Dubai ruler abducted and imprisoned his princess daughters, UK court rules - USA TODAY

Kim Hjelmgaard USA TODAY

Published 6:26 AM EST Mar 6, 2020

LONDON – The billionaire ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, orchestrated the abductions, torture and imprisonment of two of his princess daughters, according to documents unsealed this week by a British judge. 

High Court Judge Andrew McFarlane's ruling was part of a "fact-finding" judgment connected to a separate ongoing child custody case between Sheikh Mohammed and his estranged ex-wife, Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein. 

Dubai's leader, 70, launched legal action in Britain in May last year against Princess Haya, 45, seeking the return of their two small children to Dubai. Princess Haya, who is the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, is Sheikh Mohammed's sixth wife. She wants their children, 12 and 8, to stay in Britain, where she was educated and has close ties, over fears they could be harmed if returned to Dubai. Princess Haya's lawyers argued Sheikh Mohammed's treatment of his two older daughters showed her children were at risk of being abducted too.

The ruling does not amount to a criminal charge.

Instead, Thursday's ruling relates to events surrounding the disappearances of two of Sheikh Mohammed's daughters from a previous marriage: Princess Shamsa, who vanished from the streets of Cambridge in 2000, when she was 19; and Princess Latifa, who planned her escape from Dubai’s ruling family for seven years, running away from what she said was her father's oppressive and cruel treatment.

Princess Latifa was seized by Indian army commandos in 2018 in the Indian Ocean and returned to Dubai, when she was 32. She sought to flee the city-state on a private sailing yacht captained by a former French intelligence officer. Her plight, which almost defies belief, was highlighted by USA TODAY and other media.

Princess Latifa tried to flee Dubai: She left a video to prove it

Sheikh Mohammed attempted to keep McFarlane's judgement out of the public domain. But his appeal was rejected after the court ruled it to be in the public interest. McFarlane found that Princess Haya’s allegations about the threats she and her children faced from Sheikh Mohammed were credible because of the abductions and disappearances of Princess Shamsa and Princess Latifa. The former has not been seen in public for 20 years and shortly before she herself was returned to Dubai, Princess Latifa claimed in a video published on YouTube that her sister was being drugged. Princess Latifa has only appeared in public once since her abduction. She appeared dazed and confused. 

After the ruling, Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement that "as a head of government, I was not able to participate in the court’s fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a fact-finding judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story." He asked media to respect his children's privacy. 

Sheikh Mohammed, who has been Dubai's leader since 2006, has an estimated wealth of $4 billion, according to Forbes, making him one of richest royals in the world. He is a major figure in horse racing and breeding and owns and operates two horse farms in Kentucky. Last year, he received a trophy from Queen Elizabeth II after one of his horses won a race at Royal Ascot.

He has an estimated 30 children with his six wives.

Princess Haya: Dubai ruler's wife, in hiding in London

Sheikh Mohammed is also prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

He has portrayed his emirate as enlightened and Western-friendly.

One example: Dubai’s DAMAC Properties owns and operates the only Trump-branded golf club in the Middle East. Dubai has world-class infrastructure, luxury shopping malls, a skyscraper-filled skyline and a large expatriate population.

It also has a poor human rights record. 

Laws in the United Arab Emirates prioritizes men when it comes to marriage, divorce and custody of children. It still permits domestic violence. Princess Latifa wasn’t allowed to travel and study outside Dubai. A minder or male guardian trailed her everywhere. Princess Haya has been in hiding with her children in London for months. McFarlane noted in his ruling that while Sheikh Mohammed had denied all the allegations, his accounts relating to Princess Shamsa and Princess Latifa revealed that "he has not been open and honest with the court."

Sheikh Mohammed did not attend the proceedings. His ex-wife did.

"I have seen what has happened to their sisters and I can’t face the fact that the same might happen to them," Princess Haya told the court.

