Category: World

A TEENAGER has been arrested after a shooting near Seattle’s Space Needle that killed three – as cops continue to hunt a second suspect.

Four more people were wounded, including a two-year-old boy, as terrifying shots rang out during the packed Bite of Seattle event.

Police said a 15-year-old suspect was arrested and is now being held in juvenile detention.

The teenager, who is being investigated for firearms violations and first-degree assault, is due to appear in court on Monday afternoon.

But cops are still looking for a second suspect.

The horror shooting unfolded at around 6pm on Sunday during the annual Bite of Seattle festival at Seattle Center, where thousands had gathered for the popular three-day food event.

Witnesses described parents grabbing their children and sprinting for safety as crowds smashed through barriers.

Harrowing images showed a stroller left among scattered tables and debris as terrified parents grabbed their children and fled the area.

Thousands had gathered for the popular three-day food event when the festival descended into chaos within seconds.

Authorities said officers were already patrolling the area when gunshots rang out at 6.01pm and rushed immediately towards the scene.

Police said two people died at the scene while five others were initially treated by medics.

Four victims – a two-year-old boy, a 23-year-old man and two adult women – were taken to hospital, where a third victim later died from their injuries.

Livestream footage from the scene shared on social media captured the moment the festival descended into panic within seconds.

Estan Wakonabo said he was waiting for a photo booth with his girlfriend when panic erupted.

“People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling,” he said.

“Once I heard a ‘pop, pop, pop,’ that’s when I knew it was a shooter.”

After getting his girlfriend to safety, Wakonabo returned and said he saw multiple victims lying on the ground.

A vendor from Hawaiian Honey Cones was promoting his business when one of his employees suddenly shouted: “Shooting,” before ducking behind the counter.

“Shooting, oh s***,” the man filming replied as families, including parents with young children, scrambled to escape.

Several loud gunshots could be heard as crowds smashed through barriers while the livestreamer reportedly urged people to take cover before telling his employee to “grab the money” and get down.

Witness Paul Skinner, 47, said he initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks.

“I just heard what sounded like what were some pretty loud fireworks at first,” he told the Seattle Times.

“Then the energy changed. Mobs of people started flooding back down. I just told our staff to get down.”

Kayla Carris, 22, said people rushed into the Seattle Armory as the shooting unfolded.

“Everyone was just throwing stuff and running,” she told the Seattle Times.

Adya Sengupta said Seattle Fudge workers sheltered dozens of terrified people inside the Armory.

“Inside the Seattle Armory was crazy, within seconds maybe 60-plus people had flooded the doors inside, all running towards that back corner with Seattle Fudge,” she told KING 5 News.

The FBI responded to the scene as police sealed off the area to continue their investigation.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said one person had been detained in connection with the bloodshed, although authorities believed a second suspect fled the scene.

Acting Police Chief Tyrone Davis said investigators believe the two suspects were shooting at each other, though it remains unclear what sparked the violence.

Two weapons were recovered and officials said there is no ongoing threat to the public.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16751008/seattle-shooting-food-festival/

Often compared with Burgundy, the Australian island’s wines are winning praise for their vivid fruit, bright acidity and distinctive cool-climate character.

Few cities wear their geography as naturally as Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, Australia’s smallest and southernmost state. The port city is framed by the River Derwent on one side and kunanyi/Mount Wellington on the other. Beyond Tasmania’s southern coast lies the cold expanse of the Southern Ocean, with Antarctica farther beyond.

It is about as far from Burgundy as one can get. Yet when its wines are discussed, Burgundy is precisely the comparison that keeps surfacing.

“A lot of people are comparing Tasmania to Burgundy and Champagne, but we are different,” said Jeremy Dineen, an award-winning Tasmanian winemaker whom I met during my first visit to Hobart. Dineen is the co-founder of Haddow + Dineen and a former chief winemaker at Josef Chromy Wines. “Tasmania has some of the most ancient soils in the world. We have a long ripening season, and we don’t get extremes of low and high. We get flavour without having massive sugar because we are cold.”

“We have sunshine that is not the same as northern hemisphere sunshine. But the key difference is the sunlight UV radiation,” he added. Together, he said, these conditions can produce particularly vivid fruit and acidity.

Over the following week, that acidity and clarity of fruit helped explain why the wines of this small island are increasingly compared with some of the world’s best.

TASMANIA’S WINES FIND A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

Tasmania is Australia’s coolest wine region, on an island that made its name first for apples and later for grapes. Its cool maritime climate is particularly suited to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling. Producers such as Jansz, Josef Chromy Wines and House of Arras helped put Tasmania on the map with sparkling wines that ranked among Australia’s finest.

While much of the Chardonnay grown on the island goes into sparkling wine, Tasmania’s still Chardonnays are also attracting international attention. Tolpuddle Vineyard’s 2018 and 2023 Chardonnays were named Champion White Wine at the International Wine Challenge in 2020 and 2025 respectively – a rare feat for a single producer. At the 2026 London Wine Fair, the 2023 Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay also emerged top in a blind tasting of 27 premium Chardonnays from around the world.

Tucked in the Coal River Valley, 20 minutes from Hobart, Tolpuddle Vineyard sits on sandstone soils with only two grapes: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Michael Hill Smith MW and his business partner, Martin Shaw, the duo behind the acclaimed South Australian estate Shaw + Smith, came across the 31-hectare vineyard during what Hill Smith describes as an impulsive road trip around Tasmania in 2011. “When we first saw the vineyard in 2011, we were convinced it had the potential to become one of the great single vineyards, single site – so everything we have done in the vineyard, in the cellar or in the market has been to this end,” he said.

Hill Smith is also candid about the foundations laid before he and Shaw arrived. “Much of the heavy lifting has been done by other Tasmanian winemakers when we invested in Tasmania,” he said. Shaw + Smith’s established distribution network brought Tolpuddle’s wines to sommeliers, critics and consumers around the world, and international recognition followed. Hill Smith distils Tolpuddle’s success into “a great site, hard work and some good luck along the way.”

A DISTINCTLY TASMANIAN CHARDONNAY

About 10 minutes away, Stargazer Wines founder Samantha Connew regards Tolpuddle as a natural benchmark for Tasmanian Chardonnay. “They’ve done such a magnificent job, not just in creating their own category, but in elevating how good Tasmanian Chardonnay can be.”

New Zealand-born Connew is one of Australia’s most respected winemakers. In 2014, she became the first woman – and the youngest judge – to chair the Sydney Royal Wine Show. Her winemaking career took her from Oregon to Sicily and Spain, followed by Australia’s Hunter Valley, McLaren Vale and Margaret River, before she settled in Tasmania in 2016.

“Tasmania is the only state that does all three grapes I love: Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, to the level I demand, and that’s because the fruit quality is just so good,” she said.

Fruit from Connew’s five hectares of vines is hand-picked and fermented with indigenous yeasts. The vineyard is surrounded by another six hectares managed for biodiversity, and sustainability and holistic vineyard management shape her approach. Grape pressings are composted, while a worm farm supports soil microbes. Bees, sheep and chickens also play a role in the wider vineyard ecosystem. “I spend more time in the vineyard than in the winery. Get the fruit right, get it into the winery and don’t stuff it up. That’s the real attraction of making wine down here,” she added.

Connew produces seven wines, including a Chardonnay, and is unequivocal about what sets Tasmanian Chardonnay apart. “The wines sit on your palate in a very light fashion. There’s generosity in the riper years, but there’s none of that plumpness. They hit a little bit differently from other regions in Australia.”

DIVERSITY ON A SMALL ISLAND
Farther south lies Mewstone Wines. Matthew and Jonny Hughes set up their 5.3-hectare vineyard in 2011 on a site Jonny describes as a happy accident. The brothers discovered the block while visiting a neighbouring vineyard, just 300m along the coast.

“There’s not really a scope of large-scale viticulture in this part of the world,” said Hughes. “Five or six hectares is about as big as anyone could probably plant before the land runs out.”

Standing beside him, I could see exactly what he meant. The vines tumbled towards the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, a steel-grey stretch of water separating us from the outline of Bruny Island.

The vineyard’s proximity to the channel plays an important role. “The airflow reduces disease pressure and mitigates frost risk, the temperature cools off early as the sea breeze kicks up and the quality of light is amplified,” said Hughes. That maritime influence gives Mewstone’s wines a saline, sea-spray character that evokes their coastal setting.

“Our corner of southern Tasmania is among the latest-ripening Chardonnay regions in Australia and one of the lowest-yielding. This combination of a long growing season and naturally low yields produces wines with remarkable intensity without sacrificing freshness or acidity.”

The Hughes brothers practise minimal-intervention viticulture and favour wines that express their site. They produce just 1,000 bottles of their mineral-driven Chardonnay, allocated entirely through the cellar door and wine club. Demand, Hughes says, comfortably exceeds supply.

Despite its size, Tasmania encompasses several distinct wine-growing areas, each capable of producing a different expression of Chardonnay. At Delamere Vineyards in Pipers River in the northeast, the wine is pithy, citrusy and flinty. Small Wonder in the Tamar Valley shows ripe fruit, creamy texture and bright acidity, while Spring Vale on the East Coast leans towards floral, saline and stone-fruit notes. Tolpuddle Vineyard in the Coal River Valley brings together orchard and stone fruit, citrus, ginger and oatmeal, underpinned by a taut line of acidity and crushed-stone minerality.

Source: https://cnaluxury.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/tasmanian-chardonnay-wineries-294781

Five Bosnian climbers died on Russia’s ​Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, after ‌being caught in a violent storm, but the bodies of three people have not yet been evacuated due to bad weather, RIA Novosti ​reported on Sunday citing Russian authorities.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has said rescuers evacuated ​the bodies of two dead climbers who were ⁠located on the mountain at an altitude of 5,350 ​metres (17,550 feet), after first saving two other climbers who were evacuated ​from the mountain and taken for medical care.

The regional branch of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said rescuers had recovered the ​bodies of three more deceased climbers but that they ​have not yet been evacuated due to bad weather, RIA Novosti reported.
Though ‌the ⁠Russian authorities did not specify their nationality, the regional law enforcement agencies told RIA Novosti the climbers who died on Elbrus came from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/five-bosnian-climbers-feared-dead-russias-mount-elbrus-2026-07-26/

German police said ​a 21-year-old man with a record of Islamist extremist activity was shot dead on Sunday, a day after he allegedly drove a minivan into people near ‌Berlin’s Pride celebrations, killing one person.
The ramming attack happened in the Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate at about 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Saturday, not far from one of Europe’s biggest annual LGBTQ celebrations, Christopher Street Day.

Authorities said that in addition to the one fatality, 29 people were injured, some by a bladed weapon the attacker wielded.
“Around 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), the suspect involved in yesterday’s attack in Tiergarten was located at an allotment garden ​complex in Spandau,” Berlin police wrote on X, referring to an area in Berlin’s westernmost borough where residents cultivate garden plots.
“According to initial findings, he ran towards officers ​while armed with a bladed weapon; police… subsequently opened fire. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene.”

Dagmar ⁠Euent and Juliane Gotzler, who have a garden plot, said they heard several shots and were told to stay inside their garden hut by police.

MERZ CALLS FOR DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

Berlin police had identified ​the suspect as Abdul B, 21, and published his picture, asking the public for information on his whereabouts.
The suspect had “attracted attention in the past through a high number of criminal offences, through ​radicalisation, through membership of the Islamist scene,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said earlier on Sunday, adding that the suspect was a German citizen of Lebanese heritage, born in Germany in 2005.
The Tiergarten attack was the latest in a series of vehicle attacks on crowds in Germany in recent years that have intensified debate around security and immigration amid a surge in support for the far-right.

Ahead of a memorial service at St Mary’s Church in Berlin, ​centre-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed consequences and urged Germans not to be intimidated, affirming the country would stand united in defence of its freedom.
“We will defend the freedom, openness, and liberal ​spirit of our lives and our society with everything we can do,” he said.
Thousands of people, some carrying the LGBT rainbow flag, attended a vigil at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Some carried placards with slogans such ‌as “Hatred kills”, ⁠while others cried and hugged each other.
At the Tiergarten park, people lit candles and left flowers.

CALLS FOR ACTION

There were calls across the political spectrum for Germany to tighten laws and crack down on Islamic radicalism.
Green politician and Bundestag Vice President Omid Nouripour wrote on X that Germany must stand against “murderous Islamism”.
Daniel Peters, a regional leader of the centre-right CDU, said on X that Islamic State “supporters must not walk free in Germany”.
Security sources told Reuters the suspect had been released from juvenile detention only two months ago.
Asked about reports he had received a suspended sentence, Dobrindt told broadcaster ​ZDF, “It would certainly have been advisable to place ​this individual in custody”.
The security sources said ⁠he was known to domestic intelligence and was among the hundreds of people classed as potentially dangerous, a label that usually leads to scrutiny or monitoring.
Authorities have said the suspect had previously been convicted of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/police-hunting-berlin-pride-attacker-name-islamist-suspect-2026-07-26/

Iran will halt its own ​attacks as long as the United States does the same, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday. The development comes as the United States pressed ‌pause on its bombing campaign after President Donald Trump’s advisers told him they were running out of targets and expressed worries about depleting the U.S. arsenal.
After 13 nights of intensifying U.S. airstrikes on Iran, the Pentagon suspended the campaign late on Friday, with no U.S. attacks reported on either Saturday or Sunday. Iran, which had been following each night of U.S. attacks with its own strikes ​on neighbouring countries that host U.S. bases, has also so far held fire for two days.

The Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Tehran’s position “remains ‘attack ​for attack’: if the attacks stop, Iran will also halt its operations. That message has already been conveyed to the United ⁠States.”
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told “Fox News Sunday” and other U.S. media that Trump had decided to pause U.S. attacks to allow more time for diplomacy.
“He’s ​giving talks some space, he’s giving it a little bit of room,” Waltz said, without providing further details.
U.S. military officials in recent days have cautioned that bombings over the ​past two weeks meant to deter Iranian threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway that has become a key flashpoint in the war — had largely exhausted the pre-selected sets of targets, one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Resuming major combat operations remains an option, but General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has cautioned privately to Trump that ​it would carry risk given the negative impact on stocks of munitions, the official said. That includes interceptors used by U.S. air defenses in the Middle East, the ​official added.
Caine’s office and U.S. Central Command declined comment. U.S. military officials have traditionally declined to comment on their private advice to a sitting U.S. president, even in testimony to Congress.
On NBC’s “Meet ‌the Press,” ⁠Waltz said the U.S. military “has everything that it needs,” but also said that when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took over under the Trump administration, he “inherited a depleted situation.”

The senior Iranian source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Tehran did not hold much hope that Trump’s decision to pause strikes represented a major shift in the U.S. negotiating position.

“There is more scepticism than optimism about the halt in attacks. The prevailing view is that the pause is tactical rather than genuine. Iran has accumulated enough ​bitter experience with what it sees as ​U.S. deception,” the source said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/iran-will-halt-attacks-long-us-maintains-pause-iranian-source-says-after-trump-2026-07-26/

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani of fomenting hate and indirectly causing the stabbing of a Jewish man on the Upper West Side, tying the attack to Mamdani’s earlier threats to have him arrested under an ICC warrant.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directly linked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to a stabbing attack on a Jewish man, tying it to Mamdani’s public talk of having him arrested over alleged Gaza war crimes. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Netanyahu didn’t hold back. He accused Mamdani of stirring up hatred rather than fulfilling his duty as mayor to serve everyone in the city, Jews, Christians, Muslims alike. Instead, Netanyahu argued, Mamdani was pitting communities against each other and spreading fear.

My answer to Mamdani: I will come to New York to fight for the truth of the Jewish people 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/loZCQNBMx8

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 26, 2026

The Israeli leader said he regularly hears from Jewish Americans in New York who tell him they feel genuinely afraid right now. He went further, suggesting a direct connection between Mamdani’s rhetoric and the stabbing itself, noting that the attack on a Jewish man leaving a synagogue happened just one day after what he described as Mamdani’s hate speech against both Israel and himself.

The Arrest Threat That Started It

The tension traces back to earlier this month, when Mamdani told the New York Times he was in talks with city lawyers about arresting Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant, should the Israeli leader travel to New York for the UN General Assembly in September. That warrant dates back to 2024, when the ICC charged Netanyahu and his then defense minister, Yoav Gallant, with war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Mamdani addressed the issue directly in a video statement released late Tuesday. He acknowledged he lacks the independent legal power to actually enforce the ICC warrant, but he didn’t soften his language, calling Netanyahu a war criminal and declaring him unwelcome in New York City.

The Stabbing Attack

The incident Netanyahu referenced took place Thursday afternoon on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Moshe Grunhaus, 50, was leaving a Jewish religious service while wearing a yarmulke when he was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver. According to the Independent’s reporting, the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the assault. The same attacker is also accused of stabbing 57 year old Chok Sung, an Asian man, in the back with a knife during a separate incident.
Police arrested Raul Morales, 51, in connection with both attacks. He faces charges of attempted murder and assault, with both incidents classified as hate crimes.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/netanyahu-vs-mamdani-rages-over-nyc-arrest-threats-i-will-come-to-ny-to-fight-for-the-truth-of-the-jewish-people-article-155184323

 

A Vietnamese-registered cargo ship carrying 62 crew members sank near Yongshu Reef in the South China Sea, one of the world’s most important and contested maritime spaces.

Rescuers were searching on Sunday for 17 people missing after a Vietnamese ship sank in the South China Sea, China’s ⁠state media reported.

Authorities in the Chinese island province of Hainan said the cargo vessel Khoi ​Nguyen 18 ran into trouble near Yongshu Reef, also known as Fiery Cross Reef, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The ship was carrying 62 crew members, and 45 people were rescued from the water.

Vietnamese authorities arrived at the scene immediately after the cargo ship “sank while operating in bad weather conditions in the East Sea,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said in a statement to AFP news agency.

What we know about the sinking incident

A Chinese rescue ship, the Nanhai Jiu 115, first spotted what was believed to be a distress flare from the vessel shortly before 6:30 pm on Saturday (1030 GMT).

The Khoi Nguyen 18 is a Vietnamese-registered ship measuring just under 70 meters (230 feet) in length, according to state news agency Xinhua.

It added that six Chinese vessels, a rescue helicopter and a Vietnamese vessel were involved in the search-and-rescue operations.

Hang said that authorities and fishing vessels were “actively searching for the remaining people.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/vietnamese-vessel-sinks-in-south-china-sea-17-missing/a-78118211

Spain’s prime minister warned of “difficult hours ahead,” as France’s interior minister called the blaze near Bordeaux “unpredictable.” Evacuations in both countries continued as high winds keep fires moving.

Massive wildfires in France and Spain continued to gather strength overnight with yet more evacuations for residents near France’s western Bordeaux and Spain’s capital Madrid.

A new fire outside the Spanish coastal town of Valencia claimed one life and forced residents to flee.

What is the latest on the French wildfires?

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Sunday said that the blaze raging in the Gironde region near popular Bordeaux had become “extremely intense and unpredictable again” overnight.

Some 2,500 firefighters as well as 1,500 military personnel and 1,200 police have been deployed to the region.

New overnight evacuations brought the total number of displacements in France to over 220,000.

Fires near Bordeaux — a city of 268,000 residents — have also blocked roads, including a highway along the Atlantic coast, and halted train service near the major wine producing city.

In all, the fires have consumed some 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) — an area four times the size of Paris, or seven times the size of Manhattan — laying waste to more land than at any time since 1949, when fires destroyed 50,000 hectares.

Separately, firefighters are battling an active fire in the southern Var region, where 3,000 people have been evacuated.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/wildfires-spread-in-france-and-spain-forcing-more-to-flee/a-78119908

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank attacked two mosques Sunday, setting them ablaze and scrawling graffiti. The incident follows a Friday clash that left four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead.

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank set fire to two mosques early Sunday as well as scrawling buildings with graffiti that local Palestinian officials near Nablus said called for “revenge.”

“The mosque was in its final stage and was ready to receive worshippers. It had ‌already been ​furnished with couches. They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls,” said Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council of Qusra outside Nablus.

The Israeli military confirmed that graffiti and traces of arson were found when they inspected the area.

“The security ​forces strongly condemn incidents of this kind, including harm to religious sites, and will continue to act decisively to maintain ​security and public order in the area,” Israeli military authorities said in a statement.

Separately, Palestinian authorities said Israeli settlers had sought to burn a mosque near Kour and attacked Palestinian laborers at a stone-cutting facility near Ramallah.

A member of the Kour village council said worshippers at the mosque were able to extinguish the mosque fire, which he said had been set by three Israeli settlers. Graffiti in Hebrew was also reported at the site.

Sunday attacks followed clashes that left six dead on Friday

The Sunday attacks are largely believed to have come in response to Friday’s clashes that left six people dead.

The Friday incident was sparked by a group of Israeli settlers, some armed, who descended on the Palestinian village of Tell, southwest of Nablus.

When villagers came out of their homes to confront the settlers, shots rang out.

The Israeli military said shots were fired on both sides. Palestinian local authorities say the settlers provoked the violence.

In the end, four Palestinians were left dead as well as two Israeli soldiers, one of whom had been stationed at the site as a security agent.

Israeli security forces launched raids in Nablus on Saturday in response to the incident as part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s self-described “counter-terrorism” operations.

Dozens of Palestinians were arrested during the raids.

Palestinian authorities in the West Bank condemned the weekend’s events as part of “systematic pogroms across the occupied West Bank.”

Escalating violence in the occupied West Bank aggravated by illegal settlements

The West Bank, which is seen by Palestinians as the core of a future independent state, has seen a sharp increase in violent clashes between oftentimes armed Israeli settlers and Palestinian civilians since October 7, 2023, when a Hamas-led group attacked Israel, sparking the war in Gaza. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including Israel and Germany.

Palestinian authorities say that at least 1,097 Palestinians — both militants and civilians — have been killed by Israeli settlers and security forces since the October 2023 attack.

Israeli figures document the deaths of 48 Israeli civilians and security forces members during that same time.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/israeli-settlers-torch-mosques-in-occupied-west-bank/a-78120749

 

Schnieder plans to ask Chancellor Merz to remove him after describing as “undignified” the circumstances surrounding a cabinet reshuffle in which he was widely expected to be removed.

Germany’s Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder says he will ask Chancellor Friedrich Merz to dismiss him.

“I am drawing the necessary conclusions from the developments of the past few days and, at the same time, wish to put an end to the undignified situation that is making it impossible to carry out the necessary, objective work,” Schieder said in a statement to German press agency dpa on Sunday.

