It is finally May and time to declare this a crummy year to have purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Racing was supposed to begin this weekend at the historic speedway where Roger Penske would have unveiled the initial phase of his renovations after completing the purchase of IMS and its assets in January. Penske, with a demand for perfection and relentless attention to detail, had touted 700-something new bathroom hand dryers and paved parking lots among the immediate capital improvements.
Then came the coronavirus pandemic and the IndyCar Series was suspended 48 hours before its March 15 season-opening race.
FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2019, file photo, Gate one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is shown before a news conference announcing the sale of the race track, IndyCar and related business from Hulman & Company to Penske Corporation in Indianapolis. It is finally May and acceptable to declare this a crummy year for Roger Penske to have purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (AP PhotoAJ Mast, File)
Before sports shut down, IMS was scheduled to open this week for the GMR Grand Prix on the road course. Scott McLaughlin, a two-time V8 Supercars champion, was to make his IndyCar debut. The gates would have officially opened for “The Month of May” and fans would begin trickling into the old gray lady on the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street.
Its new owner was determined to make the 111-year-old landmark “Penske Perfect” in time for the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend.
Instead, everything waits.
FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2019, file photo, Penske Corporation Chairman Roger Penske responds to a question about the sale of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and related business from Hulman & Company to Penske Corporation at a news conference in Indianapolis. It is finally May and acceptable to declare this a crummy year for Roger Penske to have purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (AP PhotoAJ Mast, File)
Nothing has happened since IndyCar put Penske’s first season as owner on hold. The schedule, changed over and over and still in need of adjustments, is on pace to finally begin June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway.
IndyCar and track promoter Eddie Gossage of Speedway Motorsports will come to a deal neither side can refuse so that Texas can overcome the loss of income from not permitting spectators — and it deserves to be noted that few track operators have been as accommodating as Gossage in IndyCar's sustainability.
But the Indianapolis 500 has already been moved to August, marking the first time since 1945 the race won’t be held on Memorial Day weekend. McLaughlin is stuck in Australia, his anticipated series debut on hold as the two-time IndyCar iRacing winner hopes the revised calendars afford him another opportunity to race in America in 2020.
FILE - In this May 26, 2019, file photo, Simon Pagenaud, of France, leads the field through the first turn on the start of the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in Indianapolis. It is finally May and acceptable to declare this a crummy year for Roger Penske to have purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The iconic track was scheduled to open this week for racing, but everything has been put on hold, including the Indianapolis 500, because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP PhotoDarron Cummings, File)
Everything has been pretty awful — nothing close to the way anyone expected for The Captain’s first year at the helm of this piece of Americana. In the four-plus months since Indy became his, the 83-year-old billionaire businessman has been stymied at every attempt to showcase his prized new asset.
Races have dropped off the calendar and there could be more collateral: Toronto scheduled for July 12 has yet to be canceled but Mark Miles, who heads IMS and IndyCar under Penske, isn't hopeful the street course event will happen under Canada’s current regulations.
Much like NASCAR, the IndyCar teams are financially hanging by a thread and desperate for racing to begin for badly needed revenue. The drivers have been good sports with an iRacing league that showcased their personalities, and for the most part they avoided the controversies that ensnared some of their NASCAR peers.
But everyone is ready for iRacing to go back to its space and for engines to roar again.
Miles said IndyCar is ready to race and should be at Texas as planned. The series, he said, wasn’t waiting for NASCAR to go first — NASCAR plans to restart May 17. IndyCar is simply planning to start with the next event on the schedule that has yet to be canceled or postponed.
Miles also hopes there can be fans socially distanced across the 640 acres at Road America in Wisconsin on June 21. The governor of Indiana is planning to allow fans in July at the speedway, when IndyCar and NASCAR hold what could be (the revised schedules are unpredictably changing) an unprecedented doubleheader between the series.
When Penske was forced to reschedule the Indianapolis 500, he used an optimistic view in discussing the opportunities ahead of his staff. He's owned race tracks before, promoted races and was chair of Detroit's host committee for the Super Bowl in 2005.
He didn't once lament the bad timing of a pandemic spoiling his purchase or his plans. Time and again, IndyCar's stakeholders have publicly expressed their gratitude that it is Penske in charge. It's been a bumpy start and the road ahead may still be rough — this month particularly as May, which signifies racing Indy cars at the speedway, drags along and IMS sits idle.