Tiina Jauhiainen, a Finnish citizen who helped Princess Latifa hatch her failed escape plan from Dubai and has since been fighting for her release, said in a WhatsApp message Friday she was "relived and happy" that details about Princess Haya's case could be publicly reported but also "saddened" because while the court concluded Princess Latifa was unlawfully kidnapped, "she is still being held against her will." 

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2020-03-06 10:36:56Z
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Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. States Declare Emergencies as Global Outbreak Nears 100,000 Cases - The New York Times

READ UPDATES IN CHINESE: 新冠病毒疫情最新消息

Here’s what you need to know:

• ‘Now is the time to act,’ W.H.O. chief says, but many governments appear to lag.
• ‘Everything is fake!’ Residents of a locked-down Chinese city vent their rage at politicians.
• A French lawmaker was sent to the I.C.U. after testing positive for the virus.
• India cancels holiday celebrations and closes schools.
• Japan and South Korea renew a rivalry. This time over how to best handle the virus.

South Korean soldiers spraying disinfectant in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday.Credit...Lee Jin-Man/Associated Press

‘Now is the time to act,’ W.H.O. chief says, but many governments appear to lag.

As the global rate of infection surpassed 98,000 cases on Thursday, the world’s leading health official implored the international community to unleash the full power of their governments to combat the new coronavirus outbreak.

“This is not a drill,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. “This is not a time for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops.”

But around the world, governments have displayed signs of paralysis, obfuscation and a desire to protect their own interests, even as death tolls mounted and global capitals were so threatened by infection that politicians tested positive for the illness.

Instead of heeding Dr. Tedros’s advice that “now is the time to act,” countries pointed fingers at each other and complained about tit-for-tat travel restrictions. And citizens around the world, worried that their leaders were falling down on the job, took note and vented their anger.

In Japan, citizens have been outraged by the hands-off approach of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as cases of the virus have continued to climb, even as testing has proceeded at a snail’s pace, leaving many fearful that a large number of infections are going undetected.

In China, residents of Wuhan who have been confined to their homes for weeks minced few words when the vice prime minister visited on Thursday. As the central government has crowed about a reduction in new cases, the people at the center of the outbreak who have most borne the brunt of the government’s initial cover-up, literally shouted from their windows: “Fake! Everything is fake!”

Americans scrambled to make plans after schools were abruptly closed in Washington State and New York City and struggled to make sense of conflicting information from President Trump and members of his own cabinet. Vice President Mike Pence who previously vowed that “any American could be tested,” on Thursday conceded that “we don’t have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward.”

By Friday morning, at least three states California, Maryland and Washington had declared emergencies.

In the meantime, the numbers have swelled, with the world on track to reach the grim milestone of 100,000 cases. By Thursday, officials reported more than 98,000 global cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and more than 3,280 deaths in at least 15 countries.

Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Spread of the Outbreak

The virus has infected more than 98,700 people in at least 83 countries.

‘Everything is fake!’ Residents of a locked-down Chinese city vent their rage at politicians.

Residents in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the global outbreak, shouted complaints on Thursday from their balconies at visiting government officials, the latest sign of simmering anger in the locked-down city.

The rare rebuke of high-level officials was captured on video and circulated on social and state-run media. The visiting delegation included Sun Chunlan, a vice premier who is leading the central government’s response to the outbreak.

Get an informed guide to the global outbreak with our daily coronavirus newsletter.

“Everything is fake!” shouted one resident, in a video clip that was shared on social media by People’s Daily, a state-run newspaper, which covered the government’s response to the heckling.

The videos taken on Thursday did not make clear the exact reason for residents’ dissatisfaction. People’s Daily said the accusations were aimed at local neighborhood officials who had “faked” deliveries of vegetables and meat to residents. Critics were skeptical of that explanation, seeing the response as an attempt by high-level officials to deflect blame for mishandling the crisis.

