A view of the site of Thursday’s Israeli strike that damaged and destroyed residential buildings, at Shati (Beach) refugee camp, in Gaza City, Jul 4, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa)
Hamas said it had responded on Friday (Jul 4) in “a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict.
US President Donald Trump earlier announced a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours.
Hamas wrote on its official website: “The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza.
“The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterized by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework,” the statement said.
In a sign of potential challenges still facing the sides, a Palestinian official of a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remain over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals.
Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the US ally’s war in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement and in their public statements, the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Netanyahu is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday.
Trump has said he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire while noting that the Israeli leader wants one as well.
“We hope it’s going to happen. And we’re looking forward to it happening sometime next week,” he told reporters earlier this week. “We want to get the hostages out.”
‘STOP THIS WAR’
Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said.
Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an airstrike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2am (7am, Singapore time), killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war.
The Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons and dismantled Hamas outposts in the last 24 hours, while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers.
Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight.
“There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother,” said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was shot dead in another incident, she said.
“He went to get aid, so he can get a bag of flour for us to eat. He got a bullet in his neck. It killed him on the spot,” she said.
Adlar Mouamar said her nephew, Ashraf, was also killed in Gaza. “Our hearts are broken. We ask the world, we don’t want food…We want them to end the bloodshed. We want them to stop this war.”
‘MAKE THE DEAL’
In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a US Embassy building on US Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives.
Demonstrators set up a symbolic Sabbath dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
The Sabbath, or Shabbat, observed from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall, is often marked by Jewish families with a traditional Friday night dinner.
“Only you can make the deal. We want one beautiful deal. One beautiful hostage deal,” said Gideon Rosenberg, 48, from Tel Aviv.
Rosenberg was wearing a shirt with the image of hostage Avinatan Or, one of his employees who was abducted by Palestinian militants from the Nova musical festival on Oct 7, 2023. He is among the 20 hostages who are believed to be alive after more than 600 days of captivity.
Ruby Chen, 55, the father of 19-year-old American-Israeli Itay, who is believed to have been killed after being taken captive, urged Netanyahu to return from meeting with Trump in Washington on Monday with a deal that brings back all hostages.
“Let this United States Independence Day mark the beginning of a lasting peace… one that secures the sacred value of human life and one that bestows dignity to the deceased hostages by ensuring their return to proper burial,” he said, also appealing to Trump.
Itay Chen, also a German national, was serving as an Israeli soldier when Hamas carried out its surprise attack on Oct 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed the tax and spending cut bill Republicans muscled through Congress this week, turning it into law by his own self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.
At nearly 900 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations.
Democrats united against the legislation, but were powerless to stop it as long as Republicans stayed united. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote. The House passed an earlier iteration of the bill in May with just one vote to spare. It passed the final version Thursday 218-214.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., left, speaks in the House chamber prior to the final vote for President Donald Trump’s signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, at the Capitol, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Here’s the latest on what’s in the bill and when some of its provisions go into effect.
GOP bill includes reductions for businesses and new tax breaks
Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump’s first term expire. The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill, solidifying the tax cuts approved in Trump’s first term.
It temporarily would add new tax deductions on tip, overtime and auto loans. There’s also a $6,000 deduction for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year, a nod to his pledge to end taxes on Social Security benefits.
It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200. Millions of families at lower income levels would not get the full credit.
A cap on state and local deductions, called SALT, would quadruple to $40,000 for five years. It’s a provision important to New York and other high tax states, though the House wanted it to last for 10 years.
There are scores of business-related tax cuts, including allowing businesses to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment and research. Proponents say this will boost economic growth.
The wealthiest households would see a $12,000 increase from the legislation, and the bill would cost the poorest people $1,600 a year, mainly due to reductions in Medicaid and food aid, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House’s version.
GOP bill funds the border wall, deportations and a missile shield
The bill would provide some $350 billion for Trump’s border and national security agenda, including for the U.S.-Mexico border wall and for 100,000 migrant detention facility beds, as he aims to fulfill his promise of the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.
Money would go for hiring 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, with $10,000 signing bonuses and a surge of Border Patrol officers, as well. The goal is to deport some 1 million people per year.
To help pay for it, immigrants would face various new fees, including when seeking asylum protections.
For the Pentagon, the bill would provide billions for ship building, munitions systems, and quality of life measures for servicemen and women, as well as $25 billion for the development of the Golden Dome missile defense system. The Defense Department would have $1 billion for border security.
Medicaid, SNAP face deep cuts to fund bill’s tax breaks and spending
To help partly offset the lost tax revenue and new spending, Republicans aim to cut back on Medicaid and food assistance for people below the poverty line.
Republicans argue they are trying to rightsize the safety net programs for the population they were initially designed to serve, mainly pregnant women, the disabled and children, and root out what they describe as waste, fraud and abuse.
The package includes new 80-hour-a-month work requirements for many adults receiving Medicaid and food stamps, including older people up to age 65. Parents of children 14 and older would have to meet the program’s work requirements.
There’s also a proposed new $35 co-payment that can be charged to patients using Medicaid services.
More than 71 million people rely on Medicaid, which expanded under Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and 40 million use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Most already work, according to analysts.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law and 3 million more would not qualify for food stamps, also known as SNAP benefits.
Republicans are looking to have states pick up some of the cost for SNAP benefits. Currently, the federal government funds all benefit costs. Under the bill, states beginning in 2028 will be required to contribute a set percentage of those costs if their payment error rate exceeds 6%. Payment errors include both underpayments and overpayments.
But the Senate bill temporarily delays the start date of that cost-sharing for states with the highest SNAP error rates. Alaska has the highest error rate in the nation at nearly 25%, according to Department of Agriculture data. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, had fought for the exception. She was a decisive vote in getting the bill through the Senate.
The ‘big beautiful’ bill slashes clean energy tax credits
Republicans are proposing to dramatically roll back tax breaks designed to boost clean energy projects fueled by renewable sources such as energy and wind. The tax breaks were a central component of President Joe Biden’s 2022 landmark bill focused on addressing climate change and lowering health care costs.
Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden went so far as to call the GOP provisions a “death sentence for America’s wind and solar industries and an inevitable hike in utility bills.”
A tax break for people who buy new or used electric vehicles would expire on Sept. 30 of this year, instead of at the end of 2032 under current law.
Meanwhile, a tax credit for the production of critical materials will be expanded to include metallurgical coal used in steelmaking.
The bill creates ‘Trump Accounts’ — and funds a national hero garden
A number of extra provisions reflect other GOP priorities.
The bill creates a new children’s savings program, called Trump Accounts, with a potential $1,000 deposit from the Treasury.
The Senate provided $40 million to establish Trump’s long-sought “National Garden of American Heroes.”
There’s a new excise tax on university endowments and a new tax on remittances, or transfers of money that people in the U.S. send abroad. The tax is equal to 1% of the transfer.
A $200 tax on gun silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns was eliminated.
One provision bars for one year Medicaid payments to family planning providers that provide abortions, namely Planned Parenthood.
Another section expands the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, a hard-fought provision from GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, for those impacted by nuclear development and testing.
Billions would go for the Artemis moon mission and for the exploration of Mars, while $88 million is earmarked for a pandemic response accountability committee.
Additionally, a provision would increase the nation’s debt limit, by $5 trillion, to allow continued borrowing to pay already accrued bills.
State AI regulations cut from bill after a GOP uproar
The Senate overwhelmingly revolted against a proposal meant to deter states from regulating artificial intelligence. Republican governors across the country asked for the moratorium to be removed and the Senate voted to do so with a resounding 99-1 vote.
A provision was thrown in at the final hours that will provide $10 billion annually to rural hospitals for five years, or $50 billion in total. The Senate bill had originally provided $25 billion for the program, but that number was upped to win over holdout GOP senators and a coalition of House Republicans warning that reduced Medicaid provider taxes would hurt rural hospitals.
The amended bill also stripped out a new tax on wind and solar projects that use a certain percentage of components from China.
The senior superintendent of police said following an input, a search operation was carried out during which the assault rifle and cartridges were recovered.
The police suspected that the weapon and cartridges were dropped by a drone from across the border.(Representational image)
An assault rifle AK-47 along with 37 live cartridges were recovered from an agricultural field near Ghoda Chakk village in the Mamdot area of Ferozepur along the India-Pakistan border, an official said on Thursday.
The police suspected that the weapon and cartridges were dropped by a drone from across the border.
Senior superintendent of police Bhupinder Singh said following an input, a search operation was carried out during which the assault rifle and cartridges were recovered.
With hundreds of civilians shot and killed near aid distribution centers in Gaza in recent weeks, allegations mount over Israeli military tactics.
Mahmoud Qassem, Khader’s father (above), said his son “hadn’t even begun to live his life.”Image: Mohammed al Madhoun/DW
A little over a week ago, Mahmoud Qassem lost his son, Khader. The 19-year-old had been trying to reach a food distribution center run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central Gaza.
“The last time his mother and I heard from him was at 11 p.m. that night. He told me he was in a safe place — he had gone to the Netzarim distribution center — and I told him to take care,” Qassem told DW from a tent in Gaza City, where the family has been displaced.
“At 1 a.m., I tried calling him again, but his phone wasn’t receiving calls. I started to feel anxious. There was no word the whole time, and I waited until 2 p.m. on Friday. I felt like a fire was burning inside me,” said the 50-year-old.
On Friday, Qassem went to central Gaza and checked the hospitals until he discovered that Khader had been killed. When the body was eventually recovered, after coordination with the Israeli military, it showed that his son had died from several gunshot wounds.
“A 19-year-old boy who hadn’t even begun to live his life, all for fetching a box,” he said, barely holding back tears. He added that he hadn’t wanted Khader to go, but his son had felt that he needed to provide for his family.
“The situation here is beyond description. People are sacrificing themselves to make it. Only God knows what we are going through. No one feels for us — not Hamas, not Israel, not the Arab countries, not anyone.”
Food, other supplies extremely scarce in Gaza
Almost daily reports of violence, injuries and killings tied to food and aid distribution highlight the unbearable reality facing Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, who have become almost completely dependent on supplies entering through the crossings with Israel. Nearly the entire population has been displaced, and around 57,000 Gazans, many of them women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. An analysis in May found that 93% of the remaining population is experiencing acute food insecurity.
Food and other supplies are extremely scarce in Gaza, even with the resumption of aid deliveries by the UN and new distribution centers — three of which are currently open — run by the GHF, a US-Israeli organization, after an almost three-month Israeli blockade.
Israeli officials justified the blockade by claiming that Hamas is stealing aid and using it to finance its operations. This claim has been rejected by the UN and other international and local aid groups, which have had a well-established network and distribution mechanism in Gaza for many years.
But aid trucks have repeatedly been looted, either by armed gangs or by ordinary people desperately trying to get hold of food. Meanwhile, the Israeli army has intensified its airstrikes, issuing widespread evacuation orders for large parts of northern and southern Gaza.
