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A new wave of Trump tariffs could unsettle US trade partners which have already signed new trade deals or have been negotiating them for months.

US President Donald Trump’s administration is proposing additional tariffs of 10% or more to be imposed on its trading partners following a probe into countries importing goods allegedly made with forced labor.

In a report released Wednesday, the US Trade Representative (USTR) said it had found that 60 economies had failed to “impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor,” calling it a “burden” to US commerce.

“This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity,” USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in the document.

The tariff proposal is currently open to public comment and review and is therefore not in immediate effect.

The new tariffs under US trade law could help Trump bypass the Supreme Court ruling in February which stated that his tariffs werelargely illegal.

Which countries will face extra US tariffs?

An additional 10% tariff will be imposed on imports from Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, Pakistan, the UK and EU nations. These are countries which, according to Washington’s investigation, impose a forced labor import prohibition, that have undertaken commitments on forced labor or have partially prevented the import of forced labor goods.

An additional 12.5% tariff will be imposed on 45 others, including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Switzerland. These are countries that have failed to impose and effectively enforce the prohibition of imports made with forced labor, the statement said.

“Each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally,” Greer said.

The USTR said it had initiated 60 investigations into forced labor in March.

The alleged failure to prohibit imports made with forced labor was “subjecting US producers to unfair competition” in both export markets and the US market, the USTR said.

The trade regulation body will hold hearings about the proposed tariffs on July 7.

More negotiations to ensue?

This latest wave of tariffs is likely to unsettle several US trade partners, who have been negotiating lower levies for over a year.

Just two weeks ago, the EU approved a trade deal with Washington to cap tariffs on most EU exports at 15%. That consensus was hard fought, with some member nations initially threatening to block the deal.

Meanwhile, a US delegation is currently in New Delhi to finalize a trade deal after Washington imposed one of the highest tariffs on India last year. India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday told local media that key details of the deal were already settled.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/us-plans-extra-tariffs-for-60-countries-over-forced-labor/a-77400171

 

A Kenyan court blocked on ​Tuesday for another three weeks a proposed U.S. Ebola quarantine facility that has triggered protests in which two people were killed, and ordered the ‌government to disclose its agreement with Washington.
The proposed 50-bed unit on an air force base in central Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus in Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda has angered many Kenyans. They accuse the U.S. of offloading the health risk of caring for patients.

A Kenyan court last week temporarily suspended the plan in response to a lawsuit from a legal advocacy group. ​However, U.S. military aircraft have continued to fly in staff and equipment in recent days, according to a U.S. official and diplomatic sources.
Kenyan High Court ​Judge Patricia Nyaundi on Tuesday issued an order barring the Kenyan government from taking any steps to build or begin operations ⁠at the facility in the town of Nanyuki before the case is resolved.
The judge also ordered the government to disclose all agreements and operational protocols related to ​the facility within seven days and scheduled the next hearing for June 23.

Senior U.S. health official Mehmet Oz told reporters in a White House briefing on Tuesday that ​President Donald Trump’s administration is confident the State Department will be able to work with Kenya to establish the facility.
“I think we’re going to work out … a very favourable arrangement with Kenya,” Oz said. “They’re going to do the right thing for everybody, and I think it’s a perfect solution.”
Hundreds protested against the plan in Nanyuki on Monday. Protest organiser Patrick Wahome said two people were ​killed by gunshot wounds after police opened fire. A security source also said two people had died but did not specify the cause of death.
Police spokesperson Michael ​Muchiri said he was not aware of the deaths.

KENYAN PRESIDENT RUTO DEFENDS US AGREEMENT

On Monday, Kenyan President William Ruto said the facility was part of a wider national preparedness plan and ‌long-running health ⁠partnership with Washington.

The U.S. said last week it would provide $13.5 million for Kenya’s Ebola preparedness effort. Ruto said the site would serve Kenyans and foreign nationals too.
“We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing,” Ruto said.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the facility would only be treating U.S. citizens.
“American officials, doctors, and clinicians will be at this facility, treating American citizens at the facility. Our highest priority is containing the spread of Ebola and offering the highest clinical ​care to Americans,” the official said.
Kenyan courts ​are known for their independence, especially ⁠by regional standards, although activists often accuse the government of ignoring or circumventing orders.
The outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is centred in eastern Congo and several cases have spilled over into neighbouring Uganda.
There have been 321 confirmed cases and ​116 suspected cases of Ebola in Congo, including 48 deaths, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. Uganda has confirmed 15 ​cases.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/kenyas-president-defends-planned-us-backed-ebola-quarantine-facility-2026-06-02/

British MP Rupert Lowe highlighted survivor testimonies and alleged institutional failures, reigniting scrutiny of the UK’s grooming gangs scandal.

A recent speech by British MP Rupert Lowe in Parliament has renewed discussion on the UK’s long-running grooming gangs scandal. During his speech he presented disturbing survivor accounts and findings from his independent investigation into organised child sexual exploitation.

The testimonies, which detailed allegations of serious abuse, police failings, and institutional shortcomings, were cited as part of Lowe’s push for stronger accountability and justice for victims. As per the investigations by the UK government, most of the accused were “taxi drivers and market traders” of Pakistani origin.

Lowe also read out survivors’ statements who alleged that they were targeted by ‘grooming gang’ members when they were younger. One of the survivors revealed that she was raped by “600 or 700 different men”. One of the testimonies claimed that ‘grooming gang’ members put a cigarette out on the baby’s face, revealing the violence against children.

Meanwhile, as per Lowe, another survivor revealed, “He picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels which was now empty, and he forced it up inside me. He broke the glass while he was there. At that point I was about 12, nearly 13.”

One of the survivors revealed, as cited by the British MP, “I was held down by the men as they each took turns to orally and vaginally rape me, taking it in turns to pin down my arms and my legs. When the assault ended, the men hit me repeatedly, threatened to find me, kill me and harmed my loved ones, if I ever told anybody what had happened.”

“I was bleeding from both my vagina and my back passage and was so swollen I could not sit down. I told hospital staff my drink had been spiked, and I did not know what had happened because I was too afraid to tell the truth. They did not ask any questions. They gave me tablets and discharged me. I was 15 years old,” said another survivor, as cited by the British MP.

PLANS for the world’s first floating city have been revealed to include schools and a research hospital.

The £12 billion ‘Freedom Ship’ has a capacity of 80,000 and would provide homes for 50,000 permanent residents.

The mile-long vessel would also have capacity for 10,000 day visitors, as well as 20,000 crew members.

These plans have devised a 15,000-seat sports stadium, a water park and two museums.

Further amenities include a convention centre, a symphony hall, shops and restaurants.

The proposal would also see children on board educated from primary to college level.

Four decks would be utilised for financial branches, commercial services, retail and banks.

Passengers will also have access to a two-storey food hall, a night club and an expansive aquarium.

At 800ft wide and boasting 30 decks, the ship is too big to dock in any port.

It will likely be powered by nuclear fuel and remain in international waters, transferring passengers to and from land via a fleet of ferries.

Visitors would ride a tram system upon arrival to a series of districts to board the ship.

Alternatively, 15 miles of walkways and three acres of parks would be available for passengers preferring to explore on foot.

It is intended for the Freedom Ship to circumnavigate the globe every couple of years, at seven knots.

American engineer Norman Nixon first proposed the idea for The Freedom Ship in the 1990s.

The plans publicly resurfaced a year following Nixon’s death in 2012, but were soon put back on the shelf.

Freedom Cruise Line International’s chief executive, Roger Gooch, has highlighted demand for the vessel.

He told The Telegraph: “We could almost justify building three ships!”

He has enlisted a naval architect, a designer and a project manager among a 12-person leadership team.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16442011/floating-city-freedom-ship-schools-hospital-cruise/

Trump and Netanyahu share a complex, decades-long relationship, which has been marked by periods of strong public alignment and deep private tension. In the past, both leaders have had several tense calls but have still coordinated closely on Iran and other issues.

US President Donald Trump reportedly fumed over Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a heated phone call over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon, which threatens to jeopardise the ongoing peace talks with Iran to end the Middle East conflict. On the call, the US leader called Netanyahu “f***ing crazy” and accused him of ingratitude, according to a report by Axios.

Citing US officials and a third source briefed on the call, the American publication reported that Trump has also put the brakes on Israel’s plan to strike Beirut. He reportedly told the Israeli leader that the Israeli threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would further isolate Israel around the world.

Inside Trump-Netanyahu Call

Trump also claimed he had helped keep Netanyahu out of jail — a reference to his support during the Israeli leader’s corruption trial.

“You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” Trump told Netanyahu, according to the Axios report.

At one point, a source said Trump got “pissed” with Netanyahu and asked him, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Before the call, Trump reportedly knew Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy militia operating from Lebanon, had been shooting at Israel and that Tel Aviv needed to defend itself. But sources said that Trump felt, in recent days, Netanyahu was escalating in a disproportionate way.

Israel’s Military Ops In Lebanon

In addition to the threats on Beirut, Israel has been expanding its ground operation in southern Lebanon. Trump was reportedly angry over the fact that Netanyahu’s decision to escalate in Lebanon was threatening to implode his negotiations with Iran.

US sources told Axios that the president had been concerned about too many Lebanese civilians and had objected to the Israeli plan of knocking down buildings to take out a single Hezbollah commander.

After the call, an Israeli official told Axios that the Jewish state no longer plans to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut.

This is not the first disagreement between the US and the Israeli leaders. Trump and Netanyahu share a complex, decades-long relationship, which has been marked by periods of strong public alignment and deep private tension. In the past, both leaders have had several tense calls but have still coordinated closely on Iran and other issues.

However, according to the Axios report, this was one of Trump’s worst calls with Netanyahu since he returned to office last year in January.

What Happened After The Call

After the phone call with Netanyahu, which he touted as “productive”, Trump said that no Israeli troops will head to Beirut.

“I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his troops around. Thank you, Bibi!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The US leader added, “I also had a conversation with representatives of the leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”

Later, Netanyahu also confirmed the conversation but cast it less as a restraint and more as a warning, saying he told Trump that Tel Aviv would strike targets in Beirut if Hezbollah’s attacks did not stop. The Israeli military will continue “to operate as planned” in southern Lebanon, Netanyahu added.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-iran-war-latest-news-youre-f-ing-crazy-would-be-in-prison-if-it-werent-for-me-trump-lashes-out-at-netanyahu-over-lebanon-11578150?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

 

More than 1,100 people were suspected of having contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Uganda, the head of the African Union’s health agency said on Sunday in a commentary for the Financial Times.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director general Jean Kaseya said there were 263 confirmed cases in both countries as of Saturday, with 43 confirmed deaths.

More than 1,100 suspected cases were still being investigated, he wrote in the editorial. On Thursday, the Africa CDC said there had been 246 suspected deaths from the virus.

“We must move at the speed of the epidemic,” added Kaseya, criticising Africa’s dependence on outside financial support.

The health ministers of the DR Congo, Uganda and South Sudan recently adopted a $319-million response plan to the outbreak.

“That momentum must now expand across the continent,” Kaseya said, calling the latest Ebola outbreak a “serious test” for the Africa CDC and the African Union.

“This outbreak will not be the last,” he added.

The outbreak was declared on May 15 in Ituri, in the northeast DR Congo, which is home to more than 100 million people and is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The virus, which can cause a deadly haemorrhagic fever, has been detected in three Congolese provinces as well as in Uganda.

No vaccine or approved treatment is available against the Bundibugyo strain of the virus and efforts to contain its spread rely mainly on preventative measures.

The World Health Organization has triggered an international health alert but the true scale of the outbreak is not yet known.

International health authorities believe that current figures are likely an underestimation.

Source : https://www.barrons.com/news/africa-cdc-says-over-1-100-suspected-ebola-cases-in-dr-congo-and-uganda-373233af

Nepal PM Balen Shah’s remark that Nepal also encroached Indian territory sparked controversy, drawing opposition criticism, demands for proof or apology, while government clarified comments referred to border irregularities, not claims.

Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Sunday said he has learnt about his country “encroaching” territories in India, as he sought to answer questions in Parliament on a long-running border dispute and instead triggered a controversy. Hours later, Nepal Foreign Ministry said PM Shah’s comments were related to “no-man’s land encroachments” and “cross-border occupation” between the two countries, rather than any territorial claims.

A blast on Sunday at a building in northeastern Myanmar said to have been storing explosives for mining has killed more than 45 people, according to rescue workers and independent media reports.

About 70 other people were injured in the explosion that took place around noon in the village of Kaungtup, in Namhkam township.

The area, located about 3 kilometers (2 miles) south of the Chinese border, is under the control of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed group which has engaged in sporadic fighting against Myanmar’s central government.

A rescue worker who rushed to the site of the blast told The Associated Press that 46 bodies, including six children, had been recovered by Sunday evening and taken for cremation.

The rescuer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said 74 injured people had been transported to the township hospital and rescue operations were continuing.

Another rescuer in Namhkam, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 40 people were killed and more than 100 houses near the blast site were damaged.

Myanmar media outlets, including Shan State’s online Shwe Phee Myay news agency, reported death tolls ranging from 50 to 55. They published photos and videos showing smoke from the explosion and damaged buildings and debris in its aftermath.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported the explosion caused multiple deaths and injuries, with many residential houses being severely damaged, but did not give figures.

It said that according to preliminary investigations, the blast occurred at a site where large quantities of explosives used for mining operations were stored.

Local authorities are currently providing relief, medical care and resettlement assistance to affected residents, said the report.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, said in a statement released on its Telegram channel that gelignite had been stored by the group’s economic department for use in mining and stone quarrying sites, and that an investigation into the cause of the explosion is underway.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-deadly-explosion-5946c95f92ca91472fb30a57438234ec

U.S. President Donald Trump will headline an event commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall next ​month, organizers said on Saturday, after several musical performers scheduled to appear in ‌the celebration canceled, citing concerns about its association with him.
The concerts were planned as the opening ceremony of the Great American State Fair, a 16-day event running from June 25 to July ​10, 2026. Organizers said the fair, organized by the Freedom 250 group, would ​stretch on the National Mall from the U.S. Capitol to the ⁠Washington Monument, with concert stages, state pavilions, exhibits, rides, and other attractions.

But the musical ​lineup has been hit by a series of cancellations. On Friday, Bret Michaels, the lead ​singer of the rock band Poison, became the fifth performer to withdraw from the concerts, saying that the event was not the nonpartisan celebration that he thought it would be.
Trump is now scheduled ​to “personally kick off this historic celebration,” Freedom 250 posted on social media.
Organizers have ​not publicly detailed the reasons for the departures, though the exits have raised questions about the viability ‌of ⁠the event as originally envisioned.
The group did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

In a post on Truth Social earlier on Saturday, Trump suggested the concert series may no longer be necessary if performers continue to back out. He floated the ​possibility of giving a ​speech on the ⁠National Mall instead, portraying himself as a more powerful draw than any musical act.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-considers-dropping-concerts-us-capital-after-artists-drop-out-2026-05-30/

The rapid spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has created a “deeply alarming” situation, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned.

Speaking two weeks on from the outbreak being declared, MSF deputy director Dr Alan Gonzales said never before had “so many cases” been recorded so soon.

His comments came as the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visited the eastern Congolese province of Ituri – the worst-hit area – to oversee virus containment efforts.

There are now more than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases in the DR Congo, and at least 246 deaths. Neighbouring Uganda has reported nine confirmed cases and one death.

“Two weeks after the declaration of the Ebola disease outbreak in Ituri Province, the situation is deeply alarming,” Gonzalez said in a statement on Saturday.

“Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” he said, stressing his teams on the ground were “witnessing a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic”.

“The reality today is that nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak. New suspected cases are being reported daily, yet hundreds of samples remain untested.”

Gonzalez added that containment efforts and humanitarian aid deliveries were being delayed by “major constraints”, including border and airport closures.

The WHO has repeatedly warned that ongoing conflict in the DR Congo was also significantly hampering the Ebola outbreak response.

After arriving in Ituri’s provincial capital of Bunia on Saturday, Tedros said he and his team were in the DR Congo “to see how the response is running and if there are challenges to help”.

He urged communities in the centre of the outbreak to play a bigger role in fighting the disease, saying they “understand the problems better and they know the solution as well”.

Tedros also said he understood how important it was for people to honour their dead at funerals – but warned that right now this was dangerous.

“Certain practices including touching of bodies of those who have died from Ebola, can spread the virus further. While we grieve for those we’ve lost, we must do everything we can so that we don’t lose another, and get into a cycle of grief,” he said.

In Bunia, daily life appears largely unchanged. People continue to move around, trade and go about their normal activities.

On arrival at the city’s airport, passengers are directed to handwashing stations where they are required to clean their hands with soap and water.

Public health advisories are displayed in parts of the airport, while information is also being broadcast on radio and television. These messages are being delivered in local languages as well as in French, the DR Congo’s official language.

One of the WHO head’s first stops was the National Institute for Biomedical Research laboratory in Bunia, where samples from suspected Ebola patients are tested.

Local health officials say the facility is now able to return results within 24 hours, helping doctors quickly identify infections and begin treatment.

Until recently, samples had to be transported more than 1,500km (932 miles) to the DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, causing delays that health workers feared could cost lives and allow the virus to spread further.

In a separate development, health officials in Brazil said on Saturday that they were investigating a suspected Ebola case in São Paulo state.

Brazilian media report that a 37-year-old man – who had recently returned from the DR Congo – was now in isolation in an infectious diseases institute.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99ldxykz4zo

Iran Strike on Kuwait Injures Americans, Hits Reaper Drones Amid Peace Deal Deadlock

Several Americans were among those injured after the debris from an Iranian missile hit a military air base in Kuwait on Friday, according to a report by Bloomberg. This came on the day when US President Donald Trump met senior officials at the White House Situation Room aiming to reach a deal to end the war in Iran.

According to sources quoted in the report, the the Americans injured included contractors and active duty personnel, with minor injuries suffered after Kuwaiti air defenses struck an incoming Fategh-110 missile. The attack also seriously damaged a pair of MQ-9 Reaper drones, which cost about $30 million as debris fell on the Ali Al Salem air base.

Located about 20 miles from the Iraqi border, the base hosted US troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Less than two months after he completed a carefully engineered transition from Myanmar’s ​junta chief to become president, Min Aung Hlaing will fly to India on an official visit on Saturday, his first overseas visit ‌since taking the civilian role.
The five-day trip, during which the former general will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, underscores the gradual return of regional re-engagement for Myanmar, five years after many of its neighbours shunned the Southeast Asian nation’s military leadership following a coup.

For India, the visit is an opportunity to dilute China’s outsized influence ​on Myanmar while working to secure access to the country’s deposits of critical rare earths, and bolster security along its northeastern borders, analysts ​said.

