LONDON – The British government has dropped plans to oppose the International Criminal Court’s application for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, according to UK news agency PA Media.

“This was a proposal by the previous government which was not submitted before the election, and which I can confirm the Government will not be pursuing in line with our long standing position that this is a matter for the court to decide on,” said a spokeswoman for the UK’s new Labour government, which earlier this month replaced a Conservative government led by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced in May he was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders – including Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar – over charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court has no means of enforcement, however ICC members have an obligation to cooperate fully with its decisions. If the warrants are granted, Netanyahu and others could risk arrest when traveling to the 124 countries that are ICC members – including Germany and the United Kingdom. The international court still must assess submissions from other powers before making a decision on whether to grant the request for arrest warrants.

Israel has faced significant criticism over the scale and force of its military the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, launched after the Hamas-led October 7 terror attacks, which killed at least 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 others. After months of war, many Gazans are facing mass displacement, destruction, and bouts of famine; more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed and another 90,403 people injured since the Israeli offensive began, according to the Ministry of Health in the Palestinian enclave.

The UK’s governing Labour party and its leader, former human rights lawyer Keir Starmer, have faced pressure from supporters to take a tougher stance on the Gaza war. On Thursday, US Vice President Kamala Harris vowed “not to be silent” about human suffering in Gaza, speaking to reporters after her meeting with Netanyahu in Washington. The White House has also faced increasing pressure to ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians under bombardment, which has included the use of US munitions. (CNN)…[+]

UKRAINE – One person has been killed and others wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on a ferry at port in southern Russia, the regional governor has said. Krasnodar governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the ferry had caught fire at Port Kavkaz but there was no risk of it spreading. The port lies a few kilometers from the Kerch bridge, which enables road and rail travel between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Unfortunately there are injured and dead among the crew and port staff,” Kondratyev said. Ukraine attacked the same area at the end of May, hitting an oil terminal near Port Kavkaz. The area around the Russian-built bridge over the Kerch Strait has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.

Russian navy ships based in Crimea have been sunk or badly damaged. Earlier this month the head of Ukraine’s navy said the Russian Black Sea Fleet had been forced to move almost all of its warships from occupied Crimea to other ports. In a separate development overnight, Ukraine’s air defenses downed seven Shahed-type attack drones and a cruise missile launched by Russia. Ukraine’s energy ministry said one Russian attack drone struck a critical infrastructure facility in Sumy Region, cutting power to 50,000 consumers.

The previous night, the head of Kharkiv’s military administration in north-eastern Ukraine, Oleh Syniehubov, said an educational institute had been damaged in a Russian attack on the settlement of Derhachi to the north of Kharkiv city.

Russia’s defense ministry has now claimed that about 50 foreign “instructors and mercenaries” were killed in the strike, without offering any evidence other than a video of the purported attack. No mention was made of casualties on Monday. Meanwhile, Russian forces shot down 25 Ukrainian drones in the west of the country and over Crimea, the defense ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday.  (BBC)…[+]

HANOI – As General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping’s Special Representative, China’s top political advisor Wang Huning led a CPC delegation to Hanoi to mourn the passing of Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, also met with Vietnamese President To Lam and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. A respect-paying ceremony was held at the National Funeral Hall in Hanoi, where Trong’s coffin was placed among flowers and draped in a large Vietnamese national flag in a somber atmosphere.

On behalf of Xi and the CPC Central Committee, and in the name of Xi’s special representative, Wang laid a wreath, paused to observe a moment of silence before bowing three times to Trong’s coffin, conveyed sincere condolences from Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan to Trong’s widow Ngo Thi Man, and left a message in the condolence book. While meeting with the Vietnamese leaders, Wang expressed deep grief over the passing of comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, saying that after learning the sad news, Xi went to the Embassy of Vietnam in China to pay tribute to the late leader, and the CPC Central Committee sent condolences to the CPV Central Committee.

Appointing Wang as Xi’s special representative to lead a CPC delegation here for the mourning shows once again the heartfelt grief and sincere condolences of Xi and the CPC Central Committee to the CPV Central Committee and Trong’s family. At this special moment, the party and people of China stand firmly with the party and people of Vietnam, Wang said. Wang noted that Trong is a staunch Marxist, a great leader of the CPV and the Vietnamese people, and a great friend of the Chinese people. His death is a great loss to the cause of socialism in Vietnam and to the cause of peace and progress of mankind.

