MANILA, Philippines – A former Filipino militiaman testified before the country’s Senate on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was still a city mayor, ordered him and other members of a liquidation squad to kill criminals and opponents in gangland-style assaults that left about 1,000 dead.
Edgar Matobato, 57, told the nationally televised Senate committee hearing that he heard Duterte order some of the killings, and acknowledged that he himself carried out about 50 deadly assaults as an assassin.
Rights groups have long accused Duterte of involvement in death squads, claims he has denied, even while engaging in tough talk in which he stated his approach to criminals was to “kill them all.”
BERLIN – Dozens of police officers intervened as groups of far-right Germans and young asylum seekers clashed in an eastern German town that has previously seen racist incidents, officials said Thursday.
Around 80 Germans and 20 migrants attacked each other Wednesday night in Bautzen, a town between Dresden and the Polish border, local police spokesman Thomas Knaup said.
Officers were assailed with wooden sticks and bottles thrown by some of the asylum seekers as they tried to separate the groups as they brawled in a town square.
The far-right protesters shouted nationalist slogans and followed the asylum seekers back to their shelter while police tried to keep the groups apart. Police used pepper spray and batons to protect themselves, authorities said.
NEW YORK – A New York City museum is offering visitors a chance to sit on a golden throne, but only in private.
As part of his “America” exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan replaced the toilet in the museum's fourth-floor restroom with a fully functional replica cast in 18-karat gold.
Viewers are invited to use the solid gold toilet just as they would any other facility. It’s the first piece Cattelan has exhibited since his 2011 retrospective at the Guggenheim.
Associated Press