Saeed Abu Libda, a 44 year-old father of five, recently managed to pick up one sack of flour when a truck passed by near Khan Younis. “I know it was risky but we need to eat,” he told DW by phone, since foreign journalists are not allowed in Gaza.
Abu Libda said there were thousands of people waiting for the trucks, when suddenly he heard two shells being fired. “I saw people on the ground, some were injured, some were cut to pieces. I was injured by a shrapnel in my abdomen, but luckily it was a light injury.”
Malaysia’s top two judiciary positions are vacant after Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat retired as Chief Justice on Wednesday (Jul 2), and Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim retired as the President of the Court of Appeal a day later.
Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Mohammed Hashim (left) will take on the duties of Malaysia’s Chief Justice following Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat’s (right) retirement on Jul 2, 2025. (Photos: Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of Malaysia)
Malaysia’s third-ranked judge, Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, will take on the duties of the Chief Justice following Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat’s retirement on Wednesday (Jul 2).
Judge Hasnah will exercise the powers of the Chief Justice “until that position is filled”, said the Chief Registrar’s Office of the Federal Court of Malaysia on Thursday.
Malaysia’s top two judiciary positions are vacant after Tengku Maimun retired as Chief Justice when she turned 66 on Wednesday, and Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim retired as the President of the Court of Appeal when he turned 66 a day later.
Judge Hasnah reached the mandatory retirement age of 66 in May, but her term was extended by six months until mid-November by Malaysia’s king.
The Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Abdul Rahman Sebli, will retire this month when his six-month extension ends.
The statement by the Chief Registrar’s Office did not mention the role of the Court of Appeal president, but it added: “The Malaysian Judiciary remains steadfast in carrying out its responsibility as the guardian of justice and will continue to serve the people and the nation with utmost dedication.”
The judicial vacancies at the highest level have caused disquiet in Malaysia’s legal and political circles.
On Monday, the Malaysian Bar slammed the “silence and indecision on matters concerning the highest level of the judiciary”, calling it “indefensible” and a “failure in institutional responsibility”.
“A breakdown in governance risks damaging public confidence in the judiciary and opens the door to speculation and unhealthy conjecture,” said Malaysian Bar president Mohamad Ezri Abdul Wahab, whose body comprises the country’s 21,400 advocates and solicitors.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s governing coalition, on Tuesday called for a six-month extension for Tengku Maimun and Abang Iskandar “given their contributions and performances”.
There will be “many vacancies left in the Federal Court due to the recent and impending retirements of Federal Court judges”, the DAP’s central working committee said in a statement.
CNA reported in February that nine of the 14 judges of the Federal Court, the country’s apex judicial body, are reaching the retirement age within months of each other.
Extending Tengku Maimun and Abang Iskandar’s terms would “ensure a smooth transition of new appointees to the Federal Court in due course”, the DAP committee added.
However, Communications Minister and government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil said the Cabinet did not deliberate in detail on the appointment of a new Chief Justice during its meeting on Wednesday.
The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as Anwar is currently on a week-long working visit to Italy, France and Brazil, Fahmi said, as reported by news outlet Malay Mail.
PRIME MINISTER’S ROLE IN APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES
The Chief Justice is appointed by the king, also known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on the prime minister’s advice and after consultation with the Conference of Rulers made up of the heads of the country’s royal households.
Malaysia established a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) in 2009 that proposes qualified judicial candidates to the prime minister.
The JAC Act was meant to ensure that the selection process of judges would be unbiased, but lawyers told CNA previously that, in practice, new appointments often attract intense lobbying by politicians and segments in Malaysia’s royal households.
There has been talk that Terrirudin Mohd Salleh – Malaysia’s former Attorney General who was appointed to the Federal Court in November 2024 with the backing of Anwar –is being promoted by politicians and segments of the royal households to be the next Chief Justice, CNA reported in February.
In April, then-Chief Justice Tengku Maimun said removing the prime minister’s role in the appointment of judges could free it from any perception of political influence.
There have been proposals to amend the JAC Act 2009 and the Federal Constitution to remove the role of the prime minister in the appointment of judges, she said in a speech at the 24th Commonwealth Law conference in Malta, as reported by news site Free Malaysia Today.
“Such changes, in my view, would reinforce the impartiality of the selection process, ensuring that judicial appointments remain firmly grounded on merit and free from any perception of political influence,” she said.
Jennifer Lopez is looking back on her short-lived marriage to Ben Affleck.
The “Hustlers” star debuted six new songs for 30 fans at an exclusive listening party in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and one song in particular — “Wreckage of You” — seems to be about her “very difficult” split from the actor.
“‘Wreckage of You’ is a pop ballad that she told us she cowrote and recorded two weeks ago,” said attendee Edgardo Luis Rivera, per Us Weekly.
Jennifer Lopez is looking back on her short-lived marriage to Ben Affleck in her latest song “Wreckage of You.” AFP via Getty Images
“She said she was lying in bed after a long day of tour rehearsals when the idea of the song came to her. She mentioned how last year was a very difficult time for her both personally and professionally. She had to cancel her tour and really focus on herself,” the fan further told the outlet.
“Fast-forward to one year later, and she feels better and stronger than ever, so she wanted to write a song about coming out of a bad situation much stronger.”
Lopez “kept thinking of the word ‘wreck’ because it means destruction, but she wasn’t destroyed,” Rivera told the outlet. “In fact, the lyrics of the song are, ‘I’m stronger after the wreckage of you.’”
A second partygoer echoed Riviera’s comments, telling the outlet that the new ballad is a “very emotional, empowering song about walking away from a relationship and coming out a stronger person.”
The other songs played — “Up All Night,” “Regular,” “Free,” “Save Me Tonight” and “Birthday” — were all reportedly upbeat songs that have “a real vibe to them,” according to Rivera.
Reps for Affleck and Lopez did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Lopez, 55, made headlines in August 2024 when she shockingly filed for divorce from Affleck after two years of marriage.
The split came months after it was reported that they had been separated since April of that year.
Their divorce was finalized in January. However, the terms of their dissolution agreement wouldn’t go into effect until Feb. 21 — at which point, Lopez and the “Gone Girl” star, 52, were officially declared single.
Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island, mansion has become synonymous with the singer’s star-studded gatherings, especially on the Fourth of July.
Dozens of A-list celebrities — including Blake Lively, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez and more — have partied in the $17 million estate, which has gotten heavy use since Swift purchased it in 2013.
Keep reading for a peek inside the coastal manse where all the Independence Day magic happens.
Melania Trump praises Taylor Swift after Donald says singer is ‘no longer hot’
The First Lady loves Miss Americana.
Melania Trump praised Taylor Swift’s talent while visiting a Washington, DC, children’s hospital on Wednesday.
When one young patient told Trump that Swift was the best singer, the former model diplomatically agreed, calling the “Karma” hitmaker “very talented.”
Melania Trump praised Taylor Swift after husband Donald said he hates the singer. Getty Images
The First Lady’s husband, President Donald Trump, has been outspoken about his disdain for the Grammy winner since she endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
The president later criticized Swift’s appearance, writing on Truth Social in May, “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?'”
Taylor Swift teased Travis Kelce’s NFL pals in hilarious post-concert photo op: ‘More muscles than us!’
Call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team.
After Taylor Swift’s impromptu performance at boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Tight Ends and Friends concert last week, the superstar was playfully “talking s–t” to Kelce and two retired NFL stars, according to one of them.
“The Man” singer, 35, told former Tennessee Titans linebacker Will Compton and tackle Taylor Lewan, and her beau that she had “more muscles” than the pro athletes.
“Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast hosts Compton and Lewan went up to Kelce after a “historic week for the boys” to ask for a photo with him and his Grammy-winning girlfriend.
In a clip from their podcast, Compton, 35, details how he leaned over to Travis, also 35, and said, “Hey buddy, you know I’m not leaving this place without a flex… without a pose with you and your girl.”
“You got it,” he said Travis replied before asking the “Cruel Summer” singer to pose for the pic.
“The flex photo,” as Compton calls it, is one of the most-liked posts on their podcast’s Instagram account.
Compton shared that after they snapped the shot, “Taylor [was] talking s–t afterward saying she’s got more muscles than us!”
“It was a great night,” he added.
Taylor took the stage June 24 in Nashville for an impromptu performance of “Shake It Off” during the “Tight Ends and Friends” concert where country stars Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Chase Rice and more had scheduled sets.
Swift worked out “six days a week for sometimes two hours a day,” throughout her nearly two-year-long Eras Tour from March 2023 to December 2024, according to her trainer.
The “Lover” songstress previously revealed that she also trained for shows by singing her entire 44-song setlist while running on a treadmill “fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.”
Actor Michael Madsen arrives at the Hollywood Film Awards in Beverly Hills, California November 1, 2015. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Michael Madsen, an actor who appeared in dozens of films including “Reservoir Dogs” and “Thelma & Louise,” has died at age 67, his representatives said on Thursday.
Madsen died of cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California, his manager, Ron Smith, said.
Born in Chicago, Madsen began acting in the early 1980s in projects that included the TV show “St. Elsewhere” and the movie “The Natural” on his way to racking up more than 300 on-screen credits.
He played Mr. Blonde in 1992 film “Reservoir Dogs” and appeared in several other movies from director Quentin Tarantino including “Kill Bill,” “The Hateful Eight” and “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”
“In the last two years Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film,” said a statement from Smith along with fellow manager Susan Ferris and publicist Liz Rodriguez.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”
The two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some U.S. weapons shipments to Kyiv during the nearly hour-long conversation, according to a readout provided by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.
U.S. attempts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled, and Trump has faced growing calls – including from some Republicans – to increase pressure on Putin to negotiate in earnest.
Within hours of the call’s conclusion, an apparent Russian drone attack sparked a fire in an apartment building in a northern suburb of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said, indicating little change in the trajectory of the conflict.
In Kyiv itself, Reuters witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy machine-gun fire as air defense units battled drones over the capital, while Russian shelling killed five people in the eastern part of the country.
“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters in brief comments at an air base outside Washington, before departing for a campaign-style event in Iowa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meanwhile, told reporters in Denmark earlier in the day that he hopes to speak to Trump as soon as Friday about the ongoing pause in some weapons shipments, which was first disclosed earlier this week.
Trump, speaking to reporters as he left Washington for Iowa, said “we haven’t” completely paused the weapons flow but blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for sending so many weapons that it risked weakening U.S. defenses.
“We’re giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons. And we’re working with them and trying to help them, but we haven’t. You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” he said.
The diplomatic back-and-forth comes as the U.S. has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine due to low stockpiles, sources earlier told Reuters, just as Ukraine faces a Russian summer offensive and increasingly frequent attacks on civilian targets.
