Comment on WHY IT MATTERS: The Role of Government

When the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan unveiled this week his intention to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders over respective violations of international humanitarian law, both parties responded with predictable outrage. But perhaps the most notable reactions came from the U. S. and the U.

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to The Associated Press in southern Israel on Tuesday, accusing the news organization of violating a new media law by providing images to Al Jazeera. The Qatari satellite channel is among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the AP and other news organizations.

Thai and American officials celebrated the arrival of the so-called Golden Boy—a 4-ft. tall, about 900-year-old bronze statue—to the National Museum in Bangkok on Tuesday, after years of negotiations to repatriate the sculpture along with other artifacts that had been misappropriated abroad. The return of the Golden Boy and the Kneeling Lady, another statue linked to the same alleged smuggler, was welcomed by Thai Minister of Culture Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol as well as U.

KALAMATA, Greece — A Greek judge dismissed a case Tuesday against nine Egyptian men accused of causing a shipwreck that killed hundreds of migrants last year and sent shockwaves through the European Union’s border protection and asylum operations, after a prosecutor told the court Greece lacked jurisdiction. The decision by Presiding Judge Eftichia Kontaratou came shortly after the trial opened in the southern Greek city of Kalamata, and was greeted with cheers and applause from supporters of the defendants at the courthouse. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] More than 500 people are believed to have gone down with the overcrowded fishing trawler, which had been traveling from Libya to Italy.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. said one person was killed and several others injured after a flight from the U. K. to Singapore encountered severe turbulence in the skies over Asia and was forced to make an emergency landing in Thailand. “We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER,” the carrier said in a statement.

Recent battlefield reverses in Ukraine, with Kherson under increasing attack, are powerful reminders that Ukraine needs every penny of support it can get urgently. Yet Western governments still refuse to seize Russia’s $300 billion in frozen assets, even though the idea of making Russia pay for Ukraine’s rebuilding is broadly popular across the U.