Merz announced a Cabinet reshuffle on Friday and it was reported that Schnieder would be amongst those facing the axe. Merz, however, did not comment on this portfolio in his press conference.

There is widespread frustration over the state of Germany’s rail network and crumbling infrastructure.

A government spokesperson said on Sunday evening that Merz will propose that conservative parliamentary director Steffen Bilger replace Schnieder as transport minister.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-transport-minister-schnieder-to-asks-merz-to-remove-him/a-78121920

While most campers were stabilised on-site, at least one was transferred to University Hospital as a precautionary measure.

More than a dozen children fell ill after eating chocolate suspected to be infused with ‘hallucinogenic mushrooms’ at a New Jersey summer camp, leaving them in a “zombie-like” state, the New York Post reported. The affected campers were aged between 10 and 13.

The incident took place at a YMCA day camp situated on North Arlington Avenue in East Orange, New Jersey. Emergency services and local law enforcement were dispatched to the scene shortly after 11:00 am (local time) following reports that multiple children were in severe physical distress.

“When I arrived, there were 13 children; they looked like zombies,” Cynthia Cunningham, the mother of a 12-year-old child who was hospitalized, told ABC7, explaining that the children appeared unresponsive and detached. “It was sad, really sad. This shouldn’t happen.”

According to local authorities and emergency responders, the issues began when a young camper complained of feeling unwell shortly after consuming a piece of chocolate handed out by another child. Within minutes, 12 additional campers began exhibiting similar, unnerving symptoms.

While most campers were stabilised on-site, at least one was transferred to University Hospital as a precautionary measure due to a pre-existing health condition.

“This incident is deeply concerning, particularly because it involves the safety and well-being of children,” East Orange Police Chief Phyllis Bindi said in a statement to ABC7.

“The East Orange Police Department takes incidents involving suspected controlled substances extremely seriously. Our detectives are conducting a thorough investigation to determine exactly what occurred, how these suspected edibles came into the possession of a juvenile, and whether any criminal offenses were committed.”

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/13-children-found-in-zombie-state-after-eating-mushroom-laced-edibles-at-camp-in-new-jersey-11825157?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

Under the terms of his will, she stands to inherit up to $100 million, along with a 33-carat diamond ring. Yet for years, she kept her connection to one of the most notorious men in America almost entirely out of public view.

Somewhere in the paperwork of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate sits a diamond ring worth a fortune, meant for a woman “in contemplation of marriage.” That woman is Dr Karyna Shuliak, a 37-year-old dentist from Belarus who spent nearly eight years as Epstein’s girlfriend, and who was the last person he spoke to on the phone before he died in his jail cell in 2019, according to the New York Times.

Under the terms of his will, she stands to inherit up to $100 million, along with a 33-carat diamond ring. Yet for years, she kept her connection to one of the most notorious men in America almost entirely out of public view.

That changed in late January, when the Justice Department released three million pages of files and emails gathered during its investigation into Epstein. Buried inside were thousands of private messages between Shuliak and Epstein, along with dozens of photographs documenting their relationship. Suddenly, a chapter of her life she had kept private for the better part of a decade was there for anyone to read.

Who Is Karyna Shuliak?

According to the Times’ review of the files, Shuliak emerges as an unusual figure within Epstein’s orbit. She has never described herself as one of his victims, and federal authorities have never treated her as a co-conspirator in his sex trafficking operation.

What the emails do show is a relationship built on money, dependence and control. Epstein called her his “favourite” and told her often that he loved her. She had free use of a credit card, travelled the world at his expense, and received close to $1 million in payments from him over the years. He also sent tens of thousands of dollars to her parents back in Belarus.

The emails included disagreements over sex, orders with a sexual wellness company aimed at couples, and occasionally, links to explicit videos. Other exchanges covered things like birth control pills and acne treatment.

Over time, she took on real responsibility in his world, helping to manage his properties and staff, and even playing a role in his attempt to buy a palace in Morocco just weeks before his arrest in 2019. Epstein held the power in the relationship throughout, the Times report says, but there is little doubt she gained from it too, professionally, personally and financially.

Chance Meeting In Manhattan

Shuliak had lived in New York for only nine months when she met Epstein in late March 2011, when he was 58 years old. She had arrived from Belarus on a temporary student visa to study English, working as a dental assistant for around $15 an hour while applying for waitressing jobs and trying to figure out how to finish the dental training she had started back home.

According to the files, a young woman from Siberia introduced the two of them. That woman later told the Times she had, at times, been expected to bring other young women to Epstein, presumably so he could arrange sexualised massages, and it appears that was his intention with Shuliak too.

Their early encounters followed a pattern familiar from his dealings with other young women. Epstein flattered her, showered her with gifts, and almost immediately offered to help her pursue her dream of becoming a dentist, the files show.

But Shuliak pushed back. A few weeks after meeting him, she wrote to Epstein calling him a “remarkable person,” but said she could not accept his help.

She never spelt out exactly what had troubled her, though their meeting came after Epstein had already pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, and had been accused of abusing dozens of other teenagers. He responded by accusing her of listening to “rumours and stories.”

Epstein did not take no for an answer. He kept pursuing her. Within months, she had visited his ranch in New Mexico and his private island in the US Virgin Islands.

Buying A Place At Columbia

Shuliak had wanted to be a dentist since she was a child. She had completed four of the five years of dental training in Minsk before moving to New York. By the winter of 2012, she had agreed to let Epstein help her get into dental school. Columbia’s College of Dental Medicine initially turned her down, so Epstein reached out to his own dentist, a prominent Columbia alumnus, and asked him to put him in touch with the dean. Epstein floated the idea of donating up to $10 million to the university. In the end, records show he gave around $210,000.

Files released by the Justice Department include text messages showing that Dr Magnani and Dr James Fine, school administrators, gave Shuliak advance notice of the topics that would come up in an April 2012 exam designed to test her practical skills as a transfer student.

Once she was admitted, Epstein flew her mother in from Belarus for a visit and paid her tuition for the next three years. “You are the purest man out of all men,” she wrote to him in June 2012. “All your love and care, my parents, school, apartment. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!!!”

The relationship was not without friction. The pair reportedly clashed over Epstein’s insistence on sleeping with other women in their twenties. “I understand you need it, however, these are the things that don’t feel natural to me, it feels somewhat dirty to me,” she wrote to him in August 2012.

She simply asked to be kept away from that part of his life. “If that is not a lot to ask, please enjoy it but keep me away from it,” she wrote. “I will stay with you no matter what, as long as you are happy. I love you.”

The Marriage That Secured Her Citizenship

By the time she applied to Columbia in 2012, Shuliak had already overstayed the student visa granted to her in 2010. Early in 2013, Epstein worked out a way to keep her in the country. He concluded that a marriage between two women there was the least conspicuous route to citizenship.

He picked one of his own assistants and a victim, a 30-year-old woman from Minnesota, to be the bride.

Emails show Epstein instructed the woman to meet Shuliak on the morning of 16 September 2013 at the New York City Marriage Bureau. The two women married three weeks later at the Office of the City Clerk, with photographs taken to mark the day.

Afterwards, an immigration lawyer working for Epstein filed paperwork naming Shuliak as the woman’s wife and beneficiary. The request was approved, her pending deportation case was dropped, and months later she received a green card.

In May 2018, Shuliak became a US citizen. The couple divorced a year later. A report released this year by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said her former wife had claimed she was forced into the marriage, and had not realised the wedding was arranged just days before Shuliak’s own deportation hearing.

The Final Phone Call

By early 2019, the pair appeared, in every outward sense, to be a couple. Shuliak was living for much of the time at Epstein’s New York mansion. She had by then qualified as a licensed dentist in the US Virgin Islands, Florida and New Mexico, having finished dental school in 2015, though there is little evidence she built up much of a client base of her own.

Instead, much of her time went into running his households. She arranged floral displays for his mansion, ordered furniture for his island, and managed cleaning and repair schedules for the flats.

In mid-June 2019, the two travelled together to Paris, where Epstein had an apartment. On 6 July, he flew back to the United States while she remained in Europe. When his plane landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, federal agents were waiting to arrest him.

About a month later, during a 20-minute call from a jail in Lower Manhattan, Epstein told Shuliak that the case against him would take longer to resolve than he had expected, and advised her to find somewhere else to stay in the meantime. He had told her “to be strong.”

The next morning, 10 August 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell, having taken his own life.

Shortly before he died, he had amended his will to leave Shuliak a substantial share of his roughly $600 million fortune, including the 33-carat diamond ring, described in a handwritten note as being given “in contemplation of marriage.” Exactly how much she will receive remains unclear. After payouts to his victims, the estate is now valued at between $120 million and $200 million, and there are dozens of other beneficiaries.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/jeffrey-epstein-karyna-shuliak-dentist-from-belarus-who-could-inherit-epsteins-100-000-000-fortune-11825053?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Typhoon Noul is forecast to make landfall in the coastal area stretching from Hong Kong to Guangdong province between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, says China’s National Meteorological Center.

BEIJING: Authorities have evacuated more than 20,000 people and suspended railway services in southern China as approaching Typhoon Noul threatens torrential rain and gale-force winds, according to state media.

The typhoon is forecast to make landfall in the coastal area stretching from Hong Kong to Guangdong province between Saturday (Jul 25) evening and Sunday morning, China’s National Meteorological Center said.

It maintained an orange typhoon alert on Saturday, the second-highest level in its four-tier system, after warning that parts of Guangdong and neighbouring Fujian province would experience gales and torrential rain.

More than 20,000 people had been evacuated in Guangdong, state broadcaster CCTV said in a bulletin late on Friday.

Fishing vessels operating at sea in the province had returned to ports to “shelter from the storm”, it added.

Guangdong will suspend some train services Saturday morning, with all train services in the province halted on Sunday, CCTV said.

Schools in Guangdong’s Chaozhou city were instructed to suspend on-campus activities, according to local media reports.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-typhoon-noul-20000-people-evacuate-hong-kong-guangdong-6277921

ONE of Vladimir Putin’s allies has urged him – in public – to “freeze” the war in Ukraine.

President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, spoke with his Russian counterpart earlier today to deliver the devastating blow after receiving “many signals” from Europe and the US.

“Perhaps it is time to freeze this conflict and return to the Istanbul 2.0 formula, as significant results were achieved there,” he told the morose-looking dictator.

“After that – naturally under guarantees from major powers, including Russia – we can move forward.”

Giving advice, Tokayev was referring to the negotiations held between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey last year.

At the time, the core concepts included locking in a ceasefire along the current lines of territorial control, and long-term security provisions backed by major global powers.

Tokayev said he had received numerous signals from Europe and the US about the conflict, which he described as an interstate war.

“I will not hide that I have been receiving many signals, which I informed you about over the phone,” he told Putin.

“Signals from Europe and the US about the current state of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.”

He further added that “significant results were achieved” and that it is a “pity that young people are dying.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16746481/putin-gobsmacked-ally-warns-stop-ukraine-war

Starship splashed down in the Indian Ocean to complete its 13th test flight and its first since Elon Musk’s SpaceX went public in June.

SpaceX’s Starship megarocket completed a test flight on Friday, the first since Elon Musk’s company went public on Wall Street in June.

The ship splashed down into the Indian Ocean, which was celebrated by SpaceX employees watching along from the firm’s headquarters in Starbase, Texas.

“Starship is intact, floating in the ocean and transmitting telemetry!” Musk said on X.

This was the world’s most powerful rocket’s 13th flight.

Previous tests had ended with Starship in flames or exploding at splashdown, or breaking up in midair.

What do we know about the latest SpaceX Starship test?

Starship, which is around 122 meters (400 feet) tall, deployed 20 Starlink satellites into suborbital space.

After ​briefly contacting SpaceX’s network of around 10,000 orbiting satellites, they reentered Earth’s ​atmosphere and burned up as planned.

The hourlong test “will provide critical data as we prepare to expand our Starlink constellation” of the company’s satellite internet service, SpaceX said.

By the end of 2026, SpaceX aims to use the Starship rocket to expand its Starlink network with the latest V3 satellites, providing coverage in remote areas where traditional cellular networks are unavailable.

Edited by: Karl Sexton

Don’t let the algorithm hide the news. If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google by clicking here and hitting the “star” or “preferred” button, so you’ll always see our verified news first.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/starship-completes-1st-test-flight-since-spacex-ipo/a-78107347

Iran’s leaders are fighting each other almost as much as they’re battling the West, with some senior politicians scrambling to save US talks while the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leans into the renewed war, regional sources told The Post.

With Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei out of public view, there’s no one left to force the rival factions back into line — meaning the future of the conflict may now be decided by a power struggle in Tehran, not by Washington.

The growing divide has exposed what the sources describe as two competing centers of power inside Tehran: civilian leaders trying to preserve a fragile diplomatic track and military hardliners determined to keep up pressure through confrontation.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf want to keep dialogue with the US alive and prevent the fighting from spiraling into another full-scale regional war, the sources said.

But their authority has steadily eroded, one regional source familiar with Iran’s internal dynamics told The Post.

“They can sign [agreements], but they can’t stop the IRGC from acting or parliament from legislating around them,” the person said.

Instead of winning internal political battles, the IRGC has increasingly created “facts on the ground” through military action, the source said, while hardline lawmakers move afterward to enshrine those actions into law.

“The hardliners don’t need to win internal arguments,” the source said. “They create facts on the ground … and get parliament to legalize them after the fact.”

“The shift is real — now it’s becoming law, which is much harder to reverse.”

That distinction — between the politicians publicly speaking about diplomacy and the security establishment making decisions on the battlefield — is key, according to Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran Program.

“Yes, there are politicians who occasionally come out, including even Iran’s foreign minister, who talk about dialogue,” Taleblu told The Post. “But those driving the train, those with their finger on the trigger, those making some of the most important decisions continue to talk and act like escalation is what will secure their survival, not engagement.”

While Tehran has historically balanced diplomacy and military pressure simultaneously, Taleblu said recent events suggest the regime is increasingly betting on confrontation.

“There is obviously a divide in Iran,” he said. “But we have to make sure that when we look at the divide, we pay attention to who matters and what matters — and who and what matter seem to be doubling down on escalation.”

The widening split has become increasingly visible in recent weeks, the source said.

During the funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the front rows were filled with IRGC members rather than civilian officials, underscoring the military’s growing influence, according to the source.

What’s more, several televised speeches by Iran’s political leadership have been partially edited before broadcast instead of running live — raising further questions about who controls the country’s public messaging, the person added.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/world-news/irans-leaders-at-war-with-each-other-as-hardliners-push-for-wider-conflict

President Zelenskyy has warned of a potential large-scale Russian offensive, while discussions regarding peace negotiations were initiated by Kazakhstan’s president.

At least 15 people have been killed in Russian and Ukrainian drone strikes on Ukrainian territory, including five children who died in an attack on a holiday camp in a Russian-held area of eastern Ukraine, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials.

Russian-appointed authorities in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said 12 people were killed overnight when drones struck the resort area of Kyrylivka, on the coast of the Sea of Azov near Melitopol.

The Russian-installed governor of the region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said the dead included five children and that a further 19 people were injured. He accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians.

Ukraine did not immediately comment on the reported strike. Kyrylivka has been under Russian control since the early stages of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Russian Strike Kills 3 Courier Workers in Sumy

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone attack in the Sumy region killed three drivers working for the courier company Nova Poshta and set one of the company’s buildings on fire. They said the site was a civilian logistics facility.

Russia’s defence ministry, however, said the strike had targeted a Ukrainian drone storage and launch site.

Zelenskyy Warns of Major Russian Attack

The latest attacks came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his nightly address on Friday that intelligence assessments pointed to a large-scale Russian attack. The White House said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump and Mr Zelenskyy are due to meet in Washington on Tuesday.

Also on Saturday, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said a peace agreement could be possible if both sides froze the conflict and returned to negotiations.

Speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a forum in Omsk, Tokayev praised what he described as Putin’s diplomatic flexibility and suggested reviving an updated version of the Istanbul talks framework.

Romania Shoots Down Drone

Romania’s defence ministry said its forces had “safely shot down” a drone that entered the country’s airspace near the Ukrainian border.

In a post on social media, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said the drone was “shot down by a Romanian pilot from an F-16 aircraft”. The incident came a day after another suspected Russian drone was brought down near Padina, northeast of Bucharest.

Romania and other NATO members bordering Ukraine have reported repeated incursions by drones launched during the war.

In June, a Ukrainian maritime drone exploded at the Black Sea port of Constanta, while three others detonated outside the port without causing injuries.

A month earlier, a Russian drone intended for Ukraine veered off course and hit an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war-latest-updates-holiday-camp-attack-children-killed-zelenskyy-putin-meeting-article-155179479

This came after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced successful strikes on Russian vessels involved in military cargo transport.

Iran has accused Ukraine of attacking one of its commercial vessels in the Caspian Sea, as tensions between the two countries escalated following Ukrainian strikes on Russian ships said to be transporting military cargo. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that an explosion aboard an Iranian commercial vessel killed one sailor and injured another, according to a statement carried by Iranian state media.

It described the alleged attack as a violation of the UN Charter and “an act of aggression”, adding that responsibility for the consequences would lie with Ukraine “and its supporters and instigators”.

The allegation followed comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday announcing that Ukrainian forces had carried out long-range strikes against Russian vessels in the Caspian Sea.

“We achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea – including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Ukraine’s Security Service said the targeted vessels were transporting military cargo between Iran and Russia, although it did not specify the direction of the shipments.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and United24, the agency identified two sanctioned cargo ships – Port Olya 2 and Begey – as targets. It also said Ukrainian forces struck a Lukoil offshore oil platform and a Russian missile boat.

The claims by both sides have not been independently verified.

The Caspian Sea links Russia and Iran, which have strengthened military ties since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Iran has previously supplied Russia with military equipment, including Shahed drones, for use in the war in Ukraine.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump warned Russia and China against supplying weapons to Iran. “If they did, it would be very bad for them — certainly not in their best interests,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He later told reporters at the White House: “President Putin, despite the horrible war going on in Ukraine, told me that he would not sell weapons to Iran.”

“I think I trust them,” he added.

Earlier in the week, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing that Russia and China were assisting Iran, although he did not provide details. “There are ways in which both of those countries are, at different levels, enabling some of the things Iran is doing, yes,” he said.

Separately on Saturday, an Iranian Telegram channel, Middle East Spectator, published a post warning that Ukraine was within range of Iran’s ballistic missiles.

“A gentle reminder to Zelenskyy: All of Ukraine is within reach of Iran’s ballistic missiles,” the post said alongside a map showing the reported range of Iran’s Khorramshahr-4 missile. “Although it would be a waste of good missiles,” it added.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world/middle-east/iran-ukraine-warning-us-iran-war-caspian-sea-vessel-attack-irgc-volodymyr-zelenskyy-article-155179173

The operation would require thousands of US troops to secure Iran’s nuclear sites, clear booby traps, use construction crews and protect the perimeter.

The United States is weighing a large-scale special operations mission to seize enriched uranium from heavily fortified Iranian nuclear facilities, the New York Post reported on Saturday.

Quoting experts and a source familiar with military planning, the report said the operation could require thousands of troops to secure the sites, clear booby traps and protect transport routes. A smaller special operations unit would then retrieve the nuclear material in what one expert described as potentially “the most sophisticated operation in military history”.

The report said possible targets include the nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Fordo and the underground Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz. It added that Iran had reinforced some locations and planted explosives in preparation for a possible raid. Experts also warned that the mission would be extremely dangerous and could instead become an operation to destroy underground facilities.

Experts outline scale of operation

Calling it the “nuclear option”, the report said American Special Operations forces were waiting in the wings for what could become an unprecedented military mission.

“I hate to say it, but I think the most likely way to get rid of Iran’s nuclear material, at least what they currently have, is a military operation because the negotiations aren’t going anywhere fast,” Joseph Rodgers, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the operation would involve thousands of ground troops entering Iran’s nuclear facilities, navigating booby traps, using construction crews and maintaining a large defensive force around the sites. Once the areas were secured, a small team of special operators would retrieve the enriched uranium.

“I think this would be one of the most, if not the most, sophisticated operations in military history,” Rodgers said, adding that the mission would be “logistically heavy” in a contested environment.

The report said the special operations team could include SEAL Team 6’s Silver Squadron, the 2nd Ranger Battalion and the Army’s 21st Ordnance Company. The 21st Ordnance Company would reportedly handle and transport the enriched uranium from the mostly destroyed Fordo facility and the severely damaged Isfahan site.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in 2025 that Iran possessed more than 20,000 pounds of enriched uranium.

Challenges at Isfahan, Fordo and Pickaxe
Rodgers, as quoted by New York Post, said troops would first have to establish a secure perimeter around the nuclear sites and create a protected convoy route to an airstrip. US military crews would also need to clear destroyed entrances while defending against Iranian attacks.

Richard Goldberg, who served as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction at the White House National Security Council during the first Trump administration, questioned how long such an operation could be sustained before forces were withdrawn.

Source: https://www.news18.com/world/us-may-deploy-special-forces-to-seize-irans-nuclear-stockpile-isfahan-fordo-pickaxe-on-target-list-10233677.html

The two Gulf states had previously avoided direct confrontation with Tehran, unlike some other regional powers.

Bahrain and Kuwait secretly carried out airstrikes on targets inside Iran earlier this month, marking their first known direct military action against Tehran, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The strikes targeted drone and missile storage sites as well as other military facilities, according to the report. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) provided intelligence on Iranian targets and defensive air cover during the operation, the report added.

Gulf States Respond To Iranian Attacks
The WSJ report said Bahrain and Kuwait, which have relatively small air forces equipped with US and European aircraft, decided to respond after facing repeated attacks from Iran during the escalating regional conflict.

The two Gulf states had previously avoided direct confrontation with Tehran, unlike some other regional powers. The report said countries such as Oman and Qatar have continued to maintain a more balanced approach between Iran and Western allies.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia had also joined the UAE in strikes against Iran at an earlier stage of the conflict but is now reassessing its position.

The reported involvement of Bahrain and Kuwait signals a broader expansion of the war, with both Gulf nations facing some of the heaviest Iranian attacks in recent weeks as renewed fighting between Tehran and Washington has begun.

Iran Targets US Assets In Gulf
On Friday, Iran said it carried out attacks against US military assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan in response to American strikes on Tehran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed to have targeted a US military base in Bahrain, while Iranian state media also reported an attack on an Amazon data centre in the country. The claims have not been independently confirmed.

