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SummarySanctions target ICC judges over Afghanistan, Israel cases ICC condemns sanctions as undermining judicial independence Sanctions complicate financial transactions for targeted judges WASHINGTON/THE HAGUE, June 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court, an unprecedented retaliation over the war tribunal's cases regarding alleged war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and over the court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Washington designated Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler...

Vietnam has banned Warner Bros.’ highly anticipated film “Barbie” from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday. (Warner Bros’, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.) The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions. “Barbie” is the latest movie to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was repudiated...

March 11 was a day of reckoning. Fresh off a plane at the Manila international airport, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was flanked and detained under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, has rejected accusations from Washington that he was supporting a rebel leader and accused war criminal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by challenging a senior US official to send a drone to kill the wanted man. ... "I told him: 'Assistant secretary of state, you support [the UN peacekeeping force] in the Congo. Such a big force, so much money. Have you failed to use that force to arrest whoever you want to arrest in Congo? Now you are turning to me, you are turning to Rwanda?'" he said. "I said that, since you...

Chaos erupted at Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final press conference Thursday after an announced Israel-Hamas cease-fire and hostage deal, with State Department employees forcibly removing reporters who accused the cabinet official of allowing a “genocide” in Gaza. Grayzone News journalist Max Blumenthal exited the briefing after prompting by aides at the department, and independent journalist Sam Husseini was dragged out after both tore into Blinken for not reaching the cease-fire agreement sooner. “Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?” Blumenthal asked. “Why did you allow my friends’ homes in Gaza to be...

President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his outrage in a post on Truth Social after New York Judge Juan Merchan set a sentencing date of January 10 in his New York “hush money” case. Trump said that if the judge’s decision is allowed to stand, “it would be the end of the Presidency as we know it.” If it is not overturned or postponed, the sentencing will occur just ten days before Trump returns to the White House. Trump responded to the date being scheduled by writing, “Every Legal Scholar and Pundit, including the highly respected, and sadly recently passed, David...

ONE person has died after a huge explosion ripped through a block of flats in the Netherlands with cops now hunting for a car. Rescuers are searching for survivors in the three-storey building in The Hague after the blast at around 6.15am this morning. Police are searching for a motor that drove away "at very high speed" shortly after the blast and have appealed for witnesses. Residents at the block in the city's Mariahoeve neighbourhood were asleep at the time of the explosion. Emergency services were called after a huge bang and loud screams were heard. Several apartments were completely...

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said Friday he would invite Benjamin Netanyahu to visit his country and that he would guarantee that an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister would "not be observed." Orban's remarks stand in contrast to a long list of European leaders who promised to respect the court's decision. Ireland's prime minister Simon Harris said Friday that his country would be prepared to arrest the Israeli prime minister if he came to the country. “We support international courts and we apply their warrants,” Harris told national broadcaster RTE when asked if Netanyahu would...

If they did nothing wrong, what are they afraid of? After all, that's what they said about Donald Trump for years. Now that the script flipped, their tune has changed--dramatically. As I reported last week, former and current apparatchiks for the Department of Justice are making plans to resign in advance of Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January. Those headed for exits include Special Counsel Jack Smith and his top team of prosecutors, who just withdrew their appeal of Judge Aileen Cannon’s order dismissing the classified documents indictment in Florida and asked for a halt to the...

A nuclear policy expert appointed to the Department of Energy under the Biden administration in February 2024 previously co-authored an article entitled "queering nuclear weapons" which argued "queer theory" should be used to inform American nuclear policy. Sneha Nair works as a special assistant at the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency responsible for maintaining the safety and security of America's extensive arsenal of nuclear weapons. On Wednesday Beijing said it was "seriously concerned" after President Biden updated America's Nuclear Employment Guidance to focus on the threat from China, according to The New York Times. Nair co-authored a piece titled...

On Nawaf Salam announcing on the Hague calling on Israel to halt Rafah operation (that will harm population). Ayelet Frish: Sits there a Lebanese [Arab] and incites the world against Israel. Not a word about decapitation on Oct 7. Journalist: Legitimate to point out the hypocrisy of the court and what does a Lebanese to "judge" Israel? Lawyer Ilan Bombach: Nothing about the hostages was decided. Israel announces every area ahead of operation to be evacuated. only because we keep the crimes. US there a country that does that? US and UK on Afghanistan did not do any of this....