Wuhan and many other cities in Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, have been under strict lockdown since January. As the outbreak has escalated, many residents have voiced frustration with provincial and central government officials in Hubei and Beijing. Unable to leave their homes, many residents have had to rely on their neighborhood committees to organize deliveries of groceries and other basic essentials — a process that has been unevenly implemented across the city, much to the frustration of local residents.

On Thursday evening, CCTV, the state-run broadcaster, said that Ms. Sun had ordered local provincial and city officials to conduct an “in-depth investigation” in response to the “difficulties and problems reported by the masses at the scene.”

A French lawmaker was sent to the I.C.U. after testing positive for the virus.

A member of the French Parliament was placed in intensive care after testing positive for the virus, Richard Ferrand, the president of the National Assembly, said in a statement on Thursday without naming the lawmaker.

An employee at Parliament’s refreshment bar also tested positive for the virus, while another who works at the members’ restaurant was awaiting test results, Mr. Ferrand said.

“All lawmakers and staff have been informed of the situation this evening as well as of the action to be taken,” Mr. Ferrand said.

The announcement came as the number of cases surged across Europe and after France saw its biggest one-day jump in infections. France has reported more than 420 total infections and at least seven deaths.

The disease caused by the virus has hit the highest ranks of the Iranian government. The roster of current or former senior officials sickened in the outbreak includes a vice president, the deputy health minister who had been leading the coronavirus response and 23 members of Parliament. An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader and a diplomat have died from the virus, according to reports.

India cancels holiday celebrations and closes schools.

The number of confirmed cases in India rose to 31 on Friday, hours after schools were ordered closed in the capital, Delhi, a city of 19 million.

Delhi’s first case was recorded on Tuesday after a resident who had recently traveled to Italy returned last week. Panic was sparked after it was revealed that he had thrown a large birthday party for his child after his return.

By Thursday, the Delhi government ordered all public and private primary schools to close until the end of the month, forcing some two million students to stay home.

The virus is forcing many Indians to miss out on one of the country’s most important festivals, Holi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter this week to urge citizens to cancel their Holi gatherings and to practice social isolation more generally.

The Holi festival is celebrated across much of India. Entire neighborhoods come together to mark the festival and host large public parties, in which they share food and decorate each other’s faces with colorful powders.

One family in Delhi sent their regrets as they canceled their Holi party on Wednesday.

“Heeding health and medical counsel, with regret we have decided to call off our Holi celebrations,” the message read, before signing off, “with our best wishes for Holi and your good health.”

In neighboring Bhutan, the government announced Friday that it was sealing off its borders to all tourists for at least two weeks after a visitor from India tested positive for coronavirus. The case is the tiny mountain kingdom’s first.

Japan and South Korea renew a rivalry. This time over how to best handle the virus.

South Korea voiced “strong regret” on Friday over Japan’s travel restrictions and warned of tit-for-tat retaliations, as tensions over the coronavirus threatened to aggravate already-fraught ties between Washington’s two key allies in Asia.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan imposed the restrictions on all visitors from South Korea and China, including a 14-day quarantine, on Friday as part of his government’s efforts to fight the coronavirus. Japan on Friday also voided visas for 2.8 million Chinese visitors.

South Korea reported 518 new cases on Friday, bringing the total number of patients to 6,284, the largest outbreak outside of China.

“We cannot understand Japan’s decision to take this unfair step without consulting with us in advance,” South Korea’s National Security Council said in a statement. “Our government decided to consider countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity.”

The council criticized Japan’s “nontransparent and passive” way of fighting the coronavirus in contrast to South Korea’s “scientific and transparent” method of aggressively tracking and isolating infected people. It said Japan’s approach has spawned “mistrust in the international community.”

Although more than 90 countries have banned or restricted visitors from South Korea, Seoul became especially incensed by the move from Japan, a onetime rival.

Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun said Japan’s travel restrictions were tantamount to “full entry ban on our people.”

