High-profile targets of ICC arrest orders

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Friday became the latest high-profile figure against whom the International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant.

AFP looks at the biggest names to be targeted by the court of last resort for the world’s worst crimes, when countries cannot or will not prosecute suspects, although not all of them have been detained.

Joseph Kony

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and other commanders of Ugandan rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in 2005 for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the use of child soldiers and sex slaves. But Kony has never been arrested and remains on the run.

Thomas Lubanga

In its first-ever verdict after taking up its role in 2003, the Hague-based court in 2012 sentenced Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga to 14 years in prison for conscripting children into his rebel army in 2002-2003. It upheld the decision on appeal in 2014. Lubanga was transferred in 2015 to Kinshasa to serve the rest of his sentence and was freed in 2020.

Jean-Pierre Bemba

Former Democratic Republic of Congo vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba was jailed in 2008 after the ICC convicted him over crimes committed by rebels under his command in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003. But the court overturned his sentence on appeal in 2018.

Omar al-Bashir

In 2009, Sudan’s ex-president Omar al-Bashir became the first serving head of state to be targeted by an ICC arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western Darfur region.

Fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003 between ethnic minority rebels and Bashir’s Arab-dominated government. Two years after his fall from power, Sudan in 2021 announced it would hand over Bashir to the ICC, but the pledge has not been followed through. Bashir has been held in Khartoum’s Kober prison since his ouster.

Laurent Gbagbo

Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo was the first former head of state to be tried by the ICC in 2016. He was sought by the ICC over violence that rocked Ivory Coast in 2010-2011, after Gbagbo refused to recognise the result of an election where his rival Alassane Ouattara claimed victory. AFP

WYOMING on Friday became the first US state to ban the use of abortion pills, the latest salvo in a campaign by conservative-led states to roll back access to abortion.

After signing the ban on abortion pills, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon appealed to legislators to act further by proposing a total ban on abortion be added to the state constitution and then putting it before voters for approval.

“I believe this question needs to be decided as soon as possible so that the issue of abortion in Wyoming can be finally resolved, and that is best done with a vote of the people,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

The Wyoming action comes amid a flurry of activity across the country by anti-abortion groups seeking to win a total ban on abortions following a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year. AFP

Turkey hopeful grain deal will be extended

TURKEY is hoping that a grain export deal between Kyiv and Moscow key to alleviating a global food crisis can be extended for another 120 days – but time is running out.

The current deal expires just before midnight on Saturday, Istanbul time.

“The deadline is approaching,” Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday.

“We are in touch with both Ukraine and Russia about extending the agreement under its original terms.”

Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 saw Ukraine’s Black Sea ports blocked by warships.

But a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022 – and signed by Kyiv and Moscow – has allowed for the safe passage of exports of critical grain supplies. AFP

In US, ‘tip fatigue’ raises questions about sacrosanct habit

TO TIP, or not to tip? That is the question many Americans are grappling with in a country where the tip is king – but even at a grocery store? Or for a bunch of flowers?

“Either way, you feel guilty,” said Matt Schottland, 41, in downtown Washington, a salad and a fruit juice in hand.

In the United States, tipping is not a matter of debate in restaurants. A gratuity of around 15 to 20 percent of the value of a meal is a must, as it often makes up the bulk of the waiter’s salary.

But for a sandwich to go? For Schottland, outside of restaurants, the answer is generally no. Unless the employees are “super nice”, or he is feeling particularly generous.

But no solution is perfect. If he tips, he may feel “guilty in some way or annoyed or resentful” for spending more money. AFP