Source: https://www.news18.com/world/a-secret-gulf-operation-bahrain-kuwait-carried-out-first-iran-strikes-with-uae-help-report-ws-l-10232407.html

Signs of the Iran war’s spread emerged this ​weekend despite a pause in U.S. strikes, as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and Iran accused Ukraine of targeting an Iranian ‌vessel in the Caspian Sea.
The U.S. military said on Saturday that its naval blockade against Iran “remains in full effect” but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes. Asked about the pause, a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration said Trump “has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way.”
There were also no reports on Saturday ​of attacks from Iran on neighboring countries, like those that have been taking place daily in response to the U.S. attacks.
Trump has decided, for now, to back away from earlier plans ​to ramp up attacks on Iran, the New York Times reported on Saturday night, citing two people briefed on the discussion. The president and his advisers, ⁠according to the Times, have concerns about expanding the conflict, depleting defense stockpiles, alienating Persian Gulf allies and affecting energy supplies and the global economy.
Despite the lull in the Gulf, fighting between Iran’s Houthi ​allies and Saudi Arabia on Saturday indicated the war, which has already disrupted energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, could affect a second major shipping route and reignite Yemen’s civil war.Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine ​of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying it resulted in an explosion that killed a sailor and injured another.
Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a social media post praised the results of “long‑range strikes” in the Caspian Sea, alluding to vessels shipping military cargo, but did not identify the nationality of the targets.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to convey its protest over what it described as a “hostile and criminal” attack, Iran’s ​state news agency IRNA reported.
The Iranian denunciation coincided with comments by Zelenskiy that Kyiv had noted Russia was passing on its satellite observations in the Middle East to Iran to enable it to direct strikes ​in the region.

WAR THREATENS TO SPREAD TO YEMEN
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in Jizan and Yanbu. Video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed ‌a large ⁠column of smoke rising from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan.
Two Asia-based trading sources said they had been informed of potential damage to fuel and oil storage sites at Jizan. Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab did not respond to requests for comment.
In Yanbu, two ballistic missiles aimed at oil installations were intercepted by a U.S.-made Patriot battery operated in Saudi Arabia by the Greek military under an agreement with Riyadh, Greek security sources said.
Yanbu, Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea oil port, has become a key route for Saudi oil skirting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded. Up to 400,000 barrels can be processed daily at the oil ​refinery in Jizan, a city on the Red ​Sea close to the Yemeni border.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/iran-war-spreads-red-sea-caspian-gulf-quiet-us-forgoes-strikes-2026-07-25/

One person has been killed and 17 injured, with some in life-threatening condition, after a vehicle ‌mowed down a crowd near Berlin’s Pride celebrations on Saturday evening, setting off a manhunt for the driver, the police and fire brigade said.

Hours after the apparent attack many details remained unclear, but police said the vehicle struck multiple people after charging into the city’s central Tiergarten park close to the Brandenburg Gate.

“According to our latest ​information, the vehicle drove … into the Tiergarten around 10 p.m. (2000 GMT), injuring several people in the process, and then came to ​a standstill after hitting a tree here in the Tiergarten,” a police spokesperson at the scene said.

“It was empty, ⁠which is why we are currently working intensively to track down the perpetrator or perpetrators.”

EIGHT SERIOUSLY INJURED

Among the 17 injured, eight had serious ​injuries and of those, three were in life-threatening condition, a fire brigade spokesperson said.

The police said the vehicle was white, describing it as possibly ​a car or minivan or minibus. Tabloid newspaper Bild cited a witness as saying it was a van and that a man emerged from it and fled on foot.

Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered peacefully in the German capital for the annual Christopher Street Day celebrations, one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ events, before the apparent ​attack brought it to an abrupt end.

A large number of emergency service vehicles were at the scene.

“It’s one of the worst days for the ​queer community and a day I personally hoped I’d never have to experience … I’m shocked,” said Julian Methig, who attended the event.

Christopher Street Day draws hundreds ‌of thousands ⁠of people to the German capital each year. The event commemorates the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York and combines a parade with political demands for equality, inclusion and protection against discrimination.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/berlin-pride-parade-called-off-after-car-hits-crowds-police-say-2026-07-25

July 24 (Reuters) – Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O), opens new tab ​on Friday agreed to pause its acquisition of Warner ‌Bros. Discovery (WBD.O), opens new tab until after a ruling on a challenge by states to the deal, plunging the $110 billion deal into further uncertainty.
The agreement pausing ​the deal until next June, at the latest, trims ​a few weeks off the case schedule. But it also comes ⁠with a price.

Air defence systems in Saudi ​Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen on Saturday targeting oil refineries in Yanbu on the Red Sea, Greek security sources told Reuters, ‌a day after U.S. forces launched fresh air strikes on Iran.
Saudi civil defence had issued several warnings for Yanbu and later said the danger had passed. Civil defence also issued a warning for the port city of Jizan about 1,000 km (620 miles) to the south, close to the Yemeni border.

There were no immediate official reports of damage.
The defence system was operated by Greek military personnel, the sources ​said. Greece has deployed a U.S.-made Patriot air defence battery in Saudi Arabia since 2021 under an agreement to help protect the kingdom’s energy infrastructure.
​Later on Saturday the Greek Patriot system also shot down a drone in the Yanbu region that had been launched from Yemen, ⁠Greek security sources said.
TRUMP THREATENS ‘MAJOR PUNISHMENT’ FOR IRAN AND YEMEN
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen, after ​the Houthis said they had struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday.

The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, have declared a naval blockade of Saudi ​Arabia. The kingdom has been diverting millions of barrels of oil by pipeline each day to the Red Sea to skirt Iran’s near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on the Gulf.
A Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the Houthis in Yemen said it had struck Houthi military sites in recent days after attacks on the Saudi tankers.
The U.S. military had launched air strikes ​on Iran late on Thursday and early on Friday, the 13th consecutive night of attacks, but there were no reports of fresh U.S. strikes on Saturday.
An interim truce ​meant to end the war effectively collapsed two weeks ago, with U.S. forces striking targets in southern Iran in response to Iranian disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has ‌retaliated with ⁠strikes on U.S. military assets in neighbouring Arab countries.

Trump has threatened in recent days to widen the range of targets to include Iran’s energy plants and bridges, send ground forces to seize its oil hub of Kharg Island, and bomb a deep-underground nuclear-linked site known as Pickaxe Mountain.
On Friday, however, Trump said he had not yet made a decision on new major strikes.
“We are talking to them,” he told reporters at the White House. “I think they’re being serious. I think … they are being by far the ​most serious that we’ve seen them, but ​that doesn’t mean we get there.”
⁠GLOBAL OIL CHOKEPOINTS
Asked what the exit strategy was for the Iran war, Trump said: “There’s a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it’s knocking out everything they ​have. Or there’s a smarter strategy that you make a deal.”
He added: “We’re locked and loaded. We’re ready to go.”
The key waterway ​of the Strait of ⁠Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf, has so far been the focus of a war that has killed thousands in almost five months, stoked global inflation and fanned fears of an economic downturn.
The Houthi blockade of the Red Sea is a major escalation in the conflict that threatens to further disrupt global oil supplies. Brent North Sea oil prices ⁠jumped to $100 a ​barrel this week for the first time since May.
Sources said Pakistan was exploring a path towards reviving ​stalled talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the war, after China initiated a push.
Exploratory discussions took place during a visit by Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to Islamabad this week, his second in ​the last 10 days, three Pakistani sources said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-vows-punish-iran-houthis-attacks-red-sea-2026-07-24/

A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a ‌bid by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to halt a judge’s order preventing it from imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
The ​Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put ​on hold a lower court judge’s June 8 ruling in a lawsuit ⁠filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general, striking down the fee ​on the basis that it constituted an unlawful tax Congress never authorized.

The ​three-judge panel, composed only of appointees of Democratic presidents, said the Trump administration failed to show it was likely on appeal to succeed in showing it had not ​exceeded its authority by imposing the fee.
The U.S. president issued a proclamation, opens new tab ​in September that raised the cost of obtaining H-1B visas, which tech companies rely heavily ‌on ⁠to bring on foreign workers.
The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years. Employers seeking a visa for a foreign worker before ​Trump’s move typically ​paid about $2,000 to $5,000 ⁠in fees depending on various factors.

Trump, in imposing the hefty new fee, said the H-1B program “has been deliberately ​exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers ​with lower-paid, ⁠lower-skilled labor.”
The fee does not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens already in the U.S. on student visas, who generally make up a ⁠large share ​of new H-1B recipients.
Few employers have paid ​Trump’s fee since it was instituted.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/appeals-court-rejects-trump-bid-halt-100000-h-1b-visa-fee-ruling-2026-07-24/

Delhi Police’s Facial Recognition System identified around 400 people with criminal records in and around the Jantar Mantar protest site between July 20 and July 24, with some suspects also linked to the July 20 vandalism, sources said.

Delhi Police’s Facial Recognition System (FRS) has identified around 400 people with criminal records moving in and around the Jantar Mantar protest site between July 20 and July 24, sources told India Today.

As per the sources, the individuals were detected through the Facial Recognition System deployed in the area. The flagged persons were seen at the protest venue as well as surrounding locations in central Delhi during the five-day period.

Sources said police are now scrutinising the movement and activities of these individuals to determine whether they had any role in incidents of vandalism and violence reported in the New Delhi district on July 20.

Investigators have identified some criminal elements involved in the violence through CCTV footage and analysis of social media content, sources said. The probe is focused on establishing their presence at the protest site and linking them to specific incidents of damage to public property.

Among those identified by the police are few individuals with criminal backgrounds, including Sahil, Manoj Kumar and Rubal, sources said.

Another individual, identified as Sahil Saifi, has also been flagged during the investigation. Police are verifying their movements and examining whether they were part of organised groups present during the protest.

WHY FACIAL RECOGNITION SYSTEM WAS CRUCIAL

The FRS, which matches faces captured through surveillance cameras with police databases, has been extensively used by Delhi Police during large public gatherings and sensitive events to identify wanted persons and habitual offenders.

Officials said the technology enabled investigators to trace individuals with prior criminal records who were present in and around the protest site over the five-day period.

The revelations come as Delhi Police continues its investigation into the July 20 unrest in the national capital, during which clashes and incidents of vandalism were reported in parts of the New Delhi district.

Member states of the ‌International Criminal Court voted to dismiss prosecutor Karim Khan for serious misconduct, the ICC said on Friday.
Diplomats running the executive bureau of the court’s governing body said last month the British barrister had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior ICC lawyer and should be fired, documents seen by Reuters showed. On Friday, a ​large majority of the ICC’s 125 member states voted to follow that recommendation.

“The assembly decided by a majority of 82 ​states parties that the elected official, prosecutor, Karim Khan, committed serious misconduct and a serious breach of ⁠duty … and to remove … Karim Khan from office,” the president of the court’s governing body, Paivi Kaukoranta, said.
Khan, 56, denies any wrongdoing.
“Mr. Khan ​will challenge the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms,” his lawyer, Tayab Ali, said after the vote.
Khan’s dismissal immediately ​triggers the election process for a new ICC prosecutor who is not expected to be voted in before next year.

“Members of the court acted swiftly and decisively to remove an embattled and discredited official so that the court can move forward with its important work in all the situations on its docket,” ​said Leila Sadat, professor of international criminal law at Washington University.

DISMISSAL FOLLOWS RENEWED U.S. PUSHBACK

Khan’s dismissal follows an announcement by the United States ​that it will launch a renewed diplomatic campaign to dismantle the ICC, which it says is a threat to its sovereignty.
During a visit to the ‌Philippines on ⁠Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were “lunatics and crazies involved in the ICC” and there was no way any U.S. political or military officials would ever go on trial at the court, reiterating previous criticism.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott welcomed Khan’s removal but said, “he is only one small cog in this irredeemably corrupt institution. Today’s outcome will have no impact on the United States’ plans to dismantle ​the ICC.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/international-criminal-court-members-vote-dismissing-prosecutor-khan-2026-07-24/

 

 

Pakistan has been here before, and the last time, it barely escaped.

Pakistan may soon find out that its mediation efforts in the Iran-US war have hidden costs attached to it and that its worst nightmare yet may be unfolding. As the Houthis finally join the war, Pakistan may face the spectre of having to step in militarily – a possibility it had tried to escape till now, successfully.

To put things in perspective, we need to go back in time to March-April 2015. Intense discussions were on in the Pakistani Parliament on whether to join the war in Yemen against the Ansarallah Houthi militias. The Saudis had put together an Arab coalition to wage war against the Houthis as they overran the capital Sanaa, threatening the internationally recognised government of President Abdur Hadi Mansour. In what was a rare occasion, the Saudis, feeling directly threatened by the Houthis, who were backed, armed, and funded by Iran, began bombing the rebels. However, they also demanded that their client state, Pakistan, join the war.

A Decades-Old Relationship

This, of course, was not unusual. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s long defence and economic ties are well-known. Their military cooperation, which began way back in the 1960s, has seen them operate in the same theatre of war earlier – in 1969, when in a joint air operation they had repelled a South Yemeni incursion into Saudi Arabia’s southern border. In the 1970s and the 1980s, up to 15,000 Pakistani troops were stationed in the kingdom. During the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, Pakistan sent troops to protect the Kingdom. It is widely believed that the two countries also have a nuclear understanding whereby Pakistan provides a nuclear cover for the Kingdom.

Initially, Pakistan was ambivalent. But soon, the Nawaz Sharif government announced its decision to join the war, albeit with widespread opposition. While Nawaz Sharif was beholden to the Saudi royal family – when his second term as Prime Minister ended after a military coup in 1999, he went into exile in Saudi Arabia – many Pakistanis protested against the decision. The main opposition party then, of former cricketer Imran Khan, had already warned the government against joining the Saudi coalition, as did Pakistani editorials and civil society. For one, many Pakistanis had by then become fed up with the Saudi role in the Wahhabisation of Pakistani society, which had led to a lot of sectarian bloodletting between the Shias and Sunnis. Secondly, Iran was a neighbour, and what was happening in Yemen was – as it is now – a proxy war between Tehran and the Saudis, and there was no appetite to alienate Iran. Finally, Pakistan itself was reeling from terror attacks and Baloch insurgency, and joining the Yemen war, it was felt, would strain the army. So, though the government had agreed otherwise, on April 10, 2015, Pakistan’s Parliament passed a resolution for strict neutrality in the Yemen war, refusing an active combat role – as the Saudis had wanted – while calling for a diplomatic and peaceful resolution. However, the Pakistani Parliament did pledge to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Saudi Arabia if its territorial integrity or holy sites were directly threatened.

A Rock And A Hard Place

This did little to assuage the Saudis or their Arab coalition. Grants were cut, jobs grew sparse, many Pakistani workers began to be repatriated back home, and the Saudis and Emiratis, who had also actively intervened in Yemen, began pivoting towards India. Clearly, refusal to join the war had cost Pakistan dear, but, on the other hand, it helped improve its relations with Iran.

Nevertheless, Pakistan stood its ground, pivoting towards China to fill in the gap created by the lack of Arab largesse. When discord broke out again between Qatar on one hand and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain on the other, Pakistan, expectedly, desisted from taking sides, walking a diplomatic tightrope.

Matters got worse when Imran Khan assumed power. He turned towards Turkey, with which the Saudis and Emiratis had strained relations due to its support for the Muslim Brotherhood. But Khan, together with Turkish President Erdogan and the then Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammed, mulled floating a Muslim platform parallel to the Saudi-led Organization of Islamic Cooperation. At the last minute, however, under Saudi pressure, Khan had to pull out from the first summit meeting of the platform.

This is why when last year Saudi Arabia wanted a defence pact with Pakistan, following the attacks on Qatar by Israel, Pakistan, now again under the Sharifs, rushed to oblige. In fact, having inherited an economy in shambles, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s very first destinations upon assuming office were Riyadh and Abu Dhabi; the hope was to mend ties with them. The Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement, signed last September, includes a clause that stipulates that if one party is attacked, then the other would come to its defence. When the current war broke out and Iran began attacking Arab states, Pakistan initially tried to maintain strategic ambiguity. But soon, when attacks intensified, such as the strike on Saudi Arabia’s Al Jubail energy facilities, the Pakistani Foreign Office was compelled to promptly issue a stern condemnation and to reaffirm its support for the Kingdom, invoking the 2025 pact. It also moved some 13,000 military personnel and, reportedly, about 10-18 combat aircraft to the Kingdom.

Yet, luck favoured Pakistan, and it has not yet, at least as much as is publicly known, had to play any overt combat role in the war. Instead, Pakistan has continued its diplomatic balancing act by playing mediator between the US and Iran and helping the two reach a ceasefire agreement and a peace deal. This even allowed Iran to park some of its aircraft on Pakistani territory to shield them from US bombing. Not only that, but when the US announced a blockade of Iranian ports, Pakistan allowed Iran to transport goods through its territory.

Payback Time

All this may now come undone.

Pakistan’s mediation helped it remain in Iran’s good books but has cost it its relationship with Abu Dhabi, which wanted the war to be fought to the finish. The ceasefire has collapsed and the conflict is escalating by the day, with the US targeting Iran’s civilian infrastructure and Iran targeting both US bases and civilian infrastructure in Arab countries.

The Houthis, after lying low for much of the conflict, have now entered the war. They first attacked Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport in the south. It was a “response” to the strikes on Sanaa Airport by the Saudi-backed Yemen government, which were meant to dissuade an Iranian aircraft from landing there. The Houthis hold Saudi Arabia responsible for it. They have now closed the Bab Al Mandeb Strait to Saudi shipping and also struck a Saudi-flagged oil tanker named Encelia. Yesterday, the Saudi Press Agency confirmed that Encelia was “targeted while sailing in the Red Sea, resulting in a fire at the bow of the vessel”. US President Donald Trump condemned it in a social media post, warning of further attacks on the Houthis and Iran. Oil prices rose sharply, touching $100 per barrel for the first time since May. With Hormuz closed again, this marks a sharp escalation.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/11-years-later-houthis-have-returned-to-finish-unfinished-business-with-pakistan-11816247?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

 

She finished fifth in the women’s 400m freestyle final.

Gan Ching Hwee lowered her own 400m freestyle national record at the Commonwealth Games 2026 on Friday (Jul 24), finishing fifth in the women’s final.

At the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, Gan clocked a time of 4:09.34. This eclipses her mark of 4:09.81, which was set at last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

On Friday, Australia’s Lani Pallister took gold, New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather the silver and the bronze went to Australia’s Jenna Forrester.

Gan, who recently turned 23, is making her Games debut. She currently has five individual national records to her name.

She enjoyed a stellar 2025, setting three national records (400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle) at the World Aquatics Championships.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sport/team-singapore-gan-ching-hwee-swimming-commonwealth-games-6277446

 

At least four Palestinians and two Israelis have been killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank – the deadliest single incident there in months.

There are conflicting accounts of the sequence of events in the northern village of Tal. Palestinians told the BBC that residents confronted Jewish settlers who were attacking them. An eyewitness said soldiers then arrived and started shooting.

Israel’s military said it had responded to reports that hikers had been attacked. It said “terrorists stole the weapon” of a security guard and killed him, before being killed by soldiers. The other three killed were members of the same Palestinian family.

A second Israeli, a soldier, was also killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later said that it was preparing for “extensive counterterrorism operational activity in the sector”.

There has been a surge in attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

Ahmed Zeidan, an eyewitness, told the BBC the latest incident began early in the morning, when locals in Tal rushed to confront about 30 settlers who were attacking Palestinian homes.

He said hand-to-hand clashes broke out in the presence of Israeli soldiers.

A local leader of the ruling Palestinian Authority’s Fatah party, Essam Saifi, told Reuters news agency that settlers opened fire before Israeli forces arrived and also started shooting.

Palestinian officials said several other Palestinians were wounded.

The IDF said Palestinians began the attack.

It said soldiers had gone to Tal following a report of an attack on Israeli civilians who were hiking in the area – part of which falls in an area of the West Bank under full control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the other part under PA administrative control and Israeli security control.

The military says that the hike was not co-ordinated with them.

A security guard from a nearby settler outpost had gone to the scene and had his gun snatched by a Palestinian who used it against the Israelis, killing him, the IDF says.

Soldiers then “eliminated the terrorist who executed the terror attack”, the IDF added.

He was one of four members of the same family killed “in the exchange of fire”, said the head of the army’s central command, Maj Gen Avi Bluth.

Palestinian officials said several other Palestinians were wounded.

Two video clips have been widely shared by local media – but not independently verified.

One appears to show a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and armed Israelis dressed in civilian clothes as gunshots are fired and a group of Israeli civilians, including children, watch and heckle. Armed Israelis in civilian clothes then push and kick back two Palestinian men.

The second video shot from a different angle appears to show that both men tried to grab the guns – one of them successfully. There is a chaotic scene and several gunshots can be heard as he appears to fire it and troops also respond.

The IDF has said a 27-year-old soldier “fell during operational activity in the area of ​​the village”. The circumstances of his death remain unclear.

The Israeli ambulance service said two Israelis were also wounded.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said it “condemns in the strongest terms the massacre” in Tal.

It said “the escalation of settler terrorism is a direct consequence of the protection, political backing, and complete impunity granted by the Israeli government and occupation forces”.

“Official Israeli incitement continues to fuel and encourage these crimes, creating an environment in which settler violence flourishes without accountability,” it added.

An AFP reporter at the site, south-west of Nablus, said roadblocks had been set up and troops were searching for additional suspects.

The IDF later said it raided a hospital in Nablus and “apprehended two terrorists who took part in the shooting attack” and who had gone to the hospital for treatment.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to act “with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them”.

He called an emergency meeting with security officials, and reinforcements have been sent to the area, close to the settlement of Havat Gilad.

Netanyahu’s office issued a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying the home of the Palestinian shooter in Tal would be demolished and that the legalisation of unauthorised settler outposts and the establishment of new ones would be speeded up.

Outposts are wildcat settlements, often just a cluster of caravans set up on a hilltop. They are illegal under international law and also Israeli law when they are built without official approval.

On X, Yair Golan, the leader of Israel’s Democrats Party – who is a reserve major general in the IDF – described the joint statement from Netanyahu and Katz as “a clear intent to set the area ablaze”.

After the attack in Tal, there have been reports of violent confrontations between dozens of armed settlers and Palestinians in other nearby villages in the northern West Bank. A number of Palestinians have been wounded with one shot in the head in Farata, local medics say.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the villages of “the murderers” must be treated in the same way as Gaza.