Putin, for his part, has continued to assert he will stop his invasion only if the conflict’s “root causes” have been addressed – Russian shorthand for the issue of NATO enlargement and Western support for Ukraine, including the rejection of any notion of Ukraine joining the NATO alliance.
Russian leaders are also angling to establish greater control over political decisions made in Kyiv and other Eastern European capitals, NATO leaders have said.
The pause in U.S. weapons shipments caught Ukraine off-guard and has generated widespread confusion about Trump’s current views on the conflict, given his statement just last week that he would try to free up a Patriot missile defense system for use by Kyiv.
Ukrainian leaders called in the acting U.S. envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington, and caution that the pause in U.S. weapons shipments would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend against intensifying Russian air strikes and battlefield advances.
The Pentagon’s move has meant a cut in deliveries of the Patriot defense missiles that Ukraine relies on to destroy fast-moving ballistic missiles, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Chinese automaker Chery ordered engineers and suppliers to travel on short notice to proving grounds in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province.
Over a weekend, they planned an overhaul of the suspension and steering on the Chinese version of Chery’s Omoda 5 SUV for Europe, a key market in its global expansion. The problem: The car had been designed for China’s smooth streets and slower speeds. Now, it had to withstand Europe’s winding, bumpy roads.
Just six weeks later, Chery started shipping the European-spec Omoda 5 to dealers, complete with new steering, traction control, brakes, vibration dampers and tires.
“You can forget doing something that fast with a European automaker,” said Riccardo Tonelli, Chery’s senior vehicle-dynamics expert, who led the overhaul. “It’s impossible.”
Tonelli, who previously worked at an Italian carmaker and a Korean tire maker, estimated Western manufacturers would take well over a year to push similar improvements through their comparatively bureaucratic organizations.
Chery’s Omoda makeover exemplifies the disruptive speed and flexibility of Chinese automakers, which have seized control of their home market, the world’s largest, from once-dominant foreign competitors. Now, China’s rising auto giants are racing to expand globally, with Chery as the leading exporter. EV giant BYD, China’s largest automaker, poses a bigger long-term competitive threat, industry executives say.
China’s emerging automotive dominance owes largely to a singular manufacturing achievement – slashing vehicle-development time by more than half, to as little as 18 months for an all-new or redesigned model. The average age of a Chinese-brand electric or plug-in hybrid model on sale domestically is 1.6 years, versus 5.4 years for foreign brands, consultancy AlixPartners found.
Chery Omoda 5 and Omoda E5 models on display at Stoner Motor Company in Gillingham, Britain, in November. Chery is the leading exporter among China’s automakers. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe
That speed has rattled legacy automakers, which have historically redesigned vehicles about once every five years, or once a decade for pickups.
This account of how Chinese automakers outmaneuvered global rivals is based on interviews with more than 40 people, including current and former executives, employees and investors at five Chinese and seven global automakers and more than a dozen industry experts. Reuters visited BYD’s Shenzhen headquarters, factories of Chinese EV brands Zeekr and Nio, and European R&D centers of Zeekr and Chery.
The U.S. and Europe have imposed tariffs to shield their car industries, alleging China unfairly subsidizes EVs. But Chinese automakers’ development speed has emerged as the biggest factor in their cost and technological advantages over foreign competitors, Reuters found. Shaving years off vehicle-development cycles saves capital, lowers prices and ensures Chinese players have the freshest models during a technological revolution, executives and industry experts said.
The urgent pace is baked into BYD’s structure. Taking advantage of China’s lower labor costs, BYD deploys about 900,000 employees, nearly as many as the combined workforces of Toyota and Volkswagen, to accelerate design and manufacturing. At its headquarters, BYD promotes a work-focused life through company-subsidized housing, transportation and schools. Unlike most automakers, BYD makes most of its own parts rather than relying on suppliers, another factor that speeds development and lowers costs.
“The survivors will be hugely powerful. But it’s a very cruel and competitive process.”
Chinese automakers’ employees often work six 12-hour days a week, said Peter Matkin, Chery’s chief international-brands engineer. “Global automakers have no idea what they’re up against,” he said.
BYD and Chery each increased sales by about 40% globally in 2024, as U.S. EV pioneer Tesla saw its first annual sales decline, due largely to its aging model lineup. This year, Tesla’s sales are falling as CEO Elon Musk alienates many customers with his right-wing political activities.
Neither Tesla nor Musk commented for this report. Musk said last year that Chinese carmakers could “demolish” competitors.
Chinese automakers’ gains have come at the expense of global rivals. From 2020 to 2024, the top five foreign automakers in China — Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, General Motors and Nissan — collectively saw their passenger-car sales in that market plunge from 9.4 million annually to 6.4 million, according to data provided to Reuters by consultancy Automobility. Today’s top five Chinese automakers saw sales more than double to 9.5 million last year from 4.6 million vehicles in 2020.
China’s leading foreign automaker, Volkswagen, now develops vehicles with China’s Xpeng, a fast-growing EV maker. Other global automakers, including Toyota and Stellantis, have pursued similar partnerships with Chinese counterparts to learn how they operate.
CEOs and other executives at global automakers including Ford, VW, Stellantis, GM, Renault and others have openly acknowledged the fierce competitive threat posed by Chinese rivals, often citing their development speed. VW’s China chief Ralf Brandstaetter, at April’s Shanghai auto show, touted efforts to speed development of models to compete with Chinese EVs and hybrids, saying it aimed to “be as fast and as competitive as a Chinese startup.”
That’s a reversal: Until about a decade ago, China’s automakers often copied foreign rivals. Chery once made Chevy lookalikes. BYD made Toyota knockoffs.
After mimicking foreign vehicles, China’s industry started scrutinizing competitors’ engineering processes and devising their own different — and faster — paths to product launches, said Allen Han, a professor of automotive studies at Shanghai’s Tongji University and a veteran of Ford and two Chinese automakers.
Chinese engineers have essentially concluded that global industry-standard vetting processes are a wasteful pursuit of “excessive quality,” Han said.
Instead, Chinese automakers release good-enough vehicles quickly, with far fewer prototypes and a fail-fast philosophy mirroring Silicon Valley tech startups, industry executives and experts said. They lean more on simulations and artificial intelligence than real-world testing for safety and durability. They treat model launches more like the start than the end of development, adding frequent upgrades based on consumer feedback.
This urgency stems in part from fierce competition that’s creating more losers than winners: 93 of 169 automakers operating in China have market shares below 0.1%, according to research firm JATO Dynamics. Few make a profit, a struggle exacerbated by overcapacity. China’s assembly lines can produce 54 million cars annually, almost double the 27.5 million the factories produced last year, according to consultancy Gasgoo Research Institute. With supply exceeding demand, automakers are slashing prices.
“The survivors will be hugely powerful,” said Xpeng President Brian Gu. “But it’s a very cruel and competitive process.”
China’s EV-price war sparked alarm after BYD in May discounted 20 models, including its entry-level Seagull, which was selling for 55,800 yuan ($7,789), opens new tab. Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun called the industry “unhealthy,” citing an increasingly common industry practice of dumping surplus new-vehicle inventory by selling zero-mileage cars as “used” at steep discounts in China.
To offset losses, China automakers are racing to boost exports globally. In many countries, their vehicles fetch prices on par with comparable models from global automakers – and about double the retail prices the Chinese-brand cars sell for at home.
“Traditional automakers can’t compete on price because the Chinese will always win,” said Phil Dunne, managing director of Stax consulting, who has worked with global and Chinese automakers. But in markets such as Europe, established global automakers “still have a better understanding of the customer; they have invested heavily in new models and their products are getting better.”
COMPANY TOWN
At BYD’s Shenzhen headquarters, cars and buses carrying workers traverse a dozen gates into the campus, a warren of low-rise buildings. Laundry hangs on balconies of employee-housing blocks. Youthful employees busy themselves inside offices and product-testing warehouses, many wearing blue uniforms, untucked shirts and tennis shoes.
“We’re into that kind of young energy, young talent,” said spokesperson Delilah Zhou, who lives in one of many company-subsidized apartments.
The vibe is glitzier at a BYD museum on the campus. Visitors including Reuters journalists recently test-drove two top-of-the-range BYD electric vehicles, the Yangwang U8 SUV and the U9 supercar – a $233,000, 1,300-horsepower two-seater that dances and jumps.
The scene underscored BYD’s ambition to compete in every global market and segment. The automaker increased its China sales from about 400,000 cars in 2020 to more than 3.7 million last year with a dizzying array of models. BYD said it added 200,000 employees – more than General Motors’ entire workforce – in one hiring binge between August and October 2024.
BYD’s market capitalization is $141 billion, almost triple that of VW but still a fraction of Tesla’s near-$1 trillion value, by far the highest of any automaker.
BYD’s product-launch pace, however, leaves Tesla’s in the dust, and BYD sells more than double the number of cars annually. Tesla has five models, only two of which sell in volume. Since Tesla launched its best-selling Model Y in 2020, BYD has rolled out more than 40 all-new vehicles and more than 139 updated or refreshed models, according to JATO data.
Unlike Tesla, BYD also has a thriving gas-electric hybrid business. BYD offers so many models and variants, under four brands, that spokesperson Zhou struggled to recall them all.
“So many,” she said with a laugh. “We have a different strategy than Tesla.”
BYD’s founder and chairman, Wang Chuanfu, has been as pivotal to BYD as Musk has been to Tesla. Yet he is more focused on cars than Musk, the brash South African-born tycoon with a sprawling portfolio of other industrial ventures.
Wang spends many nights in Shenzhen employee housing, eats simple meals and works long days, sometimes in a BYD uniform, two BYD investors and others who know him told Reuters. Unlike many Chinese executives, who are chauffeured around, he often drives himself, said Zhang Wei, a former top-10 stakeholder.
“His life is all about BYD – nothing else,” said Zhang. “This guy is cheap. He’s saving money for you.”
Wang has built BYD’s immense workforce in part by paying modest salaries and recruiting from second-tier colleges, the investors told Reuters. Wang operates with a flat leadership structure with many direct reports, said Mark Blundell, BYD’s UK marketing manager.
“There are few layers between us and the chairman,” he said. “You get decisions quickly, giving us agility and speed.”
Another factor in BYD’s efficiency: its ability to make most components itself rather than buying from suppliers. The Seal electric sedan, for instance, contains 75% in-house parts, compared with 46% for Tesla’s Model 3 and 35% for VW’s electric ID.3, according to an AlixPartners analysis.
Engineers at BYD and other Chinese automakers are willing to change designs and components later in the model-development process than foreign competitors, which employ strict timelines and vetting milestones.
That contrast was evident when Toyota entered a joint venture with BYD to develop Toyota’s bZ3 electric sedan, a China-only EV released in early 2023, according to two Toyota employees. Toyota’s team, one of the people said, was “flabbergasted” by BYD’s willingness to make design and part changes late in development.
