Category: World

The ex-wife of Kristin’s partner was quick to issue a scathing review of their relationship

THE woman at the heart of the Coldplay kiss cam scandal has officially filed for divorce from her husband.

Ex-Astronomer HR chief Kristin Cabot was caught canoodling with then boss Andy Byron back in July which led the pair to both resign from their jobs.

Cabot, 52, was married to Andrew, a sixth-generation heir to the Privateer Rum fortune, at the time of the painful Coldplay concert blunder.

The pair had reportedly been on the rocks with the affair seen around the world being the final straw.

Less than a month after, Kristin filed the divorce petition, according to the Daily Mail.

Paperwork shows papers to dissolve the marriage were handed to a court in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on August 13.

It marks the end of a third marriage for Andrew.

His ex-wife Julia was quick to react to the latest split as she called Andrew a “jerk who had it coming”.

A disgruntled Julia was married to Andrew for four years until they divorced in 2018.

Andrew – described as being a descendant of a “Boston Brahmin” family due to his loved one’s generational wealth – didn’t appear to phased by the Coldplay scandal at the time.

Julia told the Mail: “I texted Andrew right after it happened, and he said ‘her life is nothing to do with me’.”

“He’s a Boston Brahmin, that’s their code: ‘This isn’t anything to do with me.’ His ego is too big to be affected by this and the only thing that he’s bummed about is that he was embarrassed.

“He’s not a nice person. Now something not nice happened to him.”

Andrew’s family lineage stretches back ten generations in New England and includes privateers, industrial titans, and merchant traders who helped shape American aristocracy, according to reports.

The Cabots are one of Boston’s original families – a blue-blooded elite so powerful that even the Kennedy clan was considered too new-money to join their ranks.

The family made its fortune in “carbon black” – soot used in car tires – and held vast holdings in Cabot Corporation.

Their empire has included chemicals, paint, gas, and rum, with Kristin once serving as an “advisory board member” for Privateer.

Andrew had been on a business trip to Japan during the viral embrace and was unaware of why his wife had become a meme overnight.

Footage captured the moment Coldplay frontman Chris Martin accidentally exposed tech tycoon Byron’s affair with Kristin.

Martin noticed the couple’s not-to-subtle reaction to appearing on the jumbotron at a concert in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/15131508/coldplay-kiss-cam-kristin-cabot-divorce-andy-byron/

One cable reportedly snapped, causing the lower car to derail

AN American MOM and college professor has been identified as one of the 16 people killed in a tram crash in Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday.

A historic funicular tram derailed and crashed into a building during Lisbon’s evening rush hour killing 16 people and leaving dozens injured.

Among the dead was Heather Hall, a South Carolina college professor and mother, the only American victim in the disaster.

The 19th-century Elevador da Glória streetcar came off the rails just after 6 pm, smashing into a hotel and leaving the city in shock.

Portugal’s Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations said a preliminary technical report on the crash would be released Saturday.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called it “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past.”

Authorities confirmed the fatalities include five Portuguese citizens, three British, two Canadians, two South Koreans, one French, one Swiss, and one Ukrainian.

An additional 21 people were injured, five in serious condition, Portugal’s National Health Service told the Associated Press.

Hall was attending a conference in Lisbon when the tragedy struck, the College of Charleston told The Daily Mail.

A professor in the education department, Hall specialized in special education and returned to teach at her alma mater in 2019.

Fran Welch, dean of the School of Education, called her a “dynamic instructor” who shared a love of travel with her students.

Hall had taught abroad in Ghana as a Fulbright Scholar and organized study trips for her students to Europe, Central America, and Africa.

Her family described her as a mother who “believed in them with all her heart” and embraced life with “curiosity, compassion, and open hearts.”

Outside academics, Hall performed with Heart: An Inclusive Arts Community, supporting adult artists with disabilities.

Colleagues remembered Hall as fun-loving and dedicated.

Bridget Miller, a USC professor, said Hall “adored” her students and taught her how to manage them on international trips.

Professor Yasha Jones Becton, her dissertation advisor, called Hall “a passionate educator and an even more passionate mother.”

Jennifer Morrison, a former professor, described Hall as a “ray of sunshine” and said they had spoken shortly before Hall left for Portugal.

What Happened?
The crash occurred when the packed funicular, carrying at least 38 people, hurtled downhill “out of control,” witnesses said.

The Glória line operates with two cars attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable.

One cable reportedly snapped, causing the lower car to derail.

“The car at the top seems to have broken free and come out of what we call the suspension. It literally rolled down the hill like a car with no brakes,” said Professor Dave Cooper, UK cableway standards chair.

The streetcar struck a slight curve and crashed into a hotel, crumpling on impact.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/15131908/lisbon-tram-tragedy-american-citizen-killed-south-carolina/

Aryna Sabalenka did not make many mistakes – well, until near the end – despite not sacrificing any power, and outplayed Amanda Anisimova.

Aryna Sabalenka did not make many mistakes – well, until near the end – despite not sacrificing any power, and outplayed Amanda Anisimova for a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory in the U.S. Open final Saturday, making her the first woman to win the tournament in consecutive years since Serena Williams more than a decade ago. The No. 1-ranked Sabalenka picked up the fourth Grand Slam title of her career, all on hard courts. This was not all smooth sailing, though.

Sabalenka twice led by a break in the second set, and served for the win at 5-4. But at 30-all, so close to the trophy, she had a chance to hit an overhead and get to match point. Instead, while backpedaling, Sabalenka put the ball into the net, giving Anisimova a break chance.

After that excruciating miss, Sabalenka dropped her racket on the blue court and smiled a rueful smile. A moment later, Anisimova – a 24-year-old American – converted the break to get to 5-all and shook her left fist while 24,000 or so of her closest friends in Arthur Ashe Stadium rose to applaud and shout.

Ah, but 15 minutes after the flub, Sabalenka was kneeling on the court and covering her face with both hands, coming through on her third match point.

She avoided becoming the first woman to lose three major finals in a single season since Justine Henin in 2006.

Sabalenka, a 27-year-old from Belarus, was the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open. Then, at Wimbledon in July, Sabalenka was eliminated by Anisimova.

That put Anisimova into her first major final, which she lost 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek.

But Anisimova put that shutout behind her immediately, well enough to win a rematch against Swiatek in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

When Anisimova trailed Sabalenka 2-0, 30-love as Saturday’s match began, some fans might have wondered: There’s no way there’s going to be a repeat of the final at the All England Club, right?

Right.

Anisimova grabbed the next four points to break back, capping the game with a backhand winner and a forehand winner. That got the partisan fans up on their feet, shouting, and Anisimova exhaled as she walked to the sideline and wiped sweat from her forehead.

Soon, she led 3-2. But Sabalenka took the next four games and that set.

It began pouring before the match, so Ashe’s artificial lights were on, and its retractable roof was shut. That appeared to be a distraction at times to Anisimova, who motioned to her team in the stands that something was bothering her during ball tosses for serves.

The setup also created windless conditions, ideal for two ball-strikers who really can bring the power with good contact. And that’s what they both did from the start, striking speedy serves and deep groundstrokes with so much pace that responding was never simple.

 

Source: https://sports.ndtv.com/us-open-2025/aryna-sabalenka-defeats-amanda-anisimova-for-2nd-consecutive-us-open-title-9230106

Travis Kelce was delivered more than one blow in Brazil on Friday.

During the Kansas City Chiefs’ first game of the NFL season at Neo Química Arena, the tight end was smacked in the face by Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Teair Tart in a shocking moment.

Kelce was clearly in disbelief over what had occurred on the field, as he threw his hands up in the air when he was slapped and appeared to look at the referees to make a call.

Tart, 28, surprisingly did not get ejected from the game despite the unsportsmanlike move.

He then took to social media shortly after the Chargers beat the Chiefs, 27-21, to troll Kelce further.

Tart posted via his Instagram Story Friday a skit from Dave Chappelle’s former TV show, in which the comedian was dressed as singer Rick James and said, “What did the five fingers say to the face? Slap!”

The unapologetic player added laughing, crying emojis to the post.

Page Six has reached out to Kelce’s rep for comment but did not immediately hear back.

See more

I get wanting to slap Travis Kelce, but how did this guy get away with it? pic.twitter.com/0PxDoGBg0g

— The Portal (@ThePortalNewz) September 6, 2025

Swifties made sure to sound off online about what happened to Taylor Swift’s now-fiancée, however.

“This is my one and only warning before I go after your entire bloodline including through a Ouija board. NEVER TOUCH TRAVIS KELCE LIKE THAT AGAIN,” one furious fan wrote on Tart’s Instagram profile.

Another quoted Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” lyrics, writing in part, “I don’t like your little games.”

Kelce also made contact with another player during the game: his own teammate Xavier Worthy.

The NFL star accidentally bumped into the Chiefs rookie, 22, forcing Worthy to be escorted off the field.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters Friday that there were no further updates on the wide receiver’s health status, noting, “We’ll know tomorrow once we get back,” citing pending MRI results.

Friday’s game was Kelce’s first time playing professionally since the Chiefs’ massive loss against the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl 2025 and since shutting down retirement rumors.

The team was chosen to play in Brazil as part of the NFL’s mission to expand international partnerships, and there was a lot of anticipation leading up to the big game.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2025/09/06/entertainment/travis-kelce-slapped-by-chargers-player-in-shocking-moment-at-chiefs-game-in-brazil-and-swifties-are-furious/

 

After Mayor Eric Adams defiantly vowed to stay in the Big Apple mayoral race on Friday, he headed to Cipriani 42nd Street to celebrate the 77th birthday of billionaire John Catsimatidis at the annual 77 WABC radio gala.

The dress code for the 500-guest bash was, “black tie glamour with patriotic sparkle.” Chandeliers at the storied venue glowed red, white and blue, while recognizable all-American lookalikes — from Abraham Lincoln to the Statue of Liberty — mixed with the crowd.

Even with Adams present, guests urged Catsimatidis to run for mayor of New York again. (He politely declined.) But when his wife Margo Catsimatidis was introduced as the proverbial “First Lady of New York City,” “the ballroom erupted in cheers,” a spy said.

The Post reported that President Trump last weekend rang up billionaire businessman Catsimatidis, who has ties to both Adams and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa, to voiced his dismay about what might happen if Zohran Mamdani, the socialist Democratic front-runner, wins in November.

As Adams schmoozed at Catsimatidis’ party, country icon Lee Greenwood appeared on stage to sing “God Bless the USA,” followed by tenor Christopher Macchio, former “SNL” star Joe Piscopo and famed radio host Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow.

Vinnie Medugno sang Tony Orlando’s “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” — since Orlando himself couldn’t make the event — for guests including Curtis Sliwa, Red Apple Media president Chad Lopez, Emily Pankow, Cushman & Wakefield’s Bruce Mosler, County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Cairo, former Douglas Elliman CEO Howard Lorber, Hamptons restauranteur Zach Erdem, p.r maven Todd Shapiro and the Catsimatidis family, including wife Margo, daughter Andrea and son John Jr.

Catsimatidis’ actual birthday is Sept. 7.

John and Margo also used the occasion as their customary September bash for any pals with Virgo birthdays — a tradition they started years ago at the Metropolitan Club and moved to Cipriani to coincide with the supermarket magnate’s birthday and his WABC radio gala.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2025/09/06/society/eric-adams-attends-powerbroker-john-catsimatidis-birthday/

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has signed an executive order to change the name of the Department of Defense back to the Department of War.

He and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the move in an effort to restore the “warrior ethos” in America.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday, Hegseth noted that America has not won a major war since the name, which was first introduced by George Washington, was changed in 1949.

“That’s not to disparage our war fighters […] that’s to recognize that this name change is not just about renaming, it’s about restoring,” Hegseth said.

“Words matter.”

Hegseth said he hopes the order will restore a “warrior ethos” that will encourage armed forces to fight “decisively” and end conflicts.

“We’re gonna go on offense, not just on defense,” the former Fox News star said.

“Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct.”

Trump said that America could have won every war of the past, but instead leaders chose to be “wokey.”

“We just fight forever,” said the president.

“We have the greatest equipment in the world. We have the greatest soldiers in the world.”

When asked to explain the repercussions of the change, Trump said, “I think it sends a message of victory, really a message of strength.”

Under the new order, major signage changes will have to be implemented at the Pentagon.

The building’s public affairs briefing room will now be renamed to the “Pentagon War Annex,” a White House official told Fox News.

However, Trump insisted this wouldn’t be a costly change, and explained that he would be mindful of federal funds.

“We know how to rebrand without having to go crazy,” he said.

SWEEPING REFORMS

Trump said that he wasn’t sure whether he needed congressional approval to confirm the update, but noted he didn’t believe there would be any issues.

“We’re going with it, and we’re going with it very strongly,” he said.

This is just the latest in a series of name changes that Trump has introduced since he returned to the White House.

On his first day in office, he signed another executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15128457/trump-department-of-defense-war-rename-pete-hegseth

SHOPPERS from certain countries could soon find themselves blocked from Costco and Sam’s Club unless they first get permission from the State Department.

The proposal, detailed in an internal memo, would stop visitors from snapping up bulk bargains at the popular wholesale chains without prior approval.

The unusual restriction is aimed at foreign delegations in New York for the UN General Assembly, where the Trump administration is rolling out tougher rules on access, movement, and visas.

One plan being floated would hit Iranian shoppers hardest, with officials saying they often use the clubs to buy goods unavailable at home and ship them overseas.

The memo said officials were considering wider limits on wholesale club memberships for foreign officials based in the US.

These stores are popular because they offer bulk goods are lower prices.

The move comes after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation were denied entry to the US for a high-level UN meeting

Abbas and about 80 Palestinian officials had their visas revoked, blocking them from attending the UN General Assembly in New York next month.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the move was due to the Palestinians’ attempts to bypass negotiations and push for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

The decision, welcomed by Israel, has drawn criticism from Abbas’ office, which called it a violation of international law and UN rules.

UN officials said they hope the issue can be resolved to ensure all member states and observers can participate in the upcoming meetings.

It is unclear when the shopping restrictions would take effect, but the memo suggests the State Department may impose conditions on memberships for all foreign diplomats.

Other delegations could also face new rules, including Sudan, Zimbabwe, and even Brazil.

Brazil’s delegation traditionally delivers the opening speech at the General Assembly, though lower-level staff could be affected by any new restrictions.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva may not be directly impacted, but tensions with Trump over legal actions against former President Jair Bolsonaro could influence the treatment of his delegation.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15124785/iranians-shopping-ban-costco-sams-club-trump-rule

Richardson left his home in rural Alabama and drove 2,100 miles to St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, California, to confront church staff, prosecutors said.

The man appeared to have a fixation on churches named after St. Michael, as he believed he was the biblical angel of the same name, according to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

In Catholic teachings, Michael is believed to carry the souls of the dead to heaven.

On August 19, before driving across the country, Richardson emailed the abbey and said he was the “rider of the pale horse” in an apparent reference ot the Four Horsemen in the apocalyptic Book of Revelation.

He said that he was “sent to do the Lord’s reaping before his harvest,” the district attorney’s office said.

The abbey didn’t respond to the now bone-chilling email.

On August 26, Richardson attended an afternoon church service at the abbey and followed a priest into a private area afterwards.

The suspect then told the priest he had come to do the “Lord’s work, to separate the weak from the weeds, and that he rode his white pale horse from Alabama.”

Two days later, Richardson was arrested after investigators determined the situation had every indication of turning “very, very dangerous,” Spitzer told Fox affiliate KTTV.

After searching his truck, cops discovered a stun gun, brass knuckles, knives, six high-capacity gun magazines, body armor, duct tape, rope, walkie-talkies, and a sword, prosecutors said.

In the weeks leading up to the incident, Richardson shared his disturbing religious views in videos posted on his Instagram.

At one point, he raged at Catholics for praying the Hail Mary saying, “What are you thinking?”

“You are putting the Earth mother of Christ on the same pedestal as the almighty father. Repent at once!”

DISTURBING CRIME

Richardson’s arrest came just one day after a deranged 23-year-old shooter sprayed bullets through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis and killed two children as they prayed.

The FBI said the shooting, which also injured 21 people, including 18 children, is being investigated as a terror attack and hate crime against Catholics.

In a statement, Spitzer said, “The walls of our churches are not just symbols of sanctuary; they represent the most sacred places of worship and of peace.

“No one should have to worship in fear that a stranger would walk through the door with the intent to carry out their own day of judgement and determine who lives and who dies.

“A threat on one house of worship is an attack on every place of worship, and we refuse to allow threats and terror dissuade any person from practicing their faith without fear.

“Public safety is all our responsibility, and we are grateful for the quick action of the church officials and the Sheriff’s Department to prevent another tragedy from occurring.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15127812/angel-of-death-arrested-california-church-catholic

BRICS nations will meet virtually next week to coordinate trade retaliation against the US. Has Donald Trump’s tariff blitz on top emerging economies sparked a stronger alliance among his biggest rivals?

Donald Trump has been accused of inadvertently drawing BRICS nations — a loose grouping of some of the world’s fastest-growing emerging economies — closer together by imposing higher tariffs on them than on other countries.

China, the largest BRICS member, still faces the prospect of a 145% tariff if it can’t cut a deal with Trump, while Brazil and India have been slapped with a 50% rate — half of India’s penalty is for buying discounted Russian oil. South Africa was given a 30% levy, and even newer members like Egypt could see their tariffs go up, due to their participation in BRICS.

Trump has repeatedly warned during the first seven months of his second term of additional punitive measures against any nation aligning with what he calls “anti-American policies” — a pointed reference to the BRICS’ growing challenge to US global dominance.

Trump gave BRICS a ‘shared incentive’

Former Indian trade official Ajay Srivastava thinks BRICS nations feel “little intimidation” from being singled out for additional penalties by Trump. He told DW that the tariffs “give BRICS a shared incentive to cut their reliance on the US, even if agendas differ.”

Those additional tariffs have created a common grievance among BRICS members, who are now expanding bilateral trade agreements in national currencies to reduce dependence on the US dollar. BRICS central banks have also ramped up gold purchases, another signal of their desire to de-dollarize.

While Trump has declared “BRICS is dead,” one critic has accused the US president of “strategic malpractice,” arguing that the Republican has turned a loose coalition of countries with vastly different objectives into a more unified bloc.

In a recent op-ed for The Washington Post, Max Boot, a foreign policy analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said Trump was “diminishing US power by perversely uniting America’s friends with our enemies” — a reference to how Brazil, South Africa and India are aligning more closely with China and Russia.

Xi, Modi, Putin signal BRICS unity after SCO summit

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin wrapped earlier this week with a notable thaw in relations among BRICS heavyweights. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first trilateral talks in six years, marking a diplomatic breakthrough after years of tensions between India and China.

Modi’s visit — his first to China in seven years — was seen as a gesture of pragmatism, with all three leaders emphasizing the need for multipolar cooperation. The SCO platform allowed them to align on trade, energy and regional security, laying the groundwork for deeper BRICS coordination.

That momentum now shifts to Monday’s BRICS virtual summit, where Brazil’s President Lula will host leaders from the Global South to discuss joint retaliation against US tariffs and expanding trade in local currencies.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/will-brics-boom-under-trumps-watch/a-73750601

The United States hasn’t hosted a G20 summit in nearly two decades. This is not the first time President Donald Trump has proposed to hold the event at his golf course in Florida.

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the 2026 G20 summit will be held in his country, despite giving up on a similar plan during his first term.

“As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary next year, the United States will have the honor of hosting … the G20 summit right here in America for the first time in nearly 20 years,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump plans to host G7 at his own golf resort again

Trump noted that he will host the summit at one of his properties, the Doral golf resort, in southern Florida.

“Everybody wants it there because it’s right next to the airport, it’s the best location, it’s beautiful,” said Trump.

During his first term, Trump proposed to host the 2020 G7 summit at the same location.

He later backtracked on the plan after coming under fire from critics who said he sought to personally profit from his presidency.

“There’s no money in it,” Trump said Friday, but he added, “We want to make sure it’s good.”

Trump says Putin, Xi welcome to

Trump also said he would be open to having Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2026 G20 summit.

“I would love them to, if they want to,” said the US president.

However, he added that Putin and Xi would be “observers, and I’m not sure if they’d want to come as observers.”

Both Russia and China are G20 members. In 2024, Xi attended the meeting in Rio de Janeiro in person, but Putin opted to join via video link.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March 2023. Brazil, as a member, is obliged to arrest Putin if he enters the country.

The United States is not a member of the ICC.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/trump-says-us-will-host-g20-summit-in-2026/a-73901317

Scores of women remain trapped and neglected after earthquake as male rescuers prioritise men and children owing to the “no skin-contact” rule in Afghanistan.

Centuries-old customs that have long held women back in Afghanistan are now ensuring they are among the last to be rescued or not rescued at all after the deadly earthquake and massive aftershocks that reduced scores of buildings to rubble and killed at least 2,200 people.

In the absence of female rescuers, many women survivors trapped under debris are not being pulled out, while the bodies of the dead are dragged out by their clothes because of prohibitions on men touching women.

Rescue efforts have been stumbling upon not only over rubble but also over gender rules in Afghanistan which is governed by the Taliban – known for imposing stringent restrictions on women – since four years.

“They gathered us in one corner and forgot about us,” a New York Times report quoted Bibi Aysha, whose village – Andarluckak in Kunar province – saw first rescue workers after over 36 hours of the earthquake ripping through eastern Afghanistan’s mountainous areas on Sunday.

No one offered the women help, asked what they needed or even approached them, according to the NYT report.

Dead women out by clothes
While emergency teams promptly pulled out injured men and children, 19-year-old Aysha and other women as well as adolescent girls were pushed aside, with some of them left bleeding.

Tahzeebullah Muhazeb, a male volunteer who traveled to Mazar Dara in the same province, said it appeared as if rescuers could not see women as members of the all-male medical team there were hesitant to rescue them from the rubble of collapsed buildings.

“It felt like women were invisible… the men and children were treated first, but the women were sitting apart, waiting for care,” the report quoted 33-year-old Muhazeb.

In the absence of male relatives, rescue workers dragged dead women out by their clothes to avoid making skin contact, he said.

While the gender breakdown of casualties from the magnitude 6 earthquake is not yet known, more than 2,200 people have died and 3,600 others have been injured, according to figures released by Afghanistan’s government.

Women in Afghanistan are deprived of basic freedoms under Taliban rule, which returned to power four years ago, promising a “revamped” version of its earlier regime that ended in 2001 after the US invasion following the September 11 attacks.

Despite claims of being less repressive than its first term, the Taliban has imposed sweeping restrictions on women, including a ban on schooling beyond the sixth grade.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/no-skin-contact-with-males-afghan-women-left-under-earthquake-rubble-courtesy-gender-rules-101757063672397.html

The attorneys general of California and Delaware on Friday warned OpenAI they have “serious concerns” about the safety of its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, especially for children and teens.

The two state officials, who have unique powers to regulate nonprofits such as OpenAI, sent the letter to the company after a meeting with its legal team earlier this week in Wilmington, Delaware.

California AG Rob Bonta and Delaware AG Kathleen Jennings have spent months reviewing OpenAI’s plans to restructure its business, with an eye on “ensuring rigorous and robust oversight of OpenAI’s safety mission.”

But they said they were concerned by “deeply troubling reports of dangerous interactions between” chatbots and their users, including the “heartbreaking death by suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot, as well as a similarly disturbing murder-suicide in Connecticut. Whatever safeguards were in place did not work.”

The parents of the 16-year-old California boy, who died in April, sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, last month.

The chair of OpenAI’s board, Bret Taylor, said in a statement Friday that the company was “fully committed” to addressing the concerns raised by the attorneys general.

“We are heartbroken by these tragedies and our deepest sympathies are with the families,” Taylor said. “Safety is our highest priority and we’re working closely with policymakers around the world.”

Founded as a nonprofit with a safety-focused mission to build better-than-human artificial intelligence, OpenAI had recently sought to transfer more control to its for-profit arm from its nonprofit before dropping those plans in May after discussions with the offices of Bonta and Jennings and other nonprofit groups.

The two elected officials, both Democrats, have oversight of any such changes because OpenAI is incorporated in Delaware and operates out of California, where it has its headquarters in San Francisco.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/openai-chatgpt-california-delaware-ags-3b035de96e74c6839aa12143e2225cf9

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have allegedly committed numerous crimes against humanity during their siege of the city of el-Fasher in Darfur, UN investigators say.

The report by the UN Fact-Finding Mission accuses the group of “murder, torture, enslavement, rape, sexual slavery, sexual violence, forced displacement and persecution on ethnic, gender and political grounds”.

It also cited broader evidence of alleged war crimes by both the RSF and the regular army, however both sides have previously denied any wrongdoing in the country’s ongoing civil war.

The UN report said the two groups targeted civilians in numerous ways and as deliberate strategies.

“Both sides have deliberately targeted civilians through attacks, summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and inhuman treatment in detention facilities, including denial of food, sanitation, and medical care,” said Fact-Finding Mission chair, Mohamed Chande Othman.

“These are not accidental tragedies but deliberate strategies amounting to war crimes.”

Highlighting the RSF’s actions in el-Fasher, the report accused the group of using starvation as a method of warfare that might amount to the crime of extermination.

In April, the RSF stormed the Zamzam camp near el-Fasher, forcing tens of thousands of the world’s most destitute people to flee their homes once more. The situation in the camp was already so bad that a famine had been declared there.

The city of el-Fasher has been under siege for more than a year and is the Sudanese army’s last major foothold in the Darfur region of the country.

The US has accused the RSF of committing genocide against Darfur’s non-Arabic population. The paramilitary group has denied responsibility and blames the violence on local militias.

The US has also placed sanctions on army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan blaming him for civilian deaths and using food deprivation as a weapon of war.

The army has been at war with the RSF since April 2023, with the latter recently intensifying its offensive on el-Fasher, local people have previously told the BBC.

Recent research conducted by Yale University analysing satellite images showed that 31km (19 miles) of raised banks had been built since May in areas populated by the RSF just outside the city, and that there was an intention to essentially trap civilians.

The report, titled “A War of Atrocities” called on the international community to enforce an arms embargo as well as set up an independent judicial process to ensure alleged perpetrators face justice.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czewgl1171lo

Accused MS-13 gangbanger and El Salvador national Kilmar Abrego Garcia is now reportedly facing deportation to the tiny South West African nation Eswatini after rejecting a deal from the Trump administration.

