THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court is operating under strong limitations on its digital systems after a hacking incident, sources and lawyers who work at the war crimes court said on Thursday.
Two lawyers at the court, and a source close to it who asked not to be identified, said it had disconnected most of its systems that can access the Internet, that employees cannot access email and that employees who are not working on site cannot access documents.
The ICC, based in The Hague, first disclosed a “cybersecurity incident” on Tuesday.
ICC war crimes tribunal hobbled by hacking incident -sources
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ICC war crimes tribunal hobbled by hacking incident -sources

- Two lawyers at the court said it had disconnected most of its systems that can access the Internet
Global universities seek to lure US-bound students amid Trump crackdown
Students from Britain and the European Union are also now more hesitant to apply to US universities
TOKYO/BEIJING/LONDON: Universities around the world are seeking to offer refuge for students impacted by US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on academic institutions, targeting top talent and a slice of the billions of dollars in academic revenue in the United States.
Osaka University, one of the top ranked in Japan, is offering tuition fee waivers, research grants and help with travel arrangements for students and researchers at US institutions who want to transfer.
Japan’s Kyoto University and Tokyo University are also considering similar schemes, while Hong Kong has instructed its universities to attract top talent from the United States. China’s Xi’an Jiaotong University has appealed for students at Harvard, singled out in Trump’s crackdown, promising “streamlined” admissions and “comprehensive” support.
Trump’s administration has enacted massive funding cuts for academic research, curbed visas for foreign students — especially those from China — and plans to hike taxes on elite schools.
Trump alleges top US universities are cradles of anti-American movements. In a dramatic escalation, his administration last week revoked Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students, a move later blocked by a federal judge.
Masaru Ishii, dean of the graduate school of medicine at Osaka University, described the impact on US universities as “a loss for all of humanity.”
Japan aims to ramp up its number of foreign students to 400,000 over the next decade, from around 337,000 currently.
Jessica Turner, CEO of Quacquarelli Symonds, a London-based analytics firm that ranks universities globally, said other leading universities around the world were trying to attract students unsure of going to the United States.
Germany, France and Ireland are emerging as particularly attractive alternatives in Europe, she said, while in the Asia-Pacific, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and mainland China are rising in profile.
SWITCHING SCHOOLS
Chinese students have been particularly targeted in Trump’s crackdown, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday pledging to “aggressively” crack down on their visas.
More than 275,000 Chinese students are enrolled in hundreds of US colleges, providing a major source of revenue for the schools and a crucial pipeline of talent for US technology companies.
International students — 54 percent of them from India and China — contributed more than $50 billion to the US economy in 2023, according to the US Department of Commerce.
Trump’s crackdown comes at a critical period in the international student application process, as many young people prepare to travel to the US in August to find accommodation and settle in before term starts.
Dai, 25, a Chinese student based in Chengdu, had planned to head to the US to complete her master’s but is now seriously considering taking up an offer in Britain instead.
“The various policies (by the US government) were a slap in my face,” she said, requesting to be identified only by her surname for privacy reasons. “I’m thinking about my mental health and it’s possible that I indeed change schools.”
Students from Britain and the European Union are also now more hesitant to apply to US universities, said Tom Moon, deputy head of consultancy at Oxbridge Applications, which helps students in their university applications.
He said many international students currently enrolled at US universities were now contacting the consultancy to discuss transfer options to Canada, the UK and Europe.
According to a survey the consultancy ran earlier this week, 54 percent of its clients said they were now “less likely” to enrol at an American university than they were at the start of the year.
There has been an uptick in applications to British universities from prospective students in the US, said Universities UK, an organization that promotes British institutions. It cautioned, however, that it was too early to say whether that translates into more students enrolling.
REPUTATIONAL EFFECTS
Ella Ricketts, an 18-year-old first year student at Harvard from Canada, said she receives a generous aid package paid for by the school’s donors and is concerned that she won’t be able to afford other options if forced to transfer.
“Around the time I was applying to schools, the only university across the Atlantic I considered was Oxford... However, I realized that I would not be able to afford the international tuition and there was no sufficient scholarship or financial aid available,” she said.
If Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students is revoked, she would most likely apply to the University of Toronto, she said.
Analytics firm QS said overall visits to its ‘Study in America’ online guide have declined by 17.6 percent in the last year — with interest from India alone down over 50 percent.
“Measurable impacts on enrolment typically emerge within six to 18 months. Reputational effects, however, often linger far longer, particularly where visa uncertainty and shifting work rights play into perceptions of risk versus return,” said QS’ Turner.
That reputational risk, and the ensuing brain drain, could be even more damaging for US institutions than the immediate economic hit from students leaving.
“If America turns these brilliant and talented students away, they will find other places to work and study,” said Caleb Thompson, a 20-year-old US student at Harvard, who lives with eight international scholars.
‘Deeply dangerous’ Islamophobia being promoted in UK: Baroness Warsi

