ICC chief prosecutor dismissed over sexual misconduct claims

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0:30business needs in one place, saving you time, headaches, and serious money. Stop paying for missing pieces. Go to odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com to learn more. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. But what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise. That's schwab.com slash Washington Wise. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Pete Ross and in the early hours of Saturday the 25th of July, these are our main stories.

1:23The International Criminal Court votes overwhelmingly to remove the Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual misconduct allegations. Ten people are killed in a Russian attack on a drone exhibition near the Ukrainian capital. And Israeli settlers attack several Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank after a major confrontation left six people dead.

1:48Also in this podcast, wildfires continue to burn across parts of Spain and France, forcing over 150 ,000 people to evacuate. and It was such a shunned topic for so long like everyone was like oh I've got to hide my 50 Shades of Grey that I'm reading whereas like now everyone's out about it and it's nice that we can all support each other. We hear about the ever-growing popularity of romanticcy books blending romance and fantasy.

2:19We begin with the International Criminal Court's decision to remove its chief prosecutor from office after the ICC's governing body concluded Karim Khan had committed serious misconduct in connection to allegations of sexual abuse. On Friday, 82 of the court's 125 member states voted in favor of ousting Mr Khan at a special meeting at the UN's headquarters in New York. The Assembly has decided by maturity of 82 state parties that the elected official prosecutor Karim Khan committed serious misconduct and a serious breach of duty under Article 46.1 of the Rome Statute and to remove the elected official prosecutor Karim Khan from office under Article 46.2b of the Rome Statute.

3:10That's the president of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court, Paivi Cochoranta. The vote brings to an end a more than two-year saga that has put the court's reputation under intense scrutiny. Mr Khan has led the ICC for five years, during which it issued arrest warrants against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as some mass officials, President Putin of Russia and the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. Leila Sadat, an international lawyer who worked as a special advisor to the ICC prosecutor for just over 10 years until 2023, gave us her reaction to Mr.

3:49Kahn's dismissal. I think that the prosecutor was his own worst enemy, if I can say so, in prolonging this, because I think had he decided a year ago to say, I deny the allegations, but for the good of the institution, I'm going to move forward, I think he could have had quite a dignified exit at that time. I think what happened is the process got prolonged. It turned into sort of a very litigious process with the prosecutor going to the media, with lawyers getting involved, with civil society being fractured. And for two years, this completely polarized the Assembly of States parties and civil society organizations.

4:29And we saw Twitter battles happening. And so I think today, the Assembly of States parties had to make a very tough decision about what is needed to provide the unity that this court needs to survive going forward in the face of aggression from Washington and Moscow. The BBC's Anna Holligan covers the court in The Hague and has been following Mr Kahn's case throughout. This is an unprecedented moment in the ICC's history, a time when the court has already been under intense scrutiny. So this was a meeting of the Assembly of States parties, 125 member states of the ICC at the UN's headquarters in New York.

5:08Out of those 125 members, 82 voted in favour of dismissing Kareem Khan. And in a brief statement at the end of the meeting, you heard there from the ASP president, she said that the ICC staff had been working through this uncertainty. She praised their navigation and dedication and said they'd demonstrated resolve to continue to function discharge critical mandate and support victims of atrocity crimes the world over. But it's impossible to separate this court from the actions of its top prosecutor. And that's something now that supporters of the court are desperately battling with in the hope that this will enable them to draw some kind of line under the investigations which have been happening.

5:55So the allegations first emerged in 2024. These allegations centred on claims that he had sexually harassed a junior aide over more than a year, escalated to non-consensual sexual conduct, and then he tried to discourage her, allegedly, from pursuing a complaint, all while he was, of course, the ICC's most powerful official. The woman whose lawyer who worked as his assistant had described a pattern that began with inappropriate familiarity on trips in his office, groping, putting his hand in her pocket, locking doors, asking her to lie on a hotel bed. And all culminated, she said, in sexual activity.

6:34She didn't feel she was able to refuse, given the power imbalance. All of these allegations, Kareem Khan has consistently denied. His lawyer has posted a statement on social media saying he will seek legal mechanisms to appeal this decision. But those claims triggered an 18 months long UN investigation that found a factual basis for non-consensual contact. A legal review then by three judges said the same evidence didn't prove misconduct beyond reasonable doubt. And then the court's oversight bureau later applied its own standard and concluded that Karim Khan had sexually harassed the aide, engaged in an improper sexual relationship and recommended his dismissal.

