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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said his administration is examining whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Speaking on The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast, Mamdani said the city’s legal department is assessing the matter, which aligns with a campaign pledge he made during the mayoral race.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court. And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”

When asked about the legal authority available to his office, Mamdani said the issue remains under review.

“That’s an active conversation with our legal department. However, what we’ve seen at the national level is a desire sometimes to write your own laws, to go outside of the bounds of legality. That’s not something we have an interest in.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders in 2024 over alleged war crimes committed during and after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. Both President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden criticised the court’s decision.

The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC and requires member states to execute the court’s arrest warrants. The Trump administration has also intensified its criticism of the ICC, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently pledging to “dismantle” the court and accusing it of “waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles” but with “the force of so-called international law.”

Mamdani has consistently criticised the Israeli government and has described Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a “genocide,” an allegation Israel has repeatedly rejected.

Reacting to the mayor’s remarks, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz dismissed the comments on Saturday, describing them as “pure political theater” while stressing that the United States is not a member of the ICC.

Netanyahu also played down Mamdani’s position during an interview earlier in the week with WABC radio host Sid Rosenberg.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said on social media on Saturday that Netanyahu “will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride, and stand before the world to state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens.”

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The UK Home Office has warned young travellers not to jeopardise their futures by accepting offers of free holidays or luxury trips from criminal gangs seeking to recruit drug couriers.

The warning released on July 17, 2026 on its website, issued by Border Force ahead of the peak summer holiday season, comes amid a sharp rise in cannabis smuggling through UK airports, with organised crime groups increasingly targeting school and university leavers, first-time travellers and young holidaymakers through social media.

According to the Home Office, the number of cannabis smugglers intercepted on arrival in the UK by air increased from 142 in 2023 to 976 in 2025.

In the first six months of 2026 alone, 600 air passenger couriers were arrested at UK airports, with men aged between 18 and 37 travelling from Thailand accounting for the largest group.

Border Force said criminal gangs “entice victims with promises of free luxury holidays, business-class flights and spending money” before coercing them into carrying cannabis into the UK.

As part of a nationwide awareness campaign at UK airports, Border Force has “advised travellers to refuse offers of free holidays or accommodation, particularly to destinations where cannabis is legal, including Thailand, Canada and parts of the United States.”

The agency also urged travellers to ensure they know the contents of their luggage, avoid carrying bags belonging to others, ignore approaches made through social media platforms, retain control of their passports and personal documents, and remember that bringing cannabis into the UK remains a serious criminal offence regardless of its legal status abroad.

Border Force Lead Officer for Safeguarding, Kate Goldstone, said: “Organised criminal gangs are exploiting young people for profit – living it up while leaving their courier victims facing lifetime consequences.

“Our message to young travellers is simple. If an offer feels too good to be true, it probably is.

“A single decision made before a holiday could lead to a criminal record, a prison sentence and years of lost opportunities.”

Border Force warned that anyone caught smuggling cannabis could face arrest, prosecution, a criminal record, up to 14 years’ imprisonment and restrictions on future international travel, with lasting consequences for employment and education.

The agency said cannabis seizures at UK airports have reached record levels, rising by 50 per cent over the past year. Seizures from air passengers increased from 2.1 tonnes in 2022 to more than 28 tonnes in 2025.

Although Thailand has emerged as a major source country, Border Force said “criminal networks also operate in other jurisdictions where cannabis is legal or more readily available, including Canada, the United States and parts of Europe.”

The warning coincides with the implementation of a joint UK-Thailand crackdown on cannabis smuggling.

Under the initiative, British nationals caught attempting to “smuggle cannabis from Thailand face average fines of about £17,700 or prison sentences of up to two years.”

Border Force urged anyone approached to transport cannabis or other illegal drugs to report the matter to local authorities, consular services or Crimestoppers.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged Cuba to immediately release more than 700 political prisoners, as a prominent Cuban dissident artist arrived in Miami after five years in prison.

Rubio confirmed in a statement the arrival in the United States of artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, and added: “We call for the immediate release of the more than 700 unjustly detained political prisoners held by the regime.”

“The international community must stop turning a blind eye to the human rights abuses of the Cuban regime and join us in demanding an end to their repression,” he said.

AFP