Philippine police checking reports that a kidnapped American has died after being shot

Philippine police checking reports that a kidnapped American has died after being shot
Elliot Onil Eastman, 26, from Vermont, was shot twice with an M16 rifle while trying to fight off his four kidnappers. (INTERNET)
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Updated 05 December 2024
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Philippine police checking reports that a kidnapped American has died after being shot

Philippine police checking reports that a kidnapped American has died after being shot
  • Criminal complaints of kidnapping have been filed against several suspects
  • Security problems have long hounded the southern Philippines

MANILA, Philippines: Philippine police officials said Thursday they are checking reports that a kidnapped American died after being shot twice while resisting his Oct. 17 abduction by gunmen in the country’s south.
Elliot Onil Eastman, 26, from Vermont, was shot twice with an M16 rifle while trying to fight off his four kidnappers, who posed as police officers, in the coastal town of Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte province, police said.
The kidnappers dragged him to a motorboat and sped off, according to earlier police reports.
A massive search for Eastman and his abductors led to the arrest of a number of suspects, but he has not been found. Three suspects were killed in a gunbattle with police in the south last month.
Regional police spokesperson Lt. Col. Ramoncelio Sawan said investigators received information from a relative of one of the suspects that Eastman died due to gunshot wounds in the thigh and abdomen while being taken away by his abductors.
The kidnappers decided to throw his body into the sea after he died, the relative said. The information about Eastman’s death was later corroborated by a key suspect in the kidnapping who was arrested recently, and his sworn statement has been submitted to government prosecutors, Sawan said.
Criminal complaints of kidnapping have been filed against several suspects, he said.
“We are constrained to believe that he has died. All of the information that we have points to that,” Sawan said. But he added that without the victim’s body, “we’re still leaving a little bit of hope that it may not be the case” and police would continue their investigation.
Philippine police have informed Eastman’s Filipino wife and the US Embassy in Manila about his reported death, Sawan said.
The embassy said it’s aware of the police report and is coordinating with Philippine authorities, but did not comment further due to privacy considerations.
Eastman traveled out of the Philippines and returned to Sibuco to attend his wife’s graduation when he was kidnapped. He had been posting Facebook videos of his life in Sibuco, a poor, remote coastal town, where the suspects spotted him, police earlier said.
They said the suspects appeared to be common criminals who did not belong to any Muslim rebel groups which have been accused of ransom kidnappings in the past.
Security problems have long hounded the southern Philippines, the homeland of a Muslim minority in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
The southern third of the Philippines has bountiful resources but has long been hamstrung by poverty, insurgencies and outlaws.
A 2014 peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest of several Muslim separatist groups, has considerably eased widespread fighting in the south. Relentless military offensives have weakened smaller armed groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, reducing kidnappings, bombings and other violence.
The Abu Sayyaf has targeted Americans and other Western tourists and missionaries, most of whom were freed after ransoms were paid. A few were killed, including American Guillermo Sobero, who was beheaded on the southern island of Basilan, and a US missionary, Martin Burnham, who was killed while Philippine army forces were trying to rescue him and his wife, Gracia Burnham, in 2002 in a rainforest near Sibuco.


Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, research ties with Saudi Arabia

Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, research ties with Saudi Arabia
Updated 7 sec ago
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Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, research ties with Saudi Arabia

Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, research ties with Saudi Arabia
  • Kingdom is among top destination countries for Indonesian students 
  • Indonesian minister eyes more research projects with Saudi universities 

JAKARTA: Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, scientific, and research ties with Saudi Arabia, its Ministry of Higher Education said on Thursday, following talks on future collaboration with the Kingdom’s envoy to Jakarta.

Indonesia’s Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Brian Yuliarto met with Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Faisal Abdullah Amodi on Wednesday to discuss plans for cooperation in higher education between their two countries. 

“We are committed to expanding cooperation between Indonesian and Saudi universities,” Yuliarto said in a statement.

“We hope that more Indonesian professors can collaborate with their counterparts at the top Saudi universities, partnering in more programs and research projects.”

Further talks are expected to take place after Eid Al-Fitr, involving rectors from Indonesian universities, the ministry said.

There are currently more than 2,000 Indonesians studying in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the top destination countries for young scholars from the Southeast Asian nation.