“For every Jew murdered, the enemy must suffer the loss of land and homes,” he said.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2rxmye4k3o

At least 15 people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine, including 10 dead in ballistic missile strikes on an exhibition near Kyiv showcasing drone technology.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said some 100 people had been injured in the daytime attack on the exhibition, attended by prominent members of the defence sector.

Five people were also killed by Russian glide bombs in the eastern city of Sloviansk. Early on Saturday, military officials confirmed the deaths of two men in the northern city of Sumy.

On Friday evening, Zelensky said he had received intelligence that Russia was preparing another massive missile strike, which could happen “within the next 48 hours”.

A Ukrainian strike on Friday killed six people and wounded 26 in the Russian city of Kirov, more than 1,000km (600 miles) behind the front line. Ukraine also attacked warehouses of Wildberries – Russia’s biggest online retailer.

After the attacks near Kyiv, there were initially fears for the safety of Defence Ministry adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov, also known as Flash, and Lyuba Shypovych, who has been involved in developing technology for the Ukrainian army.

Following the incident, both took to social media to confirm they were unharmed, and Beskrestnov said he had stayed away from the event because of security concerns.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian TV the attack involved three ballistic missiles, only one of which was intercepted.

Russia confirmed the attack. Its Defence Ministry said high-precision long-range weaponry had been used on a site where drones for use in targeting civil sites in Russia were being demonstrated.

It said producers of drones, as well as representatives of Ukraine’s drone forces and security services “directly planning and carrying out strikes on Russian territory” were present.

This is at least the third time since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 that an exhibition of this kind has been hit.

There has been widespread outrage that a public event of this kind was being held at all and had, apparently, been widely advertised.

President Zelensky said the incident was being investigated, while Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said efforts were under way to establish who decided to hold the event and what safety measures were in place.

The attack came hours after the Ukrainian strikes on a factory in the city of Kirov and warehouses in north-west Russia.

Zelensky said “one of the most important military facilities” in Kirov supplying “components for aircraft and missile equipment” used in strikes against Ukraine had been hit.

Friday’s attacks on at least two Wildberries facilities in the St Petersburg area were the latest of several over the past week.

The attacks on the retailer have dealt a blow to a large number of small and medium-sized businesses within Russia.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj637zd1k1ko

SpaceX’s mammoth Starship rocket blasted off Friday on another test flight stretching halfway around the world, this time releasing 20 of the most advanced Starlinks.

Towering 407 feet, Starship soared from the company’s base at the southern tip of Texas. NASA monitored the space-skimming flight, a critical step toward using the Starship as a lunar lander for moon crews.

The hourlong journey ended with a splashdown so soft that the spacecraft remained afloat in the Indian Ocean as the SpaceX webcast drew to a close, drawing cheers from employees back at the launch site.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX had replaced six of the 33 engines on the first-stage booster after they failed to ignite last week, resulting in a last-second launch abort.

The previous Starship flight in May also experienced engine trouble, which prevented the booster from making a controlled return.

This time, all of the engines fired at liftoff, but not enough of them lit back up for the booster’s return, causing it to descend too fast and slam into the Gulf of Mexico.

The spacecraft continued soaring eastward, popping out the Starlinks one by one 124 miles up before reentering.

It was the 13th flight of the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket, and the second this year of the new version dubbed V3.

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/RdieYIh6Fd

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 24, 2026

Like the previous demo, neither the booster nor spacecraft was meant to be saved, instead plunging into the sea.

The stainless steel, retro-looking spacecraft hovered upright over the Indian Ocean before lowering into the water, more than 10,000 miles from where the flight began.

It was the best reentry yet, according to SpaceX, with the intact booster floating amid just a few flames. Previous flights ended with the spacecraft engulfed in flames and exploding at splashdown — or rupturing in midair.

“We’re really pumped about this,” said SpaceX engineer Kate Tice, calling it “lucky flight 13.”

The Starlinks accomplished all their jobs before reentering over the Indian Ocean.

After being ejected from the Starship’s Pez-like dispenser, the Starlinks managed to communicate via lasers with older Starlink models already in orbit.

With more than 10,000 Starlinks currently providing internet, SpaceX boasts the world’s largest satellite constellation.

Six of the newly launched Starlinks carried cameras that photographed Starship’s heat shield at flight’s end, beaming back amazingly crisp shots even as the spacecraft bobbed in the ocean.

The heat shield was also equipped with sensors to measure the extreme pressure placed on the spacecraft during launch.

Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the 13th flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/g27YJCQgiN

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 24, 2026

Most of the heat shield’s thermal tiles were black, but some were deliberately painted white to simulate missing tiles, part of an experiment to test the shield’s robustness.

“We got all the heat shield data we needed and then some!” Musk said on X.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman offered congratulations. “Excited for what will be learned from this mission,” Isaacman noted on X.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/science/spacex-launches-starship-on-another-test-flight-with-most-advanced-starlinks/

 

Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf have prompted U.S. intelligence analysts to investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or ​advanced drone technology, said four people familiar with U.S. intelligence.
These people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters, said U.S. intelligence officials have ‌not yet reached firm conclusions about the possible Russian involvement in the attacks on CIA facilities. But they cited the strikes’ effectiveness and apparent precision, as well as Russia’s broader technical support for Iran, as possible evidence.

Reuters and other media have reported — and U.S. officials have acknowledged — that Russia has provided targeting and other support for Iran in its strikes on U.S. targets in the Gulf region generally, but the intelligence community’s investigation of ​possible Russian involvement in supporting the CIA facility attacks has not been previously disclosed.
At least two CIA sites were struck in March, Reuters and other outlets have reported. One ​of the facilities was the CIA station in Saudi Arabia, which is located in the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, and a separate site was ⁠located in eastern Iraq. Some of the sources said additional CIA sites had been hit, but they did not disclose details.

RUSSIA HELPED TARGET FACILITIES: INTELLIGENCE MEMO

One internal memo from a Western intelligence ​agency, described by an official in the region with access to the document, concluded Russia has likely played a role in targeting regional CIA facilities. The official discussed the memo on condition ​that its precise authorship not be disclosed.
Two Western officials in the Gulf who were briefed on intelligence reports said analysts thought the Saudi attack involved a pair of Russian-enhanced versions of Iran’s Shahed drones. One of the aircraft blew a hole through a vulnerable part of the embassy’s exterior and the second flew through the opening and detonated, they said. No deaths or injuries were reported.
While Russian assistance for Iran is longstanding, given the ​countries’ close ties, specific targeting of sensitive CIA sites would indicate Moscow is willing to go further in disrupting U.S. operations as Washington struggles to bring the Iran war to an end.

Concerns ​that Russia could be providing targeting data to Iran intensified this weekend after strikes on a U.S. air base in Jordan, where Iran struck army barracks with ballistic missiles, killing two soldiers.
The White House referred a request ‌for comment ⁠to the CIA, which declined to provide one.
Iran’s mission to the UN, the Russian Defense Ministry and the Saudi government did not respond to requests for comment.

SECRETIVE SITES

The two Western officials in the region said Russia has helped Iran improve its Shahed drones’ ability to reach targets, and said analysts suspected that Iran used these versions in its strike in Riyadh.
Russia, said a separate source, has helped Tehran improve the accuracy of its Shahed-136s by supplying a satellite navigation system — the Kometa-M — that experts say is far more accurate and harder to jam than the one produced by ​Iran.
The Wall Street Journal first reported in March ​that Russia has provided the Kometa-M to ⁠Iran. The Kremlin denied the report, calling it “fake news.”
CIA facilities overseas include the agency’s main offices in individual countries that traditionally are housed in embassies and are called stations. Additionally, the CIA maintains offices, safe houses, logistics hubs and sites involved in surveillance or other operations.
The locations of ​those sites are closely guarded secrets.
The sources declined to disclose the exact number or locations of CIA facilities hit by Iranian drones. ​One source put the number ⁠at “more than one and fewer than a dozen.” A second source said several facilities were hit.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-strikes-cia-facilities-prompt-questions-about-possible-russian-role-2026-07-22/

Iran flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen this month, according to four ​sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Houthi allies to threaten Red Sea shipping.
Four sources familiar with the ‌matter, including two Iranian sources, Yemen’s information minister and a regional security analyst, said Iran transferred the IRGC personnel and military-related equipment on a flight from Tehran to Yemen on July 13, a development that has not been previously reported.

The two Iranian sources told Reuters that between 10 and 21 IRGC personnel, including senior commanders, were on the Mahan Air flight.
The plane was originally bound for the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, but diverted to the Red ​Sea port city of Hodeidah after the airport came under attack by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
“The IRGC commanders travelled there to support Houthi operations and provide training on new ​missile systems,” one of the sources said, adding that Iran also sent gold on the aircraft to fund Houthi activities.
The two Iranian sources spoke ⁠on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The deployment offers fresh evidence of Iran’s efforts to bolster the Houthis, who have been in a civil war against the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni ​government for more than a decade and have attacked Gulf neighbours with missiles and drones.
Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available to comment. Tehran has repeatedly denied providing the Houthi movement in ​Yemen with missile capabilities.
Abdel Rahman al-Ahnomi, a Houthi media official who said he was aboard the plane, described the allegations that Iran sent military experts to Yemen as “lies and fabrications”, adding that all passengers aboard the plane were civilians.
The Houthis have previously denied being an Iranian proxy and said they develop their own weapons.

DAYS AFTER COMMANDERS ARRIVED, HOUTHIS LAUNCHED SAUDI BLOCKADE

Three days after the flight arrived in Yemen, Reuters reported that Tehran had asked the ​Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the U.S. struck Iranian power infrastructure, posing a new threat to global energy supplies.

On Monday, the group, whose area of ​control in Yemen overlooks the waterway, announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in response to the July 13 bombing of Sanaa airport, which they said was carried out by Saudi Arabia.
The moves signalled the end ‌of a ⁠four-year truce between Riyadh and the Houthis. Their threat to one of the world’s top maritime trade routes escalated further on Thursday when the group said it had attacked two Saudi oil tankers.
Moammar al-Iryani, information minister in Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, confirmed the transfers of Guards personnel and equipment in a telephone interview with Reuters on Wednesday, citing intelligence.
“Their mission is to strengthen the militias’ military capabilities and prepare them to threaten international maritime security in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait,” he said.

Mzahem Alsaloum, a security and intelligence analyst who has tracked the Houthis and other Iranian-backed groups ​for years, also confirmed the IRGC experts’ arrival ​on the July 13 flight.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-flew-irgc-commanders-missile-gear-yemens-houthis-sources-say-2026-07-23/

U.S. President Donald Trump conditioned a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with ​Saudi Arabia on Thursday on Riyadh normalizing relations with Israel, an action the kingdom has so far refused to take.
Trump said the deal ‌would take effect only if Saudi Arabia joined the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords under which several Arab states established ties with Israel. The kingdom has long rejected joining the accords absent a pathway toward Palestinian statehood.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump had spoken with Gulf and Arab allies many times about pegging the deal to the Abraham Accords and that if the kingdom ​does not join them “the deal is off.”
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced the agreement on Wednesday allowing Riyadh to enrich uranium and build nuclear reactors using ​U.S. technology without the snap U.N. inspections Washington has demanded of Iran.

TRUMP TIES SAUDI NUCLEAR DEAL TO ABRAHAM ACCORDS

In a post ⁠on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump wrote: “The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)… pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran ​and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”

“The United States is not opposed to ​Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities,” Trump said.
The U.S. Congress will have 90 session days to review the deal before it goes into force. There would also be a two-year feasibility study on the enrichment part of the agreement.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post.
Saudi Arabia said before Trump pegged the deal to the Abraham Accords that the ​agreement supports efforts to diversify energy sources, and includes the “highest international standards” of nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation.

‘WE’LL CONTINUE TO TALK,’ PRESS SECRETARY SAYS

“We’ll continue to talk ​with our Saudi counterparts to get the deal finalized and hopefully see them joining Abraham Accords very soon,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House.
Leavitt said she did not believe Trump ‌had spoken with ⁠Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since his post, but it was something he had raised in previous conversations.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term in 2020, breaking a longstanding taboo to become the first Arab states to recognize Israel in a quarter century. Morocco and Sudan followed suit.
Israel, which feared the Saudi deal could ignite a Middle East arms race, welcomed the condition on Thursday.
“Saudi Arabia’s joining of the Abraham Accords would be an historic leap forward for ​peace in the Middle East,” Israeli Prime ​Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in ⁠a statement.
Leavitt said she did not know if Netanyahu had requested that the deal be contingent on the wider accords. “Not to my knowledge, no,” she told reporters.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration said the civil nuclear deal abides by nonproliferation agreements in the ​U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which are among the world’s strongest.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-says-us-saudi-nuclear-deal-conditional-country-joining-abraham-accords-2026-07-23/

The Trump administration on Friday will impose new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the ​European Union, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labor bans, just as a temporary 10% global tariff expires.
The move is the White House’s latest effort to restore President Donald Trump’s campaign ‌vision of a near-global tariff after the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down his “reciprocal” duties of 10% to 50% imposed last year under a national emergencies law to try to shrink the U.S. trade deficit.

The new tariffs, announced on Thursday in a Federal Register notice, will cover 99.4% of U.S. imports, but include numerous product exemptions, such as oil and gas, fertilizer and certain food items.
Imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the new duties allow the administration to maintain a tariff floor on virtually all U.S. imports despite ​the Supreme Court setback. The tariffs are also likely to face less legal risk than those struck down in February, as Section 301 has survived prior court challenges.
Trump responded to the February Supreme Court ruling ​by imposing a temporary 10% tariff for 150 days that expires at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Friday (0401 GMT). The new duties will take effect at that exact same moment, ⁠with goods in transit exempted until 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 28.

“The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it. It’s well past time for our trading partners to do ​the same,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. “Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere.”
Greer has previously pledged that for ​countries that have reached trade deals with Washington capping U.S. tariff rates, the new forced labor duties would not push them above those caps.
Under the final determination, the U.S. will impose a 10% duty on goods of Argentina, Bangladesh, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago.

The European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland were assigned rates that, combined with pre-existing most-favored-nation tariff rates, would total 10% or 12.5%.
The other 38 countries were assigned a 12.5% rate. These include China, ​accused by the U.S. of detaining Uyghur minorities in work camps, which Beijing denies.
Trump administration officials have told Chinese counterparts they intend to rebuild Trump’s second-term tariffs on Chinese goods back up to the 20% that was agreed upon in ​a trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2025 – but not exceed that level. Prior to Friday’s action, China’s tariff rate had fallen to 10%, excluding the 25% imposed during Trump’s first term on industrial goods.

COUNTRIES PROTEST

The action drew immediate protests ‌from some countries.
Norway’s ⁠Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said “there is no basis for this tariff against Norway because we already have clear rules that are intended to prevent trade in goods produced using forced labor.”

Australia and Brazil described the new tariffs as unjustified and said they would seek to have them removed, while Canada – hit on Monday with new Trump tariffs on $20 billion worth of goods – issued a muted response to the “unilateral” tariffs.
“We will continue engaging constructively with the United States on this matter, as well as other outstanding issues, over the coming weeks to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” said Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister in charge of U.S. trade.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, also criticized the duties in a statement, saying they “will result in higher ​costs, negative impacts to businesses and weakened American competitiveness. Nobody ​can afford this.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-impose-forced-labor-duties-friday-temporary-10-us-tariffs-expire-2026-07-23/

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin, ​a former ally of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, will resign on Friday halfway through his term, his spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, ‌days after Hasina said she was returning home from exile to surrender following a court conviction.
The resignation of Shahabuddin, the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, would leave Hasina with no allies in high office five months before her planned return. Her Awami League party is banned, and many of its ​leaders and activists have been jailed or gone into hiding since a deadly student-led uprising toppled her government in 2024.

Shahabuddin’s spokesperson ​did not give a reason for his resignation, but three sources familiar with the matter said the ⁠government had pressed him to step aside because of his longstanding ties to Hasina after the former premier announced in an interview with ​Reuters that she planned to return to Bangladesh.
Her return is expected to test the government’s efforts to restore stability in the mainly Muslim nation ​of 173 million people, a major garment-exporting economy, after two years of turmoil.
Spokespeople for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who won a landslide victory in February’s election, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“According to the Constitution, the president’s resignation becomes effective upon submission of a signed letter to the speaker,” Shahabuddin’s ​press secretary Sarwar Alam said, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
“The president will tender his resignation once the speaker returns from Thailand tomorrow.”
Once Shahabuddin ​tenders his resignation, Bangladesh’s Constitution automatically makes the speaker the interim president until a new president is elected, Alam said. An email and calls to ‌parliament speaker ⁠Hafiz Uddin Ahmad’s office went unanswered outside office hours.

PRESSURE FROM DHAKA

Last November, Bangladesh’s war crimes court sentenced Hasina to death in absentia for ordering a crackdown on the uprising which, according to a U.N. report, killed nearly 1,400 people. From exile, she has denied the charges against her.

News of Hasina’s planned return from India has intensified public pressure on Rahman’s government to remove the last of her allies from high office.
Shahabuddin’s role is ​largely ceremonial, with executive power resting ​with the prime minister and ⁠cabinet.
The role took on greater weight after the uprising forced Hasina to flee to New Delhi in August 2024, leaving a political vacuum with no other elected official in power.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-president-backed-by-ousted-pm-hasina-resign-friday-say-sources-2026-07-23/

DONALD Trump has claimed the US is on the brink of launching a “massive” attack on Iran in what “would be the biggest of the war yet”.

The president said he was seriously considering restarting major combat operations, insisting Tehran needed to feel more pain.

“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before,” Trump told Axios.

“I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.”

Asked whether any operation would be carried out alongside Israel, Trump said the country “would join in two minutes if I ask them to”.

However, Trump stopped short of saying US forces would require Israeli support.

He also warned there would be “consequences” if Israel took part, hinting Iran could seek revenge against its regional rival.

Experts say a return to full-scale war remains unlikely, with limited appetite in the US for another major conflict.

Trump also claimed Iran “wants to negotiate” but said the country was not yet prepared to strike a deal.

“They haven’t received enough pain yet,” he added.

This comes after 12 days of escalating US military action aimed at preventing Iran from targeting commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump vowed to obliterate Iranian bridges and power plants for every ship Tehran shoots at in the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite the repeated warnings, Houthi rebels claim they struck two oil tankers in the Red Sea last night.

The Tehran-backed terror group claimed the Encelia and Layla vessels had been blitzed.

The announcement comes just days after they claimed a blockade of the Bab al-Mandab Strait – a critical naval trade route south of the Red Sea.

The “maritime embargo”, announced on Monday, was implemented to block all Saudi ships.

The Red Sea has become a key waterway for Saudi oil shipments due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran also threatened the Royal Family and declared a British air base a “target” after Andy Burnham allowed the US to launch strikes from the UK.

The chilling warning came after the US deployed a B-1 bomber from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for “defensive strikes” on Tehran.

The long-range plane, which can carry 24 2,000lb bombs and travels at the speed of sound, was used to hit Iranian military targets, sources told Axios.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in response that its armed forces were ready to protect the country from any attack.

“Our Armed Forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it’s on our soil or from abroad. The UK stands ready 24/7 to defend itself,” a government spokesperson said.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16737685/trump-attack-iran-biggest-war-pain/

THE friend of a missing emergency room nurse has revealed chilling details about the Apple Watch she was wearing at the time of her disappearance and where it last pinged.

The new information surrounding the disappearance of Angelica Brophy, 44, comes as law enforcement officials in Oceanside, California, north of San Diego, have paused the search for the missing mom of two.

Brophy, an ER nurse at a hospital in Southern California, was last seen on July 6.

She was spotted at the Harrah Casino that afternoon, and an hour later, she was seen alone in her car at Palomar Mountain State Park, about 15 miles north, at about 4:20pm.

Brophy’s husband, Brent, reported her missing after she never returned home and failed to report for her scheduled night shift at Kaiser San Marcos Hospital.

Ashley Seitz, a coworker of Brophy, has struggled to carry on with her life while her friend’s whereabouts remain unknown.

“It’s haunting and awful and all consuming,” Seitz told The U.S. Sun.

“And you know, I have to walk by her locker. Our group of friends, we have events coming up that we have to now talk about, like, ‘Are we still doing this?’

“‘Are we still going here?’ Are we literally going to go to a Padres game and sit next to an empty seat. Like what are we doing?”

As law enforcement search for clues as to where the missing nurse could be, Seitz and her group of friends visited Brophy’s house and found an old cellphone.

The group of friends, which Brophy is a part of and are affectionately referred to as the TacoBellas, were able to gain access to the unused device and locate the missing nurse’s Apple Watch.

“We were able to find that her Apple Watch had last pinged at a trailhead near this pond,” Seitz said.

“And so, then myself and Elena and two of the girls of the group had been in contact with her husband.

“Just trying to brainstorm where we should be looking for her. When we found that it had pinged there, [Brent] asked us if we’d ever been hiking there, and Elena was like, yeah, we have been hiking there.”

The group sprang into action and called Brophy’s brother who was in the Palomar Mountain State Park area with law enforcement.

There, authorities located Brophy’s abandoned gray Hyundai Kona at the state park’s Doane Pond parking lot.

Seitz recollected the painful drive to Palomar Mountain State Park when she learned Brophy’s car had been located.

“It’s surreal. I was going to drive myself and my husband said, I think I should drive just because I don’t know how this is going to be for you,” she said.

“It’s beautiful up there. So that part was also distracting as you’re driving up with this beautiful scenery, but not knowing what you’re going to find.

“We got there lots of nervous energy. It’s such a pendulum of emotions that I’ve never experienced. I can be laughing about something and then sobbing hysterically.”

Inside Brophy’s vehicle, officials found her turquoise Hydro Flask mug was still in the cupholder, as well as clothing left on the driver seat, her wallet, and her cellphone, but there were no signs of the missing nurse.

Seitz recalled becoming emotional when she saw photos of Brophy’s Hydro Flask inside her vehicle, saying the tight-knit group of friends all have the same tumbler.

“Seeing the image of the water bottle is really difficult for me because all five of us have that same water bottle and that is the one that we use at work,” Seitz told The U.S. Sun as she let out a deep sigh.

“She did have her purse, phone, wallet, passport in her car. I think that’s unusual to leave everything, but it wasn’t unusual for her to carry all of those items.”

Seitz questioned why her close friend had her passport with her on the day she disappeared.

“I know there was a bunch of clothes in the car, but that was like a sisterhood of the traveling clothes that we have,” she added.

“We all just go through our closets and pass things down to each other. But, that water bottle is hard because it’s everywhere.”

But as law enforcement officials put the search effort for Brophy on pause, Seitz and her group of friends have refused to give up hope.

