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South Africa, Due to Host Putin, Rows Back from Pledge to Quit War Crimes Court

Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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South Africa, Due to Host Putin, Rows Back from Pledge to Quit War Crimes Court

Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa rowed back on Wednesday from a pledge to quit the International Criminal Court, months before he is due to host Russia's Vladimir Putin who is wanted by the ICC for suspected war crimes.

Ramaphosa had said on Tuesday that the ruling African National Congress would aim to repeal South Africa's membership of the Hague-based court, which hears cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. But on Wednesday, Ramaphosa's office said he had made a mistake, Reuters said.

"South Africa remains a signatory to the ICC in line with a resolution of the 55th National Conference of the ANC – held in December 2022 – to rescind an earlier decision to withdraw from the ICC," the presidency said in a statement.

"The December resolution was reaffirmed at a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the ANC during the weekend of 21 to 24 April 2023."

The ICC issued an arrest warrant in March for Putin, accusing him of the war crime of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. Moscow denies committing war crimes including forced deportations of children, and says the ICC has no authority as Russia is not a member.

Putin is due to visit South Africa in August for a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. As an ICC member, South Africa would be required to detain him.

Putin has not traveled abroad since the ICC warrant was issued. He has made only one trip outside the former Soviet Union - to Iran - since launching the invasion of Ukraine last year.

The ANC decided at its national conference in December that South Africa should abandon a legislative process to pull out of the ICC and try to effect changes to the organization from within.
The presidency said on Wednesday that South Africa would work towards establishing an African continental criminal court that would complement the ICC as a court of last resort.

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World

Confirmed Ebola Cases in Congo Outbreak Top 1,000 with 254 Deaths

Volunteers of the Democratic Republic of Congo Red Cross wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of an Ebola virus disease victim from the morgue of the Rwampara health center, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
Volunteers of the Democratic Republic of Congo Red Cross wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of an Ebola virus disease victim from the morgue of the Rwampara health center, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
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Confirmed Ebola Cases in Congo Outbreak Top 1,000 with 254 Deaths

Volunteers of the Democratic Republic of Congo Red Cross wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of an Ebola virus disease victim from the morgue of the Rwampara health center, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
Volunteers of the Democratic Republic of Congo Red Cross wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of an Ebola virus disease victim from the morgue of the Rwampara health center, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 8, 2026. (AFP)

Confirmed cases in the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo have reached 1,003, including 254 deaths, officials said in a statement late Sunday, as tracing those who had been in contact with patients remains a major challenge.

A total of 100 people have recovered in the outbreak concentrated in the Ituri province since it was declared on May 15, Congo’s Ministry of Health said. At least 365 patients are in hospitals or in isolation, it said.

The Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no vaccines or treatment, was the worst ever in its first month. Officials admit there could be far more cases they still don’t know about and that the peak of the outbreak is still ahead.

Contact tracing remains a key issue for local authorities, who have only achieved a 55% coverage rate, the ministry said.

Officials also are yet to identify the outbreak’s patient zero and still need to trace more than 35,000 people who have come in contact with infected individuals as of last week, authorities said.

That’s partly because eastern Congo is also battling ongoing violence from rebels. In Ituri, attacks by the ISIS group-backed Allied Democratic Force have cut off access to many villages and forced people to flee their homes, including those sheltering in overcrowded camps and others constantly on the move.

More than a month into the outbreak, officials believe the disease continues to outpace response efforts and no one knows its true scale.

“If you want to control an outbreak, especially Ebola outbreak, you must know the index case. We don’t have confidence on when this outbreak started,” the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya told The Associated Press last week.

World

Moscow Shoots Down Nearly 60 Drones; Russian Attacks Kill Five in Ukraine

Thick plumes of smoke with flames rise from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Moscow, Russia, June 18, 2026, in this picture obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)
Thick plumes of smoke with flames rise from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Moscow, Russia, June 18, 2026, in this picture obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)
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Moscow Shoots Down Nearly 60 Drones; Russian Attacks Kill Five in Ukraine

Thick plumes of smoke with flames rise from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Moscow, Russia, June 18, 2026, in this picture obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)
Thick plumes of smoke with flames rise from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Moscow, Russia, June 18, 2026, in this picture obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)

Moscow shot down dozens of drones in the early hours of Monday and briefly suspended flights at airports, authorities in the Russian capital said, just days after Ukraine hit the city's oil refinery again.

