Category: World

Bill Clinton said he “saw nothing that ever gave me pause” during the time he spent with Jeffrey Epstein. It is the first time a former president has been compelled to testify to Congress.

Former US President Bill Clinton told lawmakers on Friday that he had “no idea” about the crimes committed by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said, as he faced hours of questioning from a US congressional committee about his ties to the disgraced financier.

“Even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause,” Clinton added.

As proceedings began, the committee’s Republican chairman, James Comer, said Clinton would be asked about photos, emails and travel movements in connection with Epstein.

The closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York, marks the first time a former US president has been compelled to testify to Congress.

What do we know about Clinton’s ties to Epstein?

Bill Clinton’s testimony comes a day after his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, told the panel that she did not recall meeting Epstein and had no knowledge of his crimes.

But Bill Clinton’s relationship with Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was well documented. Epstein is known to have visited the White House a number of times while Clinton was president. Clinton also traveled in Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office.

Clinton, who served as US president from January 1993 until January 2001, told the committee that ‌he would never have used Epstein’s plane if he had known about his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls.

Epstein was jailed in 2008 for soliciting ‌prostitution from a minor. He died by suicide in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking crimes.

“We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long,” Clinton said. “By the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him.”

Bill Clinton appears in several photographs with women whose faces have been redacted — part of a tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department. In one of the images, he has his arm around a woman on a plane. In another, he’s in a pool with Maxwell and a third person whose face is redacted.

Bill Clinton was also expected to face questions about Epstein’s alleged role in the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative.

The Clintons have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/bill-clinton-tells-lawmakers-he-did-nothing-wrong-with-epstein/a-76159288

The row between Anthropic, a much vaunted AI startup, and the Trump administration, is sharply escalating. The Pentagon wants complete access to its models, despite safety and ethical concerns.

The US government says it will pull AI startup Anthropic from Pentagon supply chains and rip up any agreements it has with it as the row between the two escalates sharply.

US Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael strongly rebuked Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Thursday, calling him a “liar” with a “God-complex.” He said Amodei “wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US military and is ok putting our nation’s safety at risk.”

The row follows a meeting earlier this week between Amodei and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, where — according to sources familiar with the meeting — Hegseth told Anthropic it had until Friday (February 27) to give the US military full access to its Claude model.

If access is not given, Hegseth threatened to cut AI group Anthropic from government supply chains, or possibly compel it to prioritize government orders, according to the sources.

Anthropic has so far refused to give Washington complete access to its models for classified military use, including for potentially lethal missions carried out without human control and for domestic mass surveillance.

In a statement on Thursday, Amodei said, “Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions. We have never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner. However, in a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.”

While Anthropic’s Claude model is currently used by the Pentagon, Amodei says he believes the company’s red lines of mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons “need to be deployed with proper guardrails, which don’t exist today.”

It’s the latest example of Washington’s strong-arm tactics in the corporate sector, while it also shows how control over AI models is becoming a new battleground for the Trump administration. It is also likely to prompt a legal battle between the government and Anthropic.

What exactly has Hegseth threatened and why?

Hegseth called Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to Washington for a meeting on Tuesday. An Anthropic spokesperson confirmed the meeting took place and told DW:

“We continued good-faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government’s national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly do.”

However, sources familiar with the talks said Hegseth made two direct threats to Amodei if Anthropic did not comply.

One was to cut the company out of the Pentagon’s supply chain, while the other would be to invoke the Defense Production Act, a measure from the Cold War era, which gives the US president the power to control domestic industry in the supposed interest of national defense.

Hegseth wants the Pentagon to have unrestricted access to Anthropic’s generative AI chatbot Claude, but Anthropic, which has long billed itself as a safety-oriented AI company, has been consistently opposed.

The company is firmly against its Claude technology being used in operations where final military targeting decisions are taken without human intervention, or for mass surveillance within the United States.

“To our knowledge, these two exceptions have not been a barrier to accelerating the adoption and use of our models within our armed forces to date,” Amodei said in the statement of February 26.

“Anthropic views these things as being not in humanity’s long-term best interest, at least at the current level of technology and safety guardrails that exist, whereas the Pentagon is pushing to have any lawful use that it wants,” Geoffrey Gertz, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told DW.

He says talk of invoking the Defense Production Act would be an attempt to exert control over an AI company in an “unprecedented” way, and he is concerned that it could thwart Anthropic’s development.

“There’s a big worry that the government ends up taking actions that hurt Anthropic’s ability to continue to be at the forefront of responsible AI,” he said. “Actions that are trying to curtail Anthropic’s potential markets, I think, could be very harmful and really backfire on what the administration is trying to do on AI policy.”

What has been the relationship between Anthropic and the US military?

Since November 2024, Anthropic has been providing the Claude model to US intelligence and defense agencies.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the US military used Claude during the 2026 raid on Venezuela which resulted in the capture of Nicolas Maduro. Neither Anthropic nor the US defense department commented on the claims, and it is not clear precisely how the AI system was used in the raid.

The threat by Hegseth to remove Anthropic from Pentagon supply chains would have a financial impact on the company.

In July 2025, the US Department of Defense awarded Anthropic a $200 million contract to “prototype frontier AI capabilities that advance US national security.”

Anthropic hailed the arrangement, with Thiyagu Ramasamy, the company’s head of public sector, saying it opened “a new chapter in Anthropic’s commitment to supporting US national security.”

However, at the time, it also emphasized its commitment to “responsible AI deployment.”

“At the heart of this work lies our conviction that the most powerful technologies carry the greatest responsibility,” it said in a statement. “We’re building AI systems to be reliable, interpretable, and steerable precisely because we recognize that in government contexts, where decisions affect millions and stakes couldn’t be higher, these qualities are essential.”

Is Anthropic as safety-oriented as it says?

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by seven former employees of OpenAI. According to CEO Dario Amodei, it was built “on a simple principle: AI should be a force for human progress, not peril.”

However, despite the row with the Pentagon, there are signs that Anthropic is reconsidering that commitment in pursuit of commercial ambitions.

On Tuesday (February 24), the same day as the Hegseth meeting, the company announced it was softening its core safety policy to remain competitive with other leading AI models.

“The policy environment has shifted toward prioritizing AI competitiveness and economic growth, while safety-oriented discussions have yet to gain meaningful traction at the federal level,” Anthropic said in a blog post announcing the changes.

Anthropic faces intense competition from AI rivals such as OpenAI and Google and is making the policy pivot as a result of what it sees as a lack of AI regulation at the federal level. The Trump administration has resisted AI regulation at both the state and federal levels.

The spokesperson for Anthropic told DW that the policy shift was unrelated to the Pentagon negotiations.

What ethical questions are at stake?

If Anthropic submits to Hegseth’s demands, or if the defense department were to take control of Anthropic by invoking the Defense Production Act, it would inevitably lead to accusations that the company’s AI was no longer being used with a safety-first mindset.

The issue also shines a light on the Trump administration’s strong willingness to directly intervene in corporate decision-making and in sectors it deems of critical importance.

In August 2025, the Trump administration announced it had made a $8.9 billion investment in Intel, part of a series of moves to directly intervene in US chipmaking.

It has also intervened directly in the rare-earth sector, making major investments in firms such as Vulcan Elements, MP Materials and USA Rare Earth.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/anthropic-pentagon-ai-hegseth-trump-defense-military-spending-ethics-safety/a-76119912

The military cargo plane was carrying Bolivian banknotes which scattered on the highway upon impact. The police tried to disperse locals who rushed to grab the money.

A military cargo plane carrying banknotes skidded off the runway near Bolivia’s capital La Paz on Friday and crashed into a busy avenue.

Officials said 15 people had died into the incident and at least 30 others were injured.

Fire Chief Pavel Tovar did not clarify if the dead were in the plane or in the cars on the highway in the city of El Alto, which is adjacent to La Paz.

Crash triggers cash grab

Videos on social media and those reported by local media show the C-130 Hercules transport plane veering off the runway, into a busy highway where it damaged about a dozen vehicles, before coming to rest in a field.

The aircraft was carrying Bolivian bank notes which scattered when the plane crashed.

Other images on social media showed locals rushing to grab the scattered money while the police dressed in riot gear tried to disperse them.

Fire fighters managed to extinguish the flames from the crash.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/bolivia-15-killed-in-cargo-plane-crash-near-la-paz/a-76159956

Israel’s attack comes amid soaring tensions between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs.

Israel has launched a “preemptive” strike against Iran, the country’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Saturday.

He described the attack as being done “to remove threats.” He did not immediately elaborate.

An explosion rang out Saturday in Iran’s capital, Tehran, witnesses said. It wasn’t immediately clear what the target was.

There was no immediate comment from the Iranian government.

Why did Israel attack Iran?

The attack comes amid soaring tensions between Iran and the US over Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs. Washington has deployed a vast fleet of fighter jets and warships to the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal.

Meanwhile, sirens sounded across Israel.

The Israeli military said it was a “proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the state of Israel.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/israel-says-launched-preemptive-strike-against-iran/a-76160973

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Israeli FM Gideon Sa’ar and Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi, urging dialogue and diplomacy amid escalating regional tensions. India also advised nationals in Syria to avoid unnecessary travel. Meanwhile, Indians were stranded in the UAE, and over 1,000 students in Iran sought safety assurances.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday spoke with his counterparts in Israel and Iran amid the escalating tensions in West Asia and reiterated India’s stance of de-escalating tensions through dialogue and diplomacy.

“Spoke with Israeli FM Gideon Sa’ar this afternoon. Reiterate India’s call for dialogue and diplomacy to de-escalate tensions,” Jaishankar posted on X about his call with FM Gideon Sa’ar.

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Spoke with Israeli FM Gideon Sa’ar this afternoon. Reiterate India’s call for dialogue and diplomacy to de-escalate tensions. @gidonsaar

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 28, 2026

In a separate post on X, he said that during his call with FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi, he shared India’s “deep concern at the recent developments”.

“Had a telecon with Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi this evening. Shared India’s deep concern at the recent developments in Iran and the region. @araghchi,” Jaishankar posted on X.

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Had a telecon with Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi this evening.
Shared India’s deep concern at the recent developments in Iran and the region. @araghchi

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 28, 2026

Earlier, the Indian Embassy in Syria also issued an advisory to Indian nationals in the country to “avoid unnecessary travel” and take “due care” amid the tensions.

“In view of the current regional situation, all Indian nationals in Syria are advised to avoid unnecessary travel, take due care, remain vigilant, follow safety guidelines and advisories as and when issued by the Embassy and the Syrian Authorities. For any emergency query, Indian nationals in Syria can contact the following number: Mobile No: +963-993385973,” the embassy posted on X.

Meanwhile, in United Arab Emirates, multiple passengers, including Indians, have been stranded at various airports across West Asia. Passengers were left stranded at Abu Dhabi airport after flight operations were disrupted following joint military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran.

Speaking to ANI, Sanjeev Mehta, an Indian passenger stranded at the airport, described scenes of panic and uncertainty. “I came to Abu Dhabi to attend a friend’s party over the weekend, and we are stuck here. Right now we are at the airport. Many alarms went off at the airport, and as the news suggests, some missiles have landed. Missile attacks have also taken place,” he said.

Concern has also increased among Indian students and their families amid the escalating tensions, as over a thousand Indian students, from Jammu and Kashmir, are studying in different cities of Iran, mainly in medical courses, and are feeling unsafe due to the tense situation.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/eam-s-jaishankar-reaches-out-to-israel-iran-india-pushes-diplomacy-over-conflict

 

Tom Hanks’ son Chet Hanks is stranded in Colombia.

“Ya’ll ready for story time?” Chet said in an Instagram video shared on Friday, noting that he travelled to Puerto Rico last week for his “home Max’s birthday party,” where he “had a good time.”

The “Running Point” actor — who is the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson — then explained he decided to take a detour to Medellin to visit a pal named Taylor.

“Sounds good, right?” he said while speaking to fans. “We’ll check this out.”

The actor and musician — who wore a black Los Angeles Dodgers ball cap, black shirt and heavy chain link necklace for the video — then shared how things had taken a stressful turn.

“I’m traveling with my Greek passport because I’m a dual citizen,” he said, adding that he didn’t use his American passport because it’s about to expire, “and sometimes they don’t let you in the country, even if it hasn’t expired, but it’s about to expire.”

He continued, “I go to the airport to check in [for] my flight three hours early.”

“This is an international flight. They tell me that if I’m using a foreign passport, I need a green card to get back into America.”

The incredulous “Surreal Life” alum then explained that he doesn’t “have a green card because I’m an American citizen,” so he’s “literally stuck in Colombia. I’m stuck in Medellin.”

He added, “Granted, there’s worse places to be stuck, but I literally have no f–king idea what I’m gonna do, and the only embassy to get this s–t settled is in Bogota.”

Chet shared that he doesn’t “want to go to Bogota,” which is roughly an hour away from Medellin by air, “so free me.”

A rep for Chet did not immediately return Page Six’s request for additional comment on Saturday.

Followers took to the comments thread with advice, jokes and sympathy. “Better call someone in your family to have them FedEx your passport to you ASAP,” one person wrote, with another responding, “Tom Hanks doesn’t have the best of luck with FedEx” — referencing the Oscar winner’s iconic turn in “Cast Away,” in which his character crashes on a deserted island aboard a FedEx airplane.

A third joked, “Time to start a family out there 😂,” while a fourth quipped, “The one time you should’ve pulled the “my dad is…” card.”

Still, others were amused by Chet’s declaration that he doesn’t have a green card. “Crying at I don’t have a green card cuz I’m an American citizen 😂” one Instagram user chimed in.

Chet, 35, appeared to have been making the most of the predicament — via Instagram Stories on Friday, the rapper shared clips from a dance club, where revelers danced among laser lights and fog.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/28/celebrity-news/tom-hanks-son-chet-trapped-in-colombia-without-us-passport/

Iran carried out attacks targeting locations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, as well as Doha in Qatar and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, was evacuated after explosions were heard across the city as Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes targeting US military locations across the Gulf following joint American and Israeli attacks on Tehran, as per media reports.

Iran carried out attacks targeting locations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, as well as Doha in Qatar and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Residents in Dubai told AFP they heard loud explosions and saw missiles moving across the sky.

“It was a big explosion, and it made the windows shake,” one witness said.

A first wave of explosions had been reported earlier in the day, followed by more blasts later.

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said a civilian of Asian nationality was killed after missile debris fell in a residential area of Abu Dhabi.

“Such acts constitute a dangerous escalation and a cowardly act that threatens the safety of civilians and undermines stability,” the ministry said in a statement.

US-Israel Strike Tehran, Iran Responds

The missile strikes followed joint US-Israeli operations against Iran earlier in the day.

The Pentagon named the operation targeting Tehran “Operation Epic Fury”. Israel claimed that Mohammad Pakpour, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in the strikes.

Iran responded by launching what the Israeli military described as a “barrage of missiles” toward Israel.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-israel-iran-strikes-live-updates-burj-khalifa-evacuated-as-israel-iran-conflict-reaches-dubais-doorstep-11150407?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

The US and Israel launched a major offensive on Iran on Saturday, with President Donald Trump calling on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” and overthrow the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday said it is working on alternate flight plans for players and officials returning from the T20 World Cup in India and Sri lanka amid the disruption caused by the US strikes on Iran. The T20 showpiece that began on February 7 will wind up on March 8 and featured 20 teams, of which six still remain in the fray, including co-hosts India. “The safety and well-being of every individual connected to our event is the ICC’s highest priority. We have already mobilised our travel, logistics and security teams, and are working around the clock to ensure that all stakeholders can return home safely, with minimal disruption,” the ICC spokesperson said in a statement.

“We would also urge fans who have travelled or were planning to travel for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to monitor closely and adhere to advisories being issued and consider all factors before undertaking any further international travel.” The ICC acknowledged that a significant number of personnel – including players, team management, match officials, broadcast teams, and event staff – rely on Gulf hub airports, particularly Dubai, as key transit points for onward travel to their home countries upon concluding their commitments at the event.

Keeping these factors in mind, the ICC said its ‘travel and logistics’ team is actively working with major international carriers to identify and secure alternative routing options, including connections through European, South Asian and South-East Asian hubs.

“The ICC security consultants are liaising with relevant authorities and will provide real-time advisories as the situation develops. A dedicated ICC Travel Support Desk has also been activated,” the game’s apex body said in the statement.

Source : https://sports.ndtv.com/t20-world-cup-2026/icc-activates-plan-b-as-iran-conflict-impacts-t20-world-cup-travel-11150141

Iran has the third-highest proven oil reserves in the world, making it an extremely important country

The US and Israeli strikes on Iran, and Tehran’s subsequent retaliation, have not only raised the specter of a wider regional war, but also forced the energy markets to brace for disruption. Analysts warn that crude prices, which are already sensitive to geopolitical shocks, could spike sharply if supply routes or production infrastructure are hit.

IRAN REMAINS MAJOR OIL PRODUCER

Bill Clinton told lawmakers on Friday that he “saw nothing that gave me pause” when he spent time with Jeffrey Epstein, as the former president gave closed-door testimony about his relationship with the late sex offender.
Clinton’s closed-door appearance before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee marked the first time a current or former president has been compelled to testify before Congress.

Democrats on the panel said President Donald Trump should be subpoenaed as well, but the committee’s Republican chairman, James Comer said that was not going to happen.
Both men socialized with Epstein before his 2008 conviction of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Both have repeatedly said they did not see any evidence of sex trafficking, and neither have been accused by authorities of criminal activity related to the late financier, who entertained a long list of business and financial leaders at his lavish residences in New York, Florida and the Caribbean.
In his testimony, Clinton told the committee that he would not have flown on the late financier’s plane if he had known about his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls, and would have reported him if he did.

“We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long,” Clinton said, speaking near his main residence in Chappaqua, New York.
Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office, and a tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photos of Clinton with women whose faces are redacted.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said.
Comer described the hearing as cordial and said Clinton was cooperative. “He’s a charming individual, obviously,” he said.
Clinton said the committee should not have subpoenaed his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the panel on Thursday that she did not remember ever meeting Epstein and had nothing to share about his sex crimes.
She said she was also asked about UFOs and a 2016-era conspiracy theory during the seven-hour session.

Comer said some of Hillary Clinton’s answers had been inconsistent and would be examined for possible perjury.
He did not rule out the possibility of subpoenaing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who visited Epstein’s Caribbean island after his 2008 conviction. “Stay tuned on that,” he said.
Democrats said the investigation would not be credible if it does not examine Trump’s role.
“President Clinton’s presence here today under oath highlights the Donald Trump-sized gaping hole in Chairman Comer’s investigation,” said Democratic Representative James Walkinshaw of Virginia.
Democrats are also accusing Trump’s Justice Department of withholding records of a woman who accused Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. The Justice Department has said it is looking at the material and will publish it if appropriate, and has also warned that the material includes unfounded accusations about Trump.
Trump’s name appears frequently in the Epstein files. He socialized extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s and says he broke off ties before Epstein’s 2008 conviction. Authorities have not accused him of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, but the association has dogged him for decades.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bill-clinton-give-private-testimony-congress-about-epstein-2026-02-27/

Satellite images showed a rise in the number of military support aircraft including refuelling tankers at a Saudi airbase used by the U.S. military during a four-day period in February, as Washington built forces in the region amid tensions with Iran.
Saudi Arabia, a longstanding U.S. ally, told Iran last month it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used for military actions against Tehran, which held indirect negotiations with Washington on Thursday over its nuclear programme.

In a high-resolution satellite image taken on February 21, at least 43 aircraft were visible at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Airbase – which has hosted U.S. forces for decades – compared with 27 aircraft visible in a February 17 image.
The number dropped to 38 in a February 25 image.

PLANES INCLUDE BOEING KC-135 STRATOTANKERS

The aircraft in the February 21 image included 13 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers and six Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft known as AWACS, among a total of 29 large, swept-wing aircraft parked at the base, William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground, told Reuters.
In the February 17, medium-resolution image, 11 large, swept-wing aircraft were visible, according to a Reuters tally.

Asked for comment, the Pentagon said it had “nothing to provide”. The U.S. military does not usually comment on force movements.
The Saudi government’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oman, which is mediating between the United States and Iran, said the sides made progress in talks on Thursday, though there was no sign of a breakthrough that could avert potential U.S. strikes.
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said on Thursday the sides plan to resume negotiations soon after consultations in their countries’ capitals, with technical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/satellite-images-show-more-aircraft-saudi-airbase-used-by-us-forces-2026-02-27/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he is directing the government to stop work with Anthropic, and the Pentagon said it would declare the startup a supply-chain risk, dealing a major blow to the artificial intelligence lab after a showdown about technology guardrails.
Trump added there would be a six-month phase-out for the Defense Department and other agencies that use the company’s products. If Anthropic does not help with the transition, Trump said, he would use “the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow.”

The actions mark an extraordinary rebuke by the United States against one of the premier companies that has kept it in the lead on national security-critical AI, threatening to give Anthropic a pariah status that Washington until now had reserved for enemy suppliers. Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O), and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), are among Anthropic’s financial backers.
The moves further set a precedent that U.S. law alone would constrain how AI is deployed on the battlefield, with the Pentagon seeking to preserve all flexibility in defense and not be limited by warnings from the technology’s creators against powering weapons with unreliable AI.

In a statement, Anthropic said it would challenge any risk designation in court by the Department of Defense, which the Trump Administration has renamed the Department of War.
“We believe this designation would both be legally unsound and set a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government,” the company said.
“No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.”
Late on Friday, rival OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft (MSFT.O), Amazon and others, announced its own deal to deploy technology in the Defense Department’s classified network. CEO Sam Altman on X said the Pentagon shared its principles for human responsibility over weapon systems and for having no mass U.S. surveillance.

“We put them into our agreement,” Altman said of the points. “We also will build technical safeguards to ensure our models behave as they should, which the DoW also wanted.”
It was not immediately clear whether these contractual details differed from the red lines proposed by Anthropic. The Pentagon and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

‘NUCLEAR WAR’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Anthropic would be designated a supply-chain risk, following an impasse in months of talks on whether the company’s policies could constrain military action.
Meeting with Hegseth this week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei argued for weapons and surveillance limits and irked Pentagon officials. The Pentagon said U.S. law, not a private company, would determine how to defend the country.
The designation could bar tens of thousands of contractors from using Anthropic’s AI when working for the Pentagon. That represents an existential threat to its business with the government and could harm its private-sector relationships, said Franklin Turner, an attorney who specializes in government contracts.

“Blacklisting Anthropic is the contractual equivalent of nuclear war,” he said.
Similar U.S. action was taken to remove Chinese tech giant Huawei from the Pentagon’s supply chains. Starting in 2017, the U.S. restricted Defense Department use of Huawei equipment, prohibited federal agencies from purchasing its technology, and halted federal grant and loan funds for Huawei equipment.
Anthropic has raced to win fierce competition to sell novel technology to businesses and government, particularly for national security, ahead of a widely expected initial public offering. The company has said it has not finalized an IPO decision.
Saif Khan, who served in the National Security Council in former President Joe Biden’s White House, said the Defense Department’s action “may be the most draconian domestic AI regulation any government has ever issued.”
“The Department is arguably treating Anthropic as a greater national security threat than any Chinese AI companies, none of whom they’ve designated supply-chain risks,” Khan said.

‘KILLER ROBOTS’

Tech companies and the Pentagon have repeatedly locked horns since at least 2018, when employees at Alphabet’s Google protested against the Pentagon’s use of its AI to analyze drone footage. A rapprochement ensued with companies including Amazon and Microsoft jousting for defense business, while several big-tech CEOs pledged cooperation last year with the Trump administration.
But theoretical “killer robots” have worried human-rights and technology activists as wars in Ukraine and Gaza showcased increasingly automated systems. Bolder U.S. military action in the past year has added to these concerns, said Jack Shanahan, who had directed the Pentagon’s algorithmic warfare effort Project Maven.
“People might be a little bit more nervous about no restrictions,” Shanahan said. The White House’s legal sign-off could be “top cover for anybody that does anything that would potentially result in lack of due process, civilian casualties, collateral damage.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-is-directing-federal-agencies-cease-use-anthropic-technology-2026-02-27/

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif met Army Chief Asim Munir and senior military officials at the General Headquarters to review the security situation along the Afghanistan border. The meeting comes amid escalating cross-border clashes and increased military operations, as diplomatic efforts also intensify between the two countries.

Amid escalating tensions along the Afghanistan border, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reportedly held a meeting with Army Chief Asim Munir and senior military officials at the General Headquarters to review the security situation.

The visit comes as military operations and diplomatic activity intensify following days of cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to India Today.

During the meeting, discussions regarding the border situation, ongoing operations, and national security preparedness were held.

Air Strikes In Kabul & Kandahar

He was behind dozens of hits in the 1960s and ’70s, including Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Laughter in the Rain and Oh! Carol, a lament for his high school sweetheart, singer-songwriter Carole King.

Neil Sedaka, the hit-making singer-songwriter whose boyish soprano and bright melodies made him a top act in the early years of rock ‘n’ roll and led to a second run of success in the 1970s, has died.

Sedaka, whose hits included Breaking Up Is Hard to Do and Laughter in the Rain, died Friday at age 86.

“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” his family said in a statement. “A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.”

No other details of his death were immediately available.

A key member of the Brill Building songwriting factory, Sedaka teamed with lyricist and boyhood neighbour Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the teen innocence of the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles era of the late 1950s-early 1960s, including Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Calendar Girl and Oh! Carol, a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.

Source : https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/neil-sedaka-death-579066

A federal judge on Friday blocked Virginia from enforcing a new law that aimed to protect children from being addicted to social media by requiring age verification and limiting use by those under 16 to one hour per day.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles in Alexandria, Virginia, said the technology trade group NetChoice was likely to establish that the law unconstitutionally infringed the free speech rights of adults, children and its dozens of members, including Google, Meta Platforms, Netflix, Reddit and Elon Musk’s X.

The judge issued a preliminary injunction against the law known as Senate Bill 854, which had been signed last May by then-Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, and took effect on January 1, 2026.

NetChoice has also challenged similar laws in states, including California.

Virginia argued that the law was reasonably tailored to protect children from the “addictive features” of social media, and address a mental health crisis among youth.