SEARCH FOR IMPROVED REGIONAL RELATIONS

“After changing into civilian clothes as president, Min Aung Hlaing is looking to boost diplomatic ⁠engagement across the region,” said Richard Horsey, senior Myanmar adviser at Crisis Group.
“He expects more normal ties with ASEAN,” Horsey added, referring to the grouping ​of 11 southeast Asian countries, “with support from Thailand and some other member states. He is also likely to visit Beijing soon to meet Xi Jinping. India ​is Myanmar’s other key neighbour.”

An official from Myanmar’s presidential office, reached via phone, declined to comment on the visit.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told reporters on Friday: “All issues that form part of the gamut of relations between Myanmar and India will come up for discussion.”

JUNTA WAS DIPLOMATICALLY ISOLATED

In a dawn takeover on February 1, 2021, Min Aung ​Hlaing ousted the elected civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a protest movement that transformed into a nationwide ​armed uprising against the military.
The coup drew widespread condemnation, including from the ASEAN bloc that barred Myanmar’s generals from its summits, and the new military-led administration found itself ‌increasingly isolated.
A devastating ⁠earthquake last year provided a diplomatic opening for Min Aung Hlaing, who made a rare visit to a regional summit in Bangkok, which he is seeking to build on following a widely criticised election that paved the way for his presidency.

“He is seeking more and more regional and international respectability post-election,” said Gautam Mukhopadhaya, a former Indian ambassador to Myanmar.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/myanmars-junta-chief-turned-president-heads-india-with-an-eye-china-2026-05-30/

Satellite images show Beijing is building launch pads, bunkers and communications nodes near the isolated nuclear silos that hold the Chinese military’s longest-range missiles.

In a remote Chinese desert, a vast military complex is taking shape that some security scholars say appears built to ensure no American first strike on China’s nuclear arsenal could reliably knock out Beijing’s ability to hit back.

China’s nuclear missiles can already reach any city in the United States. Now, satellite images reviewed by Reuters show Beijing is building a sprawling web of launch pads, bunkers and communications nodes near the isolated nuclear silos that hold the Chinese military’s longest-range missiles.

The images reveal more than 80 pads for possible use by China’s expanding fleet of mobile missile launchers and air-defense batteries. They also show facilities that may serve electronic warfare, satellite communications and command operations, according to three security analysts, who assessed the imagery for Reuters.

The scale of the construction, which hasn’t been previously reported, points to a sweeping expansion of hardened infrastructure designed to protect and operate China’s land-based nuclear forces. Taken together, the network signals a significant upgrade in Beijing’s efforts to ensure second-strike capability, underscoring intensifying nuclear competition with the United States as tensions rise over issues such as Taiwan’s sovereignty.

“We can see this infrastructure is being built on a grand scale, covering thousands of square kilometers of desert beyond the silo fields,” said Alexander Neill, an adjunct fellow at Hawaii’s Pacific Forum think tank. Depending on the precise capabilities, he said, “we’re looking at a very considerable enhancement and diversification of China’s strategic nuclear deterrent.”

The ability to protect its desert silos is key to China’s stated goal of forging a minimal but credible nuclear deterrent – a policy grounded in the capacity to retaliate if it is struck first. While the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) can fire nuclear weapons from submarines and aircraft, the silo fields in the northwestern Xinjiang region and Gansu province are the core of its nuclear forces.

China’s nuclear build-up is among the most scrutinized facets of President Xi Jinping’s military modernization because of what some foreign diplomats describe as Beijing’s lack of transparency and failed efforts by the United States to engage the Chinese leadership on its evolving nuclear capabilities and intentions.

A cornerstone of China’s doctrine is its “no first use” policy, meaning its forces wouldn’t initiate a nuclear exchange. But some senior Western diplomats and analysts say China would possibly resort to nuclear coercion to limit outside involvement in a conflict over Taiwan.

Xi this month warned U.S. President Donald Trump that mishandling of their countries’ disagreements over Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, could lead them to a “dangerous place.” Taiwan’s government rejects China’s sovereignty claim.

China’s defense ministry didn’t respond to questions about its nuclear program and the developments revealed in the satellite imagery. The Pentagon said it wouldn’t comment on intelligence-related matters.

OCTAGONS IN THE DESERT

The new desert infrastructure is centered on two octagon-shaped installations built over the past six years in eastern Xinjiang. Both are southwest of the Hami nuclear silo fields – one is about 140 kilometers away, the other some 230 kilometers.

Satellite images show the octagon structures contain housing for personnel and large military vehicles. They are flanked by armored bunkers and fortified weapons-storage areas, as well as airfields and railheads that link the octagons to the Hami silos.

Exercises involving large military vehicles occurred around the northern octagon this month and during April, the images show. Also evident in recent images are large tents and what two analysts said appear to be camouflaged launch sites cut into the desert, some with air-defense missile batteries.

The existence of the octagons has been documented previously. But Reuters is the first to report the extent of the launch-pad network linked to the octagons; recent military activity around one of the facilities; and analysts’ assessments that the pads could field mobile missile launchers and electronic-warfare operations.

Five security scholars interviewed by Reuters agreed the infrastructure broadly could support China’s nuclear program, as well as other military purposes. But they cautioned that key details remain unknown – including the weapons China might deploy at the launch pads and whether the octagon structures house truck-mounted ballistic missiles or facilities for fitting nuclear warheads.

The PLA displayed nuclear-capable weapons during a parade in Beijing last September to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. These included silo-based and truck-mounted intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

U.S. officials and arms-control analysts say China is expanding and improving its nuclear weapons capabilities faster than any other nation. The latest Pentagon report on China’s military modernization says the country’s warhead production has slowed but it is on track to field 1,000 warheads by 2030. The December report estimated China is likely to have loaded 100 ICBMs across its three main silo fields.

China has also been strengthening its early-warning system, underpinned by its Huoyan-1 satellites, according to U.S. officials. The system can detect an incoming ICBM within 90 seconds of launch and alert a command center within three to four minutes, according to the Pentagon – sufficient time for China to fire its own silo-based weapons before they are hit.

‘AN EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT’

Significantly, each octagon sits at the core of a network of dirt roads and conduits that stretch far into the desert. These routes connect to the concrete pads, which are nestled among rocky outcrops and dry creekbeds.

The pads could be used to deploy mobile air-defense missiles, electronic warfare nodes or, from some of the larger ones, road-mobile ICBM launchers, three security scholars said.

Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project, said while it was difficult to conclude how the various installations would be used, “it is hard to rule anything out” given the scale of the infrastructure in such a hostile environment.

The conduits that link the pads to the octagon structures may contain fiber-optic cables for communications, Kristensen and Neill said.

At the northernmost octagon, a possible space or microwave communications facility is also under construction, three analysts said, pointing to satellite dishes and two large towers.

“Taken together, I think there is a real possibility that the octagonal structures and the strange towers are linked to C3 – command, control, and communications – as well as maintenance and storage activities related to China’s nuclear operations at the Hami ICBM silo site,” said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow in nuclear policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

A third octagon-shaped installation south of the Lop Nur nuclear test facilities is less developed. It appears to be used as a target range: Images show pock-marked earth, damaged buildings and what analysts at Vantor, a commercial provider of satellite imagery, said are mock-ups of Western jet fighters.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/satellite-pics-show-china-is-building-launch-pads-bunkers-near-nuclear-missile-silos-11566929?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Recently, Emily in Paris fans are saddened by the untimely passing of actor Pierre Deny.

French actor Pierre Deny has passed away at the age of 69 following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Deny was best known internationally for his role in the web series Emily in Paris. His daughters confirmed the same in a statement obtained by the Daily Mail on May 27, 2026.

Emily in Paris actor Pierre Deny passes away

“It is with deep emotion that we announce the passing of Pierre Deny, which occurred this Monday following a sudden and severe case of ALS,” they shared. The veteran actor was widely respected in the French entertainment industry and had built a career spanning decades across television and film.

Memorable role in Emily in Paris

Deny joined Emily in Paris during the show’s third and fourth seasons, portraying Louis de Léon, the CEO of the fictional luxury fashion company JVMA. His performance introduced viewers to a powerful and charismatic business figure within the series’ glamorous Parisian setting. The news of his passing comes shortly after series star Lily Collins announced production for the show’s sixth and final season.

Before gaining global recognition through OTT, Deny was already a beloved face in French television. He appeared in more than 500 episodes of the long-running soap opera Demain Nous Appartient, earning admiration for his consistent and compelling performances.

He also starred in several acclaimed productions, including Fabio Montale, Une femme d’honneur, and Cinq soeurs, establishing himself as a familiar and respected presence on screen.

Source : https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/hollywood/emily-in-paris-actor-pierre-deny-passes-away-at-69-following-battle-with-als-1403353

A new UN report accuses Israeli forces of abuses against Palestinian detainees. The report also documents hundreds of sexual violence cases linked to Russian forces in Ukraine. Both countries deny the allegations.

The United Nations has added Israeli and Russian security forces to its blacklist for conflict-related sexual violence for the first time, according to an annual report to be released on Friday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned both Israel and Russia last year of possible inclusion on the blacklist. Both countries rejected the allegations.

The report, which blacklists 77 state and non-state actors across a dozen countries over alleged conflict-related sexual violence, said cases rose sharply in 2025 compared with 2024.

UN reports sexual violence against Palestinian detainees

According to the report, Israeli forces engaged in documented patterns of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

“Violations consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape,” the report said.

The UN report identified the perpetrators as members of the Israeli military, security forces and prison services.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon called the report “shameful and absurd.”

“We are done with this UN Secretary-General,” Danon said in a statement on social media. “Guterres has put Israel on the same blacklist along with Hamas, ISIS and the most depraved terrorist organizations in the world.”

The blacklist also includes Hamas — classified as a terrorist organization by the US, the EU, and Israel, among other countries — which was previously added following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The report said many claims against Hamas could not be independently verified because Israel has continued to deny UN investigators the access needed for investigations.

The report comes just days after The New York Times published an investigation into widespread alleged sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees.

Moscow decries attempt to ‘portray Russia as a villain’

The UN also cited 310 verified cases of sexual violence by Russian forces against prisoners of military and civilian detainees in Ukraine.

Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said the “unsubstantiated lies…again portray Russia as a villain, like they do all the time.”

He said Russia is preparing a report on how Ukrainians treat Russian prisoners of war.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/israel-russia-included-in-un-sexual-violence-blacklist-for-first-time/a-77338549

In an Ebola outbreak, hours matter.
Yet the response to the deadly and fast-spreading epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is weeks if not months behind – and missing thousands of people who may be at risk.

Interviews with global health officials and documents ​from a meeting led by the World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention show how behind the curve authorities are in fighting the latest outbreak.

Caused by a ‌strain of the virus known as Bundibugyo for which there is no vaccine or treatment, the outbreak has already caused a suspected 220 deaths and 900 cases, according to the WHO. It has spread to Uganda, where there are seven cases.
Health teams are racing to find thousands of people who may have been exposed to the virus while also grappling with myriad challenges that make it difficult to contain.
Problems at a local level include lack of basic supplies as well as mistrust from a community scarred by previous outbreaks. ​Globally, the response is hampered by the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO and wider funding cuts, many health sources said.

Documents from Friday’s virtual coordination meeting show that, as of last week, only ​7% of the 1,261 people identified as contacts of suspected Ebola patients had been found and followed up. The WHO put the number at more than 2,000 on ⁠Wednesday.

‘OUTPACING THE RESPONSE’

The outbreak is “outpacing the response”, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on Wednesday.
“Attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible.”
In eastern Congo, the worst-hit area, hospitals have been attacked and isolation tents ​burned by angry mobs reclaiming bodies of loved ones, apparently unaware of risks from infectious corpses.
That is hindering the operation to stop the spread of the virus and track those at risk in an area already wracked with conflict ​and with poor health infrastructure, three experts said.

In a document summary of the meeting on Friday, the partners agreed that reaching more contacts is now the key priority as funding and emergency response personnel trickle in.
“Bottom line: No vaccine exists. No therapy exists. The virus circulated undetected for six weeks. Cross-border spread is confirmed. Healthcare workers are dying. Every day without a fully resourced response is a day the outbreak gains ground,” a presentation by the WHO Africa team from the meeting reads.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a leading South ​African epidemiologist and one of the key figures advising Africa CDC, said the outbreak was moving at “breakneck speed”.
“If you had to choose a bad place for this to happen, it would be Ituri,” he added of the province ​at its epicentre.
While Congolese officials are well-versed in fighting Ebola – this is the 17th outbreak since 1976 – shortages remain a problem, including of the right tests to detect Bundibugyo rather than other Ebola viruses.

This was also a factor delaying initial detection.
“There are ‌very few ⁠people on the ground – and there are other problems as well, like getting fuel for the vehicles. It goes on and on,” Karim said.

U.S. MISSING

Several sources, including one U.S. official briefed on the Ebola response and another working with WHO, said problems would have been solved more easily and quickly in the past, when the U.S. worked with WHO and often co-led the international response to outbreaks.
The U.S. left the organization in January and has cut international aid funding more broadly, alongside a number of other wealthy countries.
“The organisations that would have been able to do this work are not there anymore,” said one U.S. official briefed on the response.
Amadou Bocoum, CARE’s country director, said his emergency ​response team had been cut by a third.
With the scale ​and origins of the outbreak unclear, it was ⁠a “hell of a job” to find all potential cases and contacts, said Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist on the WHO’s emergency committee.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people once they have symptoms, contaminated materials, and bodies of those who have died with the illness. The contacts of Ebola patients need to be found ​and then watched over for 21 days, the incubation period of the virus. If they get symptoms, they can isolate, stopping further spread.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/breakneck-ebola-epidemic-congo-outpaces-worlds-response-2026-05-27/

A Google employee has been arrested for $1.2 million (Rs 11.5 crore) fraud after he bet on Polymarket using internal search data.

A Google techie has been arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering after he allegedly earned $1.2 million (Rs 11.5 crore) by illegally trading contracts on Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market. The accused Googler, identified as Michele Spagnuolo, 36, bet on who would be revealed as the most searched person of 2025, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday (May 27).

Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen, worked at Google since 2014 and was based out of the company’s Zurich, Switzerland, offices. He placed the trades on Polymarket from around October 2025 to December 2025 using internal Google data that tracked user searches, as per a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The complaint highlighted that Spagnuolo “misappropriated confidential and valuable nonpublic information from his employee” and used the said information to place a series of Google-related bets.

“Unlike the counterparties to his trades, Spagnuolo knew the outcome of these wagers before the trading public did because he had accessed Google’s confidential, commercially valuable internal data,” the complaint stated.

Spagnuolo correctly predicted that the winner of Google’s most-searched person of the year 2025 would be D4vd, an American singer, who has been accused of murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. At the time of his bet, Polymarket had assigned a near-zero probability to D4vd being the top search, but Spagnuolo’s account under the name, AlphaRaccoon, managed to get it right.

Responding to the charges, a Google spokesperson said: “We’re working with law enforcement on their investigation. The employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies. We’ve placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action.”

US Soldier’s Polymarket Bet

In April, a US special forces soldier was accused of betting on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s capture before the information was publicly available. On the basis of classified information, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, allegedly made trades on Polymarket, winning more than $400,000.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/how-a-google-techie-made-rs-11-5-crore-betting-on-d4vd-accused-murderer-who-topped-2025-searches-11557428?pfrom=home-ndtv_lateststories

Israel announced that the IDF killed Muhammad Odeh, Hamas’s new military wing chief and a key planner of the October 7 attack, in a Gaza strike ordered by PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz. Netanyahu vowed to target all involved in the massacre. Meanwhile, Israel intensified airstrikes in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, with reports of heavy casualties.

Israel Defence Forces eliminated Muhammad Odeh in Gaza, the new leader of the military wing of the terrorist organisation Hamas and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre.

The operation was carried out on the instructions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz. Israel PMO said in a post on X.

See more

At the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the IDF has just struck at Mohammed Odeh in Gaza, the new leader of the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre.

Odeh served as…

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 26, 2026

Odeh served as the head of Hamas’s intelligence staff during the October 7 massacre and was appointed – about a week ago – to replace Ezzedine al-Haddad, who was eliminated in an IDF strike in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago.

Odeh was also responsible for the murder, abduction, and wounding of many Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers.

Benjamin Netanyahu also shared the confirmation in an X post, vowing to eliminate all involved in the October 7, 2023, massacre.

“We have now struck Muhammad Odeh- the leader of Hamas’s military wing and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre. We will get to all of them,” he said.

See more

Netanyahu says Israel attacked ⁠Hamas ​new ⁠armed wing ⁠chief ​in ⁠Gaza

Netanyahu says Israel has carried out an attack against Mohammed Odeh, who, according to media reports, was appointed commander of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza in May.

“We will reach everyone,” the… pic.twitter.com/02CPcLRZxr

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 26, 2026

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Appears that Mohammed Odeh has been killed after being selected to replace Izz al-Din al-Haddad as the terror group’s leader in the Gaza Strip and chief of its military wing.

Odeh, who was the head of military intelligence in Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades during the October 7,… pic.twitter.com/PNr1Lp1Qih

— Ari Ingel (@OGAride) May 27, 2026

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🇮🇱🇱🇧 Israeli warplanes struck Nabatieh in southern Lebanon a short while ago.

Scale, targets, and casualties are still unconfirmed.

Nabatieh has recently become one of the most active flashpoints in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Source: TABZ https://t.co/H4OJHIkvnb pic.twitter.com/fwE9DyWQK3

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 26, 2026

Meanwhile, Israel continued its strikes in southern Lebanon after ramping up its operations yesterday, Al Jazeera reported.

“Two air strikes hit Burj Rahal, and a powerful strike was reported in Kawthariyat al-Ruz, in the Tyre district. The Israeli military also launched two air strikes on the town of Srifa, and one on Burj Rahal, in the Tyre district. Three raids were reported in the town of as-Sawana and one in Qabrikha, in the Marjayoun district, Al Jazeera reported.

Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli air strikes across southern Lebanon had killed 31 people and left 40 others injured on Tuesday.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/we-will-get-to-all-of-them-idf-eliminates-hamass-new-military-chief-muhammad-odeh-key-architect-of-october-7-massacre-video

 

Apple (AAPL.O), and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), Google on Tuesday pushed to amend an online safety bill working its way through Canada’s parliament to add judicial oversight to ​what the firms described as a potential for secret orders to break the ‌encryption of their software and devices.
Bill C-22 was proposed by Canada’s ruling Liberal Party and is being debated in the House of Commons.

The bill is similar to measures enacted in Britain and Australia ​that aim to give law enforcement officials access to encrypted data. Canadian authorities ​have said the bill would help them investigate security threats earlier and ⁠act more quickly.