The one-time Maryland resident accused of human smuggling — who was repatriated to the US after being deported to El Salvador earlier this year — was informed of impending removal in a Friday email from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.

Eswatini was chosen after Garcia, 30, listed 22 countries he could not live in for “fear of persecution or torture,” — including Uganda, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, and several other South American countries, read the removal notice, which was obtained by Fox News.

The deportation order comes after Garcia rejected an offer to plead guilty to human smuggling charges and serve out his sentence in Costa Rica.

El Salvador willingly accepted Abrego Garcia into custody at the nation’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center on March 15 — but released him back to the US in June following a Supreme Court ruling.

He was taken into custody at Putnam County Jail in Tennessee and then released on Aug. 22, allowing him to return to Maryland under electronic surveillance and home confinement.

Shortly after his release DHS vowed to deport the alleged transnational criminal to Uganda, and now appears to be opting for the lesser known, landlocked nation Eswatini.

The Trump administration has previously shipped five deportees to the maximum-security prison in Eswatini with those deportations already being met with legal challenges.

Source: https://nypost.com/2025/09/05/us-news/kilmar-abrego-garcia-faces-deportation-to-tiny-african-nation-eswatini-report/

Germany’s new government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz is already almost as unpopular as the previous one, due to quarrelling over government spending. That’s according to the latest ARD-Deutschlandtrend survey.

Infighting over the budget, the financing of social security benefits and climate protection projects led to the collapse of Germany’s previous coalition government of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), environmentalist Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) in November 2024.

Back then, Friedrich Merz was the opposition leader in the Bundestag federal parliament. He took every opportunity to criticize the government for its squabbling. They were undermining people’s trust in politics, he said.

Less than a year later, Merz is chancellor and his coalition, of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the SPD, is likewise quarrelling. Again, the conflicts center on budgetary holes and social policy.

Merz insists that Germany can no longer economically afford its welfare state in its current form.

That’s “bullshit” replied SPD Co-leader and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas in a speech to the SPD youth wing. This was seen as a strikingly crude choice of words for a minister to direct at her chancellor.

Voters unimpressed by coalition conduct

The monthly Deutschlandtrend survey commissioned by German public broadcaster ARD found that 77% of those surveyed were dissatisfied with how the CDU/CSU Union and SPD get along.

Supporters of the CDU/CSU and the SPD were equally dissatisfied, according to the survey, which polled 1,342 eligible German voters on September 1 and 2.

Respondents also had little good to say about the government’s work so far. Some 75% of them indicated that they didn’t like what the government was doing.

Voters had been equally unsatisfied with the previous government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD. But supporters of Chancellor Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc are happier now, with 57% of them saying they are satisfied with the work of the current government. Only 25% of SPD voters could say the same.

The coalition government’s focus on a tougher approach to migration policy and economic relief measures is an explanation for this increased satisfaction. These topics are of prime importance to CDU/CSU voters.

Which reforms are fair?

In the coming months, the government intends to switch its focus to reforms in social, employment and tax policy. The CDU/CSU Union is pushing for cuts to Bürgergeld (citizens’ income) welfare payments that cover needs for the long-term unemployed and top-ups for the working poor. The SPD opposes this and would rather raise taxes on the wealthy and top earners.

Harsher sanctions on Bürgergeld recipients who repeatedly fail to take up acceptable job offers were welcomed by 80% of those surveyed. There was also significant support for raising taxes for high earners and large inheritances.

On the other hand, most respondents were in favor of tax relief for overtime pay and the income of retirees who continue to work.

Plans to change the maximum working hours from daily to weekly were received less enthusiastically and raising the retirement age to 70 was rejected by 84% of survey respondents.

Reforms are urgently needed. Despite the billions in debt that Germany is taking on in the coming years, the country faces gaping holes in its budget. In 2027, it is predicted that €30 billion ($35 billion) in savings must be made.

There will have to be cuts in the welfare state, Chancellor Merz said, referring to health and nursing care as well as old-age pension systems that are all propped up by state funding.

Germans are expected to have to work beyond the current retirement age of 67 and may see pension levels go down

People’s opinions are divided when it comes to their own prosperity and money problems in their senior years.

After several years of economic stagnation, concern about Germany as a location for doing business continues to be high. Here, the government has not yet been able to turn around public opinion.

AfD continues to gain ground

The Deutschlandtrend survey also asked about the competency of political parties. The CDU/CSU was widely described as able to solve current problems in foreign and defense policy, economic, tax and finance policy. The SPD led only in the categories of old age pension schemes and social justice.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was viewed as the most competent of all parties when it comes to immigration policy. Despite a reduction in the number of refugees coming to Germany, support for the AfD has overtaken the CDU/CSU on this issue. The party, which is in parts right-wing extremist, has also increased its general appeal among voters.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germans-dissatisfied-with-chancellor-merzs-government/a-73877554

Taliban authorities report the death toll has climbed as rescue teams struggle to reach isolated areas after an earthquake struck Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern region. Another tremor hit the area late on Thursday.

Rescuers are battling to reach survivors after an earthquake in Afghanistan left over 2,200 dead.

The vast majority of the dead and nearly 4,000 injured were in mountainous Kunar province near the border with Pakistan, Taliban government deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Thursday.

“Tents have been set up for people, and the delivery of first aid and emergency supplies is ongoing,” he added.

Sunday’s magnitude-6.0 earthquake, one of the deadliest in Afghanistan in decades, was followed by a magnitude-5.2 tremor Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Late on Thursday, another fairly large quake hit the same isolated region near the border to Pakistan and the eastern city of Jalalabad, with the USGS putting it at magnitude 5.6 intially.

Aid agencies urging more support

Rescue operations have been complicated by rockfalls and landslides triggered by repeated aftershocks, which have blocked roads and made land travel difficult.

“Many survivors are still believed to be trapped beneath collapsed homes in remote villages, and the window for finding them alive is rapidly closing,” the World Health Organization said in a statement late Wednesday.

Humanitarian needs are “vast and growing rapidly,” the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

The quake affected, “more than more than 1.3 million people and [left] hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged.”

Rescue efforts further complicated by humanitarian crisis

Afghanistan remains in the grip of a prolonged humanitarian crisis after decades of conflict. It is also dealing with an influx of millions of Afghans forced to return by neighboring Pakistan and Iran in recent years.

“The earthquake is not a stand-alone disaster,” said Jacopo Caridi, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council. “It hit communities that were already struggling with displacement, food insecurity, drought, and the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-earthquake-death-toll-tops-2200/a-73880933

The Health Ministry of the Democratic Republic of Congo said that samples tested confirmed the presence of the Zaire strain of the virus. It said there were currently 28 suspected cases and 15 people had died.

The Democratic Republic of Congo declared a new outbreak of the Ebola virus on Thursday, three years after its last one, in the Kasai Province bordering Angola, east of the capital Kinshasa.

The Health Ministry said there were currently 28 suspected cases and 15 recorded deaths.

It said the first signs of an outbreak came on August 20, when a 34-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized with symptoms including high fever and vomiting. It did not say if she had survived.

What did the WHO say about the Ebola outbreak?

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that four of the suspected cases involved health workers. It also warned that case numbers were likely to increase, as transmission was ongoing.

“A national Rapid Response Team joined by World Health Organization experts in epidemiology, infection prevention and control, laboratory and case management has been deployed to Kasai Province to rapidly strengthen disease surveillance, treatment and infection prevention and control in health facilities,” the WHO said in a statement on Thursday.

The WHO also said it was delivering 2 metric tons of supplies including personal protective equipment (PPE), mobile laboratory equipment and medical supplies.

But it cautioned that the affected area is difficult to reach, with few air links, and required at least one day of driving from the provincial capital of Kasai, Tshikapa.

“We’re acting with determination to rapidly halt the spread of the virus and protect communities,” said Dr. Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Banking on the country’s longstanding expertise in controlling viral disease outbreaks, we’re working closely with the health authorities to quickly scale up key response measures to end the outbreak as soon as possible.”

What’s DRC’s history with Ebola outbreaks?

Congo has recorded 15 previous Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in 1976, including one that killed nearly 2,300 people between 2018 and 2020.

Previous Ebola outbreaks were reported in Kasai Province in 2007 and 2008, the WHO said.

The most recent Ebola outbreak in Congo hit the northwestern Equateur Province, and was brought under control “in under three months thanks to the robust efforts of the health authorities,” according to the UN’s health agency.

The WHO also noted how this past exposure meant that the country had a stockpile of treatments, including 2,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine on hand in the capital Kinshasa, which it said was effective against the identified Zaire strain of the virus.

These doses would be transported to Kasai and reserved for “contacts and frontline health workers” in a bid to stop the spread, it said.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/dr-congo-reports-new-ebola-outbreak-with-15-dead/a-73885209

 

DONALD Trump declared all-out war against drug-peddling cartels following his narco boat blitz which killed 11 gangsters en route to the US.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US will “blow up” foreign crime groups if needed, possibly in collaboration with other countries.

“Now they’re gonna help us find these people and blow them up, if that’s what it takes,” Rubio said during a visit to Ecuador.

He also announced the US will designate two of Ecuador’s largest criminal gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as foreign terrorist organisations.

The comments come days after US forces carried out a strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. The White House says it killed 11 drug-traffickers, though it did not release their identities.

Asked whether smugglers coming from US allies, like Mexico and Ecuador, could face “unilateral execution” from US forces, Rubio said “co-operative governments” would help identify smugglers.

“The president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they’ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no-one has responded.

“But there’s no need to do that in many cases with the friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us.”

The Ecuadorian and Mexican governments have not said they would assist with military strikes.

In the wake of Tuesday’s strike on the vessel in the southern Caribbean, President Donald Trump said the military operation had targeted members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as they transported illegal narcotics towards the US.

Legal experts told BBC Verify the strike may have violated international human rights and maritime law.

Late on Thursday, the defence department accused two Venezuelan military aircraft of flying near a US vessel in a “highly provocative move designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations”. Venezuela is yet to respond to the claim.

Also on Thursday, Rubio announced Washington would issue $13.5m (£10m) in security aid and $6m in drone technology to help Ecuador crack down on drug trafficking.

Violence in Ecuador has soared in recent years as criminal gangs battle for control over lucrative cocaine routes

According to government data, about 70% of the world’s cocaine now passes through Ecuador in transit from neighbouring producing countries, like Colombia and Peru, to markets in the US, Europe and Asia.

This designation was desired by the Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who described his clampdown on criminal gangs as a “war.”

In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, he said he would be “glad” if the US considered Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as terrorist groups because “that’s what they really are”.

He also said he wanted US and European armies to join his fight.

Noboa is trying to change Ecuador’s constitution to allow foreign military bases in the country again – after the last US one was closed in 2009.

The designation means the US can target the assets and properties of anyone associated with the groups and share intelligence with the Ecuadorian government without limitations so it could take “potentially lethal” actions.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx23nzwjnwwo

Indian doctors have successfully removed “parasitic twins” – two foetuses that were growing inside the abdomen of a 20-day-old baby.

Called foetus in foetu, the condition is extremely rare, with fewer than 200 cases reported worldwide until now, a handful of which were in India.

The condition develops early in pregnancy when a malformed foetus is absorbed by the host twin. Though the foetus is not alive, it continues to develop by absorbing nutrients from the host twin.

In this case, the woman was pregnant with triplets and two of the foetuses began to grow inside the abdomen of the baby.

“The surgery was challenging but the baby is healthy and doing well,” Dr Anand Sinha, a paediatric surgeon who led the operation, told the BBC.

The infant was discharged from hospital a month back and there have been no complications so far, he added.

The doctor said the recovery period after the surgery is crucial, as infection or other complications could prove fatal for the child.

In 2024, a three-day old baby in Kolkata city died a day after he underwent surgery to remove two malformed foetuses from his abdomen.

In the latest case, the parents admitted their 20-day-old baby to Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurugram in July.

“She had a bloated abdomen, was irritable and unable to eat anything because the foetuses were squashing her stomach,” Dr Anand said.

A scan showed two tumour-like shapes inside her abdomen, which were actually the malformed foetuses.

Dr Anand said surgery could not be performed immediately as the baby was dehydrated, malnourished and first had to be stabilised. Her condition improved after two days, and then a team of about 15 doctors performed the surgery.

“The operation took about two hours,” Dr Anand said, adding that special equipment had to be used because of the baby’s delicate, diminutive stature.

Also, since the foetuses were attached to organs like the liver, kidneys and the intestines, they had to be extracted with great care so that no organs or blood vessels were damaged.

“Throughout the surgery, the baby’s temperature was monitored. We also had to make sure that there wasn’t too much blood loss,” Dr Anand said.

Foetus in foetu is often diagnosed during pregnancy, but Dr Anand says sometimes parasitic twins are found in adults if the condition goes undetected during infancy.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4q0d4n6dno

Fifteen people were killed and more than 30 others were wounded in a suicide bombing near a political rally in Pakistan, authorities said.

Hundreds of members of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had gathered for a rally at a stadium in Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan province, when a bomb exploded in the parking area on Tuesday night.

Provincial authorities said on Wednesday that the death toll had risen to 15. The Islamic State militant group said it carried out the attack.

Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is the country’s largest and poorest region. Its residents also face regular and often deadly attacks from the Islamic State and separatist groups.

The suicide bomber could not reach the rally venue due to tight security, Balochistan health minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said, according to Pakistani network Geo News.

The damage would have been much greater if the blast had happened at the venue, government official Hamza Shafqaat told reporters. He also said that the government had deployed 120 police personnel to the rally for security, Geo News reported.

The rally on Tuesday night was held in commemoration of Ataullah Mengal, the former chief minister of Balochistan who died in 2021.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack targeting the BNP rally, which he said was “damning evidence of the nefarious conspiracy by terrorists to spread chaos in Balochistan”, local media reported.

A survivor of the blast, Zaman Baloch, said he was standing at some distance from the rally venue when he heard a loud explosion. He suffered shrapnel wounds to his leg.

“After the explosion, I saw a lot of people lying on the ground and there was screaming everywhere,” Baloch said.

Another survivor, Noor Ahmad, also recalled hearing a loud blast.

Injured BNP leader Ahmed Nawaz told BBC Urdu that the explosion took place approximately 200 feet from the rally venue.

Various militant groups operate in Balochistan, posing a constant threat to the security of its residents.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwydw5vdg35o

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russia President Vladimir Putin chatted about how advances in science could prolong the human life span in a rare hot mic moment in the Chinese capital.

The brief exchange was captured on a live news video feed of Xi and Putin as they walked on a red carpet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the head of a large cluster of high-level guests. The group was going toward the viewing platform for a major Chinese military parade on Wednesday.

Xi spoke first, and although only parts of his words can be made out, a translator followed in Russian: “Before it’s said to be very rare to live up to 70, and now it’s said that you are still a child at 70.”

Putin, turning toward Xi, gesticulated with pointed fingers as he responded. Kim, on the other side of Xi, turned in to listen to both, breaking into an occasional smile.

The Russian president’s words are inaudible, but after he spoke, an interpreter can be heard translating what he said into Chinese.

“In a few decades, as biotechnology continues to develop, human organs will continue to be transplanted and people will become younger and perhaps even achieve immortality,” the interpreter said.

Xi appeared to break into a slight smile as the interpreter spoke, turning his head once to look at Putin briefly.

The live feed then switched to an overhead view of the viewing platform on historic Tiananmen Gate, but the audio from the walking leaders continued.

A voice that sounded like Xi said, “Some predict that within this century, it may be possible … .”

Then the audio paused briefly. When it came back, someone can be heard saying at much lower volume, “ … may be able to live up to 150 years old.”

The second phrase follows naturally from the first one in Chinese, but it’s not clear whether the second one is also Xi or someone else. A translator than said in Russian, “There are forecasts that in this world a person will live up to 100.”

The feed was provided by the parade media center to international news agencies including The Associated Press.

Xi presided over a parade that marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The fighter jets, missiles and other military hardware were a display of strength intended in part to show the progress the country has made under Communist Party rule.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/putin-xi-hot-mic-life-span-a2cae1cc2526a3d333ab82eaa9a85d21

 

US President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday (Sep 4) to implement lower tariffs on Japanese automobile imports and other products that were announced in July, providing some relief to Japan’s export-heavy economy.

Formalising the deal between the US and a key Asian ally comes after months of negotiations, reduces uncertainty plaguing the massive Japanese auto sector since the July announcement and confirms an agreement for US$550 billion of Japanese investment in US projects.

The lower 15 per cent tariffs on Japanese autos, down from the current 27.5 per cent, are set to take effect seven days after official publication of the order.

The executive order also ensured that the 15 per cent levy on Japanese imports agreed in July would not be stacked on top of those already subject to higher tariffs, such as beef, while items previously subject to tariffs below 15 per cent would be adjusted to 15 per cent. This relief is retroactive to Aug 7.

In addition, it promised no tariffs on commercial airplanes and parts.

Trump’s levies on global shipments have dragged down Japan’s exports and hit Japanese carmakers hard. Last month, Toyota said it expected a hit of nearly US$10 billion from Trump’s tariffs on cars imported into the United States.

“Finally,” Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s top trade negotiator, posted to X, in a nod to the months-long trade talks that had frustrated lawmakers in Tokyo. Thursday marked his 10th trip to the US for the negotiations.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Akazawa said Japan welcomed the executive order as “a steady implementation of the agreement reached on Jul 22”.

Rival exporter South Korea is still waiting on an executive order covering a similar trade agreement with the US, including a 15 per cent tariff on US imports from automakers like Hyundai Motor and Kia, down from 25 per cent.

A South Korean trade official said on Friday that his country was assessing the potential impact of the executive order regarding Japan.

Shares of major Japanese automakers were up slightly on Friday in early trading, while those in South Korea were slightly lower.

Toyota praised Trump’s efforts to reach a trade deal with Japan. “While nearly 80 per cent of the vehicles Toyota sells in the US are made in North America, this framework provides much-needed clarity,” the company said in a statement.

Trump’s order said Japan was “working toward an expedited implementation of a 75 per cent increase of United States rice procurements… and purchases of United States agricultural goods, including corn, soybeans, fertiliser, bioethanol (including for sustainable aviation fuel)” and other US products totalling US$8 billion per year.

As part of the deal, Japan will buy 100 Boeing planes and hike defence spending with US firms to US$17 billion annually, from US$14 billion, the White House said in July.

Japan said in July that the share of US rice imports may increase under its existing framework but that the agreement did “not sacrifice” Japanese agriculture.

US$550 BILLION OF INVESTMENTS

Trump’s order on Thursday also reiterated that the Japanese government has agreed to invest US$550 billion in the United States in projects that will be selected by the US government.

Two-way trade between the two countries reached nearly US$230 billion in 2024, with Japan running a trade surplus of nearly US$70 billion.

The United States in July, agreed to lower tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles, but the timing remained unclear as Trump had yet to sign an executive order.

Japan has said the trade deal ensures the US’ fifth-largest trading partner will always receive the lowest tariff rate on chips and pharmaceuticals of all the pacts negotiated by Washington, but the latest order had no mention of the treatment.

Japan will continue to push the US to ensure the agreed treatment, Akazawa told reporters.

The US$550 billion investment package, which will come in the form of equity, loans and guarantees from Japan’s government-owned banks, was agreed as part of the July trade deal.

The two governments also signed a memorandum of understanding on the details of the investment package on Thursday.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-tariffs-japan-autos-cars-5333491

The charismatic entertainer spoke with CNA Lifestyle at the recent Waterbomb Singapore festival, sharing her candid thoughts on her career and her hopes for the future.

South Korea witnessed a breakthrough moment in its hip-hop scene when high schooler Lee Young-ji became the very first woman to win the hit competition series High School Rapper. Lee’s razor-sharp technique and fearless delivery impressed seasoned rappers who openly praised her potential.

What followed was a meteoric rise to fame. After her official debut, Lee didn’t just stick to music; she quickly became a variety show darling, lighting up programmes like Running Man and Knowing Bros with her quick wit and unapologetic confidence.

Fast forward six years and the soon-to-be 23-year-old is no longer just a rising star. With hit singles like Not Sorry and Small Girl, a spot on the beloved variety series Earth Arcade and hosting gigs that showcase her humour and versatility, Lee Young-ji established herself as one of South Korea’s most talented entertainers.

At the recent Waterbomb Singapore festival, Lee sat down with CNA LIfestyle, where she brought her trademark energy that sent the room into chuckles with frank responses in a mix of English and Korean.

LOOKING BACK AT THE YOUNG-JI WHO JOINED HIGH SCHOOL RAPPER 3, HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED AND GROWN AS AN ARTISTE?

It has been a long journey since I debuted in High School Rapper 3. I really upgraded. I did my upgrade as a human being and as an artiste as well.

I’ve gone through many ups and downs. As a person, I’ve learnt more about how to treat others. As an artiste, I discovered more about my own musical taste and I’m starting to understand what kind of music people enjoy from me.

THESE DAYS, WHERE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION FOR MUSIC COME FROM?

Most of my music is about relationships, but it can also be about inner and outer peace. People, haters, fans – everything inspires me, but I think these days, I’ve been trying to explore unique and fun topics.

For example, I get inspiration from classic films. They’re movies that deeply moved Koreans, but I was too young to see them at the time. Watching them now, I learn so much as a fellow creator.

WHAT’S SOMETHING NEW YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE MUSIC FIELD?

There are so many genres I want to try, but I feel that right now I need to focus on finding and shaping the one that suits me best. So I’m concentrating more on creating my own genre.

There are so many artistes I want to collaborate with. But honestly, not to brag, I’ve already worked with most of them. Almost all of them, actually.

In Korea, I’ve collaborated with artistes I respect and admire. Now, I’d love to work with overseas artistes that I’ve been a fan of since childhood, like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, SZA and Doja Cat.

Before they retire, I hope I can grow my career and music enough to collaborate with them.

My ultimate dream? Performing on stage. So, Coachella, let’s go! Thank you.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A BIG EVENT LIKE WATERBOMB?

Bilateral talks with leaders from Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia stressed closer economic cooperation and regional security – and in some cases, support for China’s Global Governance Initiative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has held bilateral meetings with a raft of Southeast Asian leaders on the sidelines of a grand World War II military parade in Beijing, which featured a stronger regional presence than at its last major commemoration in 2015.

Top leaders from Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia were among the 26 foreign heads of state and government at the Sep 3 parade in Tiananmen Square. The high-profile guest list included Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Bilateral talks with leaders from the four Southeast Asian nations stressed closer economic cooperation and regional security – and in some cases, support for China’s Global Governance Initiative.

Xi met Vietnamese President Luong Cuong and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith on Thursday (Sep 4) in separate meetings at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

In his meeting with Cuong, Xi said China and Vietnam should deepen exchanges in party and state governance, and organise activities marking the 75th anniversary of bilateral relations in order to benefit both sides, according to state media.

Xi also highlighted his Global Governance Initiative, adding that China is willing to work with Vietnam to safeguard the interests of the Global South. The Chinese supremo proposed the new initiative during the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin.

According to state media, Cuong said Vietnam firmly believes that China will play a greater role in regional and global peace and development. He said both sides should deepen cooperation and reaffirmed support in developing bilateral relations.

In talks with Laos’ Thongloun, Xi said the international and regional situation is undergoing complex changes, and both sides should view and manage bilateral relations with a “long-term perspective and strategic thinking”, according to state news agency Xinhua.

While highlighting progress in the China-Laos partnership, Xi also called for closer cooperation on regional security and law enforcement, including continued crackdowns on cross-border gambling and telecommunications fraud.

Thongloun, in turn, thanked China for its long-standing support and said relations were at their best. He pledged to advance the China-Laos Economic Corridor and voiced support for Xi’s Global Governance Initiative, expressing Laos’ willingness to strengthen cooperation with China on the international stage, Xinhua reported.

MEETINGS WITH PRABOWO AND ANWAR

On Wednesday, Xi met with Indonesia’s Prabowo after the military parade. Prabowo had earlier cancelled his visit to China over deadly protests at home, but eventually departed for Beijing on Tuesday evening.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout, Xi said Prabowo’s appearance in China despite “difficulties” showed the importance he attached to bilateral relations.

“China supports President Prabowo’s governance, Indonesia’s restoration of order and stability as soon as possible, and the development and growth of Indonesia,” said the readout.

Xi said both sides should enhance cooperation in areas such as critical minerals, digital economy, artificial intelligence, agriculture and fisheries.

As major Global South nations, China and Indonesia should also “jointly oppose unilateral bullying” and safeguard regional peace and stability, he said.

According to the foreign ministry readout, Prabowo shared information on the situation in Indonesia, “noting a trend of stabilisation”.

Prabowo further said relations with China are a high priority in Indonesia’s foreign policy, adding that the bilateral relationship is “at its best in history” and that Indonesia is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with China in fields like trade, investment, finance and infrastructure, noted the readout.

Both leaders also discussed a plan to build a wall along the northern coastline of Java island, a project Jakarta has floated to curb flooding and rising sea levels, Prabowo’s office said on Wednesday.

Prabowo’s government has previously said the project would take 15 to 20 years to build and cost about US$80 billion.

Earlier this year, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono asked for technical and financial support when he met Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang in Beijing.

On Sep 2, Xi met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Beijing, reaffirming the closeness of China-Malaysia ties.

Xi said the bilateral relationship should focus on a more “high-level and strategic” partnership, with deeper coordination and firm support for each other’s core interests, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

According to the readout, Xi said both countries should work together to become “an inspiring example of cooperation” on high-quality development in the region, with new highlights in areas such as AI and semiconductors, while ensuring the high-level development of key projects such as the East Coast Rail Link.

Meanwhile, Anwar signalled support for Xi’s Global Governance Initiative, saying that it features both advanced ideas and practical solutions, and is of “great significance” for enhancing global governance, the readout noted.

Separately, Malaysian news site The Star quoted Anwar as saying that during their Tuesday meeting, Xi also stated support for accelerating Malaysia’s bid to join the BRICS grouping.

Malaysia formally applied to join BRICS in July 2024, and was announced as one of the bloc’s new partner countries in October 2024.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-xi-jinping-bilateral-meetings-southeast-asia-leaders-wwii-parade-5332486

Out with the old, in with the new.

Despite Heidi Gardner being a staple on “Saturday Night Live” for the past eight seasons, the comedian will not be part of Season 51 because her contract was not renewed, The Post reports.

“It’s time for a new cast,” an insider told the outlet.

Gardner, 42, was the longest-tenured female cast member before her shocking exit. Her viral moments over the years include her cracking during a Ryan Gosling “Beavis and Butt-Head” sketch and playing Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriend, “Abby.”