But the judge said that notwithstanding Virginia’s interest in protecting children, the law was both overinclusive by requiring everyone, including adults, to verify their age, and underinclusive by exempting potentially addictive interactive gaming from coverage.

She also said the law treats “functionally equivalent” speech differently by preventing children from watching, for example, science, history and church programming lasting more than an hour that they could watch elsewhere, including streaming platforms.

“The court recognizes the Commonwealth’s compelling interest in protecting its youth from the harms associated with the addictive aspects of social media,” wrote Giles, an appointee of former Democratic President Joe Biden. “However, it cannot infringe on First Amendment rights, including those of the same youth it aims to protect.”

Rae Pickett, a spokesperson for Virginia’s Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones, said after the decision: “We look forward to continuing to enforce laws that empower parents to protect their children from the proven harms that can come through social media.”

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/judge-blocks-virginia-law-restricting-social-media-children-5959776

Robert Carradine’s cause of death has been confirmed after his tragic passing.

Page Six can exclusively confirm the beloved actor’s manner of death has been ruled a suicide, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office.

His cause of death is sequelae of anoxic brain injury from hanging.

According to the Brain Injury Association of America, an anoxic injury occurs when oxygen is cut off completely from the brain. Sequelae are conditions resulting from a prior disease, injury, or attack.

Carradine’s body has been released to his family.

TMZ was the first to report that Carradine died in a hospital.

On Feb. 23, the “Lizzie McGuire” star’s family shared Robert died by suicide after a two-decade battle with bipolar disorder. He was 71.

“It is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle, and brother Robert Carradine has passed away,” the family shared in a statement to the outlet.

“In a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon of light to everyone around him. We are bereft at the loss of this beautiful soul and want to acknowledge Bobby’s valiant struggle against his nearly two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder.

“We hope his journey can shine a light and encourage addressing the stigma that attaches to mental illness. At this time we ask for the privacy to grieve this unfathomable loss. With gratitude for your understanding and compassion,” the statement concluded.

In the same statement, Robert’s younger brother, actor Keith Carradine, explained the family shared the news because they wanted to bring awareness to mental health.

Robert was first diagnosed with the illness after his brother David died by asphyxiation in 2009.

“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” Keith expressed. “It is an illness that got the best of him, and I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul. He was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day. We will take solace in how funny he could be, how wise and utterly accepting and tolerant he was. That’s who my baby brother was.”

Shortly after, Ever Carradine, whom Robert shared with Susan Snyder, penned an emotional tribute on Instagram.

“My dad died today. My sweet, funny dad, who’s only 20 years older than I am, who never missed an opportunity to drive me to the airport or tell me how much he loved my homemade salad dressing, is gone,” the “Handmaid’s Tale” alum began, alongside a series of throwback photos with Robert.

“If you knew my dad, you know he’s the guy that’s always there. Invite him to dinner? He’s in. Kid’s Little League game in Simi Valley, just tell him what time. Red eye flight and need a ride home from the airport, just text him your column number after you get your bags,” the 51-year-old added.

Ever went on to describe her childhood, crediting her father for turning out “so normal.”

“I have a thousand stories and I’m being flooded with memories — so if you see me, please ask me about my dad, Bobby Carradine, who made me who I am. Rest easy, dad. I love you the most,” she concluded.

The cast of “Lizzie McGuire” also took to social media to share their memories of working with Robert on the hit Disney Channel show from 2001 to 2004.

Robert played Sam McGuire, Hilary Duff’s on-screen dad.

“This one hurts. It’s hard to face this reality about an old friend,” the actress, 38, wrote on Instagram. “There was so much warmth in the McGuire family and I always felt so cared for by my on-screen parents,” she added about her TV mom Hallie Todd. “I’ll be forever grateful for that.

“I’m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering,” Duff concluded. “My heart aches for him, his family and everyone who loved him.”

The singer’s TV brother, Jake Thomas, took to his own social media to reflect on Robert’s passing.

“My heart hurts today,” the 36-year-old began. “I was fortunate to know Bobby for most of my life. And he was one of the coolest guys you could ever meet.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/27/celebrity-news/tragic-details-of-robert-carradines-passing-revealed-as-cause-of-death-is-confirmed/

A French magistrate recently went public about how US envoys had tried to interfere in French national politics. Experts say it is clear that France is a target of disinformation strategies.

US President Donald Trump and his allies have long expressed their support for the right and far right of the European political spectrum. This was made official in the United States National Security Strategy (NSS) published in December 2025. The document suggests that there is a real risk of Europe facing “civilizational erasure” because of its migration policies and also states that the “growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism.”

The Trump administration has been active behind the scenes too, something that Magali Lafourcade, a French magistrate and also the secretary general of France’s human rights commission (CNCDH), became convinced of last year. On April 28, 2025, she raised the alarm about foreign interference with the French Foreign Ministry. Experts say the episode makes clear the extent to which France is in the sights of the US.

Lafourcade, who is not involved in the Marine Le Pen trial, recently made public that she had received Samuel D. Samson and Christopher Anderson from the US State Department when they were on a tour of Europe, during which, according to media reports, they also met with members of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN).

“It quickly became clear that they wanted information about the trial against Marine Le Pen,” the magistrate told DW. Not long before, the RN’s presidential candidate had been convicted of embezzling EU funds and barred from running for political office for five years. If an appeals court upholds the ruling this coming July, Le Pen will not be able to stand in next year’s presidential elections.

“According to the US diplomats, the verdict was politically motivated because Le Pen was in the opposition against President Emmanuel Macron,” Lafourcade recalled. “I said that she had been convicted of corruption after a thorough 10-year investigation and it was not unusual to be barred on grounds of ineligibility. But they wouldn’t let up — as if they were looking for evidence that it wasn’t a fair trial. Then Samson said that Europe must respect freedom of expression. I replied that we had freedom of expression here, except with regard to slander, defamation, hate speech, discrimination, and Holocaust denial,” she told DW.

“They said, ‘We are your allies, but for that, Europe must reallow forbidden statements.’ MAGA [Make America Great Again] uses the language of human rights to undermine them,” Lafourcade explained.

Trump has come under criticism for his words and actions against people and organizations who think differently from him. This has not stopped him from denying journalists access to the White House or suing media outlets.

Republicans Overseas member describes foreign interference claims as ‘slander’

Nicolas Conquer, a member of Republicans Overseas France and the founder of The Western Arc, a think tank that says it is inspired by MAGA, described the claim that the meeting was an attempt at foreign interference as “slander.”

He told DW that this was “clutching at straws. It is entirely legitimate to have concerns regarding the trial. We are observers of the developments and we support things that lie in the interest of the Americans and Europeans.”

However, for the French Foreign Ministry it is less clear whether US interests continue to coincide with those of France and Europe. “We respond to anyone who attacks us — whether from the East or the West,” ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told DW.

The timing of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot’s announcement of a new strategy against foreign interference speaks for itself: the announcement was made on January 29, 2025, one week after Trump’s inauguration.

The ministry has set up an X account entitled “French Response” to respond to disinformation with irony. “We cannot win the information war without going to battle,” Confavreux said. Earlier this month, the French Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador after comments made by the Trump administration regarding the death of a far-right activist in the city of Lyon. The ambassador ignored the summons.

According to David Colon, a history professor at Sciences Po Paris whose research focuses on mass manipulation, France has the best system in Europe for defending itself against information warfare. “President Macron became aware of the danger of foreign interference during his 2017 presidential campaign,” he told DW, explaining that during what became known as the ‘Macron leaks’ someone had published thousands of emails related to his campaign on the internet.

He said that Europe was like the sandwich filling between two big powers. “There are conspiracy theorists in power in the US. They have the same goals and strategies as the Russians, want to weaken the EU and want the US to withdraw from NATO.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/france-maga-trump-politics-macron-le-pen-far-right-populism-disinformation/a-76122972

US President Trump has threatened to attack Iran if it doesn’t agree to a new deal on its nuclear program by early March. Meanwhile, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has urged Tehran to allow inspections at its nuclear sites.

The United States on Friday authorized part of its embassy staff in Israel to leave “due to safety risks,” amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem said non-emergency staff and family members of embassy employees would be able to leave Israel following approval from the US State Department.

It also said US citizens should consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are still available.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if ongoing negotiations on curbing its nuclear program fail and has sent a massive fleet of warships and aircraft to the region.

Trump said Friday that he was frustrated by Iran’s position in talks but added he had not decided whether to carry out an attack.

“I’m not happy with the fact that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have,” the president told reporters on Friday. “I’m not thrilled.”

Iran ‌has threatened to target American bases in the region if it is attacked. Tehran would also likely launch missile strikes against US ally Israel.

Countries issue updated travel advice for Israel, Iran

A number of countries have started withdrawing nonessential staff from parts of the Middle East and advising citizens not to travel to Iran.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry on Friday “urgently” advised against travel to Israel.

“Travel to Israel and east Jerusalem is urgently discouraged,” the ministry said on its website.

The French Foreign Ministry also urged its citizens not to travel to Israel given the security situation.

China’s embassy in Israel advised its citizens to remain highly vigilant, “familiarize themselves in advance with nearby bomb shelters” and avoid going out, according to state media.

China also told its citizens to evacuate from Iran “as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office said Friday that its embassy staff had been temporarily withdrawn from Iran.

What’s happening with the US-Iran talks?

Trump said on February 19 that Iran must make a deal on its nuclear program in 10 to 15 days, otherwise “really bad things” would happen.

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid ‌Badr ⁠Albusaidi, who is serving as mediator, ⁠was expected to meet with US Vice President JD Vance ‌in Washington on Friday after a third round of nuclear talks ended in Geneva with no sign of a breakthrough.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “success in this path requires seriousness and realism from the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands.”

He told state TV the talks “made very good progress” and that the next round would take place in “perhaps less than a week.”

The US wants cuts to Iran’s missile program and support for armed groups to be part of discussions. It also wants Iran to give up all uranium enrichment. Iran, meanwhile, is seeking the lifting of US sanctions, but says it has the right to enrich uranium.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to travel to Israel early next week for talks on Iran, according to the State Department.

Additionally, technical talks at the UN’s nuclear agency are expected to begin in Vienna on Monday.

A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed in June last year when Israel and the US bombed several key nuclear facilities in Iran.

At the time, Trump said the US strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities. He has not elaborated on whether the strikes were not as effective as he claimed or how Iran could have rebuilt any such nuclear capabilities in less than one year.

UN nuclear watchdog urges Iran to grant access to sites

Meanwhile, a confidential report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday that it had not been able to access Iran’s nuclear sites that were affected by the US and Israeli attacks last June.

That means the UN watchdog has not been able to confirm the size of Iran’s stockpile or whether Iran has stopped its enrichment, according to the report.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/us-allows-staff-to-leave-israel-as-trump-attack-on-iran-looms/a-76157922

In a seismic realignment of Tamil Nadu political landscape just a few months ahead of Legislative Assembly elections O. Panneerselvam, three times former Chief Minister and a staunch loyalist former AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, joined the DMK in the presence of party president and Chief Minister M.K Stalin on February 27, 2026.

On February 20, the last sitting of the 16th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Mr. Pannerselvam had called on Mr. Stalin on the premises of the House and said the ruling DMK has a chance of retaining power.

Mr. Panneerselvam and his supporters were expelled from the AIADMK in July 2022. He unsuccessfully contested Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate backed by the BJP-led NDA in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are slated to be held in 2026.

The United States, on 27 February (local time), extended its support to Pakistan after it bombed neighbouring Afghanistan and declared an ‘open war’ against its Taliban government following clashes along the border.

Pakistan launched air strikes on Afghan cities on Friday morning. The Pakistani strikes came hours after it said Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack in the latest escalation of violence between the neighbouring countries along their porous frontier.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely and expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks,” Allison Hooker, the under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote on X after talks with a Pakistani counterpart.

She said she expressed to Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch, Pakistan’s senior-most career diplomat, US “condolences for lives lost in the recent conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban.”

See more

Spoke today with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Baloch to express condolences for lives lost in the recent conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban. We continue to monitor the situation closely and expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks.

— Allison M. Hooker (@UnderSecStateP) February 27, 2026

Hooker’s brief statement did not call for an end to the fighting. Unlike the US, the UK earlier called for “de-escalation,” China called for a ceasefire, and Iran offered to mediate.

EU calls for immediate de-escalation

Even the European Commission (EU) called on all actors for immediate de-escalation while urging Afghan authorities to take effective action against all terrorist groups.

“The EU reiterates that Afghan territory must not be used to threaten or attack other countries and calls on the Afghan de facto authorities to take effective action against all terrorist groups operating in or from Afghanistan,” read a statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the escalation between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Pakistan bombarded Afghanistan’s major cities in its most significant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 with the US withdrawal. Afghanistan said Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul and Kandahar to the south and in the southeastern province of Paktia.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, acknowledged the Pakistan strikes and declared an ‘open war’ on the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan war has soured the US relationship with Pakistan, with former president Joe Biden wanting little to do with Islamabad due to past support for the Taliban as the United States propped up a pro-Western government.

I think Pakistan is doing terrifically well: Trump

President Donald Trump has shifted course and forged close ties with Pakistan, which has gone out of its way to praise him for his mediation during a conflict with India last year and said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump, asked about the strikes on Afghanistan earlier Friday, hailed Pakistan’s powerful military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“You have a great prime minister, you have a great general there, you have a great leader. I think two of the people that I really respect a lot,” Trump told reporters.

“I think Pakistan is doing terrifically well,” he said.

Why is Pakistan attacking Afghanistan?

Tension has been high between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the two neighbours, for months, with deadly border clashes in October killing dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.

A Qatari-mediated ceasefire was agreed on between the two sites on October 19 last year. The ceasefire has largely held, but the two sides have still occasionally traded fire across the border. Several rounds of peace talks in November failed to produce a formal agreement.

On Friday, Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it was willing to negotiate after Pakistan bombed their forces in major cities and said the allies-turned-foes were in “open war.”

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always tried to resolve issues through dialogue, and now we also want to resolve this matter through dialogue,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Mujahid said Pakistani strikes hit parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia on Thursday night, and on Paktia, Paktika, Khost and Laghman on Friday. That followed Afghan drone strikes that began late on Thursday on Pakistani military positions and installations in northwest Pakistan along their shared border.

Source : https://www.livemint.com/news/trends/ice-draws-flak-over-promotional-video-featuring-british-rock-band-radioheads-let-down-song-not-funny-this-means-11772252127997.html

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India and Israel would deepen cooperation in defence and artificial intelligence as he concluded a two-day visit to Israel.

Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement on Thursday that their countries would work towards pursuing a free trade agreement.

“We’ve taken a historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to a Special Strategic Partnership,” Modi said in a post on X.

Modi’s second visit to Israel since 2017 has been seen as a test of India’s foreign policy as it tries to balance its ties with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries.

During the visit, Modi toured Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, and addressed the Knesset, where he condemned the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

“We feel your pain. We share your grief. India stands with Israel, firmly, with full conviction, in this moment, and beyond,” he said.

Earlier too, India had condemned the deadly attack and expressed solidarity with Israel, while also voicing concern over civilian casualties in Gaza and reiterating its support for a two-state solution.

The two countries also concluded over a dozen bilateral agreements, including on cybersecurity, trade, space exploration, education, investment, agriculture and economic cooperation.

Additionally, Israel pledged to allow another 50,000 Indian workers into the country over the next five years while India has said that it would extend its landmark digital payment system – UPI – to Israel, boosting digital finance cooperation between the two countries.

In the joint statement, the two leaders also “unequivocally condemned terrorism” and cross-border terrorism and lauded US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

“India’s thinking is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. The Gaza peace plan has opened a path to peace. India has fully supported these efforts. We will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries in the future,” Modi said at a joint news conference on Thursday.

While the two prime ministers have described the visit as being productive and a sign of India and Israel’s growing strategic ties, Modi’s visit has received some criticism at home.

Jairam Ramesh, spokesperson for the main opposition Congress party, has condemned the trip and accused the Modi government of abandoning the Palestinian cause.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly14vppym2o

President Trump has said he is not happy with Iran in the wake of the latest talks on its nuclear programme, but said he had not yet decided whether to attack the country.

“I’m not happy with the fact that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have. So I’m not thrilled,” Trump said in his first comments on negotiations in Geneva that broke up on Thursday without a deal.

The US president stressed that he did not want to use military force against Iran, but said sometimes “you have to”.

Concern over the prospect of US strikes against Iran led a number of countries to issue warnings to their citizens in the region on Friday.

The UK temporarily withdrew staff from its embassy in Tehran and updated its travel guidance to advise against “all but essential travel” to Israel.

Countries including China, India and Canada urged their citizens to leave Iran as soon as possible due to the prospect of hostilities. Germany advised “urgently” against travel to Israel while France reiterated its advice not to do so.

Meanwhile, the US urged its citizens in Iran to leave “immediately”. Its embassy in Israel also told some non-emergency staff and their families they could leave the country, advising that they may wish to do so “while commercial flights are available”.

Trump has threatened military action against Tehran if it does not reach a deal about its nuclear ambitions.

He has ordered the largest US military build-up in the Middle East since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, while Iran has vowed to respond to an attack with force.

Washington and its allies suspect Iran is moving towards developing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has always denied. It claims its programme is intended for peaceful, civilian purposes despite having enriched uranium up to near weapons-grade level.

The president told reporters on Friday: “I say no enrichment… I think it’s uncivil.”

It came as Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who was mediating the talks, said Tehran had agreed never to stockpile enriched uranium, making “the enrichment argument less relevant”.

“If you cannot stockpile material that is enriched then there is no way you can actually create a bomb,” Albusaidi told CBS News.

He had said on Thursday that US and Iranian officials made “significant progress” in the high-stakes nuclear talks in Geneva, but the chances of a deal that could avert a war remain unclear.

Albusaidi said the two sides planned to resume negotiations “soon” after consultations in their capitals, and technical-level discussions would take place next week in Vienna.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led his country’s delegation, said “good progress” had been made but while there had been agreement on some issues, differences remained on others.

He said more negotiations would happen in a less than a week. President Trump’s comments on Friday were the first official reaction from the US.

Meanwhile, the State Department announced US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel to Israel on Monday, where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discuss “a range of regional priorities”, including Iran.

Rubio also said on Friday he had designated Iran a “state sponsor of wrongful detention”. It marked the first use of a power created in September under which the US can sanction or take other measures against countries unjustly detaining its citizens.

“We reiterate our call for Americans who are currently in Iran to leave immediately,” he said in his statement announcing the move.

Earlier, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advised embassy staff who wished to leave Israel to “do so TODAY”, the New York Times reported.

He reportedly said in email there was “no need to panic, but for those desiring to leave, it’s important to make plans to depart sooner rather than later”.

A statement on the embassy’s website said they “may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available”.

It came days after the US government ordered all non-essential staff to leave its embassy in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, following a security review.

Vice-President JD Vance had told the Washington Post on Thursday that strikes remained under consideration – but there was “no chance” of the US becoming involved in a drawn-out war.

“I think we all prefer the diplomatic option,” Vance said. “But it really depends on what the Iranians do and what they say.”

The US has sent thousands of troops and what Trump has described as an “armada” to the region in recent weeks, including two aircraft carriers along with other warships, as well as fighter jets and refuelling aircraft.

He said on 19 February that the world would find out within 10 days whether the US would reach a deal with Iran, or take military action.

“We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen,” Trump said at the time.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c309vz0z893o

Nasa is adding an extra mission to its Artemis programme before it attempts to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time in half a century.

The original plan was to fly around the Moon for the Artemis II mission, which is currently scheduled for April, and then attempt a lunar landing with Artemis III in 2028.

Now Artemis III will stay closer to home – a crew will head to low-Earth orbit in 2027 to practice docking with a lunar lander.

Nasa said this additional flight would not slow down its return to the Moon – it is still aiming for 2028 for one or even two lunar landings in what will be Artemis IV and V.

Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman told a media briefing that he was adding an extra step to the Artemis programme because he did not want such long gaps between launches.

He added that the extra flight to low-Earth orbit would help to test the technology before a Moon landing.

The US space agency also provided an update on the Artemis II mission, which will see four astronauts fly around the far side of the Moon and back to Earth.

Nasa was targeting March for the launch, but its plans were delayed after a helium leak was discovered on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The rocket has now been taken from the launchpad to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be repaired.

The earliest launch opportunity is now in April – but Nasa said the exact date would depend on how long the technical work would take.

The new plans are a significant change to Artemis programme.

Isaacman said the current architecture was “not a pathway to success.”

“You don’t go from one uncrewed launch of SLS [Artemis I], wait three years, go around the Moon [Artemis II], wait three years and land on it.”

He said sending the Orion capsule – which is the spacecraft that the astronauts will travel to the Moon in – and a lunar lander into low-Earth orbit first would reduce risks.

“I would certainly much rather have the astronauts testing out the integrated systems of the lander and Orion in low-Earth orbit than on the Moon,” he said.

“It’s also an opportunity for us, maybe, to get our suits up there before the astronauts actually have to wear them on the surface of the Moon … this is all going to help take down risk for a subsequent landing.”

However Nasa’s lunar plans have a major missing part – the lander that will take astronauts to the Moon’s surface has not yet been selected.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has a contract to build the lander – which will be flown to the Moon on a SpaceX Starship rocket. But delays to the Starship rocket have led Nasa to ask SpaceX for a new streamlined plan to speed a return to the Moon.

Nasa has also asked rival company Blue Origin – which is owned by Jeff Bezos – to come up with an accelerated plan for a lunar lander.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6270030neyo

At least 11 people have been killed after a Bolivian air force cargo plane crashed in the western city of El Alto, according to media reports quoting firefighters.

The incident happened at 18:15 local time (22:15 GMT) on Friday as the plane was arriving at El Alto’s airport from the city of Santa Cruz, aviation officials said. It reportedly skidded off the runway and hit nearby vehicles.

The defence ministry later confirmed its C-130 Hercules was involved and that it had been transporting banknotes to the Central Bank of Bolivia. It did not say how many people were on board, and gave no casualty numbers.

Police fired tear gas to disperse crowds allegedly trying to take the scattered banknotes.

Video footage showed people running away from the tear gas and police officers, some holding shields, forming a line. Some in the crowds are seen throwing rocks at police.

The crashed plane can be seen on the ground and badly damaged vehicles can be seen in other videos.

“I want to make it clear to those who are trying to take money from the plane involved in this tragedy that this money has no legal value since it has not been issued by the Central Bank and does not have a serial number, and that attempting to use this money is a crime,” the Minister of Defence, Marcelo Salinas, said.

“We also ask all those who are engaging in acts of vandalism in this area to refrain from doing so and to respect the mourning and grief we are experiencing at this difficult time.”

Firefighters working at the crash site said that at least 20 people were injured, local media reported.

El Alto International Airport was temporarily closed following the crash.

“My sister told me that she was in the car when the plane crashed. The plane’s tire fell on the car, and my sister was injured because the impact of the tire hit her on the head, so we rushed her to the hospital,” a man told the Reuters news agency.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rjpxxpp49o

 

If no new measures are taken, Singapore’s citizen population will start to shrink by the early 2040s, says Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.

Singapore’s total fertility rate dropped significantly to a new low of 0.87 in 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said in parliament on Thursday (Feb 26).

The country’s fertility rate fell below 1.0 for the first time in 2023 to 0.97, and the figure remained the same in 2024.

Singapore’s citizen population grew 0.7 per cent in 2025, said Mr Gan.

Even with immigration, the growth of the country’s citizen population has slowed over the past 10 years – falling from an average of 0.9 per cent per year between 2015 and 2020, to 0.8 per cent per year over 2020 to 2025.

“If no new measures are taken, our citizen population will start to shrink by the early part of the 2040s,” said Mr Gan.

Assuming the total fertility rate stays at 0.87, every 100 residents today will have 44 children and 19 grandchildren, said Mr Gan.

Over time, it will be “practically impossible” to reverse the trend, as Singapore will have fewer women who can bear children, he added.

“We cannot give up,” said Mr Gan.

Noting the significant drop in total fertility rate from 1.24 a decade ago, he said low birth rates and an ageing population will “profoundly reshape” Singapore, as well as its society and economy in the coming years.

Singapore saw about 27,500 resident births in 2025, the lowest number in its recorded history, said Mr Gan.

“The overall trend is also of grave concern. Marriage rates have come down, and those who are married have fewer children or no children,” he added.

Singapore’s population is also ageing faster than ever, said Mr Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry.

In 2025, one in five citizens was aged 65 or older, compared with one in eight in 2015.

“This is an existential challenge,” he said.

PARENTHOOD RESET

To change the trajectory of the total fertility rate, the issue cannot be addressed by policy measures alone, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah.

“What we need is a marriage and parenthood reset,” she added.

Singapore must reset three areas – how marriage and parenthood are viewed and supported, how workplaces can evolve to better align work and family, and how everyone can play their part, said Ms Indranee.

The government will form a new workgroup with the relevant agencies to look into these issues holistically and engage widely with members of the public, businesses and the people sector, she added.

It will build on current efforts to enhance government support for marriage and parenthood, cultivate positive mindsets about this, and work with employers to foster family-friendly workplace cultures and practices.

She added that the government will consider suggestions raised by Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Budget debate, including more childcare leave and providing more support for parents with costs.

IMMIGRATION AND THE ECONOMY

At the macro level, a declining population means less vitality in Singapore and its economy, said Mr Gan.

Economic growth and income growth will slow while spending on healthcare and social issues must increase to support the growing population of seniors, he added.

“This tremendous strain will be felt at the national level, but also at the individual households.”

With fewer citizens, it will also become increasingly difficult to meet Singapore’s national security and defence needs, said Mr Gan.

“This raises the deeper question of what Singapore will be 50 or 100 years from now – will we remain vibrant, liveable and relevant? Will we exist?”

Even as the government redoubles its efforts to support Singaporeans in starting families and having more children, the country will still need “carefully managed” immigration flow to augment its low birth rate, said the deputy prime minister.

While most Singaporeans recognise the case for immigration, this is not the full picture, he said, noting people’s concerns and anxieties.

“Will bringing in immigrants mean fewer job opportunities for us? Will the Singapore that my children grow up in feel vastly different from the one that I grew up in? I understand these concerns,” said Mr Gan.

“And we take these concerns over competition and our social fabric seriously. We will continue taking steps to address them.”