Ukrainian authorities said Russian drones had hit civilian merchant vessels, killing an Egyptian crew member, while drone attacks elsewhere killed at least five people, including three members of the same family in Ukraine's northern Sumy region.

Nearly 60 drones headed for Moscow were downed, Mayor ‌Sergei Sobyanin said on ‌Telegram.

He said emergency services had been dispatched to the areas where ‌drones ⁠were downed but ⁠gave no further information.

The airports of Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo, as well as Zhukovskiy near the Russian capital, had suspended flights, though they were later resumed, the aviation watchdog said separately. In total, Russian defense systems downed 301 drones overnight, local newswires said, citing the defense ministry. That tally included Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

The latest attacks come after drones again hit Moscow's sole oil refinery last week, in one of the biggest air attacks on the city since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The drone attack early ⁠on Monday in Ukraine's Sumy region killed a 13-year-old boy, his 36-year-old ‌father and 73-year-old grandmother, while the boy's mother and two ‌siblings were injured, regional prosecutors said.

In the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a woman was killed and three other ‌people injured after a drone attack, Ivan Fedorov, the local governor, said on Telegram on ‌Monday.

Russia also hit the southern Odesa region with an Iskander ballistic missile on Sunday evening, killing one and injuring three people, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.

Vehicles and fuel storage tanks caught fire after the strike hit an agricultural facility, he said.

Elsewhere, the city of Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea cancelled all open-air public events ‌on Monday and will keep street lights switched off, its governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said, as he called on people to curb electricity usage.

Crimea, ⁠a popular tourist destination ⁠for Russians, has suspended fuel sales to the public and businesses, with supplies restricted to government agencies responsible for essential services and security, as Ukraine's drone attacks on its supply routes and energy facilities elsewhere led to a fuel crisis.

THREE VESSELS UNDER RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACK

Russian drones hit a Turkish dry cargo vessel, the Victress, which was sailing under the Panamanian flag, Ukraine's navy said.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said a 58-year-old Egyptian cook was killed and eight other crew members, including Turkish and Indian nationals, had to evacuate on a lifeboat.

The vessel sustained significant damage, Kuleba said on Telegram.

The operator of the Victress, Türkiye’s Rana Denizcilik according to LSEG data, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kuleba said vessels operating under the flags of Palau and Belize also came under attack overnight, but nobody was hurt and the vessels resumed their journey.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's maritime export routes, striking vessels and ports vital to foreign trade and the wartime economy.

World

China Sanctions 10 US Defense, Rare Earth Firms Over Pentagon Blacklist

Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
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China Sanctions 10 US Defense, Rare Earth Firms Over Pentagon Blacklist

Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 

China imposed export controls on 10 US companies involved in defense and rare earths mining in response to Washington's blacklist of Chinese firms, Beijing said on Monday.

Also, exporters are prohibited from providing dual-use items to the listed entities, China's commerce ministry said, adding that “any relevant export activities currently underway must cease immediately.”

The move comes a month after US President Donald Trump visited Beijing, seeking to stabilize fraught relations during talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Although the countries agreed to work towards reducing tariffs, ties have since been tested as both sides stunt the other in tech and defense.

Washington released a new blacklist this month of 80 companies and their subsidiaries it said were aiding the Chinese military.

China's new export controls come “in response to the US government's egregious act of adding to its so-called 'Chinese military enterprise list,’” the commerce ministry said in a statement, adding the move was also to “safeguard national security.”

The 10 entities include Aveox, which holds aerospace defense contracts with the US military, and Oshkosh Defense, which produces military vehicle fleets.

It also lists US rare earths producers MP Materials and USA Rare Earth.

China's finance ministry simultaneously announced a ban on agencies involved in public procurement from buying products made by 46 US firms, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing's defense division.

Companies with US investments operating in China are excluded, according to a statement from the finance ministry, which said measures would take effect from Monday.

The list of companies and their subsidiaries that Washington blacklisted this month include Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, internet search provider Baidu, and automakers BYD and NIO.