7:16That's what the members were voting on and that's what they have decided is the basis for him being removed from office. Anna Holligan. Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky has warned of more Russian missile strikes in the next 48 hours. It follows a Russian strike on a drone technology exhibition outside the capital, Kiev, which killed at least 10 people. It's not the first such exhibition to be targeted and has raised questions about why an event showcasing pioneering drone technology was being openly held right on the outskirts of Kyiv, making it an easy target for Russian ballistic missiles.

7:55Our World Affairs correspondent Paul Adams, who's in the Ukrainian capital, told Sean Lay more about what appears to be a serious security breach. We could hear at least one explosion even from where we are, less than 20 miles away, and there were air raid warnings going on and we could see air defences going up in that direction. So the question that a lot of people are asking is why on earth was something like this being held out in the open, apparently well advertised in advance, when Russia has hit these sorts of exhibitions in the past? And that is what Ukraine's chief prosecutor, I think, is looking at quite closely.

8:33Do we know what sort of people would have been attending this event? I mean, plainly, it's not one intended for the public. No, I'm guessing these would have been people involved in Ukraine's burgeoning defence industry. This is something that is becoming a really huge part of the Ukrainian economy. So we're told there were representatives of Ukraine's defence industry present. We don't know if there are any government officials. It is possible also that foreigners were there because there are a lot of companies doing business with the Ukrainians. We haven't heard about any foreign casualties, but we do know from the toll of dead and wounded that it was obviously quite a well attended event.

9:09We think that three ballistic missiles were involved, one of which was intercepted and two of which landed. I think there's no doubt that Russia targeted this particular event. And again, that is going to be very much the focus of an inquiry, because normally when you go to anything to do with Ukraine's defense industry, There's a pretty hefty degree of security surrounding, certainly when it comes to journalists filming. Sometimes you get taken to places and you don't know where you're going or what you're going to see. So, again, why this was such an open thing, I think, is a bit of a question.

9:44I mean, is this something that Moscow has caused to be worried about, how the industry in Ukraine is developing? It certainly does. And you only have to look at what's been happening now three times in the past week. Ukrainian long-range drones have hit depots of Russia's Wildberries online retailer. That's essentially Russia's version of Amazon, causing colossal damage. You know, these are attacks which ordinary Russians are going to be noticing. It is going to have an impact designed to hit the Russian economy where it hurts and where Russians will notice it. Paul Adams in Kiev. Israel says it's begun a major military operation in the occupied West Bank after four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in a shooting.

10:30The incident happened in a Palestinian village south of Nablus, where Palestinians say a large group of Israeli settlers attacked their homes. Israel's army said the Palestinians had attacked a group of hikers. Our Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson sent this report from Nablus.

10:51Footage from the scene around Tell Village shows chaos with several people on the ground and Israeli security forces firing at Palestinians as more than a dozen gunshots are heard. At one point, a Palestinian man is filmed wrestling a gun from an Israeli security guard and fatally shooting him before being shot and killed himself. One of four Palestinians from the same family understood to have been killed by Israeli forces. He also shot an Israeli soldier, who later died. The conflict began with a group of Israelis walking around Tell village in a Palestinian-controlled area that Israel forbids its citizens from entering.

11:31Israel's firebrand far-right minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said the villages of the murderers must be treated in the same way as Gaza. For every Jew murdered, the enemy must suffer the loss of land and homes, he said. Israeli settlers have already launched attacks against several other Palestinian villages. While Palestinians are routinely killed and injured during attacks and confrontations with Israeli settlers, the killing of Israelis by Palestinians has tipped the West Bank into a dangerous moment. Lucy Williamson. In India, large student protests are continuing in Delhi, and the agitation has also spread to other cities, with thousands marching in Mumbai and Calcutta on Friday.

