International
Filipinos Seeks Freedom, Demand Right To Divorce
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.”
All seven people on board a tourist helicopter were killed when the aircraft crashed in a remote area of northern Kenya on Wednesday morning, authorities confirmed.
The Eurocopter EC130 B4 was flying on a safari route from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro area in Samburu County when it went down at approximately 9:13 a.m. local time near Mount Ololokwe. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said the helicopter was carrying six passengers and one pilot. Police later confirmed there were no survivors.
Five of the victims were American citizens, according to the U.S. State Department. Among those killed were José Alberto Suárez, a senior executive with Telemundo (NBCUniversal), and Michele Sensi-Contugi, director of Ecuador’s National Intelligence Center, who was travelling with his wife, Stephany Hollihan. Both she and her husband died in the crash.
The aircraft was operated by Lady Lori Helicopters and was carrying guests of the luxury safari company &Beyond. Rescue teams, including the Kenya Red Cross, faced difficult terrain and a fire at the crash site during recovery operations.
An official investigation into the cause of the accident is underway. The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi said it is providing consular assistance to the families of the American victims.
International
Trump Annex Strait of Hormuz “New US Territory”
The development follows Trump’s recent comments that he would declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory after defeating Iran.
US President Donald Trump has declared the Strait of Hormuz a “new US territory.”
Trump on Tuesday shared a map graphic on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns, labelling the Strait of Hormuz a “NEW U.S. Territory”.
The same graphic was also posted by the official White House account on X.
The image shows a blue-highlighted map of the strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, with a circle around the narrow passage and the words “NEW U.S. Territory” displayed prominently.
The development follows Trump’s recent comments that he would declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory after defeating Iran.
Speaking at a political rally in New York State on Friday, Trump said,
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”
International
Zambia’s Hichilema leads presidential vote count
Hichilema had 54.82% or 1,056,812 of the declared votes, figures showed, putting him on track for re-election without a second-round runoff if he keeps the overall majority.
Photo: Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema greets United Party for National Development (UPND) supporters during their election campaign launch in Lusaka, Zambia, June 28, 2026. Credit : REUTERS
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema was well ahead in counting for national elections on Sunday with nearly half the constituencies declared, the electoral commission said.
Reuters reported that Hichilema had 54.82% or 1,056,812 of the declared votes, figures showed, putting him on track for re-election without a second-round runoff if he keeps the overall majority.
His main challenger, Brian Mundubile, was in second place with 43% or 830,841 of the declared votes, with 105 out of 226 constituencies announced by around 1500 GMT.
The presidential vote — held alongside parliamentary and local elections on Thursday — is seen as a test of whether Hichilema’s economic gains since a pandemic-era debt crisis are enough to win him a second term in Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia temporarily halted vote counting on Friday, citing violence against officials and the theft of ballot papers.
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