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ICC Chief Says US Sanctions Won't Change Court's Handling of Cases

People stand outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the United States is considering imposing sanctions as soon as this week against the entire International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
People stand outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the United States is considering imposing sanctions as soon as this week against the entire International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
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ICC Chief Says US Sanctions Won't Change Court's Handling of Cases

People stand outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the United States is considering imposing sanctions as soon as this week against the entire International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
People stand outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the United States is considering imposing sanctions as soon as this week against the entire International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

The president of the International Criminal Court said on Monday US sanctions imposed on senior court officials disrupt their personal lives but vowed the institution would not yield to outside pressure.

President Donald Trump's administration slapped targeted sanctions on nine ICC officials, including prosecutors and judges, earlier this year in retaliation for investigations into suspected Israeli war crimes. Sources have said Washington is also mulling sanctions against the entire court, Reuters reported.

"We never accept any kind of pressure from anyone on issues of interpretation of the statutory framework and adjudication of cases," Judge Tomoko Akane said on the first day of the annual meeting in The Hague of the court's governing body, made up of representatives of its 125 member states.

Akane said the sanctions had unsettled the family lives of targeted officials and disrupted their financial transactions, even in ICC member states in Europe.

The sanctions freeze any US assets the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the US financial system, with which almost all internationally operating banks have close ties.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as figures from the Palestinian Hamas militant group, for alleged crimes committed during the Gaza war. They have all denied the charges mentioned in the warrants.

Washington has previously targeted court officials with sanctions for their roles in those cases and in a separate investigation into suspected crimes in Afghanistan, which initially had examined actions by US troops.

The ICC was founded in 2002 under a treaty giving it jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that were either committed by a citizen of a member state or had taken place on a member state's territory.

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World

Cyclone Vaianu Lashes New Zealand's North Island, Hundreds Evacuated

A road is damaged after a 07 April landslide in the area following Cyclone Erminio in Petacciato, Campobasso, Italy, 09 April 2026. EPA/NICOLA LANESE
A road is damaged after a 07 April landslide in the area following Cyclone Erminio in Petacciato, Campobasso, Italy, 09 April 2026. EPA/NICOLA LANESE
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Cyclone Vaianu Lashes New Zealand's North Island, Hundreds Evacuated

A road is damaged after a 07 April landslide in the area following Cyclone Erminio in Petacciato, Campobasso, Italy, 09 April 2026. EPA/NICOLA LANESE
A road is damaged after a 07 April landslide in the area following Cyclone Erminio in Petacciato, Campobasso, Italy, 09 April 2026. EPA/NICOLA LANESE

Cyclone Vaianu made landfall in New Zealand's North Island on Sunday, triggering floods, power outages and forcing hundreds to evacuate.

The cyclone crossed the coast near the Maketu Peninsula, packing destructive winds exceeding 130 kph (80 mph), heavy rain and large swells, national weather provider MetService said, describing Vaianu as a "life-threatening" system.

Authorities have placed several regions under emergency declarations and issued "red" level wind warnings, which are reserved for only the most extreme weather events, Reuters reported.

The cyclone was tracking towards the fringes of the North Island, sparing Auckland, the country's most populous city, from the worst conditions, said Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell. But stronger winds and swells were still expected after its afternoon landfall.

"It’s ⁠moved more to ⁠the fringes and more to the east, which means that we haven't quite seen the intensity that we had prepared for or that we thought we were going to get hit with. So that is good news," Mitchell said.

"In terms of what we're going to expect over the next 12 hours is we are going to see a bit more of intensification, as the cyclone starts to come down and get closer."

The combination of the ⁠afternoon's high tide and large swells from the storm could trigger coastal inundation, Mitchell warned.

"The concerning time is really from 2 p.m. this afternoon (0800 GMT) onwards when we've got high tides combined with those big swells," he said.

The cyclone has forced hundreds of residents to evacuate and knocked out electricity to 5,000 homes, with power restored to roughly 2,000, he said.

Authorities in the coastal Whakatane District reported a significant amount of damage as Vaianu passed through, with mandatory evacuations carried out at 270 properties.

New Zealand Defense Force members and heavy equipment have also been deployed to assist with evacuations.

MetService said it had recorded 130 kph wind gusts in some areas, 24-hour rainfall totals of more than 100 mm (4 ⁠inches) in the city ⁠of Whangarei and wave heights exceeding six meters (20 feet).

