Israel forced to work on Jewish Sabbath as UN court judge calls out colleagues in scathing dissent

A U.N. International Court of Justice (ICJ) chided her colleagues on Friday for requiring Israel to work on the Sabbath when responding to a case brought by South Africa to the ICJ under the Genocide Convention.

The dissenting opinion from ICJ Vice President Julia Sebutinde came in a nine-page document, issued in response to the court's order for Israel to end its military offensive in the southern city of Rafah in Gaza. That ruling stems from South Africa's request, which accuses Israel of genocide in its ongoing war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Israel has vehemently denied these charges. 

Among her disagreements with her colleagues, Sebutinde, who is Ugandan, objected to the court's handling of South Africa's request, and the "incidental oral hearings." 

"In my view, the Court should have consented to Israel's request to postpone the oral hearings to the following week to allow for Israel to have sufficient time to fully respond to South Africa's Request and engage counsel," Sebutinde wrote, noting that the Israel's preferred Counsel was not available on the dates scheduled by the Court. 

"It is also regrettable that Israel was required to respond to a question posed by a Member of the Court over the Jewish Sabbath," Sebutinde said. "The Court's decision in this respect bear upon the procedural equality between the Parties and the good administration of justice by the Court." 

Sebutinde also argued that the court’s initial ruling "does not entirely prohibit the Israeli military from operating in Rafah." She also urged the court, to maintain its judicial integrity, to "avoid reacting to every shift in the conflict and refrain from micromanaging the hostilities in the Gaza Strip, including Rafah." 

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Sebutinde clarified that the ruling operates to "partially restrict Israel’s offensive in Rafah to the extent it implicates rights under the Genocide Convention." She warned that the ruling is "susceptible to ambiguity and could be misunderstood or misconstrued as ordering an indefinite, unilateral cease-fire, thereby exemplifying an untenable overreach on the part of the Court." 

The judges’ ruling on Friday stopped short of ordering a full cease-fire across the entire Palestinian territory, and Israel is unlikely to comply with the court's ruling. Friday's decision comes just days after Norway, Ireland, and Spain said they would recognize the Palestinian state, and the chief prosecutor of a separate international court sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as leaders of Hamas.

Since Oct. 7, Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

Reigning NASCAR champ Ryan Blaney discusses media pressure amid father's racing legacy, pity for Bronny James

When the child of a famous athlete begins to take his parent's sport seriously, the pressure is on, fairly or not.

That happened to Ryan Blaney when he was just a teenager since his father, Dave Blaney, drove in 473 races during a 17-year NASCAR career.

Ryan has since lived up to just about all the hype, winning the Cup Series last year and forever etching his name in the history books.

But that doesn't change the fact attention has been on him for some time.

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"I feel like when you’re a kid in a sport that your parents did, that kid’s expected to do that sport," Blaney told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

Blaney, though, said the pressure never came "internally."

"My dad never pressured me to do anything. If I wanted to do something else, he would’ve been totally supportive of that too. But it just worked out to where I enjoyed doing it. I had his full support. He taught me a lot of things I know," Ryan said.

"I try not to think of it as pressure, but it came more from the outside. The media and the other people watching, they have high expectations of you. It was hard to block that out, especially when you’re 18 years old, trying to put your name out there and trying to get a solid job.

"But I feel like dad always did a good job of keeping me away from that pressure, the high expectations, and just remind me to just enjoy what you enjoy doing. That’s kind of how I look at it."

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Ryan can sympathize with athletes who have superstar dads, Bronny James in particular.

"He has more pressure on him than I ever did," Blaney said. "I mean, being LeBron James’ kid, one of the greatest basketball players ever to do it, that’s a ton of pressure. That’s, like, another level.

"I think those kids — I’m 30 now — I see those 18-year-old kids with high expectations that are just thrust on their shoulders. Everyone wants them to be perfect. They’re kids. Don’t expect too much of them. Just let them do their thing. Let them grow, be who they want to be. And their work ethic has gotta be really great, too. I can relate to them a little bit."

Bronny was a McDonald's All-American his senior year of high school, but the speculation is that was all for show, given who he and his father are.

James averaged less than five points per game in his freshman season with USC after a cardiac arrest over the summer. He has since declared for the NBA Draft but can opt out. He also entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Despite his father being in the GOAT conversation, scouts have since said Bronny is "not an NBA prospect."

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