The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four additional officials of the International Criminal Court, escalating its campaign against the Hague-based tribunal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the court poses “a national security threat” and accused it of conducting “lawfare” against the United States and its ally Israel. The designations target two judges—Kimberly Prost of Canada and Nicolas Yann Guillou of France—and deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal. According to the State Department, Prost authorized an investigation of U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, while Guillou presided over the panel that approved arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. Khan and Niang were cited for continuing to support the warrants. The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets the officials hold and bar Americans from doing business with them. The ICC called the measures “a flagrant attack” on its independence, and France and the United Nations urged Washington to withdraw the penalties, warning they undermine international justice. Netanyahu, by contrast, praised the move as a “firm measure” against what he described as a smear campaign targeting Israel. Wednesday’s action follows a similar round of sanctions in June and stems from a February executive order that authorises penalties against ICC personnel involved in cases against Americans or Israelis. Neither the United States nor Israel recognises the court’s jurisdiction, while 125 countries are party to its statute.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a temporary administrative injunction blocking the federal government from completing a land swap with Rio Tinto and BHP that is required to build the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona. The transfer of federally owned forest land had been scheduled for this week but will remain on hold while the court reviews an emergency motion filed by the San Carlos Apache tribe and conservation groups. The Apache argue that the proposed underground mine would destroy Oak Flat, a site they consider sacred, and threaten local water supplies and the environment. The court said it takes no position on the merits of the case but ordered expedited briefing, with all filings due by 14 October, effectively delaying the transfer for at least two months. President Donald Trump condemned the ruling in a Truth Social post, calling the panel a "radical left court" and warning that the delay jeopardises roughly 3,800 jobs and the nation’s supply of a critical industrial metal. Trump’s comments followed a White House meeting with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the chief executives of Rio Tinto and BHP, who sought support for the long-stalled project. Resolution Copper, 55 % owned by Rio Tinto and 45 % by BHP, is designed to operate more than 2 km underground and, according to the companies, could supply about a quarter of U.S. copper demand for up to four decades. The project has been in permitting and litigation for nearly twenty years; final environmental approval was granted in June, but opponents secured the latest injunction on 19 August. Rio Tinto and BHP said they remain confident the land transfer will ultimately be upheld, while tribal leaders urged the administration to reconsider what they called a giveaway of U.S. mineral resources to foreign companies. The appeals court has not yet set a date for oral arguments.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has invoked emergency powers that allow the Food and Drug Administration to issue rapid Emergency Use Authorizations for veterinary drugs aimed at treating or preventing infestations of the New World screwworm. No cases have been confirmed in the United States for decades, but regulators said fast-track approvals are necessary because the flesh-eating parasite has advanced through Mexico and now threatens the domestic cattle herd. The policy shift comes alongside a broader containment campaign led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which last week earmarked up to $750 million to build a sterile-fly production plant at Moore Air Force Base near Edinburg, Texas. When completed, the facility is expected to release about 300 million sterile male flies a week—triple existing global output—and is supplemented by a $100 million programme for traps, lures and border patrols. Washington halted imports of live cattle, horses and bison from Mexico in July after the pest was found roughly 370 miles south of the border. Ranchers warn that an outbreak could devastate Texas’s $15 billion cattle industry and lift already-record U.S. beef prices. The screwworm, eradicated in the United States in the 1970s, has caused at least five human deaths from myiasis in Central America this year and was recently detected in Mexican herds for the first time in a generation. Officials said emergency drug authorisations will give veterinarians interim tools while the fly factory is built, a process expected to take two to three years. The FDA is reviewing literature on existing antiparasitic products and reaching out to foreign manufacturers as it prepares for potential U.S. cases. While health authorities maintain that the immediate risk to people remains low, they characterised the threat to livestock and the food supply as significant enough to warrant the unprecedented measures.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said Nvidia will need to secure a U.S. government license before introducing any new semiconductor products for the Chinese market, according to remarks broadcast by CNBC on 19 Aug 2025. The measure extends Washington’s export-licensing regime over the chip designer, which has already been subject to restrictions on certain advanced processors sold to China. No details on the scope of the prospective licenses or the timing of implementation were provided.

