International court opens initial probes into Philippines,

The prosecutor at the world's only permanent war crimes court said today she was opening initial probes into allegations that thousands of people have been killed during the "war on drugs" in the Philippines and into detentions and excessive state force during political upheavals in Venezuela.

"Since 2016, I have closely followed the situations" in both the Philippines and Venezuela, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement, and after "a careful, independent and impartial review... I have decided to open a preliminary examination into each situation.