Her popular recurring characters on the show included Angel (every boxer’s girlfriend) and Gen Z movie critic Bailey Gismert.

Gardner has yet to address her “SNL” departure. Her rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

Earlier this week, Dana Carvey discussed Gardner’s exit on his and “SNL” alum David Spade’s “Fly on the Wall” podcast.

“From what I know as of this recording, that it was not her idea to leave,” Carvey said. “I could be wrong about that, but that’s what I read.”

“I think she’s got a likability,” he added. “She can play real, straight news woman, she can play big, brawn, funny, physical. So I was surprised by that.”

Gardner is one of four cast members leaving the show amid a major cast shake-up. Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker are also not returning to the iconic sketch show next season.

The series has instead added five new cast members — Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska — NBCUniversal announced Tuesday.

Back in August, “SNL” boss Lorne Michaels hinted at making big changes, telling Puck News that he felt “pressure to reinvent this season.”

Walker later commented on exiting the show after three seasons, telling Rolling Stone that month that the decision was mutual.

“To be frank, I guess the best way I put it is like me and the show kind of looked at each other and we decided together that it was time to go our separate ways,” he said.

“I think I felt ready to leave the show, and I think the show felt ready to leave me.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/09/04/entertainment/heidi-gardner-is-leaving-snl-for-this-reason/

Nikki Garcia is praising her ex-husband, Artem Chigvintsev, when it comes to co-parenting their 5-year-old son, Matteo.

The WWE star, 41, gave rare comments about the dancing pro on her podcast with her sister, Brie, sharing that he’s been supportive of her decision to return to wrestling.

“I have to give it to Artem, who’s been amazing in adapting to my schedule,” she said on Thursday’s episode of “The Nikki & Brie Show.”

” And I get Matteo almost more, and he lets me. Like, he’s amazing,” she continued.

Nikki, whose divorce from Chigvintsev, 43, was finalized in May, said their son was doing great amid their changing dynamics.

“We’ve adapted well and Matteo’s thriving,” she said.

Brie also had kind words about the situation, telling Nikki, “You and Artem have been a great team.”

Of course, the exes weren’t always on such friendly terms.

In September 2024, Nikki requested full legal and physical custody of Matteo. The former couple was granted joint custody a month later, despite Nikki’s request that Chigvinstev get only supervised visitation and take anger management classes.

They were also ordered to attend individual therapy and parenting classes.

The two started dating after being paired together on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2017. They got married in August 2022 in Paris, two years after Matteo’s birth.

The pair split shortly after their second wedding anniversary.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/09/04/parents/nikki-garcia-shares-rare-insight-on-co-parenting-relationship-with-artem-chigvintsev/

Democrats and Republicans pushed U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his recent vaccine policies and their stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s successful first-term pandemic initiative to speed vaccine development during a combative Senate hearing on Thursday.
Half a dozen heated exchanges focused on the details of Kennedy’s decision to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez, who had started the job with Kennedy’s support only a month earlier.

Trump, speaking at the White House after the hearing, expressed support for Kennedy, saying he has some “different ideas.”
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician who played a critical role in Kennedy’s confirmation, grilled him about the cancellation of $500 million in COVID vaccine contracts, while citing examples of doctors and cancer patients who have been unable to obtain the protection against the potentially deadly disease.
“I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccines,” concluded Cassidy.
“Well, you’re wrong,” Kennedy responded.
Cassidy, of Louisiana, praised Trump for having accelerated the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in 2020.

His line of questioning – mirrored by two other members of his and Trump’s party – underscored the tightrope Republicans critical of Kennedy needed to walk in order to push back against his vaccine policies without criticizing the president.
Cassidy asked Kennedy during the Senate Finance Committee hearing if he agreed with him that Trump deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for the COVID vaccine initiative, known as Operation Warp Speed. Kennedy said he did.
Why then had Kennedy said the vaccines killed more people than COVID? Cassidy asked. Kennedy denied making the statement, would not agree that the vaccines saved lives, and in a later exchange acknowledged the shots prevented deaths but not how many.
COVID vaccines in the first year of their use saved some 14.4 million lives globally, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

Kennedy has also canceled $500 million in funding for research on the mRNA technology that yielded the most widely used COVID vaccines under Trump, which Cassidy characterized as denying people vaccines.
Trump told reporters during a White House event with business leaders that Kennedy “means very well, and he’s got some little different ideas.”
“I guarantee a lot of people at this table like RFK Jr. And I do, but he’s got a different take, and we want to listen to all those takes,” Trump said when asked if he has confidence in what Kennedy is doing.
Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Barrasso of Wyoming, who like Cassidy is a physician, adopted Cassidy’s tactic, as did Senate Democrats Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, where the CDC is headquartered, and Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.

“Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearings you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned,” said Barrasso.
“The public has seen measles outbreaks, leadership in the National Institutes of Health questioning the use of mRNA vaccines, the recently confirmed Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fired,” the senator added.
Under fiery questioning from most Democrats and some Republicans, Kennedy defended the ousting of Monarez, adding that he might need to fire even more people.
Trump fired Monarez after she resisted changes to vaccine policy advanced by Kennedy that she believed contradicted scientific evidence.
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Monarez said she had been directed to preapprove vaccine recommendations and fire career CDC officials, describing her ouster as part of a broader push to weaken U.S. vaccine standards.
Kennedy said she lied and that he had never told Monarez she needed to preapprove decisions, but that he did order her to fire officials, which she refused to do.
“Secretary Kennedy’s claims are false, and at times, patently ridiculous. Dr. Monarez stands by what she said in her Wall Street Journal op-ed,” her lawyers said in a statement.

CALLS FOR KENNEDY RESIGNATION

Kennedy said the CDC during the COVID-19 pandemic had lied to Americans about mask wearing, social distancing, school closures and the ability of the vaccine to stop transmission.
“I need to fire some of those people and make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Kennedy said.
The CDC’s pandemic recommendations were based on past experience with virus transmission and what was known about the novel coronavirus at the time.
By late 2021, with more real-world data, the CDC acknowledged the shots could not stop COVID infection and transmission, but were highly effective in preventing severe cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Since taking the job, Kennedy has made a series of controversial changes to U.S. vaccine policy, including narrowing who is eligible for COVID shots and firing all 17 expert members of a CDC vaccine advisory panel, choosing some fellow anti-vaccine activists to replace them.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-senators-pit-kennedy-against-trump-vaccine-policy-2025-09-04/

After Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, North Korean staffers carefully wiped off items touched by the country’s supreme leader, in what analysts say is part of a suite of security measures to counter foreign spies.
Even with the appearance of budding friendship between Kim and Putin, footage on Wednesday showed the reclusive state’s extraordinary measures to conceal any clues about Kim’s health.

In a post on Telegram, Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev shared video of Kim’s two staff members meticulously cleaning the room in the Chinese capital where Kim and Putin met for more than two hours.
The chair’s backrest and armrests were scrubbed and a coffee table next to Kim’s chair was also cleaned. Kim’s drinking glass was also removed.
“After the negotiations were over, the staff accompanying the head of the DPRK carefully destroyed all traces of Kim’s presence,” the reporter said, referring to North Korea.
After talks in the room, Kim and Putin left for a tea meeting and bid a warm farewell to each other.

As during previous foreign trips, Kim packed his own toilet on a signature green train that took him to Beijing to hide health clues, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported, citing South Korean and Japanese intelligence agencies.
Such measures are standard protocol since the era of Kim’s predecessor, his father Kim Jong Il, said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert with the U.S.-based Stimson Center.
“The special toilet and the requisite garbage bags of detritus, waste and cigarette butts are so that a foreign intelligence agency, even a friendly one, does not acquire a sample and test it,” Madden said.
“It would provide insight into any medical conditions affecting Kim Jong Un. This can include hair and skin tags,” he said.
In 2019, after a Hanoi summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Kim’s guards were spotted blocking the floor of his hotel room to clean the room for hours, and taking out items including a bed mattress.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/north-korea-wipes-traces-kim-jong-un-after-beijing-meeting-with-putin-2025-09-04/

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal mortgage fraud probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and has issued grand jury subpoenas out of both Georgia and Michigan, according to documents seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter.
The investigation, which followed a criminal referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, is being conducted by Ed Martin, who was tapped by Attorney General Pam Bondi as a special assistant U.S. attorney to assist with mortgage fraud investigations involving public officials, along with the U.S. Attorneys’ offices in the Northern District of Georgia and the Eastern District of Michigan, according to the person, who spoke anonymously since the matter is not public.

Pulte, who was appointed by Trump, has accused Cook of committing fraud by listing more than one property as a primary residence when she applied for mortgages, potentially to secure lower interest rates. Cook owns properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts.
Trump terminated Cook over Pulte’s allegations, prompting her to file a lawsuit challenging his effort to oust her.
Cook’s lawyer, prominent Washington attorney Abbe Lowell, said the Justice Department was scrambling to invent new justifications for Trump’s overreach in firing the Fed governor.
“He wants cover, and they are providing it. The questions over how Governor Cook described her properties from time to time, which we have started to address in the pending case and will continue to do so, are not fraud, but it takes nothing for this DOJ to undertake a new politicized investigation, and they appear to have just done it again,” Lowell said.

The case, which will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, has ramifications for the Fed’s ability to set interest rate policy without regard to politicians’ wishes, widely seen as critical to any central bank’s ability to keep inflation under control.
Trump has demanded that the U.S. central bank cut rates immediately and aggressively, berating Fed Chair Jerome Powell for his stewardship of monetary policy. The central bank is expected to deliver a rate cut at its September 16-17 meeting.
In one of her recent legal filings challenging Trump’s actions, Cook said she listed mortgages on three properties on forms submitted to the White House and U.S. Senate in the vetting process for her appointment to the Fed in 2022. Any inconsistencies were known when she was confirmed and cannot give Trump grounds to fire her now.

Mortgages obtained for primary residences and second homes can come with cheaper financing than those for investment properties, which have a higher default rate and are typically subject to tighter underwriting by lenders.
The rates that Cook obtained on her mortgages were higher than the prevailing national averages at the time. While it is not known when Cook locked in her mortgages, borrowers typically fix their rate a month or two before the purchase.
Cook is the third public official to be targeted in a criminal investigation over mortgage fraud allegations.
Martin, who also presides over the “Weaponization Working Group” and serves as pardon attorney, is also pursuing criminal probes into Democratic U.S. Senator Adam Schiff as well as New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James. There are also grand juries convened in those two cases, which started prior to Martin’s new appointment as a special assistant U.S. attorney, according to the source and documents seen by Reuters.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-justice-department-opens-criminal-mortgage-fraud-probe-into-fed-governor-cook-2025-09-04/

Israel controls 40% of Gaza City, a military spokesperson said on Thursday, as its bombardment forced more Palestinians from their homes there, while thousands of residents defied Israeli orders to leave, remaining behind in the ruins in the path of Israel’s latest advance.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli fire across the enclave had killed at least 53 people on Thursday, mostly in Gaza City, where Israeli forces have advanced through the outer suburbs and are now a few kilometres (miles) from the city centre.

“We continue to damage Hamas’ infrastructure. Today we hold 40% of the territory of Gaza City,” Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin told a news conference, naming the Zeitoun and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods. “The operation will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days.”
“We will continue to pursue Hamas everywhere,” he said, adding that the mission will only end when Israel’s remaining hostages are returned and Hamas’ rule ends.
Defrin confirmed that army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told cabinet ministers that without a day-after plan, they would have to impose military rule in Gaza. Far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have been pushing for Israel to impose military rule in Gaza and establish settlements there, which Netanyahu has so far ruled out.

Israel launched the offensive in Gaza City on August 10, in what Netanyahu says is a plan to defeat Hamas militants in the part of Gaza where Israeli troops fought most heavily in the war’s initial phase.
The campaign has prompted international criticism because of the humanitarian crisis in the area and has provoked unusual levels of concern within Israel, including accounts of tension over strategy between some military commanders and political leaders.
“This time, I am not leaving my house. I want to die here. It doesn’t matter if we move out or stay. Tens of thousands of those who left their homes were killed by Israel too, so why bother?” Um Nader, a mother of five from Gaza City, told Reuters via text message.
Residents said Israel bombarded Gaza City’s Zeitoun, Sabra, Tuffah, and Shejaia districts from ground and air. Tanks pushed into the eastern part of the Sheikh Radwan district northwest of the city centre, destroying houses and causing fires in tent encampments.

In a heavy bombardment in the Tuffah neighbourhood, medics said five houses were damaged by Israeli strikes that killed eight people and wounded dozens more.
“The Israeli occupation targeted a gathering of civilians and several homes in the Mashahra area of the Tuffah neighbourhood — a fire belt that completely destroyed four buildings,” said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson of the territory’s civil emergency service.
“Even if the Israeli occupation issues warnings, there are no places that can accommodate the civilians; there are no alternate places for the people to go to.”
There was no immediate Israeli comment on those reports. The Israeli military has said it is operating on the outskirts of the city to dismantle militants’ tunnels and locate weapons.
Much of Gaza City was laid to waste in the war’s initial weeks in October-November 2023. About a million people lived there before the war, and hundreds of thousands are believed to have returned to live among the ruins, especially since Israel ordered people out of other areas and launched offensives elsewhere.

Israel, which has now told civilians to leave Gaza City again for their safety, says 70,000 have done so, heading south. Palestinian officials say less than half that number have left and many thousands still lie in the path of Israel’s advance.

‘MOST DANGEROUS DISPLACEMENT’ OF THE WAR

Displacement could further endanger the most vulnerable, including many children suffering from malnutrition, said Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, an umbrella group of Palestinian NGOs that coordinates with the U.N. and international humanitarian agencies.
“This is going to be the most dangerous displacement since the war started,” said Shawa. “People’s refusal to leave despite the bombardment and the killing is a sign that they have lost faith.”
Palestinian and UN officials say nowhere is safe in Gaza, including areas Israel designates humanitarian zones.
Health officials in Gaza say 370 people, including 131 children, have died of malnutrition and starvation caused by acute food shortages, mostly in recent weeks. Israel says it is taking measures to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, including increasing aid into the enclave.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 251 hostages into Gaza.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-it-controls-40-gaza-city-plans-expand-operation-coming-2025-09-04/

 

A US federal court has overturned billions in funding cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration to Harvard University.

Judge Allison Burroughs ruled the government violated the Ivy League college’s free speech rights when it revoked around $2bn (£1.5bn) in research grants.

The ruling is a major legal victory for Harvard, but the White House has vowed to appeal. When it froze funding in April, the Trump administration accused the college of antisemitism, “radical left” ideologies and racial bias.

Three other Ivy League universities, Columbia, Penn and Brown, struck deals with Trump to preserve funding that was at risk due to similar claims by the administration, rather than go to court.

Boston-based Judge Burroughs wrote in Wednesday’s ruling: “The Court vacates and sets aside the Freeze Orders and Termination Letters as violative of the First Amendment.”

She blocked the administration from stopping any more federal funding to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based college and barred the government from withholding payment on existing grants.

The White House said they would immediately challenge the “egregious decision” and called the judge an “activist” who was appointed by former President Barack Obama and was never going to rule in their favour.

“Harvard does not have a constitutional right to taxpayer dollars and remains ineligible for grants in the future,” assistant press secretary Liz Huston said.

Alan Garber, president of the university, said in a statement on their website that “the ruling affirms Harvard’s First Amendment and procedural rights”.

“We will continue to assess the implications of the opinion, monitor further legal developments, and be mindful of the changing landscape in which we seek to fulfill our mission,” he added.

Judge Burroughs wrote in her 84-page decision that Harvard should have done more to deal with antisemitism, which she said had “plagued” the institution in recent years.

“Harvard was wrong to tolerate hateful behavior for as long as it did,” wrote the judge.

But she said that fighting antisemitism was not the Trump administration’s “true aim” in penalising the nation’s oldest and richest university.

She suggested the government had “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities”.

Judge Burroughs has previously blocked Trump’s efforts to prevent Harvard from hosting international students.

The university sued the Trump administration over the funding freeze in April, while also pledging to fight antisemitism.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g2x7x03gjo

At least 30 people have died and more than 354,000 have been affected by heavy rains and floods in the north Indian state of Punjab.

Authorities have declared all of the state’s 23 districts flood-hit, after rivers and reservoirs swelled to near-danger levels.

Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying and flood-affected areas, with hundreds of relief camps set up to provide shelter and essential facilities to the affected families.

Appealing to the country to “stand by the state”, Punjab’s Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said these were the worst floods the state had seen since 1988.

The military might of the People’s Republic of China was on full display in a parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two on Wednesday.

Thousands of miles away, at the White House in Washington DC, Donald Trump was paying attention.

“They were hoping I was watching, and I was watching,” he said.

The American president didn’t detail his thoughts about the massive celebration sprawled across Tiananmen Square, except that it was “very, very impressive”. The message from China – to Trump and to the world – however, seems fairly clear.

There is a new and growing centre of power in the world and a new alternative to the American-backed order of the past century.

Trump’s remarks during a meeting in the Oval Office with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, also on Wednesday, shed little light on the matter.

They were the culmination of a typically circuitous series of reflections by the American president on the happenings in China over the past several days. It was a mix of ambivalence, grievance and concern.

During a Tuesday podcast interview, Trump was nonchalant about the parade, saying he was “not concerned” about the Chinese show of force in front of Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and more than two dozen other heads of state.

By Tuesday night, however, he was grousing on his Truth Social website that China wasn’t giving credit to the US for its support in World War Two.

“Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America,” he wrote.

Conspiracies aside, Trump has a soft spot for parades and demonstrations of military might. He welcomed Putin to Alaska last month with a stealth bomber flyover and a red carpet lined with US military jets. He has fond memories of attending France’s Bastille Day celebrations during his first presidential term. And he hosted his own military parade to celebrate the US Army’s 250th birthday in Washington two months ago.

Unlike Beijing’s sleek display of high-tech armaments and precision marching masses, Trump’s parade was a low-key homage to America’s military history, as World War Two tanks and revolutionary-era soldiers walked casually down Constitution Avenue near the White House.

It was at its heart a nostalgic affair, befitting Trump’s backwards-looking “Make America Great Again” slogan and his economic policy grounded in 19th century mercantilism – a time when, Trump has often insisted, America was at its greatest.

Of course, China’s parade – while dripping with futuristic weaponry – offered some historical narrative, as well – an attempt by the communist government to lay claim to a larger role in defeating fascism and imperialism in World War Two. If that conflict launched the so-called “American century”, Beijing may be hoping a newfound respect for its role could smooth the transition to a Chinese-crafted future.

“It’s the first step in a concerted effort to rewrite the rules of the road,” said Richard Wilkie, secretary of veteran’s affairs during Trump’s first presidential term. “And you do that first by rewriting history.”

He added that Chinese nationalists and US forces had much more to do with Japan’s Asian defeat than the communist army.

The parade wasn’t the only image coming out of China this week that American policymakers intent on maintaining a US-led international order might find concerning, however.

On Monday, Xi and Putin huddled with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an economic summit in Tianjin – an indication that frosty relations between China and India may be thawing in large part because of the heat generated by Trump’s tariff policies, which have hit the two nations particularly hard.

Donald Trump’s “America first” outlook on global trade has scrambled the world’s economic and political alignments, and the apparent newfound rapport between the leaders of China, Russia and India provided a powerful illustration of how some of the biggest pieces in the geopolitical puzzle could be coming together in challenging, but not entirely unpredictable, ways.

Trump, of course, views tariffs as integral to his plan to protect American industry and generate new revenue for the federal government. If there is a diplomatic price, it appears to be one he is – for the moment – willing to pay.

“The Koreans, the Japanese, the Philippines, the Vietnamese know that the real threat is not any hiccups in a trade partnership with the United States,” Wilkie, who is co-chair of American Security at the Trump-aligned America First Foreign Policy Institute, said. “The threat is growing Chinese military power.”

Trump also has been ambivalent about conflicts and concerns far from US soil, instead focusing on a “sphere of influence” that includes a keen interest in America’s immediate geographic neighbourhood – Greenland, Panama and Canada, among them.

The danger for Trump, however, is that his sweeping trade actions may end up being all risk and no reward. There are growing indications that the newly constructed America-centric trade regime could be dismantled in the days ahead by the US judiciary.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98d5gplj52o

Footage showed the wrecked yellow funicular in Lisbon, used to climb steep hills, as emergency crews pulled people from the debris.

At least 15 people died and 18 were injured on Wednesday when Lisbon’s Gloria funicular railway car, which is popular with tourists and is one of the city’s symbols, derailed and crashed, an emergency medical service spokesperson told reporters.

Authorities did not identify the victims or disclose their nationalities, but said some foreign nationals were among the dead. Five people were gravely injured, the spokesperson said.

“It’s a tragic day for our city. … Lisbon is in mourning, it is a tragic, tragic incident,” Carlos Moedas, mayor of the Portuguese capital, told reporters.

Portugal’s government declared a day of national mourning on Thursday.

Footage from the site showed the destroyed yellow tram-like funicular, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital. Emergency workers were pulling people out of the wreckage.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa lamented the tragic accident in a statement, expressing hope that authorities would soon establish what had caused the crash.

Police investigators were inspecting the site and the prosecutor general’s office said it would open a formal investigation, as is customary in public transport accidents.

The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon’s downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto (Upper Quarter), famous for its vibrant nightlife.

It is one of three funicular lines operated by the municipal public transport company Carris and is used by tourists as well as local residents.

Carris said in a statement that “all maintenance protocols have been carried out”, including monthly and weekly maintenance programs and daily inspections.

The Gloria line transports around 3 million people annually, according to the town hall.

Its two cars, each capable of carrying around 40 people, are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable with traction provided by electric motors on the two cars.

The car at the bottom of the line was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders aired by CNN Portugal showed it jolting violently when the other one derailed and several passengers jumping out of its windows and people shouting.

Portugal, and Lisbon in particular, has experienced a tourism boom in the past decade, with visitors cramming the popular downtown area in the summer months.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/at-least-15-killed-in-crash-on-lisbons-historic-cable-car-railway-in-portugal-101756936279586.html

 

As the cannon fire echoed through Tiananmen Square, even before the first set of troops goose-stepped their way through Beijing’s central avenue, the day’s most enduring image unfolded.

China’s President Xi Jinping welcomed North Korea’s Kim Jong Un with a long handshake, then moved on to greet Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and then walked to his seat, flanked by two of the world’s most sanctioned leaders.

It was sheer political theatre. And it was this meeting – rather than the weaponry – that appears to have irked US President Donald Trump.

As the parade began, Trump sent a sharply-worded message on Truth Social, accusing the three leaders of conspiring against America.

This may well have been the reaction President Xi had hoped for as he kept Putin to his right and Kim to his left throughout the parade. The moment may have even been designed to infuriate a US president who would perhaps prefer to be the centre of the world’s attention.

The Chinese leader has stolen the limelight, and he’s using it to show his power and influence over an eastern-led alliance – a defiant group determined to push back against a US-led world order.

It is a strong message from Xi as the world reels from the unpredictability of Trump’s presidency. Besides Kim and Putin, there were more than 20 other foreign heads of state. Just earlier this week, Xi also appeared to be resetting his troubled relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump’s 50% levy on Indian imports has prompted a thaw between the long-time rivals.

Wednesday’s spectacle was supposed to be about commemorating an 80-year-old victory over Japan. But it was actually about where China is headed – right to the top, with Xi playing the role of a global leader.

And at his feet was a military that is being built to rival the West.

That was the last time the leaders of the three countries were together. It was the height of the Cold War, China was isolated from much of the world, as was North Korea, and the Soviet Union was the most powerful and richest among them.

Now, it’s China that holds the reins in this relationship. Nuclear-armed but still poor, North Korea needs Beijing’s aid. And Putin needs the legitimacy that Xi just provided him.

In the past, Xi appeared to keep his distance from Putin and Kim, and publicly maintain a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. He did not condemn it, but denied China was helping Russia.

It even seemed like he was on the sidelines as Russia and North Korea grew closer more recently. Kim has been sending troops to support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in exchange for money and technology.

But now he seems to be standing by his two neighbours, even as they continue to attack Kyiv.

“Today humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero sum,” Mr Xi told the watching crowds, along with millions glued to the parade coverage on state TV across the country.

China is a “great nation that is never intimidated by any bullies”, he declared.

And the military parade that followed was about showing that – it was a display of power, precision and patriotism.

It started with a gun salute – 80 times to mark 80 years since China’s victory over Japan in World War Two, ending a brutal occupation. The sound bounced off every corner of the square as 50,000 spectators, some of them war veterans, sat in silence.

The choir followed, every single member appearing exactly spaced out as the cameras panned above them. They sang in perfect harmony: “Without the Communist Party, there is no modern China.” Each verse was punctuated by raised fists.

President Xi drove the length of the parade route to inspect his troops before each battle unit took turns to goose-step past their leader. Every joint strike on the tarmac reverberated through the stands.

The rumbling tanks came first in the display of China’s new weapons. But they looked old compared to what followed. A new nuclear-capable missile that can be launched from sea, land and air, hypersonic anti-ship missiles and laser weapons to defend against drone attacks. There were new underwater and airborne drones that can spy on targets.

The US may still have an edge, honed over years and through its involvement in conflicts across the world, but there is no doubt that China is building a military to rival that.

And Wednesday’s show of strength was a statement aimed at Washington and its allies, as well as the rest of the world – and even at Putin and Kim, who knew the significance of what they were looking at.

“The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable,” Xi had said in his speech in an effort to bolster pride in the nation.

At least 15 people were killed and 18 more injured when the iconic funicular derailed in the Portuguese capital. The precise cause of the accident remains unclear.

Emergency services in the Portuguese capital Lisbon said that at least 15 people were killed and 18 injured one Wednesday when one of the city’s iconic yellow Gloria railway cars derailed.

In a statement, the National Institute for Medical Emergencies said that five of the injured were in serious condition, including a child, and that some were foreigners.

According to emergency services, all of the victims have been recovered from the wreckage.

What do we know about the accident?

The famous funicular, which travels up and down a steep street in central Lisbon, is used by locals and tourists alike.

According to eye-witnesses, the railway car hurtled down the hill, apparently out of control, before crashing.

“It hit the building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box,” resident Teresa d’Avo told Portuguese TV channel SIC.

Video and images from the scene showed that the train tipped over and severely damaged, with its sides and roof partially crumpled. It appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends.

