Will Smith hits Chris Rock on Oscars stage

 

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face on stage at the Oscars after the comic made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” he said, in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo – which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.

Smith walked on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”

He later apologised on stage.

“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to my all my fellow nominees,” he said during a tearful acceptance speech for best actor.

The star picked up the first Oscar of his career for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.

“Art imitates life,” he said. “I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

Rock’s joke referred to 1997 film GI Jane, in which Demi Moore played the title role with a severe buzzcut.

The comedian looked stunned in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but told the audience: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”

The Los Angeles Police Department later told Variety that Rock had “declined to file a police report” following the event.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith later attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party with their children

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted that it “does not condone violence of any form”.

After the incident, Rock handed over the best documentary prize, which was the reason he was on stage.

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, a tearful Smith needed to be “pulled aside and comforted” by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry shortly after the incident.

The trio could be seen talking just in front of the stage during an advert break, with Washington and Perry putting their hands on his shoulders.

Presenting the next section, Sean “Diddy” Combs said: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family. Right now we’re moving on with love.”

Smith with Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry after the incident

Smith later attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party with sons Trey and Jaden, daughter Willow and his wife – smiling photographers and posing with his award on the red carpet.

Other guests at the party reacted to the incident, with filmmaker David Furnish saying he tells his sons with Elton John “don’t hit anybody… under any circumstance”.

But actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish defended Smith, saying he had been standing up for his wife.

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Russia, Ukraine set for further peace talks, as Mariupol faces catastrophe

 Russia and Ukraine will restart face-to-face peace negotiations on Monday, against a background of warnings that the situation in the besieged city of Mariupol is now “catastrophic”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to compromise on several sensitive topics.

The two sides have not negotiated directly for weeks, but will hold three days of talks in Istanbul from Monday, according to David Arakhamia, a Ukrainian negotiator.

Previous rounds of talks have failed to end the war sparked by the Russian invasion, which is now in its second month.

About 20,000 people have been killed, according to Zelensky, 10 million have fled their homes and, despite Russian military setbacks, several cities are still coming under withering bombardment.

In the southern port city of Mariupol, about 170,000 civilians are encircled by Russian forces, with ever-dwindling supplies of food, water and medicine.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the situation there was “catastrophic” and the assault from land, sea and air had turned the once-thriving city of 450,000 people “into dust”.

France, Greece and Turkey are hoping to launch a mass evacuation of civilians within days, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, who has sought an agreement from Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

With Russia’s much-larger military hampered by fierce Ukrainian resistance, the Istanbul talks will test whether battlefield setbacks have tempered Moscow’s demands.

Moscow was recently forced to abandon its efforts to capture Kyiv, and — according to Russian general Sergei Rudskoi — focus on the “main goal” of controlling the eastern Donbas region.

The fate of Russian-occupied Donbas and Crimea, as well as fundamental disagreements about Kyiv’s alignment with the West are again set to be the focus of negotiations.

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Egypt and Morocco join Israel talks

 A summit bringing Israel together with Egypt, Morocco and two other Arab countries is taking place in the Negev desert in Israel.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also taking part in the meeting, which is expected to focus on the revival of the Iran nuclear deal and the war in Ukraine.

Foreign ministers from Egypt, the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain have travelled to Israel for the event, in a sign of their commitment to a new relationship with Israel.

They’ve condemned the attack on Sunday in Israel in which two police officers were killed.

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South Sudan forces withdraw from VP Machar’s home

 South Sudanese security forces on Monday morning withdrew from First Vice-President Riek Machar’s residence in the capital, Juba, his office said.

Mr Machar reported to his office on Monday and was working normally, according to his press secretary Puok Both Baluang.

The security forces had been deployed to Mr Machar’s residence on Saturday evening.

The vice-president’s office is later expected to issue a press statement on the matter.

Security officers cordoned off Mr Machar’s house after he had issued a press statement rejecting President Salva Kiir’s directive on the formation of a national army – a key pillar of a peace deal the pair signed in 2018.

Mr Machar had accused President Kiir of not equally sharing out positions in the military and the police force as stipulated in the peace deal.

“The unilateral decision by President Kiir is a violation of the revitalized peace agreement and is a clear rejection of the ongoing mediation process,” he said on Saturday.

President Kiir’s office has not commented on the matter.

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What is a war crime and could Putin be prosecuted over Ukraine?

 A former judge at the International Criminal Court has been asked by the UK to help Ukraine investigate potential war crimes by Russia.

Sir Howard Morrison’s appointment comes as Russia stands accused of violating international law in its invasion of Ukraine.