Saudi-Indonesian ties span centuries, but have gained momentum in recent years following King Salman’s visit to Indonesia in 2017, which has since sparked more bilateral exchanges. 

In education, cooperation includes exchange programs and Saudi scholarships for Indonesian students. 

Saudi Arabia’s higher education sector is observing a boom and becoming globally competitive and innovative, in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Focusing on quality, international partnerships, STEM education, and research, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a leader in education in the Gulf region.

Saudi Arabia has also sponsored the development of multiple schools and universities in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. 


Spain court remands ex-UN official wanted by US for fraud

Spain court remands ex-UN official wanted by US for fraud
Updated 19 min 41 sec ago
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Spain court remands ex-UN official wanted by US for fraud

Spain court remands ex-UN official wanted by US for fraud
  • An internal UN court ruled last year that Vitaly Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian, secretly collected $3 million in gifts
  • Spain’s top criminal court on Wednesday ordered he be remanded in custody because he poses a flight risk

MADRID: A Spanish court has ordered a former top UN official wanted on suspicion of fraud which cost the agency millions of dollars to be remanded in custody, according to a ruling made public Thursday.
An internal UN court ruled last year that Vitaly Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian, secretly collected $3 million in gifts, including a new Mercedes, from a British businessman while he invested more than $58 million of the body’s money in the man’s companies.
At the time he was the deputy head of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), a little-known agency that acts as a kind of general contractor for other arms of the organization.
Vanshelboim was put on leave in 2021 while the UN investigated the allegations and was sacked in early 2023. He moved to Spain three years ago.
A New York court in January issued an international arrest warrant for Vanshelboim for alleged bribery, money laundering and electronic fraud.
Spain’s top criminal court on Wednesday ordered he be remanded in custody because he poses a flight risk, according to a ruling made public on Thursday.
While Vanshelboim has family and economic ties in Spain, “such ties cannot be considered sufficiently strong to counter the aforementioned risk, given that he has only been living here for three years,” the court said.
The UN has said it lost the bulk of the more than $58 million in UNOPS funds which Vanshelboim entrusted to the British businessman.
The scandal led to an overhaul of the agency and embarrassed the UN.


Jewish protesters flood Trump Tower’s lobby to demand the Columbia University activist’s release

Jewish protesters flood Trump Tower’s lobby to demand the Columbia University activist’s release
Updated 30 min ago
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Jewish protesters flood Trump Tower’s lobby to demand the Columbia University activist’s release

Jewish protesters flood Trump Tower’s lobby to demand the Columbia University activist’s release
  • Mahmoud Khalil helped lead student protests on the Manhattan campus against Israel’s war in Gaza
  • Jewish Voice for Peace protesters chanted 'Bring Mahmoud home now!'

NEW YORK: Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of a Columbia University activist who helped lead student protests on the Manhattan campus against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who carried banners and wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel,” chanted “Bring Mahmoud home now!“
After warning the protesters to leave the Fifth Avenue building or face arrest, police began putting them in zip ties and loading them into police vans outside about an hour after the demonstration began.
Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent US resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. President Donald Trump has said Khalil’s arrest was the first “of many to come” and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
Police, who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave.
Among the protesters was actor Debra Winger, who has discussed her Jewish faith and upbringing over the years.
Winger accused the Trump administration of having “no interest in Jewish safety” and “co-opting antisemitism.”
“I’m just standing up for my rights, and I’m standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location,” she told The Associated Press. “Does that sound like America to you?”
Khalil’s supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case.
Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The building’s main entrance opens to a multi-story atrium that is open to the public and connects visitors to stores and eateries such as the Trump Grill.
Khalil, 30, was being detained at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup.
Columbia was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across US college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests.
Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia master’s degree in December. Born in Syria, he is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing.