But few doubt Penske and his staff can guide the series through this crisis and ensure “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” goes on one way or another.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Israeli officials sound increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court could issue arrest warrants for the country’s leaders more than six months into the Israel-Hamas war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has written in general terms about ICC action against Israeli troops and officials, and Israel’s foreign ministry has said it is also tracking reports of pending action.
The ICC was established in 2002 as the permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.
The Rome Statute creating the ICC was adopted in 1998 and entered into force when it got 60 ratifications on July 1, 2002. The U.N. General Assembly endorsed the ICC, but the court is independent.
Without a police force, the ICC relies on member states to arrest suspects, which has proven to be a major obstacle to prosecutions.
Netanyahu said Friday on the social platform X that Israel “will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense.”
“While the ICC will not affect Israel’s actions, it would set a dangerous precedent,” he wrote.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said late Sunday that it had informed missions abroad of “ rumors ” that the court could order the arrest of senior Israeli political and military officials. The ministry did not give a source for the rumors.
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, the court’s prosecution office declined to comment in detail.
The ICC’s 124 member states have signed on to the Rome Statute. Dozens of countries did not sign and do not accept the court’s jurisdiction over war crimes, genocide and other crimes. They include Israel, the United States, Russia and China.
The ICC becomes involved when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory. Israel argues that it has a functioning court system, and disputes over a nation’s ability or willingness to prosecute have fueled past disputes between the court and individual countries.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump slapped economic and travel sanctions on the ICC prosecutor and another senior prosecution office staffer. The ICC staff were looking into U.S. and allies’ troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden, whose administration has provided crucial military and political support for the Gaza offensive, lifted the sanctions in 2021.
The ICC has 17 ongoing investigations, has issued a total of 42 arrest warrants and taken 21 suspects into custody. Its judges have convicted 10 suspects and acquitted four.
In its early years, the court was criticized for focusing on crimes in Africa — 10 of its investigations are in African nations — but now it has investigations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
The U.N. General Assembly raised the Palestinians’ status in 2012 from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join international organizations including the ICC.
The ICC accepted “The State of Palestine” as a member in 2015, a year after the Palestinians accepted the court’s jurisdiction.
The court’s chief prosecutor at the time announced in 2021 that she was opening an investigation into possible crimes on Palestinian territory. Israel often levies accusations of bias at U.N. and international bodies, and Netanyahu slammed the decision as hypocritical and antisemitic.
Current ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan visited Ramallah and Israel in December, meeting Palestinian officials and families of Israelis killed or taken hostage by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.
Khan called Hamas’ actions “some of the most serious international crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, crimes which the ICC was established to address,” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Khan said “international humanitarian law must still apply” in the Israel-Hamas war and “the Israeli military knows the law that must be applied.” After the visit, Khan said an ICC investigation into possible crimes by Hamas militants and Israeli forces “is a priority for my office.”
A year ago after the court issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. Russia responded by issuing its own arrest warrants for Khan and ICC judges.
Other high-profile leaders charged by the court include ousted Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir on allegations including genocide in his country’s Darfur region. Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was captured and killed by rebels shortly after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest on charges linked to the brutal suppression of anti-government protests in 2011.
Follow AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
FILE - Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi delivers his speech during a meeting with hundreds of prominent Italian women in a concert hall, June 12, 2009, in Rome. The former Libyan leader was captured and killed by rebels shortly after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges linked to the brutal suppression of anti-government protests in 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
FILE - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir attends a ceremony for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Presidential Palace, July 9, 2018, in Ankara, Turkey. Ousted Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir was charged by the International Criminal Court on allegations including genocide in his country's Darfur region. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 25, 2024. A year ago after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Putin on charges of responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. Russia responded by issuing its own arrest warrants for ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and ICC judges. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting at the Kirya military base, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Dec. 24, 2023. Israeli officials sound increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court could issue arrest warrants for the country's leaders more than six months into the Israel-Hamas war. Netanyahu said on the social platform X Friday, April 26, 2024, that Israel "will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense." (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool, File)
FILE - Exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Israeli officials sound increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court could issue arrest warrants for the country's leaders more than six months into the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