Toyota, renowned for vehicle reliability and exacting manufacturing processes, rarely makes significant changes once it has fixed a model’s specifications at the beginning of a four-year development process, the Toyota employees said. Unlike most Chinese automakers, Toyota typically builds six different prototype versions of a model and bulletproofs its reliability in tens of thousands of miles of test-driving.
Toyota engineers came away impressed with BYD’s go-fast approach but wary of risks to long-term reliability, the Toyota staffers said. BYD, one said, offers a “bag full of lessons” but few that Toyota would adopt. Skipping prototypes and road-testing and embarking on late-stage design changes, the person said, amount to “a big no-no in our world” because of worries about “an impact on quality.”
The automaker continues to question and monitor BYD’s long-term durability, the person said.
Toyota declined to comment on the differences between its approach and BYD’s.
Wang told reporters as early as 2008 that BYD would one day outsell Toyota, the world’s largest automaker. Recently, BYD told investors, it plans to sell half its vehicles outside China by 2030 – a goal that, if achieved, could mean BYD takes Toyota’s crown.
But BYD could struggle to sustain its breakneck sales-growth pace outside China – especially if other major markets erect trade barriers like the United States, where Chinese-brand vehicles are all but banned.
“It will be pretty challenging for BYD to reach that goal without access to the U.S. market,” said Tu Le, founder of consultancy Sino Auto Insights, of BYD’s global sales target.
LEGACY AUTOMAKERS ‘CAN’T DO SPEED’
Zeekr, a premium brand of Chinese giant Geely, has worked to perfect its flexible manufacturing approach – a process originally developed by Japanese automakers that allows building a variety of models on one line. On a Reuters visit to its factory in the eastern city of Ningbo, one line shifted without pause between models including Zeekr’s 001 sedan, 009 minivan and the Polestar 4, an electric sedan from another Geely brand.
The vehicles’ journey from idea to assembly is accelerated by round-the-clock engineering. Zeekr engineers in Shanghai and Hangzhou pass work at the end of each day to colleagues at its design center in Gothenburg, Sweden, enabling up to 20 uninterrupted hours of development, said Zeekr Vice President Yun Xu, a project manager for several models.
All major automakers have embraced digital design, virtual reality and artificial intelligence to varying degrees. But Chinese automakers such as Zeekr have pushed further into such technologies to slash development time, industry experts said.
Gothenburg engineers run high-speed digital simulations by plugging individual components into a “hardware-in-the-loop” system, which tests basic parts such as turn signals in a half-hour and gives feedback. Tests on more-critical components, such as brakes or suspension, take several days. Zeekr also has a simulator – shaped like a car – where a human driver tests vehicle systems by running them through digital driving scenarios that replace real-world product-testing.
Legacy automakers tend to work in a linear fashion, with departments waiting their turn to work on parts or systems. Chinese automakers deploy teams in parallel. Zeekr’s Xu estimated that using “old processes” would “double or triple” Zeekr’s development time.
Chinese automakers also save time and money by using standardized vehicle platforms and components across model lines to a greater degree than many global automakers. Mingji Fang, a technical and commercial feasibility specialist at Zeekr, said the EV maker uses artificial intelligence to mine a digital library containing 20 years of Geely designs and tell engineers which existing parts will work best and cost least.
At April’s Shanghai auto show, Matt Noone, design executive at GM’s Buick brand, didn’t hesitate when asked to name the toughest aspect of competing in China.
“Being able to match their speed is the continuous challenge,” said Noone. Buick aims to cut model development time from four years to two, he said.
The Buick GL8, a premium minivan, remains a strong seller in the market for GM, which in recent years has seen a rapid China-sales decline.
GM told Reuters it has been taking steps to improve its product competitiveness in China.
Volkswagen is leaning on Xpeng and joint-venture partner FAW in China, opens new tab as part of its plans to launch 30 EVs and hybrids by 2030. VW didn’t respond to questions about its China operation or development process.
Christian Hering, Zeekr’s chief platform architect for Europe, previously developed navigation software at a Volkswagen supplier for three years starting in 2017. VW’s real-world testing protocols were rigid, he said: Even slight software tweaks were treated like physical-component changes – each requiring 25,000 kilometers (15,534 miles) of road-testing. Hering said he once changed the color of the trees depicted in a Volkswagen navigation system. That simple switch required 75,000 kilometers of tests because it was for three markets – North America, China and Europe.
“That’s why traditional carmakers can’t do speed,” Hering said.
Despite their short-cutting of vetting processes, China-brand models have consistently won top five-star safety ratings from Euro New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), a leading crash-tester.
“Forget what you might think – that Chinese means lower quality or lower safety performance,” said Matthew Avery, Euro NCAP’s director of strategic development. The quality of modern Chinese-brand vehicles, he said, is “better than others.”
U.S. immigration authorities have arrested Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Los Angeles and plan to deport him, they said on Thursday, just days after he lost a high-profile bout to American rival Jake Paul.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Chavez was determined to be in the country illegally last week after he made fraudulent statements on a 2024 application for permanent residence. He is married to a U.S. citizen, it said.
Michael Goldstein, a lawyer for Chavez, said more than two dozen immigration agents arrested the boxer at his home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.
Homeland Security said that the 39-year-old boxer, son of Mexican world champion fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, is suspected of ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, which Washington has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
His wife, Frida Munoz Chavez, was previously married to the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. The son, Edgar, was assassinated in 2008.
Chavez is the target of a Mexican arrest warrant on allegations of involvement in organized crime and firearms trafficking, DHS said.
May 14, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. speaks at press conference in anticipation of his fight against Jake Paul at Avalon Hollywood Theater. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
In Mexico, Chavez’ family said in a statement they “fully trust in his innocence.”
Chavez lost to influencer-turned-boxer Paul, 28, last weekend before a sold-out crowd in Anaheim, California, in a unanimous decision after 10 rounds.
He was allowed to enter the United States temporarily in early January under former President Joe Biden, DHS said. He had previously overstayed a tourist visa, it said.
The agency said Chavez was convicted in Los Angeles in 2024 on weapons charges. Goldstein denied he was convicted, saying he pleaded not guilty and was granted mental health diversion which will result in dismissal of the charges.
Chavez won the WBC middleweight championship in 2011, but lost the title the next year.
The El Rancho Unified School District released video that allegedly shows ICE and Border Patrol agents urinating at a school campus in Pico Rivera.
The incident happened the morning of June 17. The school district says that 10 marked and unmarked cars with federal agents pulled into Salazar High School at 9115 Balfour Street. Campus cameras captured some of those agents urinating on school grounds, school district leaders said.
School board leaders called the federal agents’ actions “deeply disturbing.”
“This occurred in broad daylight, commencing at approximately 8:54 a.m. to approximately 9:04 a.m.,” said ERUSD Board President John Contreras.
The District says the agents were from both ICE and CBP, and they urinated behind storage boxes right near a playground. The storage containers are also visible from a neighboring public park and nearby Valencia Elementary School.
Salazar High School was not in session at the time, but district leaders say summer classes were going on at the elementary school.
The district also says the agents came without a warrant and left once they were asked to.
“They also did not exercise sound and respectful judgment, with the risk of exposing themselves to minors and committing a public offense under California law,” Contreras said.
On the same day as the high school incident, federal immigration agents were captured on video aggressively detaining a 20-year-old at a nearby Pico Rivera shopping center.
Adrian Martinez is a U.S. citizen but now faces a felony charge of conspiracy to interfere or impede a federal agent. He tried to intervene as agents detained a janitor. But now, with this new video released Wednesday by El Rancho Unified, the actions of federal agents in Pico Rivera are again causing concerns.
A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security sent Eyewitness News the following comment:
“This matter is under investigation.”
Meanwhile, school district leaders are calling for a federal investigation into what agents did near those storage containers on the campus.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents Pico Rivera, issued the following statement:
In this Jan. 2024 photo provided by The Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Cattle Screwworms (COPEG), a worker drops New World screwworm fly larvae into a tray at a facility that breeds sterile flies in Pacora, Panama. (COPEG via AP)
The U.S. government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.
That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans for protecting the U.S. from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before.
“It’s an exceptionally good technology,” said Edwin Burgess, an assistant professor at the University of Florida who studies parasites in animals, particularly livestock. “It’s an all-time great in terms of translating science to solve some kind of large problem.”
The targeted pest is the flesh-eating larva of the New World Screwworm fly. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to ramp up the breeding and distribution of adult male flies — sterilizing them with radiation before releasing them. They mate with females in the wild, and the eggs laid by the female aren’t fertilized and don’t hatch. There are fewer larvae, and over time, the fly population dies out.
It is more effective and environmentally friendly than spraying the pest into oblivion, and it is how the U.S. and other nations north of Panama eradicated the same pest decades ago. Sterile flies from a factory in Panama kept the flies contained there for years, but the pest appeared in southern Mexico late last year.
The USDA expects a new screwworm fly factory to be up and running in southern Mexico by July 2026. It plans to open a fly distribution center in southern Texas by the end of the year so that it can import and distribute flies from Panama if necessary.
Fly feeds on live flesh
Most fly larvae feed on dead flesh, making the New World screwworm fly and its Old World counterpart in Asia and Africa outliers — and for the American beef industry, a serious threat. Females lay their eggs in wounds and, sometimes, exposed mucus.
“A thousand-pound bovine can be dead from this in two weeks,” said Michael Bailey, president elect of the American Veterinary Medicine Association.
Veterinarians have effective treatments for infested animals, but an infestation can still be unpleasant — and cripple an animal with pain.
Don Hineman, a retired western Kansas rancher, recalled infected cattle as a youngster on his family’s farm.
“It smelled nasty,” he said. “Like rotting meat.”
How scientists will use the fly’s biology against it
The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species, unable to survive Midwestern or Great Plains winters, so it was a seasonal scourge. Still, the U.S. and Mexico bred and released more than 94 billion sterile flies from 1962 through 1975 to eradicate the pest, according to the USDA.
The numbers need to be large enough that females in the wild can’t help but hook up with sterile males for mating.
One biological trait gives fly fighters a crucial wing up: Females mate only once in their weekslong adult lives.
Why the US wants to breed more flies
Alarmed about the fly’s migration north, the U.S. temporarily closed its southern border in May to imports of live cattle, horses and bison and it won’t be fully open again at least until mid-September.
But female flies can lay their eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal, and that includes humans.
Decades ago, the U.S. had fly factories in Florida and Texas, but they closed as the pest was eradicated.
The Panama fly factory can breed up to 117 million a week, but the USDA wants the capacity to breed at least 400 million a week. It plans to spend $8.5 million on the Texas site and $21 million to convert a facility in southern Mexico for breeding sterile fruit flies into one for screwworm flies.
How to raise hundreds of millions of flies
In one sense, raising a large colony of flies is relatively easy, said Cassandra Olds, an assistant professor of entomology at Kansas State University.