Air New Zealand said in a statement that it had cancelled more than 90 turboprop flights, primarily out of regional North Island airports.

"Domestic jet and international services are operating as scheduled, although there are some delays due to the weather conditions," the airline said.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it responded to more than 100 calls for assistance relating to wind damage and surface flooding.

Conditions will ease as Vaianu works its way down the North Island before exiting on Sunday evening at Hawke's Bay, MetService said.

"Things do improve from tonight and tomorrow, but at the moment this is still a life-threatening weather system," said Heather Keats, MetService head of weather news.

Vaianu has conjured up memories of 2023's Cyclone Gabrielle, which killed 11 and displaced thousands in one of New Zealand's biggest natural disasters this century.

World

China Says it Will Resume Some Ties with Taiwan Including More Direct Flights

People visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan April 12, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su
People visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan April 12, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su
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China Says it Will Resume Some Ties with Taiwan Including More Direct Flights

People visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan April 12, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su
People visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan April 12, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su

China said Sunday it would resume some ties it had suspended with Taiwan such as direct flights to cities across China and imports of Taiwanese aquaculture products as the island's opposition party leader concludes her visit.

The Taiwan Work Office under China's Communist Party issued a statement saying it would explore setting up a longstanding communication mechanism between the Communist Party and Taiwan’s Kuomingtang Party, and facilitate the import of Taiwan’s aquaculture products, after it banned them in recent years.

Cheng Li-wun, the head of the Kuomingtang, and China’s President Xi Jinping held a high-profile meeting Friday during which both called for peace without offering specifics. Taiwan is self-ruled but China claims the island as part of its territory.

Relations between China and Taiwan have been tense since 2016 when the Taiwanese public elected Tsai Ing-wen from the Democratic Progressive Party as president. Since then, Beijing cut off most of its official dialogue with Taiwan's government in the capital Taipei and started sending military planes and vessels towards the island on a daily basis.

The list of measures in the statement touches on ties that China had suspended in recent years as tensions increased, The Associated Press reported.

China plans to resume direct flights for other mainland cities like Xi'an or Urumqi to Taiwan, the statement said, although it remained unclear how the measures will be implemented.

China banned individual trips by Chinese people to Taiwan in 2019. Taiwan's rules now require Chinese visitors to hold a valid resident visa from another country, like the US or the European Union, to apply for a visitor visa.

China also said it would work toward construction of a bridge that would connect to Matsu and Kinmen, Taiwanese islands that are closer geographically to China. The project is a longstanding proposal that Beijing has previously announced.

China banned the import of Taiwanese pineapples in 2021 and since then extended the import ban to products as varied as the grouper fish, squid, tuna and other fruits.

After the initial ban on grouper, Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture said it approached China about making adjustments to ensure it met import requirements. China replied with a limited list of individual companies that were allowed to sell to China, but without explanation.

Taiwan added it would "continuously assist farmers and businesses in expanding into overseas markets" in order to diversify risk, according to a statement it issued Saturday.

World

Tehran: No One Had Expectation of Reaching Deal with US in One Session

A security guard walks past a billboard of the US-Iran talks outside a media center set up for the coverage of the US-Iran official meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A security guard walks past a billboard of the US-Iran talks outside a media center set up for the coverage of the US-Iran official meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
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Tehran: No One Had Expectation of Reaching Deal with US in One Session

A security guard walks past a billboard of the US-Iran talks outside a media center set up for the coverage of the US-Iran official meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A security guard walks past a billboard of the US-Iran talks outside a media center set up for the coverage of the US-Iran official meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Iran's foreign ministry said no one had held any expectation that talks with the United States could have reached an agreement within one session after the negotiations in Islamabad stalled on Sunday.

"Naturally, from the beginning we should not have expected to reach an agreement in a single session. No one had such an expectation," ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

He said Tehran was "confident that contacts between us and Pakistan, as well as our other friends in the region, will continue.”

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said that "excessive" US demands had hindered reaching an agreement. Other Iranian media said there was agreement on a number of issues but that the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program were the main points of difference.

"The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America," Vice President JD Vance, the head of the US delegation, told reporters shortly before he left Islamabad.

In his brief press conference, Vance did not mention reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20% of global energy supplies that Tehran has blocked since the war began.

Vance said he had spoken with President Donald Trump as many as a dozen times during the talks. But even as the negotiations continued, Trump said on Saturday that a deal was not entirely necessary.