“We demand the excessive and irrational measure to be immediately withdrawn,” he told a government meeting on Friday.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea summoned the Japanese ambassador, Koji Tomita, on Friday to protest Japan’s move and demand its withdrawal.

Here’s what to do if you think you are sick.

Mike Pence pledges federal support to Washington State.

Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday pledged the full resources of the federal government to Washington State, as the death toll in the hardest-hit American state continued to rise.

Washington’s death toll from the coronavirus reached 13 on Thursday, driven by an outbreak at a nursing home in the Seattle suburbs, and the state’s overall number of infections rose to 75.

Eleven of the deaths have come at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, near where the nursing home is. The state has had one other person die at a different hospital and another die at home.

“Washington State is on the front lines of the coronavirus,” Mr. Pence said. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, praised Mr. Pence for his work assisting the state.

As government leaders in the region have taken escalating action to contain the crisis, public spaces in the region have emptied out. Seattle’s notorious traffic all but vanished, and the few cars on the highways raced along unimpeded.

A new weapon in the fight against the coronavirus in China: Marxism.

In the fight against the new coronavirus, China has deployed armies of medical workers, drones, draconian travel restrictions and invasive software to track the movement of its citizens.

Now a new weapon is being applied: Marxism.

In a new academic paper, two professors of Communist Party doctrine in northeast China write that “Marxist faith” is the “intrinsic force” that can defeat the virus, and that by uniting under Marxism, the Chinese people can “crush the devil epidemic.”

The paper, which surfaced online last week but has since been deleted from academic databases in China, has been widely mocked.

“Work of the great masters,” one user wrote sarcastically on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media service. Some internet users enthusiastically endorsed a call to send the authors of the paper to the front lines of the coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan as punishment.

The two authors, Liu Guojing and Liu Yawen of the Tourism College of Changchun University, could not be reached for comment.

Under China’s leader, Xi Jinping, the party has encouraged renewed devotion to the founding tenets of Communism, including Marxism. It was unclear why the paper was deleted from Chinese sites, though the authorities often move quickly to prevent criticism of the party and its ideology from spreading.

New York’s cases double; thousands are under quarantine.

The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in New York State doubled on Thursday to 22, with officials announcing two additional cases in New York City, eight new cases in Westchester County and one on Long Island.

The virus’s potential reach was underlined by a much larger number: As of Thursday morning, the city’s Department of Health was monitoring 2,773 New Yorkers currently in home isolation, most of them in self-quarantine.

Most of them had recently traveled to one of five countries where the outbreak has been most severe — China, Italy, Iran, South Korea or Japan — according to Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the city health commissioner.

At least two New Yorkers — a health care worker who has tested positive after visiting Iran and her husband, who tested negative — are under mandatory quarantine in their Manhattan home.

The eight new Westchester cases were all connected with a man from New Rochelle who is hospitalized, adding to eight that were found the day before. The two new New York City patients — a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s — and the Long Island case, a 42-year-old man in Nassau County — were hospitalized after testing positive.

Reporting was contributed by Russell Goldman, Amy Qin, Elaine Yu, Javier C. Hernández, Max Fisher, Ben Dooley, Mike Isaac, David Yaffe-Bellany and Karen Weise.

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2020-03-06 10:32:00Z
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Live updates: Coronavirus fears reverberate as U.S. officials widen states of emergency; South Korea condemns Japan - The Washington Post

A prominent scholar involved in finding alternative remedies for coronavirus patients through the use of traditional Chinese medicine has predicted that new infections in Wuhan — the epicenter of China’s coronavirus outbreak — could fall to “near zero” by the end of March.

“Judging from the overall epidemic development … the new infections in Wuhan could hopefully be reduced to near zero by the end of March,” Professor Zhang Boli, who is president of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily this week.

“For other cities in Hubei province, the ‘near zero’ is expected to come in mid-March," Zhang said. "However, the near zero here is not an absolute value, and there could still be a few new infections occasionally.”