Singapore granted about 25,000 citizenships in 2025, he said.

The country expects to take in between 25,000 to 30,000 new citizens each year over the next five years, said Mr Gan, noting that this depends on other demographic trends including the total fertility rate.

“We will also have to adjust our PR (permanent resident) intake, as permanent residence is the pathway to work towards citizenship,” he added.

Singapore’s PR population has remained stable at 540,000 over the last few years, said Mr Gan.

The country expects to take in about 40,000 PRs each year in the next five years, more than the 35,000 granted in 2025, he said.

In 2024, 22,766 people were granted citizenship and 35,264 individuals were granted permanent residency. In general, the figures have been trending upwards since 2013.

Singapore intends to maintain the broad ethnic balance of its citizen population and carefully manage the impact of immigration on its population composition to preserve the overall texture of society, said Mr Gan.

The government will ensure Singapore does not bring immigrants in faster than it can accommodate, be selective about who is brought in, and step up integration efforts, he added.

With these adjustments, Singapore hopes to maintain a citizen population with modest growth, he said, adding that this growth is likely to slow further to “about half a per cent”.

“But even at half a per cent, this is going to be hard, as it would depend on the TFR being held up,” said Mr Gan, adding that the government will review this again in 2030.

In the past five years, Singapore’s foreign workforce grew at an average of 3.3 per cent per year, mostly driven by the post-pandemic catch-up in the construction industry, he added.

Excluding construction work permit holders, the foreign workforce grew more slowly at an average of 2.5 per cent per year, Mr Gan noted.

“But as our citizen population grows more slowly, we will keep a close watch on the growth of the non-resident population, which includes foreign workers, to ensure that Singapore citizens remain the majority of the population,” he added.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/total-fertility-rate-tfr-2025-record-low-citizen-population-5954306

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also addressed an insinuation that the ruling People’s Action Party “deliberately painted a doom and gloom picture for electoral advantage” last year.

Fiscal projections in Singapore have frequently resulted in surpluses due to the volatility of the global environment, rather than the government being overly conservative, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Thursday (Feb 26).

While such projections are done with the best available data, evolving global conditions mean it is harder to forecast Singapore’s economic growth, which is dependent on external conditions, said Mr Wong, who is also the finance minister.

Speaking at the close of the debate on Budget 2026, Mr Wong also reiterated the importance of the Goods and Services tax (GST) hike over 2023 and 2024.

He explained that while revenue is expected to increase from the 2027 financial year, the overall expenditure needs of the country are also rising.

GST HIKE NEEDED

In response to a call by MP Gerald Giam (WP-Aljunied) to re-evaluate the GST hike, Mr Wong said that while various tax revenue streams exist, the GST plays a “structural role” in funding the country’s rising expenditure.

The GST was increased from 7 per cent to 8 per cent in 2023, and then to 9 per cent in 2024.

While Singapore is expecting an increase in tax revenue from the 2027 financial year due to collections from the top-up taxes imposed for BEPS, that additional revenue does not replace the purpose of the funds from the GST increase, explained Mr Wong.

BEPS – base erosion and profit shifting – refers to tax planning strategies used by multinational firms to exploit gaps in tax systems and avoid paying a fairer share of tax. The top-up tax will subject large multinational enterprises operating in Singapore to a higher minimum effective tax rate of 15 per cent.

“The GST increase was introduced to fund rising, structural healthcare expenditure for an ageing population. These spending needs are permanent and will continue to grow, and they should be supported by a stable and reliable revenue base,” he said.

Mr Wong said that at the beginning of this decade, the government knew that healthcare spending would rise sharply, along with other areas such as social needs, the energy transition, security and infrastructure.

Notably, healthcare funding would see a “significant and permanent increase” in the second half of this decade, said Mr Wong.

While the government raised property taxes, motor vehicle taxes for luxury cars and the top marginal personal income tax rates, they were still not sufficient to close the structural funding gap, he said.

Mr Wong also noted that the WP had suggested raising the maximum Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) that can be used in the annual national budget from 50 per cent to 60 per cent.

The NIRC allows the government to spend a portion of expected returns on reserves, supporting sustainable budgets.

“We did not agree with that proposal because the NIRC framework was carefully designed to safeguard intergenerational equity,” said Mr Wong.

“If we increase the cap to 60 per cent, that can ease immediate pressures, but it will weaken fiscal discipline, reduce our buffer for future shocks and shift a heavier burden onto the next generation.”

In the end, the GST remained the only broad-based and sustainable option to fund the healthcare needs, while preserving the country’s reserves framework, said Mr Wong.

“So the additional corporate tax revenues will strengthen our fiscal position and support these growing needs. But they do not replace the structural role of the GST, and especially what we have done to fund permanent and rising healthcare costs,” he said.

Mr Wong added that Singapore’s approach to taxation is a balanced one, with taxes kept moderate but progressive.

Resources are redistributed to those with greater needs, complemented with heavy investments in human capital, such as early childhood education, quality schooling and tertiary education, as well as lifelong learning, he said.

“Upward mobility remains central to our social compact because here in Singapore, your starting point should never determine your finishing position,” he said.

FISCAL PROJECTIONS FROM BEST DATA

Mr Wong also addressed the issue of the government’s fiscal marksmanship, as questions on the Budget surplus were raised by Mr Giam and other MPs Alex Yam (PAP-Marsiling-Yew Tee), Louis Chua (WP-Sengkang) and Xie Yao Quan (PAP-Jurong Central).

He had announced in his Budget speech that Singapore’s budget surplus for the 2025 financial year is expected to come in at S$15.1 billion (US$12 billion), more than double the earlier estimate of S$6.8 billion.

Singapore recorded a surplus of S$6.4 billion in the previous financial year, up from an S$0.8 billion estimate.

“It’s perhaps my favourite topic because, as I have shared before, I started work in MOF doing precisely this: fiscal projections,” said Mr Wong.

He said that Singapore’s forecast deviations are within a reasonable range, comparable to other advanced economies.

“Our projections are prepared by MOF economists using the best available data at the start of each financial year, including GDP growth assumptions at that time,” said Mr Wong.

Revenues in recent years have come in above projections, not because the government was overly conservative, but because of the difficulty in doing so amid an ever-evolving global environment, explained Mr Wong.

“For a small open economy, like Singapore, growth outcomes can diverge significantly from forecasts as global conditions evolve. Because we are so dependent on the external environment, forecasting Singapore’s GDP growth is like forecasting the world’s GDP growth, which is very, very difficult to do,” he said.

Revenues from property transactions or Certificate of Entitlement premiums are inherently difficult to predict, he added.

“But I assure everyone in this House and Singaporeans that our approach has been and will be responsible and professional,” he said.

NOT DOOM AND GLOOM

In his speech, Mr Wong also addressed an insinuation that the People’s Action Party government “deliberately painted a doom and gloom picture for electoral advantage”.

WP chief Pritam Singh had in his Budget debate speech taken aim at the timing of the last General Election, saying it was called shortly after global trade tensions flared.

“The political timing of the General Election was calculated to put the PAP in the most advantageous position, with tariff uncertainty serving as a rallying call for voters to back the tried and tested,” Mr Singh had said.

Mr Wong said that after the US Liberation Day tariffs, there was widespread uncertainty across the world, and the government had to move quickly.

“How many analysts projected 5 per cent growth for Singapore in 2025? I don’t recall any. The reason why things did not turn out as badly as we feared was partly due to factors beyond our control, but also partly because of the decisive steps we took,” he said.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/budget-debate-lawrence-wong-fiscal-projection-surplus-gst-hike-5954961

The US Commerce Department, in a statement to HT, said the two sides “discussed ways to deepen the trade and economic relationship between the US and India.”

Days after the US Supreme Court invalidated President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick made an unscheduled visit to New Delhi and had a “highly productive” lunch meeting with commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday that largely revolved around trade and economic partnership.

US ambassador to India Sergio Gor and Goyal confirmed the development through separate posts on X. Along with a photograph of the three, Gor said: “A highly productive lunch with @howardlutnick and @PiyushGoyal. So many areas of cooperation for our two nations!”

Goyal said he had “engaged in very fruitful discussions to expand our trade and economic partnership.”

The US Commerce Department, in a statement to HT, said the two sides “discussed ways to deepen the trade and economic relationship between the United States and India.” A spokesperson of commerce ministry did not respond to queries seeking details.

Later in the day, Lutnick departed for Jodhpur. He is attending the wedding of Ayesha Arora, the daughter of tech executive Nikesh Arora, and Jack Hughes in Jodhpur, people familiar with the matter said.

The meeting comes at a critical juncture in India-US trade relations. The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s use of emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs on February 20, forcing his administration to rely on alternative legal provisions.

Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a fresh global tariff at 10%, and announced less than 24 hours later that he would raise it to the statutory ceiling of 15%. To be sure, the tariff, as on Thursday, stands at 10% on all trading partners, over and above prevailing MFN rates. The levy is valid for 150 days. The ruling upends a carefully negotiated timeline. India’s chief negotiator Darpan Jain and his team had been due in Washington from February 23 for talks to finalise the legal text of an interim bilateral trade agreement, based on a February 6 joint statement.

That statement had envisaged the US reducing its additional tariffs on India — which had reached as high as 50% combining reciprocal and punitive levies — to 18%, in return for India restricting purchases of Russian crude and allowing preferential access to specific American goods. The visit was postponed, with both indicating they needed time to “evaluate” the court’s decision and its “implications.” Experts said the February 6 joint statement would need to be readjusted given the changed landscape. The country-specific tariff structure it envisaged has been invalidated by the court, replaced by a uniform baseline that applies to all trading partners.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/us-commerce-secretary-makes-unscheduled-visit-to-india-after-trump-tariffs-ruling-meets-goyal-for-productive-lunch-101772148859031.html

“People here are tired, scared and feel forgotten,” says Nabila*, a Muslim mother of two in Basildon, a town in the English county of Essex.

Sitting in her living room with a mug of tea, a Quran visible on the bookshelf and Japanese prints hanging to its right, she recalls a string of incidents in recent months: Glass thrown from a residential building at Muslim children, a racist attack on the local mosque where red crosses were daubed across its walls alongside the words “Christ is King” and “This is England”, and reports of drivers accelerating as Muslim women cross the road with their children.

According to the 2021 census, Basildon is 93 percent white, and Muslims make up less than 2 percent of the population. Campaigners have warned that in areas where ethnic minority communities are smaller and more geographically isolated, they face heightened risks, as visibility increases vulnerability.

A single mother working full time, Nabila has been documenting incidents of racism, supporting victims and organising meetings with local authorities.

She said she no longer feels safe in the place she calls home.

After being racially abused while walking through her favourite park, she stopped going there altogether. Women, she said, are increasingly changing their daily routines, constantly watching over their shoulders. Racism now permeates every aspect of their lives, she added.

At a women’s listening circle organised by Nabila in collaboration with the local authority at the Wat Tyler Centre, another Muslim woman, Zarka*, spoke about her experiences as a young mother in Basildon who wears the hijab.

After being told to “take that rag off your head” during the school run by a passer-by, she stopped taking her children to school for two weeks. Beyond verbal abuse, she described the cumulative effect of everyday hostility, from cars failing to stop at zebra crossings and hostile looks from passers-by.

‘I can’t do this any more, Mum.’

Hundreds of miles north, similar experiences are unfolding in Scottish classrooms.

Etka Marwaha’s daughter Anisa was seven when she first experienced racist taunting at her primary school in Glasgow.

Marwaha said Anisa became quiet and withdrawn. She was isolated on the playground and subjected to racial slurs. Months later, she broke down in tears in front of her mother, explaining the abuse she had suffered.

On multiple occasions, Marwaha contacted the school, urging them to take action, even offering her own support on understanding racism. But, she said, they failed in their duty of care, and the extent of the problem was kept hidden.

It went on for two years before Etka felt compelled to take her daughter out of the school.

“The plan was never to move her into a different school,” she told Al Jazeera. “But she was refusing to go to school; she would come home very, very upset. She was isolated.

“She was in tears, saying, “I can’t do this any more, Mum.’ So she made the decision, at that young age, that ‘I want to get out of here.’”

The girl’s new school is not in the catchment area, nor is there a direct bus to it, causing further inconvenience. But it has a zero-tolerance approach to racism, and Anisa is happier.

At her new school, Anisa can speak about her experiences of racism and how it made her feel.

The ordeal brought back painful memories for Marwaha’s own experiences at school.

“The racist bullying, for me, started at secondary school. You’d think times have changed, that people have been educated, but I think things have changed for the worse when a seven-year-old can openly make a racist comment and that’s accepted by society, and parents don’t address it.”

Sam*, a doctor in northwest Scotland with dual heritage children, said he has been surprised by the level of racism in local schools.

“There has been a clear normalising of racist jokes and name-calling. Every one of our kids has been affected,” he said. “Perhaps the biggest surprise is how few other students stand up against racism. When I was growing up, if someone was racist, they would be the person being socially excluded. Now, silence. It has forced us to look at moving out of the UK.”

‘Racism is out of control’

In the latest incident of alleged and potentially dangerous racism, a man walked into Manchester Central Mosque on Tuesday, reportedly with an axe and weapons. The man was arrested. There had been 2,000 worshippers in the mosque at the time, for the evening tarawih prayers during Ramadan.

Official figures underline the scale of the problem.

In October 2025, the UK Home Office revealed that the number of hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales had risen for the first time in three years, including increases in racially and religiously motivated offences.

Religious hate crimes against Muslims rose by 19 percent, with a spike following the Southport murders and subsequent riots in mid-2025, the Home Office said.

The rise comes as hard-right politicians and activists, such as Reform leader Nigel Farage and the Islamophobic activist Tommy Robinson, rail against immigration. According to recent YouGov polling, if a general election were held tomorrow, Reform would lead with 24 percent.

Shabna Begum, head of Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank, said, “Mainstream political and media actors have played in normalising and enabling racist narratives that have scapegoated migrants, people seeking asylum, Muslims and people of colour generally.”

In a report released last year, How Racism Affects Health, Runnymede highlighted the hypervigilance that people of colour have to operate with in order to guard their safety, and which causes long-term physiological damage, affecting life expectancy and mental health outcomes.

“For those that live in more disparate communities where they show up as minorities in a more visible way, that sense of threat is acute,” said Begum.

School suspensions for racist incidents have more than doubled in recent years, according to UK Department for Education data.

Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/26/mosques-attacked-children-racially-abused-as-hard-right-rises-in-uk

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy left their mark on New York City’s bustling dining scene — one effortlessly cool table at a time.

Before their love story tragically ended in a 1999 plane crash, Carolyn and the only son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis embodied a certain downtown duality: as comfortable slipping into a low-key neighborhood spot as they were holding court in an impossibly chic, downtown dining room.

Several of their favorite haunts have been spotlighted in FX and Hulu’s 2026 drama, “Love Story,” while other intimate moments were immortalized by the relentless paparazzi that followed their every unpredictable move.

First-hand accounts obtained exclusively by Page Six depict how the couple moved through Manhattan’s most storied establishments with an ease that felt both aspirational and accessible — from the red-sauce sanctum of Harlem’s Rao’s to cozy Tribeca standby Bubby’s — leaving behind a breadcrumb trail of their star-crossed courtship that ended far too soon.

Bubby’s

Bubby’s — the Tribeca institution beloved for its pancakes and comfort-food classics — was one of JFK Jr. and Carolyn’s most frequented neighborhood spots

Owner and chef Ron Silver exclusively spoke with Page Six about how the pair — who lived just a few blocks away — treated Bubby’s like their home away from home.

“Bubby’s was like a living room for those guys, and they were in all the time,” he shared. “It was a place where they would come together and also separately with their friends and have meetings or different things like that.”

“I feel like it was very much a part of their living environment in a certain way,” he added.

Silver recalled John coming into his restaurant on the second day it opened in 1990 and being a fixture in the years that followed.

“He was like family,” Silver said of John. “He would just walk in and nobody ever made a giant thing about him being in there. I feel like, for both of them, that it was a place where they could feel completely at home and comfortable and not harassed for being celebrities, which I think was very unusual for them.”

A very smitten Carolyn would join John for brunch at Bubby’s in the early days of their relationship.

“I saw them right when they started going out, and they certainly were very fond of each other and super sweet,” Silver recalled.

The duo didn’t have a table preference and liked being in the mix.

“They could park their celebrity-selves outside and just relax,” Silver said. “They did their best to be regular New Yorkers.”

As for what they ordered, we’re told Carolyn liked the soup and salad, and John preferred pancakes, bacon and eggs.

The paparazzi photographed the pair leaving the low-key pancake house on several occasions —cementing the restaurant’s prominent place in their love story.

“I’m happy to have participated in that story,” Silver said.

Nobu

John and Carolyn were known for having sushi date nights at the ultra-trendy Nobu.

Drew Nieporent — who co-founded the Japanese gem with Chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Robert De Niro in 1994 — recalled John’s “extremely easy-going” nature in an exclusive interview with Page Six.

“At Nobu, and a lot of other restaurants, people are finicky about where they sit and [John] had no problems sitting all the way in the back,” Nieporent said.

“He never never never caused any problems whatsoever,” the restaurateur continued. “He was the ultimate customer.”

John and Carolyn were spotted holding hands while dressed in casual attire as they exited a Nobu dinner in February 1996.

Nieporent also recalled attending a 150-person dinner party on Lafayette Street hosted by De Niro in the early ’90s.

“I was seated right next to John and my wife was at another table seated next to Carolyn Bessette,” The “I’m Not Trying to be Difficult” author said.

After being served Osso Buco, a bone-in braised veal shank dish, Nieporent remembered John talking to the waiter.

“John asked for a doggy bag [for his dog Friday] because Osso Buco has this huge bone,” he said. “I thought that was amazing — very memorable to me,” he reminisced.

The Odeon

Another local go-to for the late couple was The Odeon.

The iconic American brasserie became a playground for Manhattan’s artists and creatives after opening in 1980.

The Calvin Klein publicist loved ordering the hamburgers with a side of sautéed spinach instead of fries, People previously reported.

Tim English, the author of “The Kennedys’ New York,” claimed that John and Carolyn rekindled their relationship at The Odeon after a brief split.

“By the early summer of 1994, John Jr. had been seeking to reunite with Carolyn for some time. It finally happened one evening when Carolyn was working a private event for Calvin Klein [at The Odeon], to which John showed up,” English wrote.

“Carolyn intervened before he could be turned away at the door, and the pair then spent the rest of the night talking. But by the end of the summer, they were going steady.”

In the Hulu drama, The Odeon served as the backdrop for a high-stakes scene in which Carolyn meets John’s friends for the first time.

Panna II Garden Indian Restaurant

John and Carolyn were “regulars” at Panna II Garden Indian Restaurant, owner Bashir Khan told The Post last week.

Colorful festive lights are draped from every corner of the East Village mainstay that serves dishes like chicken tikka masala and vegetable biryani.

The Ryan Murphy-produced series depicts a fictional first date for Carolyn and John in the spicy spot. While it’s unclear if Panna II was truly their first date destination, the couple were definitely frequent patrons in the ’90s.

The dazzling scene — starring Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn and Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr. — has since spurred an influx of reservations for city-dwellers seeking a full Kennedy experience.

Indochine

Indochine, the French-Vietnamese outpost in Noho, hosted the Kennedy scion and his wife on numerous occasions.

In 1994, Carolyn attended a dinner party at the leafy lounge that was thrown by Calvin Klein’s then-wife, Kelly Rector. The fashion guru was photographed sitting with Kelly (who was married to the designer from 1986 to 2006) at a table topped with glasses of wine and martinis.

Carolyn also reportedly had dinner with John at Indochine shortly after they tied the knot, Vogue reported.

Originally founded by Brian McNally — who also co-opened The Odeon — and music producer John Loeffler, the breezy hideaway hit the scene in 1984.

The cultural hub quickly became a meeting place for fashion bigwigs and artists, including Jean‑Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Julian Schnabel.

Tribeca Grill

Tribeca Grill — which sadly shuttered its doors after 35 years in 2025 — was a cherished dinner spot for Carolyn and her husband.

Nieporent, who co-owned Tribeca Grill with De Niro, recalled to Page Six how he chatted with John many times at the legendary steakhouse.

In 1995, JFK Jr. celebrated his 35th birthday alongside Carolyn in the brick-walled dining room.

They dined with their close social circle on the menu — which was known for dishes like a roasted rack of lamb and housemade tagliatelle — before capping off the night at the divey Mudville 9 bar around the corner.

After Tribeca Grill closed, Executive Chef Scott Burnett celebrated the restaurant’s rich past, writing on Instagram, “A lot of years, a lot of history. Lucky to have played a part in a truly epic story. @tribecagrill you’ll be missed.”

Il Cantinori

John and Carolyn were repeat customers at the ultra-trendy Il Cantinori.

Art director Sam Shahid recalled bumping into Carolyn at the Tuscan trattoria many times in a 2026 interview with Town & Country, noting that she liked to dine “discreetly” with friends like designer Narciso Rodriguez.

“When Carolyn walked into the room, you always knew she was there, the presence,” Shahid shared. “I think Calvin just worshiped her as far as the style. He really depended on her for her taste and her style and her ideas and music.”

The Italian institution, which opened in 1983, is known for its pappardelle al cinghiale, veal chop milanese and panna cotta. Regular celebrity diners include Jennifer Aniston, Richard Gere, and Dolly Parton.

Sarah Jessica Parker, who dated JFK Jr. for roughly six months in 1991, was also a notable patron. Her “Sex and the City” character, Carrie Bradshaw, famously had her 35th birthday party at the Greenwich Village spot.

El Teddy’s

Before Tribeca’s El Teddy’s served its last taco in 2004, the Mexican restaurant welcomed John and Carolyn through its doors many times.

The casual taqueria played a major role in their rocky relationship timeline — serving as the location where they allegedly broke up before getting back together, according to Elizabeth Beller, the author of “Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.“

“Carolyn met John for dinner at El Teddy’s, where he presented Carolyn with a letter [from] a friend of his. The letter claimed Carolyn was a user, a partier, that she was out for fame and fortune [and] ‘dated guys around town,’” Beller wrote, according to People.

“John casually tossed the piece of paper at her, stood, and walked out the door,” she continued. “Carolyn stared in shock at John as he departed.”

The pair would eventually get back together, allegedly making amends at The Odeon.

El Teddy’s was a stylish setting for artists and socialites to gather over very strong margaritas.

Rao’s

Rao’s, arguably one of the hardest restaurants to get into in the world, was an easy reservation for John and Carolyn.

John would frequently ride his bike all the way from Tribeca to the East Harlem red sauce joint in the ’90s.

Publishing exec David Pecker recalled dining at Rao’s with John to celebrate the launch of George magazine.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/26/lifestyle/unearthing-secrets-from-jfk-jr-and-carolyn-bessettes-date-nights-at-their-favorite-nyc-restaurants/

“The Wire” actor Bobby J. Brown has died at age 62.

The actor died due to smoke inhalation after being caught in a barn fire on Wednesday, his daughter told TMZ Thursday.

The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Brown’s cause of death to TMZ, stating that he suffered from smoke inhalation and diffuse thermal injury.

The fire was deemed to be an accident caused by a vehicle that the HBO actor jump-started in the barn.

He called for a family member to bring him a fire extinguisher. However, the barn was engulfed in flames by the time they arrived.

Brown’s agent, Albert Bramante, also spoke out about his tragic passing, telling TMZ, “I am upset and saddened. He was such a good actor and person. He was totally dedicated to the craft of acting and was a joy to work with.”

Brown is survived by his son, Bobby Brown II, and daughter.

Brown made several guest appearances as Officer Bobby Brown in “The Wire,” which aired from 2002 to 2008.

His death follows several of his co-stars, including James Ransone, who portrayed Ziggy Sobotka, who died by suicide in December 2025.

Additionally, Michael K. Williams, who portrayed Omar Little, died in September 2021, followed by Lance Reddick, who played Cedric Daniels, in March 2023.

Charley Scalies, who played Thomas “Horseface” Pakusa, and Al Brown, who was cast as Col. Stan Valchek, both died in May 2025.

Brown, meanwhile, had several other notable roles, including the 2008 Albert Bramante-directed film “From Within” and a few special appearances in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/26/celebrity-news/the-wire-actor-dead-at-62-after-tragic-barn-fire/

Instagram’s parent company, Meta, is investigating AI-generated social media accounts that sexualise disabled people appearing on its platform.

It comes after the BBC flagged dozens of profiles showing AI-generated images of women with disabilities, including Down’s syndrome or vitiligo.

Some profiles post fake images and videos of women with missing limbs, visible scarring or in wheelchairs. Many are in sexualised positions, wearing revealing clothing.

Some accounts have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers in a matter of months. One profile, claiming to be conjoined twins, has about 400,000 followers, despite only joining Instagram in December 2025.

Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, said the emergence of “accounts that fetishise, mock, or monetise the identities of disabled people is nothing short of horrific”.

He added: “What we have here is technology weaponised to strip disabled people of their agency and dignity, turning our lived experiences into digital caricatures for the profit and titillation of others.”

Medical charities have also voiced concern. A spokesperson for Gemini Untwined, which funds specialist surgery for rare newborns joined by the head, said portraying conjoined twins as entertainment was “morally reprehensible”.

They added: “We witness first-hand the medical challenges that these children and their families endure, which makes the portrayal of conjoined twins as a form of entertainment or spectacle especially problematic.”

Dr Amy Gaeta, from the University of Cambridge, told the BBC she researches how AI shifts power in relation to gender and disability. She said the internet is “flooded” with free and low-cost generative AI image-making tools.

Generative AI is a type of software that creates new content based on patterns it has learned from existing data in response to a user’s prompt.

Gaeta said while some tools have restrictions on content, like banning sexually explicit prompts, others do not or can be easily bypassed.

“Sometimes, without my prompting or intent, hypersexualized images of disabled people will be generated. This clearly shows a bias in the datasets that these tools are trained upon,” she said.

An Ofcom spokesperson said it was “tracking how AI is evolving, the risks that may emerge, and what actions may be needed to address them”.

They said the watchdog’s online safety rules require tech firms to tackle illegal content and protect children from harmful material – including abusive or hateful content.