But, she added, “You’ve got to give the female the cues that she needs to lay her eggs, and then the larvae have to have enough nutrients.”
Fly factories once fed larvae horse meat and honey and then moved to a mix of dried eggs and either honey or molasses, according to past USDA research. Later, the Panama factory used a mix that included egg powder and red blood cells and plasma from cattle.
In the wild, larvae ready for the equivalent of a butterfly’s cocoon stage drop off their hosts and onto the ground, burrow just below the surface and grow to adulthood inside a protective casing making them resemble a dark brown Tic Tac mint. In the Panama factory, workers drop them into trays of sawdust.
Security is an issue. Sonja Swiger, an entomologist with Texas A&M University’s Extension Service, said a breeding facility must prevent any fertile adults kept for breeding stock from escaping.
The city dumped a whopping $5 million to install five new stainless steel toilets at public parks — even though the futuristic pods sell at a relatively cheap retail value of about $185,000.
The “Portland Loos” cost $1 million each with “additional site specific costs” that included related plumbing, electrical and pavement work that went along with the installation, officials said — but some Big Apple residents said the price tag is totally loo-dicrous.
“That frustrates me,” said Bushwick resident Tiv Adler, 29, at Irving Square Park in Brooklyn on Thursday. “I wish we could reallocate that money to more resources for the public.”
But others said when you gotta go, you gotta have somewhere to go — even though the pod at Hoyt Playground was locked Thursday afternoon.
Five new “futuristic” stainless steel public toilets were unveiled at parks across the city Tuesday, each costing taxpayers about $1 million per John, city officials said. NYC Parks
“At this point, I feel like we should actually be able to use it,” said Valeria Martinez, 23, who called the initiative a “waste of money.”
“I think it’ll probably take around a month or two for it to be gross, and be locked again probably,” she added.
The new toilets are part of a long-awaited $6 million pilot program, according to City Hall. Other spots where the facilities have been installed are Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, Thomas Jefferson Park in Manhattan and Father Macris Park in Staten Island.
“Let’s be honest, when nature calls, New Yorkers shouldn’t have to cut their fun short,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
“We’re proud to be rolling out our new, sleek bathrooms across all five boroughs, which will ensure New Yorkers across our city can soak up more of the sun this summer with friends and loved ones without having to worry about where to go when they have to go.”
The new locations were chosen in neighborhoods that needed some relief with more options for restrooms and many saw the cost as worth it.
“I think public restrooms are a huge issue,” said Williamsburg resident Mike Graffiti, 27. “Does a million sound a little steep? Yeah … there’s a lot of other factors that come into it, where it’s just expensive to do things in New York City because that’s how it is.”
But even the most optimistic New Yorkers were concerned about the cleanliness of the Portland Loos, first used in 2008 by the city in Oregon.
“Will it stay clean? We don’t know,” said Bushwick local Elise Verstraete, 39. “If they lock it at night, it may be, and as long as they maintain it.
“No one [bathroom] is ever that clean,” Verstraete added. “Plus, with the amount of homeless people that trickle in here in the evening, I believe they close [the park] down at night so that might be a good preventative measure, but I don’t think that’s going to stop it.”
The “deluxe” pods include a baby changing station, anti-graffiti walls, and angled louvers for officials to monitor criminal activity.
The facilities can also be connected to full utilities for year-round use, are ADA-accessible and are designed to last decades, if maintained properly.
The new potties are part of Adams’ June 2024 “Ur In Luck” initiative, which aims to expand public bathroom access citywide with nearly 50 new public bathrooms slated to be built and an additional 36 existing facilities set to be renovated through 2029.
Women and children were said to have been killed in an Israeli strike on a tent in southern Gaza
At least 69 people have been killed by Israeli fire across Gaza on Thursday, rescuers say, as Israel intensified its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.
One air strike killed 15 people at a school-turned-shelter for displaced families in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency. The Israeli military said it targeted a “key” Hamas operative based there.
The Civil Defence also reported that 38 people were killed while queueing for aid, or on their way to pick it up. The military said such reports of extensive casualties were “lies”.
It comes as pressure mounts on both Israel and Hamas to agree to a new ceasefire and hostage release deal being pushed by US President Donald Trump.
Trump announced on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions” to finalize a 60-day ceasefire. However, there are still obstacles that could prevent a quick agreement.
Hamas has said it is studying the proposals – the details of which have still not been made public – but that it still wants an end to the war and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will travel to Washington on Monday, has meanwhile insisted that the Palestinian armed group must be eliminated.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its aircraft had struck around 150 “terror targets” across Gaza over the previous 24 hours, including fighters, tunnels and weapons.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 118 people had been killed during the same period.
Fifteen people, most of them women and children, were killed when a school housing displaced families in the al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City was struck before dawn on Thursday, the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency and medics said.
Witness Wafaa al-Arqan told Reuters news agency: “Suddenly, we found the tent collapsing over us and a fire burning… What can we do? Is it fair that all these children burned?”
The IDF said it struck a “key Hamas terrorist” who was operating in a “command-and-control centre” in Gaza City, without mentioning the school.
The IDF added that it took numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians and accused Hamas of using human shields – an allegation the group has repeatedly denied.
At least another five displaced people were reportedly killed when a tent was struck overnight in the southern al-Mawasi area, where the IDF has told residents of areas affected by its evacuation orders to head for their own safety.
Ashraf Abu Shaba, who lived in a neighbouring tent, said he saw the bodies of children and women wrapped in blankets afterwards.
“The occupation [Israel] claims there are safe zones, but there are no safe zones. Every place is a target… The situation is unbearable,” he added.
Later, Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP news agency that another 38 people were killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid.
He said 25 were killed near the Israeli military’s Netzarim corridor in central Gaza. Six died at another location nearby, while seven were killed in the southern Rafah area, he added.
Medics at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis separately told Reuters that at least 20 people were killed while making their way to an aid distribution centre.
There was no direct response to the reports from the IDF.
Last week, the IDF said it was examining reports of civilians being harmed while approaching sites in southern and central Gaza run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
On Thursday, IDF spokesman Brig-Gen Effie Defrin acknowledged at a briefing that Israeli forces were facing a “complex challenge” and drawing “lessons from every incident to prevent similar cases in the future”.
But he declared: “The reports of allegations of extensive casualties in the aid distribution centres are lies.”
There have been reports of deadly incidents near the distribution sites almost every day since the GHF began operating on 26 May.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 408 people have been killed near GHF centres over the past five weeks. Another 175 people have been killed seeking aid elsewhere, including along routes used by UN aid convoys, it says.
The GHF, which uses US private security contractors, said “distribution at all sites ran smoothly” on Thursday and that it had now handed out more than one million boxes of food.
The GHF also rejected as “categorically false” allegations from a former security contractor, who told the BBC that he witnessed colleagues opening fire on civilians waiting for aid.
The UN and other aid groups refuse to co-operate with the GHF, saying its new system contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., surrounded by Republican members of Congress, holds up the final vote count while speaking following the passage of President Donald Trump’s signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, Thursday, Jul 3, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday (Jul 3) secured a major political victory when Congress narrowly passed his signature tax and spending Bill, cementing his radical second-term agenda and boosting funds for his anti-immigration drive.
A jubilant Trump said the Bill’s passage would supercharge the US economy “into a rocket ship” – glossing over deep concerns within his own Republican Party that it will balloon the national debt and gut health and welfare support.
Speaking to reporters as he headed for a rally in Iowa to kick off America’s 250th birthday celebrations, the president called the spending package “the biggest Bill of its kind ever signed”.
A small group of Republican opponents finally fell into line after Speaker Mike Johnson worked through the night to corral dissenters in the House of Representatives behind the “One Big Beautiful Bill”.
The Bill squeezed past a final vote, 218-214. The White House declared “VICTORY” on social media and said Trump would sign the Bill into law on Friday, the Jul 4th Independence Day holiday.
The timing of the vote had slipped back to Thursday as Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke against the Bill for nearly nine hours to delay proceedings.
MASS DEPORTATIONS, TAX BREAKS
The legislation is the latest in a series of big wins for Trump, including a Supreme Court ruling last week that curbed lone federal judges from blocking his policies, and US air strikes that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
His sprawling mega-Bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday and had to return to the lower chamber for a rubber stamp of the senators’ revisions.
The package honours many of Trump’s campaign promises: boosting military spending, funding a mass migrant deportation drive and committing US$4.5 trillion to extend his first-term tax relief.
“Everything was an absolute disaster under the Biden-Harris radical regime, and we took the best effort that we could, in one big, beautiful Bill to fix as much of it as we could,” Johnson said.
“And I am so grateful that we got that done.”
But it is expected to pile an extra US$3.4 trillion over a decade onto the country’s fast-growing deficits, while shrinking the federal food assistance programme and forcing through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance scheme for low-income Americans since its 1960s launch.
Some estimates put the total number of recipients set to lose their insurance coverage under the Bill at 17 million. Scores of rural hospitals are expected to close.
While Republican moderates in the House fear the cuts will damage their prospects of reelection next year, fiscal hawks chafed over savings that they say fall far short of what was promised.
Johnson had to negotiate tight margins, and could only lose a handful of lawmakers in the final vote, among more than two dozen who had earlier declared themselves open to rejecting Trump’s 869-page text.
Trump has spent weeks hitting the phones and hosting White House meetings to cajole lawmakers torn between angering welfare recipients at home and incurring the president’s wrath.
Democrats hope public opposition to the Bill will help them flip the House in the 2026 midterm election, pointing to data showing that it represents a huge redistribution of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Takeshi Iwaya, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and American Secretary of State Marco Rubio during Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Washington DC. Credit: X/@DrSJaishankar
India has signed a Quad joint statement that condemned the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir but refrained from criticising Pakistan.
A meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad ended with a joint statement condemning the carnage “in the strongest terms” but kept mum on the links of the terrorists with Pakistan and even refrained from identifying the scene of the attack as within the territory of India.
The Quad is a four-nation coalition forged by India, Australia, Japan, and the United States to counter China’s expansionist and hegemonic aspirations in the Indo-Pacific region. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar joined US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Australian and Japanese foreign ministers, Penny Wong and Takeshi Iwaya, at the meeting of the Quad foreign ministers in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.
India recently declined to sign a joint communiqué that was proposed to be issued at the end of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Qingdao in China. The draft joint statement had taken note of the SCO’s concerns over the situation in Baluchistan in Pakistan, but had been silent on the terrorist attack in J&K of India. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who had attended the meeting, had refused to sign the document, and, as a result, it had not been issued by the SCO, which comprised India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
The Quad, unlike the SCO, however, did not completely omit any reference to the terrorist attack in J&K. The four-nation coalition unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and renewed it commitment to counterterrorism cooperation. “We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025, which claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, while injuring several others. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and extend our heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery to all those injured,” the four-nation coalition stated. “We call for the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UN Security Council resolution, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard,” stated the foreign ministers of the Quad.