Zhang, an award-winning scholar known for his contribution to modernizing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and integrating TCM remedies with Western medicine, has led a team of 209 experts to treat mild cases of coronavirus pneumonia at a quarantine facility in Wuhan since Feb. 12.

China’s National Health Commission and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine have recommended that TCM remedies can be used to help alleviate symptoms of coronavirus, although they note they likely do not cure the virus.

The 72-year-old internist expects that by the end of April, the Chinese would be able to eventually take off their face masks in public places. For Wuhan and the wider Hubei province, the no-mask moment would be at least one month later in May, he added.

“But personally, I don’t recommend removing masks too soon. People should continue to reduce gatherings, wash hands frequently, and keep a masks on a little bit longer,” Zhang said, pointing to a sustained risk of virus spread around the world.

Zhang’s team has also joined two hospitals in Wuhan in reducing reinfections and treating immunity disorder among newly discharged patients. China’s daily infections outside Hubei have fallen to double digits for nearly two weeks, compared with hundreds or even thousands of confirmed cases every day in early February.

On Friday, China reported 143 new infections, with only 17 of them being in provinces and regions outside Hubei.

“It is hard to say if the novel coronavirus would come to stay [as a chronic disease], because we now know so little about it,” Zhang said. “The impact on human society from coronavirus, however, is not going to end here and now."

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2020-03-06 08:16:00Z
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Live updates: Coronavirus fears reverberate as U.S. officials widen states of emergency; South Korea condemns Japan - The Washington Post

A prominent scholar involved in finding alternative remedies for coronavirus patients through the use of traditional Chinese medicine has predicted that new infections in Wuhan — the epicenter of China’s coronavirus outbreak — could fall to “near zero” by the end of March.

“Judging from the overall epidemic development … the new infections in Wuhan could hopefully be reduced to near zero by the end of March,” Professor Zhang Boli, who is president of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily this week.

“For other cities in Hubei province, the ‘near zero’ is expected to come in mid-March," Zhang said. "However, the near zero here is not an absolute value, and there could still be a few new infections occasionally.”

Zhang, an award-winning scholar known for his contribution to modernizing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and integrating TCM remedies with Western medicine, has led a team of 209 experts to treat mild cases of coronavirus pneumonia at a quarantine facility in Wuhan since Feb. 12.

China’s National Health Commission and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine have recommended that TCM remedies can be used to help alleviate symptoms of coronavirus, although they note they likely do not cure the virus.

The 72-year-old internist expects that by the end of April, the Chinese would be able to eventually take off their face masks in public places. For Wuhan and the wider Hubei province, the no-mask moment would be at least one month later in May, he added.

“But personally, I don’t recommend removing masks too soon. People should continue to reduce gatherings, wash hands frequently, and keep a masks on a little bit longer,” Zhang said, pointing to a sustained risk of virus spread around the world.

Zhang’s team has also joined two hospitals in Wuhan in reducing reinfections and treating immunity disorder among newly discharged patients. China’s daily infections outside Hubei have fallen to double digits for nearly two weeks, compared with hundreds or even thousands of confirmed cases every day in early February.

On Friday, China reported 143 new infections, with only 17 of them being in provinces and regions outside Hubei.

“It is hard to say if the novel coronavirus would come to stay [as a chronic disease], because we now know so little about it,” Zhang said. “The impact on human society from coronavirus, however, is not going to end here and now."

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2020-03-06 07:04:00Z
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Pompeo slams International Criminal Court decision to authorize Afghanistan war crimes investigation - CNN International

"This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body," Pompeo said Thursday during remarks at the State Department. "It is all the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan, which is the best chance for peace in a generation."

"The United States is not a party to the ICC, and we will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, so-called court," he said.

Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda sought authorization in November 2017 to open an investigation into crimes connected to the conflict in Afghanistan. According to a statement from the time, Bensouda's office "determined that there is a reasonable basis to believe" that members of the Afghan National Security Forces, the US armed forces and the CIA had committed "war crimes," and that members of the Taliban had committed both war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On Thursday, the ICC Appeals Chamber ruled unanimously in favor of allowing the investigation. Bensouda's initial request for authorization to open the investigation was denied in April 2019. At that time, the three judge panel "concluded that an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan at this stage would not serve the interests of justice."

However, the appeals judges disagreed with this conclusion.

"Having considered the Prosecutor's grounds of appeal against the Pre-Trial Chamber's decision, as well as the observations and submissions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, representatives of victims and other participants, the Appeals Chamber found that the Pre-Trial Chamber erred in considering the 'interests of justice factor' when examining the Prosecutor's request for authorisation to open an investigation," an ICC media release about the decision said.

Pompeo on Thursday claimed that the US had "evidence suggesting that there have been efforts to provide misinformation to the court by foreign parties," but did not elaborate on this claim.

The Trump administration had taken a series of steps to deter the investigation. Last March, Pompeo warned that the US would deny or revoke visas for International Criminal Court staff, and last April, prior the appeals court decision, the US revoked the chief prosecutor's entry visa

Asked Thursday whether the US would take similar actions against the ICC appeals court judges, Pompeo said he didn't "want to get in front of what actions we might take."

"We're going to take all the appropriate actions to ensure that American citizens are not hauled before this political body to settle a political vendetta," he said.

The Coalition for the ICC on Thursday called on the US to respect the appeals court decision and not to take punitive action against ICC officials. The American Civil Liberties Union praised the ICC decision to authorize the investigation.

"While the road ahead is still long and bumpy, this decision is a significant milestone that bolsters the ICC's independence in the face of the Trump administration's bullying tactics," Jamil Dakwar, the director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, said in a statement. "Countries must fully cooperate with this investigation and not submit to any authoritarian efforts by the Trump administration to sabotage it. It is past time perpetrators are held accountable for well-documented war crimes that haunt survivors and the families of victims to this day."

CNN's Richard Roth and Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.

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2020-03-05 16:44:00Z
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I.C.C. Allows Afghanistan War Crimes Inquiry to Proceed, Angering U.S. - The New York Times

LONDON — The International Criminal Court ruled on Thursday that its chief prosecutor could open an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan including any that may have been committed by Americans, a step that infuriated the Trump administration.

The ruling by an appeals court in The Hague reversed a lower court’s decision that had halted an inquiry into the behavior of forces from the United States, which does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction. Washington revoked the visa of the court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, last year after she had signaled her intentions to pursue the case.

The decision on Thursday is the first by the I.C.C. involving American forces. The I.C.C. was established more than 15 years ago to seek justice for victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to reporters in Washington, called the ruling a “truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable, political institution masquerading as a legal body.”

He reiterated that the United States was not a party to the treaty that created the I.C.C., and that “we will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, unlawful, so-called court.”

Having spent years collecting information on the Afghanistan war, Ms. Bensouda requested permission to open an investigation into claims of war crimes and crimes against humanity attributed to United States military and intelligence forces, the Taliban and Afghan forces.

The prosecutor has said that the court had enough information to prove that U.S. forces had “committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence” in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, and later in clandestine C.I.A. facilities in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

The wide-ranging investigation would also look into allegations against the Afghan government forces, which are accused of torturing prisoners; as well as those against the Taliban and antigovernment forces.

The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan has documented the killings of more than 17,000 civilians by the Taliban since 2009, including nearly 7,000 targeted killings. Yet, last April, a U.N. report found that U.S. and Afghan forces had killed more civilians in the first three months of 2019 than the Taliban did.

A pretrial chamber at the court rejected Ms. Bensouda’s request in April, arguing that a successful prosecution was unlikely because the United States and the Afghan government, which has set up its own investigation unit, were unlikely to cooperate. An investigation, it ruled at the time, “would not serve the interests of justice.”

