Middle East Crisis

Gaza War
Rubio: “ICC is a collection of lunatics and fools”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has dismissed the entire International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) as a collection of “lunatics and fools”, writes Reuters.

– If there are people who want to agree to be part of such a stupid organization, they can of course do so. But we will not be part of it and it will not be able to exercise power over Americans, he said, in connection with his visit to Manila on Thursday.

The statement comes after discussions about whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested when he visits the United States in September.

Netanyahu has been the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC since November 2024, for war crimes and crimes against humanity for the methods used by Israel in the invasion of Gaza.

According to an agreement, suspects are to be arrested if they set foot in any of the court's 125 member states, although the United States is not one of them.

Iran war
Analysis: Trump's war cannot be ended – and he is okay with that

The Trump administration is asking for tens of billions of dollars to continue the war against Iran – even though none of them seem to be able to explain why the war is still going on, writes CNN's Stephen Collinson in an analysis.

After five months of war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cannot even answer the question of what an American victory will look like, he writes.

In Foreign Policy, Keith Johnson writes plainly that the new US offensive is not working. At least not to open the Strait of Hormuz and avert the oil crisis.

"The few tools the US seems to have at its disposal – more airstrikes, more sanctions, more tariffs – will likely not be able to do anything about the fundamental problem," he writes.

The fundamental problem, according to Keith Johnson, is that Iran now has new red lines and new power over the Strait of Hormuz that they did not have before the war.

Adam Gabbatt's analysis in The Guardian reports that only 28 percent of Americans believe the war is even worth fighting. Even Trump's loyal voter base is starting to sour, he writes.

But Trump, who is not seeking re-election, does not have much to lose – unlike his Republican colleagues in Congress.

"Could the midterm elections be a disaster? Maybe. Will Trump get over it? Probably," writes Gabbatt.

War package gets green light from the House of Representatives

The US House of Representatives has voted in favor of a budget package of $95 billion, equivalent to 921 billion kronor, American media reports.

Most of it, $60 billion, will go to the Pentagon, which has warned of a shortage of money for the Iran war. $13 billion goes to “other national security needs,” $12 billion to help farmers affected by Trump’s tariff policies, and $10 billion to change election laws.

216 members—all Republicans but two—voted yes, and 214 voted no.

Texas Republican Jodey Arrington, the chairman of the budget committee, describes the package as “bullets and bombs to get the job done.”

Democrats argued that the money should instead be spent on reducing costs for Americans at home.

The bill now goes to the Senate for approval, where it is expected to face opposition.