When data is encrypted “end to end” it means that no one – including ​law enforcement and tech firms – can access the data without the key.
The Canadian bill does ​not explicitly require technology companies to break the encryption of their devices, but Apple, Google and Meta Platforms (META.O), have all come out in opposition. The tech firms argue it sets up a regulatory landscape ​where they could be issued secret orders to build a backdoor into their services or ​devices without disclosing that backdoor to users or the public.
In testimony before the House of Commons’ Standing ‌Committee ⁠on Public Safety and National Security on Tuesday, representatives from Apple and Google both pushed to add explicit protections for encryption and judicial oversight to the bill.

“Secret orders are out of step with other democratic countries and would severely restrict companies’ ability to be ​transparent with users about ​how their data is ⁠protected,” said Jeanette Patell, director for government affairs and public policy in Canada for Google.
Apple last year received a secret order to ​break encryption in the UK, which prompted it to withdraw encrypted ​cloud backup features ⁠from the country.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/apple-google-push-judicial-oversight-canada-online-safety-bill-2026-05-26/

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ousted four-term U.S. Senator John Cornyn on Tuesday, riding President Donald Trump’s endorsement to a runoff victory for the Republican Senate nomination, U.S. media ​projected.
The race was called shortly after polls closed in Texas’ westernmost counties, which are in a separate time zone from most of the state.

“Without a shadow of ‌a doubt, I will be the Democrats’ No. 1 target in November,” Paxton said in his victory speech. “Texas will be the radical left’s No. 1 priority, but … we’re not going to let them take it.”

Paxton’s win will force Cornyn into retirement early next year – and the Republican political establishment in Washington into embracing a candidate it has long opposed.
Cornyn, 74, was backed by Republican leadership in the fight of his political life against Paxton, a 63-year-old, scandal-plagued attorney general ​who won Trump’s endorsement last week.
Paxton will face Democratic state Representative James Talarico in a high-profile race that could help decide control of the Senate and may become one of the ​most expensive in U.S. history.
The 37-year-old Democrat is a Presbyterian seminarian and leading fundraiser whose campaign has appealed to independent and moderate voters. Paxton’s supporters ⁠quickly attacked his past comments about a nonbinary God and six biological sexes, with Paxton and the Republican National Committee chairman calling him “Tala-freak-o.”

Senate Republicans’ campaign arm warned in an internal memo last year ​that a Paxton nomination “would hand Democrats an opening to flip Texas and cause Republicans to divert hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent winning key battlegrounds.”
Cornyn told supporters he will back ​the Republican ticket in November.
“I’ve said throughout this race that I trust the voters of Texas, and they made their decision, and I must respect it,” he said in his concession speech.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate over Democrats, who would need to net four seats in November’s election to take control of the chamber. Democrats are on defense in two states Trump won in 2024 – Georgia and Michigan – but could win the chamber by holding ​those two seats and flipping North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and Alaska.

A competitive race in Texas, where no Democrat has won statewide since 1994, would expand the party’s path to a majority and potentially ​force Republicans to redirect investments from more competitive battlegrounds to protect their nominee in a state that Trump carried by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024.
In backing Paxton, Trump chose loyalty over electability as he continues to ‌flex his ⁠iron grip over Republican voters. This month, Trump’s endorsement of Republican primary challengers ousted incumbents including Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie.
Paxton was impeached by the Texas House, indicted for felony fraud, reported to the FBI by his top aides and is being divorced by his wife on biblical grounds, though he has denied any wrongdoing.

In a joint statement, Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said, “Republicans are facing their nightmare scenario” while Democrats move closer to winning the majority.
Lauren French, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senate Majority PAC, said Paxton’s win was a loss for Washington Republicans, who spent nearly $100 million on Cornyn’s ​behalf.
“Even members of his own party call Paxton too ​corrupt and too damaged for Texas. Now ⁠he’s the GOP standard-bearer,” she said. “Good luck with that.”

LOYALTY TRUMPS ELECTABILITY

Talarico starts the general election with a three-month head start after defeating U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett on March 3.
In a new campaign video released Tuesday night, Talarico said, “The most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for United States ​Senate.”
Talarico’s initial lead in the opinion polls has evaporated, with the most recent survey showing the race in a dead heat against Paxton, with ​8% of likely voters ⁠undecided.
Cornyn’s campaign attacked Paxton’s character from the beginning, including calling him “Crooked Ken” and launching a dating game that allows users to swipe on Paxton’s alleged mistresses.
Paxton challenged Cornyn to stop the negative ads “for the good of our party.”
“We have already changed our TV ad traffic … to ensure our campaign ends on a positive note (so) that we can focus on beating the leftist lunatic in the fall,” Paxton wrote on X last week.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cornyn-fights-political-life-against-trump-endorsed-paxton-texas-2026-05-26/

“If you don’t engage the technology of your time, you’ll just simply be left behind,” Mr Huang told CNA’s Victoria Jen in a wide-ranging interview.

The narrative that some chief executives use to tie artificial intelligence to job cuts is a “lazy” one which “doesn’t make any sense”, said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Monday (May 25).

Speaking to CNA’s Victoria Jen in a wide-ranging interview, Mr Huang said that he sees an “optimistic future” with AI and that facts support his imagination of that future.

“The narrative that connects AI to job loss, for many of the CEOs that are doing it – it is just too lazy. AI has just arrived, how is it possible they’re already losing jobs?” said Mr Huang.

“How is it possible that AI became productive and useful only six months ago, and they were somehow laying people off two years ago because of AI? It doesn’t make any sense.

“It was just a way for them to sound smart and I really hate that. I think we’re scaring people and that’s irresponsible.”

Mr Huang was not asked about, nor did he reference any specific company.

AI-linked layoffs have been reported extensively in recent times. Last week, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters drew flak for saying the bank was replacing “lower-value human capital” with technology, as it announced plans to cut more than 7,000 jobs over the next four years. He later apologised for his comments.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that social media giant Meta plans to lay off 20 per cent or more of its workforce to offset heavy spending on AI and bet on productivity gains from the technology.

CREATING JOBS

When asked what he would say to people who are worried about losing their jobs, Mr Huang said: “I would say to the people who are worried about losing their jobs to AI to learn AI.

“You’re not going to lose your jobs to AI, you’re going to lose your job to somebody who learnt AI better than you.

“When the PC came along, the PC didn’t take people’s jobs. The people who didn’t learn how to use PCs were left behind.”

Just as technologies of the past were transformative, so too is AI, said Mr Huang. He added that it is “very likely” there will be more jobs in five years than there are today.

Conversely, as companies become more productive and profitable, this will lead them to hire more people, he told CNA.

“It’s more likely that the companies with ambition will be more productive, they will do things faster, their company will increase in velocity. As a result, they become larger, more profitable. When they become larger, more profitable, they’ll end up hiring more people,” he said.

“Of course, they’ll use more AI, but they will also hire more people.”

Using Nvidia as an example, Mr Huang pointed out how it is hiring more people, moving faster and becoming increasingly ambitious.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/ceo-job-cuts-lazy-ai-nvidia-jensen-huang-6140246

The United States on Friday temporarily banned the entry of lawful permanent residents ​who have been in the Democratic Republic of ‌Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, citing concerns over Ebola.
U.S. citizens, nationals and green card holders had ​been exempt from a 30-day Ebola ban, ​but the U.S. CDC said on Friday that ⁠extending the ban to green card holders was necessary ​to stop the virus from entering the country.

“Applying this ​authority to lawful permanent residents for a limited period of time provides a balance between protecting public health and managing emergency ​response resources,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ​said in a statement.
The World Health Organization on Friday raised to “very ‌high” ⁠the risk of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola turning into a national outbreak in the DRC and has declared the outbreak there and in Uganda an emergency ​of international ​concern.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-extends-ebola-travel-ban-green-card-holders-2026-05-23/

US intelligence reports indicate that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in seclusion at an undisclosed location, limiting his contact with the outside world.

US intelligence suggests Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is living in seclusion at an undisclosed location with severely limited contact with the outside world, according to US officials familiar with the matter quoted by CBS News. The officials, quoted in the report, said communication difficulties inside Iran’s leadership structure have complicated negotiations with the Trump administration and contributed to delays in talks over a possible agreement between Washington and Tehran.

According to the officials, messages sent by the United States can take significant time to reach the supreme leader because of the complex process required to contact him. Responses are often delayed for the same reason.

A senior US administration official said on Sunday that the supreme leader had approved the broad outline of the current draft agreement. US President Donald Trump later wrote on Truth Social that he expected a final decision within days. US officials said Khamenei, who was reportedly injured during US and Israeli strikes in what they described as Operation Epic Fury, has adopted extensive security precautions following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei.

Ali Khamenei ruled Iran from 1989 until February 28 and was killed in the conflict, according to the officials. Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since before the war began.

One US official said intelligence gathered from within the Iranian government had enabled the US and Israel to identify and target large parts of Iran’s senior leadership during the conflict.

Officials described senior Iranian figures as spending extended periods inside fortified underground bunkers and limiting communication with one another except when absolutely necessary. “Watching them try to figure out how to talk to each other is almost like watching a sitcom. They are completely exasperated,” one US official said.

The most stringent measures, officials said, are being applied to protect the supreme leader himself. Even senior members of the Iranian government reportedly do not know his location or have any direct means of contacting him.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/middle-east/iran-supreme-leader-mojtaba-khamenei-hidden-bunker-us-iran-peace-deal-updates-article-154391237

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Saturday ​that a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal with Iran is “largely negotiated,” as both countries and mediators in Pakistan reported progress.
Trump posted on social media that the emerging agreement ‌would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping passage whose closure upended global energy markets after the conflict started in February when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

Trump did not say what else would be included in an agreement. “Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump said.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported early on Sunday that the agreement would allow Iran to manage the Strait of Hormuz. It said Trump’s assertion that ​an agreement was nearly final was “inconsistent with reality.”
Iran had said earlier on Saturday that it was working toward a memorandum of understanding laying out an approach to ending the war after its top officials ​met with Asim Munir, the army chief of Pakistan.
The Pakistani army said the negotiations had resulted in “encouraging” progress towards a final understanding. Two Pakistani sources involved in ⁠negotiations said the deal being negotiated is “fairly comprehensive to terminate the war.”

Sources have told Reuters the proposed framework would unfold in three stages: formally ending the war, resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and ​launching a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, which can be extended.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump told Axios that he expected to decide on Sunday whether to resume attacks on Iran. “Either we reach a good ​deal or I’ll blow them to a thousand hells,” Axios quoted him as saying.
One of the Pakistani sources said there was no guarantee the U.S. would accept the memorandum; if it does it would lead to further talks after the Eid holiday ends on Friday.

TRUMP TO SPEAK WITH MIDDLE EAST LEADERS

Trump, whose approval ratings have been hit by the war’s impact on energy prices for U.S. consumers, said on Friday he would not attend his son’s wedding this weekend, citing Iran among the reasons he ​planned to stay in Washington.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he had a phone call on Saturday with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan. Axios ​reported that the leaders encouraged Trump to agree to the emerging framework.
Pakistan has aimed to narrow differences between Iran and the U.S. after weeks of war have left the vital Hormuz waterway closed to most shipping despite a nervous ceasefire.
U.S. ‌Secretary of ⁠State Marco Rubio earlier on Saturday reiterated Trump’s terms for ending the fighting. “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. The straits need to be open without tolls. They need to turn over their enriched uranium.”
Rubio, who is visiting India, said some progress had been made and work was continuing.
“Even as I speak to you now, there’s some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it’s later today, tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to say,” Rubio told reporters in New Delhi.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance returned to the White House on Saturday afternoon, cutting short a trip to Ohio.
Iran denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons ​and says it has a right to enrich uranium ​for civilian purposes. It has demanded supervision of ⁠the strait, an end to the U.S. blockade on its ports and the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
“The trend this week has been towards a reduction in disputes, but there are still issues that need to be discussed through mediators. We will have to wait and see where the situation ends in ​the next three or four days,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.
Baghaei said the issue of the U.S. blockade on Iran’s shipping was important, but ​that its priority was ending ⁠the threat of new U.S. attacks and the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, where Iran-allied Hezbollah militants are fighting Israeli troops who have moved into the south.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-iran-report-progress-talks-ending-war-looking-next-few-days-2026-05-23/

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was hit by a massive strike of missiles and drones early on ​Sunday, shortly after its air force warned Russia ‌might launch a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile.
Explosions reverberated through the city shortly after 1 a.m. local time after the air ​force announced a threat of an Oreshnik launch ​on its Telegram channel. At least three people ⁠were injured and several residential buildings were damaged across ​the city, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.Debris ​was on fire on the premises of a school in the city centre, he added on Telegram.On Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ​warned Russia was preparing a strike against Ukraine ​using the Oreshnik missile, citing intelligence from Ukraine, the U.S. and ‌Europe. ⁠Ukraine’s air force did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether an Oreshnik missile hit any target.

Russia has Ukraine twice with the Oreshnik, ​a missile President ​Vladimir Putin ⁠has boasted is impossible to intercept because of its reported velocity of more ​than 10 times the speed of sound.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-capital-kyiv-hit-by-massive-missile-drone-attack-2026-05-23/

Her husband Abraham was recently diagnosed with extremely rare form of bone cancer, she wrote in resignation letter

Tulsi Gabbard is resigning from her post as Director of National Intelligence to support her husband through his battle with “an extremely rare form of bone cancer,” Fox News Digital learned.

Gabbard notified President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office Friday. Her last day at ODNI is expected to be June 30.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained her formal resignation letter, in which Gabbard says she is “deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half.”

“Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026,” she wrote. “My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”

Gabbard said her husband “faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months.”

“At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” she said.

Gabbard added: “Abraham has been my rock throughout our eleven years of marriage — standing steadfast through my deployment to East Africa on a Joint Special Operations mission, multiple political campaigns and now my service in this role.”

“His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” she continued. “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position.”

Trump reacted to the resignation later on Friday, writing on Truth Social, “Unfortunately, after having done a great job, Tulsi Gabbard will be leaving the Administration on June 30th.”

“Her wonderful husband, Abraham, has been recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together,” he continued. “I have no doubt he will soon be better than ever. Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her. Her highly respected Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Aaron Lukas, will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.”

Gabbard said she has “made significant progress at the ODNI — advancing unprecedented transparency and restoring integrity to the intelligence community,” but said she recognizes “there is still important work to be done.”

“I am fully committed to ensuring a smooth and thorough transition over the coming weeks so that you and your team experience no disruption in leadership or momentum,” she said.

“Thank you for your understanding during this deeply personal and difficult time for our family.”

Gabbard added: “I will remain forever grateful to you and to the American people for the profound honor of serving our nation as DNI.”

Gabbard posted her resignation letter to X later Friday afternoon, noting that, “It has been a profound honor to serve the American people as DNI.”

Gabbard, as DNI, began a transformational effort to reshape the Intelligence Community— reducing the agency in size and saving taxpayers more than $700 million per year, dismantling DEI programs in the IC and more.

Gabbard, as of this month, declassified more than half a million pages of government records, including those related to the Trump-Russia investigation, the JFK and RFK assassinations and more.

Gabbard also declassified documents tied to the origins of the Trump-Russia “Crossfire Hurricane” probe, arguing they showed Obama administration officials politicized intelligence related to Russia’s 2016 election interference and used it to undermine Trump’s first presidential victory.

Source : https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exclusive-tulsi-gabbard-resigns-from-trump-cabinet

Iran and Oman are actively discussing a permanent security mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is pushing to institutionalize and normalize a transit fee or toll on commercial shipping vessels navigating the narrow waterway. According to an Iranian diplomatic envoy, the proposed system is designed to secure the long-term positioning of Iran and Oman as the primary regulators of the strait, effectively transforming a temporary leverage point from the recent military conflict into a permanent sovereign right.

To formalize its grip, Iran’s newly established Persian Gulf Straits Authority began applying conditional rules and hefty transit tolls, in some cases exceeding one million dollars per vessel, while granting selective exemptions to friendly nations like Russia or China. By engaging Oman, which shares territorial jurisdiction over the Strait, Iran is seeking to build a coalition that validates these tolls under the guise of funding localized maritime security.

The US maintains an opposing view on the matter, viewing the permanent toll as a non-negotiable barrier to reaching a sustainable peace deal. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, international straits are governed by transit passage protocols that guarantee the uninterrupted flow of global commercial shipping, a principle the US insists must be restored without conditions.

The US has treated the removal of these tolls as a core prerequisite for reaching a peace deal. President Trump has warned international maritime firms that paying Iran’s transit fees could trigger severe economic sanctions. The US military has also enforced its own counter-blockade on Iranian ports and continues to intercept or redirect vessels to challenge Tehran’s claims of total sovereignty.

Source : https://investinglive.com/news/iran-and-oman-are-discussing-a-permanent-strait-of-hormuz-toll-20260521/

SpaceX took the wraps off its IPO filing on Wednesday, laying bare for investors just how much Elon Musk is losing on artificial intelligence while betting the company’s future on transforming the rocket maker into an ​AI powerhouse.
Much of its outlook relies on SpaceX dominating technologies and markets that do not yet exist – from Mars missions to AI data centers in space.

For many, Musk’s record turning Tesla (TSLA.O), into the most ‌valuable auto company in the world and developing the world’s first fully reusable rocket and largest satellite network is enough to justify investment.

The filing cements Musk’s tight control of SpaceX while giving shareholders little say over his decisions. It shows just how central AI has become following the February purchase of xAI, which drove most of the company’s spending and a majority of its losses in the first quarter.
The listing could become the first U.S. market debut above $1 trillion and would immediately make SpaceX one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies.
Of SpaceX’s three divisions, only the connectivity ​segment powered by satellite internet unit Starlink was profitable in the first three months of the year.

While Starlink generated an operating profit of $1.19 billion, it wasn’t enough to prevent the company from booking a total operating loss of $1.94 billion ​in the first quarter on $4.69 billion in revenue. Its AI division, alone, accounted for $2.47 billion in losses on $818 million in revenue.
Musk’s purchase of his social media and AI company xAI gave ⁠SpaceX new capabilities and opportunities but a staggering amount of spending, accounting for 76% of its $10.1 billion in capital spending in the first quarter, as well as fresh losses.
The company’s plans rely on technology that’s not yet been built for much ​of its future revenue stream, including operating data centers powered by solar power in space, to reach a potential market of $28.5 trillion, according to the filing.
The filing confirmed a series of recent Reuters reports about the IPO.

SpaceX has grown into the world’s largest space business ​since its founding in 2002 by launching thousands of Starlink internet satellites. Its pioneering use of reusable rockets has transformed the economics of space, forcing competitors like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to play catch-up.
A successful share sale could value the company at a record-setting $1.75 trillion, which would put its founder on track to become the first trillionaire in history. Musk will also retain 85.1% of the combined voting power of the company, the filing showed.