After the April 22 carnage, The Resistance Force (TRF) – a proxy of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba – claimed responsibility for the attack.
The LeT has its headquarters in Pakistan and has been carrying out attacks in India.
Though many nations condemned the latest carnage in J&K, most of them refrained from calling out Pakistan for persistently sponsoring terrorism against India. During the May 7-10 cross-border military offensive and counter-offensive between India and Pakistan, several nations urged New Delhi to exercise restraint or work with Islamabad to diffuse tensions.
President Donald Trump of the US and his administration re-hyphenated India and Pakistan and, despite New Delhi’s rebuttals, claimed credit for brokering a ceasefire between the two South Asian neighbours. Trump said after the terrorist attack in J&K that he was close to both India and Pakistan, and the two nations had been fighting over Kashmir for 1000 years.
SEAN “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail as the disgraced mogul’s admission of violence during closing arguments comes back to bite him in his quest for freedom.
Judge Arun Subramaniam denied Combs’ defense team’s sprawling $1 million bail package that would have required the Bad Boy Records executive, 55, to surrender his passport, be on an ankle monitor, and restrict his travel.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ reaction after the verdicts were readCredit: Reuters
Combs’ upbeat demeanour darkened, his mouth dropped, and his eyes widened after learning that he will remain in federal custody until his sentencing.
The judge tentatively set sentencing for October 3, but scheduled a July 8 hearing where he will rule on whether to push the date up per the defense’s request.
In his ruling, Judge Subramanian cited his past bail denial rulings and also underscored Combs and his defense team’s confession of domestic violence throughout the trial.
“Even if the defendant was solely required to show that he is not a danger to the community, he could not meet that burden,” the judge said.
“The defense conceded the defendant’s violence. You full-throatedly in your closing arguments told the jury that there was violence here.”
The judge outlined the disturbing 2016 surveillance footage from the Inter-Continental hotel involving Combs’ brutal assault on Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.
“There was the London Hotel incident. There was violence after the searches in this case,” Judge Subramanian added, referring to the raids on Combs’ properties in Beverly Hills and Miami.
“As to Jane, there was June 2024 after the searches of Combs’ residences. This evidences a disregard for the law and a propensity for violence.”
Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, urged the judge to reconsider his ruling, saying his client had been working to “better himself” before he was arrested in September 2024.
“He is a man who’s in the process of working on himself,” Agnifilo said, adding that Combs has been a “model prisoner” since his arrest.
“I just think we should trust him. He’s not going to flee.”
Agnifilo told the judge that Combs would wish to speak with him, but the offer seemingly went unnoticed.
Judge Subramanian rejected the defense’s pleas to release their client and reaffirmed that the bail application was denied.
Combs hung his head as he was escorted out of the courtroom by US Marshals, who will transport him back to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Before he left the courtroom, Combs faced his family and told them “We’re gonna make it through this. I’ll see you when I get out,” according to CNN.
“I love you all. Be strong.”
SPLIT VERDICT
A jury acquitted Combs on Wednesday of the most serious charges he faced – racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking in regards to Ventura and “Jane,” a pseudonym used for one of Combs’ ex-girlfriends.
The verdict came minutes into the start of the third day of deliberations and less than 24 hours after jurors initially reached a split verdict on Tuesday afternoon.
The charges Combs was convicted of, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence each and no minimum, meaning he could potentially walk free.
Racketeering conspiracy carried a life sentence.
Combs pumped his right fist in celebration and embraced his family and defense counsel after the jury acquitted him of the most serious charges.
He smiled, put his hands together in prayer, and mouthed to the jury, “Thank you. Thank you,” according to The New York Times.
Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, had asked Judge Subramanian to release his client today ahead of his sentencing as he is now acquitted of the most serious crimes.
Lead US Attorney Maurene Comey vehemently opposed the defense’s proposal, arguing “A person found guilty shall be detained until the judicial officer finds he is not likely to flee or be a danger.”
A POPULAR canned food manufacturer has faced increasing pressure over the years, culminating in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier this week.
The nearly 140-year-old company, which has been a staple on the shelves of retailers including Walmart and Target, officially filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.
Del Monte Foods is one of the largest producers, distributors, and marketers of branded processed food in the country.
The iconic brand, known for its canned fruits and vegetables, is working to restructure its operations and seek a buyer following years of struggles.
Shifting consumer behavior, supply chain troubles, and increasing operational costs, among other factors, have hit Del Monte Foods hard.
These struggles pushed the company to begin voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey earlier this week, Del Monte Foods shared in a Tuesday press release.
“This is a strategic step forward for Del Monte Foods,” said company CEO Greg Longstreet.
“After a thorough evaluation of all available options, we determined a court-supervised sale process is the most effective way to accelerate our turnaround and create a stronger and enduring Del Monte Foods.
“With an improved capital structure, enhanced financial position and new ownership, we will be better positioned for long-term success.”
As part of the bankruptcy process, Del Monte Foods will secure $912.5 million from its lenders to help fund the brand and keep it operational throughout its sale process.
The Company also filed several customary “first day” motions that will allow Del Monte Foods to continue to deliver high-quality, healthy, and convenient food products to shoppers.
“While we have faced challenges intensified by a dynamic macroeconomic environment, Del Monte Foods has nourished families for nearly 140 years, and we remain committed to our mission of expanding access to nutritious, great-tasting food for all,” said the CEO.
GROCERY GIANT
Del Monte Foods was established in 1886 in California, growing to become one of the largest packaged fruit and vegetable sellers in the country.
The company, however, has struggled over the years under mounting challenges.
Del Monte has accumulated excessive debt – estimated at between $1 billion and $10 billion – while also struggling with a declining private label business and rising costs from inflation, per a court filing.
The company also faced especially tough sales years in 2023 and 2024 that have driven up its debt.
As sales failed to meet expectations, Del Monte Foods was left with “outsized production commitments” as well as greater costs and higher promotional spending, according to Jonathan Goulding, chief restructuring officer of the company.
The trade war has also taken a toll on Del Monte Foods, as retailers focus their efforts on their store brands to increase their sales and retain low prices in the face of tariffs.
At the same time, the tariff turmoil has weighed down on the canned good industry in particular.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order early last month that doubled tariffs to 50% on steel and aluminum imports.
Del Monte Foods has previously made efforts to turn around its business outlook, including layoffs, shutting down certain production facilities, and beginning a debt overhaul last year.
However, its troubles have outweighed its efforts, with Del Monte Foods becoming the fourth company in the food and beverage sector to file for bankruptcy this year, according to data analytics firm Debtwire.
Outside of the consumables sector, other companies have resorted to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A SECRET underground facility has been at the heart of one of the wildest alien conspiracies in America, and believers say it’s still active.
For nearly 50 years, the base has been tied to chilling claims of genetic experiments, UFOs, and a deadly firefight between aliens and humans.
Some conspiracy theorists say the government is hiding a war that broke out after workers accidentally drilled into an alien domain.
They believe the hidden base is located inside Archuleta Mesa, near the remote town of Dulce, New Mexico.
The area has been dubbed “Alien Mountain” by locals who claim to have seen strange creatures, glowing crafts, and mutilated cattle.
Although no hard evidence has ever confirmed the existence of a facility inside the mesa, researchers and residents remain convinced it’s real.
“The whole town of Dulce, whoever you want to talk to, they’ll tell you what they’ve seen, a lot of them,” resident Geraldine Julian told the Santa Fe New Mexican in 2016.
She said she once saw a creature with the lower half of a goat and the upper body of a human, a supposed product of an alien experimentation.
Other locals say they have seen steam rising from the mountain, and even claim to have photos of UFOs flying nearby.
Dory Vigil, who snapped one of the eerie photos, said he would take a lie detector test to prove he is telling the truth.
“It’s not just a fairy tale,” Julian said.
“All the things are true, and I believe every last one of them, too, because I’ve seen it myself.”
Much of the modern conspiracy theory centers around author, ex-government employee, and conspiracy theorist Phil Schneider, who claimed he helped build the base, per the Daily Mail.
Schneider, who died in 1996, alleged that during construction, his team accidentally breached an alien section and triggered a deadly shootout underground.
He said 66 people were killed, including military personnel and scientists, and showed off missing fingers as proof of his injuries.
He also described a seven-level facility with sections devoted to alien housing, mind control, and advanced tech.
Before his death, Schneider toured UFO conventions with a piece of metal he said came from the base, allegedly used today in stealth aircraft.
While skeptics dismissed him, newly declassified documents have sparked fresh interest in whether such a base could be real.
Government records show that in the 1970s, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed a nuclear-powered tunneling machine called the Subterrene.
The device was designed to melt rock and carve smooth tunnels underground.
Los Alamos is located just 100 miles from Dulce.
Though there’s no official record linking the Subterrene to the mesa, conspiracy research says it shows the tech may have existed to build such a base.
The first rumors began in the mid-1970s, when New Mexico State Police officer Gabe Valdez investigated mutilated cattle near the area.
President Donald Trump’s bill is highly contentious and has inspired protesters to take to the streets of WashingtonImage: Eric Kayne/ZUMA/picture alliance
Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has passed the US Senate and now only needs to be sent to his desk by the Republican-controlled House to be signed into law.
It means the US president, who has long pressured Republicans to pass the bill, is now on the brink of an important legislative milestone and political victory.
Much of his second term has so far been marked by executive orders, which are presidential instructions with the force of laws but which don’t need the approval of Congress. But having this major spending and tax bill passed by Congress will finance a huge chunk of his presidential campaign promises.
“I think, politically, this is a winner for Donald Trump, he can point to some sort of legislative success for his agenda,” said Steven Webster, a political scientist at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Trump has demanded the House pass the bill for him to sign by July 4 — suggesting his desire for an Independence Day themed victory lap — but there are still hurdles to overcome within his own party.
“Some people dislike the bill because of the cuts to part of the American health care and safety net system,” said Peter Loge, a political analyst at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“Some people don’t like the legislation because it adds a tremendous amount to the US debt. It’s incredibly expensive.”
So what’s in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’?
The big bill is a big attempt to check off Trump’s long list of campaign promises.
It includes a mix of individual and business tax cuts, massive cash injections to immigration controls, increased military spending and a ramping up of fossil fuel incentives.
There are also changes to health and social program eligibility and a winding down of some of the climate transition initiatives introduced by former President Joe Biden.
The winners, unsurprisingly, are policy realms that have been the foundation of Trump’s “America First” mantra.
A total of $178 billion (about €150 billion) in spending will go to programs intended to restrict immigration, including resuming the construction of Trump’s Mexico border wall, as well as to staff and resource border police, immigration prosecutions, detention and criminal investigations.
Around $153 billion will be spent on defense: shipbuilding, missile defense, nuclear weapons and supporting military assistance of the border.