The Online Safety Act requires platforms like Instagram to apply terms of service consistently, including where content mocks people based on protected characteristics, like their disability.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said the accounts flagged by the BBC were “deeply disturbing”, adding: “It’s vital there are robust regulatory powers in the digital space to protect people from harm.”

A spokesperson for Meta said it was investigating the content and that it removes material that promotes sexual exploitation or attacks people based on protected characteristics.

While these accounts are generating fake personas, there is serious concern over the commands for the generative tools behind them.

Alison Kerry, head of communications at disability equality charity Scope, said the practice amounted to “discrimination dressed up as content”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jkzr9gel7o

Speaking at a joint press statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “I owe India a great personal debt. When I met Sara (his wife) for the first time, I think our first or second date was in an Indian restaurant in Tel Aviv.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he owes India “a great personal debt” because he met his wife Sara in an Indian restaurant in Israel’s Tel Aviv. He said the “food was unbelievable”.

Speaking at a joint press statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “I owe India a great personal debt. When I met Sara (his wife) for the first time, I think our first or second date was in an Indian restaurant in Tel Aviv.”

“Sara was introduced to it for the first time, so it was a great first date – not only with the food, the date was excellent too…” he added.

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#WATCH | Jerusalem, Israel: Speaking candidly at the joint press statement with PM Modi, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, “…I owe India a great personal debt. When I met Sara (his wife) for the first time, I think our first or second date was in an Indian restaurant in Tel… pic.twitter.com/egTANLKbHL

— ANI (@ANI) February 26, 2026

He said that the restaurant was run by Reena Pushkarna, who is a celebrated Indian-origin chef, restaurateur, and business entrepreneur widely known as Israel’s “Curry Queen”. She is credited with introducing authentic Indian cuisine to Israel and serves as a vital cultural ambassador between the two nations.

She also led the culinary preparations for PM Modi’s two-day state visit to Israel.

Netanyahu had recalled his date at the Indian restaurant when he hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2017 and had remarked that the “food was great”.

PM Modi began his two-day official visit to Israel by meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. In a warm gesture, Israeli PM Netanyahu and his wife personally welcomed him at the airport and honoured him with a special guard of honour.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/i-owe-india-benjamin-netanyahu-his-wife-and-their-first-date-at-indian-restaurant-11140379?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

 

The President revealed that the Yunus administration put him under virtual house arrest, tried to unseat him from the Presidency several times.

Days after Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin spoke publicly about how he was treated by the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the chief of the Islamist party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami launched a sharp criticism of the President.

In a Facebook post, the Jamaat-e-Islami chief and current Leader of the Opposition, Shafiqur Rahman, questioned why Shahabuddin had allegedly withheld key details about the events of August 5, 2024 — the day Hasina left the country.

On that day, Hasina’s Awami League government was forced from power amid deadly nationwide protests and later the administration was overtaken by the Islamists.

Shahabuddin, in an interview with Bangla newspaper Kaler Kontho, slammed the Yunus regime, terming its rule and many of its actions as unconstitutional, India Today reported.

The President also revealed that the Yunus administration put him under virtual house arrest, tried to unseat him from the Presidency several times and prevented him from flying out of Bangladesh for medical treatment.

Notably, Shahabuddin was appointed as the President of Bangladesh in April 2023 by the Hasina-led Awami League government.

Jamaat Chief Criticises Shahabuddin

As Shahbuddin criticised Yunus and his regime during the interview, Jamaat supremo Shafiqur Rahman attacked him over hiding details regarding the August 2024 protests in Bangladesh.

“The President has suppressed many things regarding August 5, 2024. He did not acknowledge in his current statement what he told the leaders present regarding the resignation of the fallen and fugitive Prime Minister and what he later told the nation. And he did not say anything that day that he is saying now,” Rahman wrote on Facebook, slamming the President.

Shafiqur was referring to the controversy over Sheikh Hasina’s missing resignation letter, a document which was constitutionally required to legitimise the coming in of Yunus’s interim regime in the country.

“You know Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has tendered her resignation letter to the President and I have received it,” Shahabuddin had said in a televised address to the nation on August 5, hours after Hasina left.

Later after two months later, the President claimed that he had only heard that Hasina had resigned, but had no evidence of her resignation.

“I tried [to collect the resignation letter] many times but failed. Maybe she did not have the time,” Shahabuddin had said to Dhaka-based newspaper, Janatar Chokh in October 2024.

Shahabuddin On Bangladesh-US Trade Deal

Citing what he described as a “secretive” trade agreement between Bangladesh and the United States — signed hurriedly by the Yunus-led interim administration in its final days and shielded by a Non-Disclosure Agreement — Mohammed Shahabuddin said he had not been informed of the deal.

“Such a state agreement should have been communicated to me. But, he [Yunus] did not do it,” Shahabuddin remarked.

Shahabuddin further claimed that he was able to remain in office only because of backing from senior figures within the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and support from the armed forces.

“A high-ranking BNP leader assured me of their support. We want to maintain constitutional continuity. We are not in favour of removing the President through any unconstitutional means,” he said.

Questions On Yunus-Islamist Nexus

The significance of the Jamaat chief’s response lies in longstanding allegations that Islamist groups such as Jamaat and its male student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, played a key role in the downfall of the Awami League government.

Several reports have suggested that Islamist factions and the interim administration shared a mutually beneficial understanding from the outset.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/jamaat-chief-slams-bangladesh-president-sparks-debate-over-alleged-yunus-islamist-nexus-9930931.html

The United States has deployed F-22 Raptors to Israel for the first time. The move marks a historic shift in US military policy, ending decades of reluctance to base offensive aircraft on Israeli soil.

For decades, Washington avoided permanently stationing offensive combat aircraft in Israel, wary of alienating Arab partners across the Middle East. That posture has now shifted. The United States has deployed F-22 Raptors to Israeli air bases, marking the first time America’s premier stealth fighters are positioned there for what officials describe as a potential wartime contingency involving Iran.

The deployment comes amid heightened Iran tensions and growing uncertainty over regional basing access. While US Central Command has declined public comment and the Pentagon has not formally announced the move, videos showing F-22 stealth jets arriving in Israel began circulating on social media earlier this week.

The F-22, operated by the US Air Force, is considered one of the most advanced air superiority fighters in service. It is capable of air-to-air dominance, precision strikes and escort missions for bombers. Retired Major General Charles Corcoran, a former F-22 pilot, previously described the aircraft as able to “conduct strikes, escort bombers and operate defensively against cruise missiles and one-way attack drones.”

Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O), emerged as the winner in a months-long battle to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O), after streaming giant Netflix (NFLX.O), on Thursday refused to raise its bid for the storied Hollywood studio.
“We’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid,” Netflix said in a statement.

Netflix confirmed to Reuters that it was walking away from bidding for Warner Bros Discovery. The Warner Bros board still has to terminate the Netflix deal and adopt Paramount Skydance’s offer.
“Once our board votes to adopt the Paramount merger agreement, it will create tremendous value for our shareholders,” Warner CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We are excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery and can’t wait to get started working together telling the stories that move the world.”
Paramount maintained its dogged pursuit of Warner Bros, launching a hostile campaign to wrest the prize from Netflix. It managed to lure Warner Bros back to the bargaining table last week, with the potential of an increased cash offer for the company.

Earlier in the day, Warner Bros said Paramount’s revised $31-a-share offer was superior to Netflix’s bid of $27.75 per share for Warner Bros’ streaming and studio assets.

A Netflix adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had recommended the streaming service should bow out of the bidding because the deal no longer made economic sense. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos hinted that the streaming giant would not substantially raise its offer in a February 20 interview with Fox News’ Liz Claman, where he emphasized that Netflix has been “very disciplined buyers.”
The adviser said Netflix was bidding against a billionaire who signaled a willingness to pay a price for Warner Bros that Netflix viewed as irrational.
“There’s no point in playing chicken with someone who won’t turn the wheel,” said the source, referring to billionaire Larry Ellison, co-founder, executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.

Netflix shares jumped more than 10% after it declined to raise its offer.

REGULATORY CONCERNS

Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros would unite two major Hollywood studios, two streaming platforms (HBO Max and Paramount+) and two news operations (CNN and CBS).
The Ellisons have ties to President Donald Trump. Still, the bid is likely to face antitrust scrutiny in Washington, foreign countries and U.S. states including California.
“Approval from federal regulators seems likely given the political environment; however, we think it is very likely that some state regulators – most notably, California Attorney General Rob Bonta – could attempt to challenge the deal. We think there is potential for European regulators to have a say as well,” TD Cowen analysts said in a note.
Bonta, a Democrat, said late on Thursday that this is not a done deal. “These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review,” he added.
States have the power to sue to block deals, though the DOJ has the most resources to do so.
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Richard Blumenthal have worried approval of the deal could be tainted by political favoritism.
In its revised bid, Paramount raised the termination fee it would pay should the deal fail to gain regulatory approval to $7 billion from $5.8 billion. It also agreed to cover the $2.8 billion fee Warner Bros would owe Netflix for walking away from the merger agreement.
The Ellison Trust is committing $45.7 billion in equity, up from $43.6 billion previously, backed by Larry Ellison, who also agreed to provide additional funds needed to satisfy Paramount’s bank solvency requirements, the firm said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/warner-bros-says-paramount-bid-superior-countdown-begins-netflix-response-2026-02-26/

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a congressional committee on Thursday that she did not remember ever meeting the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had no information to share about his criminal activities.
“I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices,” Clinton said in a statement, which she released as she delivered a closed-door deposition to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York.

Following a seven-hour appearance before the panel, Clinton told reporters she repeatedly was asked the same questions throughout the day, but that she also offered some suggestions on conducting the investigation. She did not detail those ideas.
Clinton said that late into the procedures “it got quite unusual because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate, one of the most vile bogus conspiracy theories.”
She was referring to false, widely disseminated musings in 2016 that a Washington, D.C. pizzeria was a front for a child sex ring run by her and that New York City police had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to Democrats.

In her prepared testimony, Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, also accused the Republican-led panel of trying to shift focus away from Trump’s ties to Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. She noted Trump’s administration has “gutted” a State Department office focused on international sex trafficking.
Speaking to reporters after Clinton’s testimony, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer dismissed the idea of having Trump appear before the panel.
“President Trump has answered hundreds if not thousands of questions from you all about Epstein and I think he’s been very transparent in releasing the documents,” said Comer, a Kentucky Republican.
Clinton and her husband, Democratic former President Bill Clinton, initially refused to testify before the committee, but relented when lawmakers moved to hold them in contempt of Congress.

Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify to the committee on Friday.
Hillary Clinton told reporters that the former president will tell the committee that the “vast majority” of people who had contact with Epstein before his criminal pleas in 2008 “did not know” about the sex trafficking. “That is exactly what my husband will testify to tomorrow,” she said.
Before the hearing, Comer denied that the probe was a partisan effort, noting that several Democrats had pushed for the Clintons to testify.

“No one is accusing at this moment the Clintons of any wrongdoing but we do have a lot of questions,” Comer said.
He said the committee would seek to find out about any interactions she might have had with Epstein, his involvement with the Clintons’ charitable work, and any relationship she may have had with jailed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. He said transcripts and video of the Clintons’ interviews will be made public.
Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters that Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should also testify. Lutnick has admitted to visiting Epstein’s private island years after he says he broke off ties. Comer said it was “possible” the committee might subpoena him.

MISSING FILES

Garcia and other Democrats are accusing Trump’s Justice Department of selectively withholding material from 3 million Epstein-related documents it released to shield Trump from scrutiny. That includes records of a woman who accused Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor, Garcia said.
“Where are these files? Who removed them? These questions have to be answered,” he said.
The Justice Department said it is reviewing whether any documents were improperly withheld and would publish them if appropriate. It has previously cautioned that the material it has released includes unfounded accusations and sensationalist claims about Trump.
Law enforcement authorities have not accused Trump of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Trump socialized extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Comer said evidence gathered by the panel does not implicate Trump.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hillary-clinton-faces-epstein-congressional-inquiry-2026-02-26/

The U.S. aims to process 4,500 refugee applications from white South Africans per month, far above President Donald Trump’s stated refugee program cap, and is installing trailers on embassy property in Pretoria to support the effort, a U.S. contracting document said.
The new target, contained in a previously unreported document from the U.S. State Department dated January 27, signals a push to ramp up admissions from South Africa, while refugee applications from other areas have been severely curtailed.

Trump has said the U.S. would only admit 7,500 total refugees from around the world in fiscal year 2026, while a much higher cap of 40,000 to 60,000 was discussed internally last year. Only 2,000 white South Africans had entered the U.S. as refugees as of January 31 under a program launched in May 2025, although the pace has picked up in recent months.
The ambitious target could also face administrative delays in Washington, which in recent weeks have halted all refugee travel to the U.S., including white South Africans, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. The White House referred questions to the State Department.

The South African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. said last year that more than 67,000 people had expressed interest in relocating.
Trump ordered a halt to refugee admissions into the U.S. after taking office in 2025 as part of his crackdown on legal and illegal immigration. But weeks later, he launched an effort to bring in white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity as refugees, saying they had been violently persecuted in the majority-Black country. South Africa’s government has rejected that claim, while some refugee advocates have criticized the Trump policy.

U.S. SEES URGENT NEED FOR REFUGEE PROCESSING SITE

The contracting document, posted to a U.S. government database on Wednesday, explains the rationale for awarding the contract for the trailers without a competitive bidding process, stressing an urgent need for a secure site.
An immigration raid by South African authorities on a previous U.S. refugee processing site on a commercial property in Johannesburg had forced the government to consider a more secure location, it said, after “operations were compromised.”

“The inability to safely process about 4,500 applicants per month, an objective communicated to (the U.S. State Department’s refugee division) from the White House, would result in failure to meet a Presidential priority,” the document said.
South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said his government would not interfere with the U.S. program if it remained within legal boundaries, while reiterating Pretoria’s rejection of Trump’s claims about white South Africans.
“The assertion that Afrikaners face systemic persecution is fundamentally unsubstantiated,” he said.
Whether the U.S. could reach the ambitious 4,500 per month target remains unclear. The State Department last week canceled all refugee travel – including for South Africans – from February 23 to March 9 due to operational factors, an email sent to applicants said.

Because of Trump’s sweeping refugee ban issued in January 2025, South Africans must be admitted as exceptions on a case-by-case basis by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The U.S. official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal operations, said DHS had delayed the approvals, creating an administrative backlog.
Prior to the pause on admissions, South African entries had been ramping up, with about 1,500 admitted in December and January, compared with about 500 in the previous six and a half months, according to U.S. State Department figures.

AFTER PUBLIC U.S.-SOUTH AFRICA TENSIONS, A PRIVATE AGREEMENT

Tensions between the U.S. and South Africa over the refugee effort boiled over in mid-December when South African authorities raided the commercial building in Johannesburg where U.S. staff and contractors were working on refugee cases.
Seven Kenyans working as contractors for a U.S.-based refugee group were arrested for alleged violations of their visa terms, while two U.S. refugee officers were briefly detained.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us-aims-bring-4500-white-south-africans-per-month-refugees-document-says-2026-02-26/

The United States and Iran made progress in talks over Tehran’s nuclear program on Thursday, mediator Oman said, but hours of negotiation ended with no sign of a breakthrough that could avert potential U.S. strikes amid a massive military buildup.
The two sides plan to resume negotiations soon after consultations in their countries’ capitals, with technical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X after the day’s meetings in Switzerland.

Badr Albusaidi will hold talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and other U.S. officials in Washington on Friday, MS NOW reported late on Thursday. Neither the White House nor Oman’s embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment.
Any substantial move toward an elusive agreement between longtime foes Washington and Tehran could reduce the imminent prospects for U.S President Donald Trump to carry out a threatened attack on Iran that many fear could escalate into a wider war.
But Tuesday’s indirect talks wrapped up without a deal, still leaving the region on edge.
The Omani minister’s upbeat assessment followed indirect talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva, with one session in the morning and the second in the afternoon.

“We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran,” Badr Albusaidi said.
But with many analysts seeing the latest diplomacy as the last chance before Trump could decide to go to war, Badr Albusaidi provided no details and stopped short of saying the two sides had overcome their biggest stumbling blocks to a deal.
Describing the talks as some of the most serious that Iran has had with the U.S., Araqchi told Iranian state television: “We reached agreement on some issues, and there are differences regarding some other issues.”
“It was decided that the next round of negotiations will take place soon, in less than a week,” he said. The Iranians, he added, had clearly expressed their demand for lifting of U.S. sanctions, which Washington has long insisted will only come after deep concessions from Tehran.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. negotiating team on the outcome of the talks. But Axios quoted a senior U.S. official as saying the Geneva negotiations were “positive.”
The discussions about the decades-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear work come as fears grow of a Middle East conflagration. Trump has repeatedly threatened action if there is no deal, and the U.S. military has amassed its forces in waters near the Islamic Republic.

‘INTENSE AND SERIOUS’ TALKS

A senior Iranian official told Reuters earlier on Thursday that the U.S. and Iran could reach a framework for a deal if Washington separated “nuclear and non-nuclear issues.”

The Trump administration has insisted that Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups in the region must be part of the negotiations.
After the morning session, Badr Albusaidi said the two sides had exchanged “creative and positive ideas”.
But a senior Iranian official said at the time that some gaps still had to be narrowed.
Washington, which believes Tehran seeks the ability to build a nuclear bomb, wants Iran to give up all uranium enrichment, a process that makes fuel for atomic power plants but that can also yield material for a warhead.
Iran has long denied wanting a bomb and said earlier on Thursday it would show flexibility at the talks. Reuters reported on Sunday that Tehran was offering undefined new concessions in return for removal of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program was a “big problem” which would have to be addressed eventually.
The missiles were “designed solely to strike America” and pose a threat to regional stability, he said, but offered no proof to back the claim that U.S. territory could be targeted.

TRUMP THREATENS ‘REALLY BAD THINGS’

Trump said on February 19 that Iran must make a deal in 10 to 15 days, warning that “really bad things” would otherwise happen.
He briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, underlining that while he preferred a diplomatic solution, he would not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
In June, the U.S. joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites and has been ramping up the pressure on Tehran again since January, when Trump threatened to intervene over its crushing of nationwide protests with thousands killed.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-iran-nuclear-talks-resume-geneva-against-backdrop-military-threat-2026-02-26/

Images of debris from Russian strikes on Ukraine strongly indicate that Moscow has used a cruise missile whose development led Donald Trump to quit a landmark nuclear pact in his first term, two experts said, confirming earlier Reuters reporting.
The specialists based their analysis on images of fragments of the nuclear-capable missile provided to Reuters by three Ukrainian law enforcement sources, the first visual evidence published to date corroborating Russia’s use of the weapon.

Its deployment dozens of times in Ukraine is a striking example of how the nuclear arms control edifice emerging from the Cold War has crumbled in recent years. This month saw the expiry of New START, the nuclear treaty that imposed limits on U.S. and Russian strategic weapons.
Russia’s development of the 9M729 prompted Trump to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, then a cornerstone of nuclear arms control, in 2019, saying the ground-launched missile could fly far beyond the permitted limit of 500 km (310 miles).

The Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office told Reuters in a written statement in November that one of the 9M729 missiles fired by Russia on October 5 last year flew more than 1,200 km.

FRAGMENTS FOUND AT SITES ACROSS WESTERN UKRAINE

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and sources told Reuters in October that Russia had fired the 9M729 at Ukraine twice in 2022 and 23 times between August and October last year, the first known combat uses of the missile anywhere.
Russia fired at least four more of the missiles at Ukraine on February 17, one of the law enforcement sources said, the first time those cases have been reported. There have been other uses since October too, the source added.
“The images really do appear to show the 9M729. In addition to the markings, the debris are similar to other cruise missiles that are related to the 9M729,” said Jeffrey Lewis, Distinguished Scholar of Global Security at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Analysts at Janes, a UK-based defence intelligence company, told Reuters there was a high likelihood the debris shown in the 10 images had come from the ground-launched 9M729 missile.

The law enforcement sources said the images show fragments recovered in Zhytomyr, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia regions, all in western Ukraine.
Reuters could not verify where and when the photographs of the fragments were taken.
One piece bears the serial number 0274, while others bear the marking 9M729. In another case, a Reuters reporter saw a fragment stamped 9M729, but was asked by a Ukrainian law enforcement official not to photograph it for publication.

Hoda Kotb is set to stay in Savannah Guthrie’s “Today” seat for an extended period as the search for the star’s mother Nancy Guthrie stretches into its fourth grueling week, sources tell Page Six.

Behind the scenes at the NBC morning show, bosses are dealing not only with the impact of Savannah’s absence, but also with wild – and hurtful – rumors about who could take her job, according to insiders.

Although Kotb, 61, left ‘Today’ just over a year ago, she returned to Studio 1A to rejoin her former colleagues as somewhat of a salve shortly after Savannah’s life was brutally upended.

“At the moment, we’re taking things week by week, day by day,” we’re told.

“Hoda has been a steady hand, and calm presence for the staff.”

Despite this, there are no plans for Kotb to return full time and join co-anchor Craig Melvin, who replaced her on the show, as she is focused on her lifestyle business, Joy 101, and her family.

No one could have expected that one of NBC News’ most loved stars would become part of the biggest news story in the US. Savannah was forced to pull out of hosting the Winter Olympics opening ceremony and first week of coverage in Milan – and also missed her regular spot helming NBC’s “State of the Union” coverage Tuesday night.

Hoda was meant to jet to Italy to cover the Olympics, as was Craig, but both stayed in the US in the “Today” studio.

And while some insiders have reported it’s been difficult to keep up morale at such a tumultuous time as they focus on covering a story that is about one of their own, show staffers are trying to “tune out the noise and focus on work,” said an NBC insider.

“If anything, this incredibly heartbreaking situation has reinforced the strength of the ‘Today’ family.

“Everyone, from top down is focused on supporting Savannah and her family, and also doing the best job possible, because that’s what she would do. She is just so missed by everyone,” the insider said.

Savannah, 54, remains in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz., during the ongoing hunt for her 84-year-old mom. As rumors swirled about her future on the show, we revealed that the popular star – whose multimillion dollar contract is up this year – will be off “Today” for the foreseeable future.

Hours after Savannah released another heartbreaking video Tuesday in which she offered a reward of up to $1 million for any help in her mother’s return, the insider added, “We just hope this video will bring some answers.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/25/celebrity-news/hoda-kotbs-future-at-today-show-revealed/

Robert Cosby Jr., the son of “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Mary Cosby, was unconscious when police responded to a 911 call before his death.

The dispatcher said, according to audio exclusively obtained by Page Six, “23-year-old male, not conscious, not breathing. One dose of Narcan has been given.”

“Police have been called. Three units in route,” the dispatcher added.

A Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson told Page Six that Robert was found dead on Monday after officers “responded to an overdose call that turned into a death investigation.”

They responded to the call at 6:14 p.m., authorities confirmed.

Mary and her husband, Robert Sr., released a joint statement Monday, writing, “Our beloved son Robert Jr. has been called home to the Lord.

“Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in God’s promise and in knowing he is finally at peace. We are grateful for your prayers and trust in the Lord to carry us through this time of sorrow.”

Mary’s rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

TMZ was the first to report on the death.

Bravo executive Andy Cohen mourned the loss in an Instagram Threads statement Wednesday.

“Devastatingly sad news out of SLC,” he wrote. “This is every parent’s worst nightmare. My heart is broken for Mary, and I am sending all my love to her and Robert Sr.”

Robert’s death comes four months after his estranged wife, Alexiana Smokoff, filed for divorce after three years of marriage.

The former couple reportedly got married in a Utah courthouse in August 2022, with their secret marriage playing out in front of cameras for Season 4 of “RHOSLC.”

Robert and Smokoff’s alleged drug use was also a storyline in Season 6, which was filmed in early 2025.

In one emotional moment, Robert told his mother that he was “at a standstill” in his recovery after completing a 30-day rehab stint.

“I’m not in that dark place, but, like, it’s still there, if that makes sense,” he said, explaining that he is struggling without the ritual.

Robert’s relapse was revealed later that season after he was arrested in November for allegedly violating a restraining order put in place by Smokoff’s family.

“[Her family] filed a restraining order against him, and he went back anyway, thinking that she want[ed] him to come back and save her,” Mary revealed in the episode. “I don’t know where he’s getting that from … delusional.”

The Bravolebrity, 53, admitted that she refused to visit her son in jail and talk to him from behind the glass. However, she shared that she was sending him books to read.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/25/celebrity-news/911-audio-reveals-harrowing-details-of-mary-cosbys-son-robert-jr-death/

A baseline tariff may be the “price” Canada has to pay to continue shipping goods to the US, Canada’s finance minister said.

François-Philippe Champagne’s remarks came after Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, in which the US president said he wants tariffs to eventually replace income taxes to become America’s main revenue source.

Champagne’s comments follow US trade chief Jamieson Greer saying Canada has to accept “some level of higher tariff” if it wants to do business with the United States.

Trump last week imposed a worldwide 10% tariff through a never-used law known as Section 122 after the US Supreme Court rejected his previous sweeping tariffs policy.

“I think it is pretty well understood now in the world that the view of the American administration is that there’ll be a price to access the American market,” Champagne told reporters in Ottawa, after being asked if the president’s remarks in his speech hinder Canada’s hopes of getting tariffs lifted.

“Every country of the world that I know of is paying a price,” he went on. “What I’m saying is that Canada is paying the lowest price.”

Canada has exemptions from tariffs that comply with the continental free trade deal, the USMCA. It also faces steeper tariffs on steel, aluminium and softwood lumber.

“If Canada wants to agree that we can have some level of higher tariff on them, while they open up their market to us in things like dairy and other things, then that’s a helpful conversation,” Greer said while speaking to CBC on Tuesday.

In the wake of the trade tensions, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants to double Canada’s non-US exports by the next decade, particularly in industries such as metals and cars.

The US is by far Canada’s largest customer, making up about 75% of Canadian exports.

The new tone from the Canadians on US tariffs comes in the wake of a 6-3 US Supreme Court decision on Friday that found Trump’s sweeping tariff policy enacted last April was unlawful and the president had overstepped his powers.

Trump responded to the ruling by announcing a new 10% global tariff to replace ones struck down by the Supreme Court.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq57j8nqn67o

With Washington amassing military force in the Middle East, US and Iranian representatives are again meeting in Geneva on Tehran’s nuclear program. Hopes for a breakthrough are slim.

