Philippines' Duterte calls UN official "idiot," "joker" for murder probe callDecember 22, 2016 - 18:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte called a top UN official an "idiot" and "joker" on Thursday, December 22 for urging that murder investigations be launched against the president after he admitted personally killing people, Reuters reports. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday said Philippine judicial authorities should probe Duterte's accounts of having carried out killings when he was mayor of Davao City. "This guy (Zeid) is ever the joker or crazy," Duterte said during a televised speech, and repeatedly called him "stupid". "You UN officials, sitting there on your asses, we pay you your salaries. You idiot, do not tell me what to do ... Who gave you the right?" Duterte told businessmen last week that when mayor he "personally" killed criminals on the streets and later admitted shooting dead three men involved in a kidnapping case, during a police gunfight in the late 1980s. Zeid on Tuesday said investigations should also be opened into deadly anti-drugs campaigns in Davao when Duterte was mayor and the "shocking" number of deaths during the current nationwide campaign. More than 6,000 people have been killed as part of Duterte's crackdown, a third by police and the rest still officially under investigation. Duterte says the shootings by police were in self-defense. Duterte has previously threatened to withdraw from the U.N. and called it "inutile" for being slow to respond to crises. "Please shut up because your brain is lacking there," he told Zeid. "Go back to school. You United Nations, you do not know diplomacy. You do not know how to behave to be an employee of the United Nations. "You do not talk to me like that, you son of a bitch." Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. |