MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has renewed an offer of big bounties for hundreds of convicted murderers and rapists set free in a corrections bureau blunder, and said he would be happier if they were caught dead rather than alive.
FILE PHOTO: President Rodrigo Duterte speaks after his arrival, from a visit in Israel and Jordan at Davao International airport in Davao City in southern Philippines, September 8, 2018. REUTERS/Lean Daval Jr./File Photo
The release under a good behavior reward program of more than 1,700 criminals guilty of dangerous offences has been a huge embarrassment for a crime-busting former mayor who was elected almost entirely on promises to make the streets safer.
Duterte said there was a “prize” of a million pesos ($19,175) for each of the former felons still at large, after less than 700 of them heeded his call for their surrender.
“The one million prize is available to those who can capture them dead or alive. But maybe dead would be a better option. I will pay you smiling,” he told reporters late on Tuesday.
Duterte is a former prosecutor notorious for a deadly war on drugs that has caused international alarm, and countless urban legends of his gangster-style approach to fighting criminal enemies during his 22 years as mayor of Davao City.
His latest remarks are likely to outrage opponents who accuse him of deliberately using rhetoric that incites vigilantism. His office rejects that and says his tough talk is endearing to millions of Filipinos.
The good conduct law was passed under Duterte’s predecessor to try to reduce the populations of some of the world’s most crowded jails.
More than 21,000 inmates were released, but justice ministry officials say more than 2,000 of them were sentenced for crimes, like rape, drugs, murder, bribery, plunder, kidnapping and arson, and therefore they were not eligible for release.
Some 1,700 of them were freed by a corrections bureau run by Duterte’s appointees, two of them his staunch loyalists. The most recent, Nicanor Faeldon, was sacked this month after it emerged that nearly 900 serious offenders were freed on his watch. Faeldon denies wrongdoing.
Duterte defended the appointment on Tuesday of a new corrections bureau boss - a prison chief for whom prosecutors have sought homicide charges.
Gerald Bantag ran a jail in Manila’s Paranaque City, where in 2016, a grenade explosion killed 10 inmates, most of them drug offenders. A court has yet to take up the case.
Duterte said he believed Bantag was the right choice.
“I don’t think that he did it. If he did, then he might be convicted,” he said.
“But in the meantime, I like him because I heard he throws grenades,” he added, nonchalantly.
Israel's two main political parties were deadlocked Wednesday after an unprecedented repeat election, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing an uphill battle to hold on to his job.
The election's seeming political kingmaker, Avigdor Lieberman, said he'll insist upon a secular unity government between Netanyahu's Likud and Benny Gantz's Blue and White parties, who based on partial results are currently tied at 32 seats each out of 120 in parliament.
Lieberman said that was the "one and only option" on the table. That could spell serious trouble for Netanyahu's lengthy rule.
Without Lieberman's endorsement, both parties appear to have fallen well short of securing a parliamentary majority with ideological allies.
Gantz, a former military chief, has ruled out sitting with a Netanyahu-led Likud at a time when the prime minister is expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks.
Netanyahu desperately sought an outright majority with his hard-line and ultra-Orthodox allies in hopes of passing legislation to give him immunity from his expected indictment.
Israel's attorney general has recommended charging Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three scandals, pending a hearing scheduled next month. A formal indictment would increase the pressure on Netanyahu to step aside if he does not have immunity.
The partial results released Wednesday by the Central Election Commission were based on 35 percent of the vote counted. The three Israeli TV channels reported the same outcome, based on more than 90 percent of the vote counted, but did not explain the discrepancy with the commission's percentage.
According to the partial results, Likud with its natural allies of religious and ultra-nationalist parties mustered 56 seats — or five short of the needed majority.
Final results are expected later Wednesday and could still swing in Netanyahu's favor.
Indonesia is battling forest fires causing toxic haze across Southeast Asia with aircraft, artificial rain and even prayer, President Joko Widodo said during a visit to one of the worst-affected areas.
Forest fires are raging on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, sending a choking smog across the region -including towards neighbours Malaysia and Singapore.
During a visit to Riau province in central Sumatra on Tuesday, Widodo said nearly 6,000 troops had been sent to hotspots to help put out fires.
"We have made every effort," he said.
As well as firefighters on the ground, dozens of aircraft were being used for cloud-seeding to stimulate rain and for water-bombing the flames, he said.
"We have also prayed," he added, after a visit to Amrulloh Mosque in Pekanbaru.