The company’s regulatory disclosure comes during a critical week for the rocket maker, which is preparing to launch a test flight ​of its next-generation Starship rocket on Thursday.
The board has given Musk control over the company, but has tied much of his compensation to audacious targets of establishing a permanent human colony on Mars and building space data centers with compute capacity powered ​by the equivalent of 100 terawatts, or 100,000 one-gigawatt nuclear reactors, Reuters previously reported.
SpaceX is aiming to list its shares as early as June 12, with a roadshow launch targeted for June 4 and the share sale expected as early as June 11, Reuters reported last week.

‘HALO ‌EFFECT’

Musk’s CEO celebrity ⁠persona may matter more to some investors than SpaceX’s underlying business fundamentals, analysts and academics said, because there are no other comparable companies against which to benchmark its valuation.
“There is somewhat of a halo effect around Musk and his unconventional vision,” said Reena Aggarwal, a finance professor at Georgetown University. “It is difficult to value companies like this because there is no peer group for comparison.”
The $1.75 trillion valuation target, if achieved, would eclipse Saudi Aramco’s 2019 offering, which set a record for the world’s biggest IPO when it debuted on Riyadh’s exchange at a value of $1.7 trillion. SpaceX had planned to try to raise more than $75 billion in the offering, Reuters previously reported.

SpaceX will use a dual-class share structure that gives Class B shareholders 10 votes each, concentrating control with Musk and a handful of ​other insiders, while Class A shares sold to public investors ​will carry one vote each, the prospectus showed.
The ⁠company has adopted numerous provisions that, taken together, severely limit shareholder rights, forcing legal claims through arbitration, restricting where cases can be filed and protecting Musk from being fired by anyone other than Musk.
The scale of the offering has drawn attention to the increasingly interconnected structure of Musk’s business empire, often dubbed the “Muskonomy,” which includes leading electric vehicle company Tesla, as well as his businesses ​in AI and brain-chip implants.
SpaceX merged with Musk’s AI startup xAI in a deal that valued the rocket company at $1 trillion and the developer of the Grok chatbot at $250 billion.
Through its ​AI infrastructure platform, SpaceX inked deals for ⁠Anthropic to pay it $1.25 billion a month to use compute capacity from its Colossus and Colossus II data center clusters in Memphis, Tennessee through May 2029, the filing shows.
The company disclosed that it had been named as a defendant in multiple lawsuits arising from its AI chatbot Grok’s image-generation and editing features.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/bound-mars-elon-musks-spacex-unveils-filing-blockbuster-ipo-2026-05-20/

President Donald Trump blurted out a stunning dismissal of pain at the pump as his approval rating sinks, telling reporters, “This is peanuts,” and he doesn’t “even think about that.”

The president spoke to reporters on Tuesday morning against the backdrop of the massive and cacophonous East Wing construction project and took questions for about 45 minutes.

In one exchange, he praised CNN’s Harry Enten not long after Enten delivered a breathless report on a new round of sinking approval polls — all in the 30s.

Source : https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-blurts-stunning-gas-price-rant-amid-sinking-polls-this-is-peanuts/

Elon Musk’s lawyer said after the verdict that “this one is not over” and that the billionaire planned to appeal.

A US jury on Monday (May 18) ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding the artificial intelligence company not liable to the world’s richest person for having allegedly strayed from its original mission to benefit humanity.

In a unanimous verdict, the jury in Oakland, California, federal court said Musk had brought his case too late. The jury deliberated less than two hours.

The trial had widely been seen as a critical moment for the future of OpenAI and artificial intelligence generally, both in how it should be used and who should benefit from it.

The decision simplifies the path for OpenAI to proceed with a possible initial public offering that could value the business at US$1 trillion. But the public face of the company, Chief Executive Sam Altman, must also deal with any challenges to his reputation from some extremely personal testimony, including multiple witnesses describing him as a liar.

Following the verdict, Musk’s lawyers said in court that he reserved the right to appeal. Addressing reporters after the verdict, Musk lawyer Marc Toberoff said Musk would have a strong basis for an appeal.

“This one is not over,” he said. “The ruling, based on the statute of limitations, has factual components but it has major legal components as well.”

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who oversaw the trial, said in court that Musk may face an uphill battle for a potential appeal because whether the statute of limitations ran out before Musk sued was a factual issue.

“There’s a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury’s finding, which is why I was prepared to dismiss on the spot,” the judge said.

MUSK INVESTED EARLY IN OPENAI

In his 2024 lawsuit, Musk accused OpenAI, its Chief Executive Sam Altman and its President Greg Brockman of manipulating him into giving US$38 million, then going behind his back by attaching a for-profit business to its original nonprofit and accepting tens of billions of dollars from Microsoft and other investors.

Musk called the OpenAI defendants’ conduct “stealing a charity”.

Toberoff said the verdict could encourage other startups that begin as non-profits but have greater ambitions to raise money, create for-profit entities to scale, and make their officers and directors rich.

“It’s a brand new formula for Silicon Valley,” he told reporters.

OpenAI was founded by Altman, Musk and several others in 2015. Musk left its board in 2018, and OpenAI set up a for-profit business the next year.

Musk has since founded his own artificial intelligence startup, xAI, which is now part of his space and rocket company SpaceX.

OpenAI countered that it was Musk who saw dollar signs, and that he waited too long to claim OpenAI breached its founding agreement to build safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity.

Musk had a three-year statute of limitations to sue, and OpenAI’s lawyers said his August 2024 lawsuit came too late because he knew several years earlier about OpenAI’s growth plans.

Bill Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI, told reporters after the verdict that Musk’s lawsuit was an “after-the-fact contrivance that bears no relationship to reality,” and jurors “kicked it exactly where it belongs, which is to the side”.

“The finding of the jury confirms that what this lawsuit was, was a hypocritical attempt to sabotage a competitor, and to overcome a long history of very bad predictions about what OpenAI has been and will become,” Savitt said.

The verdict followed 11 days of testimony and arguments where Musk’s and Altman’s credibility came under repeated attack.

Microsoft faced an aiding and abetting claim. In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson said: “The facts and the timeline in this case have long been clear and we welcome the jury’s decision to dismiss these claims as untimely.”

Microsoft has spent more than US$100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, a Microsoft executive testified.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/openai-defeats-elon-musks-lawsuit-removing-obstacle-ipo-6128206

A NATO military jet has shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone in Estonian airspace. As Ukraine targets Russia’s Baltic oil facilities more often and more intensely, more such drones are straying into allies’ territory.

NATO confirmed on Tuesday that one of its F16 jets from the Baltic air policing mission based in Lithuania had shot down a drone over Estonian airspace.

Estonia and Latvia both issued air alert threats reporting a drone in their airspace. It was not immediately clear whether they were referring to the same or different aircraft.

What happened?

Estonia’s military said that a drone entered its airspace at around noon local time (0900 GMT/UTC) on Tuesday, entering from Russia into the southeastern part of the country.

It was shot down by a Romanian NATO fighter jet on a training flight with a single missile at 12:14 local time.

“The incident occurred under the conditions of heavy electronic warfare, including GPS spoofing and jamming, by Russia,” the military said.

The military said it had been monitoring the drone before it entry into its airspace, and that the decision to shoot it down had been taken to “minimmize the impact on the civilian population and infrastructure.”

NATO later confirmed that it had shot down a drone over Estonian airspace, it said an investigation was ongoing and NATO was “ready and able to react to any potential air threats.”

Why are drones often crashing in Baltic NATO member states of late?

Tuesday’s incident was the latest of a series of airspace violations in the region in recent weeks, amid intensifying attacks on Russian sites in the Baltic, not least the major oil facilities at Primorsk and Ust-Luga.

The flight path from Ukraine to these sites runs close to the borders to NATO members on the Baltic Sea like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland — and drone defense systems can interfere with the aircrafts’ navigation.

The Baltic countries have broadly blamed Russia in their public responses, saying that Ukraine has a legitimate reason to attack sites in Russia as part of its defensive war.

“These incidents ‌are the direct result of Russia’s war and provocations. Estonia is strengthening cooperation with Ukraine to enhance our air defence and counter-drone capabilities,” Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a post online.

Nevertheless, the incursions have started to take a political toll recently.

The issue came to a head in Latvia in particular this month, with the coalition government collapsing amid internal arguments over the country’s handling of stray drones landing in its territory.

Prime Minister Evika Silina sacked her defense minister then soon had to resign herself after losing a coalition partner and therefore her majority.

On May 15 in Finland, warnings of drone activity led to disruptions at Helsinki International Airport and in other areas near the coastal capital.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/nato-planes-down-suspected-ukrainian-drone-over-estonia/a-77215424

A court in Pakistan has sentenced a man to death over the murder of a teen social media influencer that sparked uproar across the country.

Umar Hayat broke into the home of 17-year-old TikTok star Sana Yousaf in June last year after she rejected his repeated advances, and shot her dead.

Hayat, now 23, admitted his crime in July, saying he had developed a one-sided obsession with Yousaf after some interactions online.

Yousaf’s father Syed Yousaf Hassan said the verdict handed down by the Islamabad court was “a lesson for all such criminals in society”, local media reported.

The court also ordered Hayat to pay 2.5 million rupees ($9,000; £6,700) as compensation to Yousaf’s family.

During investigations, Hayat said he had travelled to Islamabad days before the killing to wish Yousaf well on her birthday. Despite Yousaf’s refusal to meet him, he managed to make his way to her home – where the two had an argument which escalated into the killing, according to Pakistani media.

Yousaf had more than a million followers on TikTok and half a million more on Instagram before her death. She was well-loved by fans for her light-hearted content, including that of her trying out fashion trends, lip-syncing to songs, and just hanging out with friends.

Activists said Yousaf’s murder was part of a larger pattern of violence against women in Pakistan.

Police raided locations across the capital, where Yousaf lived with her family, and the province of Punjab, scanning footage from 113 CCTV cameras in all.

While many have shared their outrage over Yousaf’s death, there has also been backlash towards her work as an influencer.

Usama Khilji, director of digital rights advocacy group Bolo Bhi, told the BBC in an earlier interview that such criticism had been coming from a small portion of mostly male internet users, some of whom have cited religious grounds.

“They’re asking why she was putting up all this content, and even suggesting the family should take down her Instagram and TikTok accounts because they add to her ‘sins’,” Khilji said.

 

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgzrgm0rgvo

U.S. President Donald Trump ​said on Monday he had paused a planned attack against Iran after Tehran sent a peace proposal to Washington, and that there was now a “very good chance” of ‌reaching a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
After Iran sent the U.S. a new peace proposal, Trump said he had instructed the U.S. military that “we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”

No such attack had previously been announced, and Reuters could not determine whether preparations had ​been made for strikes that would mark a renewal of the war Trump started in late February.
Under pressure to reach an accord that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has ​previously expressed hope that a deal was close on ending the war, and similarly threatened heavy strikes on Iran if Tehran does not reach a deal.
In ⁠his post, he said the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had requested that he hold off on the attack because “a Deal will be made, which will be very ​acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond.” He did not offer details of the agreement being discussed.

Speaking to reporters later, he said the United ​States would be satisfied if it could reach an agreement with Iran that prevents Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“There seems to be a very good chance that they can work something out. If we can do that without bombing the hell out of them, I would be very happy,” Trump told reporters gathered for an unrelated announcement.
Trump’s post on calling off an attack came after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that Tehran’s views had been “conveyed to ​the American side through Pakistan” but gave no details.
A Pakistani source confirmed that Islamabad, which has conveyed messages between the sides in the war in the Middle East since hosting the only round of peace ​talks last month, had shared the latest proposal with Washington. But the source suggested progress had been difficult.

The joint strikes come shortly after the US and Nigeria announced killing a high-profile IS leader. Meanwhile, residents reported a gunmen attack which killed at least 10 in the northwestern Katsina State.

The United States and Nigeria conducted fresh strikes on Sunday against so-called Islamic State jihadists in northeast Nigeria’s Borno State, the US military said Monday.

At least 20 jihadists were killed in the weekend strikes, according to the Nigerian military.

The strikes came shortly after another joint operation between the two militaries that killed Abu Bakr al-Mainuki, the deputy leader of the group’s local West African “province.”

Nigeria’s military described Mainuki as the world’s “most active terrorist.”

His assassination marked the first successful targeting of a senior militant leader by Nigeria’s security forces after more than a decade of insurgency by a number of armed groups in the north, including Boko Haram.

What do we know about the weekend strikes on jihadists?

The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement that “no US or Nigerian forces were harmed” in the weekend strikes, adding that intelligence confirmed the targets were Islamic State militants.

“The removal of these terrorists diminishes the group’s capacity to plan attacks that threaten the safety and security of the US and our partners,” AFRICOM added.

The raid was the “continuation of coordinated operations against ISIS militants,” across Nigeria’s restive northeast region, Nigeria’s military said, using another name for the jihadist group.

What is the security situation in Nigeria’s north?

Nigeria’s Muslim and Christian communities are more or less equally split in size among its population.

The country’s Muslim-majority north faces double threats from Islamist jihadists as well as criminal gangs which have increasingly become active in the past decade. Victims are often targeted regardless of their faith, according to analysts.

Last year, US President Donald Trump accused Nigerian authorities of not doing enough to protect the country’s Christian community.

The comments led to a row with authorities in the West African country, who denied Trump’s accusations.

Shortly afterward, the two countries’ militaries coordinated an attack on jihadists on Christmas Day and have since worked more closely together.

The US in February sent troops to Nigeria in what was at the time deemed a mostly advisory and training role. But speculation has grown following the weekend strikes and Mainuki’s killing over whether cooperation has advanced to active US involvement in the west African country.

Gunmen kill at least 10 in northwestern Nigeria

In a separate incident in northwestern Katsina State, residents said at least 10 people were killed in an attack by gunmen, including women and children.

Gunmen attacked the rural Guga farming community in Bakori Local Government Area on Sunday, burning homes and looting livestock, the Reuters news agency reported.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/us-and-nigerian-forces-kill-20-jihadists-in-northern-region/a-77201201

A DEFIANT Elon Musk has said that he will appeal a judge’s ruling to dismiss his high-stakes lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.

A jury in Oakland unanimously ruled against the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, 54, determining that he missed his three-year window to file his lawsuit against the powerhouse tech company.

Musk appeared adamant about Monday’s outcome, saying the judge and jury only ruled on a “calendar technicality” and not the merits of the case.

“There is a no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman & [Greg] Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity,” Musk wrote on X hours after the judge’s ruling.

“The only question is WHEN they did! I will be filing an appeal with the Ninth Circuit, because creating a precedent to loot charities is incredibly destructive to charitable giving in America.

“OpenAI was founded to benefit all of humanity.”

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before determining Musk waited too long to file his lawsuit against Altman, 41.

Musk sued Altman and OpenAI in August 2024, alleging the artificial intelligence company strayed from its founding agreement when leaders prioritized profit after promising to keep the tech firm a non-profit dedicated to benefiting humanity.

Musk, who helped create OpenAI in 2015, claimed he had been assured by Altman that the company would remain a non-profit business.

The Tesla founder said he began to have doubts about the direction the company was heading, and felt betrayed.

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before determining Musk waited too long to file his lawsuit against Altman, 41.

Musk sued Altman and OpenAI in August 2024, alleging the artificial intelligence company strayed from its founding agreement when leaders prioritized profit after promising to keep the tech firm a non-profit dedicated to benefiting humanity.

Musk, who helped create OpenAI in 2015, claimed he had been assured by Altman that the company would remain a non-profit business.

The Tesla founder said he began to have doubts about the direction the company was heading, and felt betrayed.

However, OpenAI argued that Musk waited to file the lawsuit until he founded his own competing artificial intelligence company.

Musk stepped down from OpenAI’s board in 2018 and launched his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, in 2023.

He then proceeded to sue Altman, OpenAI, and its president Greg Brockman the following year.

The time limits were essential to the case as the jury ruled Musk had exceeded the three-year limit for breach of charitable trust and the two-year threshold for claims of unjust enrichment.

The jury determined that Musk was aware of OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit business as early as 2021, three years before he filed his lawsuit in August 2024.

Under California law, a breach of charitable trust must be filed within three years of the moment the plaintiff knew about the alleged breach.

The nine-person jury found that Musk did not file his lawsuit until after the expiration of the three-year statute of limitation, invalidating his claim.

Musk’s defense team needed to prove that he had no way of knowing that OpenAI had breached its founding agreement before August 5, 2021.

For his claims that OpenAI unjustly enriched themselves, the statute expired after two years, which means Musk needed to prove his claims before August 5, 2022.

Neither Musk, Altman, nor Brockman were present in the courtroom for the verdict.

Marc Toberoff, one of Musk’s attorneys, told The New York Times they plan to appeal the decision.

OpenAI established OpenAI LP, a for-profit subsidiary company in March 2019 under the control of the nonprofit, with an obligation to “humanity as a whole,” TIME reported.

The move came after Musk left the company’s board in 2018.

Musk alleged that his donations were used for commercial purposes without authorization.

He sued OpenAI for $150billion in damages and asked the court to remove Altman and Brockman from their leadership positions.

Musk also wanted to unwind the company’s conversion to a for-profit entity.

“It’s not OK to steal a charity,” Musk said in a testimony at the end of April.

Musk blasted himself as a “fool” who “provided them free funding to create a start-up.””

“I gave them $38 million of essentially free funding to create what would become an $800 billion company.”

“I came up with the idea, the name, recruited the key people, taught them everything I know, provided all the initial funding,” Musk said on the stand.

Altman had testified that he “was extremely uncomfortable” with Musk’s desire for power within OpenAI, arguing that Musk felt strongly about having total control over the company in the early days.

OpenAI had denied Musk’s allegations throughout the case, claiming Musk was aware of the plans and supported them.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16360597/elon-musk-sam-altman-lawsuit-verdict-open-ai/

Tehran is seeking to levy fees on firms including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon for use of the submarine cables that pass beneath the Strait of Hormuz.

A slowdown in your bank transfer. A lag in financial markets. A region-wide internet blackout. After the Middle East war put the world through an oil and energy shock, Iran has set its eyes on another Achilles’ heel: the subsea cables running beneath the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran is seeking to levy fees on firms including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon for use of the submarine cables that pass beneath the strait, according to reports from state-linked Iranian media. The same outlets have warned that traffic could face disruption should companies refuse to cooperate.

Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on X last week, “We will impose fees on internet cables.”

Media outlets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported that the plan would require major technology firms to comply with Iranian law and ask submarine cable operators to pay licensing fees. Repair and maintenance rights would also be handed exclusively to Iranian companies.

How Iran would enforce this remains unclear, since US sanctions currently prohibit American firms from making payments to Tehran.