What is a war crime?

It may not seem like it, but ”even war has rules”, as the International Committee of the Red Cross puts it.

These are contained in treaties called the Geneva Conventions and a string of other international laws and agreements.

Civilians cannot be deliberately attacked – nor can the infrastructure that is vital to their survival.

Some weapons are banned because of the indiscriminate or appalling suffering they cause – such as anti-personnel landmines and chemical or biological weapons.

The sick and wounded must be cared for – including injured soldiers, who have rights as prisoners of war.

Other laws prohibit torture and genocide – the deliberate attempt to destroy a specific group of people.

Serious offences during war such as murder, rape or mass persecution of a group are known as “crimes against humanity”.

What allegations of war crimes have there been in Ukraine?

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia had “destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centres, and ambulances” – actions that the US said amounted to war crimes.

The UK has said “barbaric and indiscriminate” tactics have been used by Russia.

In the wake of an attack on a theatre sheltering civilians in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of carrying out a war crime.

At the time of the strike – which Russia denies carrying out – the word “children” was written in giant letters on the ground outside the building.

Ukraine previously called Russia’s air strike on Mariupol’s hospital a war crime. Three people were killed and 17 staff and patients were injured.

Russian troops are also accused of targeting fleeing civilians.

There’s mounting evidence that cluster bombs -munitions that separate into lots of bomblets- have hit civilian areas of Kharkiv.

Apparent evidence of a cluster bomb sub-munition in Kharkiv, passed to Human Rights Watch

The UK says Russia has used thermobaric explosives, which create a massive vacuum by sucking up oxygen. These are not banned, but their deliberate use near civilians would almost certainly break the rules of war.

Many experts argue the invasion itself is a crime under the concept of “aggressive warfare”.

How are suspected war criminals pursued?

Each country has a duty to investigate suspected war crimes.

Some nations do so more than others.

In the UK, senior police officers have offered to help gather evidence of potential crimes in Ukraine.

How can suspected war criminals be prosecuted?

There have been a series of one-off courts since World War Two – including the tribunal investigating war crimes during the break-up of Yugoslavia.

A body was also set up to prosecute those responsible for the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

Théoneste Bagosora died while serving a 35-year sentence for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have roles upholding the rules of war.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules on disputes between states, but cannot prosecute individuals. Ukraine has begun a case against Russia.

If the ICJ ruled against Russia, the UN Security Council (UNSC) would be responsible for enforcing that.

But Russia – one of council’s five permanent members – could veto any proposal to sanction it.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) The ICC investigates and prosecutes individual war criminals who are not before the courts of individual states.

It’s the permanent modern successor to Nuremberg, which prosecuted key Nazi leaders in 1945.

Nazis prosecuted at the Nuremberg trials included Hermann Goring, Rudolf Hess and Joachim von Ribbentrop

Nuremberg cemented the principle that nations could set up a special court to uphold international law.

Can the ICC prosecute offences in Ukraine?

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, British lawyer Karim Khan QC, says there is a reasonable basis to believe war crimes have been carried out in Ukraine.

Investigators will look at past and present allegations – going back as far as 2013, before Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

If there’s evidence, the prosecutor will ask ICC judges to issue arrest warrants to bring individuals to trial in The Hague.

But there are practical limitations to its power. The court doesn’t have its own police force so relies on individual states to arrest suspects.

Like the US, Russia is not a member of the court – it pulled out in 2016. President Putin won’t extradite any suspects.

If a suspect went to another country, they could be arrested – but that’s a very big if.

Could President Putin or other leaders be prosecuted?

It’s far easier to pin a war crime on a soldier who commits it than the leader who ordered it.

But the ICC can also prosecute the offence of “waging aggressive war”.

This is the crime of an unjustified invasion or conflict, beyond justifiable military action in self-defence.

It originated at Nuremberg, after the judge sent by Moscow convinced the Allies that Nazi leaders should face justice for “crimes against peace”.

However, Professor Philippe Sands QC, an expert on international law at University College London, says the ICC couldn’t prosecute Russia’s leaders for this because the country isn’t a signatory to the court.

In theory, the UN Security Council could ask the ICC to investigate this offence. But again, Russia could veto this.

So is there any other way to prosecute individuals?

The effectiveness of the ICC – and the way international law plays out in practice – depend not just on treaties, but politics and diplomacy.

And Prof Sands and many other experts argue that like Nuremberg, the solution lies once more in diplomacy and international agreement.

He’s calling for world leaders to set up a one-off tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression in Ukraine.

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