Seitz has since reviewed the final text messages she and her group of friends received from Brophy the night before she went missing.

“Angelica and I go line dancing frequently. I had last seen her in person the Friday before. And our shifts don’t line up all the time, but we talk frequently,” Seitz said.

“And the night before she went missing, she sent our TacoBella friend group a text just expressing her gratitude for our friendship, which is something that we do all the time.

“It’s how we talk with each other. We are like each other’s rock and I might text them, Oh my gosh, the kids are really getting on me today.

“But when you look hindsight, when you look at it through a different lens, I mean, again, her text message is something like, we talk to each other all the time, but sure, I can’t help but now be like, oh gosh, was this a clue?

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16732984/apple-watch-clue-angelica-brophy-search-er-nurse/

Pro-Israel Trump ally sits down with Ukrainian president as she says Russia is helping Iran kill US soldiers.

Laura Loomer, a far-right American activist and close ally of US President Donald Trump, has met and interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reversing years of hostility towards Ukraine.

Loomer said she interviewed Zelenskyy on Thursday for her show on the social media platform Rumble, after telling her nearly 2 million followers on X that she had been wrong to repeat Russian propaganda.

The right-wing commentator said she does not care if Republicans who oppose Ukraine disavow her. “They will come to see how evil Russia is as they continue funding Iran with weapons to murder US soldiers as they call for President Trump to be assassinated,” she wrote in a social media post.

Trump shared a preview of the the interview and labelled it “Very good!!!” in a post on his social media site Truth Social hours later.

Loomer had long opposed US support for Kyiv, once calling Ukraine corrupt and full of “Nazi apologists”, a charge that Russia invoked to justify its 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

She has also called Zelenskyy a “Jihadi apologist” for meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy’s office hailed the visit, stating that it was “really important that [Loomer] is in Ukraine and sees things with her own eyes as they are”.

Loomer calls herself a “proud Islamophobe”, frequently attacking Islam and Muslim figures on her social media platforms. She is also an ardent supporter of Israel and Trump’s deportation policies.

While she has no official role in the Trump administration, according to US media reports, she has a close personal relationship with the president. She was granted Pentagon press credentials last year.

She also claimed a role in the October 2025 detention of British journalist Sami Hamdi, a critic of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, whose US visa was revoked.

“You’re lucky his only fate is being arrested and deported,” she wrote.

After two gunmen killed three people at a mosque in San Diego in May, Loomer doubled down on her anti-Muslim rhetoric, saying that immigration authorities should investigate the targeted Islamic centre.

She also called for the deportation of all Muslims from the US, describing them as an “invasive species”.

In April 2026, she said she reported to the State Department an Iranian national for allegedly being the niece of the late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, leading to the revocation of the woman’s US residency.

Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/24/ukraine-zelenskyy-meets-with-trump-ally-laura-loomer

The European Commission said it found that Google had preferenced its search engine and app store in ways that unfairly harmed competition.

The European Union has imposed fines of €890 million ($1.015 billion) on US tech giant Google for violating EU digital regulations.

The European Commission said it found that Google had given preference to its ubiquitous search engine and its Play app store in ways that unfairly harmed competition.

What did the EU say about the fine?

“We found that Google harms businesses offering similar services, such as shopping or sports, by not granting them the same level of prominence on Google Search,” Digital Commissioner Henna Virkkunen said.

“We also found that Google has restricted app developers from offering cheaper offers to customers in the Google Play app store,” she said.

The commission stressed that Google could face further fines if it does not take steps to comply with regulations.

“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine,” Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera said. “European consumers have a right to be told by app developers where to sign up to the best offers, even when the app store owner does not get a cut.”

The EU has described Google and its parent company Alphabet as a “gatekeeper” alongside other major US firms — namely Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft — and China’s ByteDance, saying that the companies control access for consumers.

Top Google executive Kent Walker criticized the fine, describing it as “product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants.”

He said that the penalty would “strip away real-time search features Europeans love — like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights, and restaurants — and dismantle safety protections on Google Play.”

How has the US responded to the EU fine?

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the ⁠fine drove trade ​uncertainty.

“The ‌EU often claims that it ‌is looking for ‌stability ​and predictability in our trading relationship, but ​these actions are driving massive uncertainty ⁠for ​US ​exports of goods ​and services to ‌Europe,” Greer said ​in ⁠a statement.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/eu-fines-google-890-million-over-competition-rules/a-78082850

A man who claims medical advice from ChatGPT “brought him to the brink of death” has sued OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot, and its founder Sam Altman.

A lawsuit filed by Scott Winters, a 55-year-old pastor from Florida, claimed ChatGPT told him not to seek medical help after repeatedly asking about symptoms in the build-up to a near-fatal pulmonary embolism.

Winters’ lawyers alleged the platform “repeatedly and insistently misdiagnosed” him while drawing on previous discussions about religion to assure him he would recover.

OpenAI’s Drew Pusateri told the BBC’s US news partner CBS News that “ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis or treatment”.

He also said it was common for people to seek health information online, adding: “AI can make that experience better by helping them find clearer answers, organise their questions and prepare for conversations with medical professionals.”

The lawsuit, which was filed at the San Francisco County Superior Court on 21 July, details how Winter was a regular ChatGPT user and came to rely it on it for medical advice, resisting efforts from family members and friends to make him go to hospital.

Weeks before falling severely ill, he consulted the tool about recurring dizzy spells and “bouts of blood pressure instability”.

In one response, the lawsuit claims, ChatGPT advised Winters to remain in the recliner chair he had become “mainly confined to” due to ongoing health problems.

Court documents say Winters suffered a “massive pulmonary embolism due to multiple blood clots in both of his lungs that brought him to the brink of death, one that his doctors stated was likely brought on because of his immobility”.

Screenshots of exchanges that Winters allegedly had with ChatGPT appear to show the chatbot combined medical advice with references to the 55-year-old’s deeply-held Christian faith.

The lawsuit claims ChatGPT told Winters: “God did not design your body to endlessly fail.” It also said: “God is still holding your body together, every heartbeat, every breath, even when it feels like you are on the brink.”

Winters’ lawyers claim ChatGPT’s “sycophantic nature and authoritative tone, combined with its manipulation of Scott’s religious identity, cultivated in him a dangerous reliance on the tool”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwylp3nxp5yo

 

A private autopsy of Nolan Wells, a Black college football player whose body was found in ​the ocean near an island off the Mississippi coast, raised questions about the cause of his death, a family lawyer said on ‌Wednesday.
The pathologist who conducted the private autopsy “cannot rule out foul play” without more information, said civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.

The private autopsy requested information about Wells’ neck and head from the initial autopsy conducted by the Mississippi medical examiner, Crump told a press conference during the NAACP’s National Convention in Chicago.

Wells’ body was found fully clothed and face down in water ​off the island on July 6. He had traveled there over the Fourth of July weekend with three white friends who returned to ​the mainland without him, Crump said.
The death has drawn national attention and concerns that deaths of young Black Americans do not ⁠receive adequate scrutiny.
Wells, who played wide receiver for Southwest Mississippi Community College, was found off the northwestern tip of the barrier island along the Gulf ​of Mexico after he visited it with friends he had known from high school in nearby Ocean Springs, Mississippi. His phone was not found with his ​body but with one of the friends, Crump said.

Pathologist Roger Mitchell, who carried out the private autopsy, reported red discoloration on the back of Wells’ head was of “great concern,” Crump said. To determine the cause of the discoloration, Mitchell requested additional information from Mississippi authorities who carried out the first autopsy.
“Based on the examination of the body he cannot ​rule out foul play,” Crump said.
Mitchell said in his report he was unable to directly examine Wells’ stomach and airways for the presence of water ​as they were removed from his body by the first autopsy. He found no fractures and no evidence of deep tissue injuries.
Among outstanding questions regarding Wells’ death were the ‌circumstances that ⁠led him to enter the water, his body position when he was found, whether there was water in his airways and whether there was evidence of injuries to his neck and head, Mitchell wrote in his report.

“This pathologist cannot rule out if any intervening non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” Mitchell wrote.
The family’s calls for answers, amplified by civil rights leaders and social media, have fed the larger debate about race in America.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/private-autopsy-raises-questions-about-death-mississippi-college-football-player-2026-07-22/

Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf have prompted U.S. intelligence analysts to investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or ​advanced drone technology, said four people familiar with U.S. intelligence.
These people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters, said U.S. intelligence officials have ‌not yet reached firm conclusions about the possible Russian involvement in the attacks on CIA facilities. But they cited the strikes’ effectiveness and apparent precision, as well as Russia’s broader technical support for Iran, as possible evidence.

Reuters and other media have reported — and U.S. officials have acknowledged — that Russia has provided targeting and other support for Iran in its strikes on U.S. targets in the Gulf region generally, but the intelligence community’s investigation of ​possible Russian involvement in supporting the CIA facility attacks has not been previously disclosed.
At least two CIA sites were struck in March, Reuters and other outlets have reported. One ​of the facilities was the CIA station in Saudi Arabia, which is located in the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, and a separate site was ⁠located in eastern Iraq. Some of the sources said additional CIA sites had been hit, but they did not disclose details.

RUSSIA HELPED TARGET FACILITIES: INTELLIGENCE MEMO

One internal memo from a Western intelligence ​agency, described by an official in the region with access to the document, concluded Russia has likely played a role in targeting regional CIA facilities. The official discussed the memo on condition ​that its precise authorship not be disclosed.
Two Western officials in the Gulf who were briefed on intelligence reports said analysts thought the Saudi attack involved a pair of Russian-enhanced versions of Iran’s Shahed drones. One of the aircraft blew a hole through a vulnerable part of the embassy’s exterior and the second flew through the opening and detonated, they said. No deaths or injuries were reported.
While Russian assistance for Iran is longstanding, given the ​countries’ close ties, specific targeting of sensitive CIA sites would indicate Moscow is willing to go further in disrupting U.S. operations as Washington struggles to bring the Iran war to an end.

Concerns ​that Russia could be providing targeting data to Iran intensified this weekend after strikes on a U.S. air base in Jordan, where Iran struck army barracks with ballistic missiles, killing two soldiers.
The White House referred a request ‌for comment ⁠to the CIA, which declined to provide one.
Iran’s mission to the UN, the Russian Defense Ministry and the Saudi government did not respond to requests for comment.

SECRETIVE SITES

The two Western officials in the region said Russia has helped Iran improve its Shahed drones’ ability to reach targets, and said analysts suspected that Iran used these versions in its strike in Riyadh.
Russia, said a separate source, has helped Tehran improve the accuracy of its Shahed-136s by supplying a satellite navigation system — the Kometa-M — that experts say is far more accurate and harder to jam than the one produced by ​Iran.

The Wall Street Journal first reported in March ​that Russia has provided the Kometa-M to ⁠Iran. The Kremlin denied the report, calling it “fake news.”
CIA facilities overseas include the agency’s main offices in individual countries that traditionally are housed in embassies and are called stations. Additionally, the CIA maintains offices, safe houses, logistics hubs and sites involved in surveillance or other operations.
The locations of ​those sites are closely guarded secrets.
The sources declined to disclose the exact number or locations of CIA facilities hit by Iranian drones. ​One source put the number ⁠at “more than one and fewer than a dozen.” A second source said several facilities were hit.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-strikes-cia-facilities-prompt-questions-about-possible-russian-role-2026-07-22/

A new 25% U.S. tariff will hit ​a range of Brazilian goods on Wednesday, including farm machinery, wood products, ethanol and apparel, escalating tensions in an already strained relationship between ‌the two most populous countries in the Western Hemisphere.
The tariff is the first levied under the Trump administration’s new strategy of using the Trade Act of 1974 to investigate what it considers unfair trade practices. The White House’s blanket assertion of emergency powers to levy high tariffs against most global partners was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.

The new tariff threatens between $7 ​billion and $11 billion of Brazilian exports to the U.S., according to estimates from Brazil’s government and National Confederation of Industry (CNI), respectively. That amounts to roughly 18% ​to 26% of Brazil’s exports to the U.S.
To soften the domestic effect of the tariffs, the U.S. exempted several key imports, ⁠including beef, coffee, aircraft and plane parts.
Brazil is the first country hit with a tariff after a year-long Section 301 investigation into unfair trade practices, even though the ​U.S. has consistently had a trade surplus with Brazil.
“This is the irony of the U.S. measures,” said Welber Barral, a former Brazilian foreign trade secretary, noting the bilateral trade ​balance.

Washington has argued tariffs are necessary to counter what it calls unfair trade practices, from electronic payment services to ethanol market access and illegal deforestation.
The tariffs take effect just two days before a temporary 10% global tariff expires and after a Supreme Court ruling struck down previous 50% U.S. duties on Brazilian goods that forced exporters to seek new markets.

FOOTWEAR LAYOFFS

For many sectors, the adjustments have ​already been painful.
Brazil’s footwear industry, which counts the U.S. as its top foreign market, has already downgraded its export outlook for the year to an expected 7.1% drop, ​compared with its previous forecast for a 3.6% drop.
The U.S. buys one in every five shoes exported from Brazil, according to the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados).
“There is no other market capable ‌of replacing the ⁠U.S.,” said Toni Hajel, owner of exporter TH Shoes and head of the footwear industry union in Franca, a key hub for footwear production in Sao Paulo state.

He said about 40% of the area’s exports, or 650,000 pairs a year, are sold to the U.S. The new tariffs will make those sales unviable, he added, forcing producers to lay off workers unless Brazil renegotiates the duties or secures a footwear exemption.

LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES

Economists warn that the uncertainty created by successive measures and partial exemptions may have consequences well ​beyond immediate trade losses.
“It undermines confidence,” said ​Gustavo Pessoa, an economics professor at ⁠the Fundação Getulio Vargas university in São Paulo, who traveled to Washington this month to argue against the tariffs at a public hearing.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/new-us-25-tariff-hits-billions-dollars-brazilian-exports-2026-07-22/

Maulana Fazlur Rehman has openly criticised Army Chief General Asim Munir’s security policies and governance failures

In a high-stakes move that underscores the deepening mullah-military nexus in Islamabad, state-backed cleric Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi has held a high-profile meeting with Hafiz Talha Saeed—son of UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed—at Markaz Quba. Intelligence sources reveal that the broad-daylight strategy session between the Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leadership was designed to orchestrate a coordinated response to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has openly criticised Army Chief General Asim Munir’s security policies and governance failures.

Rather than advocating for outright confrontation, the military-aligned alliance is pushing for a “soft stance” and strategic leniency towards Fazlur Rehman to neutralise his political momentum without provoking a wider confrontation. LeT figures at the meeting urged clerics to highlight positive aspects of the JUI-F chief’s career while firmly delivering a warning against speaking out against state institutions. By courting jihadist networks to manage traditional religious-political figures, Rawalpindi is using radical elements as a domestic firewall to shield the deep state from mounting political dissent.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/deep-state-firewall-pakistan-military-using-let-leadership-to-neutralise-maulana-fazlur-rehman-exclusive-10228426.html

Iran warns it could strike regional bridges and energy facilities after Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iranian infrastructure over attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has warned it will consider striking bridges and critical infrastructure across the region after US President Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants in response to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“If the Americans target an Iranian bridge or power plant, Iran will respond by striking infrastructure and bridges across the region, including energy facilities in which the United States has interests,” a senior Iranian official told Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

“The Americans should by now, after these past 10 days, be fully convinced that Iran strikes wherever it decides to strike. Therefore, any such gamble by Trump will once again end in his embarrassment,” the official added.

The official further said Tehran would continue to “exercise its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz” and “will not relinquish (its) firm resolve to control the Strait.”

The warning came hours after Trump posted that the United States would “bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant” every time Iran attacks a ship transiting the strategic waterway.

US Continues Strikes, Casualties Rise

The US military said it carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, saying the operations were aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in regional waters.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi reiterated Tehran’s “eye for an eye” doctrine, posting that “any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response.”

Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported US missile strikes near Ahvaz, Ramshir and Andimeshk in western Iran.

According to Rasd Akhbar Shehaba and IRIB News, the death toll from the US missile strike on the Shalamcheh border crossing has risen to three, based on an initial count.

Khuzestan officials said relief operations are continuing and those injured are receiving medical treatment.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/iran-warns-of-regional-strikes-if-us-targets-infrastructure-us-iran-war-middle-east-conflict-ws-l-10228435.html

It was a normal day for sixth-grade student Nure Jannat Yusha when suddenly, a Bangladeshi air force jet crashed into her school in the capital, Dhaka, killing 36 people – most of them children.

Within minutes, Milestone School and College, a private institution buzzing with student activity, was transformed into a scene of chaos and raging flames.

It was the deadliest aviation disaster the country had seen in decades.

Earlier this week, families and survivors gathered to mark one year since the incident – many of them students who say they are struggling to return to normal life, Yusha among them.

“Even now, if I go to school and see a plane, I feel afraid. I can’t sleep at night. In my dreams, someone is throwing me into the fire,” she told BBC Bengali.

She was one of more than 160 people who were injured in the crash at Milestone School – and among those at the memorial held at a hospital in Dhaka on Tuesday, where the families of some victims say they are still waiting for answers about the deadly crash.

Yusha’s mother Yasin Akter says her child had once dreamt of becoming a dancer – an aspiration that has since faded.

“My daughter screams all day and is afraid,” she says, adding that Yusha has become paranoid about planes falling from the sky.

“Earlier she was interested in studies. Now she does not want to study any more.”

‘No one can guarantee another plane will not fall’

On 21 July 2025, a training aircraft took off from a Bangladesh Air Force Base in Dhaka at around 13:00 local time (07:00 GMT) and crashed soon after in the Uttara neighbourhood.

Images from the scene hours after the crash showed scores of emergency service workers sorting through charred rubble in an attempt to find survivors.

Authorities announced that an investigation commission had been formed to investigate the crash, but in the days that followed, hundreds of student protesters took to the streets, clashing with police as they demanded accountability over the disaster and changes to training flights regulations.

The committee’s findings, which it reportedly submitted to the government last November, have not yet been made public.

According to a copy of the full report obtained by BBC Bengali, it highlighted issues like Milestone School’s lack of compliance with building codes. It also found more than 600 buildings – including schools and hospitals – located near Dhaka’s international airport that had violated height restrictions.

The report also found that the pilot lacked sufficient flight training and proper ground supervision. And there was no technical fault with the aircraft, the report said – contradicting an early statement by the Bangladeshi Armed Forces that the jet had experienced a mechanical fault after taking off.

The Bangladesh Armed Forces did not respond to a request for comment.

“No one can give a guarantee that another plane will not fall onto this school in the future,” Mansur Helal, the husband of one victim, told the crowd during the memorial, referencing a recent BBC documentary on the committee report.

“This is truly a horrific situation. Every day around 2,500-3,000 students go to that school.”

Helal’s wife, schoolteacher Mahreen Chowdhury, had died in hospital from extensive burns she had suffered while rescuing students.

“The building in which this accident happened had only one door. How can there be only one door for 800-900 students?” Helal added.

Helal and others are calling for the government to release the full report.

They are also urging better government support for survivors undergoing treatment, as well as compensation for them and victims’ families – which was recommended in the investigative committee report but yet to be implemented.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2j7jgg1z1o

Canada’s dairy industry policy is among the most politically sacrosanct in the country. It has also long been a thorn in the side of Donald Trump.

Now, Canada’s dairy supply management system is back in the spotlight after the US president singled it out as one of three main irritants used to justify a 50% tariff on $20bn worth of Canadian goods imported to the US, which is set to come into effect in August.

Trump argues the system, which sees production quotas, set pricing, and import quotas on dairy, eggs, and poultry, is “unreasonable” to American farmers who want to sell their product north of the border.

Canadian politicians will now have to decide whether to stand firm on its popular supply management system or risk the ire of the public and a politically “powerful” dairy industry by attempting to fix this issue with Trump.

So far, they have indicated that dairy is a non-starter.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, whose province is home to Canada’s largest dairy industry, said on Tuesday that supply management was non-negotiable.

And last week, US-Canada Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the BBC that the system “is a cornerstone of Canada’s economy and our rural communities” that “ensures that Canadians have access to high-quality dairy products made by Canadian dairy farmers”.

They argue that it supports Canadian farmers and guarantees price and supply stability for food staples.

Dairy farmers have also been known to stage protests – complete with tractors and cattle on Parliament Hill – when faced with possible concessions in trade talks.

“It is the most powerful political lobby in the country that stretches across all of the major political parties,” said David Clement, a Canadian policy director at the international advocacy group Consumer Choice Center.

Canada’s supply management system has been in place since the early 1970s, and has endured despite other Commonwealth nations, like Australia and New Zealand, phasing out similar policies.

Farmers hold production quotas that limit how much dairy they can produce. Prices are then set by marketing boards in each province, giving farmers a predictable income while providing a consistent domestic supply.

A small amount of foreign dairy is able to enter Canada tariff-free or at low tariff rates under set quota limits. Those that exceed the limit, however, face a levy of 200% to nearly 300%, making it prohibitively costly for both foreign producers and consumers to sell in Canada.

Currently, US producers have tariff-free access to only 3.5% of Canada’s market, even as the country is among the top importers of US dairy, buying $1.3bn worth of products in 2025, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

American farmers have long called for greater market access, in part due to a record high dairy production in the US – more than domestic consumption supports. Producers are now looking to sell elsewhere and are eyeing the market of 40 million people north of the border.

A White House order, released on Monday, argues that Canada’s free trade agreement with the EU makes it easier for European producers to sell their cheese in Canada than the US, saying it amounts to “discrimination”.

Supply management has not been only Trump’s frustration. The previous Biden administration twice challenged Canada’s dairy quota practices under the USMCA, the North American free trade pact at the centre of current talks between the US and Canada.

In 2024, the UK walked away from trade talks over disagreement on tariff-free access for British cheese producers. It has also been criticised by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which argues it distorts production and trade.

Even some Canadian economists and pundits have called for it to be dismantled or reformed.

“Kill supply management,” Calgary journalist and writer Jen Gerson argued in a column published this month before Trump’s latest tariff threats, calling it “anachronistic” and blaming it for driving up food prices in Canada.

Clement, with the Consumer Choice Center, wrote last year that the Trump administration “has a point” to say that American farmers are treated unfairly by their northern neighbour.

He also argued that Canada’s supply management system had artificially inflated the prices of household staples like dairy and eggs – an issue he said Canadians should be taking note of given the country’s current cost of living crisis.

“We should get rid of supply management for our own good, outside of any negotiations and trade deals,” he told the BBC in an interview.

