European states, Canada, Japan and UN back ICC against US sanctions

Several US allies call to ‘defend’ and ‘protect’ the ICC following Washington’s decision to sanction the judiciary body.

By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters

Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026

The United States has imposed a new set of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), prompting several countries – including US allies – to condemn the move and reiterate their support for the world’s war crimes tribunal.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington would be banning transactions with the “rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate”, adding that President Donald Trump would “never allow” the Hague to prosecute Americans.

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The ICC was created in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.

The US Treasury Department announced the penalties with a six-month initial grace period and other exemptions that would allow some transactions for telecommunications, software, pension payments and transactions related to detainees.

Rubio said the sanctions would give the court and its member states an opportunity to address US concerns and would be adjusted if they did not meet those demands.

The Trump administration says the court has exceeded its authority by pursuing officials from countries that are not ICC members, such as Israel. The United States and Israel have never joined the court.

In response to the sanctions, the ICC said that the move was an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order”. It called on its 125 member states to defend the institution.

“The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the states that created it,” the ICC said in a statement. “This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law. History will judge this moment.”

The Trump administration sanctioned more than a dozen judges and prosecutors before issuing sanctions on the court itself Friday.

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Allies ‘regret and disagree’ with US move

Soon after the US announcement, top United Nations officials condemned the move.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed” by the expected impact of the sanctions on the court as a whole, particularly its ability to carry out its mandate, a statement from his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

“Today’s decision marks a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a key pillar,” the statement added.

UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk called for immediate measures to protect the ICC. “These sanctions – the latest in a series of retaliatory steps against the ICC and its personnel for the work they do every day to advance accountability for the very worst violations of human rights – are unacceptable,” he said.

ICC member states that are US allies also expressed dismay at the decision.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen, whose country hosts the ICC, said the US’s decision was “deeply regrettable”.

“We will stand firm in defence of the court. At the same time, it’s important to note that the sanctions will not take effect immediately and that service providers can continue to work for the ICC. The six-month period before the sanctions take effect creates scope for dialogue,” he said.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan said they “regret and strongly disagree” with the sanctions.

“If put into effect, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Court’s work, its dedicated staff and their families … We remain both united in our support for the ICC and committed to engaging in constructive and inclusive dialogue with non-States Parties,” they said.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot also said Brussels would discuss support for the ICC with European Union foreign affairs colleagues on Monday and at the upcoming European Council.

“We will press for concrete protection. The court’s independence cannot depend on whom it investigates. Europe must act. Belgium is calling for the activation of the EU Blocking Statute to protect the court,” Prevot said.

US aims to ‘ultimately destroy’ ICC

Similarly, organisations and rights groups sounded the alarm over the implications of the US decision.

Philippe Bolopion, executive director of US-based Human Rights Watch, said the Trump administration had made clear its aim to “destroy” the ICC and “shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the court”.

“The ICC was created to ensure that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law. Governments that value human rights and accountability should condemn this outrageous move and take swift action to protect the ICC, its staff, and all those who cooperate with it, starting with the European Union using its laws to mitigate the sanctions’ impact in the region,” he said.

The Executive Director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, James Goldston, said the sanctions were a “calculated attack on the rule of law and the principles of judicial independence and equality that underpin it.”

“This is the latest move in a campaign of coercion intended to destroy the system of international justice,” he said.

Amnesty International called on countries to “resist”. Trump’s “sanctions are designed to isolate and ultimately destroy the International Criminal Court”, Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director for research, policy, advocacy and campaigns, said in a statement. “This existential attack must fail. States must take concrete action to resist the imposition of these measures.”

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Amid widespread criticism, Israel commended the US move.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the sanctions and praised Trump and Rubio for taking this “critical decision”.

“The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

In 2024 the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges for the war on Gaza.

Lim Guan Eng calls Budget 2027 Anwar’s ‘most reform-minded’ yet

Lim Guan Eng calls Budget 2027 Anwar’s ‘most reform-minded’ yet



Lim Guan Eng poses for picture with other DAP leaders after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tabled Budget 2027 at Dewan Rakyat in Kuala Lumpur October 9, 2026. — Picture via Facebook/Lim Guan Eng


Summary

• DAP adviser Lim Guan Eng described Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Madani Budget as the most reform-minded yet, addressing social safety and tax injustices.
• Lim praised the budget's initial steps for future reforms, aiming to control living costs, support MSMEs, and boost household spending.
• He urged for 10% of Bumiputera allocations to benefit non-Bumiputera communities without reducing existing funding, ensuring fairer money distribution.

First Published: Friday, 09 Oct 2026 7:16 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — DAP adviser Lim Guan Eng today described Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s fifth Madani Budget as the “most reform-minded” budget yet.

Lim, who is also Bagan MP, said expanding the social safety net to gig workers, persons with disabilities and senior citizens, providing more inclusive funding allocations and adjusting personal income tax rates to address past injustices were steps in the right direction.


“These initial steps of budgetary reforms give hope that there will be more future substantial meaningful reforms in the pipeline that will contain cost of living increases, creating sustainable economic growth especially for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and generating prosperity for all by ensuring that there is more money to spend for Malaysian households,” he said in a statement on Facebook.