Why Subsea Cables Matter

Subsea cables form the foundation of global digital connectivity, carrying the majority of the world’s internet and data traffic. Any serious damage to them would cause more disruptions than just slower internet speeds, potentially affecting banking systems, military communications, artificial intelligence, financial trading and cross-border transactions.

Several major intercontinental subsea cables pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Given long-standing security concerns around Iran, international operators have historically routed most cables through a narrow corridor on the Omani side of the waterway. However, two cables, Falcon and Gulf Bridge International, do pass through Iranian territorial waters, Alan Mauldin, research director at TeleGeography, a telecoms research firm, told CNN.

The consequences of any disruption would be felt widely. Iran’s neighbours could face severe internet outages. India could also see a large share of its internet traffic affected.

The strait also serves as a critical digital link between major Asian data hubs such as Singapore and cable landing stations in Europe. Parts of East Africa could face internet blackouts, while financial trading and cross-border transactions between Europe and Asia could also slow considerably.

While most modern cable damage can be managed through rerouting across alternative networks, a large-scale disruption would carry far greater consequences, given how much the world depends on data flowing through these cables. The maintenance will be another challenge as repair vessels must remain stationary for extended periods when fixing faults, which won’t be possible if Iran actively attacks them.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-iran-war-tehran-iran-has-found-another-achilles-heel-lurking-beneath-strait-of-hormuz-11508894?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

France is pursuing its own investigation into the Epstein affair, looking at potential crimes committed in the EU country or involving French nationals tied to the US sex offender.

Around 10 new suspected victims have come forward since France launched a probe into late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his network, Paris’ top public prosecutor said Sunday.

France set up a special task force of magistrates in February to probe potential crimes committed in the country or involving French nationals who might be implicated in Epstein’s crimes.

The move was triggered by the US Justice Department releasing the latest trove of documents — known as the “Epstein files” — relating to its investigation into the disgraced financier.

Epstein was found hanging in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking underage girls for sex.

What did the prosecutor say about the new victims?

In remarks to RTL Radio, Laure Beccuau said around 20 people had come forward since she urged potential suspected victims to contact authorities in February.

Some of the alleged victims were already known to investigators, Beccuau said, “but we also had new victims come forward, ones we didn’t know at all. There are around 10 of them.”

“A certain number of them are abroad so the investigators are trying to set up meetings to suit when they are able to come to Paris,” she told RTL.

The other victims, known to investigators, included people assaulted by Jean-Luc Brunel, a modeling agent indicted for the rape of minors, who committed suicide while in custody in 2022. Brunel was also suspected of having transported and hosted young women for Epstein.

Gerald Marie, a former executive at the prestigious Elite modeling agency, is also facing similar charges, which he denies.

What do we know about the Epstein probe in France?

A possible recruiter for Epstein, Daniel Siad, is under investigation in Paris, following complaints from potential victims, according to French broadcaster BFM.

Beccuau also said the investigating task force was searching through the Epstein files for any names of alleged perpetrators that suspected victims have mentioned.

The names of many high-profile figures, including celebrities, senior politicians and industry leaders, have been referenced in the documents released by the US. Being mentioned in the Epstein files does not necessarily mean an offense has been committed.

“We have also got back out Mr. Epstein’s computer, his telephone records, his address books,” the prosecutor said. The investigators will also be “making requests for international assistance,” she added.

But Beccuau added that “none of the people who could potentially be implicated have been questioned” yet.

“It is only once we have a fully understood Epstein’s (relationships) with the other key figures” in his network in France “that we will hear from the defendants,” she said.

French ex-culture minister Jack Lang is the highest-profile French national implicated in the Epstein files.

The 86-year-old stepped down from his role at the helm of a prestigious cultural center in Paris, the Arab World Institute (IMA), in February, after his name appeared in the Epstein files more than 670 times.

Lang denies any wrongdoing.

Global scandal

The Epstein affair has had repercussions in several other countries, including the US, the United Kingdom and Norway, among others.

While US President Donald Trump campaigned on releasing the files, he then resisted intense, months-long pressure to publish the documents. The US Justice Department eventually released millions of files, although they were heavily redacted.

Trump and Epstein were friends for years, but the US president insists their relationship ended long before the allegations against Epstein came to light. No evidence implicating Trump in any crimes linked to Epstein has been made public.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/new-epstein-victims-turn-up-in-french-probe-prosecutor/a-77190062

The United Arab Emirates said a drone strike had triggered a fire near its nuclear power station on Sunday, calling the incident a “dangerous escalation”.

Officials are investigating the source of the strike. The country’s defence ministry said three drones had entered the UAE from the “western border direction”.

While two were intercepted, the third drone struck an electrical generator “outside the inner perimeter” of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, sparking a fire.

No injuries were reported and there was no impact on radiological safety levels, local authorities said.

The UAE’s foreign ministry called the strike an “unacceptable act of aggression” and said it had the right to respond to any hostilities.

It added that “the targeting of peaceful nuclear energy facilities is a flagrant violation of international law, the UN charter, and the principles of humanitarian law”.

The country’s defence ministry meanwhile said it would “firmly confront any attempts to undermine the country’s security”.

Officials have not said from where the drone was launched. The UAE has previously accused Iran of being behind attacks on its energy and economic infrastructure since war broke out in the region in February.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office said the fire “broke out in an electric generator” and confirmed precautionary measures had been taken at the plant, which is operating as normal.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog said it was monitoring the situation closely and that its director general Rafael Grossi expressed “grave concern” about the incident.

Grossi said “military activity that threatens nuclear safety is unacceptable”, according to a statement shared by the International Atomic Energy Agency on X, and called for “maximum military restraint”.

Also on Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed three drones which had entered its airspace from Iraq.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy27pkj1l1o

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington, Trump said he wanted to avoid escalating tensions over Taiwan.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he has not yet decided whether to approve a planned $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan after discussing the issue extensively with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington, Trump said he wanted to avoid escalating tensions over Taiwan.

“The last thing we need right now is a war that’s 9,500 miles away,” Trump said while referring to the proposed arms package, which reportedly includes missiles and air defence interceptors and has been pending for months.

The issue of Taiwan was a major focus during Trump’s visit to China. The trip began with Xi warning about possible “conflicts” linked to Taiwan, while Trump repeatedly indicated that he did not want to provoke a confrontation.

Trump also acknowledged the US commitment under the 1982 “six assurances” policy not to consult China regarding arms sales to Taiwan, but suggested he did not consider the agreement binding in the current situation.

“What am I going to do, say I don’t want to talk to you about it because I have an agreement wrote in 1982? No, we discussed arms sales.”

“I’ll be making decisions,” Trump said, adding that his main priority remained preventing a war.

His remarks reportedly raised concerns in Taipei as well as among US allies including Japan and South Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has maintained a strong position on Taiwan, reportedly received a “detailed” briefing from Trump over a phone call from Air Force One regarding the talks with Xi.

Trump also said he may have to speak with “the person who… is running Taiwan” about the arms package, though such a move would likely anger Beijing if it involved Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.

The weapons package has also faced political sensitivity within Taiwan. Parliament reportedly took months to approve funding worth $25 billion linked to the pending $14 billion package and an additional $11 billion tranche cleared by Trump last year.

Source: https://www.news18.com/world/trump-softens-tone-on-14-billion-taiwan-arms-deal-after-talks-with-xi-jinping-want-to-avoid-war-ws-l-10095699.html

The artefacts, widely referred to in Europe as the ‘Leiden Plates’, are among the most historically valuable surviving records from the Chola empire. India had been seeking their return since 2012.

In a major cultural restitution move, the Netherlands formally returned a set of 11th-century Chola-era copper plates to India on Saturday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the European country.

The handover marked the culmination of years of diplomatic efforts by New Delhi and was presented as a symbol of deepening ties between the two nations.

The artefacts, widely referred to in Europe as the ‘Leiden Plates’, are among the most historically valuable surviving records from the Chola empire. India had been seeking their return since 2012.

PM Modi reached the Netherlands on Friday after a stop in the UAE as part of his ongoing five-country tour that also includes Sweden, Norway and Italy.

“Joyous Moment For Every Indian”: PM Modi 

PM Modi, in a post on X, announced the repatriation of the Chola Copper Plates to India.

“A joyous moment for every Indian! Chola Copper Plates dating back to the 11th Century will be repatriated to India from the Netherlands. Took part in the ceremony for the same in the presence of Prime Minister Rob Jetten”, he wrote.

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A joyous moment for every Indian!

Chola Copper Plates dating back to the 11th Century will be repatriated to India from the Netherlands. Took part in the ceremony for the same in the presence of Prime Minister Rob Jetten.

The Chola Copper Plates are a set of 21 large plates… pic.twitter.com/Zwu0QFc2ZJ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 16, 2026

Rare Record Of Chola Rule And Religious Patronage

The copper plates date back to the reign of Emperor Rajaraja Chola I, who ruled between 985 and 1014 CE. Historians regard them as one of the most significant pieces of Tamil heritage preserved outside India.

The collection consists of 21 copper plates weighing nearly 30 kilograms. They are fastened together with a bronze ring carrying the royal Chola seal. One section of the inscriptions is written in Sanskrit, while the other is in Tamil.

The records document grants made for a Buddhist monastery in Nagapattinam, highlighting the religious and cultural exchanges that flourished during the Chola period. Scholars say the inscriptions offer valuable insight into maritime trade links between South India and Southeast Asia, as well as the era’s tradition of coexistence across faiths.

Historical accounts suggest Rajaraja Chola I initially issued the order verbally, which was first recorded on palm leaves. His son, Rajendra Chola I, later had the details engraved onto copper plates to preserve them permanently. The binding ring carries Rajendra Chola’s emblem.

From Dutch Custody To Diplomatic Return

The plates were taken to the Netherlands in the 18th century by Florentius Camper, who was associated with a Christian mission in India during the period when Nagapattinam was under Dutch control.

For decades, the artefacts remained stored in secure facilities in the Netherlands and were primarily accessible to academics and researchers upon request. Over time, they became well known among historians and Tamil epigraphists and also gained wider public recognition through references in Ponniyin Selvan, the iconic Tamil historical novel centred on the Chola empire.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/netherlands-returns-1-000-year-old-chola-dynasty-copper-plates-to-india-11505629?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

 

The FBI Director is facing fresh controversy after reports allege that Patel turned an official work trip into a luxury outing with his girlfriend. While the FBI has defended the visit as official business, critics have raised questions over the ethics and optics surrounding the travel.

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing renewed scrutiny after reports alleged he turned an official work trip into a luxury outing involving his girlfriend, raising fresh questions over his use of bureau resources.

According to a New York Times report, the 46-year-old FBI Director allegedly flew with his 27-year-old girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, on the FBI’s Gulfstream V jet from Washington to Philadelphia on May 10, 2025, to attend a country music concert before returning later the same night.

The report claims the couple watched George Strait and Chris Stapleton perform from a private suite costing between $35,000 and $50,000. FBI flight crew and security personnel reportedly remained on duty until after 11 pm, waiting for Patel and Wilkins to leave the venue, accruing overtime pay in the process.

The report also noted that Patel was contacted for a response through an FBI spokesperson, but he declined the request. Meanwhile, the bureau instead said that Wilkins had been “an invited guest” of the performers.

The allegations add to growing controversy over Patel’s travel and use of FBI resources, with reports highlighting concerns that his official trips have increasingly included personal or leisure elements involving his girlfriend.

The latest claims come days after Patel was criticised over a so-called “VIP snorkel” excursion near the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor, a site honouring US service members killed in the 1941 attack.

Responding to the report, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson pushed back in a post on X, saying the AP had mischaracterised the trip and emphasising that it was, in fact, an “official trip.”

“The AP is attempting to spin an invitation from the Commanding General of Indo Pacom [US Indo-Pacific Command] to a military base as a party or vacation, which is so stupid,” said FBI spokesman Ben Williamson in an X post.

“The DoW [Department of War] routinely does these engagements with inter-agency partners — to include this one — and when he was Chief of staff for [the Pentagon] in Trump 1, Patel offered the same event for many partners that came to visit,” he added.

Another earlier trip under media scrutiny is Patel’s Hawaii visit. He travelled to Hawaii in July 2025 to meet members of the Honolulu Field Office and other federal and local law enforcement partners, according to a previously issued agency press release.

The bureau has maintained that the Hawaii trip was official, with an FBI spokesperson previously stating it was part of a “historical tour to honor heroes who died on the USS Arizona – not a party.”

The bureau’s release highlighted that the meeting focused on “crime trends and threats to the homeland,” including discussions on “violent crime initiatives and casework.”

The bureau further informed that the August visit formed part of “the Director’s public national security engagements last August with counterparts in New Zealand, Australia, our Honolulu Field Office, and the Department of War.”

Critics, however, have questioned the optics of the visits.

Stacey Young, the founder of Justice Connection, a “support group” for Department of Justice personnel fired under the second Trump administration, criticised the August trip in comments to the Associated Press.

Young said that it “fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions, this time at a site commemorating the second-deadliest attack in US history, instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe.”

Meanwhile, the report also noted that the US Navy and the National Park Service have permitted military and government officials to “swim at the [Arizona] site” dating back to the Obama administration.

“I have not heard of anyone who would object to these visits as they are very rare and there aren’t any survivors of the Arizona left alive,” wrote Deidre Kelley, national president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.

“Their children might have some objections but I haven’t heard any.”

Patel has also drawn scrutiny over a trip to Milan during the Winter Olympics, where video showed him celebrating with members of the US men’s hockey team and chugging a beer.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/kash-patel-work-trip-controversy-fbi-jet-luxury-trip-girlfriend-concert-philadelphia-private-suite-2912890-2026-05-17

AN OUTBREAK of Ebola has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo following a new strain.

A total of 65 people have already been killed across the Ituri province in the northeast of the country, and another 246 suspected cases have been recorded.

So far, only four of the deaths are laboratory-confirmed cases – but the new outbreak was confirmed after many suspected cases.

Fears are now mounting over the spread of the deadly virus in the area, which sits on the border with South Sudan and Uganda.

Officials at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the majority of the fatalities and suspected cases have been recorded in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones.

“Four deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases,” it added in a statement.

“Suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, pending confirmation.”

Preliminary laboratory results have reportedly detected the Ebola virus in 13 of 20 samples tested.

So far, testing suggests a non-Zaire Ebola virus. Sequencing is ongoing to further characterise the strain, with results expected within the next 24 hours.

Dr Gabriel Nsakala, a professor of public health who has been involved in past Ebola outbreak responses in Congo, said that vaccine efforts would become clearer when the strain in the new outbreak is confirmed.

Africa CDC said there is also risk of spread due to the intense population movement and attacks by armed groups that have killed dozens and displaced thousands in parts of Ituri province in the past year.

There are also gaps in contact tracing, the agency said, as authorities race to find those who might have been exposed to the virus.

An urgent high-level coordination meeting with health authorities from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan is taking place today.

It will focus on immediate response priorities, cross-border coordination, surveillance, safe and dignified burials and resource mobilisation, among other areas.

The new outbreak comes about five months after the DRC’s last bout was declared to be over, leaving 43 people dead.

This also means that health workers on the ground have a high level of experience, in addition to existing infrastructure such as laboratories, said Nsakala.

“Now, the expertise and equipment need to be delivered quickly,” he added.

The Ebola outbreak follows the alarming spread of hantavirus, after cases were first identified on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius.

Three ⁠people – a Dutch couple and a German national – have died since the outbreak on the Dutch luxury cruise ship, ⁠that departed Argentina on a polar expedition on April 1.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/health/16367069/ebola-outbreak-congo-kills-dozens/

 

In a series of posts on X, the Republican senator from Missouri attacked the US employment-based visa system, alleging it suppresses local wages and creates a global “Visa Cartel” that displaces American workers.

US Senator Eric Schmitt sparked an online controversy by targeting Hyderabad’s Chilkur Balaji Temple, popularly known as the “Visa Temple”, while he was criticising the US H-1B visa programme.

In a series of posts on X, the Republican senator from Missouri attacked the US employment-based visa system, alleging it suppresses local wages and creates a global “Visa Cartel” that displaces American workers.

He claimed that programmes such as H-1B, L-1, F-1 and Optional Practical Training (OPT) are “hollowing” the American middle class.

“Billions now flow to India for AI training instead, subsidised by Americans,” he wrote on X.

To illustrate his claims, Schmitt shared a photo of the Chilkur Balaji Temple, stating that it is a “Visa Temple” that Indians or the “Visa Cartel” pray at for getting their visas successfully granted.

“The “Visa Cartel” has its own “Visa Temple” in Hyderabad, which sees thousands of Indians circling altars and getting passports blessed for U.S. work visas. American workers shouldn’t have to compete against a system this gamed”, Schmitt wrote in a post on X.

In a separate tweet, he alleged that foreign students, of whom almost half are Indians, get taxpayer-subsidised work permits and corporations do not get any payroll taxes or wage rules.

“They flow into H-1B, then green cards, while U.S. grads with debt compete against cheaper labour,” he said.

Taking the argument further, Schmitt said that is not where the “cartel’s work is done”. He said Indian visa holders share confidential questions that are asked in interviews with other applicants from India.

“Big Tech quietly locks out Americans by routing jobs through these pipelines. Merit is now replaced by ethnic favoritism”, he wrote.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-official-eric-schmitt-targets-indians-hyderabads-chilkur-balaji-temple-over-h-1b-visas-11496498?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

The BRICS bloc faces major challenges as foreign ministers meet in India, bringing Iran and the UAE face-to-face. The conflict in the Gulf and disruptions to oil supplies dominate the agenda.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar called for “safe, unimpeded maritime flows” through international waters, including the Strait of Hormuz, as the politically divided BRICS nations gathered in New Delhi on Thursday.

“We meet at a time of considerable flux in international relations,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks. “There is a growing expectation, particularly from emerging markets and developing countries, that BRICS will play a constructive and stabilizing role,” he said.

Jaishankar’s call for stability comes amid internal divisions within the grouping that has expanded over the course of the years.

BRICS now includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in addition to the original members, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Not all BRICS nations see eye to eye
BRICS members Iran and UAE were especially at odds ahead of the meeting because of the Iran war.

Experts now fear that the grouping may struggle to agree on a common formulation to even describe US-Isarel war on Iran and the broader conflict in the Middle East.

Jaishankar also called on leaders to “address the ‌increasing resort to unilateral coercive ‌measures ​and sanctions inconsistent with international law and the ​UN Charter.”

Why is BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting so important?
The BRICS bloc of emerging economies has long sought to present itself as a counterweight to Western dominance.

South Africa joined in 2010, and the group expanded again in January 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Indonesia became a full member in 2025.