Doing away with supply management, he argued, would save Canadians money while also giving them more choice at the grocery store. It would also help Canada diversify its trade by opening up its market to other countries.

The most recent data shows that Canadians paid an average of C$3.19 ($2.26; £1.69) for 1L of milk in May, while Americans paid C$1.95 for the same amount, according to numbers from Statistics Canada and the USDA.

Those calling for the end of the current system, however, are in the minority. Around 77% of Canadians support keeping it in place, polling suggests, with Canadians saying they want to protect local farmers and access to high-quality dairy products.

“I don’t want cheap American milk products,” wrote Gary Johnson from Ontario to the Globe and Mail in June.

“Let the United States send dairy products. I don’t think any of us will buy it,” wrote Mark Knudsen from Mississauga.

David Wiens, a third-generation dairy farmer from Manitoba and president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, argues the framework has contributed to steady prices while protecting “food sovereignty”.

“Dairy prices are actually more stable than many other food categories, and more competitive internationally than people often realise,” he told the BBC, adding that prices were determined by a number of economic factors.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8kvm84lxmo

Ukraine’s president said he discussed reinvigorating diplomacy with US envoys Witkoff and Kushner. The talk followed strikes by Ukraine’s military on warehouses belonging to Wildberries — known as “Russia’s Amazon.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Wednesday in an attempt to revive the prospects of a diplomatic end to Russia’s invasion.

“I just spoke with President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner,” Zelenskyy said on X. “It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer. Peace is needed — peace with dignity, and Ukraine has long been ready for it.”

The discussion came after Ukrainian attacks on Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. The company said Wednesday that several people were injured in Ukrainian attacks on the company’s warehouses.

Vladimir Kondratyev, the governor of southern Krasnodar said one person was killed in Wednesday’s Ukraine strikes, but did not clarify whether that was the strikes at Wildberries or elsewhere.

What do we know about the latest Ukrainian attack on Wildberries?

Wildberries co-founder and CEO Tatyana Kim said facilities in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk were targeted in Wednesday’s attacks.

Social media footage showed smoke billowing above the Krasnodar logistics site, which Kim said had been evacuated along with a facility in Nevinnomyssk.

Zelenskyy addressed the attacks on X, without naming Wildberries.

“Today, Ukraine’s long-range sanctions successfully struck important targets in Russia’s Krasnodar and Stavropol regions – logistics hubs involved in supplying the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment, and other gear – as well as another oil depot,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Wednesday’s attacks follow the deaths of eight employees in strikes that destroyed Wildberries facilities on Saturday.

“There are no ⁠words ​to describe all the feelings and emotions caused by ​the attacks on ordinary people, on our employees, on all of us who are simply doing our ​jobs,” Kim said in a ‌post on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine expands defense to target Russia’s civilian economy

Wildberries, often called the Amazon of Russia, is a key component of the country’s civilian economy. Kyiv also accuses it of providing military logistics and shipping for the country’s military.

Online sales in Russia totaled 11.5 trillion Rubles ($147 billion, €129 billion) in 2025 according to the country’s Association of Internet Trade Companies, a 28% increase over 2024.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/zelenskyy-talks-with-trump-envoys-amid-attacks-on-russia/a-78063598

 

The fatality rate of the latest Ebola virus outbreak since mid-May is far higher than in previous outbreaks. No vaccines or treatments exist for the new strain.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday published an overview of new data documenting the rapid spread of the current Ebola outbreak in Congo.

Democratic Republic of Congo Ministry of Health data documenting cases traced between May 15 and July 19 shows that 2,473 people in Congo and neighboring Uganda have been infected by the latest Bundibugyo strain of the virus, with 999 documented deaths in Congo, and two in Uganda.

Speaking at a health summit in Ghana on Wednesday, Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said 1,031 deaths have been confirmed.

“These are people dying. They are dying because we don’t have vaccines, we don’t have medicine, we don’t have funding,” he added.

The spread — the fastest ever recorded for Ebola — has continued unabated as no vaccines or treatments exist for this new strain of the virus.

Until now, the deadliest outbreak — which raged from 2013 to 2016 and infected 28,000 people, 11,000 of whom died — took some eight months to reach the grim 1,000 death mark.

Ebola spreading faster than officials can track

Health officials in Congo say some 80% of new cases have emerged through unknown transmission chains, suggesting it is spreading far faster than authorities can track.

Overall, 82% of contacts linked to confirmed cases are being traced by authorities. This is well below the 90%-95% rate WHO officials say is needed to contain the virus.

The highly-contagious Ebola virus is spread via bodily fluids, such as blood, semen and vomit, and is often fatal.

To date, infections in the central African nation of 116 million have been recorded in five of Congo’s 26 provinces. The epicenter of the current outbreak lies in Ituri province, which borders Uganda and South Sudan.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/congo-ebola-deaths-increase-to-over-1000/a-78071484

The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it was conducting a 12th night of strikes against Iran as both sides increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure.

U.S. Central Command said the attacks were designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping.

President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that the U.S. will destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the strait.

“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on social media.

The continued American airstrikes are occurring even as diplomatic efforts show little public sign of progress and officials on both sides have dug in on the dispute over the crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed. The unpopular war threatens further worldwide economic disruption and is sending fuel prices up ahead of midterm U.S. elections this fall.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said his country would adopt an “eye for an eye” defense doctrine.

“Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response,” he posted Wednesday on X.

The U.S. carried out a previous wave of strikes on Iran overnight into Wednesday, and air defenses opened fire over the capital, Tehran. Iran launched a missile attack on a Jordanian city on Israel’s doorstep, and alerts were issued in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Iran has responded to U.S. attacks by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants that provide drinking water in parched neighboring Gulf countries.

International law generally prohibits such attacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes.

The costs of war are mounting

The closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed during peacetime, has jolted the world economy with effects far beyond the Middle East. A new threat by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to target Saudi shipping in the Red Sea puts another trade chokepoint at risk.

Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday for the arrival of the remains of four U.S. service members. A day earlier Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated in a fiery Senate hearing that the U.S. had spent $37.5 billion on the war so far.

Benchmark Brent crude oil rose to more than $93 a barrel in trading. That’s up from less than $72 early this month, which is roughly where it was before the war. Gasoline prices are also climbing.

Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the strait, which was open to all and toll-free before the war. It has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by U.S. forces and intended to be outside Tehran’s control.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has led negotiations with the U.S., appeared to brush off Trump’s threats.

“We have repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not return to prewar conditions,” he wrote on social media.

Attacks shake Iran and Jordan

Jordan’s military said it intercepted four Iranian missiles over Aqaba, while two others fell in “uninhabited areas.” Plumes of smoke could be seen overhead in videos filmed by people in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat. Jordan said it also intercepted four Iranian drones.

Iran has avoided striking Israel since hostilities resumed last month, apparently hoping to keep it from reentering the war. But the attack on Aqaba, within sight of Israel’s Eilat, raised concerns over a further widening of the conflict after an agreement to halt hostilities collapsed.

Another missile alert sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia warned residents of the Persian Gulf city of Dammam to seek shelter. Saudi authorities later said the danger had passed, without elaborating.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported explosions across several provinces. Iran’s Health Ministry said earlier that U.S. strikes over the past 11 days have killed 53 people, including six women and three children, and wounded nearly 600 people.

Diplomatic efforts show no signs of progress

Before the latest strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revive diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Zeinivand said “diplomacy isn’t called off” and that messages were still being exchanged, without elaborating, according to IRNA.

An Arab diplomat said Gulf states are increasingly pessimistic about finding an off-ramp for escalating hostilities and are particularly concerned about the latest round of threats.

The diplomat said countries in the region, in addition to Pakistan and Turkey, are continuing to push for de-escalation. But, he said the chances for any improvement currently appear bleak. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

At a regional summit in the Philippines, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Iran’s actions in the strait.

“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” he said.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/07/22/world-news/us-carrying-out-new-wave-of-iran-strikes-as-military-attacks-islamic-republic-for-12th-straight-night/

 

Reality killed the TikTok star.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s carefully manicured online image took another hit this week when the lefty pol had to back down on his ridiculous vow to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — just the latest in a string of polished promises that failed the real-world test.

Free bus rides for all New Yorkers, a tax hike for the Big Apple’s upper crust and cheaper groceries for everyone — all of them pie-in-the-sky campaign promises that have fizzled out of the gate.

Meanwhile, critics contend Mamdani is so fixated on ideological wars that he’s forgetting the job he was hired to do — run the city.

“Mayor Mamdani knew that he does not have legal authority to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu, yet he continues with his blood libels against Israel,” the Israeli Consul General said in a statement.

“He should start focusing on the people of his city instead of meddling in matters he doesn’t understand.”

The socialist mayor, who repeatedly harped on the Israeli leader on the campaign trail and in his curated online profiles, was finally forced to admit he doesn’t have the juice to lock up Netanyahu when he visits the city — but continues to flash his disdain for the Jewish state

Democratic insiders told The Post that Mamdani’s online polish gives him a “get out of jail” free card — but it won’t last if he doesn’t follow through on his online persona.

Part of the Mamdani sales pitch was a vow “to make buses fast and free,” but the estimated $1 billion price tag put the brakes on the idea right away and it has gone nowhere.

Mamdani said he would impose a corporate tax and a 2% personal income tax on “the most affluent New Yorkers,” but neither has happened, with the controversial “pied-à-terre tax” on second, non-residence homes coming the closest — and that came from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Hizzoner also pitched a plan to open public, city-owned grocery stores in every borough to make essentials more affordable. However, only two locations have been identified, and the first won’t be stocking the shelves until 2027 at the earliest.

Mamdani also promised a $1 billion “community safety” program that would replace the NYPD on most 911 calls, and yet only two staffers have been assigned and cops continue to respond to the calls.

He also said he would “freeze the rent,” and while he stacked the rent-stabilization board with like-minded lefties, a lawsuit filed by landlords this week has cast doubt on that crusade.

The latest promise to fizzle is the unrealistic claim that he would have Netanyahu busted. Several of his other pledges are out of his direct authority as mayor, critics have argued — with the MTA in control of bus fares, the state in control of income tax hikes.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza, and Mamdani bragged he would execute the warrant if the Israeli prime minister set foot in the five boroughs — which is about to happen.

But in a typically polished social media video earlier this week, Mamdani admitted he doesn’t have the authority to pull it off — even while he continues to dabble in what he himself described as “universal politics.”

Democratic operative Ken Frydman said Mamdani knew he couldn’t have Netanyahu arrested “before he floated the idea.”

“Unfortunately, that threat plays politically to his far-left base. So it was worth it to him to float it,” Frydman argued.

Meanwhile, a fifth New Yorker has died from a troubling outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side that has infected dozens of people, with city lawmakers blasting the mayor for not acting.

On Tuesday, City Council Speaker Julie Menin unveiled a bill that calls for stepped up efforts to address the deadly outbreak — and slams City Hall for not doing enough, particularly after a similar outbreak in Harlem last year killed five people.

“But public health depends on public trust — and public trust depends on timely, transparent communication and action,” Menin wrote in a follow-up op-ed in The Post. “This outbreak exposed a dangerous gap between what our laws require and how the city executes them.”

Veteran Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said that’s where Mamdani needed to focus — not on an international debate over Israel that has nothing to do with.

“Legionnaires’ disease knocks off Manhattanites and the best this guy can do is to pretend he’s got powers that he doesn’t,” Sheinkopf said. “This proves again that hating Jews gets you news but fighting for dying New Yorkers gets you zero.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/07/22/us-news/mamdanis-netanyahu-backtrack-shows-nyc-mayor-distracted-by-social-media-activism/

 

French lawmakers approved on Tuesday a ban on social media access for children under the age of ​15, as concerns grow around the world over the impact social media ‌have on the health and safety of minors.
France becomes the first in Europe to follow Australia, where the world’s first ban for under-16s on platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube came into ​force in December.

“France opens the way by being the first country ​in Europe to adopt a digital majority,” Anne Le Hénanff, junior ⁠minister for AI, told senators.

Both houses of parliament – the Senate and National Assembly – ​adopted the ban on Tuesday.
President Emmanuel Macron, who in April urged young people to switch ​off their phones and read in order to become better citizens, wants the law in place in time for the start of the next academic year.

With the new legislation, children younger ​than 15 would not be allowed to open a social media account from ​September 1. Social media platforms would have another four months to close accounts already open. ‌The platforms ⁠would also need to use age verification approved by the French privacy regulator.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/french-lawmakers-vote-social-media-ban-children-2026-07-21/

Canadian Prime Minister ​Mark Carney said he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to intensify trade negotiations after speaking on Tuesday, but warned he would consider all ‌options if the tariffs Trump threatened on Monday go ahead.
Trump on Monday unveiled plans for 50% tariffs on a wide range of imports from Canada in retaliation to what he described as discriminatory treatment of American-made cars, alcohol and dairy goods.

Relations between Canada and its largest trading partner have been tested by Trump’s repeated jibes to make Canada the 51st state, disagreements over a new bridge and sharp comments about wildfire smoke.
The ​tariffs came just before U.S. and Mexican trade negotiators met for a third round of bilateral talks, without Canada.
“I’ve spoken with the president, we agree to intensify ​discussions. We’ll begin that right away, and this is part of the negotiation. So the first objective is to get a comprehensive ⁠agreement,” Carney told reporters.
Trump, when asked whether Canada tariffs were in response to the wildfires, said: “No, that’s separate. We’re looking at that separately.”

Carney said the Canadian provinces ​should only lift their bans on U.S. alcohol as part of a broader U.S. trade deal. Nearly every Canadian province except for Alberta and Saskatchewan has banned or severely ​restricted the sale of American beer, wine and spirits in response to earlier U.S. tariffs.
Leaders of Canada’s provinces meeting this week in Prince Edward Island blasted the new tariffs.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, leader of Canada’s most populous province, said Canada should respond “dollar for dollar” to the new tariffs, while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the new tariffs would hurt both Canadian and American workers.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe ​called for the government to intensify talks with the U.S., saying the relationship with Canada’s largest trading partner “is more important than any president or prime minister.”

British Columbia Premier ​David Eby delivered the starkest message: “There is not a chance in hell that U.S. alcohol is going back on the shelves in British Columbia.”

Saskatchewan leader Moe said he expected the federal government ‌would be ⁠asking provincial leaders to consider restocking their shelves with U.S. alcohol as negotiations continue, however.

CANADIANS ARE NOT A PUNCHING BAG

Even the opposition Conservatives called on the prime minister to stand firm against Trump.
“President Trump’s latest tariffs are another unacceptable and unjustified attack on Canadian workers and our businesses,” the party said in a statement. “Canadians are not a punching bag,” it said, adding that the tariffs must be withdrawn immediately.
In slapping import taxes on symbolic goods ranging from wine to cement and ice hockey gear, Trump invoked Section 338 of the ​Tariff Act of 1930, which permits a ​president to impose punitive tariffs of up ⁠to 50% against trading partners deemed to have discriminated against U.S. goods. That marked the law’s first known usage in nearly a century of existence.
The new tariffs, set to take effect in 30 days, would also apply to dairy products, swimming pools, furniture, ​fishing rods, seeds, clothing and wigs, among other items.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/carney-says-he-will-intensify-trade-talks-with-trump-most-premiers-pledge-keep-2026-07-21/

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday all generic drugs being ​brought into the U.S. will continue having ‌a tariff of 0% for two years starting from August 1, after which the tariff rate will be raised ​to 100% for one year and to ​200% thereafter.

• “This is done in order to RESHORE ⁠Generic Pharmaceutical Production into America, with a penalty ​to those Companies that decide not to build ​Plant and Equipment within the stated period of time given to them,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
• Trump ​has been pressuring drugmakers through his most-favored-nation drug ​pricing policy to lower prices to what people pay in ‌other ⁠high-income countries.
• More than 90% of medicines sold in the U.S. are generics, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/trump-says-generic-drugs-face-no-us-tariffs-2-years-before-rates-100-200-later-2026-07-21/

La Liga president Javier Tebas said FIFA president Gianni Infantino should resign, accusing the governing body of “destroying the football industry” by expanding international competitions at the expense of domestic leagues and clubs.
Tebas has repeatedly criticised FIFA over ​fixture congestion and plans to further enlarge the World Cup.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta ‌dello Sport, when Tebas was asked if Infantino should quit, he said: “In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up.”

Infantino said in April that he would seek re-election for a fourth term as FIFA president, with the vote for the 2027-2031 cycle scheduled to take place ​in Morocco on March 18 next year.
Asked about growing criticism of Infantino’s leadership, Tebas said the FIFA president ​retained strong support among national federations despite concerns within the game.
“He shouldn’t stay, but the ⁠current state of affairs means he won’t leave,” Tebas said.
“There’s no opposition candidate; no one wants to run to lose. ​This is the system, and it’s a system that’s flawed from the ground up.
“I’ve heard a lot of people against ​Infantino, who don’t agree with what he’s doing. They say it, but then they don’t do anything.”

Tebas also questioned FIFA’s decision to postpone the one-match ban given to United States striker Folarin Balogun following a red card during the World Cup. The decision was made after the ​intervention of U.S. President Donald Trump. Belgium beat the United States 4-1 in the last 16.
“The suspension of the American ​player’s ban is an extremely serious matter. They were lucky that Belgium eliminated the U.S., because otherwise a case could have arisen ‌that might ⁠have cost Infantino his job,”
“Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the matter. But these things are just the tip of the iceberg.”

EXPANSION OF WORLD CUP

His comments come amid growing tensions within soccer’s governing structures.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin did not attend Sunday’s World Cup final following a series of disagreements between European soccer’s governing body and FIFA over disciplinary procedures, refereeing ​logistics and match operations, a source ​with direct knowledge of ⁠the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/la-liga-chief-tebas-accuses-fifa-destroying-football-industry-calls-infantino-2026-07-21/

According to a Wall Street Journal report citing US and Israeli officials, Israeli intelligence believes the transfer took place last autumn, months after the 12-day conflict in June 2025, when US and Israeli forces struck several of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran has reportedly moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges into a heavily fortified underground complex near Natanz known as Pickaxe Mountain, making them far more difficult to destroy in airstrikes.

According to a Wall Street Journal report citing US and Israeli officials, Israeli intelligence believes the transfer took place last autumn, months after the 12-day conflict in June 2025, when US and Israeli forces struck several of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Pickaxe site escaped those attacks and has also remained untouched since a more aggressive aerial campaign began on February 28.

Buried Under 300 Feet Of Granite

The facility is believed to be buried more than 300 feet beneath solid granite, making it significantly deeper than the enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordo that were bombed in 2025.

The Wall Street Journal reported that satellite imagery and intelligence have shown truck movements and construction activity around the mountain for roughly 15 months, suggesting the site has been steadily developed.

It remains unclear where the centrifuges came from, although officials believe they may have been relocated from other Iranian nuclear facilities.

IAEA Kept In The Dark

Iran has not allowed inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the Pickaxe complex and has provided no detailed information about what is happening inside.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in March that Iran had informed the agency back in 2021 that it intended “to have nuclear activity” at the Pickaxe site.

The lack of international access has fuelled concerns that the underground facility could be used for activities hidden from global monitoring.

‘Pickaxe’ Could Be Next: Trump

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly signalled that the underground complex could soon become an American target.

Last week, he said, “Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice big fat shot right near the front door,” adding that the US would “probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon”.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump escalated the warning, saying the US would strike the area where Iran’s centrifuges are believed to be located “pretty soon” and “very heavily”, while insisting Tehran would be powerless to stop it.

‘Worst-Case Scenario,’ Says Former US Official

Nate Swanson, who served as the US National Security Council’s director for Iran during the Biden administration, warned that the reported activity at an undeclared nuclear site was deeply concerning.

“A covert breakout is the worst-case scenario,” he said, referring to the possibility of secretly producing a nuclear weapon.

“We don’t know what Iran’s intentions are, but the fact that we can’t verify this site underscores how problematic the status quo is.”

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iran-shifted-nuclear-centrifuges-to-pickaxe-mountain-report-11803267?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Joseph Aoun is the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit the White House. He arrived Tuesday and met Trump face-to-face for the first time.

US President Donald Trump said during a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday that Lebanon had been hit hard for decades and that the United States would help the country going forward. During the Oval Office meeting, Trump promised that he would have Lebanon “treated properly.”

“It’s been a very badly treated place and country, and we’re going to have it properly treated, and treated with the respect that it deserves,” Trump said.

According to a Reuters report, Aoun’s meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday was for him to present a plan on how to disarm the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.

Aoun, who served as the commander of Lebanon’s US-backed army before being elected president last year, is the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit the White House. He arrived Tuesday morning and met Trump face-to-face for the first time.

The meeting comes at a crucial moment for Lebanon: Israeli troops are occupying a swathe of the country’s south, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced following Israeli strikes, and Hezbollah has firmly rejected the government’s direct talks with Israel — and efforts by the state to strip it of its arms.

Lebanon urges implementation of US-brokered deal

Joseph Aoun arrived in Washington over the weekend and met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, telling him that Israel should begin withdrawing from southern Lebanon in line with the US-brokered June 26 agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

That deal aims to disarm Hezbollah, see a progressive Israeli troop withdrawal and set the stage for peaceful ties between the two countries.

Hours ahead of Aoun’s meeting with Donald Trump, Lebanese army troops began taking control of territory vacated by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon — the first test of the plan.

A Lebanese official said Aoun believes only Trump possesses the leverage needed to pressure Israel to withdraw its troops and help Lebanon restore its sovereignty. The official said that Aoun, in addition to asking the US president to press Israel to withdraw, would also present Trump with a written proposal on how to decommission Hezbollah’s massive arsenal.

Power shift in Lebanon

62-year-old Joseph Aoun became president just before Donald Trump began his second term in the White House. The US welcomed Aoun’s election.

Aoun is a Maronite Christian, as required by Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system, which stipulates that the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament must be a Shi’ite Muslim. A career soldier, Aoun was wounded twice and still carries a shrapnel wound.

His rise reflected a major shift in the power balance in Lebanon, following a devastating Israeli offensive against Hezbollah in 2024 and the ousting of Hezbollah’s Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad — seismic events that weakened the group and its long-decisive hold over the state.

At his swearing-in ceremony, Aoun vowed to affirm “the state’s right to a monopoly on arms”.

His presidency’s first year was defined by a government bid to secure the disarmament of Hezbollah, which was founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 and has fought numerous wars with Israel.

Lebanese troops deployed in southern Lebanon to collect Hezbollah weapons caches, in line with a ceasefire after the 2024 war and without opposition from a weakened Hezbollah.