Prosecutors appealed the ruling, and appeals judges at the court ruled on Thursday that the investigation could proceed.

“The prosecutor is authorized to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, as well as other alleged crimes that have a nexus to the armed conflict in Afghanistan,” said Piotr Hofmanski, the presiding judge of the appeals panel.

The ruling came days after the United States signed a deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan after nearly two decades of conflict.

American officials have long sought to pressure the court not to prosecute United States citizens, arguing that doing so would threaten American sovereignty and national security interests. In 2018, John R. Bolton, then the national security adviser, denounced the court as “illegitimate.”

He said: “We won’t cooperate with the I.C.C. We will provide no assistance to the I.C.C. And we certainly will not join the I.C.C. We will let the I.C.C. die on its own.” He added, “If the court comes after us, we will not sit quietly.”

Mr. Pompeo vowed last year to revoke visas for anyone involved in an investigation against American citizens.

Human rights organizations, however, welcomed the court’s ruling as a sign of its willingness to press ahead despite the Trump administration’s efforts to squelch the inquiry.

“This decision vindicates the rule of law and gives hope to the thousands of victims seeking accountability when domestic courts and authorities have failed them,” said Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Project.

He added, “Countries must fully cooperate with this investigation and not submit to any authoritarian tactics by the Trump administration to sabotage it.”

The A.C.L.U. represents three detainees who said they were tortured in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2008: Khaled El Masri, Suleiman Salim and Mohamed Ben Soud.

Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said the court had made the right decision. “We will advocate for victims regardless of the group affiliation of the perpetrator — whether U.S. actors, Taliban or Afghan forces,” Ms. Akbar said.

It remained unclear how prosecutors would further investigate the allegations without the cooperation of the Trump administration or the Afghan government. Afghan officials have objected to the inquiry, arguing that they had set up their own special unit to look into possible war crimes.

Although the United States is not a state party to Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court, American citizens can be subject to its jurisdiction if the court is investigating crimes in countries that have joined. Those countries include Afghanistan, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

Katherine Gallagher, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based legal advocacy group, said the crimes had been documented for the prosecutors to move quickly. “In the case of U.S. torture, who bears responsibility has been well-documented,” said Ms. Gallagher, who attended the overruling at The Hague on Thursday.

“Hopefully this will move very quickly,” she added.

For some Afghan civilians, the ruling brought hope that a court with international jurisdiction could bring them justice.

Masih Ur-Rahman Mubarez, whose wife, seven children and four other relatives were killed in an American airstrike targeting members of the Taliban in Wardak Province in September, said he felt some relief after knocking “every single door for justice.”

“I will never find peace of mind,” Mr. Mubarez said. “But if the I.C.C. punishes Americans who killed my children, I will be happy.”

Elian Peltier reported from London, and Fatima Faizi from Kabul, Afghanistan.

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2020-03-05 15:52:00Z
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All you need to know about travelling during coronavirus outbreak - Al Jazeera English

The rapid spread of COVID-19 around the globe has thrown the international travel industry into chaos.

Increasing numbers of travellers are opting to stay home amid fear of exposure to the new coronavirus, which has spread to 79 countries since late December, claiming more than 3,000 lives and infecting almost 95,000 people globally.

The virus, first detected in China's Wuhan and for which there is no vaccine yet, has prompted worries the world over, with governments closing borders with affected countries and barring entry to or subjecting travellers from outbreak areas to lengthy quarantines. This is despite the World Health Organization (WHO) advising against such travel restrictions.

Amid the disruptions, companies are calling off major conferences and global sport bodies are cancelling, postponing or relocating key tournaments.

International airlines, meanwhile, are continuing to halt flights to hard-hit areas, including in China, South Korea, Italy and Iran.

Should you cancel or postpone your travel plans?

It depends, say public health experts.

The WHO is recommending that elderly travellers and those with underlying health conditions delay or avoid travel to areas that are experiencing ongoing transmission of COVID-19. That is because the disease, while mild in some 80 percent of cases, can be fatal for people who are above 65 years or who have chronic illnesses.