Thursday’s meeting also comes against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war with Iran that has disrupted critical global supplies of oil, gas, and raw materials.

Talks about energy security high on the table
India, the BRICS Chair for 2026, is also facing a shortage of foreign currency reserves. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged citizens to avoid buying gold for a year and conserve fuel to help manage the crisis.

Talks are expected to focus on energy security, the Strait of Hormuz, and trade in local currencies.

Iran calls for unequivocal condemnation of US, Isarel
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on other BRICS members to unequivocally condemn the US and Israeli attacks against Iran — a demand likely to be rejected by several members, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Araghchi’s remarks came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that he had secretly visited the UAE during the US-Israel war with Iran to strengthen ties.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/iran-war-tensions-oil-shocks-dominate-brics-talks-in-india/a-77158355

At least six people died in Ukraine after Russia launched a daytime attack of 800 drones of drones as far as western regions bordering NATO. Zelenskyy said it was one of the longest and largest attacks of the war.

A large-scale Russian drone attack against Ukraine took place Wednesday, killing six people ​and ‌wounding dozens across the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr ‌Zelenskyy said.

The attack represents one of the longest and largest ​attacks in Russia’s war in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

“Since midnight, ‌at ​least 800 Russian drones have already been launched, ​and the attack is ongoing, with ⁠additional ​drones entering our ​country’s airspace,” he wrote on ‌X.

Zelenskyy said the daytime attack was “deliberately targeting our railway infrastructure and civilian sites in our cities.”

On Telegram, Zelenskyy said an attack on Kyiv, the western city of Lviv, and the port of Odesa, began midmorning and lasted for hours.

The strikes also targeted Ukraine’s residential and railway infrastructure in the central Dnipro and northeastern Kharkiv regions, and energy facilities in the central Poltava region, Zelenskyy said.

The Polish army said it had scrambled fighter jets as a preventative measure due to the Russian air strikes in far western Ukraine.

Slovakia briefly closed its border Wednesday with Ukraine for security reasons as a nearby Ukrainian city came under Russian attack.

Attacks come as Trump and Xi meet

Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, saying it “cannot be called a coincidence” that the attack has taken place at the same time that US President Donald Trump arrived in China for a high-profile state visit.

“In this difficult geopolitical moment, Russia is clearly trying to disrupt the overall political atmosphere and draw attention to its evil — seeking to do so at the expense of Ukrainian lives and Ukrainian infrastructure,” he wrote on X.

“It is important to support Ukraine and not remain silent about Russia’s war. Every time the war disappears from the top of the news, it encourages Russia to become even more savage,” Zelenskyy said, a reference to the world’s attention being caught by the Iran war.

On Tuesday, prior to the attack, Trump said he believes Moscow and Kyiv will soon reach a deal to end fighting. “The end of the war in Ukraine I really think is getting very close,” Trump told reporters as he left for Beijing.

Russia’s use of drones ‘evolving’

Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser ⁠to ​Ukraine’s defense minister, said the attack involved large numbers of drones moving along between 5 kilometers and 10 kilometers (between 3 and 6 miles) from ​the Belarus border with the aim of overwhelming ‌Ukraine’s air defenses and breaking through to the western regions.

Beskrestnov noted that the strike highlighted the evolving use of drones ​by Moscow, with tactics changing from attack to attack.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/russia-unleashes-fatal-barrage-of-drones-at-ukraine/a-77152246

 

A confirmed Norovirus outbreak aboard the Ambition cruise ship sickened passengers, triggering temporary confinement and emergency health measures.

The new image appears to back a report by CBS News that Iran had been sending aircraft, including reconnaissance and intelligence aircraft to Pakistan’s Nur Khan airbase

High-resolution satellite imagery sourced from Vantor appears to confirm reports that Pakistan has been harbouring at least one Iran Air Force military aircraft while projecting itself as an independent mediator in the talks between Tehran and Washington which have been held in Islamabad.

The April 25, 2026 image in this report shows an Iran Air Force C-130 aircraft parked near a hangar at Pakistan’s Nur Khan airbase. Nur Khan Airbase (also known as the Pakistan Air Force’s Chaklala Airbase) is located in Chaklala, Rawalpindi which lies within the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area. This is approximately 10 km from central Islamabad.

The new image appears to back a report by CBS News that Iran had been sending aircraft, including reconnaissance and intelligence aircraft to Pakistan’s Nur Khan airbase soon after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire in April.

Reacting to the CBS News report, US Senator Lindsey Graham has now directly told US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine that he doesn’t trust Pakistan.

Speaking at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Senator Graham, who serves as the senior US senator from South Carolina said, “If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate. No wonder this damn thing [talks between the US and Iran] is going nowhere.”

Earlier, in a statement, Pakistan referred to the CBS News report as being “misleading and sensationalised. Such speculative narratives appear aimed at undermining ongoing efforts for regional stability and peace.”

Iran first received its C-130s during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the seventies. The fleet was inherited intact by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force after the 1979 Revolution. No new C-130s have been acquired since due to US sanctions. Iran has sustained the fleet through domestic overhauls and creative maintenance.

Iran’s C-130s wear a sandy yellow/tan (desert sand) camouflage scheme, markedly different from Pakistan Air Force C-130s also deployed at the Nur Khan airbase. These wear a light grey paint scheme.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/exclusive-satellite-images-confirm-pakistan-may-be-shielding-irans-military-aircraft-11486514?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Jason Collins, the first openly gay active player in the NBA, has died at the age of 47 ​after battling cancer, his family said on Tuesday.
Collins revealed in ‌September that he was undergoing treatment for a brain tumour and later disclosed he had stage four glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

“We are heartbroken to ​share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and ​uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” the ⁠family said in a statement.

Collins made headlines in 2013 when he became the first active ​male athlete in one of North America’s four major professional sports leagues to publicly ​come out as gay.
The center played 13 seasons in the NBA. He was selected 18th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2001 draft then was traded to the ​then-New Jersey Nets on draft night. He also had stints with ​the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.
Collins helped the ‌Nets ⁠reach back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 alongside teammates Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson.
After a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated disclosing he was gay, Collins received widespread support across the sports world, including from then-U.S. ​President Barack Obama.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sports/former-nba-player-jason-collins-dies-aged-47-after-cancer-battle-2026-05-12/

Amnesty International is calling for an investigation, saying the strike was the latest deadly attack to kill civilians. The military denies that civilians were harmed.

According to Amnesty International, at least 100 civilians have been killed in a Nigerian military airstrike on a crowded market in the country’s northwest.

The rights group’s Nigerian office said the attack hit Tumfa market in Zamfara State on Sunday and is calling for an immediate investigation.

“The authorities must investigate these deadly strikes, and put an end to reckless attacks on civilians,” Amnesty said on social media.

The Red Cross also confirmed the strike.

A spokesman for Nigeria’s military, Major General Michael Onoja, told the AFP news agency reports of civilian deaths in Zamfara were “not true.”

In a separate statement to the Associated Press, the military said, there was “no verifiable evidence of civilian casualties as being suggested in the media has been established.”

Rights group cites repeated civilian deaths in Nigerian air operations

Dozens of injured people are being treated in nearby hospitals, and many of the dead are reported to be women and girls, according to community leaders in the area.

“Everybody, residents and bandits, goes to the market,”Garba Ibrahim Mashema said. “People are at the mercy of the bandits. There is nothing they can do.”

A Red Cross official in the state, Ibrahim Bello Garba, told the Associated Press “multiple civilians” were killed.

Sunday’s strike follows another deadly market airstrike last month in Jilli, in northeastern Nigeria, in which around 200 civilians were killed.

“In parts of the north facing conflicts, civilians have borne the brunt of suffering far too often,” Amnesty said. “These horrific deaths must not be overlooked.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/nigeria-airstrike-kills-100-at-market-amnesty-says/a-77135993

The mayor of Arcadia admitted to acting as an illegal foreign agent of China, resigning from her position in a shocking federal plea deal unsealed on Monday.

Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People’s Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — the city is located in the San Gabriel Valley within LA County.

Wang, 58, worked with her then fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, on a web site called “U.S. News Center,” which claimed to be news source for Chinese Americans, according to court documents.

But in reality the pair were carrying out Beijing’s orders through the site.

Wang and Sun “executed directives” from the Chinese government, posting propaganda designed to boost China, all while reporting back to their masters with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, according to the plea agreement.

In one case, Wang’s spymaster ordered her to post pre-written news articles, including a PRC official-written essay in the Los Angeles Times, the plea deal states.

“There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability,” wrote Wang’s master, according to the plea agreement.

Wang complied and her handler wrote back, “So fast, thank you everyone.”

In another case, Wang’s PRC boss commended her on page views received by a certain piece of propaganda. Wang wrote back, “Thank you leader.”

Wang pled guilty to the federal charge at her arraignment in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

LA’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, said this is not the first time China has been caught trying to exert its influence in the United States.

“Ms. Wang is just the latest to act as an agent for the PRC and it should terrify Americans that she was able to rise to the highest levels of local office in her city,” Essayli said.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Wang admitted that that she acted under the control of Chinese officials to promote propaganda in the U.S.

Prosecutors in 2024 charged Sun with conspiracy and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

Wang said her relationship with Sun ended that year. Her ex-lover also served as campaign manager for her City Council run. The mayor of Arcadia is drawn from the Council on a rotating basis.

Wang tried to distance herself from Sun in 2025, saying she “not responsible for the action of others,” and would not resign from the post she then held on the City Council.

Sun in February was sentenced to four years in federal prison for acting as a covert agent of the PRC.

“For years, Sun received and executed taskings from Chinese government officials, distorted our public discourse by disseminating Chinese propaganda, and surveilled groups in the United States that China viewed as threatening,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

Prosecutors say Sun and his PRC bosses sought to turn Wang into a political star in the hopes that she would achieve high office and further China’s goals in California.

Wang in 2024 told the Los Angeles Times that she had relocated to Southern California from China three decades earlier.

She said mother was a doctor of Chinese medicine and acupuncture and her father was a physician in Sichuan province before he got a job working at the University of Southern California.

The PRC has attempted for years to influence U.S. policy and governance through propaganda and espionage, prompting counterintelligence officials in 2022 to warn about China’s increasing use of overt and covert means to influence policymaking.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/05/11/us-news/eileen-wang-mayor-of-arcadia-accused-of-acting-as-chinese-agent/

The family of a man killed in ​a 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in a U.S. ‌court, claiming the shooter was aided by ChatGPT in planning the attack.
The family of Tiru Chabba filed the lawsuit on Sunday in Florida federal court against the company and the man charged in the shooting, Phoenix Ikner. It is at least the second lawsuit filed in the U.S. accusing ​OpenAI of facilitating a mass shooting.

The lawsuit claims ChatGPT served as a co-conspirator in the shooting, because Ikner ​planned and carried it out using information provided by ChatGPT in conversations in the preceding months. Despite conversations ⁠about mass shootings, the lethality of Ikner’s weapons and when the FSU student union was busiest, the chatbot did not ​flag or escalate the conversations, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit, which seeks compensatory and punitive damages, accuses OpenAI of designing a ​defective product and failing to warn the public about its risks.
“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in a statement.

“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions ​with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote ​illegal or harmful activity.”
Pusateri said the company identified an account believed to be associated with the suspect after the shooting and proactively shared ‌it ⁠with law enforcement. The company continues to cooperate with law enforcement and is continuously working to improve detection of harmful intent, he said.
Ikner, a deputy sheriff’s son, killed two people and wounded four others at the school in Tallahassee, Florida, before he was shot by officers and hospitalized, authorities said. He faces two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree ​murder, according to court records.

A lawyer ​for Ikner did not ⁠immediately respond to a request for comment.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced in April that he was launching a criminal investigation into ChatGPT’s role in the FSU shooting after prosecutors ​reviewed the chat logs between Ikner and the program.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/family-florida-mass-shooting-victim-sues-openai-us-court-2026-05-11/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that a ceasefire with Iran was “on life support” ​after Tehran’s response to a U.S. proposal to end the war made clear the two sides were still far apart on a number of issues.
Iran has called for an end ‌to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, where U.S. ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Tehran also demanded compensation for war damage, an end to the U.S. naval blockade, a guarantee of no further attacks, and resumption of Iranian oil sales.

Tehran also emphasized its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, where it has shut down shipping traffic that normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
Trump said Iran’s response threatened the status of a ceasefire that has been in place since April 7.
“I ​would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn’t even finish reading it,” said Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to end the ceasefire.
The U.S. had ​proposed an end to fighting before starting talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Tehran defended its stance on Monday.

“Our demand is legitimate,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil ⁠Baghaei said.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that Iran’s armed forces are ready to respond decisively to any “act of aggression”.
Brent crude oil futures were up 3% to more than $104 a barrel, as the deadlock left the ​Strait of Hormuz largely closed. Before the war began on February 28, the narrow waterway carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, and has since become a central pressure point in the conflict.
Disruption caused ​by the near-closure of the strait has forced oil producers to cut exports, and OPEC oil output dropped further in April to the lowest in more than two decades, a Reuters survey showed on Monday.
The United States on Monday imposed new sanctions on individuals and companies it said were helping Iran ship oil to China, part of efforts to cut off funding for Tehran’s military and nuclear programs, while also warning banks about attempts to evade existing curbs.

TRICKLE OF SHIPPING THROUGH HORMUZ

Traffic through the Strait of ​Hormuz is at a trickle compared with before the war. Shipping data on Kpler and LSEG showed that three tankers laden with crude exited the waterway last week, with trackers switched off to avoid an Iranian attack.

A second Qatari ​LNG tanker was attempting to transit the strait, the data showed, days after the first such cargo crossed under an arrangement involving Iran and Pakistan.
Sporadic flare-ups around the strait in recent days have tested the ceasefire.
In the U.S., surveys show the war ‌is unpopular with ⁠voters facing higher gasoline prices less than six months before nationwide elections that will determine whether Trump’s Republican Party retains control of Congress.
Two out of three Americans think Trump has not clearly explained why the country has gone to war, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday.
More than two months into a conflict that began February 28 with a U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, some 66% of poll respondents – including one in three Republicans and almost all Democrats – said Trump has not “clearly explained the goals of U.S. military involvement in Iran.”
Iran’s Qalibaf seized on the mounting discontent in the U.S., warning that a prolonged war would deepen the burden on Americans. “The longer they ​drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay ​for it,” he said in his post on ⁠X.
Washington has also struggled to build international support, with NATO allies refusing to send ships to reopen the waterway without a full peace deal and an internationally mandated mission.
Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey, which has been liaising closely with the U.S., Iran and mediator Pakistan since the start of the war, will hold talks ​in Qatar on Tuesday on the conflict and on ensuring navigational safety in the strait, a Turkish diplomatic source said.
UAE’s ATTACKS
The war is also exposing rifts ​within the Middle East, with ⁠some U.S. allies taking a more direct role in the conflict. The United Arab Emirates, which has borne the brunt of Iranian counterattacks, has carried out military strikes on Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-rejects-irans-response-us-peace-proposal-unacceptable-2026-05-11/

 

The attack occurred in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militants drove an explosives‑laden vehicle into a police checkpoint.

Militants detonated a car bomb at a police checkpoint in Bannu, northwestern Pakistan, and opened fire on officers, killing at least 15 people, authorities said Sunday.

The attack took place late Saturday in the Fateh Khel area. Images from the scene showed the checkpoint reduced to rubble, with bricks, charred debris, and mangled vehicles scattered across the area.

“Last night in the Fateh Khel area of Bannu, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police checkpoint, after which multiple militants entered the post,” Bannu police official Muhammad Sajjad Khan said.

He added more than 100 militants took part in the attack.

Deadly checkpoint assault

An officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that other law enforcement personnel had been sent to help the police but that the terrorists had ambushed them, causing some of the casualties.

“During the assault, the militants used quadcopters along with heavy weaponry,” a senior administrative official in Bannu told AFP.

“In addition, while retreating, the attackers took police personnel and weapons from the station with them,” he added.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-car-bomb-attack-at-checkpoint-kills-15/a-77108185

Two Singaporean nationals missing following the eruption of Mount Dukono on ​Indonesia’s Halmahera island were confirmed dead on Sunday, the ‌local rescue agency said.
Rescuers found the bodies holding each other under rock debris around the crater rim, agency head Iwan Ramdani said.

The bodies ​were retrieved in a difficult operation due to extreme ​terrain and rainfall, he said, and were undergoing ⁠autopsy in a local hospital.

The evacuation was also hampered by ​persistent eruptions, he added.
Some 150 personnel with two thermal drones had ​been deployed since Sunday morning, Iwan said, with the focus to search around 100-150 metres (350-500 feet) of the crater rim.
Mount Dukono in North Maluku ​province bordering the Pacific Ocean began erupting on Friday, spewing ​ash as high as 10 km (6 miles). It has continued to erupt at ‌a ⁠lower scale.
The search operation has now concluded, Iwan said.
Rescuers on Saturday confirmed that one Indonesian hiker, who had gone missing, was dead.
Seventeen people, including seven Singaporeans and 10 Indonesians, survived ​the incident.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/search-two-singaporeans-mount-dukono-hampered-by-eruptions-rain-2026-05-10/

 

A father and his two sons on a flight to Los Angeles thought they were “going to die” when their Frontier jet struck a pedestrian on the runway — as they described the grisly ordeal.

Nebraskan John Anthens, 56, thought he and his two sons, Jacob, 30, and Levi, 19, weren’t going to make in the seconds after the unidentified person got sucked into their plane’s engine Friday night at Denver International Airport.

“When the engine blew up, I thought, ‘Oh sh-t, we’re all going to die,” John Anthens said.

The dad said he felt the nose of the plane pitch up before what sounded like a “bomb” rocking the cabin.

Jacob said his father was looking out the window when the person on the runway approached the plane — and met a gruesome end.

“My dad said when the engine fire went up, he was able to see the legs of a human spinning around in the engine…which sounds like emotional trauma to me,” Jacob explained.

The father and sons sat in their seats choking on smoke from the engine fire, with flight attendants telling people to stay in their seats.

“I would say the majority of people didn’t know what was going on or what happened, but there was just a big explosion,” John said. “And obviously, you hear a big explosion, people start screaming, kids are crying, and it was horrific.”

When the three made it off the plane, John stopped to take photos of the bloody aftermath as Levi helped people get down the inflatable evacuation slide.

Nobody in the family got much sleep that night and they ultimately decided to cancel their first-ever trip to California over the traumatic experience.

John and Jacob had been planning to compete in a Pokémon Go tournament at the LA Convention Center, where Jacob had hoped to advance.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/05/09/us-news/la-bound-family-reveals-gruesome-moment-plane-struck-person/

About 2,300 North Korean soldiers have died fighting for Russia against Ukraine, according to a BBC investigation based on satellite images and official photos of a new memorial in Pyongyang.

