Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), is facing an investigation into allegations of misconduct reportedly involving a member of his office. He firmly denies the claims.
"I welcome the opportunity to engage in this process," Mr Khan said in a statement. "I will be continuing all other functions as prosecutor", while the investigation is ongoing, he added.
The ICC’s oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties, made the announcement after the court’s internal watchdog opened and shut an inquiry into the allegations after only five days.
“An external investigation is therefore being pursued in order to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process,” ASP president Paivi Kaukoranta said in a statement.
When sworn in as chief prosecutor of the ICC, the British lawyer, 54, said the court should be judged by its acts – "the proof of the pudding should be in the eating".
Mr Khan has shown he is not afraid to take on the world's most controversial cases, seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and senior Hamas figures. The application followed an arrest warrant issued last year for Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which Moscow issued arrest warrants for Mr Khan.
Not afraid to take on controversy
But Mr Khan has faced down controversy throughout a career that has included stints defending Liberia's former president Charles Taylor against allegations of war crimes in Sierra Leone.
Other high-profile clients have included Kenya's President William Ruto in a crimes-against-humanity case at the ICC that was eventually dropped, and the son of late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Seif Al Islam.
Asked about "crossing the floor" – working as both prosecutor and defence – Mr Khan told publication OpinioJuris that it helps lawyers to stay "grounded". It also prevents "corrosive traits such as thinking that defence counsel is the devil incarnate or that as a prosecutor you are doing 'God's work'," he said.
Criticised initially for not acting fast enough to prevent atrocities in Gaza, Mr Khan sparked a firestorm when applying for arrest warrants over the war.
Mr Netanyahu called it a "moral outrage of historic proportions". For US President Joe Biden, it was "outrageous". Even before Mr Khan's application, senior Republicans wrote a letter threatening to bar Mr Khan and his family from the US, ending: "You have been warned."
But Mr Khan told CNN: "This is not a witch hunt. This is not some kind of emotional reaction to noise … it's a forensic process that is expected of us as international prosecutors."
Born in Scotland and educated at King's College
Born in Scotland, Mr Khan was educated at the private Silcoates School in northern England, before studying undergraduate law at King's College London.
His father was Pakistani, his mother British and he is a member of the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, and sometimes sprinkles his speeches with "inshallah", or God willing.
Called to the bar in 1992, he started in international law at the former Yugoslav and Rwandan war crimes courts from 1997 to 2000.
Mr Khan later represented survivors and relatives of victims of the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia at its UN-backed court in the late 2000s.
His other roles have included a term at The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon, set up to bring to justice the killers of Lebanese former prime minister Rafic Hariri in 2005.
More recently, he led the UN special investigation into ISIS crimes and called for trials like those at Nuremberg of Nazi leaders.
A 'charismatic and articulate communicator'
Initially absent from a list of candidates for the top ICC prosecutor's job, Mr Khan was added reportedly at the insistence of the Kenyan government.
The ICC selection panel described him as a "charismatic and articulate communicator who is well aware of his achievements".
"I did apply because I thought I could do the role. If the search committee thought this was arrogance, then I'm guilty as charged," Mr Khan said.
Melanie O'Brien, visiting professor in international law at the University of Minnesota, told AFP: "From what I've observed, Karim Khan seems like a no-nonsense lawyer, which I quite respect,"
An ICC prosecutor "has to have a certain fortitude because you know that you are going to be up against people who don't agree with you and don't agree with the court generally", she added.
Company%20profile
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Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
FULL%20FIGHT%20CARD
%3Cp%3EFeatherweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Abdullah%20Al%20Qahtani%20v%20Taha%20Bendaoud%0D%3Cbr%3EBantamweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Ali%20Taleb%20v%20Nawras%20Abzakh%0D%3Cbr%3EBantamweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Xavier%20Alaoui%20v%20Rachid%20El%20Hazoume%0D%3Cbr%3EFeatherweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Islam%20Reda%20v%20Adam%20Meskini%0D%3Cbr%3EBantamweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Tariq%20Ismail%20v%20Jalal%20Al%20Daaja%0D%3Cbr%3EBantamweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Elias%20Boudegzdame%20v%20Hassan%20Mandour%0D%3Cbr%3EAmateur%20Female%20Atomweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Hattan%20Al%20Saif%20v%20Nada%20Faheem%0D%3Cbr%3EFeatherweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Maraoune%20Bellagouit%20v%20Motaz%20Askar%0D%3Cbr%3EFeatherweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Ahmed%20Tarek%20v%20Abdelrahman%20Alhyasat%0D%3Cbr%3EShowcase%20Featherweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Mido%20Mohamed%20v%20Yazeed%20Hasanain%0D%3Cbr%3EShowcase%20Flyweight%20Bout%3A%0D%20Malik%20Basahel%20v%20Harsh%20Pandya%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Match info
Manchester United 4
(Pogba 5', 33', Rashford 45', Lukaku 72')
Bournemouth 1
(Ake 45 2')
Red card: Eric Bailly (Manchester United)
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
MATCH INFO
Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford (late)
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Fight Night
FIGHT NIGHT
Four title fights:
Amir Khan v Billy Dib - WBC International title
Hughie Fury v Samuel Peter - Heavyweight co-main event
Dave Penalosa v Lerato Dlamini - WBC Silver title
Prince Patel v Michell Banquiz - IBO World title
Six undercard bouts:
Michael Hennessy Jr v Abdul Julaidan Fatah
Amandeep Singh v Shakhobidin Zoirov
Zuhayr Al Qahtani v Farhad Hazratzada
Lolito Sonsona v Isack Junior
Rodrigo Caraballo v Sajid Abid
Ali Kiydin v Hemi Ahio