And after promising to “drill, baby, drill” during his campaign and in his victory speech — a call for fossil fuel extraction to be ramped up — the bill would simultaneously incentivize gas exploration and exports, while ending concessions and incentives for electric vehicles, clean energy and emissions reduction programs.
There also tax cuts of about $4.5 trillion (€3.8 trillion) for individuals and business, which include Trump’s pledges to stop taxing tips and overtime.
“Nothing in this bill should be surprising,” Loge said, “It promises to spend a lot of money capturing immigration concerns in the US… it would spent a huge amount of money strengthening our immigration system and finding and deporting people who are here without proper authorization. That’s by-and-large popular among many people.”
A big bill, but not beautiful to everyone
In both houses, Republican leaders have been forced to balance the demands of holdouts — those unhappy with the measures contained within the bill.
Debt is a major concern for fiscal conservatives. Nonpartisan analysts project about $3.4 trillion (€2.3 trillion) will be added to the US national debt over the next decade because of the bill. The debt limit has been raised by $5 trillion.
The debt disquiet inside the Capitol has been echoed outside, most notably from one-time Trump ally Elon Musk.
Prior to the Senate passing the bill, the world’s richest person and the top donor to Trump’s presidential campaign threatened to run candidates against Republicans who supported the measures during upcoming primary contests, and went as far to suggest he’d start his own “America Party” in opposition.
“I think the party is likely to struggle to explain how adding three-and-a-half trillion dollars to the national debt is in line with their stated goal of getting the nation’s fiscal house in order,” said Webster.
The bill is also unpopular with the public.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll from mid-June, 53% of Americans support the bill and 27% don’t (the rest didn’t offer an opinion). Only two-thirds of Republican voters are in favor. Analysts DW spoke with said that when the content of the bill tends to be explained to voters, including Republicans, support declines.
Changes to health and social programs likely play a major role.
New eligibility rules, particularly for the Medicaid scheme which extends health care coverage to low-income people, and the SNAP food aid program could see millions of people lose health insurance coverage by 2034, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office. In all, more than $1 trillion have been cut from health measures.
“It’s about 17 million that would lose coverage,” said Elisabeth Wright Burak, a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, a nonpartisan research center.
“Even if there are some sort of tax or other benefits, if you’re losing your health insurance coverage, or you’re losing your nutrition assistance, that’s a hit to your [personal] bottom line.”
That could also hit important parts of Trump’s MAGA base — including working Americans who have flipped their support to him during the last decade.
While many of the health program changes have been made because of what Trump has called large scale “fraud and abuse” within the US public health infrastructure, many experts have argued the claimed attempt to cut fat from health care initiatives is hacking into muscle.
The deal between Mercosur and a bloc representing four European nations could be finalized in the second half of 2025 [FILE: December 6, 2024]Image: Santiago Mazzarovich/dpa/picture allianceMercosur, South America’s largest trade bloc, on Wednesday signed a trade deal with the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
The EFTA is made up of Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, while Mercosur comprises full members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, as well as associate members Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.
The deal, which has been a decade in the making, will establish a free trade area between the two blocs that covers nearly 300 million people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $4.3 trillion (€3.64 trillion).
“Both sides will benefit from improved market access for more than 97% of their exports, which will boost bilateral trade and bring benefits to businesses and people,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
What else do we know about the trade deal?
The “comprehensive and broad-based” Free Trade Agreement (FTA) covers trade of goods, services, investment, and intellectual property rights, among a range of other sectors.
The FTA will also see the removal of customs duties, which is designed to boost trade between the two blocs.
The agreement, which was announced as Mercosur leaders gathered for a summit hosted by Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, still needs to be approved by parliaments from countries in both blocs.
Exploratory talks between EFTA and Mercosur began in 2015, with negotiations formally opening two years later. Fourteen rounds of talks have been held since.
A decade after the Paris climate accord, the European Commission has proposed that the bloc reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040Image: Thibaud Moritz/AFP/dpa/picture alliance
With large parts of Europe gripped in a record-breaking heat wave, the European Commission has proposed that the bloc reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040. That’s in comparison to levels back in 1990, and on track to meet the target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The binding emissions reduction target was first proposed last year, and came after months of tough negotiations among member states. The existing target requires the EU to reduce net emissions by at least 55% by 2030; in May, the Commission said the bloc had already cut climate-warming emissions by 37%.
The new target will give certainty to investors, “strengthen industrial leadership of our businesses, and increase Europe’s energy security,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
But not all member states are on board with the plan, and a controversial flexibility clause on buying carbon credits on international markets has activists crying foul.
‘Carbon credits is simply magical thinking’
Under the proposal, EU member states could purchase international carbon credits on green projects in third countries from 2036 onward, using them to offset up to 3% of the benchmark 1990 emissions.
“This can provide a safety-net to ensure a 90% target is achievable as we are closing on climate neutrality,” the commission said.
But climate activists have said the flexibility clause was included due to pressure from member states like France and Germany, along with major industry lobbyists, at the cost of reduced investments at home.
Mathieu Mal, a climate and agriculture expert at the European Environment Bureau, said the 3% flexibility clause was a “bad idea” for a variety of reasons.
“What this means is that the EU would be investing in other countries outside the bloc to reduce their emissions, and that’s problematic because we need these investments within the EU. We also have our sectors to decarbonize and we need funds for energy transformation here,” he said.
“Every country across the world needs to commit to climate action. If the EU counts these carbon credits towards its own goals, then what about the countries who also need to reduce their emissions and achieve their own targets?”
In May, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change advised against outsourcing part of the bloc’s climate efforts, saying it “risk[s] diverting resources from domestic investments and could undermine environmental integrity.” It called on all reduction toward net zero to be “achieved through domestic action.”
Critics of the clause have called it a ruse for heavy polluters who find it cost intensive to decarbonize in Europe and easier to invest in projects abroad that lack sufficient oversight.
“The use of carbon credits is simply magical thinking for a bloc unwilling to live up to its responsibility for causing the climate catastrophe we’re already living through,” said Friends of the Earth Europe. “Carbon credits have a long record of failure and ultimately do not stop Europe emitting more than its fair share of carbon emissions.”
Speaking with DW, Mal highlighted previous concerns about green investments in third nations. “There have been lots of issues in the past. Projects carried out in some countries often don’t have high standards, they often remain just on paper. There are questions if they were ever materialized,” he said.
Is 90% emissions reduction by 2040 too ambitious?
The Commission’s new target has the backing of at least some of the EU member states.
As Denmark takes over the EU’s rotating presidency this week, it has listed the 2040 target as one of its top priorities. “Anyone who says that the green transformation cannot be achieved with high ambition and social justice at the same time should come to Denmark,” said Villy Sövndal, a lawmaker with the European Greens group and Denmark’s former foreign minister.
“Competitiveness in the 21st century is not linked to fossil fuels but to the advancement of the energy transition,” Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s socialist prime minister, said last week at the EU summit in Brussels.
But other countries consider the 2040 target to be too ambitious. Italy has said an 80-85% target for 2040 would be more realistic, and the Czech Republic said Wednesday it disagreed with the commission’s proposal.
Speaking at the EU summit, French President Emmanuel Macron also indicated it was still too early to agree to setting the target for 2040. “The reality is that I want to get my 2030 target right first,” he said, “and take the democratic and political time to convince others to get to 2040.”
While Germany and France both back the 3% flexibility clause, France expects an even higher percentage of the overall goal to be met by purchasing international carbon credits, with some reports suggesting up to 10%.
85% of Europeans believe climate change is serious
According to Teresa Ribera, the EU’s green transition chief, some political groups in the EU continue to deny climate change whereas others lack courage in confronting their constituents about steps required to combat the problem.
“Political courage is needed to understand that there is a difficulty,” she said in an interview with The Guardian on Wednesday. “You need to face it with honesty.”
The EU’s climate plans have raised concerns around the costs of green transition and disruption to industrial growth and livelihood, if decarbonization is carried out without adequate support. However, Ribera believes there is no time to waste.
“Sorry, but it’ll be much more expensive if we don’t act,” she said.
A Eurobarometer survey released this week showed that 85% of Europeans believe climate change is a serious problem and tackling it should be a priority, while 77% agreed that the cost of damage due to climate change is much higher than the investment needed for a net-zero transition.
Three Indian nationals were abducted from Diamond Cement Factory in Mali on July 1 during a terrorist attack.
Malian army soldiers are seen at the Independence Square after a mutiny, in Bamako, Mali. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE)
Three Indian nationals working at a cement factory in Mali were abducted on July 1 after armed assailants carried out a coordinated attack on the facility, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Tuesday. The incident took place at the Diamond Cement Factory located in Kayes, in the western part of the West African nation.
The MEA confirmed that the attack was part of a broader wave of violence on July 1, during which multiple military and government installations across western and central Mali were targeted by terrorists. The identities of the abducted Indian nationals have not yet been made public.
India’s embassy in Bamako, the capital of Mali, is in constant contact with local authorities, law enforcement agencies, and the management of the cement factory. Officials are also in touch with the families of the kidnapped individuals and are providing regular updates.
The government has strongly condemned the incident, calling it a “deplorable act of violence,” and urged Malian authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure the safe and swift release of the hostages. Senior officials in the Ministry of External Affairs are closely monitoring the situation and remain engaged through diplomatic and security channels.
Reiterating that the safety of Indian nationals abroad remains a top priority, the MEA has advised all Indian citizens in Mali to exercise extreme caution, remain vigilant, and stay in close contact with the Indian embassy for further assistance.
A container ship is seen near the Hai Phong International Container Terminal in Hai Phong, Vietnam, on Apr 16, 2025. (File photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)
The United States will place a lower-than-promised 20 per cent tariff on many Vietnamese exports, Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Jul 2), cooling tensions with its tenth-biggest trading partner days before the US president could raise levies on most imports.
Vietnamese goods would face a 20 per cent tariff and trans-shipments from third countries through Vietnam will face a 40 per cent levy, he said. Vietnam could import US products with a zero per cent tariff, he added.
“It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” Trump said on Truth Social after speaking with Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam.
Trump’s announcement comes just days before a Jul 9 deadline before he ramps up tariffs on most imports, one of the Republican’s signature economic policies.
Under that plan, announced in April, US importers of Vietnamese goods would have had to pay a 46 per cent tariff.
Details were scant. It was not clear which products Trump’s 20 per cent tariff would apply to, or whether some would qualify for lower or higher total duties.
Also left to later discussion was how the new trans-shipment provision, aimed at products largely made in China and then labelled “Made in Vietnam”, would be implemented and enforced.
The Vietnamese government did not confirm the specific tariff levels in a statement celebrating what it described as an agreement on a joint statement about a trade framework.
Vietnam would commit to “providing preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine cars,” the government in Hanoi said.
A deal between the two countries would be a political boost for Trump, whose team has struggled to quickly close deals with Washington’s biggest trading partners ahead of the deadline.
