🧑‍⚖️ Kangaroo court: Were Gaza warrants a FIG LEAF for ICC chief prosecutor’s sex scandal?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has got mired in a sex scandal involving chief prosecutor Karim Khan — who issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

What's known so far?

🔺 Karim Khan, a British lawyer and the ICC’s chief prosecutor since 2021, allegedly forced his female assistant into non-consensual sex multiple times during missions to New York, Colombia, Congo, Chad, Paris, and at The Hague, per the Wall Street Journal.

🔺 The victim, a Malaysian lawyer in her 30s, stayed in the job fearing retaliation and the loss of a top post that helped cover her dying mother’s medical bills, according to her testimony.

🔺 She also worried that going public would undermine Khan’s investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza, which she viewed as vital.

🔺 She reported the abuse to ICC colleagues on April 29, 2024. Shortly after learning this, Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister.

🔺 On November 21, 2024, the ICC formally issued warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and a former Hamas commander over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Questionable timing

🔺 Critics argue Khan’s arrest warrants were less about justice and more a smokescreen to deflect from his own sex scandal.

🔺 Seizing the moment, Israel urged the ICC to withdraw the warrants and suspend its broader war crimes probe, per The Times of Israel.

Khan’s move exposes ICC’s fragility

🔺 France and Germany, once staunch ICC backers, signaled they wouldn’t arrest Netanyahu.

🔺 Hungary refused to act on the warrant during Netanyahu’s visit and announced its exit from the ICC.

🔺 With no enforcement power and a scandal at its core, the ICC’s credibility and impartiality now face serious scrutiny.

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😴 Nap time in Congress?

Democratic lawmaker Debbie Dingell couldn’t stay awake during the debate - was she mesmerized… or just clocking out on the job?

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⚡️ Kremlin: Vladimir Putin approves the lineup of the Russian delegation for the Istanbul talks

President Putin's aide, Vladimir Medinsky, will lead the Russian delegation in talks with Ukraine, just as he did in 2022.

The Russian delegation to the Istanbul negotiations will include Mikhail Galuzin (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs), Igor Kostyukov (Head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces), and Alexander Fomin (Deputy Minister of Defense).

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💬 Red Sea adventure depleted US stockpiles — Navy Secretary

After 1.5 years of fighting against the Houthis, the US Navy is engaging with the military industry to replenish its air defense munitions, US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan admitted in a written statement before Congress.

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❗️ Donald Trump will not travel to Istanbul for the Russia-Ukraine talks, Reuters reports, citing a US official.

Nevertheless, Steve Witkoff and Marco Rubio are expected to arrive in Istanbul on May 16.

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🇮🇷 Pezeshkian: We will not trade Iran's dignity

The Iranian president said that Donald Trump falsely believes Iran will back down on the nuclear issue out of fear of threats.

"For forty-seven years, they tried with all their might to overthrow the Islamic Republic system, but they could not and will not be able to," Masoud Pezeshkian added.

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🚨 Protesters gather in front of the GNU PM's office

Footage from social media shows the crowd calling for Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh's resignation in Tripoli.

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❗️ Iran is ready to get rid of its highly enriched uranium if the sanctions are lifted, said a Supreme Leader advisor.

Ali Shamkhani told NBC that Iran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with the US in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.

He added that Iran should still be able to enrich uranium at low levels for civilian use.

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🇵🇸 Israel ends Gaza aid blockade

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has confirmed that Israel has agreed to resume aid deliveries after a two-month blockade.

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DOJ urges deportation of Russian scientist for smuggling

Kseniia Petrova was arrested in Boston in February for smuggling frog embryos.

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❗️ Germany and UK plan to develop a 2,000 km range weapon

As part of the bilateral defense pact signed last year, the two countries will jointly develop a deep precision weapon, Reuters reports.

Or maybe they're just jealous of the Russian Oreshnik?

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🇮🇱 Qatari PM: Israel broke complete hostage deal

Killing 70 people in a Gaza hospital and calling it "collateral damage" cannot contribute to a peace settlement, said Mohammed Al Thani.

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⚡️ The Russian delegation has landed in Istanbul to begin talks with Ukraine.

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🔥 Leading Biden-style? How Waltz failed Trump as National Security chief

Mike Waltz, who was sacked from his position as US National Security Adviser earlier this month, apparently did not live up to Trump’s expectations.

During Waltz’s tenure, the National Security Council was reportedly run in a style similar to Joe Biden's, which did not align with Trump's vision, according to NBC News, citing individuals familiar with the matter.

On May 1, Trump appointed Waltz as the new US ambassador to the UN, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio was tasked with leading the NSC in the interim.

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❗️Talks in Istanbul to take place at Turkish presidential administration, as in 2022 — Sputnik’s source

However, President Erdogan's schedule for Thursday does not include meetings with Russian or Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. His agenda is planned for Ankara, where he will meet with Zelensky, the Turkish president’s office reported.

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🚨💸💣Hospital cartels, loopholes & billions—Spartz drops a bomb on Dem's spending game

Rep. Victoria Spartz says Democrats use vague laws like Obamacare to create loopholes, push money into untouchable mandatory spending, and let unelected agencies issue costly rules—draining taxpayers by the billions.

So where does the money go?🤔

Spartz claims the money flows to hospital cartels and Democrat-linked groups in New York, funding illegal immigration programs, overseas projects, and tax-free profits for wealthy CEOs.

“It’s like an unlimited credit line,” she said. “There’s no limit. This isn’t normal spending — it’s beyond appropriations. Biden’s own rules let them overbill the federal government up to three times more than Medicare rates.”

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🔫 Trump's Russia strategy criticized: 'Simply charming Russia is NOT ENOUGH'

The US’ “simplistic” idea to "charm” Russia and get a deal on Ukraine by putting pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky turned out to be "not enough," Financial Times reports, citing ex-German ambassador to the US Wolfgang Ischinger.

“Trump definitely sees that Putin isn’t playing ball,” said Eric Green, a former aide to former President Joe Biden at the National Security Council.

Trump would struggle to reset relations with Russia — without first resolving the problem of Ukraine, Thomas Graham, ex-National Security Council official, stressed.

“There’s too much at stake. He could still walk away from Ukraine — but if he does that, it would look too much like FAILURE,” Thomas Graham pointed out.

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⚡️Putin chaired a closed-door meeting Wednesday night to prepare for upcoming negotiations with Ukraine, the Kremlin confirms

👥 In attendance:

▪️Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
▪️Defense Minister Andrei Belousov
▪️National Guard Chief Viktor Zolotov
▪️Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu
▪️Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov
▪️FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov
▪️Top military commanders of the Russian military groups involved in the special military operation.

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🇮🇹🤯👻 Italian MP stuns Parliament in GHOST Costume 

Riccardo Maggi, MP from the 'More Europe' party, who tried to protest the silence surrounding the upcoming cuts to workers' rights, was immediately kicked out from the hall by Ghostbusters security.

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