12:16Students are demanding education reforms and the resignation of the education minister in what's perhaps the most significant challenge Narendra Modi has faced in his 12 years as prime minister. From the protest site in Delhi, the BBC's Yogata Lamai reports. I've heard lots of slogans being shouted, calling for the education minister, Dharamendra Pradhan, to resign, which of course is the key main first demand that these protesters are making. At the protest site here in Delhi, nearly everywhere I look is a sea of people. It's really hard to estimate. I can certainly say it's in the thousands, but it's possibly more.

12:54It's sweltering hot here and still they don't really seem affected by it. And we've been asking a few people here, what is it? Why are they here? My name is Wasif. Okay, so I came here just because I've seen the dedication of the youth and I feel I should be somewhere in a part of contribution so I can tell my next generation that I've been there I've been the part of a revolution which is going to happen in some days We are no longer the largest democracy in the world We are the largest autocracy in the world today So I think respecting the people of this citizen respecting the youth of the country he must resign today So we're travelling away from the protest site going from Delhi to Dehradun which is about three hours away it's a smaller city to understand the strength of emotion that triggered the protests and that continued to sustain them.

13:42The NEAT exam is a highly competitive entrance test for medical education in India. Every year, millions of students appear for this exam. And just in the past three years, the paper has leaked two times, which means students have had to go through the pressure of appearing for that exam again. And there are instances from across the country where students have simply not been able to cope with that pressure. Their families say they've taken their own lives because of it. And we're going to Dehradun to meet one such family. So now we're just on the outskirts of the city of Dehradun and we've come down a narrow lane where we're going to meet the family of Rhea Kumari Thapa.

14:28And we're now about to speak to her father Rajesh. In my heart she is still alive, but I really miss her. When I heard about the protests, I felt like this is a fight for my daughter, so I also joined them. No parent should go through the pain that I have.

14:49During previous protests, the government has appeared confident when dealing with them. This time it seems rattled to the extent that Prime Minister Modi released a video in the middle of the night directly addressing the issue.

15:06But even what he was offering in that video, as well as the negotiations that the protesters have had, have not resulted in any breaking of the deadlock because the key demand remains the resignation of the education minister. It's hard to predict how any protest will end And it's important to say this protest at the moment does not affect Prime Minister Narendra Modi being in power. The next general election is not for three years. What it could be is a very dangerous moment for him in the turning of public sentiment against him. Yoghita Lumayi. Still to come in this podcast. We lost our son, but I hope no one else repeats our mistake and suffers like we did.

16:00After the death of an overnight delivery driver in South Korea, unions call for a ban to the practice.

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16:47This is the Global News Podcast. More than 150 ,000 people have been evacuated across France and Spain as intense wildfires continue to burn across parts of both countries. Spanish officials say a fire raging near the capital Madrid, said to be the worst the region has ever seen, has become impossible for firefighters to control. Successive heatwaves this summer have dried out vegetation, allowing fires to start and spread more easily. Francesco Martinez is the mayor of Burgo Hondo, municipality west of Madrid. I am 59 years old and I've never seen a fire this hot, never in my life, and it's dangerous and it's not controlled yet.

17:30Right now we are stuck inside because of the smoke. We have 100 people who have been evacuated. We have 50 of those in the town sports centre. In southwest France, thousands escaped the Cap Fere peninsula by boat as fire Cruz battled what one official described as an extra, extra large fire. President Macron has mobilised the military to prop up exhausted firefighters. Our Europe correspondent Nick Beak has the latest. Day and night, Spanish firefighters have been trying to contain the blazes confronting them. The province of Ávila, to the west of the capital, is the main focus. At least 19 ,000 people have now been told to evacuate, or where appropriate, hunker down in their homes.

18:13Officials are talking of a perfect storm, with high temperatures, relentless wind and several fire fronts merging. One resident, Enrique Martin, described his escape. I had to run from my house. It was a ball of fire and if I'd been five minutes later it would have wiped us out. My wife put her foot down and that proved crucial. The Spanish police say they have arrested a man suspected of triggering one vast fire by using a farm vehicle, despite a ban on heavy machinery in the tinderbox conditions. Italy has also been battling wildfires this week, with dozens raging on the island of Sicily in recent days.

