Özel. Özel, 51, has become the face of Turkey’s opposition, seen as responsible for the rejuvenation of the CHP as well as being one of few remaining figures within the party who has avoided charges that could land him in detention. The court ordered that Özel be replaced by his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost a pivotal general election to Erdoğan in 2023 despite a groundswell of opposition to the Turkish president’s two decades in power. Özel’s election as party leader preceded Turkish local elections in 2024 where the CHP swept Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) from power in municipalities and mayoralties across the country. Earlier this week, another Ankara court ordered Özel to pay the president 300,000 lira (£4,900) in damages for remarks about Erdoğan, including calling him an “oppressor”. Özel had also called on Erdoğan to “leash your dogs”, in a criticism of a sweeping crackdown on Turkey’s opposition. In response, Erdoğan called Turkey’s main opposition leader “delusional”, saying: “We have to protect the reputation of politics in the face of attacks.” Erdoğan has frequently lashed out at the CHP in public, accusing it of acting as “puppet of terrorists seeking to undermine this state”. The court case that unseated Özel was widely criticised as an effort to subdue the CHP and reinstall a leader who is more amenable to Erdoğan’s rule. Kılıçdaroğlu, who has called for the “purification” of his own party, was sanguine in his response to the ruling when speaking to the pro-government channel TGRT Haber, saying he hoped it would prove “beneficial to Turkey and the CHP”. The ruling jolted Turkey’s struggling economy amid fears of further instability: trading was briefly suspended on the stock market in Istanbul amid a 6% drop in share prices. Since the 2024 elections, observers have denounced a fresh crackdown targeting opponents of Erdoğan’s rule, primarily opposition mayors and local officials from the CHP. More than 20 CHP mayors have been detained on a wave of corruption, bribery and terrorism-related charges. The arrest last year of the Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, seen as a probable CHP presidential candidate, represented a watershed for the party and for the country’s beleaguered opposition. Thousands of people took to the city’s streets in protest. İmamoğlu has spent the intervening year in a maximum-security facility near Istanbul. Earlier this year he was among 400 defendants who took the stand in a mass trial, all accused of taking part in a sprawling corruption scheme allegedly tied to his time as mayor. Human Rights Watch called the trial part of a broad effort to weaponise the criminal justice system against the CHP. Many other CHP municipal officials across Turkey have faced graft charges similar to the accusations against İmamoğlu. Five officials from the Beşiktaş municipality were taken into custody as part of a bribery investigation earlier this week. CHP officials have indicated they are keen to fight a presidential election expected next year, and there has been speculation that they could seek to run the jailed former mayor İmamoğlu as a candidate. Özel told the Guardian in an interview last year that the party had prepared plans for İmamoğlu to be the candidate even if he remained in detention, adding that he was prepared for the Turkish authorities to seek his arrest if Erdoğan “can’t cope politically like what happened with İmamoğlu”. He said the upcoming election represented a referendum on whether there would be “autocracy or democracy in Turkey”.

Israel deports foreign Gaza-bound flotilla activists after global outcry

Israel has said it has deported all the foreign activists it seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla, after a global outcry over their treatment in custody that led the UK to join other countries in summoning Israeli diplomats for a formal dressing down. More than 430 activists from countries around the world had been placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory. The activists were put on planes and landed in Istanbul on Thursday evening, reportedly flashing two-fingered salutes and chanting “Free Palestine” as they descended stairs to the runway on arrival, with some appearing to be limping. Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, sparked widespread condemnation and diplomatic backlash on Wednesday by posting a video showing the detained activists with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground as he taunted them. The UK has summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires, and Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said on Thursday he had askedthe EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, to discuss sanctions on Ben-Gvir, “for the unacceptable acts committed against the flotilla, seizing the activists in international waters and subjecting them to harassment and humiliation, in violation of the most basic human rights”. Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian journalist detained with the flotilla activists and deported before the others, told reporters at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on Thursday that he and others had been “taken to Ben Gurion airport in handcuffs and with chains on our feet and put on a flight to Athens”. “They beat us up. They kicked us and punched us and shouted ‘Welcome to Israel’,” he said of his treatment by Israeli security forces. Another Italian activist, Dario Carotenuto, a lawmaker from the Five Star Movement, said he had been punched in the eye and kicked while detained. Miriam Azem, from the Israeli rights group Adalah, said: “One of the activists was forced to strip naked and run while guards were laughing.” She added that Israeli authorities had fired rubber bullets that hurt some activists as they intercepted the flotilla. The Israel Prison Service dismissed Adalah’s allegations as false and designed to portray systematic unlawful conduct. Poland’s foreign ministry said it was calling for a ban on Ben-Gvir entering the country over the video showing the far-right minister taunting detained flotilla activists who were handcuffed and kneeling. Britain’s Foreign Office issued a statement denouncing the treatment of the arrested activists. “This behaviour violates the most basic standards of respect and dignity for people. We are also deeply concerned by the detention conditions depicted and have demanded an explanation from the Israeli authorities. We made clear their obligations to protect the rights of all those involved,” it said. Human rights groups have documented widespread, systemic torture and abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centres during Israel’s war in Gaza, prompted by the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023. But the humiliating treatment of the Gaza flotilla activists has drawn unusually strong international condemnation of Israel, reflecting growing frustration with the country’s policies in Gaza, Lebanon and in its joint war with the US against Iran. Greece on Thursday also called on Israel immediately to release its nationals, the government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said. The European Council president, António Costa, said he was “appalled” by the way Ben-Gvir had treated aid flotilla members attempting to enter Gaza. “This behaviour is completely unacceptable. We call for their immediate release,” he said. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, demanded an apology for the activists’ treatment and what she called Israel’s “total disrespect” for Italy’s requests. The backlash has also prompted criticism within Israel and from the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who defended the interception of the flotilla but said Ben-Gvir’s treatment of the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms”. Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he had instructed that the activists be deported “as soon as possible”. Despite Netanyahu’s comments, Israel has a history of intercepting vessels at sea trying to reach Gaza, including with lethal force. In 2010, nine activists on the MV Mari Marmara were killed when Israeli commandos stormed the ship. A 10th person later died of their wounds. On Wednesday Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, criticised Ben-Gvir over the treatment of the activists, saying he had harmed Israel in a “disgraceful display” and undermined the work of Israeli soldiers and diplomats. “No, you are not the face of Israel,” Saar wrote on X. The US’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee – usually an uncritical supporter of Israel – also made a rare criticism of Ben-Gvir, saying that while the flotilla was a “stupid stunt”, Ben-Gvir had “betrayed the dignity” of Israel. The Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, also known as Adalah, said on Thursday that all of the international activists were in transit to a civilian airport near the southern Israeli city of Eilat for deportation. The group said one participant, Zohar Regev, was in a court hearing in the southern city of Ashkelon on charges of illegal entry into Israel and unlawful stay. Regev, who holds Israeli citizenship, has taken part in previous flotillas to Gaza. Ben-Gvir was appointed security minister by Netanyahu despite a number of convictions, including for incitement to racism and support for a proscribed Jewish terrorist organisation. The activists’ boats set sail from Spain to Gaza in April, with organisers saying they wanted to draw renewed attention to the conditions for nearly 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel stopped 20 vessels from the group on 30 April near the southern Greek island of Crete and forced most of its activists to disembark there.