Several dozen emergency workers attended the scene but most were stood down after about two hours.

The Portuguese government said that an investigation into the causes will begin once the rescue operation is over.

Politicians offer condolences

Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas called the accident an “unprecedented tragedy” and said that the city was in mourning. The Portuguese government said that a nationwide day of mourning would be held on Thursday.

Portugese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his condolences to the affected families.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also offered her condolences. “It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous ‘Elevador da Gloria,'” she wrote in Portuguese on X.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X that he was “appalled by the terrible accident,” while Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had met with his Portuguese counterpart and expressed his “solidarity with the victims.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/portugal-at-least-15-dead-in-lisbon-funicular-accident/a-73872113

After Afghanistan’s deadly earthquake, injured women and girls face a dire lack of medical care. Taliban restrictions and cultural barriers leave many without help.

One of Afghanistan’s worst earthquakes in history struck the country’s eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar on Sunday with a magnitude of 6 at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

More than 1,400 people have died, according to the Taliban. At least 3,124 others were injured, and more than 5,400 houses were destroyed.

Women are notably absent from the majority of photos and videos from the earthquake zone released by news agencies and aid organizations. Women are not even seen among the injured people who have been hospitalized.

How the Taliban oppresses women

There are no official laws about male guardianship in Afghanistan, but the Taliban have said women cannot move around or travel a certain distance without a man who is related to them by blood or by marriage. Afghan women are also required to hide not only their faces and bodies but also their voices outside the home.

“Male family members do not allow women or girls to be seen by strangers,” women’s rights activist Fatemeh Rezaei told DW. “They also don’t want strangers helping them.”

Rezaei lives in the western city of Herat — which is far from the earthquake zone — but she is in contact with activists across the country.

Volunteer female doctors who were near remote villages in the mountainous region and wanted to help in the immediate aftermath of the quake were prevented from doing so by the Taliban. Men from the villages also rejected their help.

“We don’t even know whether and how women were injured,” Rezaei said.

More people are still feared trapped under the rubble. Indrika Ratwatte, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, said on Tuesday that even reaching the disaster was a “huge challenge.”

During the crucial first 24 hours, access was severely limited because landslides and rockfalls had destroyed several access roads.

Many people were buried as they slept when the earthquake happened and became trapped under the roofs of their homes, which were made of clay and wood. The region is remote and lacks basic infrastructure in many places. Even before the earthquake’s destruction, many areas didn’t have electricity.

No female doctors for injured women

Local sources in Kunar and Nangarhar reported that the medical centers in the provinces are facing a severe shortage of female doctors, which significantly complicates the treatment of injured women.

“We have information about the deaths of several injured pregnant women who died due to the lack of female doctors,” Zahra Haghparast, a dentist, told DW.

“Do you know how many female doctors and nurses in Afghanistan are currently ready to set out immediately to help these injured women?” Haghparast asked. “But the Taliban won’t grant them permission.”

Haghparast, who now lives in Germany, was forced to close her dental practice in Kabul after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Her protest activities, together with her association with other women who were forced to give up their work and withdraw from public life, made her a target of the Taliban.

She was arrested, mistreated, and released in exchange for money.

Women barred from education and public space

According to Haghparast, the reason local men reject help from women is rooted in Taliban policy.

“Before the Taliban, we had a period in which society had begun to change,” she told DW, adding that the Taliban “are reversing everything.”

“The country needs female doctors,” Zahra pointed out. “But women are no longer allowed to study. The Taliban have severely restricted the work of female doctors, so the injured cannot be helped in this critical situation.”

Even the Afghan Red Crescent — which has sent aid and medical teams to the affected provinces — has hardly any female doctors available to provide emergency relief.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-quake-why-are-women-struggling-to-get-help/a-73867403

With pomp, pageantry and patriotism, China presents itself as a global superpower. Will the “China model” be its next big export to the world?

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the world was facing a choice between peace or war at a massive military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, flanked by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in an unprecedented show of force.
The event to mark 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of World War Two was largely shunned by Western leaders, with Putin and Kim – pariahs in the West due to the Ukraine war and Kim’s nuclear ambitions – the guests of honour.

Designed to project China’s military might and diplomatic clout, it also comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and volatile policymaking strain its relations with allies and rivals alike.
“Today, mankind is faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum,” Xi told a crowd of more than 50,000 spectators at Tiananmen Square, adding that the Chinese people “firmly stand on the right side of history”.
Riding in an open-top limousine, Xi then inspected the troops and cutting-edge military equipment such as hypersonic missiles, underwater drones and a weaponised ‘robot wolf’.

Helicopters trailing large banners and fighter jets flew in formation during a 70-minute showcase that culminated in the release of 80,000 ‘peace’ birds.
Donning a tunic suit in the style worn by former leader Mao Zedong, Xi earlier greeted more than 25 leaders on the red carpet, including Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto who made a surprise appearance despite widespread protests at home.
Seated between Putin and Kim in the viewing gallery, Xi repeatedly engaged in conversations with both leaders as thousands of troops and materiel passed before them. It marked the first time the trio have appeared together in public.
Putin later thanked Kim for his soldiers’ courageous fighting in the war in Ukraine during a bilateral meeting at China’s State Guesthouse. The North Korean leader said he was willing to do everything he can to help Russia.

In a post directed at Xi on Truth Social as the parade kicked off, Trump highlighted the U.S. role in helping China secure its freedom from Japan during World War Two.
“Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America,” Trump added.
The Kremlin said Putin was not conspiring against the United States and suggested Trump was being ironic in his remarks.

XI’S GLOBAL VISION

Xi has cast World War Two as a major turning point in the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, in which it overcame the humiliation of Japan’s invasion to become a global powerhouse.

Earlier this week, Xi unveiled his vision of a new world order at a regional security summit, calling for unity against “hegemonism and power politics”, a thinly veiled swipe at his rival across the Pacific Ocean.
“Xi feels confident that the table has turned. It’s China that is back in the driver’s seat now,” said Wen-Ti Sung, fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, based in Taiwan.
“It’s been Trumpian unilateralism rather than China’s wolf warrior diplomacy when people talk about the leading source of uncertainty in the international system.”
At a lavish reception after the parade at the Great Hall of the People, Xi told his guests that humanity must not return to the “law of the jungle”.
Beyond the pomp and propaganda, analysts are watching whether Xi, Putin and Kim may signal closer defence relations following a pact signed by Russia and North Korea in June 2024, and a similar alliance between Beijing and Pyongyang, an outcome that may alter the military calculus in the Asia-Pacific region.
Putin has already sealed deeper energy deals with Beijing during his China visit, while the gathering has given the reclusive Kim an opportunity to gain implicit support for his banned nuclear weapons.
It has been 66 years since a North Korean leader last attended a Chinese military parade. Kim also shook hands with the speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly Woo Won-shik before the start of the parade, Woo’s office said.
Pyongyang has rejected Seoul’s recent overtures to stabilise souring relations between the two Koreas, technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Kim travelled to Beijing with his daughter Ju Ae, whom South Korean intelligence consider his most likely successor, although she was not seen alongside him at the parade.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-xi-projects-power-military-parade-with-putin-kim-2025-09-03/

Many family members of unaccompanied Guatemalan migrant children who are part of a group the Trump administration attempted to deport over the weekend did not want their children returned to Guatemala, according to an internal Guatemalan government report that contradicts assertions made by U.S. officials.
The report, produced by a Guatemalan attorney general’s office and reviewed by Reuters, said Guatemalan authorities had contacted the families of 115 minors who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without a parent or guardian. Of those, 59 families expressed anger about the possibility of their children being returned to Guatemala, with some even describing it as intimidation, the document said.

Contents of the report have not been previously reported and offer the most comprehensive insight so far into the resistance of many family members to the children being deported. Some of those concerns were backed up by court filings published on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump’s effort to deport unaccompanied migrant children aged 10-17 over the weekend triggered an immediate legal challenge. In an emergency court hearing on Sunday, a Justice Department attorney said the parents wanted their children to be deported, but a lawyer for the children rejected that assertion.
Guatemala initially agreed with U.S. authorities that it would receive migrants nearing the age of 18 whose parents were generally not in the United States and who would be transferred to adult detention, according to the report.

On July 11, the U.S. provided Guatemala with a list of minors in Health and Human Services custody who were about to turn 18, in accordance with the original plan to facilitate their return to Guatemala before their birthdays. But some time after that, the U.S. sent Guatemala a much broader list of 609 children ages 14-17.
One person with knowledge of Guatemalan authorities’ thinking said the government was taken aback by how quickly the Trump administration had broadened the scope of the plan. The person said that it seemed to go overnight from returning 17-year-olds to deporting children as young as 10.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, a Trump administration official said that the Guatemalan government in August assured the administration that any unaccompanied children sent back would be processed in a safe and orderly manner for possible reunification.

A bitcoin company tied to President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons more than doubled in value in its stock market debut on Wednesday, valuing the sons’ stake at well over $1.5 billion as the first family grows their crypto business interests.
Shares in American Bitcoin Corp , a bitcoin miner, soared as high as $14.52 in its first day of trade on the Nasdaq, before pulling back to be up 16.5% at $8.04 by the end of the day.

The company is around 20% owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, American Bitcoin Executive Chairman Asher Genoot said in a previous interview.
This values their stake in American Bitcoin at $1.5 billion at the close of trade, based on 908.6 million outstanding shares that American Bitcoin said it had in a September 2 stock exchange filing. The highest price struck by the stock on Wednesday valued their stake at $2.6 billion.
Crypto ventures have become an important driver of growth and potential windfall profits for the president’s family, where the family business – The Trump Organization – had in the past focused on building and running real estate projects and golf courses.

“Crypto is exploding,” Eric Trump said in an interview on Wednesday. “I would be saying right now, the crypto space is at least 50% of what I’m doing.”
The Trump family’s forays into crypto have drawn criticisms from Democratic lawmakers and government ethics watchdogs about conflicts of interests. Critics say the Trump family is profiting from crypto at the same time when the president is easing regulations and enforcement on the industry.
Eric Trump, the second son of Trump, dismissed such criticisms on Wednesday as “insane.”
“My father has absolutely nothing to do with this venture,” Eric Trump said. “He’s is running a nation. He’s not involved in our businesses in any way, shape or form.”
Eric Trump, who holds the titles of co-founder and chief strategy officer at American Bitcoin, described his role at the company as akin to a spokesperson.

“Crypto had a very bad voice for a long time. They really had a hard time communicating a message,” Eric Trump said. “I think I’ve become one of the great spokespeople for crypto over the last, call it, you know, 12 to 18 months,” he said.
“I think I’ve been able to put a great voice on that, not just here in the U.S., but worldwide.”
President Donald Trump has promised to be the “crypto president,” saying he backs the asset class because it can improve the banking system and increase the dominance of the U.S. dollar.
In line with his family’s growing crypto interests, Eric Trump has travelled internationally this year to cities including Dubai, Hong Kong and Tokyo to rally foreign support for the crypto industry.
The Trump family has launched a string of crypto ventures in the past year, from American Bitcoin to World Liberty Financial, and meme coins launched by Trump and his wife before the president’s inauguration in January.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/trumps-oldest-sons-american-bitcoin-stake-worth-15-billion-stock-debut-2025-09-03/

The arrest of a 45-year-old Malaysian man in Thailand found with two assault rifles and hundreds of bullets during a roadblock inspection last Saturday (Aug 30) has prompted Malaysia to tighten its border security.

Thai authorities suspect the case is linked to arms trafficking and also possibly associated with narcotics, but not connected to insurgent groups in Thailand’s southern provinces, according to an official arrest report prepared by Sadao police seen by CNA.

The arrest came on the back of numerous high-profile shooting incidents in Malaysia in recent months.

The man was travelling towards the Sadao border – leading to Kedah state – in a Malaysia-registered car at about 5.35pm when he was stopped at a checkpoint in front of the Dannok police post, Thai police said.

They added that the driver behaved suspiciously and was directed for further checks, upon which officers found weapons and ammunition hidden in bags placed behind the driver’s seat.

These include two disassembled AR-15 style assault rifles and more than 400 rounds of ammunition, police said. The driver also tested positive for methamphetamine, the arrest report said.

The Sadao and Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoints are a major border crossing between the two countries that links the Thai province of Songkhla to Kedah, with Dannok town just a few hundred metres away from the border.

The man is currently being held at Sadao police station for further investigation and questioning with the help of a translator, according to the arrest report.

The man told police he had received a WhatsApp call from a Malaysian friend on Saturday morning asking him to pick up a package at a temple in Songkhla province.

At the temple, an unidentified Thai man placed the bags with the weapons in his car, the man said in the police statement detailed in the arrest report.

Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah confirmed the arrest to Harian Metro – which first reported on the incident on Monday – saying that the Royal Malaysia Police had been informed of the case.

“Let the Thai authorities investigate first because we still do not know the purpose, whether it was meant to be used there or brought into this country,” he was quoted as saying.

Adzli also said that tighter controls have been enforced at the Bukit Kayu Hitam and Durian Burung border checkpoints in Kedah to prevent smuggling activities or the entry of prohibited items into the country, Berita Harian reported on Tuesday.

The Durian Burung checkpoint is about 60km east of Bukit Kayu Hitam.

On Tuesday, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail said Malaysia will dispatch officers to Thailand to conduct a detailed investigation into the case.

“Investigations are ongoing, including allegations that the weapons were intended to be smuggled into Malaysia,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

“So far, only one individual has been arrested, but the probe will be expanded to determine the modus operandi and the organisation behind this activity.”

In February, Israeli national Shalom Avitan was sentenced to seven years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to possessing 200 rounds of ammunition and six guns in Malaysia in 2024.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-thailand-smuggling-rifles-bullets-sadao-5330501

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce could tie the knot in Rhode Island, a source tells Page Six.

While some publications have said the pair are in no rush to wed, our insider tells us “They are getting married next summer in Rhode Island. She is in a hurry to have children.”

While a wedding this high-profile can draw gripes from locals (see Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Venice nuptials), Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is rooting for the pair choose his state for their nuptials.

“Rhode Island has some of the best wedding venues in the world, just saying,” McKee said on a repost of the couple’s wedding announcement on social media last week.

Swift’s mansion in the town of Westerly’s Watch Hill area is currently undergoing a $1.7 million renovation according to a building permit obtained by the Providence Journal.

Updates will include a new wing with a 16-by-24 feet bedroom and more bathrooms, and an update to the kitchen.

Swift purchased the home in 2013 for $17.5 million, and it already includes 8 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and 5.23 acres with gardens and a swimming pool.

The manse became famous for Swift’s star-studded Fourth of July parties. And last August, Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes were spotted at one of her pool bashes.

Swift even immortalized the estate in her hit, “The Last Great American Dynasty,” off the 2020 album “Folklore.”

The lyrics tell the tale of the mansion’s former owner, Rebekah Harkness, the scandalous socialite who wed Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness in 1947 and used to fill the pool with champagne.

It is unclear whether the wedding would take place at her home or a venue in the area.

(In June, a so-called “Taylor Swift Tax” was passed in the state, charging non-primary residents $2.50 for every $500 of assessed property value above $1 million.)

Page Six previously reported the couple plan to have a “private” ceremony with family and close friends.

“It will be more casual than people think,” a source told us.

The Grammy-winning singer and the Super Bowl champ announced their engagement on Aug. 26 with a series of photos taken in his garden with the caption, “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/09/03/celebrity-news/taylor-swift-amp-travis-kelce-to-tie-the-knot-in-rhode-island/

The unusual spectacle unfolded on Wednesday, shortly after the North Korean and Russian leaders held talks following a grand military parade in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping showcased his nation’s growing diplomatic clout.

In a scene that looked more like a crime drama than diplomatic protocol, a video has surfaced online showing North Korean staff frantically scrubbing and sanitising every object Kim Jong Un touched during his meeting with Vladimir Putin in China.

The unusual spectacle unfolded on Wednesday, shortly after the North Korean and Russian leaders held talks following a grand military parade in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping showcased his nation’s growing diplomatic clout.

Footage posted on Telegram shows two of Kim’s aides moving swiftly into action once the meeting concluded. One staffer carefully polished the backrest of the chair Kim had occupied, while another carried away his drinking glass on a tray with the precision of a forensic investigator.

No surface was left untouched – the wooden arms of the chair, the upholstery, and even the side table were vigorously wiped down until there was no trace of the North Korean leader’s presence.

“After the negotiations, the staff accompanying the head of the DPRK carefully destroyed all traces of Kim’s presence,” Russian journalist Alexander Yunashev reported on his channel Yunashev Live.

“They took away the glass from which he drank, wiped the upholstery of the chair and those parts of the furniture that the Korean leader touched.”

According to Yunashev, the official meeting ended on a positive note, with both Kim and Putin leaving “very satisfied” before heading off to enjoy tea together in a more relaxed setting.

The exact reason for the North Korean leader’s forensic-level decontamination remains unclear. Some speculate it may have been a precaution against Russia’s powerful security services, while others suggest unease about China’s surveillance reach. But Kim is far from the only head of state fiercely protective of his biological footprint.

Putin himself is said to go to extraordinary lengths to guard against DNA theft. Reports claim his bodyguards collect his urine and faecal matter in sealed bags whenever he travels abroad, which are then spirited back to Moscow in special suitcases. The practice, apparently in place since 2017, is believed to be designed to prevent hostile powers from gathering intelligence about the Russian president’s health.

A similar measure was reportedly in play during Putin’s high-stakes meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska. Russian security staff were said to have carried the President’s excrement back to Moscow in suitcases, underlining the Kremlin’s obsession with shielding even the most intimate details of the leader’s wellbeing.

At the Beijing talks, Kim went beyond cautious hygiene, pledging his full support to Putin. “If there is anything I can or must do for you and the Russian people, I consider it my duty as a fraternal obligation,” Kim told the Russian president, who addressed him warmly as “Dear Chairman of State Affairs”.

Putin thanked Pyongyang for sending troops to Ukraine, though reports suggest some 2,000 of the 13,000 North Korean soldiers dispatched to support Russia’s war effort have already been killed.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/north-koreas-great-clean-up-kim-jong-uns-aides-erase-dna-after-talks-with-putin-2781377-2025-09-03

A federal judge overturned Trump administration cuts to $2.6 billion in Harvard research funding, calling them illegal retaliation. The ruling revives stalled projects and intensifies stalled negotiations over a potential settlement.

A federal judge in Boston has struck down Trump administration cuts to more than $2.6 billion in research funding for Harvard University, calling them unlawful retaliation over governance disputes.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled on Wednesday that the administration’s actions violated the law after Harvard resisted White House demands for changes to its governance and campus policies.

The decision marks a major win for Harvard, which has battled the administration over funding freezes, foreign student restrictions and threats to revoke its tax-exempt status.

If upheld, the ruling would restore hundreds of federally funded research projects stalled by the loss of money. The court’s decision also increases pressure on ongoing settlement talks between Harvard and the administration.

Trump has insisted Harvard must pay at least $500 million as part of any deal. While agreements have been reached with Columbia and Brown, negotiations with Harvard remain deadlocked.

Harvard’s lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a series of demands in an April 11 letter from a federal antisemitism task force.

Harvard alleging retaliation after it rejected demands from a federal antisemitism task force. The April 11 letter sought sweeping changes on protests, academics and admissions, citing government accusations that the university tolerated antisemitism and leaned too liberal.

Harvard President Alan Garber has pledged to confront antisemitism but rejected political interference. “No government should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” he said.

White House blasts Harvard ruling and vows to appeal

White House spokesperson Liz Huston took aim at US District Judge Allison Burroughs in a sharply worded statement for the order that calls for the reversal of cuts of more than $2.6 billion in federal funding for Harvard University. She said the administration would appeal the decision.

“Just as President Trump correctly predicted on the day of the hearing, this activist Obama-appointed judge was always going to rule in Harvard’s favor, regardless of the facts,” Huston said.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/judge-reverses-trump-administrations-cuts-of-billions-in-research-funding-to-harvard-glbs-2781649-2025-09-04

With 20 world leaders in attendance, including Russia’s Putin, Xi Jinping paraded an impressive array of drones and advanced hypersonic missiles as China hosted its Victory Day parade.

China flexed its military might in a staggering show of its advanced weapon systems, missiles and stealth fighter jets on Wednesday as it marked 80 years since the end of World War II.

With 20 world leaders in attendance, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping paraded advanced hypersonic missiles designed to take out ships, underwater drones, anti-ship missiles and armoured vehicles as the world got to witness some of the most high-tech military hardware for the first time at the iconic Tian’anmen Square.

A new intercontinental ballistic missile, of the Dongfeng series, that could carry nuclear warheads to distant targets also made its debut.

An impressive array of drones was also on display, as was the much-talked about LY-1 laser weapon. China also showed its aerial strength as fifth-generation stealth fighter jets, including the J-20s and J-35s, zoomed past.

Even though analysts have expressed scepticism over the efficacy of Chinese weapons, especially after Operation Sindoor exposed vulnerabilities in Chinese air defence systems with Pakistan, it is a fact that most of the military hardware on display on Wednesday are not available with India or are under development.

A LOOK AT CHINA’S NEW WEAPONS

Hypersonic ‘Yingji’ missiles

China displayed several new YJ-series hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles. These are designed to strike warships out at sea at six to seven times the speed of sound with last-stage manoeuvres that make it impossible for air defences to thwart incoming attacks.

YJ-21 anti-ship missile

The YJ-21, already deployed on Chinese warships, differs from traditional hypersonic cruise missiles by incorporating a ballistic flight path. The missile can fly outside the atmosphere before re-entering at six to seven times the speed of sound, furthering its reach and increasing its terminal speed.

With the Yingji series and YJ-21, China demonstrated its dominance of a missile technology that is still under development in most countries, including India.

DF-5C intercontinental missile

The DF-5C ICBM, a new addition to China’s long-range nuclear missile family, was paraded with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs). The missile, which launches from underground silos, has the ability to cross continents and target multiple locations in a single launch.

DF-17 with hypersonic glide vehicle

The DF-17 combines a traditional ballistic missile that launches a hypersonic glide vehicle into space before the latter re-enters and hones in on a target at speeds of Mach 6 to 7. This makes the glide vehicle harder to intercept and allows precision strikes at longer ranges.

JL-1 air-launched nuclear missile

An air-launched version of the JL-1 nuclear-capable missile was seen making its public debut as part of China’s ‘nuclear triad’. Launched by a heavy bomber such as the H-6, the JL-1 gives China the ability to fire an aerial nuclear missile from hundreds of kilometres away – a distinct advantage over conventional methods such as flying over a target and dropping a gravity bomb.

AJX002 under-sea drone

A giant under-sea drone, the AJX002 is reported to be over 18 metres long with a torpedo-like shape and pump-jet propulsion. Such drones can conduct stealthy surveillance, mine warfare or act as decoys.

Large unmanned surface vessel

A large unmanned surface vessel with stealth shaping was shown for the first time at the parade. Like the drone submarine, not much is known about this vessel.

J-20 and J-35 stealth fighters

The parade featured China’s fifth-generation J-20 and J-35 fighters. The J-20 is an advanced long-range stealth jet, while the carrier-borne J-35 will bring low-observable strike capability to Chinese aircraft carriers. Not really new, the jets represent the pinnacle of fighter jet technology that is in service right now. India is yet to start developing its own fifth-generation jet.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/china-victory-day-military-parade-weapons-hypersonic-missiles-fighter-jets-drones-all-details-2781446-2025-09-03

There were 43 people on board when the car derailed, reports say

FIFTEEN people are dead and at least 23 injured after a tourist-packed cable car in Lisbon derailed and smashed into a building.

Local media said one of the cars “fell from a great height” and sped down the street “at full speed” and “out of control” before hitting a bend and slamming into a building.

The funicular was destroyed killing passengers on board with a witness saying it also crushed a pedestrian as it tipped over.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause, but initial reports from Publico suggest that a cable snapped – with witnesses pointing to an apparent failure of emergency brakes once the carriage ran loose.

Identities of the dead have not yet been released, but one has been confirmed as the guard on board.

Emergency services raced to the scene, with police, firefighters and paramedics battling to free victims amid twisted metal and smoking wreckage.

Shocking footage and photos showed the bright yellow car crumpled against a building, flipped on its side and torn apart into splintered metal.

Clouds of dust and smoke filled the narrow lane as panicked passengers and bystanders fled on foot.

Fire crews and paramedics swarmed the wreckage, clambering over twisted debris to reach survivors.

Images showed dozens of firefighters working shoulder to shoulder, hauling stretchers up the incline and using cutting equipment to get inside the mangled carriage.

A fire engine and multiple ambulances blocked off the road below, while stunned crowds gathered at the foot of the hill to watch the desperate rescue effort.

Civil protection officials said 62 rescue workers and 22 vehicles were deployed to the site.

João Oliveira, director of the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Police, later confirmed that the accident left 23 people hurt – more than the 18 initially reported.

He said the number of serious cases was “slightly higher” than first thought, with “some in critical condition.”

Admitting the toll could still climb, he warned: “Unfortunately, it is possible that the number of deaths will increase.”

A three-year-old child is among those with more minor injuries, according to Publico.

The first victim has now been formally identified as André Marques, the brake guard in charge of the Glória funicular when it derailed, Observador reported.

His union, Sitra, confirmed his death in a note of condolence, praising his service and sending sympathy to his family and the loved ones of all those caught up in the disaster.

Portugal’s National Institute of Medical Emergencies confirmed that some of the victims were foreign nationals.

Emergency service sources said the fatalities include “non-Portuguese” passengers.

Police have not indicated when details of the victims’ nationalities will be released.

A pregnant German woman is in a critical condition, reports Observador.

Meanwhile, a UK FCDO Spokesperson said: “We are aware of this incident in Lisbon and are in touch with the local authorities.

“We stand by to provide consular assistance if there are any affected British nationals.”

The funicular is operated by Lisbon’s tramway company, Carris, which tonight announced it had opened its own investigation.

Witness Teresa d’Avo told TV channel SIC: “It crashed into a building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box. It crashed with tremendous force. It didn’t have any kind of brakes.”

She also told Observador she had been standing near the Glória elevator with a colleague when “the elevator that was further down, almost parking, suffered a small jolt.”

Another witness told SIC news channel: “Sadly, I saw there was a man on the pavement at the precise point where the tram smashed into the building.”

Mrs d’Avo recalled: “The people inside were obviously scared, and we rushed to help.