U.S. law-enforcement agencies have been secretly embedding location-tracking devices in select shipments of advanced artificial-intelligence chips to detect and document attempts to divert the hardware to China, two people with direct knowledge of the tactic told Reuters. Trackers have been discovered in servers shipped by Dell and Super Micro that contain GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, the sources said. In a 2024 consignment, investigators used both smartphone-sized tags affixed to shipping cartons and smaller units concealed inside server chassis. The operation is run by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, with support from Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, and is limited to high-risk consignments under active investigation. Officials hope the data will bolster criminal cases against exporters who breach U.S. controls introduced in 2022 to curb Beijing’s access to cutting-edge semiconductors. Dell said it is "not aware of a U.S. government initiative" involving trackers; Super Micro declined to discuss its security practices, and Nvidia and AMD did not comment. China’s foreign ministry had no immediate response, but Beijing has repeatedly criticised Washington’s chip curbs, while U.S. lawmakers debate mandating built-in location verification in future shipments.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin offered sweeping praise for the United States during their meeting in Anchorage, Alaska late Friday. Trump, speaking minutes later on Fox News in an interview with Sean Hannity, recounted that Putin told him, “I’ve never seen anybody do so much, so fast. Your country is like hot as a pistol, and a year ago I thought it was dead.” The Kremlin has not commented on Trump’s account, and the White House declined to elaborate on the private discussion. No concrete policy agreements were announced after the talks, but the U.S. president portrayed the exchange as evidence that his administration has revitalized the economy and strengthened America’s global standing. Trump’s characterization of Putin’s remarks comes as the two leaders attempt to manage tensions over Ukraine, energy supplies, and cyber-security. The meeting was their first in-person encounter since Trump returned to the White House, and his retelling of the conversation quickly drew scrutiny because it relies solely on his description of what was said behind closed doors.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States is in the process of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. This move, supported by the Trump administration, aims to formally ban the group and its affiliates, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), from operating within the U.S. The designation involves compiling the necessary documentation to establish the Muslim Brotherhood's ties to terrorism and is part of broader bipartisan legislative efforts, including initiatives by Senator Ted Cruz. Rubio emphasized that the U.S. is reviewing groups for potential terrorist designations, targeting specific branches of the Muslim Brotherhood and related entities. The decision has garnered support from various political figures who view it as a measure to enhance national security. The designation would enable the U.S. to freeze assets, ban members from entering the country, and target affiliated organizations. The process is ongoing, with officials describing it as a long-overdue action against an organization considered a grave concern due to its alleged support for terrorist activities.

The United States and Paraguay signed a Safe Third Country Agreement on Thursday aimed at rerouting certain asylum seekers who arrive at the U.S. border to Paraguay for the processing of their claims. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano formalized the pact in Washington. Rubio said the arrangement deepens bilateral cooperation to curb "illegal and irregular migration" by offering a regional alternative to the U.S. system. Details of eligibility criteria and implementation timelines were not immediately released, but officials said the accord is intended to ease pressure on U.S. asylum officers and detention facilities while expanding protection options within South America.

The United States, the United Nations and a group of allied countries issued a joint statement expressing deep concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Sudan, where fighting between rival military factions has displaced civilians and disrupted delivery of food, water and medical supplies. The statement urged the warring parties to agree to immediate and sustained humanitarian cease-fires, warning that the continued obstruction of aid is costing civilian lives, particularly among children. U.S. Representative Lois Frankel separately pressed the State Department for an expedited plan to move relief into hard-hit areas, saying the window to save lives is narrowing.

The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a five-count indictment on 14 August charging five senior members of Carteles Unidos, or United Cartels, with conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, and with firearms offences that carry potential life sentences. The defendants—Juan José Farías Álvarez, Alfonso Fernández Magallón, Luis Enrique Barragán Chávez, Edgar Orozco Cabadas and Nicolás Sierra Santana—remain at large in Mexico. The State Department offered rewards totaling as much as US$26 million for information leading to their capture. In a parallel action, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Carteles Unidos, the rival Los Viagras gang and seven of their alleged leaders, blocking any U.S. assets and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them. Both organisations were earlier designated foreign terrorist groups, and Washington says the proceeds of their extensive methamphetamine operations in Michoacán fund weapons purchases, hired mercenaries and bribes to local officials. Federal prosecutors said the indictment stemmed from a years-long investigation that began with a 2019 car accident in rural Tennessee. Wiretaps, search warrants and a police shoot-out ultimately led agents to clandestine laboratories in western Mexico and the seizure of about 950 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a tractor-trailer, illustrating how cartel supply chains reach small U.S. communities. The latest charges and sanctions broaden the Trump administration’s campaign against Mexican drug syndicates. Earlier this week Mexico transferred 26 wanted cartel figures to U.S. custody, and Washington signalled it expects further cooperation in bringing the newly indicted suspects before American courts.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the administration will outline details of forthcoming security guarantees later today, indicating Washington will play an active role. "We will be involved," he told reporters, adding that with the security framework "there will be a lot of help" for the intended recipient, which he did not name. Trump did not elaborate on the scope or beneficiaries of the guarantees, saying only that additional information would be provided before the end of the day. The remarks suggest the White House is preparing a material commitment, though the scale and form of support remain unclear.

The U.S. State Department has intensified its criticism of Europe’s new internet regulations, calling the European Union’s Digital Services Act “Orwellian” and warning that its content-moderation rules threaten free speech and technological innovation. A recent House Judiciary Committee report argues that the DSA’s ‘trusted flaggers’ and voluntary ‘codes of conduct’ effectively coerce platforms into removing legal content deemed “misinformation,” a practice U.S. officials say could limit what American users can publish or read online. Washington is also targeting the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, whose latest provisions require large platforms and pornography sites to verify users’ ages. Since the rules took effect on 25 July, sites such as PornHub and RedTube have begun blocking unverified U.K. visitors, while Spotify, Reddit and X have introduced their own age-checks. A U.K. High Court judge last week categorised Wikipedia as a “category one” service, exposing it to similar verification duties. Critics, including Vice President JD Vance and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, contend the measures chill expression and create onerous compliance costs for U.S. companies. European officials defend the laws as necessary to curb child exploitation, hate speech and disinformation, but senior members of the Trump administration say they will resist any attempt to export the approach to the United States. The dispute adds a new point of tension to trans-Atlantic digital policy just as Washington and London pursue broader trade talks.