International

Filipinos Seeks Freedom, Demand Right To Divorce

Published

3 years ago

May 31, 2023

518 Views

The Philippines is the only place outside the Vatican where divorce is outlawed, as a Philippine mother-of-three, Stella Sibonga is desperate to end a marriage she never wanted. But divorce in the Catholic-majority country is illegal, and a court annulment takes years.

Pro-divorce advocates argue the ban makes it harder for couples to cut ties and remarry, and escape violent spouses.

People wanting to end their marriage can ask a court for an annulment or a declaration that the nuptials were invalid from the start, but the government can appeal against those decisions.

The legal process is slow and expensive — cases can cost as much as $10,000 or more in a country plagued by poverty — with no guarantee of success, and some people seeking a faster result fall for online scams.

“I don’t understand why it has to be this difficult,” said Sibonga, who has spent 11 years trying to get out of a marriage that her parents forced her into after she became pregnant.

Sibonga’s legal battle began in 2012, when she applied to a court to cancel her marriage on the basis of her husband’s alleged “psychological incapacity”, one of the grounds for terminating a matrimony.

After five years and $3,500 in legal fees , a judge finally agreed. The former domestic worker’s relief was, however, short-lived.

The Office of the Solicitor General, which as the government’s legal representative is tasked with protecting the institution of marriage, successfully appealed the decision in 2019.

Sibonga said she requested the Court of Appeals to reverse its ruling, but is still waiting for an answer.

“Why are we, the ones who experienced suffering, abandonment and abuse, being punished by the law?” said Sibonga, 45, who lives near Manila.

“All we want is to be free.”

International

Russia Issues International Wanted on Telegram Founder Durov

Russian-born Durov — a serial tech founder who has lived outside Russia for years and holds French and United Arab Emirates passports — has frequently clashed with the Russian authorities as Moscow has tightened its grip on the internet.

Published

5 days ago

July 29, 2026

OCHEFA

62 Views

•Telegram founder Pavel Durov

Russia announced on Wednesday that it was seeking the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov over accusations of “complicity in terrorism”, alleging he had let the platform be used for recruitment by Ukraine’s security services.

His Telegram messenger is one of the country’s main communications platforms and officials have repeatedly tried to block access or thwart its success in a bid to pressure Durov to hand over user data or push Russians to use an unencrypted state-backed alternative.

The FSB security service said it had launched international search proceedings for Durov, who is also Telegram’s CEO.

“An international wanted notice has been issued… for the head of the Telegram administration, P. Durov,” it said in a statement.

International

Just In: People trapped in Japanese mall hit by earthquake, with others missing after factory chimney collapse

Reports in Japan say 20 to 30 shopping centre staff may be missing – but the figure has not been confirmed.

Published

6 days ago

July 28, 2026

OCHEFA

80 Views

Image credit : BBC

Many people are trapped inside a Japanese shopping centre after an earthquake, the fire service says.

One witness reported the second floor of the mall in Kumamoto collapsing – BBC Verify has looked at some of the images from the site.

Reports in Japan say 20 to 30 shopping centre staff may be missing – but the figure has not been confirmed

Elsewhere in the Kumamoto prefecture, people are reported missing at a paper factory after a chimney collapsed

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit inland on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT), causing power cuts, damaged roads, a collapsed castle wall, and a destroyed footbridge.

International

India’s Gen Z protesters force out education minister

The latest education protests erupted in May after NEET, India’s biggest medical entrance exam, was cancelled following a question paper leak, forcing nearly two million students to retake the test. More than 20 students died by suicide, with their families blaming the scandal.

Published

1 week ago

July 27, 2026

OCHEFA

72 Views

Indian’s Gen Z protesters have forced out the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation on Saturday, after more than a week of intense street protests.

In the words of 22-year-old Sakhi, a student activist in Delhi, “for the first time, it felt like we can make things happen through protests”.Soon after Pradhan quit, social media seized on an old video of a senior Modi minister boasting that “resignations do not happen in our government”, reflecting the confidence of the nationwide youth movement that had demanded his exit.

The outrage was channelled by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), an online campaign launched after India’s chief justice likened unemployed people with “fake and bogus degrees” to cockroaches.

Its founders staged a sit-in in Delhi, demanding Pradhan’s resignation, education reforms and compensation for the bereaved families.