That list of countries experiencing local transmissions is updated daily by the WHO. In Asia, it currently includes China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.

European countries on the list are Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Greece and Romania. Three countries in the Middle East are listed - Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

In the Americas, the United States, Canada and Ecuador have reported transmission of COVID-19 infections.

Only one African country is on the list - Algeria.

Australia in the Oceania region is also on the list.

Governments have also put out their own travel warnings. But this varies from country to country.

For instance, the British Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to mainland China, two cities in South Korea and the 11 towns in northern Italy that have been placed under lockdown. The US travel advice is more wide-ranging, with travellers told to avoid the whole of mainland China, South Korea, Italy and Iran unless absolutely necessary.

What other factors are at play?

If you do decide to travel, even if its destinations without major cases, you should consider your own risk factors and the quality of healthcare available in the region you are going to if you become ill, says Crystal Watson, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Another factor to keep in mind is that you may be caught up in quarantine if an outbreak occurs.

"Travellers should be aware that this is a possibility, they may be stuck somewhere for an extended period of time and they should plan for that," she says.

"Once this virus is recognised in more places, travel restrictions are going to have less impact, so eventually countries may stop implementing them. But I do think that there will be considerably more disruption in the weeks and months ahead."

Travellers might also find themselves with less reason to venture far from home, as scores of tourist attractions have been shuttered and major events called off, ranging from the Muslim pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia to the pop group BTS's tour of South Korea.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also asking tourists to reconsider any cruise journeys to or within Asia, saying that passengers are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19.

That follows a major coronavirus outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise liner that was quarantined off the coast of Japan's Yokohama in February. At least 706 infections and six deaths were reported on the ship, prompting several countries to turn away other cruise liners, even those without confirmed cases.

Another factor to consider is your flight plans may get disrupted because other passengers are opting not to travel. Even in areas without major outbreaks, large numbers of cancellations and no-shows by customers have led airlines to ground flights and disrupting tens of thousands of passengers.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday many airlines are reporting 50 percent "no-shows" across a number of markets, and traffic has plummeted on key Asian routes.

Meanwhile, if you do want to cancel an existing flight or hotel booking, then you may have to bear the cost. But more and more travel companies are showing flexibility, according to Jonathan Smith, a spokesman for ABTA, a British trade association for travel agents and tour companies.

"If they choose not to travel, they'll be bound by their travel provider's standard terms and conditions and that will mean, in most cases, cancellation fees," says Smith. "What we are seeing is the travel providers have shown in some instances a certain degree of flexibility with their customers, so our advice would be for travellers to speak to their travel provider."

A small number of airlines, such as American Airlines and Jetblue in the US, have agreed to waive off cancellation fees for new bookings.

The travel insurance comparison site TravelInsurance.com is advising that people booking flights opt for the more expensive "cancel for any reason" coverage, as standard trip insurance will not cover cancellations made by travellers due to fears about the destination, which includes the spread of coronavirus.

How can you protect yourself if travelling?

If you do go ahead with your travel plans, the WHO has a range of recommendations to reduce the risk of infection. They include washing hands frequently, covering nose and mouth when coughing, and avoiding close contact with people showing symptoms.

If you do show symptoms of illness while travelling, such as fever, coughing or breathing difficulties, the WHO recommends that you contact your local health providers by phone and inform them of your travel history.

Travellers should carry and regularly use hand sanitiser while keeping a distance of two metres from others where possible, says Bharat Pankhania, an expert in disease control at the University of Exeter in the UK.

"[One way to reduce the risk] is to be knowledgeable about how the infection is spread and how they can protect themselves. For example, by maintaining their own personal protective zones whilst travelling," he says.

"The second is to arm themselves with information from the particular country where they are travelling to. Putting those two elements together would see most people well protected and kept safe."

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2020-03-05 15:51:00Z
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