Tensions are rising shortly before renewed talks between the US and Iran, with representatives from Tehran and Washington set to negotiate on Thursday in Geneva over Iran’s nuclear program.

In political and security policy circles, there is increasing talk of a “military countdown” should no agreement be reached.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump is considering limited military strikes against Iran as a first step to exert pressure on Tehran to accept his demands on a nuclear deal, while trying to avoid a spiral of escalation that could lead to all-out war.

At the same time, it is said that if Iran continues to refuse to comply with US demands, the Trump administration could also consider a much broader military campaign aiming to weaken or overthrow the leadership in Tehran.

Iran has stated in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that it does not want to start a war. However, if the country is attacked militarily, it will respond “resolutely and appropriately” within the framework of its right to self-defense.

Risk of military escalation growing

No one can say for sure what goals the US would pursue in the event of a war, according to Menashe Amir, an Israel-based Iran expert and Farsi-language journalist at Israel Radio International.

“Perhaps even Trump himself does not yet know the definitive answer,” he said.

Nevertheless, the idea of the Iranian regime’s downfall is gaining some traction in Washington. “Trump has come to the conclusion that the Middle East will never find stability without an end to the current leadership in Tehran,” Amir added.

Two US officials confirmed to the Reuters news agency on February 20 that military planning on Iran is already at an advanced stage. Reported options include targeted attacks on specific individuals and measures that could even aim at regime change, provided President Trump gives the order.

However, Damon Golriz, a strategy analyst at The Hague Institute for Global Change, warns that even a limited military intervention in Iran would most likely go beyond its originally intended scope.

A regime that faces existential threats on several fronts would no longer see escalation as merely an option, but rather as necessary for its survival, Golriz pointed out.

Under pressure from massive internal unrest and international isolation, Golriz said the regime in Tehran could trigger a “chain reaction” with its regional militant proxy groups that could escalate instability in the Middle East.

Kamran Matin, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Sussex, said, however, that Trump prefers a deal with Iran to military conflict.

“A military conflict would be difficult to predict, and there is no clear exit strategy in sight. The president’s advisors have also repeatedly pointed out the risks of open conflict,” he told DW.

Pressure from Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to persuade Trump into military action against Iran.

Last year, the US joined Israel’s 12-day war with Iran by dropping bunker-busting bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israel sees the Iranian regime as an existential threat and would be a target for Iranian drones and missiles if the conflict were to escalate.

During a speech to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on February 23, Netanyahu said Israel was “vigilant and prepared for any scenario.”

Netanyahu warned that if the Ayatollahs’ regime in Tehran makes “the biggest mistake in their history and attacks Israel, we will respond with a force they cannot imagine.”

Israel-based Iran expert Amir said that Israel has “convinced Washington with extensive evidence that the region’s problems can only be radically solved by overthrowing the regime.”

“In Trump’s latest statements, we see that he is not only addressing Iran’s nuclear program, but also the oppression of the Iranian people. This could indicate a fundamental change in the American president’s doctrine,” he added.

These political and military signals increase the pressure on the upcoming talks in Geneva, which many observers consider to be the last chance for a diplomatic solution.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/us-iran-nuclear-talks-deal-or-military-strike/a-76120548

The Cuban Interior Ministry said the US boat fired at the Cuban coast guard, injuring the Cuban commander of the vessel. The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Cuba and the US.

The Cuban coast guard shot dead four people and injured six more in a speedboat registered in the United States, the Cuban Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

What do we know so far?

The speedboat was detected a nautical mile from Cayos Falcones in Villa Clara province off Cuba’s northern coast, the ministry said in a statement.

The Interior Ministry said the boat fired at the coast guard, injuring the commander of the vessel.

“As a result of the clash, at the time of this report, on the foreign side, four aggressors were killed and six others were wounded,” the ministry said, adding that the injured were evacuated and received medical assistance.

The ministry said that it remained committed to “protecting its territorial waters.”

Later, the Cuban government said that the ten individuals aboard the Florida-registered speedboat were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.

What did the US say?

Carlos Gimenez, a Cuban-born Republican member of the US House from Florida, urged “an immediate investigation into this massacre.”

Afghanistan’s female players are used to fighting and waiting. Months after their reintroduction to internationals, they now wait on another game and must wrestle with FIFA doubling down on a country that rejected them.

Three years ago, a team of exiled Afghan women looked on with frustration as the Women’s World Cup took place in the Australian cities where they lived.

The displaced players have come a long way since then, but the Women’s Asian Cup, which starts in Australia on March 1, is both an inspiration and a reminder of the many hurdles they must still clear to play international matches.

“I couldn’t stop crying the entire time as it reminded me of a time that I was able to take that pride and play for my country [before the return of the Taliban in 2021],” defender Mursal Sadat told DW of her memories of the 2023 World Cup, at which point Afghanistan had no women’s national team. “Hopefully, Afghanistan will be competing by the next qualifiers.”

The dream of competing for Afghanistan at a World Cup moved a step closed last October when an Afghan women’s team branded as Afghan Women United were recognized by FIFA and played in a friendly tournament in Morocco.

‘Eager to represent Afghanistan again’

The team’s first major step on the path to international recognition from football’s governing body was an emotional and sporting milestone after a four-year battle to be heard. But four months later, they have yet to play another fixture.

“Morocco was a big milestone, but for us it is only the beginning,” UK-based goalkeeper Elaha Safdari told DW. “As players, we are always eager to represent Afghanistan again. Of course, we want more international matches, but we have stayed disciplined, training hard and improving as a team. We know the staff is working behind the scenes to create more opportunities so we remain ready and motivated.”

After a period of silence, FIFA announced on Monday that Afghanistan will play two unnamed opponents in the June international break, with further information to follow “in the coming months.” Those players based in Europe were involved in a training camp in Doncaster, England, earlier this month, while those based in Australia are set for something similar later in the year.

Given the team’s struggles for recognition, trauma and the development gap that has emerged after missing four years of international competition, the World Cup in Brazil next year, was always going to come too soon. March’s Asian Cup will decide which Asian teams qualify for Brazil 2027 — the semifinalists will make it automatically, while the losing quarterfinalists will go into a series of playoffs for the remaining four Asian spots.

Taliban and UAE ties ‘logical explanation’ for visa rejection

Like Afghanistan, the UAE will not be at Brazil 2027 after failing to qualify for the Asian Cup. It’s fair to say they also won’t be the Afghan team’s opponents in June either, after the Gulf state refused to allow the Afghanistan players to enter the country in October, forcing a last minute change of host country to Morocco.

FIFA has since repeatedly refused to answer any questions from DW on why the UAE, who had agreed to host and play the team, reneged on the deal. It appears more than likely that the UAE’s relationship with the Taliban was the reason for the refusal.

“That appears to be the most reasonable and logical explanation,” Alison Battisson, the Australian human rights lawyer who helped the team find asylum in Australia and maintains close contact with the players, told DW. “The UAE can turn around visas in hours for a team. If it is true that they went quiet on FIFA in that week beforehand, withdrew visas that had been granted or didn’t grant visas, that is really quite extraordinary.

“To me, it says that, without explanation, somebody much more senior and not really that concerned about women’s sport stepped in and said we have to prioritize this other interest, which I can only assume is economic interest in Afghanistan.”

FIFA doubles down on UAE relationship

DW understands this is also the suspicion of many players, but FIFA’s silence leaves the situation unclear. The organization, headed by Gianni Infantino, were less tight-lipped when they announced “the launch of a new annual world football awards event in Dubai [in the UAE]” on December 29, two months after the visa refusal.

From this year, the press release said, these awards will be the “official annual FIFA awards ceremony that gathers the world’s most influential football figures, celebrating the best players, teams, and achievements of the beautiful game for the previous year.”

Given what happened in October, it’s safe to assume the players of Afghanistan Women United would not be able to attend such a ceremony.

While Afghan players past and present do express gratitude for FIFA’s support, the explicit backing of a country that rejected a team FIFA has recognized is impossible to square with the governing body’s commitment to use “advocacy and diplomacy with relevant actors and organizations regarding long-term access to sport” for the Afghan women.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/football-afghanistan-women-again-set-to-fight-for-future/a-76103291

US President Donald Trump is set to travel to China from Mar 31 to Apr 2 in his first visit to the country since starting his second term in office.

The United States and China have reached “stability” in their long-fractious relationship, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday (Feb 25) ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Asian power.

“I think we’ve reached a point at least of a sort of strategic stability in the relationship,” Rubio told reporters.

“I think both countries concluded that having an all-out global trade war between the United States and China would be deeply damaging to both sides and to the world,” Rubio said on a visit to the tiny Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Rubio has long been known as a hawk on China, with him and Trump casting the world’s second-largest economy as an adversary that needed to be defeated globally.

Rubio said that the United States would keep raising concerns, including seeking to diversify from China’s dominance in supply chains.

He also vowed to keep pushing China to negotiate a three-way nuclear deal with the United States and Russia.

A senior US official met with Russia and China in Geneva this week after the expiration of New START, the last remaining treaty between Russia and the United States that limited nuclear warheads.

“They have publicly said they’re not willing to do it,” Rubio said of China.

“We’ll continue to press on it, because we think it would be good for the world if we could reach such an agreement.”

China’s nuclear arsenal has been growing rapidly, although it remains well below that of Russia and the United States.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-china-strategic-stability-trump-trip-rubio-5954051

 

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un also left the door open for discussions with the United States if Washington “withdraws its policy of confrontation”.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would focus on expanding his country’s nuclear arsenal and that prospects for improving relations with the US rested entirely on Washington’s attitude, state media KCNA reported on Thursday (Feb 26).

North Korea’s week-long Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party wrapped with a military parade in the capital Pyongyang on Wednesday, KCNA reported.

The Asian nation’s “international status has risen extraordinarily” as it laid out major policy goals for the next five years, Kim said.

“It is our party’s firm will to further expand and strengthen our national nuclear power, and thoroughly exercise its status as a nuclear state,” Kim said, according to KCNA. “We will focus on projects to increase the number of nuclear weapons and expand nuclear operational means.”

North Korea has assembled around 50 warheads, possesses enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more warheads and is accelerating the production of further fissile material, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank estimated last year.

Kim also laid out North Korea’s plans to develop stronger intercontinental ballistic missiles, including ones that can be launched from underwater, attack systems using artificial intelligence and unmanned drones, KCNA said.

State media photos of the military parade showed formations of soldiers marching through a brightly-lit Kim Il Sung square under a podium where Kim and his daughter stood with senior officials.

Some troops in the parade were wearing camouflage and special warfare gear and a formation of jets held a fly-by. It was not immediately clear what, if any, military hardware was on display.

The presence of Kim’s daughter, known as Ju Ae, will fuel further speculation over whether she is being groomed as his successor.

US RELATIONS

Kim left the door open for discussions with the United States.

“If the US withdraws its policy of confrontation with North Korea by respecting our country’s current status … there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the US,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim has so far not accepted overtures by US President Donald Trump, whom he met with three times during Trump’s first term.

Kim’s remarks “all point to an expected refusal of any US-North Korea talks premised on denuclearisation, though (Kim) still left the door open for dialogue if Washington first abandons what it calls its hostile policy,” said Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies.

Trump plans to travel to China from Mar 31 to Apr 2. Some North Korea experts including South Korea’s spy agency have speculated that Kim could meet Trump during that occasion.

However, Kim called South Korea the “most hostile enemy” and ruled out discussions with its neighbour, saying “the conciliatory attitude that South Korea’s current government advocates on the surface is clumsily deceptive and crude,” according to KCNA.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/north-korea-kim-jong-un-military-parade-5953676

 

PM Modi has become known internationally for greeting world leaders with embraces, a departure from traditionally formal diplomatic gestures such as a handshake.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trademark “hugplomacy”, where he embraces world leaders in his trademark hug, has once again drawn international attention after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised what he called the famous “Modi hug”.

“It’s been a wondrous friendship, both personally, between the two of us, and between our two countries and our two peoples,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu recalled the moment the two leaders greeted each other warmly moments after PM Modi landed in Israel.

“Prime Minister Modi’s personal embrace is something special-it’s called the ‘Modi hug.’ It’s well known around the world, and when you hug someone closely, truly, you know it’s not an act. It’s a real thing,” he said.

“So I want to return the hug here from every single one of the Knesset members; it’s not only an indication of the personal relations and the personal friendship between us, but it really reflects the warmth of the tie between our two peoples,” he said.

PM Modi has become known internationally for greeting world leaders with embraces, a departure from traditionally formal diplomatic gestures such as a handshake.

During his visit, Prime Minister Modi addressed Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to do so.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pm-modi-knesset-address-benjamin-netanyahu-india-israel-modi-hug-netanyahus-high-praise-for-brother-pm-modi-11136519?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

OpenAI said the user appeared to rely on ChatGPT as a running journal diary to document the alleged covert campaign of suppression.

You should never trust an AI chatbot with your deepest, darkest secrets. A Chinese law enforcement official learned this the hard way when they decided to use ChatGPT as their personal diary.

A major influence campaign was uncovered not by the CIA or MI6, but by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, all because a user was treating the chatbot like a private notebook to plan his next ‘smear’ operation.

According to a new report by OpenAI, a Chinese law enforcement official unknowingly revealed details of an operation aimed at intimidating Chinese dissidents living abroad, including by impersonating US immigration officials.

OpenAI said the user appeared to rely on ChatGPT as a running journal diary to document the alleged covert campaign of suppression.

In one instance, operators allegedly warned a Chinese dissident living in the US that their public statements had violated American law. In another case, forged documents purportedly from a US county court were made to pressure social media platforms into removing a dissident’s account.

The campaign, according to OpenAI, involved hundreds of participants and thousands of fake online accounts operating across multiple social media platforms.

“This is what Chinese modern transnational repression looks like,” Ben Nimmo, principal investigator at OpenAI, said ahead of the report’s release, as per CNN. “It’s not just digital. It’s not just about trolling. It’s industrialised. It’s about trying to hit critics of the CCP with everything, everywhere, all at once.”

ChatGPT itself was not used to generate most of the campaign content. Instead, OpenAI said the tool functioned mainly as a planning and record-keeping space, while other systems produced and distributed material online.

The company banned the account after identifying suspicious activity.

As part of the campaign, a Chinese official allegedly attempted to fabricate the death of a Chinese dissident.

The ChatGPT user described creating a false obituary along with images of a gravestone, which were then circulated online. OpenAI investigators later matched these claims with real rumours that surfaced in 2023 about the dissident’s supposed death, reported at the time by Voice of America’s Chinese-language service.

Beyond Chinese dissidents, the campaign also extended to world leaders.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/open-ai-spy-a-secret-chinese-campaign-was-exposed-by-1-mistake-using-chatgpt-as-a-diary-11137014?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

The FBI subpoenaed records of phone calls made by Kash Patel and Susie Wiles, now the FBI director and White House Chief of Staff, when they were both private citizens in 2022 and 2023 during the federal probe of Donald Trump, Patel told Reuters on Wednesday.
Reuters is the first to report on the FBI’s actions that took place during the Biden administration, largely when Special Counsel Jack Smith was investigating whether Trump had interfered with the 2020 election and had hidden classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, according to Patel. Smith was appointed to take over that probe in November 2022.

Patel portrayed the seizing of his phone records by the FBI and efforts to conceal them as an example of overreach by unelected government officials under Biden, a theme often repeated by President Trump.
“It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records – along with those of now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles – using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” Patel said in a statement to Reuters.
Reuters could not independently verify many of the details about Patel’s claims, including the full extent and timing of the seizure of phone records and the motive for doing so. Patel said the records were filed in a way that made it difficult for him and other FBI leaders to find them after taking over the bureau in February 2025.

At least 10 current FBI employees have been dismissed as a result of the revelations about the targeting of Patel, Wiles and others connected to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, according to three FBI officials.
Democrats in Congress have consistently defended Smith from previous GOP criticisms, saying he had acted appropriately in seeking phone records and other evidence they said was necessary to thoroughly investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Trump and his associates.
Investigators routinely subpoena and collect records of phone calls during investigations, even of prominent people, while seeking to determine the key facts in a case and who might be involved in a particular incident.
Patel publicly said in 2022 that Trump had declassified the documents taken to Mar-a-Lago, a claim prosecutors disputed and Trump’s lawyers did not make in court. Patel was summoned before a grand jury hearing evidence in the case that year after he was given limited immunity from criminal charges.

Reuters could not independently establish what records the FBI obtained or who approved the subpoenas. The news agency also couldn’t ascertain if Patel or Wiles themselves were under investigation and, if so, why. Both were close to Trump during this period, as he built toward and ultimately launched his campaign to reclaim the presidency in 2024.
Both Patel and Wiles were known to have been interviewed by investigators as part of Smith’s investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents following his first term.
In 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney, according to two FBI officials. Wiles’ attorney was aware that the call was being recorded, and consented to it, but Susie Wiles was not.
A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment on Patel’s allegations on Wednesday. Biden, former Attorney General Merrick Garland, and former FBI director Chris Wray, who oversaw the bureau during Smith’s investigations, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Garland appointed Smith as special counsel.

A federal judge on Monday permanently barred the Justice Department from releasing Smith’s report on the documents investigation. Smith has told Congress that he is barred by court orders from discussing any aspects of the probe that have not been previously disclosed in court filings.
Smith previously told Congress that his investigators had serious concerns about obstruction of justice in their investigations. He told lawmakers last month that his office “followed Justice Department policies, observed legal requirements and took actions based on the facts and the law.”
The White House and Wiles did not immediately comment.
Patel said investigators used subpoenas to obtain what are known as “toll records,” which detailed the timing and recipients of calls he and Wiles made, but not what was said on the calls. The government may lawfully obtain phone records via subpoena without a judge’s approval.
Patel said investigators obtained the records around the time Smith led the probe into allegations that Trump illegally took classified documents to his South Florida property, Mar-a-Lago, after he left the presidency in 2021 and allegedly obstructed federal efforts to return those documents.
Smith charged Trump with felonies related to this investigation in 2023 but that case was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge, and Smith dropped an appeal of that ruling after Trump won election to a second term. Trump has denied wrongdoing related to Smith’s investigations.
Patel said he did not know the FBI’s purpose in seizing the phone records of him and Wiles, who became a top Trump adviser after he left office in 2021 and eventually co-campaign manager for his 2024 run against Biden. Patel also was a Trump political ally during this time.
Patel said the collection of phone records extended into Wiles’ time as Trump’s co-campaign manager, though he did not say when exactly the record collection began or ended.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-obtained-kash-patel-susie-wiles-phone-records-during-biden-administration-2026-02-25/

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on Wednesday said he will resign from teaching at Harvard University at the end of the academic year, amid the continuing fallout from his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year,” Summers said in a statement.

Summers, also a former president of Harvard, has been under fire since the U.S. House Oversight Committee released documents detailing an ongoing personal correspondence between Summers and Epstein. No evidence of wrongdoing by Summers has surfaced.

Summers discontinued teaching roles at Harvard and went on leave as a director of a business and government school at the university in November after the university said it would conduct a review of people named in the Epstein files.
“In connection with the ongoing review by the University of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were recently released by the government, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein has accepted Professor Lawrence H. Summers’ resignation from his leadership position as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government,” Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton said in a statement.

Newton said Summers would remain on leave until he retires from his academic and faculty positions at Harvard at the end of the school year.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/larry-summers-resign-harvard-new-york-times-reports-2026-02-25/

Canadian ministers told OpenAI that if it did not quickly boost its safety protocols in the wake of a recent school shooting, Ottawa would effect the change through legislation, a top official said on Wednesday.
Ottawa summoned OpenAI’s safety team for talks on Tuesday after the ChatGPT maker said it had not contacted police about an account that it banned belonging to an alleged mass shooter.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, is suspected of killing eight people on February 10 before taking her own life in a small town in British Columbia.

OpenAI said it banned her account last year on ChatGPT for policy violations, which it said did not meet internal criteria for reporting to law enforcement.
“The message that we delivered, in no uncertain terms, was that we have an expectation that there are going to be changes implemented, and if they’re not forthcoming very quickly, the government is going to be making changes,” Justice Minister Sean Fraser told reporters.
OpenAI was not immediately available for comment.

ONLINE HATE CRACKDOWN

In 2024, Canada’s Liberal government introduced draft legislation to crack down on online hate, but the effort stalled amid criticism it was too broad in scope. Ministers say they will try again this year with more focused measures.

“Anything that anyone could have done to prevent that tragedy or future tragedies must be done. We will fully explore it to the full lengths of the law,” Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters.
Van Rootselaar, who police say was born male but identified as a woman and began transitioning six years ago, had a history of mental health problems. The killings took place in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a town with about 2,400 people.
“We were really disturbed by the reports that there might have been an opportunity to escalate this to law enforcement … and we want to make sure if any company has that opportunity, they would escalate further,” said Evan Solomon, the federal minister in charge of artificial intelligence.
On Tuesday, OpenAI said it would shortly update Ottawa on what additional steps it was taking.

OpenAI says it banned Van Rootselaar’s account in 2025 after it was flagged by systems that identify “misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/canada-tells-openai-boost-safety-measures-or-be-forced-by-government-2026-02-25/

A bipartisan majority of Americans believe vaccines are safe and that children should receive them to attend school, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, illustrating the challenges President Donald Trump’s administration faces to win broad support for upending decades of health policy.
The six-day poll, which closed on Monday, comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has led the U.S. government to drop recommendations for several childhood immunizations and boosted federal support for states providing exemptions to vaccine mandates, such as for school attendance.

Some 84% of respondents, including 92% of Democrats and 81% of Republicans, said vaccines for diseases like measles, mumps and rubella are safe for children. The readings were little changed from when the question was asked in a 2020 Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Seventy-four percent said the government should require healthy children to be vaccinated to attend school, with 23% saying unvaccinated children should be allowed in schools. Nearly all U.S. states mandate vaccination for school enrollment, with some limited exemptions.

TRUMP’S MAHA PUSH

Trump has embraced many of Kennedy’s priorities and those of his followers, organized under the Make America Healthy Again movement, which promotes fewer vaccines and healthier eating, among other policies.

Public health experts have said weakening school vaccine mandates would result in more children being sickened by preventable diseases.
“Having vaccine requirements keeps schools safe, and we know they work. If they are rolled back, we will see vaccine rates fall, and unfortunately, we will see kids suffer,” said Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases.
Views of Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, skew along partisan lines. Overall, some 37% of respondents said they view him favorably and 52% unfavorably. By party affiliation, 72% of Republicans gave him a thumbs up, with just 12% of Democrats saying the same.
The poll shows stronger support for federal efforts to tackle unhealthy eating habits than to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccinations.

Two-thirds of respondents said it is a good idea for the government to do more to discourage unhealthy eating, while just 29% supported reducing the number of recommended vaccines for children.

SKEPTICISM OF MANDATES

The poll showed division among Republicans on vaccine mandates and the number of shots given to children.
Two-thirds of self-identified Republicans said they backed vaccine mandates in schools, while nine in 10 Democrats backed mandates.
Asked if they agreed with a statement “children in the United States today are given too many vaccines they do not actually need,” 55% of Republicans said yes, compared to 44% who disagreed, while 81% of Democrats disagreed.
States determine which vaccines are required to attend school. Religious or personal exemptions to vaccine mandates are allowed by 46 states and Washington, D.C., according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

MAHA groups are working in as many as a dozen states this year to bar school vaccine mandates, buoyed by Kennedy’s overhaul of federal vaccine policy.
A leadership shuffle underway at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen the departure of top officials, including principal deputy director Ralph Abraham, who in his prior role as Surgeon General of the state of Louisiana moved to stop promotion of mass vaccination. The agency this month postponed a federal vaccine advisory board meeting to March.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/americans-trust-vaccines-school-mandates-rejecting-trump-agenda-reutersipsos-2026-02-25/

In his speech, Trump talked about the first year in the office, which he claimed to have been focused on economic revival, tougher border enforcement and more assertive of US as a superpower.

US President Donald Trump delivered his address to the nation in his second term’s first State of Union speech, focusing on his agenda of “Making America Great Again”.

The televised address was delivered before a joint session of the Congress.

The speech came just over a year into his second term and month before the midterm election.

In his speech, Trump talked about the first year in the office, which he claims to have been focused on economic revival, tougher border enforcement and more assertive of US as a superpower. He also invited the US ice hockey team that recently won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Key takeaways

• Trump said he inherited a nation that had a stagnant economy, open border, poor police and military recruitment.
• The president said the economy is booming, the borders are secure and the police are stacked like never before.
• In the last nine months, zero “illegal immigrants” have entered the United States, said Trump, adding that the nation will allow people to enter the US legally.
• Our nation is back – bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before, Trump said.
• This July 4th, we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of earth and we have seen nothing yet, he said.
• The murder rate saw the biggest decline in history, the president said.
• Core inflation is down to the lowest level in last five years and in the last three months of 2025, it was down to 1.75 per cent, Trump claimed.
• Gas prices have come down to $1.85 a gallon.
• Annual cost of a typical mortgage is down by $5,000 dollars in just one year.
• Stock market has set 53 all-time record highs in a single year. Everyone is gaining, said Trump.
• In 12 months, $18 trillion investments in the US was secured from all over the globe.
• We received more than $80 million worth oil from Venezuela. I kept my promise of “Drill Baby Drill”, Trump said.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/world/us/us-president-donald-trump-delivers-state-of-the-union-address-key-highlights-3910852

Kenyan leader William Ruto wants more trade between the East African neighbors. But previous mooted border openings have failed and fears of Al-Shabab attacks remain.

Somalia’s efforts to open the country took another step forward when President William Ruto of neighboring Kenya announced that two border crossings would be reopened in April.

Officially, Kenya’s land borders to Somalia have been closed since 2011, and there have been previous attempts to open the border. In May 2023, the two nations agreed to a phased reopening of their common border.

Kenya reversed the decision two months later following the killing of five civilians and eight police officers near the frontier in attacks blamed on Al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgency group based in Somalia.

Separately, the 680 kilometer (422 miles) frontier has been disputed over a potentially oil- and gas-rich chunk of the Indian Ocean.

Somali traders welcome border opening

Mohamed Aden Ali, a trader living in Beled Hawo, a border town opposite Kenya’s Mandera, is excited at the prospect of the opening.

