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Tunisian president sacks minister after the death of dozens on Haj pilgrimage

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Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked Brahim Chaibi, the minister of religious affairs, following widespread criticism after the deaths of dozens of Tunisians taking part in the Haj pilgrimage, the presidency said on Friday.

At least 49 Tunisians have died due to the extreme heat in Saudi Arabia during the past week. Tunisian families are still searching for several missing people, Reuters reported.

 

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ICC to investigate alleged misconduct by war crimes prosecutor – Reuters

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The International Criminal Court's governing body will launch an external investigation into its chief prosecutor Karim Khan over alleged sexual misconduct, Reuters reported.

Khan is called on in an internal document circulated to member states to temporarily step down from his role at the world's permanent war crimes court, based in The Hague, while an inquiry is ongoing.

The undated and unsigned document, seen by Reuters, was circulated to member states by ICC staff.

Khan's office referred questions to his attorney and phone calls and repeated requests for comment sent to his lawyers went unanswered.

Khan has denied allegations of misconduct that were reported to the court's governing body last month. At that time he asked the court's own internal oversight body to investigate them.

A source with knowledge of the matter said an external probe was agreed at a meeting on Thursday of a core group of the court's governing body, the Assembly of States Parties.

Reuters couldn't determine who would conduct the investigation.

ICC judges are currently reviewing a request Khan made in May for arrest warrants against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and Hamas leaders. Khan has said the misconduct allegations coincided with a campaign of misinformation against his office.

The internal document, circulated for discussion, argued that the court's independent, internal body for assessing matters of conduct should have launched a formal inquiry into the allegations when they were first reported.

A source familiar with the matter said the alleged victim in the Khan case does not have confidence in the independence of the court's internal body, whose incoming head is a former member of Khan's staff, because details of reports to it about the alleged misconduct were leaked.

The current and future head of the independent body did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The document also shows pressure is mounting on Khan to temporarily step aside and let one of his deputy prosecutors take over while the investigation takes place.

"The prosecutor should step aside with immediate effect to pave the way for an independent investigation," the document says. It was unclear if the court's governing body has asked Khan to do so.

The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals. It's governing body holds its annual meeting early next month.

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Putin praises Trump, says Russia is ready for dialogue

Putin said remarks Trump had made during the election campaign about Ukraine and restoring relations with Russia deserved attention.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated Donald Trump on winning the U.S. election, praised him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and said Moscow was ready for dialogue with the Republican president-elect.

In his first public remarks since Trump's win, Putin said Trump had acted like a real man during an assassination attempt on him while he was speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July, Reuters reported.

"He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man," Putin said at the Valdai discussion club in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. "I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election."

Putin said remarks Trump had made during the election campaign about Ukraine and restoring relations with Russia deserved attention.

"What was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to bring about the end of the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion this deserves attention at least," said Putin.

Trump said during campaigning that he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected, but has given few details on how he would seek to end the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two.

The 72-year-old Kremlin chief gave just one note of caution: "I do not know what is going to happen now. I have no clue."

When pressed by a questioner what he would do if Trump called to suggest a meeting, Putin said he was ready to resume contacts if a Trump administration wanted that, and was ready for discussions with Trump.

Russia and Trump have repeatedly dismissed as nonsense some claims in Western media that Trump was a sort of Russian agent of influence. Russian officials say that during his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump was tough on Russia.

U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigated allegations of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but said in a 2019 report that he found no evidence of conspiracy.

Moscow has also repeatedly denied U.S. assertions that Russia meddled in the 2024 and other presidential elections and had spread disinformation in an attempt to sow chaos.

WAR?

The 2-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine is entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its final - most dangerous - phase after Moscow's forces advance at their fastest pace since the early weeks of the conflict and the West ponders how the war will end.

Putin on June 14 set out his terms for an end to the war: Ukraine would have to drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from all of the territory of four regions claimed by Russia.

Russia controls Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, about 80% of the Donbas - a coal-and-steel zone comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - and more than 70% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Speaking for several hours on Thursday, Putin railed against the "adventurism" of Western leaders whom he accused of pushing the world to a "dangerous line" by seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine.

"It is useless to put pressure on us. But we are always ready to negotiate with full consideration of mutual legitimate interests," Putin said, just seconds after scolding the West for promising Ukraine and Georgia eventual NATO membership in 2008.

He said that the West had never accepted Russia as an equal partner since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, treating it as a defeated power and enlarging the U.S.-led NATO military alliance eastwards towards Russia.

Russia, Putin said, was ready to restore relations with the United States but the ball was in Washington's court. Putin also said that China was Russia's "ally".

Asked about Kamala Harris' warning that Putin would eat Trump for lunch, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said with a chuckle: "Putin does not eat people."

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Donald Trump wins US presidency

In earlier election remarks at Florida’s Palm Beach Convention Center, Trump vowed not to rest “until we have delivered the strong and prosperous America.”

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Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago and sparked a violent insurrection at the US Capitol.

Trump’s win in Wisconsin put him over the 270 threshold needed to clinch the presidency, Associated Press reported.

In earlier election remarks at Florida’s Palm Beach Convention Center, Trump vowed not to rest “until we have delivered the strong and prosperous America.”

Ahead of the presidential race call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he had no information on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to congratulate Donald Trump but emphasized that Moscow views the US as an “unfriendly” country.

Peskov reaffirmed the Kremlin’s claim that the US support for Ukraine amounted to its involvement in the conflict, telling reporters: “Let’s not forget that we are talking about the unfriendly country that is both directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state.”

Asked if Putin’s failure to congratulate Trump could hurt ties, Peskov responded that the Russia-US relations already are at the “lowest point in history,” adding that it will be up to the new US leadership to change the situation.

He noted Putin’s statements about Moscow’s readiness for a “constructive dialogue based on justice, equality and readiness to take mutual concerns into account.”

Peskov noted Trump’s campaign statements about his intention to end wars, saying that “those were important statements, but now after the victory, while getting ready to enter the Oval Office or entering the Oval Office, statements could sometimes change.”

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