South Korea estimates at least 11,000 North Koreans were sent to Russia to help recapture parts of western Kursk, after Ukraine launched a surprise incursion in Kursk in August 2024.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has previously publicly paid tribute to soldiers who died in the war – and it is believed that in return for providing soldiers, Pyongyang received food, money and technical help from Moscow.

The secretive regime has never disclosed the death toll of the operation in Kursk, which Russia says it has fully reclaimed – but for the first time, a new memorial offers observable clues – here’s what they tell us.

Names on the walls

In October 2025, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the construction of a museum in Pyongyang’s Hwasong district to honour the troops killed in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Work started in a heavily forested area within the same month, according to a BBC analysis of satellite images provided by Planet Labs, a US imaging company.

A rudimentary shell of the 52,000 sq m complex was visible in December. By March, most of the exterior construction appeared to have been completed. Landscaping and surrounding facilities were finished last month.

Unveiled on 26 April, the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at Overseas Military Operations aims to convey the “unrivalled bravery” of North Korean soldiers during their deployment to “liberate [the] Kursk region”, according to state news agency KCNA.

The memorial consists of two 30m (98ft) long memorial walls engraved with names, a building and a cemetery.

A BBC analysis of multiple images released by KCNA shows that each wall is divided into about 14 sections, which are marked by grey stone lines at the top. Names are engraved in nine of these sections, with each containing about 16 columns, according to a BBC calculation.

Eight names of the killed soldiers are inscribed in one column, close-up photos of the east wall show.

With 16 columns and nine sections, that would equate to 1,152 names engraved on each wall – bringing it to a total of 2,304 across both memorial walls.

Songhak Chung, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Security Strategy, agrees with the BBC finding.

“The memorial walls are packed with the names of deceased soldiers written in extremely small characters. Considering the surface area and text density, the number of people recorded there is likely to reach several thousand,” he says.

The exact figure cannot be ascertained due to the lack of higher-resolution images, but the BBC estimate is close to the number put forward by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

In September 2025, the spy agency said about 2,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed and another 2,700 wounded.

But by February this year, the NIS updated the figure, saying that about 6,000 of the estimated 11,000 military personnel deployed to Russia had been killed or wounded – though it did not provide a breakdown of the numbers. Neither Pyongyang or Moscow have ever provided any official figures.

A ‘tiered system’

The memorial itself holds a “tiered system of commemoration”, says Korean research company SI Analytics.

Soldiers who demonstrated “extraordinary valour” are honoured with outdoor graves and tombstones, while others are commemorated in urns inside the columbarium.

Kim Jin-mu, a former senior research fellow at the government-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, says those buried in the graveyard may include recovered bodies, senior officers, or individuals who have been given special recognition, including those who acted in self-sacrifice.

About 140 graves sit on the west side of the graveyard and 138 that sit on the opposite site, according to a satellite image taken in early April provided by SI Analytics.

There is also what appears to be a grey building that sits in the middle of the graveyard – likely to be a columbarium which houses funeral urns, says Chung.

Explaining the columbarium, Chung says the “entire wall appears to be filled with grid-patterned storage compartments for remains”.

“The [columbariam] is a three-storey building, and even excluding offices and exhibition areas, the indoor repository alone would be able to house at least 1,000 sets of remains,” says Chung.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clypr5985ejo

While a recent outbreak on the cruise ship involved the Andes strain, the only type known to pass between humans, transmission still requires very close, intimate contact.

The ongoing hantavirus outbreak is raising global public health concerns. A common question among individuals is whether it will spread like Covid-19. Will there be a lockdown? Do individuals need to wear a mask? During a press conference on Thursday evening, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, Director, Epidemic and Pandemic Management, clarified, “This is not covid, nor influenza, it spreads very differently.”

“We currently have no symptomatic passengers or crew onboard. In past outbreaks of Andes virus, human-to-human transmission primarily occurred among close contacts,” she added.

Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, Director at the Alert and Response Coordination Department of the WHO’s Emergencies Health Programme, said, “We had a similar situation in Argentina in 2018 – 2019, where a symptomatic individual attended a social gathering that led to a lot of people getting infected. We are in a similar situation right now, with a cluster in a confined space and close contact.”

“If we follow public health measures, with contact tracing and isolation, we can break this chain of transmission. It doesn’t need to be a large epidemic. It has happened in a specific confined setting where people are interacting in a prolonged close contact,” added. Dr. Mahamud

Could Hantavirus lead to a pandemic?

“It is similar to the Agrentia outbreak, and we don’t anticipate a large epidemic. With public health measures, we can break the chain of transmission, and this will be a limited outbreak,” mentioned Dr.

Dr. Van Kerkhove also stressed, “This is not coronavirus. This is a very different virus that has existed for quite some time. This is not the beginning of a Covid pandemic; this is an outbreak we are observing on the ship, occurring in a confined area.”

“This is not the same situation we faced six years ago. It does not spread in the same way,” she added.

The key difference between hantavirus and Covid-19 transmission

The main difference between hantavirus and Covid-19 is that hantavirus is primarily a zoonotic disease transmitted from rodents to humans, whereas Covid-19 is a highly contagious respiratory virus transmitted from person to person. While both can cause severe respiratory issues, hantavirus is significantly more lethal on a case-by-case basis but far less likely to cause a pandemic because it does not spread efficiently between people.

Covid-19 can rapidly reach pandemic proportions. It lingers in the air and can infect large groups in a single room. On the other hand, human-to-human transmission of the hantavirus is only possible through close contact for prolonged periods. Hantavirus outbreaks are usually localised.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/health/this-is-not-covid-nor-influenza-it-spreads-very-differently-who-on-hantavirus-outbreak-11465085

Israel struck and critically wounded ​the son of the Hamas militant group’s top negotiator on Wednesday in air strikes that also killed at least five ‌people across the Gaza Strip, according to medics and Hamas sources.
Azzam Al-Hayya, son of Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ exiled Gaza chief who had been leading indirect talks with Israel over the Palestinian enclave’s future, was wounded in a strike that also killed another person in Gaza City, they said.

Hayya had already lost three sons ​in previous Israeli attempts on his life – two in Gaza in the 2008 and 2014 rounds of fighting, while the ​third was killed in an Israeli attempt to kill Hamas leadership in Doha last year.
“Targeting Azzam Khalil Al-Hayya ⁠with shelling represents a peak of moral and ethical degradation,” said Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas official and an aide to Hayya, in ​a Facebook post.
“Shelling and killing only make the negotiator more steadfast in his positions, in defending his people’s rights, and in their free will,” he ​added.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

Earlier in the day, two other Israeli air strikes killed four Palestinians, including a colonel in the Hamas-run police force, health officials said.
Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed Naseem al-Kalazani, the head of the anti-narcotics force in Khan Younis, south of the enclave, when it targeted his vehicle near ​the al-Mawasi area on the western side of the city. The attack wounded at least 17 other people, they added.
Reuters previously reported that Israel ​has intensified its attacks on Gaza’s Hamas-run police force, which the militant group has used to reinforce its hold in the areas it controls in the strip.
The ‌Israeli military ⁠confirmed it had conducted a strike in al-Mawasi, saying it was targeting a Hamas operative but did not immediately comment on the other strike.

STRUGGLING TALKS

The violence comes as leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian factions held talks with mediators and the Board of Peace’s lead envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, this week in Cairo, to push U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan into its second phase, officials said.

Trump’s Gaza plan, which Israel and Hamas agreed to in October, ​involves Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza ​and reconstruction starting as Hamas ⁠lays down its weapons.
But Hamas’ disarmament is a sticking point in talks to implement the plan and cement an October ceasefire that halted two years of full-blown war.
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for ​the violence that has continued in the Palestinian territory, much of which remains in ruins.
A Hamas ​official told Reuters on ⁠Wednesday that the group told Mladenov it wouldn’t engage in serious talks over the implementation of the second phase before Israel concludes obligations stemming from the first phase of the Gaza deal.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-airstrike-kills-colonel-hamas-led-gaza-police-force-medics-say-2026-05-06/

A federal judge on Wednesday released a document described as a suicide note purportedly written by the late Jeffrey Epstein and including the line: “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to ​say goodbye.”
Epstein, the disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker, was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell ‌in August 2019 in what was ruled a suicide.

The handwritten note was said to have been found by his former jail cellmate, convicted murderer and ex‑police officer Nicholas Tartaglione. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, who oversaw the Tartaglione case, released the note after a request by The New York ​Times, which reported its existence last week.

Karas ruled that the note qualified as a judicial document subject to the ​public’s right of access because it was submitted in connection with Tartaglione’s criminal case. Tartaglione ⁠is serving four consecutive life sentences for drug‑related murders. Karas oversaw that case.
The judge found no legal reason to ​keep it under seal. But nor did he vouch for the note’s authenticity, nor assess its chain of custody. Instead he ​treated those issues as irrelevant to the unsealing decision.
“No party has identified any competing consideration that would justify sealing the Note,” the judge ruled.
The note, scrawled on a yellow legal pad, was submitted by lawyers for Tartaglione, who was Epstein’s cellmate for roughly two weeks in ​July 2019 while both were held at a Manhattan jail.

“They investigated me for month – Found NOTHING!!! So 15 year ​old charges resulted,” the note says, according to an image of it released in the court file. “It is a treat to be able ‌to ⁠choose ones time to say goodbye. Watcha want me to do – Burst out cryin!! NO FUN – NOT WORTH IT!!”
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to soliciting prostitution from a minor, a conviction that led to a controversial plea deal and a short jail sentence. He was arrested again in July 2019 and charged with sex trafficking of minors, accused of ​recruiting and abusing underage girls ​in New York and ⁠Florida.
The note surfaced in July 2019, after Epstein was found alive in his Manhattan jail cell with marks on his neck in what authorities later described as an apparent suicide ​attempt. According to public descriptions by Tartaglione, the note was tucked inside a book in ​their shared cell. ⁠Epstein died several weeks later, on August 10, 2019, in a separate incident ruled a suicide.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-judge-releases-purported-epstein-suicide-note-2026-05-07/

China has showcased its first operational J-35AE stealth fighter built specifically for export. Pakistan, which has reportedly begun pilot training in China, is the frontrunner to acquire up to 40 of the fifth-generation jets.

China has unveiled a new variant of the fifth-generation J-35 multi-role stealth fighter jet, built for export and designed to compete with the US F-35 Lightning II in the international arms market. Its first customer is likely to be Pakistan. The development comes close to the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, which saw fierce aerial combat between India and Pakistan.

The Chinese jet in question, the J-35AE is a land-based export variant of the J-35, which is operated by both the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF). According to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the J35-A was first unveiled as a scale model during the Paris Air Show last year.

Since then, China appears to have proceeded to manufacture full-fledged jets. The country’s state broadcaster, China Central Television, featured a J-35A model bearing the serial number 001 rolling out of a hangar, during the “2026 May 1st International Labour Day ‘Heart to Heart’ Special Programme”.

According to a report by the SCMP, the jet featured the logo of China’s largest military aircraft manufacturer, Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), rather than the PLAAF logo, a sign it is an export variant. The report notes that this is the first time an export variant of the J-35, dubbed the J-35AE, has been unveiled as a full operational model.

WHAT IS CHINA’S J-35 AE FIGHTER JET?

The J-35 series is China’s second fifth-generation fighter jet with full stealth capabilities after the J-20, and is widely considered to be China’s answer to America’s Lockheed Martin’s F-35. It is a twin-engine jet featuring an internal weapons bay, and modern radar and infrared systems

Produced by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, Beijing first unveiled the land-based variant, the J-35A, at the Zhuhai air show in November 2024. The J-35A is the variant for the PLA Air Force, while the J-35 is the variant for the navy to operate on aircraft carriers. According to CCTV, China operates 57 models of the J-35 across all variants.

The J-35 AE, on the other hand, is a variant of the J-35A built specifically for exports.

While detailed specifications unique to the J-35AE have not been fully released, it is expected to closely mirror the performance of China’s domestic J-35A. Reports indicate that aircraft in this family can achieve a top speed of Mach 1.8, feature an advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar capable of tracking and engaging multiple targets simultaneously, and carry a variety of weapons.

This includes at least four supersonic air-to-air missiles (such as the PL-15 or equivalents) in internal weapons bays for stealthy operations, with additional options for external hardpoints. The aircraft also integrates modern sensors like a teal-coated electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) for enhanced targeting and survivability.

IS THE J-35 AE DESTINED FOR EXPORT TO PAKISTAN?

China has long marketed its J-35 as a cost-effective competitor to the F-35 Lighting 2. Each unit is reported to cost anywhere between $35 to $80 million, while CCTV reported that the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s assembly line can churn out a new J-35 every 72 hours.

That being said, neither variant of the J-35 has yet to see any export success despite Chinese claims of multiple countries allegedly showing their interest in acquiring the jet.

That may, however, change with the unveiling of the J-35 AE, which the SCMP reported is fully ready for operational service, and the first exports might go to one of Beiing’s biggest client states, Pakistan.

In January 2024, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) chief Zaheer Sidhu for the first time announced Pakistan’s intention to buy J-35 aircraft, and preparations were made for the acquisition. In December 2024, Chinese media reported that the PAF approved the purchase of 40 aircraft.

Then, in June 2025, a Pakistani official told Janes Information Services that pilots had begun training in China for the induction of J-35 aircraft. That same month, Pakistan officially announced the country’s plan to acquire the J-35A, with the delivery expected in two years. The sale of the J-F35AE would make Pakistan the first export customer of the aircraft type.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/j35-china-pakistan-ae-export-model-unveiled-5th-gen-stealth-jet-beijing-islamabad-first-customer-2907397-2026-05-06

 

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday denounced the circulation of a deepfake photo of her — posing in bed, wearing lingerie — and complained that such artificial intelligence-created images were being used to attack her.

Meloni shared the photo in question on Facebook. She included with it an apparent post from someone named Roberto who apparently had himself shared it on social media with the commentary that Meloni should be “ashamed” of herself.

Meloni warned against sharing such images on social media without verifying them.

“Deepfakes are a dangerous tool because they can deceive, manipulate and target anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot,” she warned in her Facebook post.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Meloni would report the incident to law enforcement, as she was urged to do by people commenting on her post. She acknowledged though that the photo manipulation “actually made me look a lot better.”

“But the fact remains that, in order to attack and fabricate lies, people will now use absolutely anything,” she wrote.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/meloni-deepfake-ai-artificial-intelligence-italy-9330a8d2632e7457a0dd724607bbd1ba

Health officials believe a rare strain of hantavirus that spreads from person-to-person and has a 40% mortality rate is responsible for the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship that has killed three passengers, and sickened seven others.

Though hantavirus is typically only spread through rodent droppings, this particular strain is an alarming exception – and it’s one that “can’t be ruled out,” the World Health Organization conceded Tuesday.

“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that is happening among the really close contacts,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director.

The exceptional strain, “the Andes virus,” is only found in the mountains of Argentina and Chile. The MV Hondius started its weeks-long voyage in Argentina on March 20, but not in an area where that strain is usually found.

The Andes hantavirus strain carries a mortality rate of nearly 40%, meaning a worst-case scenario could spiral quickly in a confined environment such as the 80-cabin, 353-foot ship with roughly 150 people on board.

The terrifying strain seemed even more likely after the WHO said no rodents were found on board the vessel, which remained anchored off the West African island nation of Cape Verde Tuesday.

Medical teams wearing full personal protective gear have reportedly boarded the ship to help with suspected cases in two crew members – one British and one Dutch – and test other passengers and crew members who are showing symptoms of hantavirus.

The WHO believes the first passenger to fall ill may have contracted the virus before boarding the ship, Van Kerkhove said.

“Our working hypothesis is that there’s probably a couple of different types of transmission that might be happening,” she told BBC Breakfast Tuesday, and noted the cruise had visited many different islands, where passengers may have come in contact with rodents, which can spread the virus through their feces, saliva or urine.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/05/05/world-news/cruise-ship-infected-with-terrifying-hantavirus-strain-that-has-40-mortality-rate-who-believes-heres-what-happens-next/

Australia and Japan agreed on Monday to deepen cooperation on energy and ​critical minerals, as Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese during ‌a three-day visit to the country.
After signing a landmark defence deal last month, the two nations agreed to strengthen energy, food and critical minerals supply chains.

“Australia and ​Japan are taking action to protect our economies from future ​economic shocks and uncertainty,” Albanese said in a statement.

“By working ⁠together, we will achieve more secure and resilient supply chains that ​will benefit Australian and Japanese businesses and consumers now and into the ​future.”
Australia provides approximately one-third of Japan’s energy supply, and is the country’s largest market for liquefied natural gas.
Both nations have been attempting to shore up energy supply ​as tensions in the Middle East strangle trade. Japanese firms have also ​been closely watching developments in the Australian LNG industry, from the risk of strikes at a major ‌gas ⁠facility and rising political pressure to increase taxes on exports.

“Like Japan, we are very concerned by disruptions to the supply of liquid fuels and refined petroleum products,” Albanese said on Monday.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/japan-pm-takaichi-set-talks-with-australias-albanese-energy-security-2026-05-04/

OpenAI’s co-founder and president, Greg Brockman, on Monday disclosed deeper financial ​ties to CEO Sam Altman than previously known as well as a stake in the ChatGPT maker worth almost $30 billion.
The details were ‌shared in court during questioning by a lawyer for Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI and is now suing the company on grounds that it improperly became a for-profit company, abandoned charitable goals and should turn back into a nonprofit.

Musk’s team said that Brockman’s independence was potentially compromised by financial incentives that led him to support Altman, the driver behind OpenAI’s reinvention as a ​for-profit company. Brockman also disclosed in court that he holds stakes in two startups backed by Altman as well as a percentage of Altman’s ​family fund.
The trial, in its second week in a California courtroom, could determine the future of OpenAI, which sparked a widespread ⁠craze over generative artificial intelligence after launching its ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. Since then, OpenAI has raised well over $100 billion from investors to hire researchers, ​buy computing power and expand the company ahead of a potential trillion-dollar IPO.

Musk is seeking the ouster of Altman and Brockman from leadership as well as $150 billion in ​damages.
Brockman early in his testimony agreed that his stake in OpenAI was worth close to $30 billion, a figure not previously known. In 2017, Altman gave Brockman a stake in Altman’s family office that was worth $10 million at the time. That same year, Brockman, Musk and other OpenAI executives discussed restructuring OpenAI as a for-profit so the organization could pay for the pricey ​computing power required to train AI systems.

