Joe Biden has said “what is happening in Gaza is not genocide” following an arrest warrant request by the International Criminal Court prosecutor for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US president branded the warrant request as “outrageous,” adding “whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
“What’s happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that,” Mr Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House.
He said American support for the safety and security of Israelis is “ironclad”.
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan KC has applied for arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime minister and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar over alleged war crimes.
He is also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant – and other top Hamas leaders Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, more commonly known as Deif (commander-in-chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the al Qassam Brigades), and Ismail Haniyeh (head of Hamas’s political bureau).
Mr Netanyahu said: “As prime minister of Israel, I reject with disgust the Hague prosecutor’s comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas.
“With what audacity do you compare Hamas that murdered, burned, butchered, decapitated, raped and kidnapped our brothers and sisters and the IDF soldiers fighting a just war.
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“No pressure and no decision in any international forum will prevent us from striking those who seek to destroy us.”
In a statement, Mr Khan outlined the reasons his office was applying for the arrest warrants.
“Now, more than ever, we must collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct during conflict, applies to all individuals and applies equally across the situations addressed by my office and the court,” he said.
“This is how we will prove, tangibly, that the lives of all human beings have equal value.”
On the Hamas leaders, he said he has reasonable grounds to believe they “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
He outlined a list of alleged crimes, including murder, taking hostages and rape and other acts of sexual violence.
“We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organisational policies. Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day,” he said.
On Mr Netanyahu and his defence minister Mr Gallant, Mr Khan said he has reasonable grounds to believe they too “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
He outlined a list of alleged crimes, including “starvation of civilians” and “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population”.
“We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to state policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day,” he said.
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Benny Gantz, a former military chief and member of Israel’s war cabinet, harshly criticised Mr Khan’s announcement, saying Israel fights with “one of the strictest” moral codes and has a robust judiciary capable of investigating itself.
South Africa, which has been leading a genocide case against Israel, welcomed the news Mr Khan was seeking the arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders.
“The law must be applied equally to all in order to uphold the international rule of law,” the office of South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said.
France and Belgium each released statements supporting the request for arrest warrants.
“France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence, and the fight against impunity in all situations,” its foreign ministry said in a statement late Monday.
It came around the same time Belgium’s foreign minister Hadja Lahbib posted on X: “Crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators.”
The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is suing SpaceX for $15m over claims Elon Musk’s company trespassed and damaged a plot of its land.
A lawsuit filed in Texas alleges SpaceX treated a plot of land owned by Cards Against Humanity as essentially its own for at least the past six months.
The company purchased a plot of land in Cameron County in 2017 as part of a stunt to prevent then president Donald Trump from building a border wall in the area between the US and Mexico.
It was purchased after 150,000 subscribers paid $15 to their Cards Against Humanity Saves America campaign.
The lawsuit said Cards Against Humanity – referred to as CAH in legal filings – “acquired the Property for the sole purpose of ensuring that it would stay that way” and added: “SpaceX’s abuse of this Property has not only destroyed its natural condition, but has also caused even greater harm to CAH by virtue of the damage it has caused to CAH’s relationship with its paying supporters.”
In a statement through their Saves America campaign, Cards Against Humanity said SpaceX “f***ed” the land and alleged Mr Musk “figured he could just dump his shit all over our gorgeous plot of land without asking”.
The Chicago-based company then claimed “SpaceX gave us a 12-hour ultimatum to accept a lowball offer for less than half our land’s value” after they noticed the alleged trespass on their land. They said they declined the offer before filing the suit.
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On a website – titled elonowesyou100dollars – the card company said it was seeking $15m in damages and offered the original subscribers to the Save America campaign $100 should they win the claim.
They also referenced a Reuters news agency report into SpaceX’s rapid development in the south Texasareas where it operates, in which some locals criticised the company for unfair and unchecked property and government dealings.
SpaceX started operating in Texas in 2003. In recent months, Mr Musk has stated he would move more of his businesses to the state.
Neither SpaceX nor Mr Musk have commented publicly on the matter. Sky News has contacted SpaceX for comment.
FBI agents have boarded a boat managed by the same company whose cargo ship crashed into a Baltimore bridge and caused it to collapse.
The two companies in charge of the ship “recklessly cut corners” and ignored electrical problems on the vessel before the crash in March, alleged the US Justice Department on Wednesday.
Three days later, FBI agents boarded the Maersk Saltoro, a second ship managed by the same company, although authorities did not offer further details on the operation.
Six construction workers were killed when the Dali ship had a power outage and crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Justice Department alleged that mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship had been improvised and improperly maintained which led to the power outage.
Authorities are seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port, which was only fully reopened in June.
It could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history and the two Singapore-based companies, Synergy Marine Group and Grace Ocean, are trying to limit their legal liability.
The Justice Department said it will vigorously contest that limitation, arguing that vessel owners and operators need to be “deterred from engaging in such reckless and exceedingly harmful behaviour”.
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning.
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Mr Wilson has previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight” about the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
The Dali, which was stuck amid the wreckage of the collapse for months before it could be extricated, departed Virginia on Thursday afternoon en route to China on its first international voyage since the March 26 disaster.
The style choices of politicians have long been scrutinised by voters and the media.
Women have historically been subject to more inspection for their looks than men.
But all politicians are communicating through their style, according to two experts.
“We receive most of our information, many of us, through screens and through the visuals,” says Hazel Clark, professor of design and fashion at the Parsons School of Design in New York.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been leaning into trouser suits.
“The well-fitted suit, the more masculine suit, is telling voters that she is not a politician’s wife, she is not the president’s wife, she is the president,” says Deirdre Clemente, professor of history at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
She wore a dark suit to make her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The look “gives that sense of the legal profession, judges and authority. I think it was just saying ‘I’m here to be taken seriously, I can be your leader’,” says Ms Clark.
Many of the audience were wearing white, thought to be a reference to the suffragettes, who fought for women to have vote.
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“I think there’s a lot of weight in the choice of white in the audience of the DNC that night and her choice of a black suit was a power move,” Ms Clemente said.
Donald Trump has had a consistent style for many years – he’s known for his dark blue suit and silky red tie.
“He seems to have been wearing the same red tie since the 1970s. It seems to have gotten longer,” said Ms Clemente.
“It is his way of projecting power, confidence and stability.”
And his vice presidential pick JD Vance seems to have adapted his style to match.
“It’s putting on a uniform to say we are all one, we are all following this person. I think sameness, perhaps, with the party as well,” said Ms Clark.
“With Trump it’s almost become like a costume now.”
Harris often wears a pearl necklace, a reference to her college sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was founded by black women at Howard University.
“Her wearing of the necklace is absolutely a shout-out to all the women who have supported her and that sorority is central to that,” said Ms Clemente.
The vice president is also known for her love of Converse shoes.
The trainers, which are associated with American basketball culture, “are a powerful cultural tool because what she’s saying is these shoes are just like the ones you have in your closet”.
Mr Trump and his supporters often wear the instantly recognisable red Make America Great Again baseball cap.
“The MAGA hat has an incredible amount of power, especially here in battleground states,” said Ms Clemente. “You see MAGA hats all around.”
Baseball caps are “ubiquitous in being used to signify something, it’s like having a slogan on your t-shirt”, says Ms Clark.
One accessory all US politicians are rarely seen without is an American flag pin badge on their lapel, which can be used to show patriotism.
It may also project a message that “we are all fighting for the same team” despite political differences, said Ms Clemente.