Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court. He accused the body—which issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in November—of “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting America’s “close ally”. The order bars visas and blocks financial transactions of those probing Israel. The move came days after the American president pledged to “take over Gaza”.
A judge in America temporarily halted the Trump administration’s “buy-out” programme, which the president hopes will lead to the resignations of 200,000 federal workers. The stay is intended to give trade unions time to mount a legal challenge. Another judge blocked Elon Musk—Mr Trump’s shredder-in-chief—from accessing the Treasury’s payment system. The system doles out Medicare and Social Security payments, among other things.
Amazon said it would invest around $100bn this year, primarily on its artificial-intelligence projects, mirroring a similar announcement by Alphabet earlier this week. The spending comes despite concerns among some investors that American AI firms might be outflanked by DeepSeek, a recently unveiled Chinese competitor. Amazon reported net income of $20bn for the last quarter, close to double last year’s figure.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he would not negotiate with the Trump administration, calling talks “neither wise, nor prudent, nor dignified”. This week Mr Trump signed an executive order reinstating sanctions against Iran and called for a “verified nuclear peace agreement”. Iran has sought to reassure America it is not pursuing a bomb, although it is ramping up uranium enrichment and installing advanced centrifuges.
The Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years. The key repo rate is now 6.25%, down by a quarter of a percentage point. The decision, which was widely expected by analysts, is intended to boost the country’s economy as it grapples with inflation and stagnant wages. India’s GDP grew by an annualised 5.4% in the third quarter, the slowest pace in nearly two years.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected six Chinese balloons near the island in the past 24 hours, with one flying directly overhead—one of the highest daily tallies ever recorded. Nine Chinese aircraft and six warships were also detected in the surrounding waters. Taiwan has called these incursions “grey zone” tactics designed to exhaust its military resources.
Mizuhara Ippei, the former interpreter for Ohtani Shohei, a baseball sensation, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for crimes related to gambling. Last year, Mr Mizuhara was caught stealing around $17m from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account to appease his “voracious appetite” for sports betting. He must also pay around $18m in restitution.
Figure of the day: $180bn, the amount Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft spent on data-centre infrastructure last year. Read the full story.
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