2017 COMPENSATION ARRANGEMENT

Brockman said he did not discuss his compensation directly with Musk. Emails read out in court showed that Altman ​mentioned the arrangement during a separate conversation with Jared Birchall, Musk’s head of family office, who relayed the details to Musk.
“One thing worth mentioning now is that he compensated Greg ‌on the ⁠side by giving him a percentage ownership of Sam’s personal family office,” Birchall wrote in the email, adding the deal could mean that “Greg is going to have a greater allegiance to Sam as a result of this arrangement.” Musk forwarded Birchall’s note to Brockman with two question marks.

When pressed on whether he was loyal to Altman, Brockman said, “I don’t know I would say it quite like that.”

STAKES IN ALTMAN-BACKED STARTUPS

On Monday, Brockman disclosed that he owned shares of AI chip startup Cerebras, including ​during various moments when OpenAI discussed ​buying the chipmaker. This year, OpenAI ⁠has said it will spend a significant amount of money to buy Cerebras chips.
Brockman also said he has a stake in Helion Energy, a fusion startup in which Altman has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars. In March, Altman stepped ​down from Helion’s board because the two companies were looking to work together.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/openai-co-founder-discloses-nearly-30-billion-stake-financial-ties-altman-2026-05-04/

Tenants in a Long Island apartment building say they have been living in conditions so horrible that some can’t even breathe in their own homes — choking on mold, dodging mutant “X-Men” bugs and enduring relentless water leaks.

Tina Shuford, president of the tenants’ union at 100 Terrace Ave. in Hempstead, said she hasn’t used her own kitchen in years and is forced to wear a mask and gloves in her apartment on doctor’s orders because of the mold, with her belongings stashed in storage bins to protect from “constant” leaks.

“Welcome to Hell,” said Shuford, who sued the building’s alleged “slum lord” then-owner, to The Post.

Shuford’s lawsuit — which has now switched to targeting the building’s new owner — claims the conditions are illegal under New York state law.

The building suffers massive amounts of visible black mold taking over apartments, regularly occurring pipe leaks, giant roaches and other bugs described as mutant “X-Men,” no heat or hot water in the winter, broken elevators that leave tenants trapped and a crumbling parking garage that has become virtually unusable, with used needles littered all over the outside of the apartments, the suit said.

In June 2025, Shuford first filed suit against “slum lord” New York mega-developer Peter Florey, and his company, Terrace 100 LP, over the “uninhabitable” living conditions in the building, according to her lawsuit.

Florey never responded to the lawsuit or showed up for hearings, leading the judge to say the court was preparing to enter a default judgment against him, according to court documents.

The building was then sold to Hudson Valley Property Group, an affordable-housing firm, for roughly $107 million in December 2025, five months after the suit was filed, according to the property-deed transfer documents.

Florey did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Shuford said the sale of the building forced her to refile her suit against the new owners, who say they have nothing to do with the alleged sins of the past one.

The 420-unit complex has been known to be a hotbed of poverty, crime, drugs and violence for decades.

An agreement with the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency dating back to 2006 allowed it to collect tax breaks because it offered affordable housing, according to documents obtained by The Post.

HVPG, which has said it is planning roughly $23 million in renovations at about $55,000 per unit, has secured a fresh tax-break deal courtesy of Nassau County taxpayers, too.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/05/03/us-news/long-island-tenants-say-theyre-forced-to-wear-masks-in-own-homes-thanks-to-mold-mutant-x-men-bugs-welcome-to-hell/

The dresses have been sewn, the jewellery has been polished and New York’s hairdressers and make-up artists have been fully booked ahead of the Met Gala 2026.

Around 450 A-list guests will begin arriving later for fashion’s biggest night of the year, which raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams are the co-chairs for this year’s gala, which has the dress code: “Fashion is art.”

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Super Bowl of fashion.

What is the Met Gala 2026 theme?

This year’s theme is Costume Art, named after the museum’s new exhibition, which will see 400 outfits and objects spanning 5,000 years go on display.

The dress code for the gala is Fashion Is Art, with guests invited to explore their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate depictions of the dressed body throughout art history.

Some stars might reference famous artistic movements and styles from over the centuries, as Vogue pointed out with their helpful round-up of some runway looks that could appear on the night.

Outfits referencing the Baroque, Impressionist or Renaissance movements could show up, and there might even be direct references to specific individual paintings.

But, as is often the case with the Met Gala, the theme is suitably wide that it could be interpreted in countless ways, so we can expect to see a wide variety of looks on the red carpet.

Who is hosting?

Met Gala chair Anna Wintour has enlisted Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams to serve as the evening’s co-chairs this year.

It will mark Beyoncé’s first Met Gala since 2016, when she attended wearing a futuristic outfit for the event’s memorable technology-themed year.

Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Teyana Taylor, Lisa from Blackpink, Elizabeth Debicki and Lena Dunham are among the members of this year’s host committee, which is headed up by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz.

The event formally opens the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, which serves as the department’s primary source of funding and runs until January 2027.

When is the Met Gala?

As is tradition, the Met Gala is taking place on the first Monday in May, with guests arriving from about 18:00 EST (23:00 BST).

The guest list isn’t published in advance, but you can expect to see a huge number of A-listers on the night.

The public don’t get to see inside the event itself, where the guests are treated to dinner, cocktails, live music and a look around the museum’s new exhibition.

But despite the exclusivity of the event and the strict no-selfie rule inside, the lengthy red carpet event beforehand ensures acres of media coverage.

Publicity for other events is also often built around the Met Gala. It’s no coincidence, for example, that this past weekend was chosen to release The Devil Wears Prada 2.

The beloved original film, which affectionately parodied the fashion industry two decades ago, was loosely based on Met Gala chair Anna Wintour’s time as editor of Vogue.

How to watch the Met Gala

Vogue will once again host the livestream from the red carpet.

Ashley Graham, Cara Delevigne, and La La Anthony will host this year’s coverage, with Emma Chamberlain returning as the magazine’s red carpet correspondent.

The stream will be broadcast live across Vogue’s digital platforms, as well as on YouTube and TikTok.

But countless news outlets will be live streaming their own coverage on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

The BBC News website will covering the event, with a a live page running while celebrities are arriving on the red carpet.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrm7gp5er3o

The German chancellor said there was “no connection” between disagreements over the Iran war and the pullout of US troops from Germany. He insisted he shared Trump’s goal of ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addressed the state of the bilateral relationship with the US on Sunday, in the wake of a public spat between him and President Donald Trump over the war in Iran.

In an interview with German broadcaster ARD, Merz downplayed tensions between the two countries.

He said that Trump’s announcement to pull 5,000 US troops from bases in Germany was not surprising and would not be seen as a retaliation, adding that it had “no connection” with recent disagreements.

What did Merz say about the transatlantic relationship?

“I am not giving up on working on the transatlantic relationship,” Merz told the public broadcaster. “Nor am I giving up on working with Donald Trump.”

Merz was singled out by Trump, who scolded him for saying that Tehran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiation table.

Trump accused Merz of “thinking it is okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon” and commenting that Germany was doing “so poorly, both economically and otherwise.”

Trump’s comments about Merz were followed by the announcement of troop reductions in Germany. On the same day, he announced an increase in tariffs on cars and trucks from the EU, a move that would hit Germany’s economy the hardest.

What does Merz think of the Iran war?

Merz is the latest European leader to be berated by Trump in response to disagreements over the Iran war. The US president has also feuded with Spain and the UK over the matter.

But the German chancellor insisted that he still shared Trump’s goal of ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, signaling that Germany is still aligned with US interests on that front.

“We have a different view of this war. That’s no secret,” Merz told ARD. “I’m not the only one who feels that way,” he added.

“But that does not alter the fact that I remain convinced that the Americans are important partners for us, our most important partners in the North Atlantic alliance,” Merz added.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/merz-not-giving-up-on-germanys-relationship-with-us/a-77026062

Driverless cars are becoming more common in some California cities, but when the autonomous vehicles violate traffic laws, police haven’t been able to ticket them – until now.

The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has announced new regulations on autonomous vehicles (AVs), including a process for police to issue a “notice of AV noncompliance” directly to the car’s manufacturer.

The new rules, which will go into effect 1 July, are part of a larger 2024 law that imposed deeper regulation on the technology.

There have been a number of reports of the cars breaking traffic laws, including during a San Francisco blackout last year.

The California DMV is calling the new rules “the most comprehensive AV regulations in the nation”.

Under the new rules, police can cite AV companies when their vehicles commit moving violations. The rules will also require the companies to respond to calls from police and other emergency officials within 30 seconds, and will issue penalties if their vehicles enter active emergency zones.

“California continues to lead the nation in the development and adoption of AV technology, and these updated regulations further demonstrate the state’s commitment to public safety,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a press release.

Waymo is one of the main operators of fully self-driving robotaxis in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County, but several companies, including Tesla, also have permits to test their AVs in some California cities. The BBC has contacted Waymo and Tesla for comment.

When the vehicles violate traffic laws, some police have been stumped as to how to hold the driverless cars accountable.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clypjx3rg2go

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had been told about the concept of a deal with Iran, but was ​waiting for the exact wording, while warning there was still the possibility of restarting strikes on the country if Tehran misbehaves.
A senior Iranian official said on ‌Saturday that an Iranian proposal so far rejected by Trump would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade of Iran while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear program for later.

When asked about Iran’s proposal before boarding a flight to Miami at West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump replied: “They told me about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now.”
He added on his social ​media channel that he could not imagine the proposals would be acceptable and that Iran had not paid a big enough price for what it had done.
Asked if ​he might restart strikes on Iran, Trump replied: “I don’t want to say that. I mean, I can’t tell that to a reporter. If ⁠they misbehave, if they do something bad, right now we’ll see. But it’s a possibility that could happen.”

IRAN SAYS IT’S READY FOR DIPLOMACY

Trump has said repeatedly that Iran can never ​have a nuclear weapon and said on Friday he was not satisfied with the latest Iranian proposal, while Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran was ready for diplomacy if the U.S. changes its ​approach.
Reuters and other news organizations reported over the past week that Tehran was proposing to reopen the strait before nuclear issues were resolved. The official confirmed that this new timeline had now been spelled out in a formal proposal conveyed to the United States through mediators.
Trump also said on Friday that “on a human basis,” he did not prefer the military course of action and told congressional leaders he did not ​need their permission to extend the war beyond a deadline set by law for that day because the ceasefire had “terminated” hostilities.

While saying repeatedly he is in no hurry, Trump is under ​domestic pressure to break Iran’s hold on the strait, which has choked off 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies and pushed up U.S. gasoline prices. Trump’s Republican Party faces the risk of ‌a voter ⁠backlash over higher prices when the country votes in midterm congressional elections in November.
Iranian media said Tehran’s 14-point proposal included the withdrawal of U.S. forces from areas surrounding Iran, lifting the blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets, payment of compensation, lifting sanctions and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as a new control mechanism for the strait.
The United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, but appear no closer to a deal to end a war that has caused the biggest disruption ever to global energy supplies, roiled ​global markets and raised worries about the possibility ​of a wider global economic downturn.

Iran has ⁠been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months. Last month, the U.S. imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports.
Washington has repeatedly said it will not end the war, which has led to the deaths of ​thousands of people, without a deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the primary aim Trump cited when he launched ​strikes in February in the ⁠midst of nuclear talks. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential diplomacy, the senior Iranian official said Tehran believed its latest proposal to shelve nuclear talks for a later stage was a significant shift aimed at facilitating an agreement.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/iran-offers-strait-deal-trump-dissatisfied-prefers-non-military-path-2026-05-02/

King Charles III is visiting Bermuda on his first trip to a British overseas territory as monarch.

The King, who was not accompanied by Queen Camilla, arrived in the territory’s capital of Hamilton on Thursday evening, after a four-day state visit to the US.

His first day in the territory included viewing artefacts from the transatlantic slave trade, a boat trip with the coastguard and a cake-cutting event at an aquarium.

The trip was also a change of pace for the King, whose visit to the US was seen as the biggest diplomatic moment of his reign.

In one of the day’s most sombre moments, the King was shown a small display at the National Museum of Bermuda that traces the island’s history as part of the trade, and includes an image of shackled men on board a slave ship, as well as neck irons used by slave traders.

He then watched a Gombey dance performance – the tradition was restricted during slavery, with people only being allowed to perform it on Christmas and New Year’s, according to Irwin Trott, spokesman for the Bermudan Gombey dance troops.

After meeting the King, Trott said: “I told him that it’s a combination of cultures, African, Caribbean, West Indian, Native American and, of course, Great Britain.”

“Even though they were stripped of their identity, names were taken, their language was taken, deep in their heart they maintained their culture, and so it still flourished throughout the Caribbean.”

While it is the King’s first visit to Bermuda as sovereign, he previously came in 1970 for the opening of the island’s parliament and toured the territory in an open-top car.

As part of the welcome on Friday, he inspected the Royal Bermuda Regiment of the British Army before shaking hands with members of the public who lined the streets of former capital St George.

Those who gathered ahead of the King’s appearance saw a marching band and military procession pass through the town, before his arrival was marked with a 21-gun salute.

The band later treated the King to a rendition of Jamming by Bob Marley and the Wailers.

People of all ages carried the union jack and took photographs of the King.

Four-year-old Theo attended the event with his mother, wearing a King’s guardsman outfit which caught the monarch’s attention.

Theo’s mother said she purchased the outfit from the shop at Buckingham Palace two years ago.

“He’s worn it ever since!”, she joked.

One young girl, Charlotte, came to see the King and got to shake his hand.

“I’m never washing my hand again”, she told the BBC.

Charlotte’s mother Jennifer recounted how her own mother brought her to see Queen Elizabeth II on one of her six visits to the territory.

King Charles then went on to visit the Living Classroom on Bermuda’s Trunk Island, an initiative for young people to learn about the local eco-system.

There, he watched with a group of children three land hermit crabs were released – they had been moved from a development site that threatened their habitat.

During the visit, Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS) staff performed a health check on a Bermuda Longtail, also known as a white-tailed tropic bird.

BZS are also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the island’s aquarium museum, for which the King stopped by to cut the cake.

In addition to events on land, the King also took a boat trip with Bermuda’s coastguard, and heard about their work tackling illegal fishing and smuggling. He also met Bermuda-born Michael Frith, who designed many of the Muppets characters, and his wife, Kathryn Mullen.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgz08k04jeo

AI performers will not qualify for Oscars under new Academy rules that also overhaul the international film category and acting nominations.

Actors created with artificial intelligence will not be eligible for an Oscar, said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday introducing new rules for the awards.

The governing body of the Oscar Awards clarified that acting performances and screenplays must be created by humans, while allowing the use of artificial intelligence tools.

The new rules primarily concern:

• AI-created actors
• Screenplays written using AI
• International films category
• Multiple nominations for actors in the same category

Actors created using AI

Under the updated guidelines, only roles “demonstrably performed by humans with their consent” will be eligible for acting awards, effectively excluding AI-generated performers, according to the Academy.

The new rules would exclude AI-generated “actress” Tilly ​Norwood who debuted last year.

The decision follows the unveiling of an AI-generated version of Val Kilmer, a year after his death. A digital, youthful Kilmer appeared in the trailer for “As Deep as the Grave,” recreated using archival footage with his family’s support.

Screenplays written using AI

According to the Academy, screenplays must be entirely “human-authored to be eligible.”

The board said AI tools would “neither help nor harm” a film’s chances but emphasized that human creative authorship must remain central.

The move comes amid growing industry concern over generative AI, which was a key issue during the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes.

The Academy said it may request additional information from filmmakers to verify if the submissions were created by humans.

International films category

Announcing significant changes for the international feature category, films can now qualify not only through national submissions but also by winning top awards at major festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Busan, Venice or Toronto, the Academy said.

Until this year, only films chosen by official national bodies could be submitted, a problem for critical works from authoritarian states.

From now on and as per the new rule, the film will be deemed the nominee and not its country, the Academy announced. The director of the film will be “listed on the statuette plaque” along with the country, if applicable.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/new-oscars-rules-exclude-ai-performers-require-scripts-written-by-human/a-77016539

 

THE former JPMorgan worker who accused his coworker of turning him into her sex slave in a scandalous lawsuit has been identified.

Chirayu Rana, 35, is reportedly behind the suit alleging Lorna Hajdini, a high-ranking executive, racially abused, sexually assaulted and drugged him during the time they worked together.

Rana had filed the case under the pseudonym John Doe, but sources identified the staffer in a New York Post report published on Thursday.

The man has reportedly since left JPMorgan, where he worked as vice president, and moved on as a principal investor at Bregal Sagemount.

Rana left Bregal Sagemount, an investment firm, on April 2, just a few weeks before he filed the lawsuit, The U.S. Sun can confirm.

“Chirayu Rana was employed by Bregal Sagemount from October 20, 2025, to April 2, 2026. He is no longer an employee,” Bregal Sagemount said in a statement.

Rana filed a lawsuit on Monday as John Doe to conceal his identity to protect himself and his family after he allegedy received threats, the Daily Mail reported.

In the suit, reviewed by the Daily Mail, he accused his 37-year-old coworker of turning him into her “sex slave” by drugging him with Viagra and a date rape drug and threatening to cut his bonus if he did not comply.

Rana did not report directly into Hajdini, and instead, they were colleagues on the same team, The Post reported.

Sources told the Post Rana reported to another director and that Hajdini would not have control over his annual bonus.

Hajdini has since broken her silence, denying the allegations.

“Lorna categorically denies the allegations. She never engaged in any inappropriate conduct with this individual of any kind and has never even been to the location where the alleged sexual assault supposedly took place,” her lawyers said in a statement to the New York Post.

One source told the Daily Mail that Rana’s allegations were “fanfiction,” claiming they came about after internal tensions escalated.

Two others told the outlet they were skeptical of the claims.

An ally to Hajdini told The Post that Rana “has tarnished her with a complete fabrication.”

The lawsuit, which has since been retracted for “corrections,” alleged Hajdini, who worked as an executive director of JPMorgan’s finance team, once showed up at Rana’s apartment unannounced and sexually harrrassed him.

Rana claimed the alleged coercion started soon after he joined the team in the spring of 2024.

Rana’s attorney, Daniel J. Kaiser, maintained his client was the victim of “horrific sexual abuse” and reserved the right to file his case anonymously, the Daily Mail reported.

“As to Ms. Hajdini’s predictable denials, I look forward to discovery and, in particular, her deposition,” Kaiser said.

“The abuse occurred and we will prove it.”

He also explained that the complaint was withdrawn from the New York County Supreme Court docket because when filing a John Doe designation, you need to provide a motion along with the court filing asking for the court’s permission, which he plans to do on Friday.

Rana filed an internal complaint in May 2025, alleging an abuse of power and race and gender-based discrimination, sources told The Post.

He then tried to negotiate a payoff in the “millions” to leave the company, sources claimed.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16301038/jpmorgan-scandal-lorna-hajdini-breaks-silence-accuser-indentified/