The toxic smoke caused by deliberate burning to clear land for plantations is an annual problem for Indonesia and its neighbours but has been worsened this year by particularly dry weather.
Authorities on Monday said they had arrested nearly 200 people suspected of being involved in activities that led to the out-of-control fires.
A firefighter works to extinguish raging fires near Palembang, southern Sumatra, Indonesia [Wahdi Septiawan/Antara Foto via Reuters]
Four corporations were also being investigated, authorities said.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meteorological agency said on Tuesday the number of hotspots had stabilised but a thick haze continued to envelop the region.
On Borneo island, which Indonesia shares with Malaysia and Brunei, pollution levels were "hazardous", according to environment ministry data. Hundreds of schools across Indonesia were shut.
Schools were closed too in parts of Sarawak, Malaysia, where readings in Sri Aman near the Indonesian border rose close to 400 on Tuesday night, making air quality "unhealthy" or "very unhealthy" there and in other parts of the country, according to official figures.
In peninsular Malaysia, the meteorological office and air force were working together to seed clouds with chemicals in the hope that rainfall would clear the haze.
But hundreds of schools were closed Tuesday, affecting more than 350,000 students.
In Singapore, the National Environment Agency forecast air quality for the 24 hours from Tuesday evening to range between the "high end of the moderate range and low end of the unhealthy range". It added that the situation could worsen depending on wind conditions.
Kabul — Two suicide bombings killed almost 50 people in Afghanistan on Tuesday. The attacks came hours after yet another U.S. service member was killed in action in the country — the first since President Trump canceled peace talks with the Taliban last week.
CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports from Kabul that the attacks are a tragic, every day reality in Afghanistan. But the two bombings early on Tuesday were significant for where they happened.
The first one, in Parwan province north of the capital, saw a suicide bomber on a motorcycle drive up to a large crowd near an election rally held by President Ashraf Ghani and blow himself up.
At least 26 people, including four members of Afghanistan's security forces, were killed and 42 others wounded, according to the Interior Ministry. Women and children were among the victims. Ghani's spokesman told CBS News the president and his entourage were unharmed, and the rally went on after the attack.
Taliban vows to continue fighting U.S. forces following canceled Afghanistan peace meeting
The second bomb blast was in Kabul, only about 200 yards from the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy at a congested intersection near U.S. and NATO compounds. The interior ministry said 22 people were killed in that attack, and at least 38 more wounded.
D'Agata said he and his team pass through the junction all the time.
U.S. officials confirm, meanwhile, that a Green Beret was killed in action on Monday. That brings the U.S. military's combat death toll in Afghanistan to 17 for this year — already the highest since 2014.
The U.S. Department of Defense identified the slain soldier later on Tuesday as Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy W. Griffin, 40, from Greenbrier, Tennessee.
Sargent 1st Class Jeremy W. Griffin, 41, a U.S. Army Green Beret of Greenbrier, Tennessee, who was killed in action in Afghanistan on September 16, 2019 while engaged in combat operations in Wardak Province is seen in a handout photo from the U.S. Department of Defense.
HANDOUT
The Pentagon said he was killed by small arms fire when his unit was engaged in combat operations in Wardak Province, but did not give any further details about the incident.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bombings; making good on a threat levelled right after President Trump called off the peace talks to go on the attack.
In the two weeks or so that D'Agata and his crew have been in Afghanistan, he said they've seen a significant increase in fighting, from both sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah cast their votes at a voting station in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Heidi Levine/AP
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Heidi Levine/AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party are facing voters for the second time in just five months in an unprecedented contest that has the potential to end Netanyahu's decade-long grip on power.
Months of political limbo followed the previous election in April that saw Likud and the centrist Blue and White party each win 35 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament.
Netanyahu engaged in an ultimately futile scramble to secure enough allies among smaller parties to form a governing coalition. Rather than allow Blue and White an opportunity to form a government, Netanyahu called for new elections.
Voting began at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET) at more than 11,000 polling stations. A total of 31 parties are contesting the elections, though only about 10 are likely to reach the threshold to win seats in the Knesset.
Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz and his wife Revital leave a polling station in Rosh Haayin, Israel, on Tuesday.