18:54Last month, the European Commission warned wildfires had started earlier this year and that a fleet of nearly 30 planes and helicopters, as well as 800 firefighters, had been pre-positioned across Europe. Officials said it was their most ambitious wildfire response yet. Every effort will be needed in the days and weeks to come, judging by the ferocity of the wildfires so far this summer. Nick Beak. So, what's so different about this year and how bad is it? Professor Hannah Cloak is Regis Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science at Reading University here in the UK. It's not quite yet the worst fire we have seen, but we're very early in the summer.

19:37And of course, it depends which region you're looking at. So in some of these regions, we've never seen these types of fires before. And of course, we've got tourists being evacuated. And that's very, very scary indeed for those people who are involved in that. The heatwaves this summer have been particularly strong. so we've had a bit of a wet winter in in many places that has allowed that vegetation to grow and then we've had no rain at all so it's dried out so we've got all of that fuel ready to go and then we've had these heat waves and then of course people people are often the problem lots and lots of wildfires get started by people igniting them so all of these things working together has meant that we're in a very serious situation in the uk and europe our summers are getting hotter.

20:21They're getting worse. And we know that is the basic physics of what we're seeing. Heat is one of those things where you can definitely say there is this really, really strong link between climate change and heat waves. And we've seen it's been really hot. So yes, we're very, very sure these heat waves, these wildfires, and of course, some of the drought we're seeing as well is triggered by climate change. We have to learn to live with this. I mean, the fire comes near you, you know, what are you supposed to do? So some of that is about adapting our thinking to the fact that our summers are going to be different.

20:55Professor Hannah Cloak. Next day delivery for groceries and other items is something that perhaps many of us have become accustomed to. In South Korea, deliveries are known to happen especially quickly. The country's online retailers promise that anything ordered before midnight will arrive at one's door early the next day. So-called rocket deliveries are incredibly convenient for consumers, but now workers' unions are calling for the practice to stop after a recent delivery driver's death. Our correspondent in Seoul, Jake Kwon, took a ride with the driver to see the work that sparked such concern.

21:33It is 11pm and I'm riding in the passenger seat in Kim's delivery truck. The 35-year-old weaves his truck around the narrow alleys here in Incheon City, west of capital Seoul. I walk from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. What are you thinking? I just want it to end soon. Please, no five-floor walk-up. I hope it's a lower floor and no heavy stuff. This is how convenience arrives. Kim is carrying everything from toilet paper to fresh fruit. In the hyper-connected South Korea, anything ordered before midnight will arrive by 7 a.m. His pace is absolutely frantic. Every minute or so, he makes a stop. And he's never walking.

22:21He's running everywhere. The 300 parcels must arrive in time, or he could lose this territory to a competing driver. This job eats away at your body. So it's not something you do for the rest of your life. But the money makes it worth it for Kim. He earns$4 ,600 or 3 ,400 pounds each month. That's double the national average. And during the day, he can spend time with his wife and soon-to-be-born child. However, in recent months, his work became the topic of a national debate when a nighttime delivery worker died after his truck hit a pole. Oh Seung-yong drove more than 11 hours overnight, six days a week.

23:04His schedule barely left him time to attend his father's funeral days earlier. Soon after, the delivery workers' union called for an end to nighttime deliveries. They pointed their finger at the online retailer Kupang that had subcontracted him. The company carries out most of the nighttime deliveries in the country. We met Park Misook in front of Kupang's Seoul office. She's fighting to end the nighttime delivery. Her 27-year-old son died after a night shift at Kupang's warehouse five years ago. That day he entered the shower but didn't come out. So we went into the bathroom and found him hunched over in the tub.

23:47Jang Duk-jun lost 33 pounds of weight during the 16 months he worked overnights. We lost our son, but I hope no one else repeats our mistake and suffers like we did.

24:04In December, Park and Oh Seung-yong's sister confronted the CEO of Kupang in a parliamentary hearing.

24:16The company said deaths among their direct employees are near zero, and it strictly limits work hours to 52 hours a week. It also pointed out that nighttime workers suffer fewer deaths than those working daytime. But Park and the union argued that the nighttime work harms workers' health over a long time. But the most vocal supporters of the overnight delivery are the workers themselves. We chose to deliver overnight for money. It doesn't make sense for me that I can't do this because of my health. And despite the controversy, the demand for overnight delivery has barely slowed, says Kim. The shoppers have tasted the convenience, and they're not going back.