24/02/2026

TUESDAY | FEB 24, 2026

7

Kim re-elected party leader

Afghans mourn villagers killed in airstrikes BIHSUD: Afghans gathered around a mass grave on Sunday to bury villagers who died in airstrikes by Pakistan, which said it killed dozens of militants. The attacks left at least 18 people dead including children, Afghanistan said. “The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35 year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name. Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan. A Pakistani security source said the strikes killed “more than 80” militants. An Afghan security source said: “The figure of 80 martyrs is false and imaginary.” Islamabad said its military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Islamic State group. Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “they targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of eastern Nangarhar and Paktika provinces. Nangarhar police said the bombardment started around midnight and hit three districts, with those killed all in one house. “Twenty-three were buried under the rubble, of whom 18 were killed and five wounded,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad. Strikes elsewhere in Nangarhar wounded two others, while in Paktika, an AFP journalist saw a destroyed guesthouse but there were no reports of casualties. – AFP

o North Korea touts nuclear advances

The hearing to decide whether Duterte should face trial over alleged crimes against humanity is “a reminder that those in power are not above the law”, said Mame Mandiaye Niang, the ICC’s deputy chief prosecutor. Niang alleged that Duterte “authorised murders and personally selected some of the targets” of his war on drugs that prosecutors say cost the lives of thousands of people. The “confirmation of charges” hearing, taking place over four days, will determine whether there is enough evidence against Duterte to proceed to a trial. The 80-year-old was not present at the hearing after the court granted a defence request to waive his right to appear, despite judges ruling that he was fit to take part. Following the hearing, the judges will have 60 days to issue a written decision. ICC prosecutors have charged SEOUL: North Korea’s ruling party touted nuclear advances as it re elected Kim Jong Un to the top post of general secretary, state media said yesterday, during a rare national congress. Thousands of party elites have packed the capital Pyongyang for a once-in-five-years summit of the ruling Workers’ Party, a gathering that directs state efforts on everything from diplomacy to war planning. The congress offers a rare glimpse into the political workings of reclusive North Korea, and is widely seen as a forum for Kim to flex his grip on power. Military top brass made a “pledge of loyalty” to Kim as delegates rubber stamped his re-election as general secretary on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency said. The congress singled out Kim’s efforts to keep unnamed foes at bay by “radically” improving its “nuclear forces”. “He has energetically led the work to turn the Korean People’s Army, the pivot of national defence and pillar of safeguarding peace, into an elite and powerful army,” read a party statement. “And thus (he has) built the revolutionary armed forces capable of coping with any threat of aggression on their own initiative and fully prepared for any form of war.” China’s President Xi Jinping hailed a “new chapter” in relations with North Korea after Kim’s re-election. Kim is expected to unveil the next phase in North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme later in the days-long congress. Under Kim, North Korea’s nuclear arsenal has been transformed from a source of mild global concern to something treated as a genuine threat.

Kim applauds as he attends the congress. – KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY/REUTERSPIC

according to Seoul’s national intelligence service. At the previous congress five years ago, Kim declared that the United States was his nation’s “biggest enemy”. There is keen interest in whether Kim might use the congress to soften this stance or double down. US President Donald Trump stepped up his courtship of Kim during a tour of Asia last year, saying he was “100%” open to a meeting. Kim has so far shunned efforts to resume top-level diplomatic dialogue. – AFP

Pyongyang’s House of Culture. It is just the ninth time the Workers’ Party congress has convened under North Korea’s decades-spanning Kim rule. The meeting was shelved for decades under Kim’s father Kim Jong Il, but was revived in 2016. Analysts will scour photographs to see which officials are seated closest to Kim, and who is banished to the back row. Particular attention will be placed on the whereabouts of Kim’s teenage daughter Ju Ae, who has emerged as North Korea’s heir apparent

It has been more than eight years since North Korea’s last nuclear test triggered a man-made earthquake underneath the northern Hamyong mountains. Pyongyang’s atomic scientists have worked since then to harness this power in portable warheads that can be attached to long-range missiles. Kim unveiled a battery of huge nuclear-capable rocket launchers just days before the congress opened. Photos released by state media showed dozens of launch vehicles parked in neat rows on the plaza of

DRONES DISRUPT 50 VIETNAM FLIGHTS HANOI: Unauthorised drones disrupted more than 50 flights at Danang international airport during the Lunar New Year holiday. Two incidents last week saw flights delayed or forced into holding patterns before landing when authorities detected drones flying close to aircraft. A total of 54 flights were delayed. Danang airport officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vietnam bans the private use of unmanned aerial vehicles and high-intensity lighting around airports. – AFP 19 KILLED IN NEPAL BUS CRASH KATHMANDU: A passenger bus fell from a hilly road in west Nepal before dawn yesterday, killing 19 people including a British national. Only nine of the dead have been identified. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among the 25 injured when the bus with 44 passengers, headed to Kathmandu from the tourist town of Pokhara, fell 200m from the road at Behighat in Dhading district, 80km west of Kathmandu, police said. The injured are being treated in Kathmandu. – Reuters

Those in power not above the law, says ICC prosecutor THE HAGUE : The International Criminal Court hearings against former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte show that people in positions of power cannot escape the rule of law, a prosecutor said yesterday. Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.

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The true number of killings during his campaign in the Philippines is thought to be in the thousands, and lawyers for the victims have argued that a full trial could encourage many more families to come forward. Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila in March last year, flown to the Netherlands and has since been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison. He followed his initial hearing three days later by video link, appearing dazed and frail and barely speaking. The first of three counts against Duterte concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor of Davao City. The second relates to 14 murders of so-called “High Value Targets” in 2016 and 2017 when he was president. The third charge covers 43 murders committed during

Activists and supporters of families of the victims of extrajudicial killings protesting in Manila yesterday. – AFPPIC

justice for victims of the Philippines’ ‘war on drugs’”. The Philippines left the ICC in 2019 but the court has ruled that it still has jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed between 2011 and 2019. The defence has appealed the ruling, with a decision still pending. – AFP

“clearance” operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018. Duterte denies the charges, his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman told journalists ahead of the hearing. Human Rights Watch said the hearing was “a critical step in ensuring