But early into his term’s second year, a new war erupted when Hezbollah fired at Israel on March 2 in support of Iran, which was under US and Israeli attack.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/trump-promises-lebanon-respect-it-deserves-as-its-president-presents-plan-to-disarm-hezbollah-101784648681575.html

India suspended IWT after terror attack in Pahalgam. The treaty would remain in abeyance until Pakistan takes credible action against cross-border terrorism, New Delhi has asserted.

Pakistan’s effort to rally international support for the restoration of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) received no visible endorsement from Canada Monday, after Foreign Minister Anita Anand declined to publicly address Islamabad’s appeal during a joint press conference in Islamabad.

Standing next to Anand, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called on Ottawa to support his country’s call for India to immediately reinstate the six-decade-old water-sharing agreement.

Canada’s official statement on the visit, however, omitted any mention of the issue.

India suspended the IWT after the April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people. It would remain in abeyance until Pakistan takes credible action against cross-border terrorism, New Delhi has asserted.

Dar, meanwhile, claimed New Delhi’s decision introduced another source of instability into an already fragile regional security environment.

Appealing directly to Canada, the Pakistan Deputy PM then called on Ottawa and other partners to support what he described as the immediate restoration of the treaty and to oppose the “weaponisation of water.”

“We seek the support of our friendly countries, including Canada, towards India’s immediate restoration of the IWT, ending the weaponisation of water and upholding international law and treaty obligations,” he added.

But, the Canadian delegation offered no public response. Its statement after the meeting focused on bilateral relations and broader areas of cooperation, without referring to the treaty or Pakistan’s request.

Signed in 1960 with the facilitation of the World Bank, the Indus Waters Treaty has long been regarded as one of the world’s most durable transboundary water agreements. It allocates control of the Indus basin’s three eastern rivers to India while granting Pakistan primary rights over the three western rivers, subject to limited upstream uses by India.

Source : https://theprint.in/diplomacy/pakistan-seeks-canadas-support-for-restoration-of-indus-waters-treaty-with-india-gets-a-rebuff/2992405/

Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed down in his efforts to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu in New York City, admitting in a video statement Tuesday night that he doesn’t have the legal authority – while slamming the Israeli prime minister as an unwelcome “war criminal.”

The pro-Palestinian, socialist pol said that despite his administration reviewing “every avenue available” to find a legal loophole to take Netanyahu into custody, they don’t have the authority in a video posted to X.

“It’s clear we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” a frustrated Mamdani said, referencing an International Criminal Court 2024 warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest over alleged war crimes in Gaza — an order the US does not recognize.

The backpedaling comes one day after President Trump blasted the socialist Democrat’s scheme in a post to Truth Social Monday.

“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump said in the post, which didn’t name Mamdani.

Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Manhattan in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/YRezmW6YVx

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Mamdani’s threats don’t faze the prime minister.

“But it only shows what we are dealing with today, with the elements that seek to instigate, to incite. And Mamdani is one of those forces,” Danon exclusively told The Post.

Danon blasted Mamdani in a scathing post on X: “You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’ propaganda.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center noted in a statement that Mamdani’s address made “no mention of Hamas or the October 7 massacre of innocent civilians.”

“Instead, he delivered a sweeping moral indictment of Israel while erasing the terrorist atrocities that ignited this war,” the Jewish human rights organization continued.

“Appeals to universal humanity and justice ring hollow when they exclude the victims whose suffering does not fit a preferred political narrative.”

Although Hizzoner was forced to wave the white flag Tuesday, he continued to rail against the Israeli prime minister.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” he said.

The anti-Israel mayor — who has made accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza a focal point of a socialist ideology that has helped thrust him into the national spotlight – vowed during last year’s campaign that, if elected, he’d have Netanyahu arrested if he ever came to the Big Apple.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/07/21/us-news/zohran-mamdani-backs-off-says-he-wont-arrest-benjamin-netanyahu-in-nyc-but-still-blasts-him-as-a-war-crimnal/

 

As temperatures rise this summer, Japanese men are baring more leg at work than ever before.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is pushing company employees to ditch their usual suit and tie for more casual attire, featuring t-shirts, trainers – and shorts.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike introduced “Tokyo Cool Biz” in April, hoping to expand on her signature cool down initiative which has now become a widely recognised annual summer tradition.

Almost four months in, the newly allowed shorts in the office policy is getting mixed reviews.

Some commentators enjoy the relaxed rules, helping them work more comfortably. Others say the policy is unfair to women since they are still expected to wear tights when showing a part of their legs. And a few women describe the experience of “leg hair harassment” or a term coined online as “sunehara”, referring to the discomfort of being forced to see their colleague’s leg hair.

“We want to give people more options in the severe heat, not tell them what to wear. There should be no issue as long as the work attire is not offensive to anyone,” Tokyo Metropolitan Government environmental official Noboru Watanabe told the BBC.

A June survey by Gorilla Clinic found 53.5% opposed wearing shorts to work in the summer while 46.5% were in favour of the new recommendation.

For those against shorts in the office the main reason, for both genders, was the concern over body shape and body hair. The clinic says women significantly outnumbered men in their response, indicating that women may be more resistant to seeing a male colleague’s bare legs.

In recent years more Japanese workers, notably those working at startups and tech companies, have started wearing casual clothes. But this year, the Tokyo government recommendation has made it more socially acceptable. Still, some men have been feeling self-conscious about their leg hair.

Akifumi Funatsu, the director of Gorilla Clinic, says he has noticed more clients coming to the clinic not just for cosmetic reasons, but as a matter of “social etiquette when wearing shorts”. He thinks women believe that “men should have less leg hair”, which has prompted them to seek laser hair removal so as not to offend those around them.

Koike first introduced the summer wardrobe shift as Japan’s environment minister in 2005. She launched a national energy-saving campaign called “Cool Biz” to encourage company workers to opt for short-sleeve shirts.

Government leaders participated in the initiative, with then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi often seen in public without wearing a tie or jacket, helping get the word out.

A few years later following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the government launched “Super Cool Biz” which expanded the guidelines to help reduce energy use both at work and at home.

As with other parts of the world, Japan has been experiencing record heat in recent months while grappling with soaring energy prices driven by instability in the Middle East.

Forecasters have warned of extreme heat this summer, with the Japan Meteorological Agency trying to raise public awareness by announcing the word “kokusho-bi”, which means “brutally hot day” when the mercury exceeds 40C.

The latest weekly data shows seven people died in Japan from heatstroke and 4,580 people were admitted to hospitals in the seven days from 6-12 July, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Besides staying hydrated and turning on the air conditioning, some of the most basic actions repeatedly encouraged by government officials, residents have turned to new products and gadgets to beat the heat.

Items such as clothes with built-in fans, disposable wet-towels, UV and heat blocking umbrellas, and portable handheld fans have been popular and sold in shops nationwide.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwp513jpvo

Some 20 people have been killed and more than 80 injured, with the city of Parun hit particularly hard. A lack of infrastructure and the effects of climate change have left the country vulnerable to natural disaster.

Eastern Afghanistan was struck by flash floods that left at least 20 people dead, 80 injured, and over 100 missing, authorities confirmed late on Monday.

Yousaf Hammad of the National Disaster Management Authority said that a rescue mission was underway to locate the missing and bring them to safety if possible.

“Unfortunately, severe floods today in Parun city and several other areas of Nuristan province have caused heavy loss of life and property among our fellow citizens,” Hammad said, stressing that there had been severe damage to people’s homes, farmland, and public facilities.

“We urge all citizens to stay away from flood-prone areas and zones at risk.”

A spokesman for the Taliban government in Kabul added: “We pray for those who lost their lives in this incident and for a speedy recovery for the injured.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-deadly-flash-floods-hit-nuristan-province/a-78045451

Pakistan seeks a $10 billion currency support facility from the US to boost its economy, per Reuters. The request follows Pakistan’s diplomatic role in Iran war talks.

Pakistan has sought a $10 billion currency support facility from the United States that could help strengthen its foreign exchange reserves and provide relief to its financially strained economy, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The request comes after Pakistan’s role in facilitating talks related to the Iran war boosted its diplomatic standing and raised expectations in Islamabad that it could seek economic benefits from Washington and other international partners.

According to the source, Pakistan has approached US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for a Bilateral Exchange Stabilisation Support Facility between the two governments, with a maturity period of up to five years.

Facility Aimed at Supporting Reserves, Rupee

If approved, the facility would help Pakistan increase its reserves, reduce pressure on the Pakistani rupee and lower its dependence on multilateral financial support, even as the country continues implementing fiscal and monetary reforms under its International Monetary Fund programme.

Pakistan remains under a $7 billion IMF programme that has required tax increases, spending controls and other reforms that have carried political costs.

Exchange stabilisation facilities are rare US Treasury-backed mechanisms that can provide dollars, swaps or guarantees to support foreign currency reserves and help stabilise currencies. They differ from standing dollar swap arrangements maintained by the US Federal Reserve with some major central banks.

Pakistan previously avoided a potential default in 2023 after securing a $3 billion IMF standby arrangement and later obtained a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, along with a separate $1.3 billion loan aimed at improving resilience against climate change and natural disasters.

However, the country’s reserves continue to rely heavily on official financing, rollovers and deposits from countries including China and Saudi Arabia.

Seeking Stronger Economic Ties

The request for US support comes as Pakistan looks to deepen economic ties with Washington. A currency support facility would serve as both a financial cushion and a political signal, potentially easing pressure on reserves and reducing reliance on IMF disbursements and emergency assistance.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/pakistan-seeks-10-billion-currency-support-facility-from-us-after-iran-war-mediation-role-ws-l-10226230.html

Trump vs Netanyahu: Israel’s decision to stay out of the US military operation against Iran has raised fresh questions about its regional strategy.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said Israel has “no interest” in joining the renewed US military campaign against Iran, arguing that the current conflict and continued economic pressure on Tehran already serve Israel’s interests.

“Right now, Israel has no interest in joining the conflict. The current situation, where there’s a war between Iran and the US, is actually the best scenario for us,” Smotrich said.

His remarks hint that Israel is content with the United States taking the lead in confronting Iran while Israel stays out of direct military action for the time being.

Why Israel may prefer to stay out

Israel’s position indicates that it believes the current US campaign is already weakening Iran without forcing Israel to bear the immediate costs of war.

Strategically, the stance suggests Israel sees an advantage in allowing Washington to maintain military and economic pressure on Tehran while avoiding direct involvement itself.

Joining the conflict could expose Israel to a wider Iranian response, including missile attacks, escalation through Iran-backed proxy groups and increased pressure on energy and shipping routes.

By staying out of the fighting, Israel can conserve military resources, keep its forces on alert and continue preparing contingency plans in case the conflict expands.

What this means for the conflict?

Israel’s decision not to enter the war does not mean it is neutral in the confrontation between the United States and Iran. Instead, it points to a preference for indirect pressure over direct military participation.

The current approach allows Israel to benefit from continued pressure on Iran while reducing the risk of becoming the main target of retaliation.

However, that position could change quickly if the conflict widens or if Iran poses a more direct threat to Israel.

Regional implications

Israel’s stance raises the possibility of a more compartmentalised conflict in the Middle East.

Under this scenario, the United States and Iran continue exchanging military strikes while Israel remains outside the main battlefield but stays prepared for any escalation.

Such an approach could reduce the immediate risk of a full-scale regional war. At the same time, it does not eliminate the possibility of a broader conflict if Iran or its regional allies expand the fighting.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/israel-not-joining-us-war-against-iran-trump-netanyahu-smotrich-10226037.html

Estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars, the agreement entrusts American companies with a central role in developing Saudi Arabia’s nuclear infrastructure

Amid the renewed escalation in West Asia and the subsequent attacks across the Gulf, US President Donald Trump has greenlit an agreement with Saudi Arabia that paves the way for the country to have a civilian nuclear program and opens the door to uranium enrichment on its soil, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing officials.

The new deal with Riyadh, a key ally of Washington in the Gulf, would last 30 years. Estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars, the agreement entrusts American companies with a central role in developing Saudi Arabia’s nuclear infrastructure.

The pact departs from conventional US nuclear agreements by eliminating safeguards that Washington has traditionally sought to ensure civilian nuclear programmes are not used to develop weapons capabilities.

The Trump administration is mulling to present the pact to the Congress in the coming days, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The package features a so-called ‘123 Agreement’ that was signed by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

Established by Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, a ‘123 Agreement’ is a mandatory prerequisite for the US to engage in civilian nuclear agreement with other nations.

But Here’s A Catch

Experts warn that the deal that omits global safeguards and allows Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium domestically could lead to the country developing nuclear weapons, especially in the face of regional threats.

Previously, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared that the kingdom would seek its own nuclear weapons if regional rival Iran were to pursue one.

Pertinent to note that Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and its pursuit of nuclear capabilities emerged as a major source of regional tension, with the US and Israel collectively opposing the move. This ultimately culminated in a large-scale military confrontation, further destabilising the region.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/trump-signs-historic-nuclear-deal-with-saudi-arabia-bypasses-global-safeguards-ws-l-10226271.html

Sources say Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir is expected to discuss the Iranian leadership’s message with the United States in the coming days

Pakistan’s military leadership has reportedly emerged as a fresh channel for backdoor diplomacy between Iran and the United States, with Tehran conveying what Pakistani security sources describe as a “secret message” from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir during high-level talks in Rawalpindi.

According to top Pakistani security sources, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni held a nearly 50-minute one-on-one meeting with Asim Munir at Pakistan’s General Headquarters (GHQ). During the meeting, Momeni is said to have personally delivered a confidential message from Iran’s Supreme Leader and discussed a new framework for mediation aimed at reducing tensions in West Asia.

The development comes at a time of heightened regional uncertainty following months of confrontation involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

Sources said Iran’s political and military leadership acknowledged Pakistan’s “indispensable role” in efforts to ease regional tensions and praised Islamabad’s diplomatic outreach. During the discussions, both sides reportedly reaffirmed their commitment to safeguarding regional security, stability and economic prosperity while exploring mechanisms for sustained de-escalation.

Iranian officials also appreciated Pakistan’s role in “Islamabad MoU”, describing Islamabad as an “anchor for peace” in the region. While details of the understanding were not disclosed, the meeting reportedly focused on creating a structured mediation process that could help lower tensions across West Asia.

Beyond regional diplomacy, the two sides also discussed bilateral security cooperation, particularly effective border management along the Pakistan-Iran frontier. According to the sources, both countries agreed to maintain close coordination on security issues and continue consultations on regional stability.

Source :https://www.news18.com/world/iran-delivers-mojtaba-khameneis-secret-message-to-pakistan-in-meeting-with-asim-munir-ws-l-10226262.html

The Trump administration has in ​recent weeks weighed cutting ties with the U.N. refugee agency, prompting a campaign by diplomats and U.N. officials to persuade the United States to maintain ‌support, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Eight sources including diplomats, aid sources and a congressional source told Reuters that Washington – historically UNHCR’s largest donor – has been considering disengaging from the agency. Several said a decision had been expected last week, but no announcement was made, suggesting that the lobbying effort may have helped delay or avert a move.

Reuters granted the sources anonymity to speak about U.N. relations with the U.S.
The U.S. deliberations over ​leaving UNHCR, which was created in the aftermath of World War Two to help refugees fleeing war, persecution and violence, follow a disagreement over the appointment of ​the deputy high commissioner, five of the sources said.
They said that the agency had informed supporters that it could be placed on a ⁠U.S. blacklist, ending funding, and that Washington could also withdraw from its governing Executive Committee.
Any end to U.S. funding would seriously weaken the agency at a time of near-record levels of displacement ​around the world amid long-running conflicts like Ukraine and Sudan, diplomats and aid officials said.

“People have been alerted by UNHCR to call friends in the administration,” a source at an aid group ​involved in the talks told Reuters, saying that many had done so. “They are at least thinking about it,” the source added.
Another diplomat said UNHCR officials had asked supporters in the past week to use all available diplomatic channels with the United States to urge ongoing support.
A U.N. refugee agency spokesperson declined to comment. “We have no comment on this issue because we have no information on it,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
A ​State Department spokesperson said there have not been any changes to Washington’s engagement with UNHCR. “As with many other international organizations, we work with and through UNHCR when doing so is ​useful to advance U.S. foreign policy interests or save lives.”

“We will continue to evaluate the United States’ role in international organizations…” the spokesperson added, referring to a February 2025 Executive Order to review U.S. ‌participation and funding.
⁠Since beginning his second term last year, President Donald Trump has cut funding for U.N. agencies and withdrawn from dozens of U.N. entities including the World Health Organization. Trump officials have also urged other nations to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections.

LEADERSHIP DILEMMA

The dispute centres on last month’s appointment of U.S. career diplomat Tressa Rae Finerty as UNHCR’s deputy high commissioner.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih chose Finerty over Simon Hankinson, a U.S.-backed candidate and former foreign service officer who has accused the UNHCR of pursuing “a mass ​migration agenda.”

“If they wanted reform, a return to ​UNHCR’s original mission of helping actual refugees, ⁠and a careful inspection of budgets and spending, I was the guy,” he told Reuters, calling Finerty a “business as usual” candidate.
Reuters could not reach Finerty for comment.
A former senior UNHCR official said Salih, a former Iraqi president and refugee, would have faced internal “uproar” had he backed ​Hankinson.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/diplomatic-efforts-seek-avert-trump-split-with-un-refugee-agency-sources-say-2026-07-20/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested when he visits the U.S., after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was still considering ​the move.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while ​in the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a social media post ⁠that did not refer to the mayor’s comments.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for ​Netanyahu in 2024 for alleged war crimes during the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction and ​denies committing war crimes.
Trump did not mention Mamdani in his Truth Social post, but credited Israel with helping in the Iran war.
The New York City mayor said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that the city’s legal department is actively ​considering what the law might allow.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s ​a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani told a New York Times video ‌podcast ⁠called “The Interview.”

ISRAEL SAYS ICC ARREST WARRANT IS ‘BOGUS’

Netanyahu traditionally travels to New York every September for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
Israel responded to Mamdani’s comments on Sunday in an X post that called the ICC a kangaroo court and the arrest warrant against Netanyahu ​bogus.
“Mamdani appears interested in ​diverting public attention from ⁠his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East,” it said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/netanyahu-will-not-be-arrested-us-trump-says-new-york-mayor-mulls-options-2026-07-20/

A supersized World Cup tournament and its dizzying array of feel-good social media fodder gave the U.S. image a much-needed boost globally, though concerns over high-level interference and visa difficulties for some fans overshadowed the action on the field at ​times as the lines between politics and sport blurred.
An annual study of democracy in May showed that global perceptions of ‌the United States under the Trump administration had fallen below those of Russia. A crackdown on immigration, sweeping tariffs and the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran damaged America’s standing in the eyes of the world.

But while U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval rating at home was at the lowest of his second term ​early in the tournament, a series of viral social media moments may have softened the world’s perspective on Americans – at least ​temporarily.
The Tartan Army Scottish fan base’s love affair with Boston provided one of the tournament’s feel-good storylines, as ⁠did Algeria’s unlikely friendship with Lawrence, Kansas, where they held their training base camp.
And Americans themselves had their eyes opened to soccer’s global roar, ​delivering blockbuster television ratings while packing fan festivals. Fox Sports broke its World Cup records with an average of 5 million American viewers per group-stage ​match, up 92% from the Qatar World Cup four years ago.

“Clearly, soccer struck an emotional chord in the United States and engaged millions of people who weren’t previously big soccer fans,” Leigh Steinberg, the agent attorney for the U.S. soccer team the last time the World Cup was played in the states ​in 1994, told Reuters as the American team moved into the knockout stages.
“World Cup is just the US having a giant sleepover with ​the cousins we never see because our parents hate each other,” wrote X user @JamelleMyBelle.
By Sunday’s final, where Trump smiled as he took the field to ‌deliver the ⁠trophy even as a chorus of boos from fans rang out at the New York New Jersey Stadium, the American organizers were ready to declare victory.
“America fell in love with the World Cup, and the world fell in love with the United States of America,” said Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House task force for the World Cup.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/great-american-sleepover-softens-us-image-abroad-world-cup-charm-campaign-hit-2026-07-20/

A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday signed off on ‌artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by a group of authors who accused it of misusing their books to train its AI chatbot Claude.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted final approval of the settlement, the largest known ​settlement of a U.S. copyright case, rejecting arguments that it was too small.

The case is one of dozens ​brought by copyright owners including authors and news outlets against tech companies over the training ⁠of their large language models, and the first major U.S. case to settle.
Now-retired Judge William Alsup initially approved the ​deal last September.
“We reached this settlement in 2025, after the court’s landmark ruling that training AI on books is fair ​use under copyright law — which remains the law today,” Anthropic deputy general counsel Aparna Sridhar said in a statement.
“We are pleased that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share of the payment, and we’re looking forward ​to bringing this matter to a close.”

The authors’ lead attorney, Justin Nelson, welcomed what he called a “historic settlement.”

“It ​is the largest known copyright recovery in history. We look forward to making distributions to the Class as promptly as possible,” Nelson said in ‌a statement, ⁠referring to payments to authors covered by the settlement.
The writers sued Anthropic in 2024, arguing that the company, which is backed by Amazon (AMZN.O), and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , used pirated versions of their books without permission to teach Claude to respond to human prompts.
Alsup ruled last June that Anthropic made fair use of the authors’ work to train Claude, but found that the company ​violated their rights by saving ​more than 7 million ⁠pirated books to a “central library” that would not necessarily be used for AI training.
A trial was scheduled to begin last December to determine how much Anthropic owed for the ​alleged piracy, with potential damages running into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-approves-anthropics-15-billion-settlement-copyright-lawsuit-2026-07-20/

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they ​would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front against the United States in its war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
The ‌escalation comes after one of the deadliest periods in the war for U.S. troops. The Pentagon on Monday identified two U.S. soldiers who were killed when Iran attacked an American base in Jordan on Friday, while they also said they had found unidentified remains that could be those of a third soldier reported as missing in action. Separately, a fourth service member was killed in northern Iraq during the “controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.”

After the Houthis announced their blockade, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in a statement that it would respond to ​them with force, and also that it began implementing protection measures for its ships moving through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key export route for Saudi oil after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis made their announcement despite ​signs that Tehran and Washington want to resume diplomacy to halt a worsening cycle of attacks that has all but wrecked a fragile interim agreement signed last month. Iran’s Foreign Ministry ⁠said mediators had presented “proposals” to Tehran, signalling that diplomatic contacts remain active, but gave no details.