Sebastian Scheiner/AP
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Sebastian Scheiner/AP
Opinion polls ahead of Tuesday's vote showed the race between Netanyahu's Likud and Blue and White, led by former army chief Benjamin "Benny" Gantz, once again a dead heat.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has been dogged by multiple corruption cases charging alleged fraud, bribery and breach of trust. It is widely believed that if he manages to win a working majority Netanyahu will use it to pass a law granting him immunity for crimes committed in office. Netanyahu himself has repeatedly denied such a plan, labeling it as "false media spin."
When it comes to security issues the political differences between Likud and Blue and White are narrow, with both sides taking a similarly hard line on the regional struggle against Iran and relations with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu has pledged to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, where Palestinians are seeking a separate state. Meanwhile, Blue and White says it wants to strengthen Jewish settlement in the West Bank and calls the Jordan Valley Israel's "eastern security border."
The parties do differ on domestic issues, particularly whether to include ultra-Orthodox religious parties in a governing coalition. Gantz rules it out, leading to speculation he may form a secular coalition with Likud - but without Netanyahu.
I had a call today with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the possibility of moving forward with a Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Israel, that would further anchor the tremendous alliance....
Netanyahu has sought to use his close relationship with President Trump to political advantage and some versions of campaign posters feature a photograph of Netanyahu and Trump shaking hands and grinning.
Just days ago, Trump also dangled the possibility of a U.S.-Israel mutual defense treaty — a move that seemed timed for the election — tweeting that he and Netanyahu could move forward with a treaty to "further anchor the tremendous alliance between our two countries."
In an appeal to voters, Netanyahu, writing in the Maariv newspaper on Monday, said Israelis find themselves "at the high point of an historic change in the history of the Jewish people and the State of Israel."
"I am asking now for your confidence in order to complete the historic task and fortify the State of Israel's borders and security forever," he said.
TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was fighting for his political life as the country headed to the polls in an unprecedented do-over election on Tuesday morning.
The embattled leader spent the days leading up to the vote unveiling hard-line campaign pledges in a last-ditch attempt to win over right-wing voters and to draw attention away from his potential indictment in three corruption cases.
Ultra orthodox Jews line up to vote in Bnei Brak, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019.Oded Balilty / AP
His right-wing Likud party is currently running neck-and-neck in the polls with the centrist Blue and White party — with both predicted to win around 32 seats in the 120 seat parliament, according to Haaretz newspaper's poll of polls. Both parties could struggle to form a majority coalition with like-minded partners — potentially delivering another inconclusive result less than six months after the last one.
The majority of polls opened Tuesday at 7 a.m. local time (midnight Monday ET) and will close at 10 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) with exit polls expected to be published by the major Israeli broadcasters shortly afterwards. Official final counts won’t be available for days but a picture of the result should become clear on Wednesday.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday local time (3 a.m. ET) the voting rate was the highest in over 30 years with some 15 percent of voters having cast their ballot, according to Israel’s central election committee.
"President Trump said yesterday that these elections are close. I can tell you this morning they are very close. I call on all Israeli citizens to come and vote, like my wife and I have," Netanyahu said Tuesday as he and his wife Sara cast their vote at a high school in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and his wife Sara casts their votes during Israel's parliamentary election at a polling station in Jerusalem Sept. 17, 2019.Heidi Levine / Reuters
Netanyahu's main opponent, the leader of the Blue and White party former army chief of staff Benny Gantz, said Tuesday that a vote for his party was a vote for change.
"Today, we are voting for change. We will succeed in bringing hope, all of us together, without corruption and without extremism," he said, in a thinly-veiled swipe at Netanyahu's legal woes.
Many agree that this election boils down to a referendum on Netanyahu’s time in power. This summer he became the country's longest serving prime minister, surpassing Israel’s founding-father David Ben-Gurion.
“This election is about the same thing that every election in Israel has been about for the last 25 years. Two words: Benjamin Netanyahu,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States.
Tuesday’s re-run election follows an indecisive vote in April in which the Likud and Blue and White party captured 35 seats each. President Reuven Rivlin then asked Netanyahu to try to form a government after consulting with party leaders to see which candidate would have the best chance to cobble together a coalition. But the prime minister fell short of the 61 seats needed to govern by one, after his former ally Avigdor Lieberman refused to join his coalition because he was opposed to the influence of ultra-Orthodox religious parties.
Beyond the political career of Netanyahu, the election will also decide the future of Israel.
“Likud and Prime Minister Netanyahu propose to continue the path we’ve been on for the last decade,” said Nir Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem and member of the Likud party. “Which is to expand international relationships, to increase our security, and naturally our economy is blossoming in the last decade.”