Belgium carries out raids in EU parliament corruption probe

Belgium carries out raids in EU parliament corruption probe
Updated 13 March 2025
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Belgium carries out raids in EU parliament corruption probe

Belgium carries out raids in EU parliament corruption probe
  • About 100 police officers took part in the operation that saw a total of 21 searches conducted across Belgium and in Portugal
  • The probe was linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei and its activities in Brussels since 2021

BRUSSELS: Belgian police on Thursday raided several addresses in the country as part of a probe into alleged corruption “under the guise of commercial lobbying,” prosecutors said.
Several people were held for questioning over their “alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries,” the federal prosecutor’s office said.
About 100 police officers took part in the operation that saw a total of 21 searches conducted across Belgium and in Portugal, it added.
Belgian newspaper Le Soir and investigative website Follow the Money (FTM) said the probe was linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei and its activities in Brussels since 2021.
Huawei did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The raids come more than two years after the “Qatargate” scandal, in which a number of EU lawmakers were accused of being paid to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco — something both countries have strenuously denied.
The prosecutor’s office gave no details about the individuals or companies involved.
But it said the alleged corruption by a “criminal organization” was “practiced regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day” and took “various forms.”
These included “remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches” as part of a bid to promote “purely private commercial interests” in political decisions.
The alleged kickbacks were concealed as conference expenses and paid to various intermediaries, the office said, adding it was looking at whether money laundering had also been involved.
At the heart of the alleged corruption is an ex-parliamentary assistant who was employed at the time as Huawei’s EU public affairs director, Belgian media said.
Le Soir said police had taken “several lobbyists” into custody and they were due to appear in front of a judge for questioning.
None of those held for questioning on Thursday morning were EU lawmakers, a police source told AFP.
A spokesperson for the European Parliament told AFP that it “takes note of the information. When requested it always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities.”


Five Russia neighbors mull withdrawal from land mines treaty

Five Russia neighbors mull withdrawal from land mines treaty
Updated 13 March 2025
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Five Russia neighbors mull withdrawal from land mines treaty

Five Russia neighbors mull withdrawal from land mines treaty
  • Polish defense minister called the decision 'necessary'
  • Red Cross voiced alarm at the growing acceptance in Europe of returning to using long-outlawed weapons

WARSAW: Poland, the three Baltic states and Finland, all of which border Russia, are “close” to an agreement on withdrawing from the treaty banning anti-personnel mines, Lithuania’s defense minister said Thursday.
All five countries have been concerned about their security since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and have previously said they were reviewing their backing for the Ottawa treaty.
But the Red Cross voiced alarm at the apparent growing acceptance in Europe of returning to using long-outlawed weapons.
Last week, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament he was going to recommend the country’s withdrawal from the treaty, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups.
Now the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — plus Finland may be set to join Poland, worried by signs of increasing aggression from Russia.
“We believe we are very close to this solution,” Dovile Sakaliene told reporters in Warsaw when asked about the possible pull-out from the convention.
At a joint press briefing with her Polish counterpart Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Sakaliene said all five countries were in “very intensive discussions” for a joint decision to “send a common strategic message.”
The Polish defense minister called the decision “necessary” and said it was important to “present a common position” on the issue.
More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, including Ukraine, but not the United States or Russia.
The treaty bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling or using anti-personnel mines.
The authorities in Kyiv have accused Moscow of “genocidal activities” for using anti-personnel mines during the conflict.
Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million people which was previously under Soviet rule, last week quit the international convention banning cluster bombs, in an unprecedented decision.
It has stressed the need to strengthen its defenses, fearing it could be next in line if Moscow succeeds in Ukraine.
Red Cross is 'very worried'
In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “very worried” by recent developments and urged states to remind themselves what the conventions were for.
“It is precisely now that these treaties are relevant... and not in times of peace or stability,” ICRC chief spokesman Christian Cardon told reporters at the organization’s headquarters.
Cordula Droege, who heads the ICRC’s legal department, added: “As states seem to be preparing for war... we also have a questioning of the humanitarian treaties.
“There is a bit of panic in Europe at the moment, and I think states are taking very rash decisions.”
The flurry of announcements on land mines and cluster bombs “came as a bit of a shock,” Droege said.
“There’s a huge concern here that you will see an acceptance of weapons that are stigmatized and should continue to be stigmatized,” she said, recalling that most victims of cluster munitions and land mines are civilians.
“This idea that you can use these mines in a way that’s compatible with international humanitarian law, that you will only use them in areas or on front lines where they will be perfectly distinguishing between civilians and combatants, is just an illusion.”
Droege said it was worth asking “how far does it go?“
“Because will the next thing be that you say, well, actually, we need chemical weapons. They have a great military utility. Is that then acceptable?“