Still, Lim said more needed to be done, particularly by allocating 10 per cent of total Bumiputera allocations to non-Bumiputera communities without reducing existing Bumiputera funding.


He said this would ensure a fairer and more equitable distribution of taxpayers’ money to non-Bumiputera communities, which he claimed previous governments had neglected.

Earlier, Anwar tabled the Supply Bill (Budget) 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat, outlining the government’s spending plans and direction for the coming year.

Themed “Malaysia Madani: Menggapai di Langit, Mengakar di Bumi (Reaching for the Sky, Rooted in the Ground),” Budget 2027 is the second Budget under the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13), which serves as the national development framework for the 2026-2030 period.

 

‘Barbaric’: US lawmakers condemn plan to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution

Republican and Democratic lawmakers condemn Pentagon plan to livestream the Fort Hood shooter’s execution by firing squad.

By Evan Semones and AFP

Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has received widespread condemnation over his announcement to livestream the execution of a man who killed 13 people at a military base in Texas.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the US Congress were quick to react in the hours after the Pentagon chief told a conservative news outlet on Thursday that former US Army Major Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad would be made public.

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“Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting”, Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who recently expressed regret for his 2025 vote to confirm Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, said on social media. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”

Republican Congressman Austin Scott, who serves on the US House Armed Services Committee, also opposed the announcement.

“I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that,” the Georgia lawmaker said on X.

Scott’s Republican colleague in the US House, Congressman Rob Bresnahan, said, “The focus should be on justice for the victims and their families.”

“Their pain deserves respect, not a public show,” Bresnahan said.

Al Jazeera has not heard back from the three Republican senators – Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski – who opposed Hegseth’s confirmation.

Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, was sentenced to death in August 2013 after a military jury found him guilty of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder for the shooting at Fort Hood.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump authorised the use of a firing squad in Hasan’s execution. Hegseth said Thursday that it would take place at the military base on December 3 at 1pm local time (19:00 GMT), the same time the 2009 shooting took place.

US Senator Jack Reed, who serves as the top Democrat on the US Senate Armed Services Committee, called on the Trump administration on Friday to “reconsider” the decision, saying it is a “gift to anti-American terrorist recruiters”.

“Live-streaming an execution is a barbaric spectacle,” the Rhode Island lawmaker told Al Jazeera in a statement. “This is yet another stunt by Secretary Hegseth to distract from his tenure’s repeated failings which have only weakened our national security and standing in the world”.

Reed added, “It is absolutely shameful and damaging to America’s interests and core values.”

His fellow Democrat, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, rolled his eyes and appeared visibly shocked during a CNN interview on Thursday when asked about Hegseth’s decision.

“That’s disgusting”, Murphy told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “Is he mimicking ISIS [ISIL] executions? I understand that, in this country, we have the death penalty, but public executions [are] medieval”.

But not every lawmaker is opposed to the idea.

Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee said on social media that “public execution is what this terrorist deserves”, calling Hegseth’s decision “excellent”.

Army policy

US Vice President JD Vance, during a trip to his home state of Ohio on Friday, told reporters he won’t “be watching” the livestream of Hasan’s death.

“I see these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen”, Vance, who served in the US Marine Corps, said. “Let’s sort of see … when he’s executed.”

US Army policy limits who may witness military executions. According to regulation issued by the military branch, no person under the age of 18 may witness an execution. Victims, their family members, the prisoner’s lawyer and at least two members of the news media are among the limited number of people who are allowed to view.

For Hasan’s execution to be “public”, Reed said Trump would have to approve a waiver.

When asked whether Trump would grant that permission, the White House referred Al Jazeera to the Pentagon.

The head of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates broadcast communications in the country, said on Friday he would defer to the Pentagon on whether US networks could air the execution.

“Ultimately, we’re going to defer to Secretary Hegseth and, you know, his decisions on how to move forward with this,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a CNBC interview.

An official at the Defense Department told Al Jazeera that the agency has “nothing additional to provide”.

The United Nations has strongly condemned the livestreaming of Hasan’s execution, stating that it would breach international law.

A spokesperson for the UN human rights office told the news agency AFP that broadcasting the execution would be “tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture”.

Budget 2027: Government halts public university disciplinary proceedings relating to free speech

Budget 2027: Government halts public university disciplinary proceedings relating to free speech



Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Higher Education Ministry was preparing a comprehensive legal framework to replace the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA), covering university autonomy, academic freedom and student rights. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin


Summary

• The government has halted disciplinary proceedings at public universities related to freedom of speech, public criticism, and peaceful assembly with immediate effect.
• A new legal framework is being prepared to replace the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, aiming to enhance university autonomy and student rights.
• While certain disciplinary proceedings are stopped, cases of violence, vandalism, and criminal offences will still be addressed under current laws.

First Published: Friday, 09 Oct 2026 5:37 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — The government has halted disciplinary proceedings at public universities relating to freedom of speech, expression of views, public criticism and peaceful assembly with immediate effect.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Higher Education Ministry was preparing a comprehensive legal framework to replace the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA), covering university autonomy, academic freedom and student rights.