- House of Lords member, ex-minister ‘heartbroken’ over negative portrayals of British Muslims
- She discussed with her husband whether to prepare ‘exit routes’ from country
LONDON: Baroness Warsi, a Muslim former minister in the UK, has warned that “deeply dangerous” Islamophobic narratives are being promoted in British public discourse, The Independent reported.
The House of Lords member, who was speaking at the Hay Festival — a prominent literary and arts event — compared rising Islamophobia in Britain to the treatment of Jews in 1930s Europe.
In conversation with British-Israeli journalist Rachel Shabi, she described feeling “heartbroken” at the way Muslim communities are increasingly portrayed in the UK.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you serve and how many times you do what you do for our country,” she said. “You still don’t belong. You still don’t matter. You still can’t be trusted.”
Warsi, who was discussing her new book “Muslims Don’t Matter,” described growing up in a working-class family of Pakistani origin in Yorkshire.
The former co-chair of the Conservative Party said she had recently discussed with her husband whether it was necessary to prepare “exit routes” from Britain.
“I turned to him and I said are we going to be like those Jewish families in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, who were always sitting back, looking at the writing on the wall and thinking, ‘No, we’re going to be all right. We’re very successful. We live in the right part of town. We’re part of the establishment.’ And then it will be too late. Should we be doing what everybody else around us seems to be doing right now, which is putting in place plan Bs and exit routes?”
Warsi warned that negative narratives surrounding British Muslims are being driven by politicians and the media.
“The good news is this isn’t bottom up,” she said. “This isn’t ordinary people sat there thinking, ‘Oh, I really have an issue with Muslims and I’m now going to have quite hateful views about them.’
“This is people in power and people with big platforms constantly telling us, ‘We can’t trust Muslims. They’re all dangerous, they’re violent, the men are sexually predatory, the women are traditionally submissive.’”
She added: “It’s these tropes which we’re constantly being told about Muslim communities which, in the end, poisons the public discourse to a point where we start seeing this community in the worst possible light.”
Warsi ended the discussion with an appeal for solidarity, and called on the British public to reject divisive narratives.
“It’s time for us to organize and it’s time for us to fight back, because all of our rights in the end will suffer,” she said.
Ukraine says it’s ready to restart talks with Russia but needs clarity on Kremlin’s terms

- “Ukraine is ready to attend the next meeting, but we want to engage in a constructive discussion,” Andrii Yermak said
- Ukraine and its European allies have repeatedly accused the Kremlin of dragging its feet in peace efforts
KYIV: Ukraine is ready to resume direct peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said, following days of uncertainty over whether Kyiv would attend a meeting proposed by Moscow.
But Ukrainian officials have insisted that the Kremlin provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the more than three-year war, before the two delegations sit down to negotiate.
“Ukraine is ready to attend the next meeting, but we want to engage in a constructive discussion,” Andrii Yermak said in a statement on the website of Ukraine’s Presidential Office late Thursday.
“This means it is important to receive Russia’s draft. There is enough time – four days are sufficient for preparing and sending the documents,” Yermak said.
Ukraine and its European allies have repeatedly accused the Kremlin of dragging its feet in peace efforts, while it tries to press its bigger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.
Kyiv’s Western partners, including the US, are urging Moscow to agree to an unconditional ceasefire, something Kyiv has embraced while the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking.
Ukraine’s top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, also told reporters on Friday that Kyiv is waiting for Russia to clarify its proposals ahead of a next round of talks.
“We want to end this war this year. We are interested in establishing a ceasefire, whether it is for 30 days, 50 days, or 100 days. Ukraine is open to discussing this directly with Russia,” Sybiha said at a joint news conference in Kyiv with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.
Sybiha and Fidan also held the door open to a future meeting between Presidents Zelensky and Vladimir Putin of Russia, possibly also including US President Donald Trump. Fidan said the ongoing peace push in Istanbul could be “crowned with” such a meeting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday told reporters that a Russian delegation will head to Istanbul and stand ready to take part in the second round of talks on June 2.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday publicly invited Ukraine to hold direct negotiations with Moscow on that date. In a video statement, Lavrov said Russia would use Monday’s meeting to deliver an outline of Moscow’s position on “reliably overcoming” what it calls the root causes of the war. Russian officials have said for weeks that such a document is forthcoming.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Wednesday said that Ukraine isn’t opposed to further direct talks with Russia, but that they would be “empty” if Moscow were to fail to clarify its terms. Umerov said he had personally handed a document setting out Ukraine’s position to the Russian side.
Low-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years in Istanbul on May 16. The talks, which lasted two hours, brought no significant breakthrough, although both sides agreed to the largest prisoner exchange of the war. It was carried out last weekend and freed 1,000 captives on each side.
Fidan on Friday voiced a belief that the successful swap has “proved that negotiations can yield concrete results.”
“There are two paths in front of us. Either we will turn a blind eye to the continuation of the war, or we will reach a lasting peace within the end of the year,” he told reporters in Kyiv.
Philippines looks to deepen trade, business ties with UAE