“It is a big move. Traders on both sides of the border depend on each other for their businesses,” he told DW.

“President Ruto said the border will open in April, but I am requesting that it be opened as soon as possible because we cannot wait any longer.”

Ahmed Barre Diriye, a community leader in Beled Hawo, said Kenya and Somalia are connected by “trade, education, security, and social ties. It also comes at a crucial time, as both sides are facing severe drought and people need to move to access support.”

Fahmo, a businesswoman, told DW she is happy that “after 15 years of closure, the border will finally reopen. We hope traders on the other side feel the same way.”

Certainly, Ruto seemed to share these sentiments when he posted on X: “It is unacceptable that fellow Kenyans in Mandera remain cut off from their kin and neighbors in Somalia due to the prolonged closure of the Mandera border post.”

According to Somali economic analyst Ahmed Khadar, there are economic incentives for Somalia and Kenya to grow closer.

“Somalia joined the East African community and Kenya is the only country in the East African community that has a border with Somalia,” he said, adding that Kenya “can be the gateway to connecting Somalia to the other members of the East African Community.”

Tourism in Somalia

The move follows other efforts by the Somali government to increase connectivity, trade and tourism to the Horn of Africa nation. It is rolling out online visas and visas on arrival options.

This month, Somalia joined the East African Community (EAC) passport system, after becoming a member of the bloc in 2024. The travel document is intended to boost trade and ease of travel.

The government has also touted Somalia as a tourism destination. In Mogadishu, the capital, a group of western tourists explored the ruins of formerly grand buildings overlooking the white beaches and blue sea. Fishing boats bobbed in the surf.

“The people are lovely, getting on with their daily life. There’s beauty. There’s destruction as well. Obviously, there are security issues. But it’s been really interesting and I’m really enjoying it so far. I’d say come and have a look,” Sherry Roberts told DW, standing near the Mogadishu Cathedral, which was badly damaged by Al-Shabab in 2008.

At a fish market, Australian Nick Benady said: “You may be very well accustomed to traveling in Africa, but Somalia is immensely different. The language is different. The culture is different, the food is different, and the people, importantly, are different. And I think some of the biggest hearts I’ve met in Africa.”

At Mogadishu’s Liido Beach, tour boat operators like Aweis Ali are seeing more business. “Recently, more tourists have been visiting and enjoying the country, and we’ve seen many of them sharing their activities on social media platforms like TikTok,” he said.

“As boat operators, we are always ready to welcome them at beach hotels and provide enjoyable boat rides.”

Years of conflict beginning in the 1990s devasted tourism in Somalia. Mogadishu went from being known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” to being dubbed one of the world’s most dangerous cities.

Kenya-Somalia security fears

Opening the border brings challenges such as logistics, monitoring and infrastructure. Poor roads and banditry risks make traveling overland in Somalia and northern Kenya difficult.

“There should be a cooperation between the border agencies in terms of the immigration protocols,” Ahmed Khadar said, adding that the movement of people needs to be managed. “Maybe after 10 years, there should be full normalization of the border issues.”

But the biggest concern, and the most commonly given reason for shutting the land border in 2011, is security. This coincided with Kenyan forces launching operations against Al-Shabab in Somalia.

For security, President Ruto said a multi‑agency security team will patrol the area, alongside plans to double police deployment.

Khadar told DW that previously, security cooperation was “very low, maybe because of weak government in Somalia, and maybe there was a time that Somalia, there were no government in Somalia.”

He added that “the security concern is not that much compared to 10 years ago or 15 years ago.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/security-fears-linger-as-kenya-set-to-open-somalia-border/a-76100159

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is facing trial in The Hague for his unprecedented “war on drugs,” which has killed thousands. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the war on drugs continues.

On the afternoon of October 14, 2016, four masked gunmen stormed the Manila home of Paquito Mejos, a 53-year-old father of five who worked as an electrician on construction sites. An occasional user of shabu, a methamphetamine, Mejos had turned himself in to local authorities two days earlier after learning he was on a “watch list” of drug suspects. (…) Two gunshots rang out. Police investigators arrived moments later and were assisted by the gunmen. In their report, the police referred to Mejos as “a suspected drug pusher” who “pointed his gun [at the police] but the police officers were able to shoot him first hitting him on the body causing his instantaneous death.” They said a shabu packet was found along with a handgun. “But Paquito never had a gun,” said his relative. “And he did not have any shabu that day,” the human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch cites him in 2017.

Paquito Mejos was one of the thousands of people who fell victim to former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs”. The exact number of people killed between 2016 and 2022 remains unknown: The Philippine police say up to 7,000 people, while HRW, Amnesty International, as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague estimate up to 30,000 fatalities.

ICC: “Crimes against humanity”

The ICC accuses the former Philippine president of crimes against humanity; he is alleged to have been involved as an “indirect accomplice” in the planning and implementation of systematic killings.

Investigators cite at least 78 cases of murder and attempted murder in which they hope to prove his direct involvement. In addition, he is said to have incited police officers and hired killers to “neutralize” suspected criminals.

The current preliminary proceedings at the ICC serve to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a main trial; a decision on this is expected in May 2026. This would make Rodrigo Duterte the first former head of state from Asia to face trial in The Hague.

The rise from Davao to Manila

Rodrigo’s political career started in Davao on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Until the 1980s, Davao was considered one of the most dangerous cities in the Philippines. Murders, drug crimes, robberies, and shootouts between rival gangs were commonplace.

However, this changed during the 22-year tenure of Rodrigo Duterte as mayor, during which he gained a reputation as a relentless crime fighter. Duterte declared a “zero tolerance policy” and essentially gave the police carte blanche to use lethal force when suspects resisted arrest. He is even said to have collaborated with death squads, the notorious “Davao Death Squads.” According to reports, between 1998 and 2015, these groups executed more than 1,400 people — including petty criminals, drug dealers, and even street children — without trial.

While human rights organizations expressed outrage, Duterte became enormously popular among the local population: Under his leadership, Davao was transformed into one of the safest and most economically prosperous cities in the Philippines. Nicknamed “The Punisher,” he ran in the 2016 Philippine presidential election and won by a landslide.

Martial slogans and deadly police brutality

As president, Duterte continued his “war on drugs” throughout the country. Although some suspected cartel bosses also fell victim to his campaign, it was mainly petty criminals, drug users, and even completely innocent bystanders who were killed, especially in the impoverished neighborhoods of Manila and other cities.

Time and again, his statements in this context caused international outrage. “If you know someone who is addicted, go and kill them,” he urged slum residents in Manila shortly after his inauguration in July 2016. “In Davao, I did it myself. Just to show the boys (from the police): ‘If I can do it, why can’t you?'” he stated in a speech in December 2016.

Particular consternation erupted when some critics compared his anti-drug war to the crimes of National Socialism. However, Duterte took up the comparison and stated that Hitler had “massacred millions of Jews. Well, there are three million drug addicts here. I would like to slaughter them all,” he said.

According to a report by Amnesty International, police officers allegedly received unofficial bounties for every suspect they killed. These bounties were not paid for mere arrests.

The war on drugs goes on

In June 2022, after six years in office, Rodrigo Duterte stepped down. The new election winner was, of all people, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son of former dictator Marcos. The fact that he had Duterte arrested in March 2025 and transferred to The Hague has less to do with a change of heart in the fight against drugs than with the new president’s desire to get rid of his biggest political rival.

After all, the war on drugs has never been officially called off, even under Duterte’s successor. Numerous regulations from the Duterte era remain in force. According to Amnesty International, the number of extrajudicial killings has declined slightly.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-faces-icc-over-deadly-drug-war/a-76109079

 

A top Democrat has accused the FBI director of causing a delayed response to high-profile cases in the US due to his personal use of the agency’s private jet.

Sen Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for a probe into FBI Director Kash Patel over what he called “irresponsible joyriding” in the bureau’s private aircraft.

He cited a whistleblower who alleged it slowed the FBI’s response to Utah after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was killed and Patel’s trip to Italy, where he was seen celebrating with the men’s USA hockey team after their Olympic win.

An FBI spokesperson disputed the allegations that Patel’s travels in any way hindered investigations.

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson called the claims both “false” and “egregious” and said, “Durbin and whoever he’s speaking to are full of it”.

FBI directors are barred from flying commercial airlines due to security, and personal jet use has come under scrutiny under multiple administrations, both Republican and Democratic.

Durbin, a Democrat representing Illinois, cited a whistleblower report to his staff that chronicled that the FBI’s shooting reconstruction team was delayed responding to Utah in September after Kirk was killed during an event on a college campus. Durbin said the team was halted for at least a day due to a pilot shortage that was allegedly caused by Patel traveling.

The whistleblower alleged that same team was delayed in responding to a mass shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island over Patel’s guidance and placing a jet on hold. The team instead drove from Quantico, Virginia – where the bureau’s headquarters is located – to Providence, Rhode Island, Durbin said.

Two students were killed and nine others were wounded in the attack.

Williamson, the FBI spokesman, said these allegations were false.

“The Brown U thing is totally false but the Charlie Kirk allegation is even more egregious,” he wrote on X. “Kash was in DC on 9/10 and in New York the next day for the 9/11 ceremonies – not personal travel. Durbin and whoever he’s speaking to are full of it.”

He went through the FBI’s response to Brown University and called the allegations of a delayed response both “misleading” and “ridiculous”.

According to CNN, the FBI has three jets based in Virginia for operational use and for the director’s transport, along with a fleet of aircraft stationed around the country for surveillance and emergency response missions.

The issue over the FBI director using a private jet has been scrutinised for years for chief’s appointed by both Democrats and Republicans.

In 2013, the Government Accountability Office – the federal government’s internal watchdog – examined private jet use by FBI director Robert Mueller and US Attorney General Eric Holder after accusations that they had been misusing them.

Former FBI directors James Comey and Christopher Wray had also been called out for taking hundreds of trips that cost US taxpayers millions of dollars.

Before being appointed by President Donald Trump, Patel once criticised his predecessor for using the agency’s jet for personal travel.

Durbin has asked that the Government Accountability Office and the Justice Department’s inspector general investigate Patel’s jet usage.

“As federal law enforcement is navigating multiple crises—including Americans facing significant danger after a prominent cartel leader was killed in Mexico—the FBI cannot afford to have its resources further stretched by a Director who views its staff and aircraft as a means to support his jet-setting lifestyle,” Durbin wrote in a letter to both agencies.

Patel on Monday defended his recent trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy, telling the “very concerned media” that he was “extremely humbled” to be with the men’s hockey team after their victory over Canada in Milan. An FBI spokesperson said the trip was focused on meetings with public officials in Italy and had been planned for months.

Footage showed the FBI chief drinking a beer and cheering with the players in a locker room after the game.

That same day – shortly before the celebration – Patel had posted on X that the FBI was “dedicating all necessary resources” to investigate how an armed man tried to enter President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where Secret Service agents fatally shot the alleged intruder.

Last November, Patel reportedly used the FBI’s plane to fly to Pennsylvania and watch a performance by his girlfriend, country music star Alexis Wilkins.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpqwv03wz1yo

Abigail Spanberger, the first female governor in Virginia’s history, attacked President Donald Trump’s economic and immigration policies during Democrats’ response to the State of the Union address.

She questioned whether the president was working to make life more affordable and safer for Americans, while criticising Trump’s immigration crackdown in US cities and tariffs on imports.

The rebuttal – first delivered in 1966 by a rising star in the opposing party – came just moments after Trump finished his remarks on Capitol Hill.

Spanberger, 46, was elected as Virginia’s governor in November after serving in Congress and working as a CIA officer.

“Tonight the president did what he always does,” she said of Trump’s remarks. “He lied, he scapegoated, and he distracted, and he offered no real solutions to our nation’s pressing challenges, so many of which he is actively making worse.”

She began her speech laying out three questions she wanted Americans to ask themselves: is the president working to make life more affordable, is the president working to keep America safe at home and abroad, and is the president working for you.

Spanberger said the answer to all three of those questions is no.

She attacked the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Democrat-led cities, and applauded resistance to the efforts in Minneapolis.

“Our president has sent poorly trained federal agents into our cities where they have arrested and detained American citizens and people who aspire to be Americans,” she said. “And they have done it without a warrant.”

“They have killed American citizens in our streets. And they have done it all with their faces masked from accountability.”

Federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good – both US citizens – last month during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. The Trump administration replaced the top official and withdrew agents from the city following an outcry after the deaths.

Spanberger also criticised the rising costs of housing and healthcare, and described Trump’s tariff policy as “reckless”. She claimed his policies have cost American families $1,700 (1,260£) each.

Even though the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration’s tariff policy, Spanberger said “the damage to the American people has already been done”.

She said Republicans in Congress, by failing to oppose the president, are costing Americans.

“They’re making your life harder,” the governor said. “They’re making your life more expensive.”

The selection of Spanberger to deliver the Democratic rebuttal to Trump represented little political risk for Democrats. She was elected a few months ago and cannot run for re-election, since Virginia has a one-term limit.

In her rebuttal speech, she suggested Democrats could be in a good position to win seats in Congress in November’s midterm elections, noting that she ousted a Republican incumbent in 2018 to win a seat in US Congress and helped Democrats secure a majority.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8w2r69wyeo

India was one of the 51 countries that abstained from the resolution, which was introduced by Kyiv.

India on Tuesday abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly draft resolution that called for an immediate, complete, and unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

The resolution, titled ‘Support for Lasting Peace in Ukraine,’ received 107 votes in favour, 12 against, and 51 abstentions from the 193-member assembly. Notably, the resolution was adopted on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

India was one of the 51 countries that abstained from the resolution, which was introduced by Kyiv. Other abstaining nations included Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

Zelenskyy Expresses Gratitude

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the 107 nations that supported Ukraine’s resolution at the UN General Assembly, calling for a full ceasefire and the return of Ukrainian citizens.

In a post on X, the Ukrainian President wrote, “I am grateful to each of the 107 countries that stood with Ukraine today in defense of life at the UN. The General Assembly adopted our resolution in support of a lasting peace, with clear calls for a full ceasefire and the return of our people.”

“These are the right and necessary steps. And we will keep working actively to achieve peace, together with our partners,” the post read.

See more

I am grateful to each of the 107 countries that stood with Ukraine today in defense of life at the @UN.

The General Assembly adopted our resolution in support of a lasting peace, with clear calls for a full ceasefire and the return of our people.

These are the right and… pic.twitter.com/s5tmD1Bymm

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2026

UN Chief Calls War ‘Threat To Global Peace’

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, describing the war as a violation of international law and a threat to global peace.

In a post on X, Guterres said, “24 February marks four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the @UNCharter & international law. This devastating war is a stain on our collective consciousness & remains a threat to regional & international peace & security. The longer the war continues, the deadlier it becomes. Civilians bear the brunt of this conflict, with 2025 witnessing the largest number of civilians killed in Ukraine.”

See more

24 February marks four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the @UN Charter & international law.

This devastating war is a stain on our collective consciousness & remains a threat to regional & international peace & security.

The…

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) February 24, 2026

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/india-abstains-from-un-resolution-vote-on-immediate-ceasefire-between-ukraine-russia-9927939.html 

 

Surveillance footage had showed Avtar Singh being forcibly taken by three unidentified individuals in a white SUV. His wife reported him missing when she returned home to find their infant triplets alone.

Days after a 57-year-old Sikh man, who had allegedly been kidnapped from a Gurudwara complex in the Tracy area in California’s San Joaquin County, was found dead, authorities have reported that the incident was a case of mistaken identity. Avtar Singh served as a cook at the Taksal-controlled gurdwara Guru Nanak Parkash for few years and went missing on February 17. His body had been discovered days later.

According to surveillance footage, Avtar Singh was picked up by three unidentified individuals in a white SUV at approximately 2:30 p.m. (local time) on Tuesday (February 17, 2026), police said. The victim appeared to have entered the car against his will, according to the authorities. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office in a Facebook post identified him as 5’7” and around 200 lbs, wearing “light-colored traditional Sikh clothing,” at the time of the kidnapping.

“During the investigation, surveillance footage showed a white SUV and 3 unidentified individuals dressed in dark clothing with the victim at approximately 2:30 PM. The victim appears to have entered the vehicle against his will,” the Sheriff’s Office posted. Detectives are actively investigating, it added.

After his wife returned home from work later that day to find their infant triplets alone, she reported him missing. Three days later, his body was discovered near Lake Berryessa, nearly two hours from where he was kidnapped.

At least a dozen US states have sued the Trump administration over sweeping changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, arguing the rollback threatens public health. The lawsuit challenges new CDC guidance limiting immunizations and the replacement of federal vaccine advisers, warning the move could increase outbreak risks and strain state resources.

The Trump administration has been sued by at least a dozen states over its rollback of vaccine recommendations for children, calling the move an illegal threat to public health. According to the argument put forward by the states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put children’s lives at risk after announcing last month that it would stop recommending that all children get immunized against the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis, and RSV.

The new guidance – which has drawn sharp criticism from doctors- protects against those diseases only for certain groups deemed high risk or when doctors recommend them in what’s called “shared decision-making”.

Representative Robert Garcia has accused the Department of Justice of unlawfully withholding FBI interview records related to a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein, who also charged President Trump with serious offences.

The Department of Justice “appears to have illegally withheld” FBI interview records with a survivor of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had also accused President Donald Trump of serious crimes, said Rep. Robert Garcia on Tuesday. His remarks follow reports that FBI interview files involving the accuser were missing from the DOJ’s database, which contains millions of Epstein-related records released after Congress passed a federal law requiring their disclosure.

“For the last few weeks, Oversight Democrats have been investigating the FBI’s handling of allegations from 2019 of sexual assault on a minor made against President Donald Trump by a survivor,” Garcia, D-Calif., said in a statement, according to a report by CNBC.

Garcia, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, added, “Yesterday, I reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Department of Justice. Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes.”

Flooding in parts of Indonesia’s popular resort island of Bali prompted hundreds of people, including dozens of tourists, to seek safety, a local disaster official said on Tuesday (Feb 24).

Intense rains triggered flooding since late on Monday across several Bali districts and the provincial capital city of Denpasar, said local disaster mitigation agency senior official I Gede Agung Teja Bhusana Yadnya.

There were no fatalities, he said.

Waters inundated facilities, such as cafes and gas stations, in the Badung district and forced some tourists to be evacuated on rubber boats.

“We are here to visit Bali Zoo … so we were trying to visit the elephants, but due to this condition we couldn’t do this,” 28-year-old Mexican national Briana Palacios told AFP.

Gede told AFP that about 30 foreign tourists were evacuated from the flooding on Tuesday, noting that some tourists moved to other hotels or later returned to their accommodations.

In total, about 350 people temporarily sought safety amid rising waters on Tuesday, Gede said, adding that most of the people returned to their homes as waters receded.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/bali-flooding-tourist-evacuations-indonesia-5950056

Martin Short’s daughter, Katherine, died on Monday by an apparent suicide. She was 42.

“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short,” a rep for the “Only Murders in the Building” star confirmed to Page Six Tuesday.

“The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time. Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”

The social worker was reportedly found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her Hollywood Hills, Calif., home on Monday around 6 p.m. local time, per TMZ.

“At 6:41 p.m., we responded to a reported shooting at that address,” the Los Angeles Fire Department told Page Six, confirming they received a call to 911.

“Death was reported of a female.”

Katherine was the adopted daughter of the actor, 75, and his late wife, Nancy Dolman, who died from cancer in 2010.

Short and Dolman, who were wed for 30 years, also adopted sons Oliver Patrick, 39, and Henry Hayter, 36, together.

Katherine, meanwhile, graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender sexuality studies from New York University in 2006, per People.

Then, in 2010, she earned her master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California.

The businesswoman worked as a social worker for a private practice and part-time at the Amae Health clinic, an outreach group that provides psychotherapy, leading up to her death.

Additionally, Katherine was involved with Bring Change 2 Mind, a charity that strives to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

For the most part, Katherine has remained out of the spotlight, but has attended a few events with her famous father over the years.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/24/celebrity-news/martin-shorts-daughter-katherine-dead-by-apparent-suicide-at-42/

Federal workplace safety regulators penalized three businesses Tuesday over their failure to protect six Colorado dairy workers who were killed by exposure to highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas after a manure pipe disconnected in an enclosed space.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced proposed fines totaling $246,609 against the dairy owner and two contractors working on a manure management system. The deaths of five men and a teenager on Aug. 20, 2025, shocked the rural communities in and around Keenesburg, 35 miles (55 kilometers) northeast of Denver.

Dairy owner Prospect Ranch LLC, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, faces the largest fine at $132,406 for serious violations, including failures in training, planning and protecting workers from “atmospheric hazards.”

The proposed fines are large by OSHA standards in agriculture but not unprecedented, said William Field, a professor at Purdue University who compiles annual reports on deaths in confined spaces at farms. He said occupational safety fines often are reduced upon appeal, or partially waived in exchange for investments in safety improvements.

“That part of it quite frankly is peanuts compared to the civil liability” potential in situations where private lawsuits are allowed, he said.

Regulators also announced proposed fines against Colorado-based Fiske Inc. and another contractor hired to work on the system that released manure water and the hydrogen sulfide gas that led to the deaths, the government said Tuesday in a news release.

Fiske Inc.’s business High Plains Robotics services dairy equipment and employed four of those who died. Fiske faces $99,306 in penalties for failing to protect employees and provide hydrogen sulfide detection training.

“A Fiske employee and a Prospect Ranch employee attempted to stop the flow but were overcome by the gas,” OSHA said in the statement. “Subsequently, three more Fiske employees and one Prospect Ranch employee entered the pump room, which led to the loss of a total of six workers.”

The Weld County coroner’s office determined from autopsies and toxicology tests that the people who died were exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas, but provided little indication of the circumstances of the deaths, describing only an industrial accident in a confined space at a dairy farm.

Contractor HD Builders was cited for failing to have a written hazard communication program and provide training on detecting hydrogen sulfide, with a proposed $14,897 penalty. Company employees were present but unharmed after the pipe disconnected.

The companies have 15 days to comply with proposed penalties, request an informal conference with safety regulators or challenge the findings before an occupation safety review commission.

Fiske Inc. and company owner Kevin Fiske said in a statement Tuesday that “our hearts are heavy as we review OSHA’s citations.”

“We have cooperated with the investigation proceedings to date,” Fiske said. “While we disagree with the findings and are reviewing our options to determine next steps, we are focused on doing what is in our power to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again.”

A representative for HD Builders said Tuesday that the company had no comment.

The hazards of confined spaces on farms and dairies are a well-known and persistent cause of death in agriculture across the U.S. — often from exposure to odorless and colorless noxious gases, or due to asphyxiation in closed spaces where oxygen has been depleted.

First responders from a rural fire district in Weld County were dispatched around 6 p.m. on Aug. 20 to Prospect Ranch and took their own safety precautions as they entered a confined space.

All those who died in Colorado were Latino, ranging in age from 17 to 50. Four of them, including the teenage high school student, were from the same extended family and worked for Fiske Inc.’s High Plains Robotics.

Alejandro Espinoza Cruz, of Nunn, was found dead along with his 17-year-old son Oscar Espinoza Leos and a second son, 29-year-old Carlos Espinoza Prado.

Source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/government-penalizes-businesses-over-6-deaths-at-colorado-dairy/articleshow/128763392.cms

New development in Nancy Guthrie’s abduction case suggests that the masked man might have visited her front door earlier than the night it is believed that she was kidnapped. Sources familiar with the probe informed ABC News that the suspect might have been surveilling the surrounding area before the suspected abduction on February 1.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released images of the suspect seen at Nancy Guthrie’s door prior to her disappearance. The investigating agency asked neighbours to review their security footage from January 1 onward as they work to identify the suspect of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother’s disappearance.

Residents were asked to identify suspicious people and vehicles on their home security systems from the date a month before the abduction for more clues and leads into the investigation.

The most recent image of the suspect released by the FBI shows the accused without a backpack at the front door of 84-year-old’s house. This image was captured by the Nest doorbell camera on a day before the suspected abduction, ABC News reported.

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REMINDER: FBI reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.

The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall of average build.

Report tips to… pic.twitter.com/PrFkHPj9Ac

— FBI Phoenix (@FBIPhoenix) February 17, 2026

According to FBI officials, the images of the suspect wearing a backpack are from “the morning of her disappearance,” February 1. On Sunday morning, Guthrie failed to show up to watch a virtual church service following which her disappearance was reported.

If it is the same person, “it could indicate that the person was there surveilling the place before the abduction happened,” ABC News quoted Former FBI agent Jason Pack as saying.

He added, “The fact that there was preparation and planning, which makes it more of a sophisticated type of criminal activity than someone just showing up.”

The release of recent images contributed to the development of several theories, one of which suggests that the suspect noticed the camera when he approached the door the first time. Intimidated by the surveillance camera, he decided to return only come back later when he was seen tampering with the device and placing branches in front of the lens to obstruct view.

Source : https://www.livemint.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-state-of-the-union-speech-in-numbers-jobs-immigration-core-inflation-food-stamps-natural-gas-venezuelan-oil-11771989118284.html

 

Pakistani air raids break fragile ceasefire as Islamabad faces pressure on both borders.

In the weeks before the Pakistani military carried out air raids inside Afghanistan over the weekend, violence had been unrelenting.

On February 6, a suicide bomber detonated explosives during Friday prayers at a Shia mosque in the capital, Islamabad, killing at least 36 worshippers and wounding 170 others.

Days later, an explosives-laden vehicle rammed a security post in Bajaur in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing 11 soldiers and a child. The attacker, according to Pakistani authorities, was later identified as an Afghan national.

After the Bajaur attack, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a demarche to the Taliban authorities on February 19, summoning the Afghan deputy head of mission in Islamabad.

But two days later, in the early hours of Saturday, another suicide bomber struck a security convoy in Bannu, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.

Pakistan’s patience appeared to have run out, and early on Sunday, the military struck back, targeting what it described as “camps and hideouts” in Afghan border areas.

According to Pakistani authorities, air raids in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Paktika provinces targeted sanctuaries of Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, and its affiliates, killing at least “80 militants in intelligence-based air strikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border targeting seven camps”.