“Soon after, we saw the elevator upstairs running wild, without brakes, and we all started running away because we thought it was going to hit the one below. But it fell around the bend and crashed into the building.”

She added that emergency crews arrived within minutes.

“The police were here within five minutes, and within ten minutes, we had a fire engine here.”

The Mayor of Lisbon announced three days of mourning for the city, and Portugal’s government said there would also be one day of national mourning.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said: “The President of the Republic deeply regrets the accident that occurred this afternoon with the Gloria funicular railway in Lisbon, particularly the fatalities and serious injuries, as well as the various minor injuries.

“The President of the Republic offers his condolences and solidarity to the families affected by this tragedy and hopes that the incident will be quickly clarified by the competent authorities.”

Pedro Bogas, head of Lisbon’s tramways company, Carris, said it is a “very a sad day, not just for the victims but also for their families”.

He said: “We are very sorry about what happened. Today is a day of consternation.”

The transport boss said that there are daily inspections of the funicular – and general renovations are conducted once every four years.

The last time the funicular underwent general upkeep work was in 2022, he said.

He said: “We have strict protocols, excellent professionals for many years, and we need to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also sent condolences, saying he was “deeply saddened” by the Lisbon tragedy and offering solidarity with the Portuguese people “in this time of grief.”

Meanwhile, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X: “It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous ‘Elevador da Glória’.

“My condolences to the families of the victims.”

Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas is at the scene overseeing the rescue operation.

The crash happened during the evening rush hour, when both tourists and locals pack the service.

The funicular, known as Gloria, can carry more than 40 passengers at a time, both seated and standing, and is also frequently used by Lisbon residents for their daily commute.

The furnicular is made up of two cars permanently attached at either end of the same haulage cable so that as one rises the other descends.

According to the BBC, 43 people were on board when the car derailed.

The Glória funicular links Praça dos Restauradores to the trendy Bairro Alto district and has ferried tourists up the steep hillside since 1885.

It is one of three of its kind in Lisbon.

Originally, its two-tiered cars were powered by water tanks that filled and emptied to create weight differences, consuming some 400 cubic meters daily from the Amoreiras reservoir.

Frequent shortages soon forced a switch to steam power, before the line was eventually electrified.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15109607/cable-car-crash-kills-three-lisbon/

Cardi B has emerged triumphant in Los Angeles after being found not liable for assault and battery in a civil case against her.

On Tuesday, a unanimous jury decided against requiring the “WAP” rapper to pay any damages in the $24 million case brought by a former security guard.

According to TMZ, the mom of three — who was accused of spitting on and using racial slurs against Emani Ellis in a 2018 alleged incident — plans to countersue following the verdict.

Cardi B, 32, denied a physical altercation during testimony last week, citing her pregnant condition and Ellis’ size.

She counterclaimed that she and Ellis verbally sparred after the security guard violated her privacy by recording her during a doctor’s visit while she was pregnant with her first child, Kulture.

In a dramatic claim, Ellis alleged that the rapper had injured her cheek after striking her with her fingernail — though a doctor at the rapper’s Beverly Hill’s OB-GYN office testified they did not witness her striking the guard.

Ellis first brought the lawsuit against Cardi B in 2020.

A rep for the “Bodak Yellow” hitmaker did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

Earlier in the day, Cardi B lashed out by throwing a marker at a paparazzo who questioned her about pregnancy rumors allegedly circulated by estranged husband Offset, as she exited the Los Angeles courtroom.

After hurling the marker — which she snatched from a fan with an outstretched arm — the rapper reprimanded the photographer for showing “disrespect.”

“Do you see women asking those type of questions to me?” she asked in part, while wagging her finger at the paparazzo. “Why do you feel as a man, you get to ask me those type of questions?”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/09/02/celebrity-news/cardi-b-jury-reaches-verdict-in-civil-assault-trial/

Thailand’s ruling Pheu Thai party is still seeking to form the next government but is prepared to dissolve parliament, a senior party official said on Tuesday (Sep 2), a move that could trigger a general election.

In a sign of deepening political turmoil as two rival camps vied to form the next government, Pheu Thai Secretary General Sorawong Thienthong said the party was weighing its options between nominating its own candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri for the premiership, or calling a new election.

Sorawong’s remarks came as People’s Party, the biggest force in parliament, met for a second day to discuss who it might back to form the next government, either Pheu Thai, or Bhumjaithai, a renegade party that quit the governing coalition in June and is mounting its own challenge.

“If the People’s Party have the decision to vote for Anutin, we will proceed with the process,” Sorawong told reporters, referring to Bhumjaithai’s leader Anutin Charnvirakul.

“If there is a vote set for prime minister selection, we will submit Chaikasem Nitisiri.”

A court decision last week dismissed Paetongtarn Shinawatra – daughter of billionaire Pheu Thai patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra – due to an ethics violation, touching off a scramble for power between the populist ruling party and Anutin’s Bhumjaithai.

POLITICAL TURMOIL

Her removal was the latest twist in a tumultuous, two-decade battle for power among Thailand’s rival elites, with Paetongtarn the sixth premier from or backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family to be ousted by the military or judiciary and the second in the space of a year.

Chaikasem, 77, a former attorney-general and justice minister with limited cabinet experience, has kept a low profile in politics. He is the sole remaining eligible prime ministerial candidate for Pheu Thai, a once dominant party that has been haemorrhaging support of late.

There are conflicting opinions among law experts in Thailand as to whether a caretaker government has the authority to seek house dissolution.

Sorawong, the government spokesperson and a top aide to the acting prime minister each did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailands-ruling-pheu-thai-party-prepared-dissolve-parliament-official-says-5328891

THE city chosen to host the White House’s Space Command headquarters is a rural Alabama town with a deep-rooted history with NASA.

Huntsville earned the nickname Rocket City after producing the ship that put the Apollo 11 crew on the Moon in 1969.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the federal government’s Space Command center would be moved from Colorado Springs to the southern town.

This came after he signed an order to bring back the center in 2018 after it had been absorbed in 2002 into the US Strategic Command.

Since his first term, Trump has expressed his intentions to reestablish America as a leader in space exploration and believed that investing in Huntsville was the way forward.

However, in 2023, when Joe Biden was president, his administration decided to keep Space Command in Colorado, where its temporary headquarters had been located.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that hundreds of billions of dollars would be poured into Huntsville and the town would forever be known as “Rocket City.”

For decades, Huntsville has attracted tourists who travel from across the country to see the US Space and Rocket Center (USSRC), which was established by rocketeer Wernher von Braun.

Von Braun worked with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in the 1960s and was the lead architect for the world-changing Apollo mission.

He and his team of German-born aerospace engineers helped to produce the Saturn V super-heavy-lift launch vehicle that helped propel spacecraft to the Moon

After making history, von Braun started advocating for space travel in the US, at one point partnering with Walt Disney to produce a series of space-themed movies.

His goal for the USSRC was to get the next generation of Americans excited about exploration and even more outlandish projects like a trip to Mars.

Though he didn’t live long enough to see his plans play out, the center went on to actualize his grand vision.

In 1982, the first Space Camp opened, offering children the opportunity to peek behind the curtain at how hero astronauts like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took steps on the Moon.

Now, well over 800,000 children and adults have visited Huntsville to attend the wildly popular day, weekend, and week-long camps, the Associated Press reported.

HIDDEN GEM

Huntsville lies about an hour and a half north of Birmingham and is the most populous city in Alabama.

According to the 2020 Census, over 200,000 people reported living there.

Tourists who didn’t sign up for camps can still visit the USSRC to tour the largest space museum in the world.

Travelers can witness America’s space program in real time by getting a look at the facilities where top talents are researching the final frontier.

“A space enthusiast, history buff, appreciator of the arts, or anyone with a general curiosity for how the world works would enjoy Alabama’s top tourism jewel,” the City of Huntsville’s website states.

“Where else can one stand beneath the world’s only full-stack Space Shuttle, complete with two solid rocket boosters and external tank?”

Pieces in the museum’s permanent collection include the first American satellite, the Explorer I, and design modules for the International Space Station.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/travel/15101817/rocket-city-alabama-space-command-white-house/

KIM Jong-un has made the 20-hour trip to China on board his heavily armoured train as he prepares for the first ever “Axis of Evil” summit.

The North Korean dictator is making a rare trip outside of his hermit kingdom to meet up with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in Beijing.

Kim arrived in style onboard his bulletproof “pleasure train” which is often packed with vintage booze and strippers.

The signature green train – nicknamed the “moving fortress” – crossed the border into China on Tuesday, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

All 21 carriages feature tinted windows to obscure the identities of those on board – including what the Supreme Leader gets up to on his travels.

Each carriage is completely bulletproof which protects the rarely travelled despot but also results in the train being thousands of pounds heavier than normal.

This means it goes a measly 37mph – leaving Kim and his team onboard for around 20 hours as they make the 807-mile trip.

Kim may chose to spend his time on board is any one of his dozens of private bedrooms.

Some of the rooms are reportedly said to be packed with beautiful “lady conductors” – taken from the ranks of Kim’s hand-picked “Pleasure Brigade”.

The woman are said to be examined by a doctor to check if they are still virgins before being allowed to join the the troupe known as “Gippeumjo”.

Conference rooms, an audience chamber and flat screen televisions are also on board.

A luxury restaurant fitted out with top national chefs reportedly serves fine French wines and dishes like fresh lobster.

In true tyrannical style, Kim is even expected to have bought his portable toilet with him for the trip.

He rarely leaves his grand palace without the portaloo out of fear of using public toilets due to what he may leave behind.

As part of a mammoth security operation, Kim’s team don’t allow him to use foreign bathrooms so his excretions can’t be obtained and studied by international officials.

Putin has a similar method to avoid any updates on his health leaking as he reportedly has a personal “toilet searcher” who is responsible for collecting his “bodily waste”.

State media photos showed Kim just before he departed for Beijing.

He was stood with senior officials taking a cigarette break next to the railway beast.

A second image saw Kim sat in a wood-panelled office in front of a large gold crest with the North Korean flag sat behind him

On his desk sat a gold-embossed laptop, several telephones, a box of cigarettes and what appears to be hand sanitiser in bottles.

Kim travelled alongside senior party and government officials, including Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.

He has arrived ahead of a major military parade being put on by Xi to commemorate the end of World War Two.

The North Korean tyrant will be among 26 world leaders attending the event – including his Russian pal Putin.

It will mark the first time Vlad, Xi and Kim have all met together in person since all three rose to power in their respective nations.

It is still unclear if they will hold formal talks in Beijing but are expected to greet each other.

Putin has already been in China for a few days now as Xi’s special guest for the event with the pair holding several meetings.

Train travel has always been the prefered transport for North Korea’s dictators.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15095495/kim-jong-un-putin-xi-summit-train/

DONALD Trump has laughed off wild online rumours about his death, dismissing them as “fake news” during a primetime address after days of frenzied speculation over his health.

The president, 79, appeared on Tuesday to announce that U.S. Space Command headquarters will move from Colorado to Alabama.

He was then asked if he had seen the viral claims that he was no longer living.

“Really? I didn’t see that. That’s pretty serious!” Trump said, before insisting he had been busy behind the scenes.

“I did numerous interviews and had some pretty poignant posts on my social media site. I was very active over the weekend,” he added, noting that he also visited “some people” at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia.

The press conference had been called to announce that U.S. Space Command headquarters will move from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama — a reversal of Joe Biden’s 2023 decision to keep the base in Colorado.

Trump originally reestablished Space Command in 2018, saying its mission was to defend U.S. interests in space.

His light-hearted dismissal of the death hoax came after a week-long frenzy about his whereabouts.

He hadn’t held a public event since a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, fuelling speculation online and sending “Where is Donald Trump” trending on X.

Google searches for “Trump health” spiked on Saturday, while Vice President JD Vance was pressed in a USA Today interview on whether he was prepared to assume the presidency in the event of a “terrible tragedy.”

Vance stressed Trump is in “incredibly good health.”

On Sunday night, Trump himself hit back on Truth Social, blasting: “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE,” in a post mocking Joe Biden’s health.

He also re-emerged at his Virginia golf course on Saturday.

Over the weekend, the president fired off dozens of Truth Social posts — declaring Washington, D.C. a “crime free zone” after deploying the National Guard, demanding an end to mail-in voting, and even raging at a Rose Garden worker accused of damaging stonework.

Health speculation has followed Trump for months, with photos of swollen ankles and bruised hands going viral earlier this year.

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later revealed Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency — a common condition in older people that affects blood flow in the legs.

Tests ruled out more serious complications, she said.

The fight over Space Command’s future has been simmering for years.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15100411/donald-trump-announcement-health-rumours/

Google will not have to sell its Chrome web browser but must share information with competitors, a US federal judge has ordered.

The remedies decided by District Judge Amit Mehta have emerged after a years-long court battle over Google’s dominance in online search.

The case centred around Google’s position as the default search engine on a range of its own products such as Android and Chrome as well as others made by the likes of Apple.

The US Department of Justice had demanded that Google sell Chrome – Tuesday’s decision means the tech giant can keep it but it will be barred from having exclusive contracts and must share search data with rivals.

Google had proposed less drastic solutions, such as limiting its revenue-sharing agreements with firms like Apple to make its search engine the default on their devices and browsers.

On Tuesday, the company indicated that it viewed the ruling as a victory, and said the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) probably contributed to the outcome.

“Today’s decision recognizes how much the industry has changed through the advent of AI, which is giving people so many more ways to find information,” Google said in a statement after the ruling.

“This underlines what we’ve been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competition is intense and people can easily choose the services they want,” the statement continued.

The tech giant had denied wrongdoing since charges were first filed against it in 2020, saying its market dominance is because its search engine is a superior product to others and consumers simply prefer it to others.

Last year, Judge Mehta ruled that Google had used unfair methods to establish a monopoly over the online search market, actively working to maintain a level of dominance to the extent it broke US law.

But in his decision, Judge Mehta said a complete sell-off of Chrome was “a poor fit for this case”.

Google will also not have to sell off its Android operating system, which powers most of the world’s smartphones.

The company had argued that off-loading parts of its operations, such as Android, would mean they would effectively stop working properly.

“Today’s remedy order agreed with the need to restore competition to the long-monopolized search market, and we are now weighing our options and thinking through whether the ordered relief goes far enough in serving that goal,” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater wrote on X after the ruling.

Shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company, jumped by more than 8% after the ruling.

Smartphone-makers such as Apple, Samsung and Motorola will also benefit.

Before the ruling, Google paid such firms billions of dollars to exclusively pre-load or promote the tech company’s products.

It was revealed at trial that Google paid more than $26bn for such deals with Apple, Mozilla and others in 2021.

Now, Google will not be allowed to enter into any exclusive contracts for Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant or the Gemini app.

It means phone manufacturers will be free to pre-load or promote other search engines, browsers or AI assistants alongside Google’s.

Google will, however, be able to continue paying distributors for default placement.

Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, said the ruling was “good news for big tech”.

“Apple also gets a nice win because the ruling forces Google to renegotiate the search deal annually,” he said on X.

Judge Mehta’s ruling “doesn’t seem to be as draconian as the market was expecting,” said Melissa Otto, head of research at S&P Global Visible Alpha.

With Google’s search operation expected to generate close to $200bn this year, and tens of billions of that expected to go to distribution partners it is a win-win for the major corporate players involved in the case, Ms Otto said.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8zdrenm1zo

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Tuesday laid out in greater detail her opposition to President Donald Trump’s bid to remove her from office, saying it was too late to fire her for mortgage information she disclosed during her confirmation process.
In a filing in U.S. District Court, Cook said she listed mortgages on three properties on forms submitted to the White House and U.S. Senate in the vetting process for her appointment to the Fed in 2022. Any inconsistencies were known when she was confirmed and cannot give Trump grounds to fire her now, she said.

Trump and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, whom Trump appointed, have accused her of committing fraud by listing all three properties as primary residences when she applied for mortgages, potentially to secure lower interest rates.
Trump has said that gives him cause to fire Cook, the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor.
She has filed a lawsuit seeking to block her unprecedented removal, setting up a legal battle that could upend long-established norms for the Fed’s independence. Tuesday’s filing reiterated in greater detail arguments she made in court last week as part of the lawsuit.

In the filing, Cook said that on a background check form, she listed a property in Michigan as a primary residence and one in Georgia as a “2nd home.” On a separate questionnaire she listed both homes as her “present residence,” the Michigan property as her “current permanent residence,” and a third property in Massachusetts as both a present residence and a second home and rental property, she said.
“If those are facial contradictions, as the Government and President claim … Senators or White House advisors could have inquired of her about any alleged ‘facial inconsistencies,'” Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote in the filing.
The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cook has asked U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., to temporarily block Trump from removing her from her post pending further litigation. She says that Trump does not have the legal authority to remove her and that the fraud allegations were a pretext to do so.

Cobb held a hearing on Friday where a Trump administration lawyer argued that removing a Fed governor for cause is within the president’s broad powers and Cobb had no power to review it.
Trump, a Republican, attacked the Fed for not cutting interest rates during his first term in the White House and resumed that campaign when his second term began in January. He has berated Fed Chair Jerome Powell, though he has stopped threatening to remove Powell before his term as central bank chief ends in May.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/fed-governor-cook-says-mortgage-contradictions-do-not-justify-removal-by-trump-2025-09-02/

One of the most famous polar shipwrecks has been filmed in detail on the sea floor for the first time.

The Terra Nova carried Captain Scott and his men on their doomed expedition to reach the South Pole more than a century ago.

The British party lost the race to the pole, and died on their return journey in 1912.

The footage shows the Terra Nova colonised with sea life, but key features of the wooden ship are still visible including its wheel, winch and mast.

The wreck lies 170m down off the coast of Greenland. After the polar expedition with Scott, the ship continued in service and eventually sank in 1943 while carrying supplies to US bases during World War Two.

The Terra Nova was discovered in 2012, but the new expedition has been the first opportunity to record extensive footage of the wreck.

“To be able to see these significant parts of the wreck, it was truly awe inspiring,” said Leighton Rolley, Science Systems Manager at REV Ocean.

“The wheel was sat there perfectly intact amongst the debris of the aft section of the wreck.

“When you think of the people who have stood there, manoeuvred the Terra Nova through ice, like Captain Scott… It was like, wow, if that ship’s wheel could talk, it could tell an amazing history.”

The Terra Nova was one of the finest polar vessels of its time and sailed for 60 years.

The ship was 57m (187ft) long with a wooden hull that was a metre thick in places to help it break through the sea ice.

Captain Scott’s men embarked to Antarctica in 1910. A comprehensive scientific programme was planned for the Terra Nova expedition – along with the goal of being the first to reach the South Pole.

Scott, along with Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans, were attempting to make history.

After trekking hundreds of miles, the British party reached the pole in January 1912, but they found they had been beaten by a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen.

A black flag, planted by Amundsen, is now on display at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge along with other items from the Terra Nova.

“Their hearts must have sunk seeing this black flag against the whiteness of Antarctica,” said David Waterhouse, curator of the polar museum at SPRI.

The deflated British party began their arduous return journey to their base. But they encountered unusually bad weather, and Edgar Evans died after falling while descending a glacier.

Several weeks later Captain Oates left the men’s tent. His last words were recorded in Scott’s journal: “I’m just going outside and may be some time.” He was never seen again.

Scott, Bowers and Wilson continued on and made a final camp, but trapped by a freezing blizzard with dwindling supplies, all three perished.

A search expedition discovered their last camp just 11 miles from a resupply depot that would have provided them with food and fuel.

The Terra Nova played a crucial role in breaking the news of their death.

“In January 1913, the Terra Nova arrived at Cape Evans in the Antarctic to pick up the shore party, and they were expecting to pick up Captain Scott and his pole party at the same time,” explained Naomi Boneham, an archivist at SPRI.

“But when they arrived they found out the sad news.”

The ship’s log records that the men had died from “exposure and want”.

The vessel sailed on to New Zealand, where the tragic end of the Terra Nova expedition was announced to the world.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwyvyqkx9yo

Swiss coffee machine maker Thermoplan was a small family firm until it rode the wave of late 1990s globalisation to become a key supplier for Starbucks (SBUX.O), and created more than 500 jobs in a lakeside village by the Alps.
The future of those jobs has been thrown into jeopardy since U.S. President Donald Trump on August 7 imposed 39% tariffs on Switzerland due to its trade surplus with the U.S.

Thermoplan CEO Adrian Steiner calculates the 39% levy and separate U.S. tariffs on industrial metals are costing the company in Weggis, on the picturesque shores of Lake Lucerne, around 200,000 Swiss francs ($250,000) every week.
“We’re bleeding,” he said. “It’s obviously a losing business for us. We don’t have the kind of margins to compensate for that.”
Thermoplan is already taking steps to enable production in Germany so it can export under lower European Union tariffs, and is considering moving jobs to the U.S. to shore up business there.
Starbucks said it has had a long history of successfully navigating global changes, and is working closely with suppliers to help minimize any impacts on its business. After Trump first set out his global tariff plans on April 2, Thermoplan said it and Starbucks agreed to split the added costs.

The Swiss company, whose other clients include McDonald’s and Nestle, is one of about 2,000 Swiss machinery makers that have carved out niches as specialist exporters despite high labour costs and the steady appreciation of the Swiss franc.
About one in every seven dollars made from exports by Swiss machine makers is U.S.-dependent, official data show.
But if Switzerland’s tariffs stay at 39% and those on the EU at 15%, about four-fifths of U.S. exports from the Swiss mechanical and electrical engineering sector – worth some 10 billion francs last year – will disappear, said Jean-Philippe Kohl, deputy head of industry association Swissmem.
Tariff pressure could shift business to the EU, provided firms meet U.S. requirements to qualify as EU-based, Kohl said. A Swissmem survey showed nearly a third are considering it.

Jobs are already trickling away.
Around 3,000 in the sector went between the first and second quarters, Kohl said. At worst, that could become 30,000 by the end of 2026, he added.

‘MADE IN SWITZERLAND’

In Weggis, there is disbelief that Thermoplan is now under threat from the United States.
“The USA is a really exciting country, be it for business or geographically,” said Marcel Waldis, the municipal council’s finance chief. “But right now, I’m deeply disappointed. How can it be that a big country is dependent on a single voice?”
With Switzerland attempting to negotiate lower duties, more tariffs possible, and U.S. legal challenges still pending, the outlook for Swiss firms is uncertain.
After Trump’s April move, Steiner immediately instructed Thermoplan to look into producing in Germany.
Calling the tariffs “insanely unfair”, Steiner said the idea of relocating jobs flew in the face of Thermoplan’s “Made in Switzerland” seal of quality.

All Thermoplan’s manufacturing is currently in Weggis, and 82% of components come from Switzerland. Fully 98% of its products are sold to export, and Starbucks accounts for 32% of its sales, about two-fifths of which are in the U.S.
Steiner wants Thermoplan to be able to begin manufacturing as soon as January in Germany.
But before it can, the firm has requested clarification from U.S. customs that the goods would qualify as EU-made. It hopes for word within a month, but Steiner worries the workaround will not satisfy U.S. officials.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/key-starbucks-supplier-switzerland-tastes-bitter-harvest-trump-tariffs-2025-09-02/

Kim Jong Un’s arrival in China for his first ever multilateral meeting was always going to make headlines.

But it was the smartly-dressed girl standing just behind him as he exited his armoured train which caught Korea watchers’ attention: Kim Ju Ae, the North Korean leader’s daughter.

According to South Korea’s spy agency, Miss Kim is her father’s most likely successor.

But details – including her exact age – are thin on the ground. So what exactly do we know?

Miss Kim has, for a number of years, been believed to be the second of Kim Jong Un’s and his wife, Ri Sol-Ju’s, three children. The exact number, and their order, is by no means certain, however Kim is very secretive about his family, only introducing his wife to the public after they had been married for some time.

Kim Ju Ae is their only child whose existence has been confirmed by the country’s leadership. No other child has been seen in public.

News of her existence first emerged through an unlikely source: the basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to The Guardian newspaper back in 2013 that he “held their baby Ju Ae” during a trip to the secretive state.

Little was then heard about her until November 2022, when she appeared alongside her father at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

By February the next year, she was appearing on postage stamps and attending banquets for top officials – described as Kim Jong Un’s “respected” daughter.

The adjective “respected” is reserved for North Korea’s most revered. In her father’s case, he was referred to as “respected comrade” only after his status as future leader was cemented.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) provided lawmakers with a few extra details on the little girl at around the same time, according to news agency AP.

They said she enjoyed horse riding, skiing and swimming, and was home-schooled in the capital Pyongyang. They suggested she was around 10 years old.

By January 2024, the NIS had come to another conclusion: that the little girl was the “most likely” successor to Kim Jong Un – although they noted there were “many variables” still in play, not least because of her father’s young age.

Since then, she has appeared by her father’s side on numerous occasions. Standing next to him at ICBM launches and military parades, she has taken centre stage and received military salutes from senior military commanders.

But Tuesday marked the first time she has been seen outside North Korea, and the trip is likely to further fuel speculation she may succeed her father.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgvgj7ejqdo

 

President Trump shared dramatic footage of the US military obliterating a boat carrying drugs and Tren de Aragua gangbangers off the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday.

The video showed the small boat being blown out of international waters and exploding into flames after it was struck by a single missile, killing all aboard.

Trump said the boat was occupied by 11 “Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists” and was en route to the US when it was blown to smithereens.

“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”

This is the first known attack on a cartel since Trump authorized the military to carry out such operations earlier this year.

The region is a major exporter of cocaine, but initial statements did not reveal the type of drug or drugs that the boat was smuggling.

Trump in late August deployed three guided-missile destroyers and about 4,000 Marines to the Venezuelan coast — prompting the country’s authoritarian left-wing leader Nicolas Maduro to mobilize millions of militia members and claim an invasion was imminent

The Trump administration has branded the Cuba-aligned strongman, in power since 2013, as a drug cartel leader and fugitive from justice.

The US government in early August offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

On Monday, Maduro accused the US of seeking a regime change in his country amid a naval buildup in the Caribbean.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/02/world-news/footage-shows-us-strike-that-obliterated-drug-carrying-boat-off-venezuela-killing-11-tda-narcoterrorists/

Shirkers of the world, unite!

A strong collective of Zohran Mamdani’s core brain trust are 30-somethings or even younger Gen Zers with little-to-no experience in government — but long histories of radical left-wing politics, a review by The Post found.

