{"id":"1794631184548-news-segment","slug":"icc-closes-us-troops-probe","title":"ICC closes US troops probe","summary":"On Friday, Nov 6, 2026, Iran's IRGC Navy said two oil tankers caught fire and stopped after hitting sea mines in or near the Strait of Hormuz. It said one was east of the strait. The other was inside the waterway on a route the IRGC calls \"unauthorized\". It also said both vessels had switched off their tracking systems and had US fighter cover. On Oct 30, Iran made a similar claim about four tankers.\n\nThe US and Iran are in a standoff over Hormuz. The US says the main shipping lanes are clear of mines. Iran disputes that and insists ships use its designated routes. The strait has been effectively closed since the US and Israel attacked Iran, nearly six months before August. A ceasefire and talks have broken down, and the US has put a naval blockade on Iran. Trump has accused Iran of \"making up fake hits, mines, and everything else\". The Iranian claims come as fears grow that fighting could resume after the US midterms.\n\nOn Friday, Nov 6, 2026, Iran's IRGC Navy said two tankers hit mines. One was east of the strait. The other was inside it, on a route the IRGC calls \"unauthorized\", with US jet cover. This is Iran's own claim. Trump has accused Iran of \"making up fake hits, mines, and everything else\". The post's quote about the Chief of Staff is cut off, so I couldn't check it. This is an opinion and rant aimed at NATO. It makes no checkable claim. NAMES: NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Western military alliance. POST 2120496290404401399: NOCLAIM This is a request to the Grok chatbot for casualty figures. It asserts nothing, apart from the premise that the Iran war began on 28 Feb 2026. I did not check that date. NAMES: Grok = the AI chatbot built into X. EU = European Union.\n\nOn Nov 13, 2026, ICC judges formally closed the part of the Afghanistan investigation that covered alleged crimes by US troops. That part had been dormant since 2021. The probe into the ISIL affiliate ISKP was also closed.\n\nOn Friday, Nov 13, 2026, the FAA ordered a nationwide gr","publishedAt":"2026-11-14T04:39:44.548Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"News Tonight","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: On Friday, Nov 6, 2026, Iran's IRGC Navy said two tankers hit mines. One was east of the strait. The other was inside it, on a route the IRGC calls \"unauthorized\", with US jet cover. This is Iran's own claim. Trump has accused Iran of \"making up fake hits, mines, and everything else\". The post's quote about the Chief of Staff is cut off, so I couldn't check it. This is an opinion and rant aimed at NATO. It makes no checkable claim. NAMES: NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Western military alliance. POST 2120496290404401399: NOCLAIM This is a request to the Grok chatbot for casualty figures. It asserts nothing, apart from the premise that the Iran war began on 28 Feb 2026. I did not check that date. NAMES: Grok = the AI chatbot built into X. EU = European Union.\nSource: IranWire; LBC POST 2121000739598381533: NOCLAIM (https://x.com/ME_Observer_/status/2120463411259564377)\n\nTRUE: On Nov 13, 2026, ICC judges formally closed the part of the Afghanistan investigation that covered alleged crimes by US troops. That part had been dormant since 2021. The probe into the ISIL affiliate ISKP was also closed.\nSource: Yahoo News (Al Jazeera, Reuters); Reuters (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/icc-stops-probe-into-alleged-crimes-by-us-troops-in-afghanistan?traffic_source=rss)\n\nTRUE: On Friday, Nov 13, 2026, the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop. It lasted about 4½ hours and ended around 8:15 p.m. Eastern. The FAA blamed a \"temporary telecommunications\" problem, and Homeland Security saw no sign of a \"nefarious\" attack.\nSource: Washington Post; ABC News (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/faa-ground-stop-lifted-why-were-us-flights-grounded-and-whats-next?traffic_source=rss)\n\nMISLEADING: The case count is right. The CDC reported 5,412 confirmed US measles cases in 2026 as of Nov 13, a 35-year high. But the CDC's own count of measles deaths this year was six, not 10. The 10 figure may come from a different tally or newer reports, and I couldn't confirm it.\nSource: Detroit News (CDC data); Johns Hopkins US Measles Tracker via AAP Red Book (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/measles-associated-deaths-reach-10-in-us-after-two-more-deaths-reported?traffic_source=rss)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"On Friday, Nov 6, 2026, Iran's IRGC Navy said two tankers hit mines. One was east of the strait. The other was inside it, on a route the IRGC calls \"unauthorized\", with US jet cover. This is Iran's own claim. Trump has accused Iran of \"making up fake hits, mines, and everything else\". The post's quote about the Chief of Staff is cut off, so I couldn't check it. This is an opinion and rant aimed at NATO. It makes no checkable claim. NAMES: NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Western military alliance. POST 2120496290404401399: NOCLAIM This is a request to the Grok chatbot for casualty figures. It asserts nothing, apart from the premise that the Iran war began on 28 Feb 2026. I did not check that