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South Africa, Due to Host Putin, Rows Back from Pledge to Quit War Crimes Court

Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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South Africa, Due to Host Putin, Rows Back from Pledge to Quit War Crimes Court

Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa rowed back on Wednesday from a pledge to quit the International Criminal Court, months before he is due to host Russia's Vladimir Putin who is wanted by the ICC for suspected war crimes.

Ramaphosa had said on Tuesday that the ruling African National Congress would aim to repeal South Africa's membership of the Hague-based court, which hears cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. But on Wednesday, Ramaphosa's office said he had made a mistake, Reuters said.

"South Africa remains a signatory to the ICC in line with a resolution of the 55th National Conference of the ANC – held in December 2022 – to rescind an earlier decision to withdraw from the ICC," the presidency said in a statement.

"The December resolution was reaffirmed at a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the ANC during the weekend of 21 to 24 April 2023."

The ICC issued an arrest warrant in March for Putin, accusing him of the war crime of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. Moscow denies committing war crimes including forced deportations of children, and says the ICC has no authority as Russia is not a member.

Putin is due to visit South Africa in August for a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. As an ICC member, South Africa would be required to detain him.

Putin has not traveled abroad since the ICC warrant was issued. He has made only one trip outside the former Soviet Union - to Iran - since launching the invasion of Ukraine last year.

The ANC decided at its national conference in December that South Africa should abandon a legislative process to pull out of the ICC and try to effect changes to the organization from within.
The presidency said on Wednesday that South Africa would work towards establishing an African continental criminal court that would complement the ICC as a court of last resort.

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World

Ukrainian Drones Hit Warehouses and Other Sites Across Russia, Killing 9

This photograph shows smoke rising from a fire at the Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries' logistics complexes in the town of Elektrostal outside Moscow on July 18, 2026. (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP)
This photograph shows smoke rising from a fire at the Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries' logistics complexes in the town of Elektrostal outside Moscow on July 18, 2026. (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP)
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Ukrainian Drones Hit Warehouses and Other Sites Across Russia, Killing 9

This photograph shows smoke rising from a fire at the Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries' logistics complexes in the town of Elektrostal outside Moscow on July 18, 2026. (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP)
This photograph shows smoke rising from a fire at the Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries' logistics complexes in the town of Elektrostal outside Moscow on July 18, 2026. (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP)

Ukrainian drones struck two sprawling warehouses, one of them just east of Moscow, as part of attacks overnight and on Saturday afternoon that killed nine people and wounded more than 60, Russian officials said.

Kyiv's forces have pressed their relentless aerial campaign against energy infrastructure and military targets inside Russia, aiming to undermine Moscow’s war effort and make Russians feel the consequences of the Kremlin's all-out invasion of Ukraine that is well into its fifth year.

Two sprawling warehouses of Russia's major online retailer, Wildberries, were hit by Ukrainian drones overnight, according to Russian officials — one in the town of Kotovsk in the Tambov region, some 360 kilometers (220 miles) from the border with Ukraine, and another in the city of Elektrostal, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Moscow.

A Ukrainian drone also hit an oil depot in the city of Noginsk, just north of Elektrostal, sparking a fire and prompting evacuations of a nearby maternity hospital and a residential building, according to the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov. Drone debris also hit a kindergarten building, The Associated Press quoted Vorobyov as saying, sparking a fire that has since been put out.

Seven night shift workers were killed at the warehouse in Kotovsk and 25 others were wounded, Tambov regional Gov. Yevgeny Pervyshov said. A total of 37 people were wounded in the Moscow region, Vorobyov said, adding that one of those later died in the hospital.

This photo, released by Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov's official telegram channel, shows a building damaged during a Ukrainian drone attack in Elektrostal, Moscow region of Russia, on Saturday, July 18, 2026. (Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov's official telegram channel via AP)

One more person was killed and another wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Belgorod region on Saturday afternoon, according to local authorities.