Mamdani’s frontrunner status in the Big Apple mayoral race puts these untested youths – who variously have ties to billionaire George Soros, grew up in swanky homes and went to posh private schools – a stone’s throw from the levers of power.

“We’re getting ready for another administration of shocking naïveté,” one Democratic operative said.

The 33-year-old socialist Queens lawmaker harnessed the youth vote to pull off an astounding win in the Democratic primary, all while batting off attacks from opponents that he was too wet behind the ears to effectively govern the nation’s largest city.

But Mamdani has done little after clinching the Dem nomination in June to build up strong stable of seasoned hands or those bearing the calluses of the working class voters that he champions.

Out of roughly 20 operatives in Mamdani’s inner circle, eight are under 36 years old.

Three of those politicos have ties to Soros, the progressive activist and investor – and about half a dozen grew up in million-dollar pads, according to Zillow estimates, with access to celebrities and private schools.

The median salary in the Big Apple is about $58,000 a year – but many of Mamdani’s top confidantes rake in an average of $10,000 to $12,000 a month, a review of campaign finance records found.

“His City Hall inner circle would also be in their 20s and 30s,” said Ken Frydman, a former press secretary for Rudy Giuliani’s City Hall and a longtime Democratic operative.

“Notwithstanding (former Mayor Bill) de Blasio retreads, the Mamdani administration will be even less experienced at government than Mayor Mamdani himself. For a city government the size of New York, that’s an operational nightmare. Good luck with the budget and unions.”

One of Mamdani’s closest operatives – Morris Katz – is apparently keenly aware that his youth could be a detriment to his job. He lied to the New York Times and a slew of other outlets about being 28, when he’s actually 26 years old.

Insiders have also told The Post about a growing rift between Mamdani’s inner circle and operatives allied with one-time Democratic mayoral contender and City Comptroller Brad Lander, a progressive who cross-endorsed the upstart socialist during the primary.

Tension has been rising between the two camps, with some feeling aggrieved that Lander’s more-experienced political hands are being shut out since joining Mamdani’s team, sources said.

But Lander’s former campaign director, Alison Hirsh, who now serves as his chief strategy officer in the comptroller’s office, shot down the notion of any bad blood.

“Brad and Zohran talk all the time,” she said. “They are as united as ever in working together to make sure Zohran is the next mayor of New York City. Brad is proud to support that campaign himself and through past members of his team.”

Mamdani, for his part, has answered questions about his youth and inexperience by pushing the notion that it means he doesn’t carry unseemly personal and political baggage. He again made that point last week, shortly after Mayor Eric Adams’ longtime friend and adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin was hit with four bribery indictments.

“Zohran is proud to be surrounded by a team from a range of backgrounds,” said campaign spokeswoman Dora Pekec. “What unites this team is not where they come from, but a shared commitment to fighting for working New Yorkers and delivering a more affordable city for everyone.”

Elliana (Elle) Bisgaard-Church

Mamdani’s most trusted chief advisor is arguably Elliana (Elle) Bisgaard-Church, a 34-year-old from California with an Ivy League degree from Columbia University.

The DSA darling’s only experience with elected officials has been with Mamdani on his assembly team as his chief of staff.

Despite the under five years of experience working in New York politics, other members of Mamdani’s camp have credited her with conjuring up the policies central to his campaign – and she makes about $11,000 a month doing it.

Morris Katz

Morris Katz, 26, is a Tribeca-born-and-raised ad-maker for Mamdani who was one of the first hires on the mayoral campaign.

“I’m drawn to people who treat it (politics) as more of an art form than a sport,” the self-proclaimed populist said on the podcast Pro Politics.

Katz, the son of screenwriter David Bar Katz, also said on the podcast that he often rubbed shoulders with the likes of actors Sam Rockwell and Philip Seymour Hoffman when growing up in his parents $5 million Manhattan apartment.

Julian Gerson

Julian Gerson, 29, a speechwriter often seen at Mamdani’s public appearances, is another key operative with ties to New York’s elite.

The young politico attended the ritzy Dalton School and grew up in a multimillion dollar house in Woodstock. He also boasts actual political experience, having worked previously for Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Donald Borenstein

One of the highest-paid members on Mamdani’s team is Donald Borenstein.

The 34-year-old is the vision and brains behind many of Mamdani’s viral videos and he has been paid over $60,000 since late 2024 by the campaign for his work. Borenstein is also a Fordham grad who grew up in $1.8 million home in the DC suburbs.

Andrew Epstein

Yale-educated Andrew Epstein, 38, is one of the oldest members of Mamdani’s original campaign crew.

A former campaign worker and chief of staff to lefty Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, Epstein joined Mamdani’s once-longshot mayoral bid as communications director in 2024 and transitioned to creative director after the primary.

Zara Rahimc

Zara Rahim, 33, a former Barack Obama staffer who also worked for Hillary Clinton acts as a senior adviser to Mamdani.

The south Florida native also worked with brands such as Uber and Vogue, as well as serving as an adviser to Mariah Carey on the singer’s acclaimed 2020 memoir and book tour, according to BK Mag.

“I’ve worked with some of the most prolific people and brands, and I’ve been in incredible rooms and I belonged in those rooms, period,” she told Coveteur magazine in 2022.

Rahim isn’t the only one with close ties to Soros in Mamdani’s camp.

Diplomat and Obama-era Democrat Patrick Gaspard considers the political power player a “friend,” according to social media, and served as president of Soros’ Open Society Foundation between 2017 and 2020.

Dora Pekec

Dora Pekec, 25, is the youngest person in Mamdani’s inner circle.

She graduated from Duke University and worked on Lander’s failed run for mayor as communications director. Before that, she worked on the House Majority PAC.

Maya Handa

Maya Handa, 30, recently took over for Bisgaard-Church as campaign manager.

Handa ran the mayoral primary campaign of state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who couldn’t break out from the crowded Democratic field. She also has ties to the Working Families Party and worked on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s failed campaign for president starting in 2019, according to her LinkedIn.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/02/us-news/zohran-mamdanis-brain-trust-is-full-of-young-privileged-lefty-radicals-with-little-government-experience-who-could-one-day-lead-nyc/

In September 2018, at 11 o’clock at night, as I strolled with my wife and daughter along the edge of the lagoon in Venice, Italy, I witnessed what is formally known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).

A dozen bright lights flew in tight formation high in the starry night, then started twirling around each other in an impossibly playful way, and finally disappeared in a flash over the horizon. Not a sound was heard. Nothing I know could have moved like that. These weren’t drones or planes.

So what did I see?

I grew up reading Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke and watching the original “Star Trek” series on television. I therefore took it for granted that the universe teemed with other sentient species.

Back then, these came in two kinds: Bug-Eyed Monsters, or BEMs, who looked like giant versions of Kermit the Frog and made modern-music sounds; and Highly Evolved Minds, or HEMs, who had traded their physical bodies for the enviable capacity to play tricks on Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.

Both varieties conformed to old archetypes. There were once monsters in the dark. There were spirits in the woods and the clouds.

We may have driven these mythical entities from our planet, but why couldn’t they endure in outer space?

In the war-torn 20th century, Martians were the stuff of horror and adventure. Flash Gordon kept stopping Ming the Merciless – a dead ringer for Genghis Khan – from destroying Earth. Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” taught us that the best planetary defense was the common cold.

Even “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” supposedly a benevolent vision, left the future of humanity in the hands of robots that pretended to be pacifists but seemed happy to pulverize anything they disapproved of.

With the success, later in the century, of “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,” a third archetype achieved dominance over popular culture: space aliens, it turned out, were Just Like Us, only cuter – and somehow able to make bicycles fly through the air.

They still looked like Kermit the Frog, but in a good way.

In “E.T.,” the eponymous alien was a plot device, used to separate good humans from bad humans. Good humans embraced the Other. Bad humans tried to dissect the Other, just to see what was inside.

This moralistic touch sometimes made for a good story – see, for example, “Starman” – but more often, as in “E.T.” itself, it was a dreary bore that left us longing for the return of Ming the Merciless.

A case can be made that “E.T.” was the illegitimate offspring of TV scientist Carl Sagan, begat on Steven Spielberg’s Hollywood. Given his unblinking stare and weird mannerisms, Sagan had something of the extraterrestrial in him – he seemed uncomfortable impersonating a human.

In 1980, two years before “E.T.” was released, he made the following pronouncement: “In the vastness of space, there must be other civilizations.”

Who knows? Maybe he had inside knowledge.

But with that, acceptance of hyper-civilized aliens, once the sole possession of sci-fi nuts like me, began its long march to respectability. By 2024, 87 percent of scientists and 86.6 percent of astrobiologists, by one measure, believed in the likelihood of life in other planets.

For some, the existence of aliens is an act of faith, almost of desperation – what William James labelled the “will to believe,” translated from religion to science.

The thought of being alone in the “vastness of space” induces a kind of cosmic vertigo.

The universe must be filled with creatures Just Like Us, or preferably Slightly Better Than Us, and they must be here, close by, watching, judging, endowing every human action with a certain weight of importance.

We crave recognition, and in a performative age that can only come from the existence of a secret audience.

At the extremes of obsession, we get the Richard Dreyfuss character in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” who forsakes family and society to seek the aliens, imitating St. Francis in the latter’s search for God.

At some point, there will be contact.

Not unreasonably, we used to worry about being discovered by slimy galactic psychopaths, as in “Alien” and “Independence Day.”

With a modesty typical of the 21st century, we now prefer to believe that a race of space therapists will be happy to cross millions of light-years of the trackless void just so they can talk to us about ourselves.

We know from “Arrival” that the session goes well.

Human self-esteem, shaken since the inexplicable rise of Taylor Swift, is restored. Our place in the scheme of things, we will be told, is moderately significant, which is better than nothing.

To the sound of chords in a minor key, the nations will remain eternally at peace – just like in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” only without the terrifying nanny-bots.

Since a lot of this is shameless wish-fulfillment, we should take a deep breath and ask a few pertinent questions.

What is the hard evidence for life outside this lonely planet? There is none.

How likely is a super-civilization to emerge in another world? Well, Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, while our civilization first touched outer space 68 years ago. That makes for a probability of 1 over 0.00000001.

Why would massively intelligent beings embark on an epic interstellar journey, only to play hide-and-seek like human five-year-olds once they get to their destination? I can think of no reason.

Wait, though, what about those scientists who endorsed E.T.? Scientists, just like nonscientists, will say whatever they think will make them sound cool.

We do have the UAPs. I can attest to them personally.

After years of increasingly preposterous explanations, the federal government has given up on blaming swamp gas.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, has confessed her belief in aliens.

Dr. Eric Davis, physicist, has briefed Congress on the existence of four alien species: “Grays, Nordics, Insectoids, and Reptilians.”

That would explain why Scandinavians tend to be so nice to us Earthlings.

Yet the government could be wrong again. It’s possible.

Trapped in the new conventional wisdom, DNI Gabbard and Dr. Davis could have toggled to the opposite error from that of the perpetrators of the Swamp Gas Hypothesis.

What, after all, did I see above the lagoon in Venice?

I saw fantastic twirling lights. To posit a superior civilization of people-watchers from that data point seems a bit extreme.

Centuries ago, the lights might have become the Virgin Mary. A magnificent basilica would be erected on the site.

Ignore Hollywood – it’s always the smart thing to do. So far as we know, we are alone.

Ours may be the only minds in the enormity of Einsteinian spacetime – our thoughts may be the only thoughts to be had anywhere.

The notion feels slightly shocking, and not just because of the claustrophobic loneliness it evokes.

If the universe attains self-awareness solely in the human race, what kind of burden does that place on our shoulders?

Shouldn’t we dream on an infinite scale? Shouldn’t our intellects span deep and wide?

That won’t happen, of course. Human thoughts tend to be homely and small. The mental content of those who get paid to think big can be summarized in three words:

“Trump! Trump!! TRUMP!!!”

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/02/opinion/what-our-continued-fascination-with-ufos-says-about-us/

Elon Musk’s estranged transgender daughter Vivian Wilson has insisted she’s broke after publicly cutting ties with the world’s richest dad — opting to live with three roommates because it’s “cheaper.”

“People assume I have a lot of money. I don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars at my disposal,” the 21-year-old aspiring model told The Cut in a wide-ranging interview published Tuesday.

“My mom is rich, right? But obviously the other one [Musk]… is unimaginable degrees of wealthy.”

“I don’t have a desire to be superrich,” she continued.

Musk is worth an estimated $413 billion.

“I can afford food. I have friends, a shelter, and some expendable income, which is nice and much more fortunate than most people my age in Los Angeles.”

Wilson — the eldest of Musk’s 14 children — infamously cut ties with her Tesla founder dad back in 2022 when she filed a petition to change her gender and name.

Since then, Wilson has repeatedly bashed the tech mogul on social media — calling him a “pathetic man-child” who hasn’t been accepting of her gender.

Musk, for his part, has claimed in past interviews that Wilson was “killed by the woke mind virus” and that he was “tricked” into letting her transition at age 16.

Still, Wilson seized on the very public fallout with her father, telling the magazine that the most stereotypical thing about her was “Daddy issues.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Wilson addressed her lavish upbringing — noting she went to a “private high school filled with nepo babies” including Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s daughter Apple.

She said she was taught multiple languages, including Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.

She acknowledged going to college in Canada and Japan before eventually dropping out — blaming AI for ruining her “motivation.”

Addressing her newfound fame, Wilson — who already has an agent and recently landed a Teen Vogue cover — insisted that she was “not very good at being famous.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/02/us-news/elon-musks-trans-daughter-vivian-wilson-claims-she-not-rich-lives-with-3-roommates/

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser opened the door for federal agents to continue policing the district indefinitely as President Trump’s emergency order tackling crime in the nation’s capital is set to expire.

Bowser issued an order on Tuesday requiring local law enforcement to cooperate with their federal counterparts “to the maximum extent allowable by law within the District,” the Washington Post reported. The order has no expiration date.

She signed the directive three weeks after Trump called in troops to clean up the capital’s streets and before the president’s federal takeover of DC’s local police force is set to expire next week after 30 days is up.

The new order will “provide the pathway forward beyond the Presidential emergency,” the mayor wrote on X.

Bowser touted the accomplishments of the federal intervention and crime crackdown in the district, including its impact on the homeless population.

“Outreach teams identified 764 total individuals living outside, with 81 people living in tents,” the release stated. “Since the start of the surge, approximately 80 additional individuals have entered the District’s shelter system.”

The president also lauded the program’s success.

“We don’t have a crime problem in Washington anymore,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “And the mayor has been very helpful.”

He previously noted that there have been only two homicides since the federal takeover on Aug 11.

“It’s like a different city. It’s the capital and it’s going to be the best in the world,” Trump said during a visit to a Park Police operations center last month.

The commander in chief heaped praise on Bowser on social media, claiming that her popularity has risen “25%” in a post to Truth Social.

“Wow! Mayor Muriel Bowser of DC has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing CRIME down to virtually NOTHING in DC,” Trump wrote Monday.

At a press conference last week, Bowser boasted that since the federal intervention, DC has seen an 87% drop in carjackings and a 45% decrease in all violent crime during the period.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/02/us-news/dc-mayor-bowser-opens-door-for-indefinite-federal-policing-in-district-as-trumps-emergency-order-nears-expiration/

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that its inspectors found traces of uranium at a site in Syria believed to be part of a clandestine nuclear program by the former government.

Syria under former President Bashar Assad was believed to have operated an extensive undeclared nuclear program, which included an undeclared nuclear reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir el-Zour province.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, previously told The Associated Press that some of Syria’s activities “were, in the judgment of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons.”

Last year, IAEA inspectors visited and took environmental samples at “three locations that were allegedly functionally related” to the Deir el-Zour site, and “analysis revealed a significant number of anthropogenic natural uranium particles in samples taken at one of the three locations,” IAEA spokesman Fredrik Dahl said in a statement.

“Some of these uranium particles are consistent with the conversion of uranium ore concentrate to uranium oxide,” he said. This would be typical of a nuclear power reactor.

Grossi reported these findings to the agency’s board of directors Monday in a report on developments in Syria.

The Deir el-Zour site only became public knowledge after Israel — which is believed to be the Middle East’s only state with nuclear weapons, although it has not declared its own program — launched airstrikes in 2007 destroying the facility. Syria later leveled the site and never responded fully to the IAEA’s questions.

An IAEA team in visited some sites of interest last year while Assad was still in power. After Assad’s fall, the new government led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa agreed to cooperate with the agency and again provided inspectors access to the site where the uranium particles had been found.

They took more samples there and “will evaluate the results of all of the environmental samples taken at this location and the information acquired from the planned visit to the (Deir el-Zour) site, and may conduct follow-up activities, as necessary,” Dahl said.

In an interview with the AP in June during a visit to Damascus, Grossi said al-Sharaa had expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear energy for Syria in the future.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/syria-nuclear-iaea-uranium-3d1194b3b76d90a00f1b9f3215b4595d

India warned Pakistan about possible cross-border flooding for the second time in as many weeks as monsoon deluges cause death and widespread destruction in both countries.

The disaster management authority in eastern Pakistan announced the warning Tuesday.

New Delhi shared the warning with Pakistan on “humanitarian grounds” through New Delhi’s high commission in Islamabad rather than the water-sharing Indus Waters Treaty, which remains suspended, an Indian government official said.

Pakistan conducted mass evacuations late last month after India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions.

The countries came close to war in May and tensions frequently escalate between the two nuclear-armed rivals, making diplomatic contact uncommon.

The latest warning concerns a surge in the Sutlej River, with floodwaters expected to enter Pakistan on Wednesday. Raging torrents already have devastated border communities in Kasur, Okara, Vehari and Bahawalnagar.

Punjab’s Disaster Management Authority said the Indian High Commission conveyed the warning to Pakistan through the Ministry of Water Resources.

Downpours lashed several parts of northern India and killed at least 10 people over the past 24 hours. Authorities were forced to close some schools and offices on Tuesday.

Landslides, flooding and gushing rivers in India’s Punjab state, home to more than 30 million people, killed at least 29 people last month. Rescue teams, backed by the army and disaster response services, have evacuated thousands from homes impacted by floods.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-india-warning-flood-monsoon-cf6cd61e864182e69b71f30cfda29e38

Israel launched strikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 31 people as it presses ahead with a major offensive in the territory’s largest city, according to health officials. Leading genocide scholars, meanwhile, accused Israel of genocide, allegations the government vehemently rejects.

Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared it a combat zone last week. On the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp, residents have observed explosive-laden robots demolishing buildings.

“Another merciless night in Gaza City,” said Saeed Abu Elaish, a Jabaliya-born medic sheltering in the northwestern side of the city.

Hospitals in Gaza said at least 31 people were killed by Israeli fire Monday, more than half of them women and children. At least 13 people were killed in Gaza City, where Israel has carried out several previous large-scale raids since Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel to ignite the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group — now largely reduced to a guerrilla organization — operates in densely-populated areas.

Double threat of war and starvation

Gaza City residents, many displaced by war multiple times, now face the twin threats of combat and hunger. The world’s leading authority on food crises said last month that it was in the throes of famine — a crisis driven by ongoing fighting and Israel’s blockade, magnified by repeated mass displacement and the collapse of food production.

A total of 63,557 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says another 160,660 people have been wounded. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but staffed by medical professionals. U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of war casualties. Israel disputes them, but hasn’t provided its own toll.

Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and took 251 people hostage. Forty-eight hostages are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.

Scholars accuse Israel of genocide

The largest professional organization of scholars studying genocide said Monday that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Israel, which was established in the wake of the Holocaust, in which 6 million European Jews and others were killed, vehemently rejects the allegation. It says it takes every measure to avoid harming civilians and is fighting a war of self-defense after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which Israel says was itself a genocidal act.

A resolution from the International Association of Genocide Scholars — which has around 500 members worldwide, including a number of Holocaust experts — said that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide,” as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The resolution was supported by 86% of those who voted. The organization didn’t release the specifics of the voting.

“People who are experts in the study of genocide can see this situation for what it is,” Melanie O’Brien, the organization’s president and a professor of international law at the University of Western Australia, told The Associated Press.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry called it “an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard.” It said the determination was “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies.”

In July, two prominent Israeli rights groups — B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel — said that their country is committing genocide in Gaza. The organizations don’t reflect mainstream thinking in Israel, but it marked the first time that local Jewish-led organizations have made such accusations.

International human rights groups have also leveled the allegation.

Mourners vent anger at hostage

funeral

Thousands of Israelis gathered for the funeral of Idan Shtivi, one of two hostages whose remains were recovered in a military operation last week. A private funeral was held for Ilan Weiss, the other captive.

Some mourners expressed anger at the government for not reaching a deal with Hamas to end the fighting and return the remaining captives.

“It is very, very infuriating that no one, no one from this government stands up and says enough,” said Ami Dagan, a mourner from Rishon Letzion.

“It’s a horror, it’s profound sadness and grief beyond words to describe the anger, the insult to the hostages, the insult to the fallen, the insult to the soldiers sent once again to Gaza,” said Ruti Taro, another mourner. “No one knows why, except for the power-hungry ruler.”

Many Israelis accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war for political purposes, and mass protests calling for a ceasefire and hostage release have swelled in recent weeks.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-09-01-2025-0c5b9244186e42ac4673d9bfcd807052

Over the weekend, the Houthi rebel group detained another group of people working for the United Nations in Yemen. As one expert noted, every time there’s a security problem, more aid workers are abducted.

On Sunday, the Houthi rebel group, which controls large parts of Yemen, entered United Nations’ offices in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, detaining at least 11 people working for the organization and also taking property, including data storage devices.

The Houthi security forces raided the offices of the World Food Program, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency. Sources say those detained include seven World Food Program staffers and three UNICEF workers.

“I strongly condemn the new wave of arbitrary detentions of UN personnel today in Sanaa and [port city] Hodeidah,” Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy for Yemen, said in a statement issued Monday. He said the UN was doing everything it could to free its staffers and that they should be released “immediately and unconditionally.”

The Houthi raid on UN premises came after Israel bombed a cabinet meeting of the Houthi’s de facto government in Sanaa last Thursday. The Houthis have previously fired missiles at Israeli territory. Since October, 2023 there has been a back and forth of exchange between the two, with the Houthis firing drones and rockets and Israel launching air strikes on Houthi positions.

In the Israeli strike on August 28, the Houthi government’s prime minister, Ahmed Ghalib al-Rahawi, and 11 other officials, including ministers for sports, culture, foreign affairs, social affairs, electricity and agriculture, were killed

Although al-Rahawi was considered a technocrat and his absence won’t have any major impact on the Houthis’ military structure, his death can be considered a “serious setback,” Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst with Brussels-based think tank, Crisis Group International, told UK newspaper,
The Guardian, this week.

Why are Houthis detaining civilians?

The conservative, Islamist Houthis have been involved in fighting in Yemen for decades, first as part of an insurgency against Yemen’s dictatorship in the early 2000s, then from 2014 in a civil war that broke out when they took control of the capital. Most recently, they have fought an international Saudi-led coalition that supported their opponents, the internationally recognized government, in the civil war.

The civil war is currently stalemated, with the Houthis controlling northern parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa and most of the country’s population, and their opponents, who are based in Aden on the southern coast, controlling southern parts. The civil war has also caused a humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the UN reports that around 21 million people regularly require aid.

Over the past few days, Houthi military leaders have promised to take revenge for the Israeli strike and tightened security. In a televised speech given after the deaths were confirmed, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi also warned locals that anybody suspected of being a spy for Israel would be punished.

Yemen expert: UN workers a ‘default target’

“The Houthis will launch a major internal security crackdown,” Yemen expert Mohammed al-Basha, who runs the US-based risk consultancy, Basha Report, predicted in a newsletter to clients on Sunday. “The crackdown will also extend to staff of INGOs [international non-governmental organizations], NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and foreign embassies in Sanaa, as well as banks, money transfer companies and currency exchange shops.”

Anybody linked to international organizations risks being targeted, al-Basha confirmed to The New York Times.

The UN staff abductions also come after several months of internal crackdowns by the Houthis, Yemeni journalist Adnan al-Jabarni wrote on social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). Recently “the group became consumed by its obsession with those it calls traitors, agents, hypocrites, and mercenaries,” he said. Since the start of this year, many civilians have been detained in the crackdown, al-Jabarni said.

Targeting UN staff almost seems to have become a default Houthi response to security events, al-Basha noted.

Ongoing Houthi crimes against civilians

The Houthis have been detaining people associated with aid or civil society groups, as well as individuals associated with the former US embassy in Sanaa for several years now.

After a crackdown on aid and civil society workers in mid-2024, Thomas Juneau, a Middle East expert with the University of Ottawa in Canada,told DW, that the detention of aid workers could be explained by the fact that “the Houthis feel they need to further consolidate their power,”

The Houthis themselves claimed that the arrests they made included members of “an American-Israeli spy ring” operating undercover in a humanitarian agency.

“They’ve jailed a lot more people in Sanaa, including people from their own ranks, because they became so paranoid that their ranks have been infiltrated,” Hisham al-Omeisy, senior Yemen advisor with the European Institute of Peace, added at the same time. The Houthis were in “full panic mode,” he explained.

In January this year, another eight UN staff were kidnapped. This came just after the Houthis had released 25 crew members of a ship, the Galaxy Leader, that they had been holding captive since November 2023.

Experts speculated that workers from the UN made for better bargaining chips — the eight abductions came just as the US was deciding whether to designate the Houthis a terrorist organization.

“The Houthis picked up the UN staff because they are more valuable for negotiating a deal,” Abdulghani al-Iryani, a senior researcher at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, told DW at the time.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-yemens-houthi-group-targeting-aid-workers/a-73837421

Iran must reach a deal with Western parties by late September or face renewed UN sanctions over its nuclear program.

The E3 grouping of Germany, France and the United Kingdom have moved to trigger the powerful “snapback” mechanism of UN sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.

The snapback is a diplomatic tool that is part of a faltering October 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which signatories agreed to lift crippling international sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for Tehran agreeing to curbs on its nuclear activities.

If Iran and the E3 nations fail to reach an agreement within 30 days, all previously lifted sanctions on Iran under the 2015 deal would be reinstated.

Iran said that it will not alter its position in the nuclear dispute.

“We are not fans of sanctions, but this time too, the Iranian people will neither back down nor bow to pressure,” Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref told the ISNA news agency on Sunday.

A question of ‘national pride’

Aref questioned whether Germany, France and the UK have the legal authority to trigger the snapback mechanism.