Israeli lawyer Daniel Seidemann, who focuses on geopolitical issues in Jerusalem, said the election was the most decisive in Israel’s history.
At stake was whether Israel would “remain in the orbit of liberal democracies of Western Europe and the United States or will it pivot in authoritarian directions and become a personality cult of Netanyahu,” he said.
An election campaign billboard shows the Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, in the Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, northern Israel. The Arab writing says, " I commit to work for you."Ariel Schalit / AP
He also revealed that Israel had discovered a secret nuclear weapons development site in central Iran in an attempt to present himself as Mr. Security. And has also traded on his relationships with President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, he claimed that the Trump administration’s peace plan would likely be published shortly after the election.
A member of the Israeli Druze community leaves after casting her vote during Israel's parliamentary elections on Sept. 17, 2019, in Daliyat al-karmel in northern Israel.Jalaa Marey / AFP - Getty Images
But it’s unclear whether the announcements will be enough to get Netanyahu across the line.
“He’s almost a magician. He’s constantly been able to put his hand into a hat and pull out a rabbit, over the last two weeks he’s been putting his hand into the hat and pulling out a dead squirrel,” said Seidemann. “Whether that will have enough impact to prevent his re-election only time will tell.”
One major challenge facing Netanyahu is that he is fighting for re-election under a cloud of expected corruption charges, that have painted him as a hedonist with a penchant for expensive gifts. Israel’s attorney general is expected to decide whether to formally charge the prime minister by the end of 2019 after a pre-trial hearing in October.
"Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is weakened and even wounded," said Oren, the former ambassador to the U.S. “This election for Benjamin Netanyahu is not about politics it’s about survival."
There have been some stumbling blocks on the campaign trail too. At an election rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday, supporters chanted Netanyahu's name but the prime minister ultimately failed to show up, sparking speculation as to the reason for his no-show.
The poor political optics came less than a week after Netanyahu was rushed off stage at another rally when sirens rang-out warning of a rocket attack from Gaza — a sight that provided election fodder for his rivals.
If the election produces a deadlock once again, one option for Netanyahu would be to attempt to form a national unity government with the Blue and White party. But Gantz has previously said that he would not join a government with Netanyahu because of the possible corruption indictments against him.
Netanyahu, who is seeking a fifth-term in office, is unlikely to agree to serve under any other government.
But Seidemann said it was too early to rule Netanyahu out.
“Netanyahu is a cat with nine lines he’s already used 17 of them I wouldn’t take any bets on his political longevity,” he said.
Neely, Goldman and Jabari reported from Tel Aviv and Smith from London.
Saphora Smith
Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital.
Bill Neely
Bill Neely is NBC News' chief global correspondent. He joined NBC News from Britain’s ITV News in January 2014. His reports from across the globe have earned many awards, including an unprecedented three consecutive BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars, for his work in China, Haiti, and the U.K.
Associated Press, Reuters, Lawahez Jabari and Paul Goldman contributed.
TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was fighting for his political life as the country headed to the polls in an unprecedented do-over election on Tuesday morning.
The embattled leader spent the days leading up to the vote unveiling hard-line campaign pledges in a last-ditch attempt to win over right-wing voters and to draw attention away from his potential indictment in three corruption cases.
Ultra orthodox Jews line up to vote in Bnei Brak, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019.Oded Balilty / AP
His right-wing Likud party is currently running neck-and-neck in the polls with the centrist Blue and White party — with both predicted to win around 32 seats in the 120 seat parliament, according to Haaretz newspaper's poll of polls. Both parties could struggle to form a majority coalition with like-minded partners — potentially delivering another inconclusive result less than six months after the last one.
The majority of polls opened Tuesday at 7 a.m. local time (midnight Monday ET) and will close at 10 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) with exit polls expected to be published by the major Israeli broadcasters shortly afterwards. Official final counts won’t be available for days but a picture of the result should become clear on Wednesday.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday local time (3 a.m. ET) the voting rate was the highest in over 30 years with some 15 percent of voters having cast their ballot, according to Israel’s central election committee.
"President Trump said yesterday that these elections are close. I can tell you this morning they are very close. I call on all Israeli citizens to come and vote, like my wife and I have," Netanyahu said Tuesday as he and his wife Sara cast their vote at a high school in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and his wife Sara casts their votes during Israel's parliamentary election at a polling station in Jerusalem Sept. 17, 2019.Heidi Levine / Reuters
Netanyahu's main opponent, the leader of the Blue and White party former army chief of staff Benny Gantz, said Tuesday that a vote for his party was a vote for change.