date. NAMES: Grok = the AI chatbot built into X. EU = European Union.","sourceName":"IranWire; LBC POST 2121000739598381533: NOCLAIM","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/ME_Observer_/status/2120463411259564377","claim":"🗞 Middle East roundup · 07:25–10:23 UTC IRAN & THE US ✅ The IRGC Navy says two tankers trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz by an unauthorized route with US fighter jet cover struck naval mines and exploded. ✅ Iran's Chief of Staff Abdollahi warns the US and Israel that","author":"Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_)"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"On Nov 13, 2026, ICC judges formally closed the part of the Afghanistan investigation that covered alleged crimes by US troops. That part had been dormant since 2021. The probe into the ISIL affiliate ISKP was also closed.","sourceName":"Yahoo News (Al Jazeera, Reuters); Reuters","sourceUrl":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/icc-stops-probe-into-alleged-crimes-by-us-troops-in-afghanistan?traffic_source=rss","claim":"ICC stops probe into alleged crimes by US troops in Afghanistan - The decision follows feuds between the United States and the Hague-based International Criminal Court.","author":"Al Jazeera"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"On Friday, Nov 13, 2026, the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop. It lasted about 4½ hours and ended around 8:15 p.m. Eastern. The FAA blamed a \"temporary telecommunications\" problem, and Homeland Security saw no sign of a \"nefarious\" attack.","sourceName":"Washington Post; ABC News","sourceUrl":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/faa-ground-stop-lifted-why-were-us-flights-grounded-and-whats-next?traffic_source=rss","claim":"FAA ground stop lifted: Why were US flights grounded, and what’s next? - The FAA says nationwide ground stop disrupting thousands of US flights was caused by a telecommunications outage.","author":"Al Jazeera"},{"verdict":"MISLEADING","summary":"The case count is right. The CDC reported 5,412 confirmed US measles cases in 2026 as of Nov 13, a 35-year high. But the CDC's own count of measles deaths this year was six, not 10. The 10 figure may come from a different tally or newer reports, and I couldn't confirm it.","sourceName":"Detroit News (CDC data); Johns Hopkins US Measles Tracker via AAP Red Book","sourceUrl":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/measles-associated-deaths-reach-10-in-us-after-two-more-deaths-reported?traffic_source=rss","claim":"Measles-associated deaths reach 10 in US after two more deaths reported - More than 5,400 confirmed measles cases have been recorded in the US to date this year.","author":"Al Jazeera"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/ME_Observer_/status/2120463411259564377","name":"IranWire; LBC POST 2121000739598381533: NOCLAIM","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_)"},{"url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/icc-stops-probe-into-alleged-crimes-by-us-troops-in-afghanistan?traffic_source=rss","name":"Yahoo News (Al Jazeera, Reuters); Reuters","kind":"news","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Al Jazeera"},{"url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/faa-ground-stop-lifted-why-were-us-flights-grounded-and-whats-next?traffic_source=rss","name":"Washington Post; ABC News","kind":"news","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Al Jazeera"},{"url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/14/measles-associated-deaths-reach-10-in-us-after-two-more-deaths-reported?traffic_source=rss","name":"Detroit News (CDC data); Johns Hopkins US Measles Tracker via AAP Red Book","kind":"news","verdict":"MISLEADING","author":"Al Jazeera"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794631184548-news-segment-icc-closes-us-troops-probe","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794631184548-news-segment-icc-closes-us-troops-probe","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1794631184548-news-segment-icc-closes-us-troops-probe and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Bella","text":"The International Criminal Court just closed the book on American troops in Afghanistan."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And it only took them five years of doing nothing to make it official."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The judges formally ended the part of the investigation that covered alleged crimes by US forces. That part's been dormant since 2021."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So this is the ICC admitting what everyone already knew: they were never going to touch American soldiers."},{"host":"Bella","text":"They also closed the probe into the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, which is the part that actually mattered."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And that tells you everything. The court spent years chasing Americans, and the terrorists get a pass too."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The backdrop here is the feud between Washington and the Hague. The US sanctioned ICC officials back when they threatened to investigate Americans."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Which was the right call. The ICC has no jurisdiction over US troops, and pretending otherwise was always a political stunt."