An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

US 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 issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.

Washington designated Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia, according to a statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel. The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies,” Rubio said.

The ICC slammed the move, saying it was an attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution that provides hope and justice to millions of victims of “unimaginable atrocities.”

“It is with deep concern that we note the latest actions announced by the government of the United States … These … are regrettable attempts to impede the court and its personnel in the exercise of their independent judicial functions,” the ICC‘s governing body said in a statement on Friday.

Both judges Bossa and Ibanez Carranza have been on the ICC bench since 2018. In 2020 they were involved in an appeals chamber decision that allowed the ICC prosecutor to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.

Since 2021, the court had deprioritized the investigation into American troops in Afghanistan and focused on alleged crimes committed by the Afghan government and the Taliban forces.

ICC judges also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. Alapini Gansou and Hohler ruled to authorize the arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant, Rubio said.

The move deepens the administration‘s animosity toward the court. During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the court’s work on Afghanistan.

The measures also follow a January vote at the US House of Representatives to punish the ICC in protest over its Netanyahu arrest warrant. The move underscored strong support among Trump‘s fellow Republicans for Israel’s government.

Sanctions severely hamper individuals’ abilities to carry out even routine financial transactions as any banks with ties to the United States, or that conduct transactions in dollars, are expected to have to comply with the restrictions.

But the Treasury Department also issued general licenses, including one allowing the wind-down of any existing transactions involving those targeted on Thursday until July 8, as long as any payment to them is made to a blocked, interest-bearing account located in the US.

The new sanctions come at a difficult time for the ICC, which is already reeling from earlier US sanctions against its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who last month stepped aside temporarily amid a United Nations investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.

The ICC, which was established in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the UN Security Council.

However, the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel as it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. Other countries including the US have similarly not signed the ICC charter. Nonetheless, the ICC has asserted jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, despite no such state being recognized under international law.

The post Trump Administration Imposes Sanctions on Four ICC Judges Over ‘Baseless Actions’ Targeting US, Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, Sept. 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

The US has issued a new round of Iran–related sanctions targeting 10 individuals and 27 entities, including at least two companies it said were linked to Iran‘s national tanker company, the US Treasury Department said on Friday.

The sanctions, which target Iranian nationals and some entities in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, were announced as US President Donald Trump’s administration is working to get a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Ace Petrochem FZE, and Moderate General Trading LLC, both registered in the UAE, to its Specially Designated Nationals List, freezing any of their US assets. OFAC said they are both linked to the state-owned National Iranian Tanker Company which is under US sanctions for exporting oil.

Talks between Iran and the US that aim to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions have been stuck over disagreements about uranium enrichment.

Iran‘s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The post US Issues New Round of Iran-Related Sanctions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

A Boulder police officer patrols with a bomb smelling dog beside a makeshift memorial outside the Boulder Courthouse, days after an attack that injured multiple people in Boulder, Colorado, US, June 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mark Makela

The man accused of fire–bombing a Colorado march by people who wanted to raise awareness of Israeli hostages in Gaza was charged in state court on Thursday with attempted murder and other crimes, as those he targeted vowed to carry on their efforts.

If he is convicted, state prosecutors said Egyptian citizen Mohamed Soliman, 45, faces well over 600 years in prison for 28 attempted murder charges. There were 118 counts against him in total, including assault, use of incendiary devices, and animal cruelty for the injury of a dog.

Soliman also faces federal hate crimes charges that carry a life sentence if he is convicted. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday.

Soliman wore orange prison clothing at Thursday’s state hearing in a courtroom inside the Boulder County jail. He appeared behind thick glass, and his hands and feet were shackled.

Judge Nancy Woodruff Salomone asked if he could hear her and if he agreed to his next court date, set for July 15. Soliman nodded affirmatively in response to both questions and made no other comments or gestures. He was not asked to enter a plea.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said three victims from Sunday’s attack remained in the hospital. Prosecutors said there were 15 victims in total, ranging in age from 25 to 88, in the attack, of whom 10 had injuries.

The Boulder public defender’s office, listed in court documents as representing Soliman, did not respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors say that Soliman tossed Molotov cocktails and yelled “Free Palestine” at people taking part in the walk organized by Run for Their Lives, an organization devoted to drawing attention to the hostages seized during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Soliman entered the US on a tourist visa in 2022 and recently lived in Colorado Springs. Federal officials say he overstayed that tourist visa and his work permit had expired, so he was in the country illegally.

His family, including his wife, two teenagers and three younger children, was taken into custody on Tuesday and may be deported, though a federal judge on Wednesday blocked their immediate removal.

The attack was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans amid Israel’s escalating military offensive in Gaza. It followed the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy aides outside Washington’s Capital Jewish Museum last month.

WALK ON

Run for Their Lives global coordinator Shira Weiss said the Boulder attack had stunned her organization, which has 230 chapters around the globe and says it is apolitical.

“This is so sad that we were trying to do something positive and something good, and this horrible thing happened,” she said.

Following the attack, Weiss asked local chapters to pause their weekly walks, but overwhelmingly heard that people wanted to carry on.

About 80 percent of chapters will hold their scheduled walks this weekend including in Boulder on Sunday. That will coincide with the city’s 30th annual Jewish festival, which organizers said would go on with heightened security measures and a focus on Run for Their Lives.

Weiss has received 20 inquiries about starting new chapters since the attack in Boulder, and has also seen an increase in the number of people wanting to walk with existing groups.

Maya Bajayo, organizer for the Denver chapter of Run for Their Lives, said she expects all 50 members of her group to join the Boulder chapter on its Sunday walk.

The post Suspect in Colorado Antisemitic Firebombing Faces 28 Attempted Murder Counts first appeared on Algemeiner.com.