"Today, we are voting for change. We will succeed in bringing hope, all of us together, without corruption and without extremism," he said, in a thinly-veiled swipe at Netanyahu's legal woes.
Many agree that this election boils down to a referendum on Netanyahu’s time in power. This summer he became the country's longest serving prime minister, surpassing Israel’s founding-father David Ben-Gurion.
“This election is about the same thing that every election in Israel has been about for the last 25 years. Two words: Benjamin Netanyahu,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States.
Tuesday’s re-run election follows an indecisive vote in April in which the Likud and Blue and White party captured 35 seats each. President Reuven Rivlin then asked Netanyahu to try to form a government after consulting with party leaders to see which candidate would have the best chance to cobble together a coalition. But the prime minister fell short of the 61 seats needed to govern by one, after his former ally Avigdor Lieberman refused to join his coalition because he was opposed to the influence of ultra-Orthodox religious parties.
Beyond the political career of Netanyahu, the election will also decide the future of Israel.
“Likud and Prime Minister Netanyahu propose to continue the path we’ve been on for the last decade,” said Nir Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem and member of the Likud party. “Which is to expand international relationships, to increase our security, and naturally our economy is blossoming in the last decade.”
Israeli lawyer Daniel Seidemann, who focuses on geopolitical issues in Jerusalem, said the election was the most decisive in Israel’s history.
At stake was whether Israel would “remain in the orbit of liberal democracies of Western Europe and the United States or will it pivot in authoritarian directions and become a personality cult of Netanyahu,” he said.
An election campaign billboard shows the Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, in the Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, northern Israel. The Arab writing says, " I commit to work for you."Ariel Schalit / AP
He also revealed that Israel had discovered a secret nuclear weapons development site in central Iran in an attempt to present himself as Mr. Security. And has also traded on his relationships with President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, he claimed that the Trump administration’s peace plan would likely be published shortly after the election.
A member of the Israeli Druze community leaves after casting her vote during Israel's parliamentary elections on Sept. 17, 2019, in Daliyat al-karmel in northern Israel.Jalaa Marey / AFP - Getty Images
But it’s unclear whether the announcements will be enough to get Netanyahu across the line.
“He’s almost a magician. He’s constantly been able to put his hand into a hat and pull out a rabbit, over the last two weeks he’s been putting his hand into the hat and pulling out a dead squirrel,” said Seidemann. “Whether that will have enough impact to prevent his re-election only time will tell.”
One major challenge facing Netanyahu is that he is fighting for re-election under a cloud of expected corruption charges, that have painted him as a hedonist with a penchant for expensive gifts. Israel’s attorney general is expected to decide whether to formally charge the prime minister by the end of 2019 after a pre-trial hearing in October.
"Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is weakened and even wounded," said Oren, the former ambassador to the U.S. “This election for Benjamin Netanyahu is not about politics it’s about survival."
There have been some stumbling blocks on the campaign trail too. At an election rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday, supporters chanted Netanyahu's name but the prime minister ultimately failed to show up, sparking speculation as to the reason for his no-show.
The poor political optics came less than a week after Netanyahu was rushed off stage at another rally when sirens rang-out warning of a rocket attack from Gaza — a sight that provided election fodder for his rivals.
If the election produces a deadlock once again, one option for Netanyahu would be to attempt to form a national unity government with the Blue and White party. But Gantz has previously said that he would not join a government with Netanyahu because of the possible corruption indictments against him.
Netanyahu, who is seeking a fifth-term in office, is unlikely to agree to serve under any other government.
But Seidemann said it was too early to rule Netanyahu out.
“Netanyahu is a cat with nine lines he’s already used 17 of them I wouldn’t take any bets on his political longevity,” he said.
Neely, Goldman and Jabari reported from Tel Aviv and Smith from London.
Saphora Smith
Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital.
Bill Neely
Bill Neely is NBC News' chief global correspondent. He joined NBC News from Britain’s ITV News in January 2014. His reports from across the globe have earned many awards, including an unprecedented three consecutive BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars, for his work in China, Haiti, and the U.K.
Associated Press, Reuters, Lawahez Jabari and Paul Goldman contributed.
A firefighter works to extinguish raging fires near Palembang, southern Sumatra, Indonesia [Wahdi Septiawan/Antara Foto via Reuters] 