Kabul has rejected those claims. The Afghan Ministry of Defence said the strikes hit a religious school and residential homes, killing and wounding dozens, including women and children. Afghan sources told Al Jazeera that at least 17 people were killed in Nangarhar alone. Kabul pledged a “measured and appropriate response”.

Later on Sunday, India entered the picture, condemning the Pakistani military action and throwing in its support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“India strongly condemns Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory that have resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramadan,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“It is another attempt by Pakistan to externalise its internal failures,” he said.

In many ways, the statement from New Delhi underscored the unease in Islamabad over India’s growing engagement with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan — an emerging partnership between two countries that Pakistan has repeatedly blamed in recent months for its domestic security turmoil.

Breaking point

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a statement issued on Sunday, said it had “conclusive evidence” that the recent attacks on its soil were carried out by fighters and suicide bombers acting on the “behest of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.”

It said Islamabad had repeatedly urged Kabul to take verifiable steps to prevent armed groups from using Afghan soil, but that no substantive action had followed.

“Pakistan has always strived to maintain peace and stability in the region,” the statement read, “but the safety and security of Pakistani citizens remain its top priority.”

Pakistan’s attack shattered a fragile ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye after talks in October and November, following earlier rounds of deadly border clashes. The discussions last year had failed to produce a formal peace agreement, and calm along the frontier remained tenuous.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is supporting armed groups that attack Pakistan.

But as far back as October last year, the Pakistan military’s spokesperson, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, had warned that Islamabad’s patience was wearing thin.

“Afghanistan is being used as a base of operations against Pakistan, and there is proof and evidence of that. The necessary measures that should be taken to protect the lives and property of the people of Pakistan will be taken and will continue to be taken,” he said during a press briefing, without presenting evidence publicly.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after a suicide bombing outside a district court in Islamabad in November, had also stressed the need for cooperation from Kabul.

“Afghanistan must understand that lasting peace can only be realised by reining in TTP and other terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory,” he said.

‘Left between bad and worse options’

The TTP, which emerged in 2007, is distinct from the Taliban in Afghanistan but shares deep ideological, social and linguistic ties with the group. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of providing sanctuary to the TTP on Afghan soil, a charge Kabul denies.

Abdul Basit, a scholar at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Pakistan’s attack confirms the collapse of the temporary ceasefire that followed the talks late last year.

Basit questioned the logic behind Pakistan’s bombings.

“The more Pakistan will strike in Afghanistan, the more Kabul and TTP will come closer,” he told Al Jazeera.

At the same time, Basit said, he understood Pakistan’s dilemma. “They have to retaliate after losing so many security personnel,” he said, describing Pakistan as being “left between bad and worse options”.

The losses for Pakistan in recent months have been steep. Last year was among the deadliest in nearly a decade, with 699 attacks recorded nationwide, a 34 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies.

Its 2025 security report said at least 1,034 people were killed in the renewed wave of violence, marking a 21 percent rise in “terrorism-related fatalities”. “In addition, 1,366 people were injured over the course of the year, underscoring the growing human cost of terrorism,” the report said.

Cross-border air raids are not new. A similar operation in December 2024 killed at least 46 people, most of them civilians. That episode prompted sharp warnings from Kabul, but attacks on Pakistani soil — blamed by Islamabad on the TTP — continued.

Some experts said Pakistan’s strategy needed to involve more than military pressure on the Taliban.

Fahad Nabeel, who heads the Islamabad-based research consultancy Geopolitical Insights, said Pakistan must also work to build goodwill among Afghans.

“Reopening the border and resuming bilateral trade are two possible measures that Pakistan can adopt. Pakistan also needs to share actionable intelligence with allied countries like China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye to increase pressure on the Afghan Taliban to act against anti-Pakistan militant groups,” he told Al Jazeera.

The India question

An intriguing dimension of the crisis has been not only who Pakistan targeted, but who responded.

India, Pakistan’s nuclear-armed rival, condemned the air raids and highlighted civilian casualties in Afghanistan, while remaining silent on the attacks inside Pakistan that preceded them.

For officials in Islamabad, New Delhi’s statement reinforced a perception that India and the Taliban authorities are edging closer in ways that complicate Pakistan’s security calculus.

That shift has gathered pace over the past year. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s six-day visit to India last October marked the first trip by a senior Taliban official since the group returned to power in 2021. India reopened its embassy in Kabul during the same period.

When a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan weeks later, India was among the first to send aid and later gifted ambulances to Kabul, gestures closely watched in Islamabad.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed in October that India had “penetrated” the Taliban leadership and suggested that Kabul’s growing ties with New Delhi made it less willing to cut ties with the TTP. He offered no public evidence to back his claims.

Basit said while Pakistan’s attacks on Afghanistan would amount to “India’s gain” — drawing the Taliban and New Delhi closer, with a shared enemy in Islamabad — India faced limitations imposed by geography. “It can provide humanitarian support to Afghanistan, but nothing more than that,” he said.

Still, Nabeel argued, Pakistani policymakers need clarity on how to address armed groups operating from Afghan soil.

“Pakistan cannot afford to keep both borders [with Afghanistan and India] engaged at a time when the prospects of military confrontation between the US and Iran are growing with each passing day,” he said, referring to rising tensions in the Middle East.

Narrowing options

Pakistan’s eastern border with India has remained tense since the two countries had a four-day military confrontation in May last year after an attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed. India blamed Pakistan, which denied any role.

To the west, the Taliban government shows little sign of acting decisively against the TTP, say Pakistani officials. At home, a surge in attacks, including in big cities, has intensified public pressure on the military to respond forcefully.

Sunday’s air raids were intended to project strength to Kabul, say experts. Whether they amount to a coherent long-term strategy is less clear, especially as the Taliban has pledged retaliation.

Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/24/afghanistan-bombing-whats-pakistans-strategy-as-india-taliban-ties-grow

The U.S. will provide on-site passport services this week in a settlement in the West Bank, marking the first time American consular officials have offered such services to settlers in the occupied territory, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
Most of the world considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal under international law relating to military occupations. Israel disputes that the settlements are illegal, and many on the Israeli right advocate annexing the West Bank.

Palestinians have long sought the West Bank for a future independent state, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem.
This month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing cabinet approved measures making it easier for settlers to seize Palestinian land.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN-ISRAELIS IN WEST BANK

U.S. President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has said he opposes Israeli annexation of the West Bank. But his administration has not taken any measures to halt settlement activity, which rights groups say has risen since he took office last year.
In a post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said that as part of efforts to reach all Americans abroad, “consular officers will be providing routine passport services in Efrat on Friday, February 27,” referring to a settlement south of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

The Embassy said it would plan similar on-site services in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah, in the settlement of Beitar Illit near Bethlehem, and in cities within Israel such as Haifa.
The U.S. offers passport and consular services at its Embassy in Jerusalem as well as at a Tel Aviv branch office. The number of dual American-Israeli nationals living in the West Bank is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
Asked for comment, an embassy spokesperson said: “This is the first time we have provided consular services to a settlement in the West Bank.” The spokesperson said similar services were being offered to American-Palestinian dual nationals in the West Bank.

‘DE FACTO ANNEXATION’

Last week, Israel’s cabinet approved measures to tighten the country’s control over the West Bank and make it easier for settlers to buy land, a move Palestinians called a “de facto annexation”.

Much of the West Bank is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, which has a large voter base in the settlements, includes many members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-offer-passport-services-west-bank-settlement-first-time-2026-02-24/

Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase anti‑ship cruise missiles, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations, just as the United States deploys a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic.
The deal for the Chinese‑made CM‑302 missiles is near completion, though no delivery date has been agreed, the people said. The supersonic missiles have a range of about 290 kilometres and are designed to evade shipborne defences by flying low and fast. Their deployment would significantly enhance Iran’s strike capabilities and pose a threat to U.S. naval forces in the region, two weapons experts said.

Negotiations with China to buy the missile weapons systems, which began at least two years ago, accelerated sharply after the 12‑day war between Israel and Iran in June, according to the six people with knowledge of the talks, including three officials who were briefed by the Iranian government as well as three security officials. As talks entered their final stages last summer, senior Iranian military and government officials travelled to China, including Massoud Oraei, Iran’s deputy defence minister, according to two of the security officials. Oraei’s visit has not been previously reported.
“It’s a complete gamechanger if Iran has supersonic capability to attack ships in the area,” said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli intelligence officer and now senior Iran researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies think tank. “These missiles are very difficult to intercept.”

Reuters could not determine how many missiles were involved in the potential deal, how much Iran had agreed to pay, or whether China would go through with the agreement now given heightened tensions in the region.
“Iran has military and security agreements with its allies, and now is an appropriate time to make use of these agreements,” an Iranian foreign ministry official told Reuters.
In a comment sent after publication, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was not aware of the talks about a potential missile sale that Reuters had reported. China’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House did not directly address the negotiations between Iran and China over the missile system when asked by Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump has been clear that “either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” a White House official said, referring to the current standoff with Iran.

The missiles would be among the most advanced military hardware to be transferred to Iran by China and defy a United Nations weapons embargo that was first imposed in 2006. The sanctions were suspended in 2015 as part of a nuclear deal with the U.S. and allies, and then reimposed last September.

US FORCES GATHERING NEAR IRAN

The potential sale would underscore deepening military ties between China and Iran at a moment of heightened regional tension, complicating U.S. efforts to contain Iran’s missile programme and curb its nuclear activities. It would also signal China’s growing willingness to assert itself in a region long dominated by U.S. military might.
China, Iran and Russia hold annual joint naval exercises, and last year the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned several Chinese entities for supplying chemical precursors to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for use in its ballistic missile program. China rejected those allegations, saying it was unaware of the cases cited in the sanctions and that it strictly enforces export controls on dual-use products.

While hosting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for a military parade in Beijing in September, Chinese President Xi Jinping told the Iranian leader that “China supports Iran in safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity.”
China joined Russia and Iran in a joint letter on October 18 to say they believed the decision to reimpose sanctions was flawed.
“Iran has become a battlefield between the U.S.” on one side and Russia and China on the other, said one of the officials who was briefed by Iran’s government on the missile negotiations.
The deal comes as the U.S. assembles an armada within striking distance of Iran, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group. The USS Gerald R. Ford and its escorts are also heading to the region. The two ships together can carry more than 5,000 personnel and 150 aircraft.
“China does not want to see a pro-Western regime in Iran,” said Citrinowicz, the Israeli specialist on Iran. “That would be a threat to their interests. They are hoping that this regime will stay.”
Trump said on February 19 he was giving Iran 10 days to reach an agreement over its nuclear programme or face military action. The U.S. is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if Trump orders an attack, Reuters reported on February 13.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iran-nears-deal-buy-supersonic-anti-ship-missiles-china-2026-02-24/

Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has no intention of easing its usage restrictions for military purposes, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, adding talks continue after a meeting to discuss its future with the Pentagon.
The meeting between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to hash out a months-long dispute. The AI startup has refused to remove safeguards that would prevent its technology from being used to target weapons autonomously and conduct U.S. domestic surveillance.

Pentagon officials have argued the government should only be required to comply with U.S. law.
During the meeting, Hegseth delivered an ultimatum to Anthropic: get on board or the government would take drastic action, people familiar with the matter said. The options included labeling Anthropic as a supply-chain risk or have the Pentagon invoke a law, the Defense Production Act, that would force Anthropic to change its rules, the people said.
The government gave Anthropic until Friday at 5 p.m. to respond, according to a senior Pentagon official with knowledge of the matter.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a comment request. An Anthropic spokesperson said Tuesday’s meeting “continued good-faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government’s national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly do.”

The Pentagon has been negotiating AI contracts with multiple large language model, or LLM, providers, including Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O), xAI and OpenAI, that are set to shape the future of military use of artificial intelligence for battlefield applications, spanning autonomous drone swarms, robots and cyber attacks.
Until recently, Anthropic was the only LLM provider on classified networks. This week, the Pentagon announced it had reached an agreement with xAI to deploy it across classified networks. Reuters has previously reported that it plans to move all AI companies to classified networks.
The Pentagon’s fight with Anthropic reached a fever pitch earlier this month when it grew concerned that the company had asked questions about how its AI products were used during the Venezuela military raid that captured President Nicolas Maduro.

During the meeting with Hegseth, Amodei said Anthropic did not raise concerns to Palantir or the Pentagon about whether the company’s AI products were used during the Venezuela raid, the source said. Amodei also said the safeguards currently in place would not pose a problem to the Defense Department’s current operations.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/anthropic-digs-heels-dispute-with-pentagon-source-says-2026-02-24/

Ukrainian tank platoon commander Valentyn Bohdanov remembers a time earlier in Russia’s war when heavy armour fought pitched battles like boxers trading punches in the ring. Four years into the conflict, he says such showdowns are all but impossible.
Small but deadly “first-person-view” drones now dominate the skies above Ukraine’s battlefields, making it extremely risky for armoured vehicles to move, said Bohdanov, a senior sergeant in Ukraine’s 127th Separate Heavy Mechanised Kharkiv Brigade.

“They won’t enter an open field: they’ll be peppered by FPV drones and stronger ones,” said the 36-year-old, who goes by the military call sign “Bodia”.
These days, his T-72 tank, which was captured from the Russians, remains hidden beneath webbing near the snowy frontline in the northeast region of Kharkiv – reduced, effectively, to a static piece of artillery.
Bohdanov, who has served since early in Moscow’s February 2022 invasion, has seen traditional military tactics upended as technology has forced both sides to make new battlefield calculations.
Thousands of precision drones, often costing only several hundred dollars apiece, roam the skies daily across an expanding “kill zone” along the 1,200-km front. They are joined by a growing range of more powerful drones capable of flying farther and carrying heavier payloads.

The ever-present threat from the sky makes virtually any movement – from troop rotations and evacuations to tank assaults – increasingly deadly.
Drone-inflicted casualties have jumped from less than 10% of the total in 2022 to up to 80% last year, as much of the war has morphed into an “air battle of mutual denial”, according to a report by the French Institute of International Relations published this month.
It described the shift as part of “a new logic of warfare defined by speed of innovation, rapid adaptation, and seamless technological integration” that would include other technologies including artificial intelligence.

‘IN THE AIR ALL THE TIME’

Mobile drone-hunting teams, like the one Reuters recently visited near the besieged eastern city of Kostiantynivka, are now commonplace.
Patrolling roads shrouded in anti-drone netting and littered with the charred remains of vehicles, members are on constant alert for drones ranging from FPVs to larger, long-range Shaheds. They are tasked with defending supply routes critical for troops in a section of the front line where Russia is advancing.

Drone-hunter “Marine” of the 93rd Mechanised Brigade, who introduced himself by his call sign, recalled once seeing 54 drones attack a single target within one hour.
“Three would circle, another would attack while the others join,” he said. “They’re in the air like that all the time, not letting anyone get away.”
Many soldiers who have been directly under fire describe being overwhelmed by the speed and agility of FPVs. Footage of their strikes now saturate social media on both sides.
Speaking in a military hospital in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Andriy Meskov said he had been returning from an assignment when he and two comrades were attacked by drones that whizzed after them as they sought cover.
“We ran into a building, not really expecting that it would follow us,” said Meskov, 42, himself a drone pilot in the 151st Separate Reconnaissance-Strike Battalion.

“The speed of a human being doesn’t compare to the speed of an FPV drone, so I didn’t even have time to pick up my rifle to shoot at it.”

NEW BATTLEFIELD LESSONS

Meskov’s knee was shattered when a drone ricocheted off his helmet and exploded near his leg.
He was eventually evacuated for medical treatment on an unmanned ground vehicle. Such ground drones are increasingly employed for tasks ranging from logistics to evacuations, to minimise casualties.
They carried out more than 7,000 missions in January, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last week. Ukraine plans to boost their production and procurement this year, he said.
Longer evacuation times are another potentially fatal consequence of the expanding “kill zone”. Col. Viacheslav Kurinnyi, 45, chief doctor at the Kharkiv hospital where Meskov was being treated, said the drone threat to vehicles had pushed the average time for medical evacuation beyond three days.
That flies in the face of the so-called “golden hour” of battlefield medicine, he added, referring to the 60-minute window when intervention is critical to saving a fighter’s life.
Ukraine’s Western allies needed to learn the lessons: “Any countries that are preparing for war at home need to realise that there will be no ‘golden hour,'” Kurinnyi said. “Maybe a ‘golden day’ if they’re lucky.”
Once his hospital received a wounded soldier who had been wearing a tourniquet for more than two months.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/drones-dominate-ukraine-battlefield-four-years-into-fighting-2026-02-24/

Washington on Monday (Feb 23) accused China of dramatically swelling its nuclear arsenal, and doubled down on claims that Beijing has conducting secret nuclear tests, demanding again it be part of any future arms control treaty.

Washington said the lapsing earlier this month of New START – the last treaty between top nuclear powers, the United States and Russia – presented the possibility to achieve a “better agreement”, including Beijing.

China has publicly rejected calls to enter negotiations on a new three-way treaty.

Christopher Yeaw, the US assistant secretary of state for arms control and nonproliferation, told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that the New START treaty had been seriously flawed.

“Perhaps its greatest flaw was that New Start did not account for the unprecedented, deliberate, rapid and opaque nuclear weapons build-up by China,” he said.

“Despite its claims to the contrary, China has deliberately and without constraint, massively expanded its nuclear arsenal without transparency or any indication of China’s intent or end point,” he charged.

“We believe China may achieve parity within the next four or five years,” he said, without elaborating what he meant by parity.

Both Russia and the United States have more than 5,000 nuclear weapons, according to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign group ICAN.

But New START, which expired on Feb 5, restricted the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each – a number Washington says China is fast approaching.

“Beijing is on track to have the fissile material necessary for more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030,” Yeaw said.

The expiration of New START marks the first time in decades that there is no treaty to curtail the positioning of the planet’s most destructive weapons, sparking fears of a fresh arms race.

Yeaw welcomed the lapsing of the treaty, insisting its numerical limits on warheads and launchers were “no longer relevant”, given Russia’s alleged violation of the treaty.

He also accused Moscow of helping “boost Beijing’s capacity to increase its arsenal size”.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-says-china-massively-expanded-nuclear-arsenal-5947311

Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam also emphasised the importance of racial and religious harmony in maintaining peace in Singapore.

Action will be taken against any Singaporean who fights overseas in foreign causes, Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam said on Monday (Feb 23), emphasising the importance of racial and religious harmony in maintaining peace in Singapore.

He also noted the critical role of religious and community leaders who help set the tone for harmony in Singapore.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, was speaking at a fast-breaking session co-organised by Khadijah Mosque and the Religious Rehabilitation Group on Monday (Feb 23).

“We meet at a time of great stress around the world, and parts of this region. Both political stress as well as economic stress. And that is causing tremendous tensions in many societies, violence in many places, wars between countries.

“In the middle of all of this, we remain a small oasis of peace,” he said, attributing this to Singapore’s focus on a number of fundamentals, including racial and religious harmony.

“It is not the only thing that maintains the peace, but it is a key aspect of maintaining the peace. Because we get that wrong, a lot of things can go wrong. So whatever happens externally, in the world, we try not to bring those problems in here.”

Mr Shanmugam said that Singapore extends humanitarian help abroad where possible and appropriate. At the same time, the country’s laws do not allow its citizens to become involved in violence overseas.

“They are not allowed to go and fight overseas, in foreign causes, whether for countries or for organisations like ISIS, whether they fight in Ukraine or Russia or Gaza, for any side. That will be contrary to our laws and action will be taken.

“I say that because every now and then there are some, you know, suggestions of a Singaporean fighting in this cause or that cause. You know, with fake news, you never know what is true and what is not true. But when it is a Singaporean and identified, and we know, action will be taken. If they are in Singapore, ISD will detain them, and we have done so before,” he said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Feb 19 it was aware of a foreign news report stating that two Singaporeans were among those who fought for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) during the conflict in Gaza.

“MHA does not have any substantiated information at this point that any Singaporean is/was fighting as part of the IDF,” it said.

RELIGIOUS, COMMUNITY LEADERS

In his speech, Mr Shanmugam underscored the important role of religious and community leaders.

“People listen when you as leaders reach out across faiths, you speak up for unity and compassion, and you serve those in need, regardless of their background, or race or religion,” he said.

He added that such leadership was particularly valuable in the current digital age, with many young people searching for identity, community and belonging.

Mr Shanmugam cited the recent case of a 14-year-old boy who was self-radicalised online.

The Secondary 3 student had aspired to travel overseas to fight for ISIS and die as a martyr. He is the third 14-year-old to be dealt with under the Internal Security Act for terrorism-related activities over the past two years.

“Cases such as these, involving young people, are especially troubling. They are vulnerable and they need trusted adults and mentors to guide them.

“That is what, in the large context, our religious and community leaders have done successfully, which is why Singapore is very different from many other places,” he said.

SOCIAL HARMONY

Mr Shanmugam also highlighted the important role played by the Religious Rehabilitation Group in maintaining social harmony.

“The messages of interfaith harmony and mutual respect are at the core of our efforts to rehabilitate individuals who have been radicalised by extremist ideologies.

“The RRG’s long-standing approach of ‘winning hearts and minds’ has been extremely important in rehabilitation, and in addressing the underlying conditions that make individuals vulnerable to extremist thinking in the first place,” he said.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singaporeans-fight-overseas-foreign-causes-take-action-shanmugam-5947201

PRODUCERS of Dancing With the Stars and The Traitors will be ‘battling it out’ to snatch up this year’s biggest fan-favorite Olympians for their next TV seasons, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.

The athletes have barely stepped off the podium but Hollywood is already circling to snag the biggest names that just finished competing at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy.

Two of TV’s buzziest competition franchises, Dancing With the Stars and The Traitors, are in a full-blown casting war over five of Team USA’s biggest breakout stars from the 2026 Winter Olympics, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.

“Traitors and DWTS casting departments will both be battling it out to get their hands on the most coveted stars from the Olympic games.

“The shows don’t overlap with their filming schedules so that isn’t the problem. The problem is more so that these athletes can’t afford to step away from their training for both shows.

“Especially DWTS, that films for a big chunk of the year,” the insider explained of Traitors, which typically films for a couple of weeks at the end of Spring and DWTS, which tapes for months from Summer until late Fall.

The coveted names on producers’ list? Figure skating phenom Ilia Malinin, comeback queen Alysa Liu, fan-favorite Amber Glenn, alpine ace Breezy Johnson, and NHL hero Jack Hughes.

And while fans might dream of seeing multiple Olympians double-dip in both shows, the reality is far more complicated.

“For Jack, there’s no way he can do DWTS. It overlaps too much with his NHL schedule,” the insider said of the New Jersey Devils hockey player – whose season runs from October to April.

With the NHL season stretching deep into the spring, a grueling DWTS rehearsal and live show schedule simply isn’t realistic and a shorter, more contained shoot like The Traitors, however, is far more doable.

“He can squeeze in Traitors though, Peacock would love to get him for this next season.”

The Quad God Factor

For DWTS, the battle is especially intense among the skaters, who are all also real-life friends.

“On the upcoming DWTS season, all of the top skaters have expressed interest in joining the show.

“They all want to – but the show will only take two Olympians max for one season,” the source said. “So it’s a battle to figure out which two that will be.”

Heading into the Olympics, Ilia, 21, and Amber, 26, were seen internally as the top two contenders.

“But sadly, Alysa has bumped Amber for that top contender spot,” the source spilled.

“The show is more interested in getting Alysa on there. And Ilia. To get Ilia on their cast is the main goal. But it will be up to him to see what he more wants to do.”

Ilia, nicknamed “Quad God” for his historic technical arsenal, is viewed as DWTS’ ultimate get following the superstar amount of attention he received during the Olympic Games.

“[The producers] desperately want Quad God, he’s their number one.

“Schedule wise he can film both as the shows don’t overlap. But he can’t take that much time off of both from skating so will have to choose one.”

Meanwhile, gold medalist Alysa, 20, has a logistical edge.

“Alysa already is in LA going to school at UCLA so logistically it’s easy for her to do DWTS.

“The same way Jordan did DWTS while also going to school and competing,” they said of U.S. Olympic gymnast sensation Jordan Chiles, who was also a UCLA bruin while competing at the collegiate level and filming DWTS all at the same time.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tv/15988979/dwts-traitors-winter-olympics-ilia-alysa-amber-jack-cast/

 

The masked figure suspected of kidnapping Nancy Guthrie may have been at her front door earlier than Feb. 1 — the night she is believed to have been abducted — according to breaking details from a new report.

As first reported by ABC News, a source told the outlet that one of the images released by the FBI showing the suspect at Nancy’s door may have been captured by her Nest doorbell camera on a day that fell before the suspected abduction.

The image showed the suspect not wearing a backpack, whereas other images showed him with the backpack.

According to the FBI, the images showed the suspect wearing a backpack were from Feb. 1, the day that Nancy, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing after failing to show up to watch a virtual church service.

Former FBI agent Jason Pack said to ABC News that if the images are of the same person, “it could indicate that the person was there surveilling the place before the abduction happened.”

“The fact that there was preparation and planning, which makes it more of a sophisticated type of criminal activity than someone just showing up,” he told the outlet.

As of now, officials haven’t identified a suspect linked to Guthrie’s disappearance. Per a statement from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department obtained by Page Six: “We are aware that doorbell images released earlier in the investigation depict a suspect in different stages of attire, including with and without a backpack. There is no date or time stamp associated with these images. Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative.”

“This remains an active and ongoing criminal investigation,” the statement continued. “As with any investigation, conclusions will be guided by verifiable evidence and established facts. Speculation, without factual support, does not advance the investigative process.”

Theories are also circulating that the suspect caught on camera may not have been working alone and another person may be part of the abduction.

While Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said earlier in the month that he believed the man in the video is the “primary suspect” and “likely perpetrator” in the kidnapping, federal authorities have kept open the possibility that more than one person was involved.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2026/02/23/celebrity-news/nancy-guthrie-kidnapping-suspect-caught-on-doorbell-camera-before-her-abduction-report/

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose higher tariffs on countries that “play games” with recent trade deals, after the Supreme Court blocked many of the sweeping global levies.

His warning came as countries around the world said they were evaluating what tariffs and trade deals would stand following last week’s decision, which struck down the bulk of tariffs Trump imposed last year.

The European Union said on Monday that it would suspend its ratification of a deal struck over the summer.