Oil prices rose briefly after the Houthi statement but later fell back as traders held out hope of a diplomatic breakthrough. The insurance cost of shipping goods through the ​Red Sea rose on the increased risks for merchant shipping.
Iran had been pressing the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the U.S. continued to attack Iranian power infrastructure.
A full closure of the strait would reduce global oil supply ​by 7% as it would leave most of Saudi oil exports unable to leave the region. The disruption would add to the huge cut to oil flows from the war in the Gulf, which has already reduced shipments by 10% of global supply.
In their statement, the Houthis’ armed forces said they were declaring “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’, effective immediately” in response to what they called “an unjust and oppressive siege” imposed on Yemen by the Saudis.

DIPLOMATIC PUSH TO RESTORE CEASEFIRE

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Tehran ​had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire in efforts to salvage the interim deal, intended to pave the way to a lasting agreement to end the war that began on February 28 with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Neither the ministry ​nor the official who spoke to Reuters gave any details on the putative ceasefire discussions.
Two Pakistani government sources said separately that Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni had asked Pakistan to resume its mediation role in the conflict. He later arrived in Islamabad for further talks.

The diplomatic push ‌followed another night ⁠of U.S. strikes on Iranian cities and attacks by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on U.S. military assets across the region. U.S. Central Command said Monday afternoon U.S. time that it had begun another round of strikes on Iran.
President Donald Trump, under mounting political pressure at home over rising gasoline prices since the war began and Iran effectively closed the vital Strait of Hormuz, defended the latest strikes on Iran as honoring the deaths of American service members killed in recent Iranian attacks.
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
The war has killed ​thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, part of which ​has been occupied by Israeli forces following attacks on ⁠Israel by Hezbollah fighters who said they were acting in solidarity with Tehran.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is due to meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday to present a plan on how to disarm Iran-aligned Hezbollah and secure an Israeli withdrawal.
Israel also still has forces in Gaza following two years of war ignited by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attack on southern Israeli communities ​on October 7, 2023. Hamas said on Monday it had named top negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya as its overall leader, a move that an analyst said could signal a tougher stance by ​the group towards calls for it ⁠to disarm.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-launches-iran-strikes-ninth-day-another-american-confirmed-killed-2026-07-20/

Noreen Niazi, sister of jailed former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, claimed the Pakistan Army fabricated a victory narrative around India’s Operation Sindoor to hide battlefield failures, calling it a success for India. Her remarks triggered a cyber crime summons, with authorities accusing her of spreading false and inflammatory content targeting state institutions.

Noreen Niazi, sister of jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, has said the Pakistani military fabricated a “victory narrative” around India’s Operation Sindoor to cover battlefield failures.

In a scathing interview, Niazi said the four-day conflict did not unfold the way Pakistan’s generals and leadership portrayed it to the public. She said India’s Operation Sindoor was a massive success and the Pakistan Army was trying to hide its defeat.

The remarks have rattled Pakistan’s establishment. Within hours, the country’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) summoned Niazi over alleged dissemination of “false, offensive and inflammatory” social media content targeting the military and state institutions.

“You have been found to have disseminated false, offensive and inflammatory social media content to defame state institutions and spread fake narratives,” said the notice.

In a shocking revelation, Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s sister, Noreen Niazi, discloses that the Pakistan Army lost war against India and also reveals US President Trump intervened to save Pak.#OperationSindoor pic.twitter.com/4Xtzpe71SS

— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) July 19, 2026

Niazi made two explosive claims without offering evidence. First, she alleged that India deliberately held back from further escalation due to a “tacit understanding” linked to Israel.

According to her, the episode was aimed at facilitating Islamabad’s entry into the Abraham Accords as Pakistan moved toward recognising Israel.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/operation-sindoor-was-indias-success-pakistan-army-hid-defeat-former-pak-pm-imran-khans-sister

 

The Pentagon confirmed three US military deaths over the weekend, including two at a military base in Jordan and one in northern Iraq.

US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Iran of strong retaliation after three American service members were killed over the weekend, saying the country would pay “many times over” for the deaths.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!”

He added that he had issued instructions to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior military leaders.

“This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military,” Trump said.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/every-time-iran-kills-an-american-soldier-trumps-chilling-warning-to-tehran-ws-l-10223887.html

The MEA said the MV Golden Leo was attacked while departing the Ukrainian port of Odesa on July 19 and condemned attacks on commercial shipping.

Four Indian nationals were killed after the commercial vessel MV Golden Leo came under attack while departing the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Sunday, according to an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The deceased crew members were identified as Mustafa Ammar, Ayman Deifallah, Rakan Bishara, Yasser Santli, Muhammad Al-Baghdadi, Akhil Joyan, Gurpreet Singh Bhatt, Jagan Singh and Abhishek Nishad.

The vessel had 17 crew members on board when the attack took place, and out of them, nine crew members lost their lives. The MEA said India’s mission in Ukraine is closely monitoring the situation and is making every effort to provide all possible assistance to those affected.

“As per information available, four Indian nationals have tragically lost their lives, while one is hospitalised in a critical condition. Our Mission in Ukraine is closely monitoring the situation and is making every effort to extend all possible assistance to those affected. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased Indian nationals and wish the injured Indian national a speedy and full recovery,” the ministry said in a statement.

The government also strongly condemned the attack, reiterating that commercial vessels and civilian crew members should not be targeted under any circumstances.

Following the tragic incident at the under-construction tunnel of the NHPC Teesta Stage VI Hydroelectric Project at Samardung, Jholungey, in Namchi District, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji spoke with me to enquire about the situation and the ongoing rescue…

— Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) (@PSTamangGolay) July 21, 2026

“India condemns such attacks and reiterates that targeting commercial shipping and endangering innocent civilian crew members, or otherwise impeding freedom of navigation and commerce, is deplorable and should be avoided,” the statement added.

The MEA did not disclose further details about the circumstances of the attack or the identities of the Indian nationals. It said India’s Mission in Ukraine remains in close contact with the relevant authorities and is continuing to monitor the situation while extending all possible support to those affected.

The attack on MV Golden Leo comes amid continued security concerns in the Black Sea region, where commercial shipping has faced repeated threats since the conflict in Ukraine escalated.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/four-indians-killed-one-critically-injured-in-attack-on-commercial-vessel-near-ukraines-odesa-ws-l-10223790.html

 

The Argentina captain also thanked supporters for their messages and the backing they gave the team throughout the tournament.

Lionel Messi on Monday said the pain from Argentina’s World Cup final defeat was “immense” and that it would take a long time for the disappointment to heal.

“The pain is immense and it will take time for this wound to heal,” Messi wrote on Instagram in his first reaction after Argentina lost the final to Spain. He shared the message alongside a picture of himself wearing his runners-up medal after the defeat.

Messi said he would continue to remember the positive moments from Argentina’s campaign and praised the team’s journey to another World Cup final.

“I’ll also hold on to all the good things,” Messi wrote. “Today it is difficult to appreciate what we achieved, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals.”

The Argentina captain also thanked supporters for their messages and the backing they gave the team throughout the tournament.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and every message,” Messi said. “Once again, we managed to come together as a country and stand united, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.”

He also congratulated Spain on their victory, adding, “I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.”

Spain Edge Argentina To Lift World Cup Trophy

Spain won their second World Cup title on Sunday after Ferran Torres scored an extra-time winner to defeat Messi’s Argentina 1-0 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

More than 80,000 fans watched a tense final in which Spain controlled much of the match, while Argentina struggled to create chances. The defending champions were reduced to 10 players in extra time after Enzo Fernandez was sent off following a second yellow card.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/this-wound-will-take-time-to-heal-messi-breaks-silence-after-argentinas-world-cup-defeat-ws-l-10224006.html

 

A prominent black Big Apple politician compared Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s comrades in the Democratic Socialists of America to white supremacists as a bitter rift between Democrats spilled onto social media.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards breathed new life into a longstanding complaint among minority lawmakers that the largely lily-white DSA ignores race in its crusade to grow its ranks and dismantle capitalism.

“White supremacy comes in all forms,” Richards posted on social media late Sunday.

White supremacy comes in all forms. https://t.co/w4qyN2Lip7

— Donovan Richards Jr. (@DRichardsQNS) July 20, 2026

The slap erupted from an debate online after a report in the New York Times that highlighted how the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party focuses on furthering the group’s agenda and largely has blinders on when it comes to black and Latino members and issues important to them in the five boroughs.

A DSA state Assemblymember, Phara Souffrant Forrest, attacked the Times reporter and whined that the story omitted that a black member of the group has repped one of the nabes mentioned — seemingly without fully reading the story.

Richards had responded after another journalist pointed out the article had already addressed her complaint.

He then doubled down on the accusation, sharing a famous Malcolm X quote that caustically labeled white liberals “dangerous foxes, who also show their teeth to the Negro but pretend that they are smiling.”

“The white liberals are more dangerous than the conservatives; they lure the Negro, and as the Negro runs from the growling wolf, he flees into the open jaws of the ‘smiling’ fox,” the quote states.

The DSA’s recent rise as a viable force with the Democratic Party stoked chatter of an intraparty civil war between the far-left radicals and more moderate establishment figures sharply split on Israel and hiking taxes on the rich.

And for all the DSA faction’s lip service on race and social justice, many minority voters in New York and beyond look askance at its actual policies and priorities – with the National Black Empowerment Action Fund, for one, contending their agenda is bad for African-Americans.

The DSA has backed candidates from minority backgrounds, including two of its most prominent members — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Latina, and Mamdani, who is Uganda-born — but the group’s makeup is overwhelmingly white.

A 2021 survey found 85% of the DSA is white.

The group also has faced accusations that it uses vulnerable districts to parachute in one of its own people instead of recruiting a candidate – often in opposition to seasoned black and Latino contenders.

Mamdani himself, during the June Democratic primaries, endorsed two DSA congressional candidates – Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez – over incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, pols with proven track records and minority backgrounds.

Chevalier and Valdez both won the contests, largely carrying areas flush with upper-income, young and white voters.

https://t.co/Yk8kxtlljg pic.twitter.com/iqta5APlbs

— Donovan Richards Jr. (@DRichardsQNS) July 20, 2026

Political operative Ryan Adams, who works as managing director at Actum, pointed out the DSA previously lost races in neighborhoods where the population is made up overwhelmingly with people of color before the generational political talent Mamdani became their standard bearer.

“While they are electing diverse candidates, the growth of DSA is coming in places that are seeing the most gentrification,” Adams said.

“Socialism has a long history with communities of color, but it’s hard to argue the recent activity has been deeply intertwined with the communities.”

Richards is a liberal Democrat who has represented Queens for more than 13 years after being elected borough president in 2020, following an eight-year stint on the City Council.

His and Mamdani’s beef has emphasized the growing chasm in the party as the mayor and his pals try to drag the party farther left while the progressive folks — once considered the left wing of the city’s Democratic Party — attempt to maintain city institutions and hold onto the reins of the party.

Richards endorsed Mamdani after he secured the Democratic nomination for mayor last year, but the fellow Queens lawmaker has not hesitated to take the young mayor to task in the days since.

The borough prez first went after Mamdani just weeks into his tenure when his admin cried poverty with city coffers running dry, claiming the only way New York City could survive was a whopping 9.5% property tax increase.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/07/20/us-news/black-nyc-politician-slams-dsa-as-white-supremacy-as-growing-dem-feud-spills-onto-social-media/

 

 

US president insists Netanyahu will not be arrested, despite ICC warrant.

United States President Donald Trump has dismissed a threat from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to arrest Israel’s prime minister for war crimes should he visit the city.

Trump insisted that Benjamin Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form” while in the US.

The president made the pledge on Monday in a social media post that did not name Mamdani directly but credited Israel with helping the US in its war on Iran.

Mamdani earlier said his administration is still considering whether to arrest Netanyahu should he attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this September.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said in an interview published on Saturday.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024, charging him with committing war crimes during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani said, adding his view is shared by many, given the actions the Israeli PM has “wrought over these last many years”.

Mamdani said he remains uncertain whether he has the legal authority to direct the police, which he oversees, to detain a foreign leader and that he is in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department.

“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” he said.

During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani warned that he would order police to arrest Netanyahu if he set foot in the city, framing it as enforcement of the ICC warrant.

Netanyahu typically travels to New York each September for the UN gathering.

Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/20/trump-rejects-mamdani-threat-to-arrest-israels-netanyahu-for-war-crimes

STAFFERS on The Howard Stern Show are furious with their multi-millionaire boss after the gut-wrenching layoffs last week, insiders have told The U.S. Sun.

The shock jock, 72, gave his loyal team members a painfully small severance and a strict NDA as he let go of a dozen employees last week.

As The U.S. Sun exclusively reported, Stern‘s fired staffers include 27-year Stern Show vet Benjy Bronk as well as beloved talent Memet Walker, Jon Blitt and Mike Trainor.

“Everyone is grumbling about how he couldn’t figure out a way for the rest of his team to finish out the remainder of his three-year contract,” a source told The U.S. Sun exclusively.

“He’s a millionaire who got there with the help of his team, it’s incredible that these guys, who are all older, have to go and hit the pavement when they should be simply focused on retirement.”

Meanwhile, sources claimed the severance package given to these dedicated employees, some of whom worked for Stern for the entirety of his 20 years with SiriusXM, is simply shocking.

One insider claimed employees got just a little over a week’s worth of pay for every year worked.

“You’d think Howard would have been generous with these guys, some who worked for him for decades, but nope!” the source fumed.

“Each decade of service to the show got just two months of severance, and a horrible NDA saying they’ll lose even that if they say a f***ing word.”

Typical severance in the media industry is around two weeks of pay per year of employment.

The insider added that the staffers let go after a Zoom call on July 13 were told to leave immediately.

“They were gone that day,” one stunned insider added.

The U.S. Sun reached out to reps for Stern’s show for comment.

As The U.S. Sun previously revealed, several on-air talent were axed in the layoff and the remaining employees have been “walking on eggshells.”

Producers and on-air talent alike were kicked to the curb as Stern gears up to cut back to a single new show per week, dropping down from the three days he originally promised listeners when he re-signed his three-year deal back in December.

According to one insider, “They let go of Benjy Bronk, who had been a huge figure on the show. He was there for more than 25 years.”

The same source noted that fellow on-air personality Jon Blitt was cut as well.

Another source claimed that fan favorites Memet Walker and Mike Trainor were also caught in the wave of layoffs.

Mike Trainor has thus far been the only on-air staffer of the four to confirm the news of his layoff, as the strict NDA may be stopping others from making an announcement.

The team got the bad news during a brutal Zoom meeting, where they learned their star host is scaling back his schedule after his return from summer break in September.

The radio legend revealed his new SiriusXM deal back in December 2025, right before his old contract was about to run out, even admitting on air earlier that week he wasn’t positive he was going to re-sign.

When making the announcement, he told his audience the new setup would offer him “More free time, and continue to be on the radio.”

His fresh 2026 routine was slated to bring live shows every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern, but just weeks into the new arrangement, Stern ended up missing two of his scheduled broadcasts.

After Stern failed to show up on February 2, listeners saw the writing on the wall and figured major layoffs were right around the corner.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/16719488/howard-stern-staff-layoffs-nda-severance-ruthless/

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has issued a furious warning that Iran will “pay many times over” for every American soldier it kills.

The threat came after the Pentagon named two young troops who died while defending a military base from an Iranian missile and drone attack.

The fallen troops were identified Monday as a 19-year-old private from Texas and a 25-year-old first lieutenant from Hawaii.

“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president said the directive had been passed to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Daniel Caine and “every Leader in the Military.”

Pvt. Isabella Gonzales and First Lt. Tyler James Feehan died following Friday’s attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, east of Amman, Jordan.

Gonzales was from Carrollton, Texas, while Feehan was from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, the Defense Department said.

The Pentagon did not release further details about the exact circumstances surrounding their deaths.

However, US Central Command said the two soldiers were killed while defending American and partner forces against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.

Feehan had been assigned to an Army missile defense command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Gonzales served with a missile defense command based in Ansbach, Germany.

Four other US service members were evacuated to hospitals in Jordan after the attack but have since been discharged.

A third soldier was initially listed as missing after the barrage.

CENTCOM said unidentified human remains were recovered Sunday from the site of the strike.

Examinations are underway to determine whether the remains belong to the missing service member.

Another American service member was killed Saturday in a separate incident in northern Iraq.

Officials said the soldier died during the “controlled detonation” of unexploded material from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.

A second service member suffered a minor injury and remained under medical care.

“Our hearts go out to these families,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Sunday.

“These are heroes that pay the ultimate price.”

The deaths came as the US carried out a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran and reportedly moved additional warplanes toward the Middle East.

F-16 fighter jets based in Germany and F-35 stealth jets stationed in Britain were being deployed to the region, officials told The New York Times.

CENTCOM said the latest operation targeted Iranian command centers, air defenses, coastal surveillance facilities, missile and drone launch sites, maritime assets and communications networks.

The latest casualties bring the number of American service members killed since the US and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28 to 17.

President Donald Trump said the latest wave of strikes against Iran was carried out in honor of the fallen troops.

“We feel very badly, but you know those great people, those great patriots, were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said after returning from the World Cup final in New Jersey.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16718750/two-soldiers-killed-iranian-missile-attack-pentagon-names/

Andy Burnham pledged to “bring back hope” to Britain, as he began his tenure as prime minister by appointing Labour stalwart John Healey as chancellor.

In his first speech to the nation in Downing Street, Burnham said he wanted to bring forward the “biggest changes in the last 40 years” to British politics.

He outlined his intention to unveil a 10-year “new plan for Britain” later this year, explaining this would lay out a path to where he believes “we all want Britain to be”.

Burnham promised to make announcements this week to “give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living” and explain how he would pay for them.

Burnham also started making cabinet appointments after removing loyalists of former PM Sir Keir Starmer. Out went Rachel Reeves as chancellor, David Lammy as deputy prime minister and justice secretary, and Steve Reed as communities secretary.

Healey, who quit Sir Keir’s government due to a row over defence spending, was in as chancellor.

With Burnham saying he wants to honour the UK’s commitments on defence spending, Healey will face the challenge of finding the extra money he believed the last government failed to deliver to keep the UK safe.

Speaking to broadcasters, Healey said the pair will “work in lockstep to meet the fiscal rules with a buffer against uncertainty” and on how they will “make life more affordable for working people right across the UK”.

Ed Miliband moves from energy secretary to foreign secretary, replacing Yvette Cooper who is now the health secretary.

Miliband told the BBC it was the “honour of my lifetime” to become foreign secretary, a role his brother David held between 2007 and 2010.

Shabana Mahmood remains as home secretary and Louise Haigh takes on the role of Burnham’s fixer across government, serving as first secretary of state, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Office.

Angela Rayner returned to a cabinet job as housing secretary, a role she previously held in Sir Keir’s government. She stood down in September 2025 after admitting she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove.

Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who at one stage was seen as a possible leadership challenger, is the new defence secretary.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch welcomed Burnham to his new role but said he has not “set out a clear plan for government”.

She said “Britain needs a leader who can take difficult decisions, not a people pleaser” and criticised him for “promising to undo Margaret Thatcher’s policies”.

Burnham’s first policy pledge as PM was to end rough sleeping in the country, something he promised for Greater Manchester but failed to achieve during his time as mayor for the area.

Burnham also spoke of his ambition to help more young people into work, build more council homes and honour the UK’s commitments on defence spending.

He said: “We will help people to live well, building a more preventative state, investing in people’s success rather than paying for failure.”

Burnham added: “Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity. Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again, the moment we bring back hope.”

Burnham later told reporters that he would be “looking at” the tax-free personal allowance ahead of his first budget in the autumn, after the issue was repeatedly raised during his successful by-election campaign in Makerfield.

But he stressed that changing it would be “difficult” in the current economic circumstances.

Asked if he could pay for a change by reintroducing the 50p top rate of tax, he said it was “premature to say that”.

The standard personal allowance is currently £12,570, which is the amount of income someone does not have to pay tax on.

Burnham also said he “does not want to leave office” without reforming the social care system.

He said that Westminster’s record on the issue over the last 30 years was “not defensible”.

Little more than a month after he secured his return to Parliament as MP for Makerfield, Burnham found himself having an audience with King Charles III in Buckingham Palace for almost 35 minutes on Monday.

He was asked to form a new administration, accepted and made the short journey to Downing Street to announce the news, to cheers and applause from a large crowd of his supporters.

Unlike his predecessors, Burnham opted not to use a lectern and did not have any notes to hand as he stood in front of the famous black No 10 door to address the nation.

Burnham said: “I’m acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last 10 years to walk up this street, the seventh prime minister since 2016, making this a moment for reflection and new resolution.

“It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge. Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge – to make politics work, to make it work better.”

Burnham described the moment as a “circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years – a new political model and a new economic model”.

After his speech had finished, the new PM kissed his wife, Marie-France van Heel. He also shook hands with supporters before entering No 10.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Edward Davey said it was “disappointing not to hear anything from the new PM on social care, on Europe, or on protecting our precious natural environment”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for a general election, saying Burnham “cannot be allowed to make the ‘biggest changes in politics for 40 years’ without a mandate”.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said now is the time for “bold politics”.

He said: “The prime minister’s speech today will leave many sceptical that Andy Burnham really plans to challenge the wealth and power of the establishment and it all starts to look and sound like more of the same.”

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9w2e29eno

The strike comes as Ukraine launched more than hundreds of drones at Moscow after a Russian missile barrage on Kyiv, as President Zelenskyy sought to calm growing tensions over Ukraine’s military leadership.

Russia said Monday that a Ukrainian strike on a bus in the border region of Belgorod killed five civilians, including a minor, and left three others critically injured.

The attack came after a Ukrainian retaliatory strike on Moscow, with city officials reporting that more than 400 drones targeted the Russian capital.

The latest escalation followed Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities over the weekend.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian attacks on Pavlograd and Kramatorsk killed two people in each city, according to local authorities.

Officials also reported one person killed in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia during Russian bombardment.

Both sides have previously denied targeting civilians.

Ukraine launches large-scale drone attack on Moscow

Ukraine targeted the Russian capital with more than 400 drones from Sunday into Monday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

He added that most of the drones were intercepted, but Moscow region Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said at least 10 people were wounded by Ukrainian drones.

Several residential buildings and civilian infrastructure facilities were also damaged.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were targeting Russian logistics facilities and an oil depot in the region.

“We are responding, justly, to every Russian strike against our cities and communities,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/russia-says-bus-strike-kills-5-in-border-region-with-ukraine/a-78039260