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But the court does have jurisdiction over Afghanistan itself, since it's a member state. That's why the investigation opened in the first place."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And look how that ended. Five years, zero accountability for anyone, and now they quietly close it. What was the point?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"The point, I think, was to pressure the US. And when that failed, they had nothing left."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Exactly. This was never about justice. It was about leverage."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Meanwhile, the UN is blaming Israeli policies for making that Gaza winter storm worse."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The UN says Israel could have prevented death and destruction if it had allowed more aid in."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the UN's assessment, not an established fact. But it's a serious charge."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's also convenient. A storm hits, and somehow it's Israel's fault? Not the weather, not Hamas, not the war that Hamas started."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The argument is that aid restrictions left people without shelter and supplies, so the storm did more damage than it should have."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And Israel says it's been letting aid in. The UN has been wrong about Gaza before, and it'll be wrong again."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But even if you're skeptical of the UN, the humanitarian situation there is genuinely dire. That's not a political talking point."},{"host":"Brian","text":"No, it's not. But blaming Israel for a storm is a stretch, and the UN makes that stretch every single time."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Different world entirely: measles deaths in the US are climbing, and the numbers are getting ugly."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The CDC says more than 5,400 confirmed cases this year. That's a 35-year high."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And here's where it gets tricky. Some reports say 10 deaths. The CDC's own count is six."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So the death toll is either six or ten, depending on who's counting. Either way, it's too many for a disease we have a vaccine for."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the frustrating part. Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. Now it's back, and it's killing people."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And the response from public health officials has been... what, exactly? More finger-pointing about vaccine hesitancy?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's part of it. But there are also access issues, misinformation, and communities where vaccination rates have cratered."},{"host":"Brian","text":"We had this thing beat. Completely beat. And now we're arguing about whether the death count is six or ten."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The CDC number is the one I'd trust. The ten figure may come from a different tally."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Either way, the trend is bad. And nobody in charge seems to have a plan to reverse it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"One more story, and this one's a rumor that's been floating around: holidays cancelled for sailors on a US carrier in the Middle East, nuclear forces on high alert."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's from a prepper account on X, and I couldn't find a single news outlet reporting it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Right. No official word, no confirmation. It's a video link with a pile of hashtags."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Which is usually a sign that someone's trying to get clicks, not break news."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Neither part of that checks out."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And even if something like that were true, the Navy doesn't announce it through a prepper account with 38 likes."},{"host":"Bella","text":"So treat that one as noise. The real story in the region is the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And that's a story worth watching. Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims two tankers hit mines, one with US fighter cover."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's Iran's version. Trump says they're making up fake hits and mines. The truth is somewhere in the middle."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The strait has been effectively closed for months. The US says the main lanes are clear. Iran says they're not."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And with the midterms over, the fear is that fighting could resume. Regional officials are worried."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Trump warned of a heavy hit on Iran. Iran's negotiator said Americans voted no to war. Neither side is backing down."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the standoff. And it's not going away."}]}