“With immediate effect, all disciplinary proceedings at public universities relating to freedom of speech, expression of views, public criticism and peaceful assembly have been halted,” Anwar told the Parliament today during the tabling of the Budget 2027.


Enacted in 1971, AUKU provides the legal framework for the establishment, administration and governance of public universities. It has long faced criticism over restrictions on student activism and political participation.


The Act was tightened through amendments in 1975 following a wave of student activism, giving university authorities greater powers over student activities and disciplinary action.

Subsequent amendments relaxed some restrictions. Changes in 2012 allowed students to participate in political party activities outside campus, while amendments in 2024 transferred disciplinary decisions involving public university students from vice-chancellors to student disciplinary committees.

Despite these changes, student groups continued to call for the Act’s repeal, arguing that it restricted student freedom and participation in public affairs.


Anwar announced in August that the government would repeal AUKU, assuring students that the move would not be followed by new laws that similarly restrict student movements.

The Higher Education Ministry subsequently announced that disciplinary proceedings at public universities relating to freedom of expression, public criticism and peaceful assembly would be stopped immediately while work on the new legal framework continued.

However, the ministry said cases involving violence, vandalism, criminal offences, academic misconduct and breaches of legitimate disciplinary rules would remain subject to existing laws and regulations.

 

Gaza ceasefire ‘exists in name only’, more than 100 NGOs say

Humanitarian and human rights groups call out Israel’s continued killings and restrictions across the enclave.

By Al Jazeera Staff

Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026

One year after the so-called ceasefire in Gaza was reached with United States backing, it exists only on paper, according to more than 100 humanitarian, human rights and civil society organisations.

“The ceasefire exists in name only, with Israeli forces continuing to kill and injure Palestinians daily, and restrictions on aid, equipment and rebuilding materials preventing families from recovering,” a joint statement by the NGOs said on Friday.

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Amnesty International, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, Oxfam, Greenpeace and dozens of other international groups said Israeli attacks in the enclave have killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including at least 327 children, in the year since US President Trump announced a deal to end hostilities as part of the Gaza Board of Peace framework.

“It is utterly shameful that a full year after the ceasefire was signed, so little has improved for Palestinians in Gaza,” Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in the joint statement.

Inger Ashing, chief executive of Save the Children, said, “A ceasefire is meaningless if children are still being killed and families are still unable to rebuild their lives.”

He noted that since the October 10, 2025 ceasefire was announced, “nearly one child has been killed every day.”

In the three years since Israel’s October 2023 genocidal war began, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and 175,000 others wounded – about one in every 13 people in Gaza – according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

A conservative World Health Organization (WHO) estimate suggests roughly 24 percent of the wounded have life-changing injuries requiring long-term rehabilitation, a quarter of them children.

Gaza’s few remaining health facilities are overwhelmed and have dwindling supplies, and none of its 36 hospitals is operating at full capacity, with widespread shortages of medicine, equipment and fuel, Friday’s ministry statement said.

It said that more than 18,500 patients, including at least 4,000 children, need medical evacuation, and more than 1,000 have died while waiting.

Almost 2 million Palestinians in the enclave are also in desperate need of shelter, where 80 percent of structures are damaged, the statement said.

Norwegian Refugee Council’s Egeland warned that restrictions on equipment and construction materials continue to prevent recovery.

“Israeli restrictions are still preventing the required equipment or materials, which are the only ways for communities to begin rebuilding their lives,” he said.

At the same time, 1.4 million people in Gaza are “facing crisis-level hunger or worse through the end of the year”, the statement added.

On Friday in Gaza, Israeli forces shot dead at least one Palestinian after firing live ammunition at civilians in the al-Musaddar, Maghazi and Bureij refugee camp areas in the centre of the Strip, which also came under heavy Israeli artillery shelling.

In Khan Younis in the south, Israeli tanks directed heavy fire towards the Bani Suheila roundabout, where a number of injuries were reported.

On Thursday, at least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in Israeli air strikes and shelling across Gaza.

Friday’s statement noted that Israeli forces had further squeezed the Palestinian population into an even more crowded environment by arbitrarily moving the so-called “Yellow Line”, established as a buffer to separate Israeli-controlled areas and the Palestinians as part of last year’s ceasefire framework.

The “ceasefire” took effect on October 10, 2025. Since then, Israel has killed at least 1,471 Palestinians and injured 5,189.

Three years of Israeli attacks have killed at least 74,254 Palestinians, including at least 21,000 children. That is about one in every 30 people, or 3 percent of the pre-war population.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health counts only deaths recorded at hospitals or officially registered. The true toll is likely much higher, as it excludes the thousands still buried in destroyed buildings or missing.

“Accountability cannot be buried under the rubble,” Agnes Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in the joint statement. “The persistent failure to hold Israel accountable and press Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s binding orders continues to fuel the atrocity crimes on a mass scale against Palestinians.”

Ukraine is a Wankee Coverup

From the FB page of:

JT Tan

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Sandi Brockway

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Ukraine is getting ready to be a BIG ISRAEL.