The Chinese party and government will, as always, support the Vietnamese party in leading its people on a development path suited to their national conditions, and support Vietnam’s reform, opening-up and socialist development, Wang said. It is believed that under the strong leadership of its central committee, the CPV will inherit and develop Trong’s philosophy and principles on party and state governance, and unite and lead the Vietnamese people to successfully accomplish the goals and tasks set forth at the 13th National Congress of the CPV and welcome the successful convening of the 14th National Congress of the CPV, Wang added. (Xinhua)…[+]

WASHINGTON  –  Barack Obama has endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee, ending days of speculation over whether he would support her. Former President Obama and ex-First Lady Michelle Obama said in a joint statement that they believe Harris has the “vision, the character, and the strength that this critical moment demands”.

Obama was reportedly among more than 100 prominent Democrats Harris spoke to after President Joe Biden announced last Sunday he was dropping out of the race.

In a statement at the time, Obama praised Biden’s exit, but stopped short of endorsing Harris. The US vice-president has already secured the support of a majority of Democratic delegates, setting her on course to become the official nominee at the party convention in August.

The Obamas said in Friday’s statement that they could not be “more thrilled to endorse” Harris. They vowed to do “everything we can” to elect her. “We agree with President Biden,” said the couple’s statement, “choosing Kamala was one of the best decisions he’s made. She has the resume to prove it.” They cited her record as California’s attorney general, a US senator and then vice-president.

“But Kamala has more than a resume,” the statement continued. “She has the vision, the character, and the strength that this critical moment demands. “There is no doubt in our mind that Kamala Harris has exactly what it takes to win this election and deliver for the American people. “At a time when the stakes have never been higher, she gives us all reason to hope.”

The statement was accompanied by a video of Harris taking a phone call from the Obamas in which they pledge their support. “Oh my goodness,” says the vice-president in the clip. “Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me.” (BBC)…[+]

POLAND – A 19th-century shipwreck packed with crates of unopened champagne has been found in the depths of the Baltic Sea. The long-forgotten vessel was brimming with bubbly, according to the team of Polish divers who made the discovery off the coast of Sweden. “The whole wreck is loaded to the brim with crates of champagne, mineral water, and porcelain,” Tomasz Stachura, the leader of the Baltictech diving team that found the wreck, said in a press release sent to CNN.

According to the firm’s website, Stachura is “one of the most active wreck divers in the Baltic Sea,” who has “taken thousands of underwater pictures of Baltic wrecks.” Nevertheless, this recent find was different, he said, explaining that some 100 bottles were found onboard. “I have been diving for 40 years, and it often happens that there is one bottle or two… but to discover a wreck with so much cargo, it’s a first for me,” he said in the release. The find was “largely a coincidence,” he said, as the divers have been combing the seabed for years in search of sunken ships.

“We were just checking out new spots, which I had been collecting for years, out of pure curiosity, and that’s when we came across this wreck,” said Stachura. “We did not expect it to be anything significant and even hesitated for a moment whether to dive at all.” Two of the team were determined to take a look, however, on a “quick dive” but were gone for almost two hours, according to a post on the team’s website. The wreck was “in very good condition” and its cargo was plentiful. “There was so much of it that it was difficult for us to judge the quantities,” the post said.

While the champagne certainly provided cause for celebration, it was the bottles of water that perhaps shed most light on the vessel’s history. The press release said the water was in sealed clay bottles and branded Selters, “a German brand highly valued in the 19th century, often reserved for royal tables and considered almost medicinal.” It comes from a mineral spring of the same name in the town of Selters, in the central German state of Hesse, and has been bottled for more than 800 years. “We managed to take pictures of the brand name stamped on a clay bottle, which turned out to be from the German company Selters – produced to this day,” diver and underwater videographer Marek Cacaj said in the press release. According to Baltictech’s website, “its value was so precious that transports were escorted by the police.” “Thanks to the shape of the stamp, and with historians’ help, we know that our shipment was produced between 1850-1867. Interestingly, the pottery factory into which the water was bottled also exists, and we are in contact with them to find out more details.” (CNN)…[+]