Both warehouses caught fire, Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim said, and the blaze in Kotovsk was put out. Images and footage released by Russian online outlets showed a fire raging at the Elektrostal facility, with massive plumes of smoke towering over it.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post on Saturday that Ukrainian long-range strikes hit two “significant logistical facilities in the Moscow and Tambov regions."

“These facilities were used by the aggressor to supply sanctioned components for the production of drones and navigation equipment,” he wrote. An oil facility was also hit, he said.

In the city of Vladimir, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Moscow, a Ukrainian drone hit a residential building, sparking a brief fire, Vladimir Gov. Alexander Avdeyev said. There were no casualties, he added.

Ukrainian special operations also conducted strikes against targets in the Sea of Azov and in occupied territory, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement on Saturday that the fuel depot in Noginsk that was targeted overnight supplied the Russian armed forces. It also reported hitting two tankers, two floating cranes and a tugboat in the Black and Azov seas, saying the vessels were used to transport oil, fuel and military cargo.

Separately, the military said it struck a Project 10410 Svetlyak-class patrol ship in Kerch, describing it as the second vessel of that class hit in two days, as well as a railway bridge over the Bila River near Sabivka in the occupied Luhansk region that it said Russia uses for military logistics.

Overall, the Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 379 Ukrainian drones over 19 Russian regions, as well as the illegally annexed Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

World

Iran’s Supreme Leader Warns of ‘Unforgettable Lessons’ if US Continues Attacks

Mourners chant slogans as one of them holds a poster of the Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a ceremony commemorating the late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mourners chant slogans as one of them holds a poster of the Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a ceremony commemorating the late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Warns of ‘Unforgettable Lessons’ if US Continues Attacks

Mourners chant slogans as one of them holds a poster of the Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a ceremony commemorating the late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mourners chant slogans as one of them holds a poster of the Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a ceremony commemorating the late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned on Saturday of ‘unforgettable lessons’ if US continues attacks.

A new statement attributed to Khamenei, still unseen since the war began, was read out on state television.

He also called US President Donald Trump’s signature “worthless and invalid,” after an Iranian negotiator earlier Saturday said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal signed by both countries about a month ago.

The deal was aimed at permanently ending the war.

Khamenei said ⁠the ⁠United States should know that the Iranian nation and the "resistance front" had "unforgettable lessons" for it.

Washington and Tehran have exchanged strikes after a ceasefire agreement fell apart last week, raising fears of a return to all-out war.

The US Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.”

The US has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is “no longer implementing them,” Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV.

The most significant damage from Iranian strikes on Saturday occurred in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days.

Several firefighters and a worker were injured while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, according to the Kuwait Fire Force. Kuwait briefly closed its airspace due to missile threats, and Kuwait Airways said it was rescheduling most flights to and from the capital.

Meanwhile, Iraq said it shot down attack drones over the city of Irbil. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the kingdom’s air defense systems had downed Iranian missiles, while air sirens sounded multiple times in Bahrain throughout the day.

World

Mamdani Says He May Order Netanyahu's Arrest

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers remarks during a ceremony marking the 250th anniversary of US independence at City Hall in New York on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Anna CONNORS / POOL / AFP)
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers remarks during a ceremony marking the 250th anniversary of US independence at City Hall in New York on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Anna CONNORS / POOL / AFP)
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Mamdani Says He May Order Netanyahu's Arrest

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers remarks during a ceremony marking the 250th anniversary of US independence at City Hall in New York on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Anna CONNORS / POOL / AFP)
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers remarks during a ceremony marking the 250th anniversary of US independence at City Hall in New York on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Anna CONNORS / POOL / AFP)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was still discussing whether to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he comes to New York as expected for the UN General Assembly in September.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told Lulu Garcia-Navarro this week on “The Interview,” a New York Times show, referring to the home of the International Court of Justice.

“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani added. “And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”

According to NYT, the mayor said it was unclear to him whether he has the legal authority to order the Police Department, which he oversees, to detain a foreign leader like Netanyahu.

He said he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department about the matter.

“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” Mamdani added.