“Of course, if the snapback is implemented, the necessary decisions will be taken accordingly,” Aref added, without providing details.

“Iran has built up this nuclear program … over decades, and has done so despite sanctions,” Cornelius Adebahr from the German Council on Foreign Relations told DW. He noted that national pride makes it difficult for Iran to abandon its enrichment capabilities.

Adebahr, a political scientist who has published several books on Iran, pointed out that some political forces in Iran are now demanding withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in response to the activation of the snapback mechanism.

A corresponding draft law has already been submitted to Iran’s parliament.

“The draft law is on the agenda and will undergo the legal review and approval process next week,” lawmaker Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani told the semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency on Friday.

Iran suspended its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.

Europe is now demanding a full resumption of IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities and information on the whereabouts of Tehran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium.

In addition, Western states are accusing Tehran of violating UN Resolution 2231 by developing ballistic missiles.

The resolution, adopted in July 2015 as part of the nuclear agreement, explicitly calls on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”

Officially, however, the Iranian government emphasizes that it does not seek nuclear weapons and has said its nuclear program serves exclusively civilian purposes.

The Islamic Republic is currently in a state of “strategic paralysis” and does not know which path to take, explained Iran expert Hamidreza Azizi of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin.

The expert on security and geopolitical issues in the Middle East and Central Eurasia suggested that the Iranian leadership “is leaning toward a diplomatic settlement.”

“After the 12-day war with Israel, its attitude has changed: The Islamic Republic has become aware of its own vulnerability and, at the same time, recognizes the economic risks that a return to UN sanctions would entail,” Azizi told DW.

Azizi said that the sanctions could put Iran in a position similar to that of Iraq in the years between the two Gulf Wars: a weakened, isolated government, plagued by internal crises.

“A withdrawal from the NPT in response could legitimize military attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities,” Azizi added.

“Important voices in Iran, such as Ali Akbar Salehi, former head of the Atomic Energy Agency, are now emphasizing that parliament has no authority to decide on a withdrawal from the NPT. He points out that the Supreme Leader must make this decision.”

‘It’s not about a nuclear agreement’

Washington is now demanding that Iran abandon its nuclear program, end its support for regional proxies, and limit its military capabilities.

“The US shows no interest in a new nuclear agreement,” said Aziz.

“In Washington, they seem convinced that they have already militarily contained the dangerous aspects of Iran’s nuclear program,” Aziz added.

“Washington’s conditions are conditions that are difficult for the Islamic Republic to accept. While the Europeans have activated the snapback mechanism, they have little with which to persuade Tehran to compromise.”

Aziz told DW that Iran is therefore trying to play for time and manage its crisis strategically — hoping to secure the support of Russia and China. The goal, he suggested, is for these two countries to block or at least delay the implementation of the sanctions.

However, Azizi emphasized that, based on the text of the resolution, Moscow and Beijing cannot prevent the activation of the snapback mechanism.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/snapback-sanctions-expose-irans-diplomatic-dilemma/a-73837667

Since his return to the White House this year, Trump has wielded tariffs as a wide-ranging policy tool, with the levies upending global trade.

US President Donald Trump claimed Monday that India has offered to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero, underlining that New Delhi should have done it years ago.

The Trump administration has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

Trump has accused India of fueling Moscow’s deadly attacks on Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil. However, he has refrained from tougher US sanctions on Russia itself. Defending India’s oil purchase, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar argued that the same yardstick has not been applied to China and the European Union, the largest importer of Russian crude oil and Russian LNG, respectively.

“They have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social, adding that the relationship between the two countries has been a “one-sided disaster”.

See more

pic.twitter.com/mST8FhUwnv

— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 1, 2025

New Delhi said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

Trump’s comments come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.

Since his return to the White House this year, Trump has wielded tariffs as a wide-ranging policy tool, with the levies upending global trade.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday ruled that many of Trump’s tariffs, which have upended global trade, were illegal because he did not have authority to impose them.

But the court allowed the levies to remain in place for now, giving Trump time to take the fight to the conservative-majority Supreme Court.

India will not “bow down” and instead focus on capturing new markets, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in his first public remarks since Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods.

The latest tariffs salvo from Trump has strained US-India ties, with New Delhi earlier criticising the levies as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

Trade talks between the two countries have stumbled over agriculture and dairy markets. Trump wants greater US access, while PM Modi is determined to shield India’s farmers.

The US was India’s top export destination in 2024, with shipments worth $87.3 billion.

“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us,” Trump said today.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/trump-claims-india-offered-to-cut-tariffs-to-nothing-its-getting-late-9198031?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

 

ECB President Lagarde’s comments come after Trump threatened to dismiss Federal Reserve officials Jerome Powell and Lisa Cook. She also voiced concern ahead of a no-confidence vote faced by the French government.

US President Donald Trump’s attempts to put pressure on the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, pose a “very serious danger for the US economy and the world economy,” the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said on Monday.

President Trump has threatened to dismiss Fed Chairman Jerome Powell after repeatedly attacking him for not cutting short-term interest rates, and is also attempting to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

What else did Lagarde say about Trump and the Fed?

The ECB chief stressed the importance of independence in US monetary policy.

“If US monetary policy were no longer independent and instead dependent on the dictates of this or that person, then I believe that the effect on the balance of the American economy could, given the effects this would have around the world, be very worrying, because it is the largest economy in the world,” Lagarde told French radio station Radio Classique.

Nevertheless, she also assessed that it would ultimately be “very difficult” for Trump to take full control of Fed policy.

“The US Supreme Court, which is largely respected in the country and therefore I hope will be respected by [Trump] as well, has clearly indicated that a Fed governor can only be dismissed in the case of gross misconduct,” Lagarde explained.

“And you’d have go quite far to be fired for gross misconduct,” she added.

Lagarde also told said that a ruling on Friday by a US appeals court that most of Trump’s tariffs were illegal had added a “further layer of uncertainty” to the global economic outlook.

Potential collapse of French government ‘concerning’

Meanwhile in Europe, economists’ eyes will be on France in the coming weeks where the government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is facing a likely defeat in a confidence vote tabled for next Monday in the National Assembly.

“What I’ve observed in the last six years [as ECB President] is that political developments and moments of political risk have an obvious impact on the economy,” said Lagarde.

“Any risk of a collapse of government in any country in the Eurozone is concerning,” she warned.

On the other hand, Lagarde said she was much less worried about the prospect of France having to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic assistance.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/serious-danger-if-trump-interferes-in-fed-says-ecb-chief/a-73831028

Earlier, Trump had called trade with India a “one-sided disaster” and alleged that the high Indian tariffs keep US goods out of the Indian market.

The Donald Trump administration in the United States hopes to resolve trade friction with India soon, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claiming the “two great countries will get this solved”. Bessent, however, criticised New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil despite US tariffs, and warned that the crude trade was fuelling Moscow’s offensives in Ukraine.

Speaking to Fox Business, he also downplayed the significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China, calling the gathering “largely performative.”

“This is a longstanding meeting, it’s called the Shanhai Cooperation Organisation, and I think it’s largely performative,” Bessent said.

“I think at the end of the day, India is the most populous democracy in the world. Their values are much closer to ours and to China’s than to Russia’s.”

The Team Trump official further admitted that India’s purchase of Russian crude was not the only factor behind US President Donald Trump’s punitive 50 per cent tariffs on India– the highest among Asian nations– and claimed slow-moving India-US trade talks were an additional factor behind the White House’s move to raise duties.

“I think at the end of the day, two great countries will get this solved. But the Indians have not been great actors in terms of buying Russian oil and then reselling it, financing the Russian war effort in Ukraine,” he said.

Earlier, Trump had called trade with India a “one-sided disaster” and alleged that the high Indian tariffs keep US goods out of the Indian market.

Warning To Russia

The US official warned Moscow of additional American sanctions if the Kremlin does not end its war in Ukraine. He claimed that “all options are on the table” as the Trump administration weighs punitive measures against Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to bombard Ukraine despite recent talks about peace in Alaska.

“I think everything’s on the table. President Putin, since the historic meeting in Anchorage, since the phone call, when the European leaders and President Zelensky were at the White House the following Monday, has done the opposite of following through on what he indicated he wanted to do. As a matter of fact, he has, in a despicable, despicable manner, increased the bombing campaign, ” Bessent said.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/donald-trump-aide-scott-bessent-on-india-tariffs-two-great-nations-will-get-this-solved-9200054?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

The shallow earthquake in eastern Afghanistan has destroyed several villages, causing widespread damage.

Hundreds of people have been killed in eastern Afghanistan after a magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck late Sunday night near the Pakistan border.

At least 800 people have died and 2,500 others were injured by the tremor, the Taliban government said Monday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani confirmed that the vast majority of the deaths reported so far were in Kunar province.

In the neighboring province of Nangarhar, at least 12 people were killed and 255 others were injured, Qani said.

What do we know about the earthquake in Afghanistan?

The earthquake’s epicenter was near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Jalalabad is about 119 kilometers (74 miles) away from the capital city, Kabul.

The quake occurred at a shallow depth of 8 kilometers (6 miles) and struck the region at 11:47 p.m. local time (9:17 p.m. CET), according to USGS.

Shallower earthquakes usually cause more damage.

A second earthquake with magnitude 4.5 followed roughly 20 minutes later in the same province. This was later followed by a magnitude-5.2 quake.

Taliban spokesman says rescue efforts ongoing

“Local officials and residents are currently engaged in rescue efforts,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted to X, adding there were deaths and structural and financial damage in some of the eastern provinces.

He said support teams from Kabul and nearby provinces were on their way to sites damaged in the powerful quake.

In October 2023, more than 2,000 people were killed after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the country.

The 2023 earthquake is considered the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country in recent memory.

Afghanistan aid budget cuts impact earthquake response — Danish Refugee Council

Sweeping cuts to international aid budgets and the forced return of refugees from Pakistan are hampering rescue efforts following a series of deadly earthquakes in remote areas of eastern Afghanistan which are already hard to access, according to the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Kabul.

“The most impacted areas are in Kunar and Nangarhar,” DRC spokeswoman Dania Al-Sharif told DW as the death toll from the 6.1 magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks passed 800, with another 2,500 people injured.

“As a humanitarian organization, our work is to provide humanitarian assistance to the most impacted areas and families,” she said.
But she stressed that the organization has “been impacted by budget cuts,” pointing to recent US cuts to intnernational aid as well as an “overall” reduction in funding.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/earthquake-in-afghanistan-kills-hundreds/a-73828434

 

Tensions rise as Donald Trump plans to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago amid ongoing crime and immigration crackdowns.

California governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday took a veiled dig at US President Donald Trump by sharing a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping interacting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit 2025.

Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump are at loggerheads over the US President’s decision to deploy federal officers in Chicago to crack down on crime and illegal immigration, even as a top administration official vowed to send more personnel.

“But have no fear, Trump is sending the Guard to Chicago,” Newsom, a Democrat, posted on X, along with the video showing Modi and Putin holding hands as they walked towards Xi before the summit opened in China’s Tianjin.

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But have no fear, Trump is sending the Guard to Chicago. pic.twitter.com/yTK5Uhxkde

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 1, 2025

The video also showed the three leaders standing shoulder to shoulder, sharing a laugh.

Xi is attempting to expand the scope of the SCO. He announced initial plans for a development bank run by the organisation, introduced a cooperation platform for green and energy industries and pledged $1.4 billion in loans over the next three years to the organisation’s members.

The Department of homeland security said last week that it has made 5,000 immigration arrests in the Los Angeles area since launching a sustained crackdown in the nation’s second-largest metropolitan area on June 6.

Authorities are undeterred by a temporary court order prohibiting racial profiling in Los Angeles, which the administration has challenged before the Supreme Court.

Newsom’s post on X comes after homeland security secretary Kristi Noem told CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation’ that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Chicago and other parts of the country would be bolstered, but declined to provide details. Noem said Trump would make a decision to deploy National Guard troops.

On the same programme, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Trump wanted to deploy troops so that he could halt or manipulate US midterm elections in 2026.

“He would like to stop the elections in 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections,” Pritzker said.

“He will just claim that there is some problem with an election, and then he is got troops on the ground that can take control,” he added.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson criticised Pritzker for not doing more to deal with crime.

“Chicago’s residents would be much safer if Pritzker actually did his job and addressed his crime problem instead of trying to be a Resistance Lib hero,” Jackson said in a statement.

Trump and top officials have said in the past week that Chicago would soon be a target for the Republican president’s efforts to tackle crime and illegal immigration. Trump, for years, has criticised crime in Chicago, a Democratic stronghold, although city figures show most categories of violent crime have dropped this year.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/california-governors-no-fear-dig-at-donald-trump-shares-pm-modi-vladimir-putin-xi-jinpings-sco-summit-video-101756781043232.html

 

The Dances With Wolves star passed away at a Toronto Hospital yesterday, according to Deadline.

His agent, Michael Greene, confirmed The Green Mile star died with his wife, Hilary Blackmore, by his side.

In a statement, he said: “He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed. You are finally free.”

And referencing his late former agent, he added: “Susan Smith is meeting you at the gates of heaven.”

He did not reveal the legendary actor’s cause of death, but he is understood to have died after a long illness.

One of Greene’s standout roles saw him play Kicking Bird in Dances With Wolves in 1990.

Cricketers at the Women’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka will play for $13.8 million in prize money from this month, two years after the men played for $10 million.

The 2022 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand had an overall purse of $3.5 million.

“This four-fold increase in prize money is a landmark moment for women’s cricket and reflects our clear commitment to its long-term growth,” International Cricket Council chairman Jay Shah said in a statement on Monday.

“Our message is simple: Women cricketers must know they will be treated on par with men if they choose this sport professionally. Women’s cricket is on a remarkable upward trajectory, and with this step we are confident the momentum will accelerate.”

The Women’s World Cup starts on Sept. 30 when co-hosts India and Sri Lanka meet in Guwahati. Australia is the defending champion.

The winner of the 13th ODI World Cup will receive $4.48 million, and the runner-up $2.24 million. The losing semifinalists will be awarded $1.12 million each. Group stage competitors earn a guaranteed $250,000.

Each game winner in the group stage will receive another $34,314.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/womens-world-cup-prizemoney-22399747ee4e7bd015cf746ced59ca63

Vietnam marked its National Day on Tuesday with its largest military parade in decades, as thousands packed the streets of the capital, Hanoi, after many camped overnight to witness the grand display marking 80 years of independence.

The parade unfolded at Ba Dinh Square, the site where revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh declared independence from French colonial rule on Sept. 2, 1945.

Fighting resumed soon after as Vietnamese forces battled the French in the First Indochina War, which ended in 1954 when the country was divided into Communist North and U.S.-backed South. The Vietnam War followed, during which the Communist North fought the South and its American allies. That conflict ended when Communist forces captured Saigon on April 30, 1975 and the country was unified.

Vietnam’s top leader, Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, paid tribute to those who died in the fight for independence and reiterated the ruling party’s goal that by 2045 Vietnam will be a “powerful, prosperous and happy nation,” calling it “the aspiration of the entire nation, an oath of honor before history.”

“We want to be a friend, be a trusted partner with all countries in the world,” he said, adding that Hanoi would never compromise on independence or sovereignty.

Columns of troops marched past as tanks, armored vehicles, and missile systems rumbled by. Helicopters flew overhead trailing giant Vietnamese flags followed by jets while a military band played martial tunes below.

Officials said nearly 16,000 soldiers joined the event, including upgraded tanks, large artillery guns on vehicles, amphibious vehicles and missile systems made by a state-owned Vietnamese company.

For the first time, it also organized a televised naval parade off the coast of the port city of Cam Ranh in southern Vietnam, featuring warships, submarines, helicopters and sea planes.

Honor guards from China, Russia, Laos and Cambodia also joined the display, which Vietnamese state media said reflected the country’s “international friendships.” China is planning to hold a massive military parade in Beijing on Wednesday to mark the end of World War II.

Crowds began arriving in Hanoi days in advance, and thousands camped on sidewalks Monday night to secure viewing spots.

Videos of the parade went viral on social media and many gathered were in their twenties, wearing red shirts with yellow stars and cheering wildly as soldiers marched past while sipping iced boba tea. People waved the country’s flag or painted it on their faces. Giant screens at intersections broadcast the parade while balconies across the city were draped with more flags.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-national-day-independence-military-parade-45d5d141b8697388a82e12be2dd9eb32

 

A man who is being hailed as a hero after he rescued a missing child dangerously walking on the monorail tracks at Hersheypark said his “dad instincts kicked in” and compelled him to jump into action.

John Sampson, of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, fearlessly climbed onto the roof of a snack stand and pulled himself up onto the tracks after he saw the child walking alone almost 100 feet above the ground on Saturday evening while spectators held their breath.

“Dad instincts kicked in, and then [I was] just trying to figure things out and how to get up there as fast as possible,” Sampson told Fox 43.

He picked up the boy and safely brought him down.

“[I felt] relief, absolute relief, and even I could feel it in him — the relief as soon as he got into my arms,” Sampson said. “Thank goodness he came straight into my arms, and it went nice and simple in that sense.”

The boy was reported missing by his parents around 5 p.m. after he entered a secure area for the monorail ride, Hersheypark officials said.

He was at the station for about 20 minutes before he began walking along the track — frightening park-goers below.

“Go to him now!” one terrified park guest yells in one video before Sampson helped him down.

The monorail was closed at the time and had been fenced off by a chained closure at its entrance and a barricaded turnstile at the platform, according to park officials.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/01/us-news/hero-dad-describes-moment-he-rescued-boy-who-wandered-onto-hersheypark-ride-100-feet-in-the-air/

Meal delivery is a luxury city dwellers take for granted – but more options are opening up for non-urban residents.

Boasting nearly 700,000 islands collectively, Sweden, Norway and Finland are home to the most islands in the world, their coastlines dotted by archipelagos that have shaped their history and culture.

While a number of the islands are accessible by ferry and bridge to residents of the region’s cities, there’s one thing locals are often missing: hot food delivery to their door, a service their city cousins probably take for granted.

But Norwegian start-up Aviant wants to change that, by establishing the region’s first food delivery service by drone – starting on the Swedish island of Värmdö.

Värmdö is just eight miles (13km) from Stockholm as the crow flies, and accessible by car, bus and ferry. But its population of around 46,000 – rising to up to 100,000 in the summer – has few hot food delivery options.

During a video call, Aviant co-founder and CEO, Lars Erik Fagernæs, shows me a map of the islands closest to Stockholm.

“All of the white and blue squares are where (delivery services) Foodora and Wolt have a service, and all of the black squares are where they don’t,” says Mr Fagernæs, who is based in the Norwegian city of Trondheim.

“As you can see on the map, there are 87,000 people who don’t have access to a home delivery service. These people live in what you would call suburbs, and would want to order takeaway food, but they just don’t have an option.”

Since February, though, residents of Gustavsberg, the main town on Värmdö, and surrounding areas, have been able to order freshly made burgers from Scandinavian chain Bastard Burgers directly to their door via drone, using Aviant’s technology.

The cost of delivery is comparable to that of a car or bike service, as drones take out the cost of the driver.

At the moment Aviant is in a “beta phase” – only delivering 10 items a week, while they check everything works.

But the plan is to scale up as the year goes on.

Aviant is also set to launch a similar service on the Norwegian peninsula of Nesodden – just four miles in distance from Oslo, but a 29-mile road journey. Mr Fagernæs demonstrates once again on a map.

“All the white is where you don’t currently have a food delivery service. So it’s about 100,000 people that’s going to now have access to home delivery that didn’t have it before,” he says.

It hasn’t been a straightforward process to perfect, Mr Fagernæs admits, as several trials were needed to ensure the food stayed hot and fresh during the maximum flight time of up to 10 minutes, over a radius of up to six miles.

“We have been testing this for three years, and in the beginning, there were a lot of soggy fries,” he recalls. “But we have improved the isolated container the burger goes in, and now we know it arrives warm, even in the winter months.

“People go crazy for it. They call their neighbors and their grandma. They think it’s like a UFO delivering their food.”

Mr Fagernæs hopes the two pilot services will provide the “recipe”, as he describes it, to embark on a full-scale rollout across Scandinavia, where many communities like those on Värmdö and Nessoden are beholden to their geography. He points back to the map.

“We don’t have huge cities, but these areas are viable for drone delivery, where they are on the border of urban with rural, which is very hard to serve by car, and that is a lot of the population in Scandinavia,” says Mr Fagernæs.

Aviant has identified around 40 bases across Scandinavia to expand to over the next two years, and sees similar geography in Canada, which has over 52,000 islands, and the north eastern region of the US, characterised by lakes, mountains and islands.

And what about the weather. Mr Fagernæs admits high winds will ground the drones occasionally, but expects the service to have 90% uptime.

As for flying drones to deliver food into really remote areas, Aviant is one of a number of drone firms to have tested the waters, but found the numbers did not add up.

Starting in 2022, Aviant delivered Thai, Italian and sushi to residents outside of Trondheim. But that service was ended in August 2023.

Meanwhile, in 2022, UK firm Skyports delivered school meals to children in the Orkney islands, funded by Argyll and Bute Council, and temporarily ran a “fish and chip Fridays” delivery service to the wider community.

Similarly, German firm Wingcopter delivered everyday goods to rural residents in 2023 as part of a government partnership. In China’s eastern Zhejiang province, a local council is funding drone delivery of hot meals to elderly villagers isolated in the mountains.

But continuing these services without a government or corporate sponsor is not commercially viable.

Given the distances, the cost of delivery would be prohibitive for the person ordering, and too much for the outlet providing the food to waive. And, being rural areas, there aren’t enough locals to generate sufficient orders to begin with.

Skyports has, however, been running a drone delivery service with Royal Mail across the Orkneys since 2023, and is looking at how the drones used in that can be repurposed to resurrect the hot meal delivery service, this time for all residents.

“We haven’t yet opened it up to other non-Royal Mail users as it’s currently strictly a Royal Mail service. But absolutely, we can be looking at when those drones aren’t in use, how we could be taking cargo from outlets on the mainland to the islands.

We would have to look at what the premium charged would be, as it will be important to lower the cost. Today we’ve just been focusing on getting the service right before we look at that expansion,” explains Alex Brown, Skyports director.

“You could absolutely make something like that work. The more you could utilise the drone, the better.

“So there are models where you have an anchor customer who’s underwriting that core cost, then you can incrementally bolt on new commercial opportunities to bring in additional revenue, and then a new service for people using it.”

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crlze41zygdo

Kelley Wolf has been banned from having any direct or indirect contact with her estranged husband, Scott Wolf, and their kids.

On Aug. 28, a judge issued a new protective order against the “Real World: New Orleans” alum after she shared Scott’s phone number on social media, People reported on Monday.

Per documents obtained by the outlet, Kelley is not allowed to have any contact with the “Party of Five” star or their three kids: Jackson, 16, Miller, 12, and Lucy, 11.

Kelley, 48, cannot “commit, try to commit or threaten to commit any form of violence” against Scott or the kids, including “stalking, harassing, threatening, physically hurting, or causing any other form of abuse that could cause bodily injury.”

She must also stay at least 300 feet away from the actor and is only allowed to have contact with him during meditation sessions scheduled with a “Court Qualified Mediator” regarding their divorce or custody over their children.

Kelley is also banned from using drugs or drinking alcohol until their next hearing on Sept. 10. She is only allowed to visit the family home with a police officer to pick up her belongings.

Scott, 57, will also continue to have temporary sole custody of their three kids.

This latest development in the couple’s messy split comes after Kelley was arrested for electronic communication harassment and electronic disclosure of personal identifying information on Aug. 26.

Earlier in the day, she had shared a series of bizarre Instagram uploads where she called Scott the “most hated man on earth.”

Kelley demanded, “Send the kids now!!! No more games. This is war. Last chance before I go to the press.”

She subsequently posted the actor’s phone number, writing, “Let’s let dimples field his own press.”

Kelley was then booked at the Summit County Jail in Park City, Utah, TMZ reported, before being released two days later.

At the time, her ex claimed that, after she shared his phone number on social media, he received “a barrage of phone calls and text messages from unknown people.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/09/01/celebrity-news/kelley-wolf-banned-from-contacting-estranged-husband-scott-and-kids-following-harassment-arrest/

Meghan Markle called out her husband, Prince Harry, for not liking a particular food on the new season of her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan.”

In the Season 2 episode with Chef José Andrés, the Duchess of Sussex revealed Harry doesn’t like a certain type of seafood.

“You know who doesn’t like lobster? My husband,” the 44-year-old told her guest.

“And you married him anyway?” Andrés jokingly replied.

While Markle didn’t reveal why the Duke of Sussex, 40, doesn’t like lobster, the royal family traditionally avoids eating shellfish.

“When dining, the royal family has to be careful with shellfish due to shellfish poisoning, due to their work schedules. It is a very sensible move to abandon having seafood when out and about on public duties,” King Charles’ former butler, Grant Harrold, once said, according to the Mirror.

Queen Camilla also previously revealed garlic “is a no-no” amongst the royal family.

“I hate to say this, but garlic. Garlic is a no-no,” she admitted during a 2018 appearance on “MasterChef Australia.”

Judge Gary Mehigan asked her, “Because you’re talking, chatting?” to which the royal confirmed, “Yes, exactly. So you always have to lay off the garlic.”

Elsewhere in the new season of Markle’s Netflix series, she was left humiliated after mixologist Payman Bahmani-Bailey bluntly confessed he wasn’t a fan of “Suits” — USA Network’s legal drama, in which she played Rachel Zane from 2011 to 2018.

“I don’t watch basic cable,” Bahmani-Bailey said after Markle asked him if he ever watched the show.

“I like shows with curse words and stuff.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/09/01/entertainment/meghan-markle-makes-surprising-prince-harry-confession-that-stuns-netflix-show-guest/

Social media photos and footage from several recent rehearsals have shown anti-ship missiles, cutting-edge underwater drones, and anti-missile systems.

China will showcase a range of new weapons during a vast military parade on Wednesday (Sep 3), in a show of strength that is being seen as a challenge to US military dominance.

Military experts have been analysing social media photos and footage from several recent rehearsals, which have shown anti-ship missiles, cutting-edge underwater drones, anti-missile systems, and more tech that could pass by Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Sep 3.

While officials have kept secret the list of hardware to be displayed in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, many military enthusiasts have already spotted significant new systems, including what is rumoured to be a gigantic laser weapon.

The military has said all the equipment presented is domestically produced and “in active duty”.

