A human rights watchdog has accused Philippines police of falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings in the government’s war on drugs that has caused more than 7,000 deaths, and pointed the finger at president Rodrigo Duterte as being ultimately responsible.Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday that Duterte and other senior officials instigated and incited the killings of drug suspects in a campaign that could amount to crimes against humanity.

The United Nations should create an independent investigation to determine responsibility and ensure accountability, the report said. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the presidential palace will issue a statement later on Thursday in response to the report.(the guardian)…[+]

European countries have accepted less than 10% of the 160,000 refugees they promised to move to safety from unsanitary and cramped camps in Italy and Greece, leading the European commission to warn it will “accept no more excuses”. Only 13,546 relocations have been carried out so far – 3,936 from Italy and 9,610 from Greece – amounting to just 8% of the total the EU committed to relocate in 2015.

Just two member states, Malta and Finland, have met their resettling obligations under the relocation scheme that will close in September.

During a press conference in Brussels, the commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, warned that infringement proceedings against member states, including huge daily fines, could soon be levied. He added that the obligations on countries to take people in would continue beyond the close of the scheme in September, describing it as akin to an “outstanding bill”.(The guardian)…[+]

A prominent survivor of clerical sex abuse has resigned from a special Vatican commission that was created by Pope Francis to tackle the problem, saying the church’s most senior clerics continue to put “other concerns” before the safety of children and vulnerable adults.Marie Collins, who was molested by a priest when she was 13 years old, said in a written statement she had made a final decision to resign after she learned that a Vatican department was failing to comply with a basic new recommendation that all correspondence from victims and survivors should receive a response.

“I learned in a letter from this particular [congregation] last month that they are refusing to do so,” Collins wrote in a searing statement to the National Catholic Reporter.

“I find it impossible to listen to public statements about the deep concern in the church for the care of those whose lives have been blighted by abuse, yet to watch privately as a congregation in the Vatican refuses to even acknowledge their letters.”(theguardian)…[+]

Police chiefs from across the US, including several from states that voted for Donald Trump, are resisting White House moves to force them to become more involved in deporting undocumented immigrants.In a joint letter, more than 60 law enforcement heads are appealing to Trump in all but name to soften his aggressive drive to enlist police officers in the highly contentious job of deporting millions of immigrants living without permission in the country. They object to being thrust into “new and sometimes problematic tasks” that will undermine the balance between the local communities they serve and the federal government, and “harm locally-based, community-oriented policing”.The letter is signed by 61 current and former local police chiefs and sheriffs, many of whom come from states won by Trump last November including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina and Texas. The political diversity and geographic spread of the signatories underlines the deep apprehension felt by many within the law enforcement community toward the president’s plans to beef up their role in rounding up, detaining and ultimately deporting huge numbers of people.(theguardian)…[+]

A dishwasher described as the “heart and soul” of the world-class Danish restaurant Noma has been made a co-owner of the establishment he has worked in for 14 years.The decision to promote Ali Sonko, who has toiled in the Noma kitchen since it first opened in 2003, was announced at a party in Copenhagen to mark the restaurant’s last day at its waterfront location in Christianshavn.The restaurant, named the world’s best four times by Restaurant magazine and three times in the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best, is due to move to a new location and reopen as an urban farm in December. In a Facebook post, René Redzepi, the chef who runs Noma, said it was “one of the happiest moments of my time at Noma” to announce that Ali was to become one of his new business partners, saying it was in recognition of his hard work and enduring smile.(theguardian)…[+]

A high-level North Korean delegation has arrived in Kuala Lumpur as Malaysia announced it will charge an Indonesian and a Vietnamese woman with the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the exiled half-brother of North Korea’s leader. The killing, described by the US and South Korea as a political assassination, has led to a diplomatic meltdown between Malaysia and North Korea, which has repeatedly tried to block the investigation and denied that Kim Jong-nam was murdered.

The visiting delegation includes Ri Tong-il, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations. He told reporters on Tuesday that the diplomats were in Malaysia to seek the retrieval of the body and the release of another arrested suspect, a North Korean national. Ri Tong-il added that the delegation also sought the “development of friendly relationships” between North Korea and Malaysia.(the guardian)…[+]

A mosque used by the Berlin Christmas market truck attacker, Anis Amri, has been shut down by German authorities amid a series of police raids in the hunt for other radical Islamists. The prayer rooms of the Fussilet 33 mosque in the central district of Moabit was a known meeting place for men and women who moved in Islamist circles.

More than 460 police officers swept 24 other locations across the city in the early hours of Tuesday morning in raids linked to activities at the mosque, where it is suspected money was regularly collected to fund terror attacks in Syria.Amri, who carried out the attack on 19 December in which 12 people died and more than 50 were injured, was a regular visitor to Fussilet 33, along with other Islamists police believe were willing to carry out further terrorist attacks. (The guardian)…[+]

Leaked court documents raise concerns that the murder of the Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres was an extrajudicial killing planned by military intelligence specialists linked to the country’s US–trained special forces, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

Cáceres was shot dead a year ago while supposedly under state protection after receiving death threats over her opposition to a hydroelectric dam. The murder of Cáceres, winner of the prestigious Goldman environmental prize in 2015, prompted international outcry and calls for the US to revoke military aid to Honduras, a key ally in its war on drugs.Eight men have been arrested in connection with the murder, including one serving and two retired military officers. Officials have denied state involvement in the activist’s murder, and downplayed the arrest of the serving officer Maj Mariano Díaz, who was hurriedly discharged from the army.(the guardian)…[+]

The British government should steer clear of using Britain’s crime-fighting and espionage expertise as a bargaining chip in Brexit negotiations, a leading MEP has said. Claude Moraes, a Labour MEP for London, who chairs the European parliament’s influential civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee, said the UK would not be able to withdraw from cooperation on security and defence, because working with European neighbours benefitted both sides.

“It is not going to be a question of politics, it is a question of reality,” Moraes said.

“[Security] is an area of strength for the UK, but it should not be overstated in the negotiations, because we would be understating the contributions of other countries and many of these things can be mutually beneficial.”

Theresa May – who before becoming prime minister had been the longest-serving home secretary of modern times – delivered a veiled warning to EU governments last month that security cooperation could suffer if the UK got a bad deal. Announcing her Brexit white paper, the prime minister said Britain wanted “to be a good friend and neighbour in every way, and that includes defending the safety and security of all of our citizens”. Adding a caveat, she warned that “a punitive deal” would be “an act of calamitous self harm for the countries of Europe”.(the guardian)…[+]

Rosita Mabuiango’s birth in a tree above swirling waters 17 years ago thrust her into instant stardom, drawing global attention to the worst floods to hit Mozambique in recent memory. The images of Rosita draped in dirty linen, moments after she and her mother were winched to safety by a helicopter, touched the world, helping raise funds for tens of thousands of flood survivors.

But these days, the teenager does not consider herself special. “I’m normal, it’s just a different way of being born,” she said. Rosita was born on 1 March 2000, four days after her marooned mother clambered into a tree to escape deadly floods ripping through southern Mozambique.(The guardian)…[+]