First Thing: ICC seeks Netanyahu’s arrest over allegations of ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’

The international criminal court also issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Yoav Gallant and Hamas’s Mohammed Deif. Plus, Trump picks Bondi for attorney general after Gaetz withdraws

Good morning.

The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif – over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The chamber ruled there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

Deif, who Israel claims to have killed, was also accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, torture, rape and hostage taking.

What did the chamber say? There are “reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals 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”.

What does it mean? The court has no police force, so we’re unlikely to see them standing trial anytime soon, but the ruling holds strong moral weight. Netanyahu and Gallant are at risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that signed the Rome statute establishing the court.

What was the reaction? The move was broadly welcomed by human rights groups. But Joe Biden said it was “outrageous” and Netanyahu’s office called it “antisemitic”.

Trump names Bondi as attorney general pick after Gaetz steps aside

Donald Trump will nominate Pam Bondi, the former Florida state attorney general, for attorney general. The news came hours after former representative Matt Gaetz withdrew in the face of opposition from Senate Republicans, who had baulked over a series of sexual misconduct allegations.

“Pam will refocus the DoJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again,” Trump said on Truth Social. It marked another instance of Trump putting his personal lawyers in the justice department.

Why has Trump picked Bondi? It is likely to be because of loyalty. She became a fierce defender of his candidacy in 2016, helped with Trump’s legal defense during his first impeachment trial, parroted claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and continued working as a surrogate through the 2024 campaign when she attended Trump’s criminal trial in New York.

Russia launches ballistic missile attack on Ukraine and threatens western allies

President Vladimir Putin said Russia fired an experimental ballistic missile at a military site in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, and that Moscow “had the right” to strike western countries that provided Kyiv with weapons used against Russia.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” and called for strong worldwide condemnation, as Nato accused Putin of seeking to “terrorize” civilians and intimidate Ukraine’s allies.

The latest escalation follows Ukraine’s use of US Atacms missiles. Both sides are intensifying their military efforts before the 20 January inauguration of Donald Trump, who wants to end the war.

What did Putin say? The missile deployment “was a response to US plans to produce and deploy intermediate and short-range missiles”, and that “Russia reserves the right to use weapons against targets in countries that permit their weapons to be used against Russian targets”.

How powerful is the missile? US and UK sources believe the missile fired on Dnipro was an experimental, nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile, which has a theoretical range of below 3,420 miles. That could reach Europe but not the US.

In other news …

Brazil’s former rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro has been charged with plotting coup d’état. Bolsonaro and allies are accused by federal police of criminal conspiracy to obliterate the country’s democratic system.

At least 42 people have been killed and 20 wounded after gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying Shia Muslims in north-west Pakistan, in one of the region’s deadliest attacks in recent years.

A British lawyer has become the fifth person to die in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos. Authorities in Laos are investigating the incident.

Alabama carried out its third execution this year using the controversial new method of nitrogen gas, a technique that in previous state killings caused visible signs of distress.

Stat of the day: McKinsey nears $600m settlement with US government over role in opioid crisis

McKinsey is in talks to pay more than $600m to resolve a Department of Justice criminal investigation. The consulting firm worked to help opioid manufacturers – Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, and other drugmakers – bolster sales of drugs such as OxyContin. McKinsey is accused of helping fuel the deadly opioid addiction epidemic.

Don’t miss this: I mistook Trump for ‘someone completely normal’, Merkel says

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s first mistake with Donald Trump, she writes in her memoir, was treating him as if he were “completely normal”, but she quickly learned of his “emotional” nature and soft spot for authoritarians. She also revealed backing Kamala Harris.

Climate check: Poor countries face compromises on climate cash, former UN climate envoy says at Cop29

Poor countries may have to compromise on demands for cash to tackle global heating, a former UN climate envoy has said, as Cop29 talks entered their final hours in deadlock. Mary Robinson, the former Irish president and twice a UN climate envoy, said on Thursday night that rich country budgets were stretched amid inflation, Covid and wars.

Last Thing: ‘My dog went missing for nine years – then we were reunited’

Judith Monarrez’s dog Gizmo went missing in 2015. “Over the years, I kept up the search. But when the pandemic hit in 2020, we finally started to mourn Gizmo,” she says. “Finally, they brought him out to me, wrapped in a blanket … ‘Gizmy,’ I whispered. He tilted his head at the familiar sound before licking my nose in recognition.”

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