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The International Criminal Court (‘ICC’) issued arrest warrants Thursday for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The ICC said in a statement on Thursday that they’ve accused Netanyahu and Gallant of a string of human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip, with judges determining that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that” both Netanyahu and Gallant “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024. This finding is based on the role of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant in impeding humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their failure to facilitate relief by all means at its disposal”

Netanyahu’s office branded the decision “antisemitic,” ad rejected the charges as “absurd and false” and condemning the ICC as a “biased and discriminatory political body.” Both Israel and the United States do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, which has no police to enforce its warrants.

The court issued a separate arrest warrant for Deif, an alleged architect of the Oct. 7 terror attack, whom Israel said it killed earlier this year. Deif was accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including for his role in the Oct. 7 attack in which Israeli officials said some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage. While Hamas welcomed the warrants as an “important step towards justice”, senior political official Basem Naim said “the court’s decision remains limited and symbolic if it is not supported by all means by all countries around the world to implement it.”

A spokesperson for the National Security Council said the U.S. “fundamentally rejects the Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials.. we are deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.”

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Matt Gaetz, 42, has withdrawn from his attorney general nomination amid his ongoing sex-for-hire scandal and subsequent House Ethics Committee investigation.

The former Republican member of Congress from Florida announced Thursday on social media that he is withdrawing his nomination after “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of power to the President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.

Gaetz wrote on X: “I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback — and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1 ..I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”

Gaetz had drawn backlash from several Republican lawmakers due to controversy over his connection to a federal sex trafficking investigation being investigated by the Justice Department. He remains under investigation by the Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee over similar allegations.

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A 26-year-old man was convicted on murder charges and sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in the murder of Laken Riley, who was killed on Feb. 22 while she was out on a jog on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga.

Jose Ibarra was found guilty of murder in Riley’s killing, in a decision handed down by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard, with the verdict livestreamed on Court TV.  Ibarra was convicted on three counts of felony murder and counts of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and “peeping Tom.” He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A Venezuelan national, Ibarra entered the country illegally in 2022, immigration officials previously said (per ABC News.). Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial and did not testify in his own defense.

Prosecutors said Ibarra accosted Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, while she was out for a run on the morning of Feb. 22. She was found dead in a forested area off the University of Georgia campus in Athens after her roommates called police when she did not return home.

Riley’s killing drew national attention to the immigration debate after officials announced that Ibarra is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2022. Donald Trump, who met with Riley’s parents before a campaign rally in March, said after the sentencing in a post on Truth Social: “JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes. Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have. We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a post on X that while “we are glad that justice has been delivered on behalf of Laken Riley, we continue to mourn her loss with her family and friends and know that she should still be with us today. This criminal should never have been allowed to enter our country, and he certainly should not have been allowed to stay after shamelessly breaking our laws.”

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A major storm that swept across the northwestern U.S. has killed two people as it battered the region with strong winds and rain, and caused widespread power outages. The storm system that began on Tuesday is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly (per AP News.)

In Lynnwood, Washington, a woman died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment; and another woman died Tuesday in Bellevue, Washington, about 20 miles from Lynwood, according to th6e Bellevue Fire Department. More than 100,000 electricity customers in Washington state were reported to be without power Wednesday afternoon on PowerOutage.us. California was also experiencing around 30,000 power outages, according to the tracking site.

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. Forecasters said flooding from the storm systems could be life-threatening for parts of the West Coast, and a bomb cyclone warning was also issued for British Columbia in Canada, with forecasters anticipating winds potentially as strong as 120 miles per hour. The advisory Wednesday from the Weather Prediction Center read: “a significant Pacific storm system and strong atmospheric river have already started pummeling the West Coast and Northwest this morning.”  The system was churning some 300 miles off the coast of Washington and pushing destructive winds over northern California, Oregon and Washington at the time of the advisory.

Per CBS News, flood and high wind watches were in effect in Northern California, with up to 8 inches of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley. A ground delay was issued Wednesday morning for San Francisco International Airport due to wind.

Additionally, up to 16 inches of rain of rain was forecast in southwestern Oregon through Friday, with dangerous flash flooding, rock slides and debris flows possible.

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Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Tuesday that while they oppose President-elect Trump’s attempt to dismiss his criminal hush money conviction in New York, they do not object to postponing sentencing in the case.

The district attorney’s office instead suggested deferring all remaining proceedings in the case until after Trump leaves the White House in 2029. Lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in a letter to Justice Juan Merchan that Trump should not be sentenced for his crimes, stating: “consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options that may address any concerns raised by the pendency of a post-trial criminal proceeding during the presidency, such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of defendant’s upcoming presidential term … The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions. We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”

The sentencing in Trump’s criminal case is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 26. Defense attorneys have asked New York Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss the case ahead of Trump’s impending inauguration. Trump’s defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove said in a filing made public Tuesday that the case must be dismissed because a sitting president is immune from prosecution: “To require President Trump to address further criminal proceedings at this point would not only violate the federal Constitution, but also disrupt the Presidential transition process.  There is no material difference between President Trump’s current status after his overwhelming victory in the national election and that of a sitting President following inauguration.”

Prosecutors said in their filings, however, that they intend to oppose any effort by Trump to dismiss his case outright. Trump’s lawyers said in a previous letter that they would do so, claiming his election meant the case might cause “unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern. ”

Judge Merchan was tentatively scheduled to sentence Trump later this month on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He will have the final say regarding the next steps in the case.

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Tuesday that the bill she introduced to ban transgender women from using female bathrooms at the U.S. Capitol is a direct response to the election of Sarah McBride, who will become the first openly transgender person in Congress. On Monday, Mace introduced a resolution to prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.”

When asked by reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday if the bill she introduced was in response to McBride, Mace said: “Yes, and absolutely. And then some. I’m not going to stand for a man, you know, someone with a penis, in the women’s locker room. I’m absolutely 100% gonna stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women’s restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting you every step of the way.”

McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, didn’t respond to questions on the topic as she entered the House Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday morning.  However on Monday in a post on X, McBride said: “This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.”

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called McBride a “biological man” and said she had confronted House Speaker Mike Johnson at during the House Republican Conference meeting Tuesday morning about what “men in leadership” would do to address their concerns. Greene said: “you know, Sarah McBride … should not be using any of our restrooms in the Capitol, in our office buildings. But Nancy Mace’s resolution doesn’t go far enough. A resolution is just a statement by Congress saying that Congress disagrees with something we need, something more binding. And that’s what I just brought up at the microphones there — in our conference, I directly asked Speaker Johnson what the men in our leadership are going to do about this, because this this has to be stopped.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday that Republicans are trying to resolve the issue but that they will make accommodations for McBride: “This is an unprecedented matter, so we’re going to, we’ll find a resolution that that solves the problem, but we’re working on that … and stay tuned for how we respond. We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people. I believe it’s a command we treat all persons with dignity and respect …. this is an issue that Congress has never had to address before. We’re going to do that in a deliberate fashion with member consensus on it, and we will accommodate the needs of every single person.”

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