“EAGLES” TO COUNTER US SHIPS

Four new anti-ship missiles several metres long have been seen: The YJ-15, YJ-17, YJ-19, and YJ-20. “YJ” is short for “Ying Ji”, which means “eagle attack” in Chinese.

These missiles can be launched from ships or aircraft and are designed to inflict critical damage on large vessels. The YJ-17, YJ-19, and YJ-20 models could be hypersonic, meaning they can fly at least five times the speed of sound.

“China must develop powerful anti-ship and anti-aircraft carrier capabilities to prevent the United States from posing a serious threat to China’s national security,” Song Zhongping, a military commentator and former Chinese army instructor, told AFP, referring to tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

UNDERWATER DRONES

Two new, extra-large torpedo-shaped unmanned underwater vehicles have been spotted during the rehearsals.

The first, labelled “AJX002”, is 18 to 20 m long, according to the website Naval News. The second was hidden under a tarpaulin.

While China still lags behind the United States in surface naval power, according to Naval News, it has the world’s largest programme of “extra large uncrewed underwater vehicles” (XLUUVs) – with at least five types already in the water.

ANTI-MISSILE SHIELD

Still shrouded in mystery, the HQ-29 is described by some Chinese analysts as a “satellite hunter” capable of intercepting missiles at an altitude of 500 km, outside the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as satellites in low orbit.

Mounted on a wheeled vehicle, the system features two missile containers, each approximately 1.5m in diameter.

Its capabilities could make it China’s most advanced interception system to date and one of the most powerful in the world.

WORLD’S “MOST POWERFUL” LASER?

A huge rectangular vehicle in camouflage colours covered with a tarpaulin could be a defence system capable of shooting down missiles and drones using a powerful laser, according to the South China Morning Post.

The X account “Zhao DaShuai”, which is linked to the Chinese military, claims it is the “most powerful laser air defence system in the world”.

NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS?

Intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the ultimate symbols of power, are expected to feature prominently in the parade.

“China will showcase a new generation of nuclear weapons,” analyst Song Zhongping told AFP.

Nuclear weapons, like the other hardware which will be displayed during the parade, “will help equalise the military power balance between China and the US”, he said.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-world-war-ii-military-parade-hardware-missiles-drones-lasers-5326271

When EU foreign ministers meet, their agenda often reads like a world atlas. There are dizzying lists of statements and actions to sign off on, and points to tackle about every corner of the globe — and much time is usually eaten up in negotiations to cajole 27 states into a unanimous position.

But a couple of times a year, ministers put their heads together at “informal” talks — so-called not because they ditch the suits and show up in jeans, but because no official decisions can be taken.

The idea? Leave space for reflections and discussions that fall through the cracks of daily business.

EU diplomats described the weekend talks in the Danish capital as a “brainstorming” session on what comes next in the bloc’s support for Ukraine. Despite weeks of frenetic diplomacy, Ukrainians remain under attack, and Europe remains deeply skeptical of Russia’s desire for peace.

Here are some of the ideas that were floated this weekend in Copenhagen.

First hint of secondary sanctions

The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters that ministers mulled so-called secondary sanctions — restrictions targeting Russia’s trading partners.

The European Union has already sanctioned some entities, including Chinese banks, it accuses of helping Russia finance its war, but broader secondary sanctions could be a more impactful — and more risky — move for Europe as it seeks more friends on the global stage and new trade deals with the likes of India.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene also warned that only secondary sanctions imposed by the United States would “really produce enough pain for the Russian war machine.”

European measures “would be nice too,” she told DW, but added: “It’s a difference of having a really nuclear effect. Nobody in the world wants to feel secondary sanctions of the United States. That would be a game-changer.”

‘Safe haven:’ Ukrainian arms made on EU soil

In a first-of-its-kind operation, Denmark announced it will, “some weeks from now,” invite a Ukrainian arms company to start production on Danish soil.

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the site could be up and running this year, though did not share details on which weapons would be made there.

“I also expect that more Ukrainian defense companies will follow later this year,” he added.

Kaja Kallas said other countries were also interested in bringing the Ukrainian defense industry to their soil through similar schemes.

Part of the idea, according to diplomats speaking on the sidelines of the Copenhagen talks, is to show Russia that even as it targets Ukrainian arms factories inside the country, more sites will keep popping up elsewhere in the “safe haven” of the EU.

Thawing debate on frozen Russian assets

There was also a heated debate on what to do with roughly €200 billion ($233 billion) in Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU in 2022. Until now, EU states have opted to skim off the interest accrued on the assets and use it to support Ukraine.

A number of EU countries, including the Baltic states and Poland, have long pushed for the assets themselves to be seized and handed over to Ukraine.

Political scientist Christine Nissen said that would mark a “turning point.”

But fellow EU member Belgium is staunchly against seizure, warning it could be both illegal and could scare future investors away from Europe.

“The argument is that it would simply be also us actually going against some of the principles of that liberal order that we believe in,” Nissen, an analyst with Think Tank Europa, told DW.

Kallas seemed to push back on those concerns on Saturday. “Financial markets did not react when we froze the assets. Financial markets are calm now as we discuss this,” she said. “There are risks, but I’m confident that we are able to mitigate those risks.”

“One thing is absolutely clear,” Kallas added. “Given the devastation Russia is causing in Ukraine and has caused in Ukraine so far, it is unthinkable that Russia will ever see this money again unless it fully compensates Ukraine.”

For now, the EU may consider moving the assets into more risky investments to beef up the amount available if the war ends.

EU military trainers inside Ukraine?

Kallas also said there was “broad support” for a plan to shift the EU’s current training mission for Ukrainian troops — hosted mainly in Poland and Germany — onto Ukrainian soil in the event of a ceasefire.

But with no actual truce in sight, Kallas acknowledged that this was a “chicken and egg issue.”

“Some are saying that we should do it after, but we can also do it conditionally,” she explained, suggesting member states pursue an agreement now on a change that could kick in at a later date.

But the plan may also get snagged on EU unanimity rules — with Hungary regularly delaying decisions on support for Ukraine. Still, Sakaliene told DW that the proposal is “much closer to conclusion than other difficult decisions.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/what-now-eu-brainstorms-new-ways-to-back-ukraine/a-73826945

Katy Perry is getting the last laugh following the intense criticism she’s received over her “Lifetimes” tour.

The pop star has already sold 1.1 million tickets and grossed more than $80 million in sales, according to her management.

The $80 million earned comes from ticket sales to her shows in the US, Canada and Australia, according to figures provided to Billboard. Perry played a total of 45 shows in the three countries.

The impressive amount doesn’t even include the “Teenage Dream” singer’s upcoming overseas stops in Latin America, Europe and China.

Perry’s rep didn’t immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

Perry, 40, has faced a lot of criticism online for her “Lifetimes” tour, as well as her latest album, “143.” Critics roasted her space outfits and choreography during her performances, with one X user asking, “People are paying to see this?”

Another X user commented, “This looks more like somebody who’s come out of retirement after 30 years and trying to pull the same moves off they did when they were young and popular.”

She was also roasted in April for being a part of the all-female Blue Origin space flight alongside Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen and Kerianne Flynn.

Critics lauded the trip as an out-of-touch waste of money, and celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski, Olivia Munn, Olivia Wilde and Jessica Chastain publicly slammed the excursion.

Perry responded to the hate she was receiving for both her tour and the Blue Origin space flight later that month, calling her haters “unhinged and unhealed.”

“Please know I am ok, I have done a lot work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me,” she wrote in an Instagram comment on a fan page.

“My therapist said something years ago that has been a game changer, ‘no one can make you believe something about yourself that you don’t already believe about yourself’ and if I ever do have any feelings about it then it’s an opportunity to investigate the feeling underneath it,” she continued.

Perry noted that when the “‘online’ world tries to make [her] a human piñata,” she chooses to accept it with grace and sends her love.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/08/31/entertainment/katy-perry-reveals-lifetimes-tour-has-earned-8-figures-after-brutal-criticism/

Pitt and his legal team have been trying to fend off having the actor face a deposition in relation to a class action lawsuit filed by victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The powerful and deadly storm slammed into Louisiana as a Category 3 hurricane on August 29, 2005, leaving over 1,390 people dead in and around the New Orleans area.

To help displaced families who lost their homes due to the catastrophic storm, Pitt launched the Make It Right Foundation in 2007 with a goal to provide housing for people in need.

However, the foundation allegedly made a mess of its ambitious building project and is currently at the center of a class action lawsuit for over 106 homes, which were “deficiently constructed” with “defective products,” according to a lawsuit viewed by The U.S. Sun.

This month, the spotlight is more than ever on Pitt and his foundation following the release of Netflix’s three-part documentary Katrina: Come Hell and High Water.

‘HELL AND HIGH WATER’

Produced by Spike Lee, the documentary features details of suffering created by Pitt’s non-profit with first-hand accounts from broken-hearted homeowners.

Make It Right constructed 106 homes in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, which was decimated by Katrina in 2005, but the houses were not fit for purpose, despite Pitt’s best intentions when he launched the foundation.

In 2018, residents filed a suit against Pitt, the Make It Right Foundation, the non-profit’s directors, and all those connected to the construction of their substandard houses, which were falling apart and cost a combined $20 million to repair.

Ron Austin Law, attorneys representing the homeowners, are building up a colossal arsenal of evidence against Pitt and his co-defendants after painstaking forensic work

A letter sent to homeowners, which was viewed by The U.S. Sun, stated that the law firm was now armed with 150,000 pages of documents, including 30,000 critical financial records.

The acquisition of the records came after a three-year fight with Make It Right’s legal team, who contested and attempted to suppress handing over the trove of documents.

The letter added that “our architectural expert has submitted a comprehensive 6,000-page report, and our contractor experts have provided reports of similar magnitude.”

Moreover, it adds that an engineering expert has also “submitted a separate report,” which means 18,000 pages of reports filed with the New Orleans Parish district court.

NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED

The team of attorneys promised its clients that no stone would be left unturned and that “defendants and key witnesses” will be deposed after September.

The court recently ruled that all depositions related to the case have to be conducted by December 3 – that means the 61-year-old Hollywood A-lister could be quizzed at some time in October or November.

The U.S. Sun previously reported that Pitt fought tooth and nail to wriggle out of testifying, claiming it would clash with his hectic work schedule.

However, it now seems like Pitt is running out of options.

In an amended petition filed with the courts, the homeowners broadly allege a “breach of contract, warranty, negligence and fraud.”

The filing claims that the fraud accusations relate to “alleged statements, promises, and representations made by Make It Right and its employees/directors/officers, and fraud relating to financial activities that allegedly affected funds available to repair the homes.

There’s to be a trial next year to determine whether it can go forward as a class action lawsuit with the defendants’ legal team filing a motion for the fraud allegations to be discounted from the trial.

‘UNKEPT PROMISES’

It names Pitt in particular in the motion, claiming the actor was central to the alleged defrauding of the homeowners.

The court filing read, “The petition alleges ‘promises’ made by Brad Pitt at a 2007 community meeting, Plaintiffs allege these promises were ‘false.’

“Plaintiffs allege this reliance continued as late as 2016-2018.

“Plaintiffs further allege that Pitt made promises in ‘media interviews’ that induced justifiable reliance’.”

Among the list of complaints filed against Pitt’s foundation include defective designs, materials and construction, lack of repairs and water intrusion.

COMMUNITY IN DESPAIR

Kamaria Allen, a resident of a property built by Make It Right, had her home demolished in October 2020 after it sat empty for nine years due to what she claimed were “advanced mold rot caused by a chronic moisture condition.”

Allen told The U.S. Sun at the time that her parents lived in a property constructed by the non-profit that had “toxic mold and high CO2 levels.”

The horrid conditions allegedly caused her father Keith to stop working, while her mother Sharon became severely asthmatic, and her younger brother Khalid suffered memory loss and speech problems.

Allen, whose family pulled out of the class action suit as it has been dragging on for years, told The U.S. Sun in 2021, “Our blood is on their hands,” referring to Pitt and his foundation.

“They really just sat back and watched while multiple people lost their quality of life without attempting to make it right when they had all of the resources.

“They came in and destroyed a community that was already trying to come back from the dead.

“I don’t understand how Brad Pitt or anyone else affiliated with this organization can sleep at night. They are killing people.

“A lot of these people are very sick and are living a very poor quality of life for the rest of their lives.”

Some homeowners have taken out mortgages on properties in excess of $100,000, but the wrecked houses are now virtually worthless.

It’s not just the residents who are fed up, but the local authorities.

The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority filed a lawsuit against Make It Right Housing LLC in July to reclaim a plot of Make It Right land on Reynes St, which was never built upon.

The nonprofit had dumped shipping containers on the plot, which were filled with cabinets of sensitive homeowners’ information, and then left it abandoned for years.

Make It Right never repurposed the plot of land and 15 years after purchasing the territory, authorities are now seeking to reclaim it.

Another Make It Right plot, located on Jourdan Street, was seized by the City of New Orleans and foreclosed in 2024, selling for just $17,500.

NON-EXISTENT

Pitt’s non-profit was meant to be the savior for those who lost everything in the city’s most deprived and predominantly black area 20 years ago.

But the foundation made a mess of its ambitious project, which were “deficiently constructed” with “defective products,” according to the suit.

In the years after Katrina, Make It Right has been virtually non-existent in the area.

The foundation’s Lower Ninth offices closed its doors years ago, cut off its communication lines, and became invisible to residents.

It seemed the lawsuit had reached a conclusion in 2022 when the celeb-backed eco-charity Global Green agreed to pay a $20.5 million settlement on behalf of Make It Right and Pitt.

However, the pledge fell apart after it was discovered that Global Green never had the $20.5 million funds, and were banking on Pitt to be the figurehead of a major fundraising campaign for the settlement.

Pitt soon came forward and denied ever agreeing to Global Green’s claims.

A spokesperson for Pitt told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement in 2023, “Brad had supported Global Green many years ago, so when they approached his team stating ‘$20.5M in funding’ had been secured by their ‘generous donors,’ there was interest in considering their proposal.

“Global Green represented themselves as having already obtained these funds and planned to use them toward resolving all claims in the ongoing lawsuit for the benefit of the homeowners.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15076985/brad-pitt-deposition-new-orleans-hurricane-katrina/

The man’s wife detailed her harrowing experience realising her husband had fallen unconscious

A TOURIST has died at Disneyland after passing out on its iconic Frozen ride next to his wife.

The 53-year-old man from the Philippines lost consciousness on the beloved Frozen Ever After ride at the theme park in Hong Kong on Friday.

His horrified wife noticed that he had fallen into a coma while on the ride and immediately notified staff.

First-aid responders rushed to the scene as the ride returned to its starting point and performed CPR.

The holidaymaker was taken to North Lantau Hospital but tragically was pronounced dead shortly after at 11:30am local time.

Cops received a report of the man passing out at 10:18am.

The tourist’s wife told them he had pre-existing health conditions, including a history of heart disease and high blood pressure which needed regular treatment.

A spokesperson for Disneyland Hong Kong said: “The resort deeply regrets the passing of the guest and will do its utmost to provide necessary assistance to his family.

“The initial investigation has shown the incident is not related to ride safety.”

The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong confirmed the death on Saturday.

They added that they were coordinating with authorities to help the family.

The Frozen Ever After ride is part of the theme park’s World of Frozen section, which opened in late 2023.

It is a slow-paced boat ride that transports guests through an immersive experience into the world of Frozen.

And it features advanced animatronics of characters such as Anna, Elsa and Olaf.

The ride is open to guests of all ages and heights – but its official app advises against pregnant women going on it.

In 2024, a two-year-old boy died after half his face collapsed on a surprise family holiday to Disneyland.

Doctors assured little Dax Peek’s family that his symptoms were likely as a result of Bell’s palsy – a temporary and treatable weakness or lack of movement.

It also comes as a 334-pound Disney World guest is suing the company – after he was allegedly left “permanently disfigured” in a water slide accident at Blizzard Beach.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15080360/tourist-dies-disneyland-ride/

 

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shared her candid outrage and disgust over a pornography site that featured fake photos of herself and other prolific women, including her own sister, adorned with sexist and offensive captions.

The porn website Phica featured galleries of doctored images before being overloaded with ones featuring Meloni and other high-profile women.

Images of Meloni and her sister Arianna, a prominent politician within the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, quickly became popular on the site and were viewed by scores of users.

The backlash was almost immediate and the entire platform was swiftly shut down by its own managers, who blamed its hundreds of thousands of users for violating its rules.

Meloni, who ran on a family-first platform and is notoriously vocal about bolstering women’s issues, was abhorred by the disgusting images and said she felt violated by the invasion.

“I am disgusted by what happened, and I want to extend my solidarity and support to all the women who have been offended, insulted, and violated in their intimacy by the managers of this forum and its users,” Meloni told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.

“It is disheartening to note that in 2025, there are still those who consider it normal and legitimate to trample on a woman’s dignity and target her with sexist and vulgar insults, hiding behind anonymity or a keyboard.”

Arianna added that the root cause of the debauchery was a “bad habit of a click-through society” where privacy is a myth and “we belittle the real, important things that women achieve and conquer with their work day after day.”

Italy has a revenge porn law, but Meloni noted that the violating distribution “no longer happens just out of ‘revenge,’ and that protecting our data and our privacy is increasingly crucial in our times.”

The current version of the law, passed in 2019, makes the spread of sexually explicit images punishable by up to six years in prison. It’s unclear if Meloni may aim to update it or seek to introduce newer privacy-oriented legislation.

The porn site images aren’t Meloni’s first bout with such explicit transgressions.

In 2024, she sued a father and son duo who allegedly created a sexually explicit deepfake video of her that was distributed in the United States and viewed “millions of times.” She’s seeking roughly $108,200 in damages, but promised to donate any earnings to a state fund dedicated to women who are victims of violence.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/08/31/world-news/italian-pm-giorgia-meloni-disgusted-over-porn-site-allegedly-featuring-graphic-doctored-images-of-herself-her-sister/

A man was found dead in a “pool of blood” at the Burning Man festival Saturday night – just as a massive human-shaped wooden effigy was being torched in the Nevada desert, according to authorities.

The body was discovered around 9 p.m. when a festival goer flagged down a sheriff’s deputy and reported seeing “a male subject lying in a pool of blood,” the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Sunday.

Authorities are now investigating the death as a homicide.

The grisly scene was uncovered while the “Man,” a towering human-shaped wooden sculpture at the center of the festival grounds in Black Rock City was set on fire, the sheriff’s office said.

The man was pronounced dead on the scene, and his body has been taken to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office, authorities added.

Local deputies, the Bureau of Land Management rangers, and Burning Man’s own Black Rock Rangers created a perimeter around the area and interviewed several festival goers at the scene.

The crime scene will be gated off as authorities continue to investigate, officials said Sunday.

“Although this act appears to be a singular crime, all participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances,” the sheriff’s office said.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/08/31/us-news/burning-man-attendee-found-in-pool-of-blood-as-cops-launch-murder-probe/

 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard blindsided CIA leaders last week when she disclosed the name of an undercover CIA officer on a list of people she stripped of security clearances, multiple current and former intelligence sources said.

The move alarmed the agency’s workforce, the sources said, and is the latest example of simmering tensions and crossed signals between Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The two have clashed previously over her decisions, including earlier this month when Gabbard declassified a lightly redacted document related to Russian election interference.

Two former government officials said their read of the situation is that Gabbard is under pressure to regain President Donald Trump’s confidence. Gabbard fell out of favor with Trump and his aides earlier this year after she posted a video and delivered testimony about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

But the tensions between Gabbard and Trump seem to have subsided for now. When Gabbard announced the security clearance removals last week, she said some of the 37 current and former officials were engaged in “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” and that she was acting on the president’s orders.

And on Tuesday, as he presided over a Cabinet meeting before television cameras, Trump praised Gabbard. “You found some interesting things, Tulsi,” Trump said. “She’s becoming a bigger and bigger star every day.”

One of the former government officials said Gabbard appeared to be trying to show the president she was exposing Democrats and political enemies, including some purportedly inside the CIA. The security clearance removals reflected “a battle between Gabbard and Ratcliffe,” the former official said.

The director of national intelligence position was created after the Sept. 11 attacks in an effort to ensure close coordination among the country’s spy agencies.

There have been turf wars and personality clashes in the past between some DNIs and CIA directors. During Barack Obama’s presidency, Dennis Blair was often at loggerheads with the CIA chief, Leon Panetta, and he ultimately resigned after 16 months on the job.

But in this case, the current director of national intelligence appears to be seeking the president’s support, former officials said, by doubling down on accusations against former Democratic administrations and punishing members of a perceived “deep state” of anti-Trump government bureaucrats.

Apart from highlighting the divide between Gabbard and Ratcliffe, the episode also illustrates the effect of a widening and unpredictable purge of career government officials deemed insufficiently loyal.

The fired analyst

The CIA officer whom Gabbard publicly identified and stripped of her security clearance was a veteran analyst. NBC News is not naming the employee for her protection. A former colleague said she is declining interviews.

Days earlier, she had worked intensely to help prepare the White House team for a summit in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, former intelligence agency colleagues said. She was due to take up a new assignment for the CIA in Europe, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.

After the summit, the CIA informed the analyst that she had lost her security clearance, effectively ending her career. “She did most of the prep for the Putin summit and to this day has no idea why her clearance was removed,” said a former colleague, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation from the Trump administration.

Gabbard and her office failed to properly coordinate the move with the CIA before revoking the security clearances of the 37 current and former officials, said a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the matter. It appeared that Gabbard and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were unaware of the CIA employee’s covert mission, the official added.

“ODNI didn’t meaningfully consult with the agency,” the official told NBC News.

ODNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman defended Gabbard’s decision, saying in an email it was designed to ensure “individuals who have violated the trust placed in them by weaponizing, politicizing, manipulating, or leaking classified intelligence are no longer allowed to do so.”

In a social media post, Coleman added: “No one was ‘blindsided.’ We coordinated with all agencies before sending the letter.” Coleman said the memo from Gabbard revoking security clearances “listed names and not agency affiliations, meaning @DNIGabbard did not out any ‘undercover’ officer.”

Asked about relations between the two spy chiefs, CIA spokeswoman Liz Lyons said: “Director Ratcliffe and the president’s entire elite national security team are committed to eradicating the politicization of intelligence and are focused on executing President Trump’s national security priorities, and keeping the American people safe.”

The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal first reported the incident.

The fired CIA analyst had previously worked as a national intelligence officer specializing in Russia and Eurasia and had been ordered to help organize the assessment of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Since Trump returned to the White House in January, the administration has taken action against officials who took part in the Russia investigation, those who prosecuted Jan. 6 rioters and those who pursued criminal cases against Trump.

A former senior intelligence official, Larry Pfeiffer, said it would be reckless not to confer with the employee’s spy agency before rescinding their security clearance and revealing their identity. He said that could put an officer at risk and jeopardize relations with a foreign government.

“Look, it’s just common sense to consult with the agency that would be most impacted by a decision to pull the clearance of one of their employees,” Pfeiffer said, “especially in such a public manner.”

Ongoing friction

The episode underscored continuing friction between Gabbard and Ratcliffe. The rift has been apparent across Washington, known to lawmakers, intelligence community employees and Pentagon officials.

In July, Gabbard declassified a 2020 report from the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. She did this over the objections of some CIA officials, who argued the details should remain secret to protect sensitive spying sources and methods, NBC News previously reported.

Gabbard also raised eyebrows at the CIA when she unveiled plans to move preparation of the president’s daily intelligence briefing from CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to the national intelligence director’s office a few miles away, in McLean.

Presidents regularly receive a classified intelligence briefing, a digital document presented by senior officials that can shape a commander in chief’s decision-making. While Gabbard oversees and approves the presidential daily brief, a large staff of analysts and other employees at the CIA compiles the briefing, creating detailed text, graphics and videos based on the latest intelligence.

Dozens of intelligence officials fired

Former intelligence officials say the CIA analyst is one of dozens of career employees at the country’s spy agencies who have been abruptly fired or forced out in recent months for purported disloyalty. They have been ousted without being told of the evidence for the decision or having a chance to defend themselves.

Legal experts say Trump has wielded his authority over security clearances unlike any previous president, using it as a tool to punish former officials who have criticized him and to silence dissent in the government.

The administration has defended its actions, saying those who were stripped of their security clearance had allegedly politicized intelligence for partisan purposes, had failed to safeguard classified material, had failed to adhere to professional intelligence “analytic tradecraft standards” or engaged in unspecified “detrimental” conduct. Gabbard, in announcing the move, did not provide evidence for these claims.

The 37 people targeted by Gabbard last week were mostly former officials who worked in national security roles during the Obama and Biden administrations. Of the 37 listed, 25 had signed a letter in 2019, when they were private citizens, backing efforts by Democratic lawmakers to launch an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump abused his power when he asked Ukraine’s government to look for derogatory information about his political rival, Joe Biden.

Right-wing activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who portrays herself as exposing “disloyal” government officials and civil servants, had flagged the 2019 letter in a recent social media post.

Revoking former intelligence officials’ security clearances could damage their reputation and limit their long-term ability to find jobs, former officials said. Security clearances are a standard requirement for many senior posts at defense and technology companies with federal contracts.

Apart from the CIA analyst, there were at least two other current intelligence officers on Gabbard’s list. One was Vinh Nguyen at the National Security Agency, who colleagues say was recognized as the intelligence community’s top mind on cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence. The government recruited Nguyen at the age of 17 and he was the youngest NSA employee ever promoted to a senior position, former colleagues said.

Former intelligence officers described him as a generational genius who could not be replaced. “The U.S. government is the big loser here,” said a former senior intelligence official, referring to Nguyen’s ouster.

In 2016, when Nguyen was a national intelligence officer overseeing cybersecurity, he was asked to help direct the intelligence assessment of Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. The assessment by U.S. spy agencies concluded that Russia had waged information warfare to try to undermine Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and help Trump.

But Trump and Gabbard have dismissed the assessment as false and part of a conspiracy they claim Obama and his aides orchestrated. A bipartisan Senate investigation overseen by then-Sen. Marco Rubio later endorsed the findings of the intelligence assessment that Putin sought to help Trump win. The Russian leader also later said himself that he wanted to see Trump prevail.

The officials who lost their security clearances also included two former career intelligence officers who delivered the daily intelligence briefing to Trump during his first term. Several others on the list said they no longer have active security clearances and learned that they were on the roster from social media.

Source : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna223285