Ric Grenell, President Trump's former ambassador to Germany, and Director of National Intelligence, knows a thing or two about Jack Smith, having lived in Europe when Smith was active in prosecuting war crimes in The Hague. Now that Smith has been caught tampering with evidence in his case against President Trump, Grenell's put out a devastating series of tweets about Smith's history of dishonest behavior. Let’s be clear: Jack Smith is accused of tampering with evidence, manufacturing witnesses, bribery and corruption… And that’s in the investigation of the President of Kosovo 3 years ago when Jack Smith worked at The...

At least four police officers were hurt during a violent riot that erupted on the streets outside The Hague last night, after two rival groups of Eritreans clashed following a a political disagreement. Rioters torches police cars and a bus, and Dutch police officers were forced to use tear gas to try and dispel them. Dozens of rioters were filmed surrounding the Opera conference hall along Fruitweg in the Netherlands, as multiple police vans drove to the scene. Another clip also showed the aftermath. The building had several smashed windows and parked vehicles were on fire, with the street left...

Judge Aileen Cannon denied without prejudice Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion to compel Trump to disclose his defense strategy in the classified documents case in Florida. In November, Jack Smith tried to force Trump to disclose his decision on whether he would use an “advice-of-counsel” defense in the classified documents case. This could have forced Trump to waive attorney-client privilege. Thankfully Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, denied Jack Smith’s request. “Denying without prejudice Special Counsel’s Motion to Compel Disclosure Regarding Advice-of-Counsel Defense. The Court has reviewed the Motion, Defendants’ Opposition, the Special Counsel’s Reply, and is fully advised in...

Jack Poso 🇺🇸 @JackPosobiec BREAKING: RIC GRENELL IS EXPOSING THAT JACK SMITH USED PROSECUTIONS AT THE HAGUE TO BLOW UP TRUMP NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN KOSOVO AND SERBIA Real America's Voice (RAV) @RealAmVoice HUMAN EVENTS DAILY WITH JACK POSOBIEC EP 498 1:45 PM · Jun 19, 2023

The special counsel named by the Biden administration to investigate Donald Trump oversaw a Justice Department unit rebuked by the Supreme Court for its prosecution of a prominent Republican and was linked by Congress to the IRS scandal that targeted conservative groups. Jack Smith, a war crimes prosecutor in The Hague and former chief of the DOJ public integrity section, was named Friday by Attorney General Merrick Garland to take over two investigations of Trump related to Jan. 6 and classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. In 2014, the House Oversight Committee concluded that during Smith's earlier stint at DOJ he...

A Nobel peace prize nominee has accused the director-general of the World Health Organisation of allegedly aiding genocide in Ethiopia. American economist David Steinman accused WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 55, of being a 'crucial decision maker' who directed Ethiopia's security forces actions from 2013 to 2015. He accused Tedros of being one of three officials who were in charge of the security services over that period, during which the 'killing' and 'torturing' of Ethiopians took place. Tedros was the country's foreign minister until 2016 when his Tigray People's Liberation Front party was in power. Raised in Tigray, he also...

In his first appearance before the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers on Monday, former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army turned top politician Hashim Thaci rejected charges accusing him of wartime crimes.“I read them and I do not agree with any of them,” said Thaci, who stepped down as Kosovo’s president last week before he was sent to The Hague for trial.“The indictment is completely without basis and I plead not guilty,” he added.Thaci’s defence lawyer David Hooper complained to the presiding judge that the defence team received late notice of the indictment.He also noted that allegations of organ-harvesting made by...

Under its vocally anti-American President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines has emerged as a focal point between China and the US in their continuing contest for dominance in the region. After years of cosier ties between Manila and Beijing, at the expense of the Philippines' traditional alliance with the US, Duterte last month appeared to signal a retreat from his anti-Washington stance by reversing an earlier decision to scrap a key military agreement with the US in June. While analysts say Duterte is unlikely to change his policy on China any time soon, the shift to reinstate the Visiting Forces Agreement...

TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (the “Beijing Protocol”), adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization International Conference on Air Law (Diplomatic Conference on Aviation Security) in Beijing on September 10, 2010, and signed by the United States on that same date.  I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the Department of State with respect to the Beijing Protocol.The Beijing Protocol is an important...