- Manila is anticipating the signing of a Philippine-UAE trade deal in June
- UAE is one of Philippines’ key trading partners in the Gulf region
MANILA: The Philippines is ready to deepen its economic partnership with the UAE, Manila’s special envoy has said, as the visit of a business delegation from Dubai concluded this week.
Dubai Chambers organized a business forum in Manila on Wednesday as part of its “New Horizons” initiative. With its delegation visiting the Philippine capital, the business body had organized at least 180 bilateral meetings.
The event also saw Dubai Chambers and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry sign a preliminary agreement aimed at strengthening trade and investment ties through various efforts, including sending trade missions and organizing business-matching missions.
“The Philippines is open, ready, and eager for stronger trade and business ties with the UAE,” Kathryna Yu-Pimentel, the Philippines’ special envoy to the UAE for trade and investment, said during the forum.
“Last year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the UAE — a golden milestone. Today, we look ahead with even more optimism.”
The UAE is a key trading partner of the Philippines in the region. In 2023, non-oil bilateral trade between the Philippines and the UAE reached over $1 billion. The Gulf state also ranked as the Philippines’ top export market among the Gulf Cooperation Council nations, and its 17th largest trading partner globally.
It is also home to the second-largest Filipino diaspora after Saudi Arabia, with some 700,000 overseas Filipino workers living and working in the UAE. Many are employed in the construction, healthcare and hospitality sectors.
“This upward trend will only continue, especially with the anticipated signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the Philippines and the UAE next month,” Yu-Pimentel said.
“This will be historic in the sense that it will be our first free trade agreement with a Middle Eastern country.”
The expected development will follow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first trip to Abu Dhabi in November, during which he met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
The two leaders committed “to deepening cooperation in various areas, including economy, trade and sustainability” during their meeting, which included discussions on the bilateral trade agreement.
Negotiations on the free trade deal have been underway between Philippine and UAE officials since the beginning of 2024.
Centuries-old toymaking tradition lives on in southern India

- Origins of toymaking in Channapatna can be traced back to Muslim ruler Tipu Sultan
- Today, the city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka is popularly known as ‘toy town’
NEW DELHI: For as long as he can remember, the wooden toys of Channapatna have been a part of Suhel Parvez’s life.
As family members carefully tended the centuries-old art of toy making, Parvez grew up watching unique colors and intricate designs come to life.
“I have been brought up seeing these, because in our home (in) every place they worked on this,” Parvez told Arab News.
Today, the 35-year-old is one of a few thousand local artisans working to keep the craft alive.
“I am the fifth-generation artisan, and we are continuing the legacy of our ancestors who started this,” he said.
In the southern Indian state of Karnataka, thanks to a traditional form of toy-making that can be traced back to the 18th century, Channapatna is popularly known as the “toy town,” or “gombegala ooru.” According to local artisans, the craft started in the region after Tipu Sultan, the Muslim ruler of the kingdom of Mysore, asked artists from Persia to train the locals.
From dolls to spinning tops, Channapatna’s toys are carved from local ivory wood and dipped in bright colors made from natural ingredients, such as turmeric and indigo. While they were once all hand-carved, artisans have since begun to use some machines to keep the industry competitive.
In India, the craft is protected as a geographical indication, or GI, which is a form of intellectual property under the World Trade Organization.
The toys — popular for their long-lasting quality — have also made international headlines throughout the years. In 2010 they experienced a boom after former US First Lady Michelle Obama bought some during one of her visits to New Delhi.
In 2025, as wooden toys regain popularity across the world due to their eco-friendly qualities, craftsmen like Parvez are seeing new opportunities opening up.
“Many countries are boycotting plastic material, and for child safety people are moving slowly towards wooden toys. We have good opportunities in coming years,” Parvez said.
His Bharath Arts and Crafts unit produces traditional toys the region is known for, and also more modern versions of those often used for educational purposes.
“We don’t involve any chemical process in that … right from sourcing tools (to the) end, final product, this will be a 100 percent chemical-free process,” he added, referring to the Channapatna toys.
“Apart from that we have one more (type) known as modern toys or educational toys which are made out of synthetic colors which are non-toxic.”
While Parvez and his fellow craftsmen have exported their products to the US, UK and Australia, he says the Middle East and Africa are emerging markets for the wooden toys of southern India.
“We have very good markets (in the) Middle East and African countries — these are the emerging opportunities for us,” he said.
These days, Channapatna’s toy making industry mostly comprises seasoned artisans, those who have been in the field for decades, according to local craftsman Srinivasa Kariappa.
“Those who are working in the industry have at least 15 or 20 years of experience, new people are not joining,” he told Arab News.
The 37-year-old, who runs Harsha Industries, believes that there is still time to welcome new people to preserve the tradition.
“Handwork is important in Channapatna toys,” he said. “The government should open a training center where a new set of people can come and join the toy industry. We need new families and people to join the industry and expand (it).”