The International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun pretrial hearings for former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing three counts of crimes against humanity for deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office. 
  
Duterte, 80, was not in The Hague courtroom on Monday, having waived his right to appear as prosecutors began presenting evidence to support their charges of his alleged involvement in dozens of killings as part of his so-called war on drugs. 
 

Yemeni security forces have killed at least one person and wounded 11 as a crowd linked to the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) attempted to storm the gate of the al-Maashiq Presidential Palace in Aden, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent has reported. 
  
Al Jazeera obtained exclusive footage of the shooting, purporting to show several wounded individuals at the site. 
 

At least 33 people have been killed after Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on a district in northwest Nigeria, according to the police. 
  
The attack took place on Wednesday in the Biu community of Kebbi state, police spokesman Bashir Usman said in a statement late Thursday night. 
  
The assailants crossed from Sokoto state, parts of which are occupied by the Lakurawa insurgent group, Usman said. 
   

At least three aid workers have been killed and four others wounded in a drone attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on an aid convoy in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, in the latest carnage against civilians caught up in the nation’s brutal civil war. 
  

A South Korean court sentenced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison on Thursday, February 19, after finding him guilty of leading an insurrection with his martial law declaration in 2024. 
  
Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised address in December 2024, saying drastic measures were needed to root out "anti-state forces" in South Korea's National Assembly. The 65-year-old hardline conservative was later impeached, arrested, and charged with a litany of crimes ranging from insurrection to obstruction of justice. 
  

United Nations aid trucks have reached an area in Sudan that has been cut off from relief efforts amid warnings that deadly drone strikes are making the hunger crisis in that part of the country worse. 
  
The UN said on Wednesday that its aid trucks had reached Dilling and Kadugli, in central Sudan’s Kordofan region, with “life-saving” humanitarian supplies. 
   

Venezuela’s acting president on Thursday signed into law an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of politicians, activists, lawyers, and many others, effectively acknowledging that the government has held hundreds of people in prison for political motivations. 
  

A new Kenyan intelligence report says that 1,000 Kenyans were recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine after being misled with false promises of jobs in Russia before being sent to the front lines. 
  
The report was presented to parliament on Wednesday by parliamentary leader Kimani Ichung’wah, who accused Russian embassy officials of colluding with work recruitment agencies to dupe Kenyans into believing they would be given skilled jobs in Russia. He said the Russian embassy officials issued them tourist visas.