The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has been barred from entering the U.S., becoming the first person to be hit by President Donald Trump's sanctions against the beleaguered tribunal. Trump has accused the ICC — formed in 2002 to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states — of abusing its power and threatening national security by taking "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel." An executive order signed by Trump last week imposed sanctions on designated ICC personnel, including prosecutor Karim Khan, that froze their U.S. assets and barred them and their families from entering the country. 

What did the commentators say?
Trump's "vicious assault" on the Netherlands-based organization is "no surprise," said The Guardian, but it "goes even further" than sanctions imposed in his first term, "attacking the fundamentals of the court and endangering its functioning." This represents a "serious challenge" to the work of the ICC, which is currently investigating alleged crimes in 12 ongoing situations, including in Afghanistan, Darfur, Myanmar, Ukraine and Venezuela, according to the EU. 

The U.S. — along with China, India, Israel and Russia — has never been part of the ICC. And in recent years, court members have increasingly ignored its rulings amid a fracturing of the post-Cold War international-rules-based consensus. While the court has issued 33 unsealed arrest warrants — for figures ranging from Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin to Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony — it's "currently without a single trial ahead for the first time since it arrested its first suspect in 2006," said Time. 

If nothing else, this shows international humanitarian law "needs instruments that better reflect the nature of contemporary conflict, institutions that can apply them dispassionately, and the acquiescence of sovereign states to their jurisdiction," said The Spectator. To this end, it's "possible to be a liberal internationalist, concerned with the humanitarian dimension of conflict, and welcome Donald Trump's intervention." 

What next?
Human Rights Watch has warned that the sanctions could "intimidate court officials and staff" and "chill broader cooperation with the ICC." The court has received the backing of dozens of member states in recent days and could charge Trump and other U.S. officials behind the sanctions with obstruction of justice. This would mean Trump could not travel to ICC member states, including most European countries.

Drones have become ubiquitous on battlefields over the last few years, but they aren't simply for surveillance and reconnaissance anymore. Technology has allowed drones to be enhanced with a variety of tools that allow them to carry out tasks, attack the enemy and make a difference in war maneuvers, and new technologies are continuing to emerge. 

Claws
Claws are reportedly being attached to drones to pick up and drop objects on the battlefield. In 2023, there were unconfirmed reports that Ukraine has been "abducting wounded Russian troops from the battlefield using giant drones equipped with pincers," said The Daily Beast.

Ukrainians can also "rig the drones with a claw to carry a small explosive, like a grenade," said NPR. These claws can then drop the explosives with "great precision into a Russian trench or even into the open top hatch of a tank." Magnets are reportedly being used for similar purposes. 

Shotguns
Ukraine has reportedly been experimenting with strapping various weapons onto drones, including grenades and RPGs. But a recent report noticed something a bit more unusual: At least "one viral video shows not one but two shotguns mounted to a drone, which zips around blasting three Russian drones before targeting an infantry member on the ground," said Ars Technica.

This "demonstrates a unique application" of a drone "equipped with stabilizing and rotary mechanisms for small arms," a Ukrainian soldier said to the Kyiv Post. But these are "likely bulky and noisy, making them vulnerable to infantry fire or detection by enemy electronic warfare systems."

Motherships
Several countries, including China, Iran and Ukraine, reportedly use drone motherships to dispatch their flying machines. There are various forms, but they are often large drones that "can carry and eventually deploy a set of smaller attack drones," said Ars Technica. 

Artificial intelligence
As AI becomes more sophisticated, countries are using it to drive their drones in favor of human pilots. Russian officials "already acknowledge that 'autonomous flying robots' — drones with artificial intelligence that determine their own targets — are already used in combat and apparently 'kill' people," said West Point's Modern War Institute.