A plane carrying former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in the Netherlands where he is to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his deadly “war on drugs”.

Duterte was arrested at Manila airport on Tuesday and within hours was on a chartered jet which flew via Dubai to The Hague, where the ICC sits.

The 79-year-old could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

Duterte, who contested his extradition, led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022 and presided over a violent “war on drugs” that saw thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and others killed without trial.

The Gulfstream G550 landed in Dubai for a stopover early on Wednesday and its expected departure was delayed for several hours while Duterte received medical checks, Reuters news agency reports.

Once the plane had landed in Rotterdam, the ICC confirmed that Duterte was in its custody to face charges “of murder as a crime against humanity”.

“A hearing will be scheduled in due course for Mr Duterte’s initial appearance before the Court.”

Meanwhile the former leaders’ supporters gathered outside The Hague Penitentiary Institution protesting his arrest. Many of them waved the Philippine flag, while others mimicked Duterte’s signature fist-pumping gesture.

“We stand with Duterte,” read a banner held up by supporters.

Duterte’s main political rival, current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was instrumental in handing him over. Minutes after Duterte left Philippines airspace, Marcos gave a televised address saying the country was fulfilling its legal obligation.

“This is what the international community expects of us,” Marcos said.

The Duterte and Marcos families are the Philippines’ most powerful political dynasties. They joined forces to sweep the country’s last national election in 2022, but have fallen out in recent months as they pursued separate agendas.

Duterte being handed to the ICC is the latest twist in a political feud that has unfolded spectacularly in the public view.

The Duterte and Marcos families formed a formidable alliance in the 2022 elections. Against the elder Duterte’s wishes, his daughter Sara ran as Marcos Jr’s vice-president instead of seeking her father’s post.

Marcos initially refused to co-operate with the ICC investigation, but as his relationship with the Duterte family deteriorated, he changed his stance.

Vice-President Duterte said her father’s arrest amounted to “kidnapping”, claiming it violated Philippine sovereignty. She left Manila for the Netherlands on Wednesday, according to her office.

(BBC News)

A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém.

It aims to ease traffic to the city, which will host more than 50,000 people – including world leaders – at the conference in November.

The state government touts the highway’s “sustainable” credentials, but some locals and conservationists are outraged at the environmental impact.

The Amazon plays a vital role in absorbing carbon for the world and providing biodiversity, and many say this deforestation contradicts the very purpose of a climate summit.

Along the partially built road, lush rainforest towers on either side – a reminder of what was once there. Logs are piled high in the cleared land which stretches more than 13km (8 miles) through the rainforest into Belém.

Diggers and machines carve through the forest floor, paving over wetland to surface the road which will cut through a protected area.

Claudio Verequete lives about 200m from where the road will be. He used to make an income from harvesting açaí berries from trees that once occupied the space.

“Everything was destroyed,” he says, gesturing at the clearing.

“Our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family.”

He says he has received no compensation from the state government and is currently relying on savings.

He worries the construction of this road will lead to more deforestation in the future, now that the area is more accessible for businesses.

“Our fear is that one day someone will come here and say: ‘Here’s some money. We need this area to build a gas station, or to build a warehouse.’ And then we’ll have to leave.

“We were born and raised here in the community. Where are we going to go?”

His community won’t be connected to the road, given its walls on either side.

“For us who live on the side of the highway, there will be no benefits. There will be benefits for the trucks that will pass through. If someone gets sick, and needs to go to the centre of Belém, we won’t be able to use it.”

The road leaves two disconnected areas of protected forest. Scientists are concerned it will fragment the ecosystem and disrupt the movement of wildlife.

Prof Silvia Sardinha is a wildlife vet and researcher at a university animal hospital that overlooks the site of the new highway.

She and her team rehabilitate wild animals with injuries, predominantly caused by humans or vehicles.

Once healed, they release them back into the wild – something she says will be harder if there is a highway on their doorstep.

“From the moment of deforestation, there is a loss.

“We are going to lose an area to release these animals back into the wild, the natural environment of these species,” she said.

“Land animals will no longer be able to cross to the other side too, reducing the areas where they can live and breed.”

The Brazilian president and environment minister say this will be a historic summit because it is “a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon”.

The president says the meeting will provide an opportunity to focus on the needs of the Amazon, show the forest to the world, and present what the federal government has done to protect it.

But Prof Sardinha says that while these conversations will happen “at a very high level, among business people and government officials”, those living in the Amazon are “not being heard”.

The state government of Pará had touted the idea of this highway, known as Avenida Liberdade, as early as 2012, but it had repeatedly been shelved because of environmental concerns.

Now a host of infrastructure projects have been resurrected or approved to prepare the city for the COP summit.

Adler Silveira, the state government’s infrastructure secretary, listed this highway as one of 30 projects happening in the city to “prepare” and “modernise” it, so “we can have a legacy for the population and, more importantly, serve people for COP30 in the best possible way”.

Speaking to the BBC, he said it was a “sustainable highway” and an “important mobility intervention”.

He added it would have wildlife crossings for animals to pass over, bike lanes and solar lighting. New hotels are also being built and the port is being redeveloped so cruise ships can dock there to accommodate excess visitors.

Brazil’s federal government is investing more than $81m (£62m) to expand the airport capacity from “seven to 14 million passengers”. A new 500,000 sq-m city park, Parque da Cidade, is under construction. It will include green spaces, restaurants, a sports complex and other facilities for the public to use afterwards.

(BBC News)

A train carrying hundreds of passengers has been attacked and halted by armed militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan region.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) confirmed it had attacked the Jaffar Express Train which was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar.

A statement from the separatist group said it had bombed the track before storming the train in remote Sibi district. It claimed the train was under its control.

Pakistani police told local reporters that they had received information that three people, including the train driver, had been injured in the attack.

Police added that security forces had been sent to the scene of the attack.

A Balochistan government spokesman told local newspaper Dawn that there were reports of “intense firing” at the train.

The BLA claims that it is holding a number of passengers including security officers hostage, and has warned of “severe consequences” if an attempt is made to rescue those it is holding.

However, officials have not yet confirmed that anyone is being held hostage.

Quetta’s railway controller Muhammad Kashif told the BBC that 400-450 passengers had been booked on the train but said they had no independent verification that anyone had been taken hostage.

A senior police official from the area bordering Sibi said “the train remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains”, AFP news agency reports.

Meanwhile the country’s interior minister Mohsin Nawaz has condemned the attack and said he prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.

Officials are yet to communicate with anyone on the train.

The area the express is stopped in has no internet and mobile network coverage, officials told the BBC.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and the richest in terms of natural resources, but it is the least developed. The Baloch Liberation Army has waged a decades-long insurgency to gain independence and has launched numerous deadly attacks, often targeting police stations, railway lines and highways.

(BBC News)