India also said it would defer previously scheduled talks to finalise a recent agreement.

Trump warned countries against using the ruling to back away from trade commitments made in response to last year’s tariffs.

“Any Country that wants to ‘play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Buyer beware.”

The back-and-forth is an indication of the chaos kicked off after the US Supreme Court on Friday struck down tariffs unveiled by Trump last spring under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The court said that law did not authorise the president to impose the tariffs, which are a tax on imports paid by businesses bringing goods into the country.

Trump responded by announcing a new 10% global tariff using a different law, which he quickly raised to 15%. That measure, from which some products are exempt, came into force on Tuesday.

But many countries said they remained uncertain of the status of deals negotiated in the wake of Trump’s initial tariff measures, when many countries sought lower levies on their goods in exchange for promises of investments or other concessions meant to make it easier for US firms to do business abroad.

The UK said on Monday that it was pressing US officials for answers about whether its deal – which had set tariffs at 10%, below the 15% rate Trump announced on Saturday – would hold.

“I recognise the uncertainty the latest announcement from the US has created,” UK Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said in a statement, adding that “all options” were on the table as the UK seeks to protect businesses and the public.

Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, said the committee had suspended its approval of the deal the US and EU and approved in July while it sought clarity.

“The situation is now more uncertain than ever,” he said.

The White House has insisted that its approach to trade will not change as a result of the ruling, as it turns to other laws to impose the duties.

Trump deployed Section 122, a never-used law that allows the president to impose tariffs for 150 days without congressional approval, on Friday.

He also ordered officials to start investigations under Section 301, a separate trade law that allows the president to impose tariffs in response to specific “unfair” trade practices.

The new tariffs are expected to stand alongside separate, previously announced tariffs Trump has imposed on specific items, such as steel, aluminium and cars, which were unaffected by the court’s ruling.

“We found ways to really reconstruct what we’re doing,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told on ABC News on Sunday.

“The legal tool to implement it – that might change, but the policy hasn’t changed.”

In a separate interview with CBS News on Sunday, Greer said the White House would “stand by” the trade deals it had struck. “We expect our partners to stand by them,” Greer added.

Shares in the US fell on Monday, with the S&P 500 dropping about 1% – weighed down in part by the trade uncertainty, which many analysts and businesses expect to continue.

The new 15% tariffs are due to expire after the 150-day period unless Congress votes to extend them.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yvky5ldk1o

The incident occurred early Sunday when 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin breached Mar-a-Lago’s security with a shotgun and fuel can, prompting the Secret Service to respond.

A day after a gun-wielding intruder was shot dead while breaching the security perimeter of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, US President Donald Trump said that he was unsure “how long I’ll be around.” The remarks marked his first public response to the security scare at his private club in Palm Beach, where US Secret Service agents opened fire on an armed man early Sunday. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were at the White House when the incident unfolded.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be around,” Trump said at a White House event with angel families on Monday. “I have a lot of people gunning for me, don’t I?”

Four of America’s 45 presidents have been assassinated, and several others, both sitting presidents and candidates, have faced attempts on their lives. Trump himself has survived two assassination attempts in the run-up to being the president.

On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, the then-presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, survived an assassination attempt while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Several shots were fired, and one bullet grazed past the upper part of his right ear. He was rushed out of the campaign rally by Secret Service agents.

On September 15, 2024, Trump survived a second assassination attempt while golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

General Dan Caine has cautioned against a potential US military strike on Iran, highlighting inadequate munitions and lack of allied support that could jeopardize US personnel.

The Pentagon’s top general has cautioned the White House about the risks of a potential US military strike on Iran, as President Donald Trump publicly dismissed reports of internal opposition to such action. According to people familiar with private discussions, Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned President Trump and senior officials at a White House meeting last week that significant shortfalls in critical munitions and a lack of allied support would increase the risks of any major operation against Iran and endanger US personnel.

The meeting, which has not previously been reported, included Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House adviser Stephen Miller, one person told The Washington Post.

Gen Caine is said to have expressed concern that US munitions stockpiles have been depleted by Washington’s defence of Israel and support for Ukraine. In separate Pentagon meetings this month, he also raised concerns about the potential scale and complexity of an Iran campaign, as well as the possibility of US casualties, according to one person familiar with the deliberations.

In a statement, the Joint Chiefs chairman’s office said that, in his role as the President’s top military adviser, he “provides a range of military options, as well as secondary considerations and associated impacts and risks, to the civilian leaders who make America’s security decisions.” It added that he “provides these options confidentially.”

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump listens to a “host of opinions on any given issue and decides based on what is best for US national security.” She described Gen Caine as a “talented and highly valued member of President Trump’s national security team.”

Canada is considering revoking the citizenship of Tahawwur Rana, a key figure in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India.

Canada is mulling to revoke the citizenship of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack plotter Tahawwur Rana ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s India visit, reports quoted Global Times. Rana – the mastermind of the attacks – was extradited to India in August last year, 17 years after the deadly attack. Rana was handed over to Indian officials in Los Angeles. During his interrogation upon being extradited to India, Rana revealed about his deep-rooted ties with Pakistan’s military and intelligence apparatus. He also admitted to his critical support in 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Now, the development has come ahead of Canadian PM Mark Carney’s scheduled to travel to India on February 26, with the aim of “expanding” ties with India and building new partnerships in defence, energy and AI.

The online backlash comes against the backdrop of a rise in racial violence against Indians in Ireland last year.

A simple photograph of a queue outside an Irish food bank triggered a wave of racist attacks against Indians on social media, exposing the growing xenophobia faced by the Indian community in Ireland. The said photograph, showing students waiting outside the Speir student pantry, accompanied an article in the Irish Times about how the student-operated initiative was struggling to cope with growing demand amid the country’s deepening cost-of-living crisis.

The report noted that the food bank at the University of Galway was forced to turn away hundreds of students each week due to overwhelming demand, despite distributing almost €500,000 worth of food last year. While the report highlighted a growing cost-of-living crisis in Ireland, social media users focused on a part of the image accompanying it.

The whole photograph showed students—from different racial backgrounds, some sitting, while others standing– waiting outside the Speir student pantry at the University of Galway. However, social media users zeroed in on a part of the photo that showed students of South Asian heritage, unleashing a wave of hostile remarks, many of them targeting Indians.

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Am I the only one seeing a pattern? pic.twitter.com/nyuMK4vBKy

— Dave (@davecoughlan80) February 22, 2026

Racist Hostility 

One X user wrote, “Is it my imagination, but are most, if not all, of the ‘students’ in that queue foreign? If they are mostly foreign, then perhaps that explains the numbers turning up for free food. In order to study here, aren’t foreign students supposed to be able to support themselves?”

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Is it my imagination but are most, if not all, of the “students” in that queue foreign? If they are mostly foreign then perhaps that explains the numbers turning up for free food. In order to study here, aren’t foreign students supposed to be able to support themselves?

— Paddy@Dublin (@PaddyDubli39323) February 21, 2026

Another user wrote, “Deport Indians. Stop universities selling places to foreigners. And Irish people who need it can get the services they require.”

A third user wrote, “How come it’s only Indian foreign students in the line and not other international student groups?”

Another X user wrote, “Immigrants are natural thieves and will take money (or food) even if they have plenty of their own.”

A user, who himself claimed to be an Irish expat, wrote, “Begin the deportation, close thy heart to ones who are not our own, as now our children suffer.”

Yet another user, without providing any evidence, claimed, “They loot every service that the country operates using any sort of trust-based system… To them, it’s a lifehack.”

What The Report Said

The Irish Times report, about the Speir student pantry, noted that it was originally designed as an environmental initiative established by Donegal student Adam Mullins, distributing surplus food from supermarkets to students. It noted that the pantry now plays an increasingly vital role in student welfare at the university.

Over the past two years, the report said that the university and its students’ union have come on board to support the pantry that’s providing subsidised meals to hundreds of students.

“The cost-of-living crisis is crazy, and it massively impacts us [students]. You see it everywhere, and it is getting worse,” Mullins told the publication.

Mullins noted several students have told him they couldn’t afford to stay in college without the pantry. “It is getting worse. Everything is expensive now,” he said.

Law student Aly told the publication that without the food back, there were times she would have had to go hungry to pay rent, adding the service “helps a lot.”

The pantry works in partnership with FoodCloud, an Irish not-for-profit social enterprise, redistributing surplus food from supermarkets. The report noted that weekly demand for the student pantry far outweighs supply. Students access the service online, with a lottery system deciding who gets a time slot.

The report did not provide any nationality-wise breakdown of students using the food bank.

Racist Attack 

The online backlash comes against the backdrop of a rise in racial violence against Indians in Ireland last year. In one of the most brutal assaults in July 2025, an Indian man was left bleeding in Tallaght, Dublin. He was stabbed, robbed and stripped of his trousers when a group of young men descended on him in the street as he was walking to the temple. He was falsely accused, both before and after the attack, of inappropriate behaviour around children. Authorities probing the incident said it was a potential hate crime.

In another attack, a 32-year-old Indian-origin man suffered a fractured cheekbone and multiple injuries after being attacked by six teenagers near his Dublin apartment.

Last month, the Embassy of India in Ireland had advised Indian nationals to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours. In the advisory issued on X, the Embassy noted the rise in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently. The Embassy also shared its contact details, including email and mobile number, for Indian nationals.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/a-food-queue-photo-leads-to-online-racist-attacks-on-indians-in-ireland-11127738?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainians are exhausted after nearly four years of war but cannot concede to Russia, warning that surrender would mean losing the country entirely.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukrainians are exhausted after nearly four years of war with Russia, but made clear that conceding to Moscow’s demands is not an option, stressing that any compromise that undermines Ukraine’s sovereignty would mean losing the country entirely.

Speaking in an interview with CNN on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy acknowledged the deep fatigue felt across Ukrainian society as the conflict enters its fifth year.

However, he underlined that war weariness cannot translate into surrender.

Zelenskyy repeatedly framed the conflict as a fight for survival against Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that yielding territory or accepting imposed terms would have irreversible consequences for Ukraine and its people.

“They have to stay with a democratic country which is fighting against one person. Because this person is a war. Putin is a war. It’s all about himself. It’s all about one person. And the country, all his country is in prison,” Zelenskyy told CNN, urging continued international support, particularly from the United States.

Appealing directly to US President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy said Washington’s role remains critical in countering Russia’s aggression.

“If they really want to stop Putin, America’s so strong,” he said.

Asked whether Trump was applying enough pressure on Moscow, Zelenskyy replied, “No.”

The Ukrainian President emphasised that despite exhaustion among civilians and soldiers alike, accepting Russia’s demands would amount to capitulation.

“We can’t just give him everything he wants. Because he wants to occupy us. If we give him all he wants, we will lose everything, all of us, people will have to run away or be Russian,” he said.

SECURITY GUARANTEES AND PEACE TALKS REMAIN STUCK

Zelenskyy said ongoing diplomatic efforts involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States have yet to produce a breakthrough, largely due to disagreements over future security guarantees.

He said assurances offered so far lack clarity about how allies would respond if Russia launched another invasion.

“I want a very specific answer, what partners will be ready to do if Putin comes again. This is what Ukrainians want to hear,” he told CNN.

According to Zelenskyy, there is also disagreement over how a potential peace settlement should proceed.

While Trump favours signing a comprehensive agreement covering peace and security guarantees simultaneously, Kyiv insists that binding guarantees must first be approved by the US Congress to reassure Ukrainians that allies will stand by them in the future.

Addressing battlefield realities, Zelenskyy said Ukraine could consider freezing the war along existing front lines but firmly rejected withdrawing troops from Ukrainian-held areas in the eastern Donetsk region.

“Russia wants (us) just to withdraw our army. We can’t be such, sorry, foolish guys. We are not children. We went through this war, during all these years, and so we just, we can’t give them the country on (a) plate,” he said.

Highlighting the human dimension of territorial decisions, Zelenskyy added, “For people who live there, it’s very important what security they will have, 200,000 people live there. What do I have to say (to them), ‘Okay, bye-bye. We go away. You are Russian from this moment?'”

He also addressed criticism regarding postponed elections, noting that martial law prohibits voting during wartime.

“What do they want? Another president?” Zelenskyy said, adding that Trump had not personally told him whether he wanted a leadership change in Ukraine.

‘PUTIN HAS ALREADY STARTED WORLD WAR III’: ZELENSKYY

Separately, Zelenskyy wrote on X that he believes Russia’s invasion has effectively triggered the beginning of a wider global conflict.

“There are different views on World War III. I believe Putin has already started it,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine is acting as an “outpost” preventing the war from expanding further.

He stressed that strengthening air defence remains one of Kyiv’s most urgent priorities and expressed disappointment that international partners have not granted licences allowing Ukraine to produce advanced systems domestically.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/ukraine-president-zelenskyy-says-ukrainians-are-exhausted-of-russia-ukraine-war-says-america-can-stop-war-ws-l-9925707.html

The Arctic country had been set to hold a referendum on resuming membership talks in 2027. But according to media reports, geopolitical developments could see the vote being brought forward to this summer.

Iceland’s government is considering holding a referendum on EU relations as early as August, according to two sources cited by news publication Politico.

Reykjavik had pledged to hold the vote on restarting talks on joining the bloc by 2027. But growing geopolitical uncertainty could lead to those plans being brought forward.

US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Iceland and his stated desire to annex Greenland have created jitters in the country of 400,000 people.

In its report, Politico cited two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying the Icelandic Parliament was expected to announce the date of the referendum within weeks.

“I make no secret of the fact that I would like to see this process accelerated,” Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir told the Reuters news agency last week.

“I hope that this will happen sooner rather than later,” she said, given the “completely different geopolitical environment.”

What happened to Iceland’s previous EU bid?

Iceland already applied for EU membership in 2009 after being badly hit by the 2008 financial crisis. Formal membership negotiations began in 2010. But in 2013, a newly elected center-right government suspended talks and in 2015 Reykjavik asked to withdraw its application.

Polls have shown that while the Icelandic public broadly supports the idea of a referendum on the issue, they have been less sure about the prospect of actually becoming an EU member.

There are signs that might be shifting, though. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Trump’s threat to take over Greenland, and US-EU trade tensions have led to renewed interest in joining the EU.

Iceland’s Social Democratic Alliance, which won the 2024 election, campaigned on a promise to hold a referendum by 2027, although one of its two coalition partners opposes EU accession.

EU officials have also held a number of recent meetings with Icelandic politicians. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Iceland last year, and hosted Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir in the Belgian capital last month.

Foreign Minister Katrin Gunnarsdottir also met with EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos in Brussels last month.

“The conversation on enlargement is shifting,” Kos told Politico. “It is increasingly about security, about belonging and about preserving our ability to act in a world of competing spheres of influence. This concerns all Europeans.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/iceland-may-fast-track-vote-on-joining-eu-report/a-76087702

 

A Palestinian award-winner’s accusation that Germany has supported genocide sparked political after the closing gala, while others criticized the festival’s attempts to remain neutral on Gaza.

This year’s Berlin International Film Festival prize winners, and their acceptance speeches, make clear the difficult tightrope along which the festival has to walk.

Closing a 10-day festival that had been marked by a social media storm surrounding jury president Wim Wenders’ comment that filmmakers should “stay out of politics,” the films that were selected to win the top awards, Ilker Catak’s “Yellow Letters” and Emin Alper’s “Salvation,” demonstrated that the Berlinale remains the most political of Europe’s three big film festivals, next to Cannes and Venice.

Despite an open letter’s accusations of “censorship” of the artists speaking out on Gaza, various award winners also used their acceptance speeches to make political statements on the issue.

Palestinian prize-winner’s comment leads to political backlash

One award winner in particular directly criticized the German government for remaining a staunch ally of Israel.

Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib, who picked up a prize for Best First Feature Award with his film “Chronicles From the Siege,” noted upon accepting the award that as a refugee in Germany, people had warned him against crossing “red lines” in his speech. He nevertheless asked why the country accepted to be “partners of the genocide in Gaza by Israel. I believe you are intelligent enough to recognize this, but you choose not to care.”

Environment Minister Carsten Schneider — the only member of the German government attending the ceremony — walked out of the awards ceremony during Alkhatib’s speech, later stating that the remarks were “unacceptable.”

Wolfram Weimer, Government Commissioner for Culture, rejected Alkhatib’s claim on Germany’s position: “These false claims are malicious and poison the political debate. They destroy the appreciation of film art at the Berlinale,” he told newspaper Tagespiegel.

Germany remains one of Israel’s staunchest supporters, and its second largest arms supplier. Political leaders say this position is principally based on historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust — ​a policy known as the “Staatsraison,” or “reason of state.”

Human rights experts, scholars and a United Nations inquiry say Israel’s assault on Gaza amounts to genocide, which Israel strongly denies, saying that its actions in Gaza are justified as self-defence following the October 7, 2023 terror attacks.

Festival director Tricia Tuttle: ‘We don’t get directives at all’

The German government funds 40% of the film festival. Amid significant cuts in arts and culture funding, the festival is under pressure to maintain the state’s support.

But festival director Tricia Tuttle insists that this does not constrain Berlinale in what it can say or do: “They have strategic oversight, in that I report to them about financial matters,” she told DW, but “what we do, what we say, is entirely up to us. We don’t get missives. We don’t get directives at all.”

In 2024, Berlin’s culture minister attempted to make arts funding available only to those who committed to the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism. Although the proposed “anti-discrimination clause” for arts funding was ultimately dropped, it has also contributed to the pressure felt by cultural institutions.

One argument in the 2026 open letter against the Berlinale is that the festival has in the past made “clear statements” about the “atrocities” carried out against civilians in Ukraine and Iran.

“We call on the Berlinale to fulfill its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability,” the letter reads.

Tuttles justifies the festival’s attempt to remain neutral through the fact that this particular issue “is really polarizing. Every conversation you have, you need to hold the complexity of the situation.”

Pressure from both sides of the Gaza issue

The Berlinale is also closely observed by Israeli authorities and cultural commentators.

Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, praised Carsten Schneider’s walkout from the gala: “Respect for Minister Schneider and his moral clarity,” he told the Bild newspaper on Sunday, adding that the Berlinale risked jeopardizing its good reputation if it “served as a platform for Israel-haters.”

Also reacting to the awards ceremony, a blogger from the Times of Israel claims that “Germany’s cultural elite is playing with fire,” while a commenter from the Jüdische Allgemeine Zeitung described Alkhatib’s speech as “bigotry.”

On the other side of the debate, the campaign pushing the Berlinale to take an official position on Gaza also put filmmakers and actors under pressure, as they were questioned on their political stances at news conferences throughout the week.

This not only led to Wenders’ controversial “stay out of politics” soundbite; many others were asked questions that were unrelated to their films.

“These viral moments can be really damaging for the films, if it means that all we’re writing about is the controversy, not the films,” said Tuttle, pointing out that the loaded questions are not just harmful for the festival, but for the cultural personalities who have accepted to take part in the event: “People are forced to speak, and if they don’t speak, then that is an affront to people. If they do speak and don’t say what the questioner wants to hear, that is an affront. And if they say the wrong thing, then that’s a massive problem.”

The Wim Wenders clip that went viral also led Indian author Arundhati Roy to boycott the festival. She felt that saying filmmakers should stay out of politics “is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time — when artists, writers and film-makers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.”

“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose,” Tuttle said in reaction to the social media storm. They “should not be expected to comment on all broader debates about a festival’s previous or current practices over which they have no control.”

Insight from Ilker Catak’s ‘Yellow Letters’

Ilker Catak, whose “Yellow Letters” won the Golden Bear for best film, provided one of the most powerful speeches of the awards ceremony. He noted that the focus of the conversation should not be social media quotes pitting filmmakers against each other: “We are not enemies. We are allies,” he said. The real threat, he added, “is the autocrats, the right-wing parties, the nihilists of our time. Let us not fight each other. Let’s fight them.”

“Yellow Letters” is about two artists who lose their position in a state theater due to their political opinions. The Turkish-language film had the German cities of Berlin and Hamburg stand in for Ankara and Istanbul. The political drama also remains purposely vague about the names of the politicians who are repressing their artistic freedom, and equally avoids detailing whatever the artists have done to face a work ban.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/berlinale-faces-difficult-balancing-act-in-polarized-gaza-debate/a-76091332

A U.S. judge permanently barred the Justice Department on Monday from releasing a prosecutor’s report on the criminal case accusing President Donald Trump of unlawfully retaining classified documents following his first term in office.
Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon found that releasing the report would be a “manifest injustice” to the Republican president and two former associates who were charged alongside him because it would detail substantial allegations of criminal wrongdoing in a case that never reached a jury.

Cannon, who Trump appointed to the bench in 2020, dismissed all the charges in 2024.
Trump was accused in the case pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith of illegally storing documents related to U.S. national defense, including the American nuclear program, at his Mar-a-Lago social club and obstructing U.S. government efforts to retrieve the material. Cannon found that Smith had not been lawfully appointed by the Justice Department during Democratic former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Disclosure of Smith’s report “would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice in the process, where no adjudication of guilt has been reached following initiation of criminal charges,” Cannon wrote in Monday’s ruling.

The order means substantial information about one of the four criminal cases Trump faced in his years out of office may not be disclosed to the public.
Trump attorney Kendra Wharton welcomed Cannon’s order in a statement, adding that “any and all fruit of Smith’s poisonous tree” should “never see the light of day.”
Trump and his two co-defendants, personal aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago manager Carlos de Oliveira, pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued that the case was a politically motivated abuse of the U.S. legal system. They urged Cannon to bar the release of the report, which details Smith’s justification for seeking charges.
The Justice Department under Trump supported those arguments, arguing the report was a confidential document.
“Judge Cannon’s ruling continues a troubling pattern of decisions that shield the president from public scrutiny and place secrecy above the public’s right to know,” said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, a government accountability group that has sought disclosure of the report.

The Justice Department under Biden dropped an attempt to revive the case against Trump after he won the 2024 election.
Special counsels, who are appointed to lead certain politically sensitive investigations, are required to draft reports to the U.S. attorney general detailing their conclusions on whether to seek charges.
Shortly before Trump returned to the presidency 13 months ago, the Justice Department released Smith’s report detailing his other since-dismissed case against Trump, which accused Trump of plotting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-permanently-blocks-release-report-trump-documents-case-2026-02-23/

A group of 22 U.S. Senate Democrats on Monday introduced legislation that would require President Donald Trump’s administration to fully refund within 180 days all of the revenue, with interest, collected from tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The legislation would require the Customs and Border Protection agency, which collects tariffs at U.S. ports of entry, to prioritize small businesses.

The Supreme Court did not give instructions regarding any refunds on Friday when it struck down Trump’s broad tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), instead remanding the case to a lower trade court to determine next steps.
The Democrats’ legislation would require CBP to refund all IEEPA-based tariffs unlawfully imposed by Trump, plus interest, even if the import duties were finalized, or “liquidated” by CBP.
The 22 Democrats who co-sponsored the bill included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrats on the Senate’s Finance, Small Business and Foreign Relations committees, respectively.

“Senate Democrats will continue fighting to rein in Donald Trump’s price-hiking trade and economic policies,” Wyden said in a statement. “A crucial first step is helping people who need it most, by putting money back into the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota declined to comment on whether the Democrats’ bill would be considered.
But given that the bill was just introduced and needs to go through committee review, a decision on consideration would likely be some ways off.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the Republican-controlled House would steer clear of the question about returning tariff revenue.
“The White House is going to sort that out, and we have to give them the time and space to do it. This is an unprecedented event, of course, so there’s no playbook to follow,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said. “I think they’ve (the White House) got good arguments on their side, and we’ll see how it shakes out. That’s not something that really involves the House at this point.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legislation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that the administration would follow the determination of lower courts on refunds. “We will follow what they decide, but it can take weeks or months until we hear from them,” Bessent said on CNN.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-democrats-introduce-bill-force-refunds-trump-tariffs-deemed-illegal-2026-02-23/

Over 3,000 people protested against the attendance of AfD politician Björn Höcke at a party event at Dortmund city hall on Sunday. An even bigger protest is expected in nearby Düsseldorf on Monday.

Around 3,300 people gathered in the western German city of Dortmund on Sunday to protest against a visit by a fascist politician from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party — and an even bigger protest is expected in Düsseldorf on Monday.

Björn Höcke, a senior AfD figure who leads the far-right party in the eastern German state of Thuringia, attended a party event at Dortmund town hall on Sunday.

A German court ruled in 2019 that the 53-year-old, who has twice been convicted of using illegal Nazi rhetoric, may legally be described a “fascist.”

Dortmund Mayor Alexander Kalouti of the conservative CDU had attempted to have Höcke banned from speaking, but a court in nearby Gelsenkirchen dismissed the appeal.

Dortmund mayor: ‘Don’t want this man in my town hall’

“For me, it was clear that I didn’t want this man in my town hall,” Kalouti told the local Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper before joining protesters outside. “So it was also clear that I would be here.”

The protest was over five times the size local police had expected. The AfD is the joint-third largest party on the Dortmund city council with 18 seats — equal with the Greens but behind the CDU (23 seats and the mayoralty) and the Social Democrats (SPD) who have 26 seats.

Over the weekend, Höcke had also visited the Externsteine ​​rock formation in the nearby Teutoburg Forest, along with several other AfD politicians from the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

According to police, a visit to the Hermannsdenkmal (Hermann Monument) had originally been planned but was thwarted by the presence of around 350 protesters who had gathered there at short notice.

The Hermannsdenkmal, which commemorates a victory by local Germanic chieftain Arminius over the Romans in the year 9, acquired propagandistic significance during the Nazi era and continues to be considered a cult site for right-wing extremists.

Anti-AfD protest set for Monday in Düsseldorf

An even bigger protest is expected on Monday in the nearby city of Düsseldorf, the capital of NRW, where Höcke is due to speak in the district of Garath, where the AfD won 32% of the vote in local elections last autumn.

Over 5,000 people are expected to attend a protest under the mottos “No room for fascists in Düsseldorf” and “Garath is colorful, not brown” — brown being associated with the extreme-right in Germany due to the color of the uniforms worn by the paramilitary thugs from the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA) in the 1930s.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germany-protests-against-afd-events-in-dortmund-d%C3%BCsseldorf/a-76080542