While the administration has teased a forthcoming deal with India, truces reached earlier with Britain and China were limited in scope. Talks with Japan, the US’ sixth-largest trading partner and closest ally in Asia, appeared to hit roadblocks.
The US is Vietnam’s largest export market and the two countries’ growing economic, diplomatic and military ties are a hedge against Washington’s biggest strategic rival, China. Vietnam has worked to retain close relations with both superpowers.
Shares of major US apparel and sportswear makers including Nike, Under Armour and North Face maker VF Corp closed higher on Wednesday on the news.
Lam also asked Trump for the US to recognise Vietnam as a market economy and remove restrictions on the exports of high-tech products to the country, Vietnam said. Those changes have long been sought by Hanoi.
The White House and the Vietnamese trade ministry did not respond to requests for additional comment.
GROWING TRADE TIES
Since Trump imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese goods in his 2017-2021 term, US trade with Vietnam has exploded, though almost all of it in the form of goods to the US from Vietnam as importers sought workarounds for the China levies.
Since 2018, Vietnam’s exports are up nearly threefold from less than US$50 billion that year to about US$137 billion in 2024, Census Bureau data shows. US exports to Vietnam are up only about 30 per cent in that time – to just over US$13 billion last year from less than US$10 billion in 2018.
“‘Transshipping’ is a vague and often politicised term in trade enforcement,” said Dan Martin, business adviser at Dezan Shira & Associates, on LinkedIn.
“How it’s defined and how it’s applied in practice will shape the future of US-Vietnam trade relations.”
Trump announced a wave of tariffs for countries around the world on Apr 2, before pausing the implementation of most duties until Jul 9. More than a dozen countries are actively negotiating with the Trump administration to avoid a steep spike in tariffs on their exports.
Britain accepted a 10 per cent US tariff on many goods, including autos, in exchange for special access for aircraft engines and British beef.
Like the agreement struck with Britain in May, the one with Vietnam resembles a framework rather than a finalised trade pact.
China and the US also came to a truce in a tit-for-tat tariff battle in which Beijing restored American access to some rare-earth minerals, but the two sides left most of their disagreements to later negotiations.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, rescuers search for victims after a ferry enroute for the resort island of Bali sank off Ketapang, East Java, Indonesia, on Jul 3, 2025. (Photo: AP)
At least four people were dead and dozens unaccounted for on Thursday (Jul 3) after a ferry sank on its way to the resort island of Bali, according to local authorities who said 23 survivors had been plucked from the water so far.
Rescuers were racing to find 38 missing people in rough seas after the vessel carrying 65 passengers sank before midnight on Wednesday as it sailed to the popular holiday destination from Indonesia’s main island Java.
“23 rescued, 4 dead,” Rama Samtama Putra, police chief of Banyuwangi in East Java, where the boat departed, told AFP.
President Prabowo Subianto, who was on a trip to Saudi Arabia, ordered an immediate emergency response, Cabinet secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement on Thursday, adding the cause of the accident was “bad weather”.
Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency head Nanang Sigit confirmed the same figures in a statement, and said efforts to reach the boat were initially hampered by adverse weather conditions that have since cleared up.
Waves as high as 2.5m with “strong winds and strong currents” had affected the rescue operation, he said.
The agency had earlier said 61 people were missing and four rescued, without giving a cause for the boat’s sinking.
“KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya … sank about 25 minutes after weighing anchor,” the Surabaya search and rescue agency said.
“The ferry’s manifest data totalled 53 passengers and 12 passenger crews,” it said.
A rescue team of at least 54 personnel, including those from the navy and police, were dispatched along with inflatable rescue boats, while a bigger vessel was later sent from Surabaya city to assist the search efforts.
The ferry crossing from Ketapang port in Java’s Banyuwangi regency to Bali’s Gilimanuk port – one of the busiest in Indonesia – is around 5km as the crow flies and takes around one hour.
It is often used by people crossing between the islands by car.
Four of the known survivors saved themselves by using the ferry’s lifeboat and were found in the water on early Thursday, the rescue agency said.
It said the ferry was also transporting 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks.
It was unclear if any foreigners were onboard when the ferry sank.
ACCIDENTS COMMON
Rescuers said they were still assessing if there were more people onboard than the ferry’s manifest showed.
It is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from the manifest.
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather.
In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person.
Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing, China, May 31, 2023 (Photo: REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo)
Sales of Tesla electric cars fell 13 per cent in the last three months as boycotts over Elon Musk’s political views continue to keep buyers away, a significant development given expectations that anger with the company’s billionaire CEO would have faded by now.
The plunging sales add to growing signs that Musk’s embrace of US President Donald Trump and far-right politicians in Europe has had a deep and enduring hit to Tesla’s brand appeal.
The new figures are also a possible sign that Tesla could disappoint when it announces second-quarter earnings later this month. In the first three months this year, net income fell 71%.
Sales fell to 384,122 in April through June, down from 443,956 in the same period last year. During this period, Musk formally left the Trump administration as a cost-cutting czar, and hopes rose that sales would recover.
The elderly Dalai Lama assured followers on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and spelt out a succession process that sets up a renewed clash with China.
The eagerly awaited statement, made days before the frail Nobel peace laureate turns 90, put to rest speculation, started by the Dalai Lama himself, that he may be the last of Tibet’s spiritual leaders, ending a line that stretches back centuries.
Speaking during a week of celebrations in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala to mark his birthday, the Dalai Lama said a non-profit institution he has set up will have sole authority to identify his reincarnation, countering China’s insistence that it will choose his successor.
Beijing reiterated on Wednesday that it had to approve the reincarnation and that it had to be done in China through a centuries-old ritual. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said it would continue calling on China to cease interference in the succession and respect freedom of religion.
Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled to India from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist. The Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing. In previous years, he had also said it was possible that there might be no successor at all.
“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message, setting off claps and cheers from more than 100 monks in maroon robes who had gathered in a library in Dharamshala.
The event was attended by journalists from around the world and an audience of long-time supporters including Hollywood star Richard Gere, sitting in a hall whose walls displayed ornate paintings of the Buddha and photographs of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama added that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the non-profit organisation he set up to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, has sole authority to recognise his reincarnation in consultation with the heads of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
“They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition … no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he said.
Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child upon his death.
Born as Lhamo Dhondup on July 6, 1935, to a farming family in what is now Qinghai province, the 14th Dalai Lama was identified as such a reincarnation at age two by a search party based on several signs, such as a vision revealed to a senior monk, the Dalai Lama’s website says.
He is now regarded as one of the world’s most influential religious figures, with a following extending well beyond Buddhism, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Dalai Lama blesses actor Richard Gere in Dharamsala, India June 30, 2025, in this screen grab from a video. Reuters TV/via REUTERS. Purchase Licensing Rights
‘OPEN TO VISITING TIBET’
The Dalai Lama was in good health and has not given any written instructions yet on the succession, said Samdhong Rinpoche, a senior official of the Gaden Phodrang Trust.
He told reporters the successor can be of any gender and their nationality would not be restricted to Tibet
Penpa Tsering, leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, said the Dalai Lama would be open to visiting Tibet if his health permits and if there were no restrictions from China. It would be his first visit to the country since 1959.
“It’s entirely dependent on China and the Chinese government,” he said, adding that Beijing had put a condition that if the Dalai Lama visits, he should stay.
“His holiness’ response is ‘If I get to go to Tibet and China, I will go, but I will not live there, because there is no freedom there’. This is also connected with the reincarnation where his holiness says ‘I will be born in a free world'”, Tsering said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China had the right to approve the Dalai Lama’s successor, as a legacy from imperial times, and that Beijing practices a policy of freedom of religious belief.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said it would continue to call on China to return to direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama, his representatives, or democratically elected Tibetan leaders, without preconditions, to “achieve meaningful autonomy for Tibetans.”
“ We will also continue to call on China to cease its interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist lamas and to respect the freedom of religion or belief of individuals of all faiths,” the spokesperson said.
Tsering, leader of the government-in-exile, said the U.S. had lifted some restrictions on funds for Tibetans in exile and that the Tibetan government was also looking for alternate sources of funding.
A selection ritual, in which the names of possible reincarnations are drawn from a golden urn, dates to 1793, during the Qing dynasty.
High-level insiders at Paramount Global — the parent company of CBS News — tell Page Six there’s shock following reports that Skydance Media made their own deal with President Trump’s team as part of a settlement over Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit against the media company.
Following news that Paramount settled with Trump for $16 million, Fox Business Network senior correspondent Charles Gasparino posted via X on Wednesday alleging that Skydance boss David Ellison — who’s behind a multibillion dollar merger with Paramount — additionally promised “to run public service announcements as part of the deal, which will bring the all-in settlement to close to $30 million.”
The report is causing turmoil over at Paramount, with a source telling us those with knowledge of the deal are shocked to hear there was any alleged backchanneling.
A source close to the situation tells Page Six that the $16 million was the only settlement sanctioned by an official mediator, and that Paramount knew nothing of an alleged deal between Trump and Ellison for the PSAs.
There is shock inside Paramount following news alleging there was a deal between Donald Trump’s team and Skydance, which is working on a merger with the company. Anthony Watson
We hear there was disbelief inside the company when execs learned of the additional commitments alleged in the X post.
A source further claims that PSAs were never approved by the Paramount board, or sanctioned by the mediator.
The Post reported that PSAs were on the negotiating table back in May.
Paramount released a statement on Tuesday night saying: “Paramount will pay $16M in total, which includes plaintiffs’ fees and costs, and except for fees and costs, will be allocated to the future presidential library.”
As part of the deal, CBS is not acknowledging any journalistic wrongdoing with the settlement.
Ellison — whose studio has produced the Tom Cruise blockbusters “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” — has been working on an $8 billion merger with Paramount.
Gasparino reported last month in The Post’s “On the Money” column that Trump regulators were stalling approval of the deal as they investigated whether CBS News violated Federal Communications Commission guidelines that its content must be free of political bias as part of his lawsuit.
Trump had accused the network of election interference over its editing of a “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The president was initially seeking $20 billion in the suit.
Paramount’s controlling owner Shari Redstone will reportedly receive a nearly $2 billion payout if the merger between the media conglomerate and Skydance goes through.
There has already been plenty of unrest at the company over Trump’s lawsuit.
“60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens abruptly quit in April — citing a loss of journalistic independence.
Kate Middleton made an emotional admission about her life post-cancer treatment.
While visiting Colchester Hospital on Wednesday, the Princess of Wales described the “really, really difficult” period of her life.
“You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment,” she explained. “Treatment’s done, then it’s like, ‘I can crack on, get back to normal,’ but actually [that’s not the case].”
Kate Middleton detailed her “really, really difficult” time after completing chemotherapy. via REUTERS
The 43-year-old noted that despite “not necessarily [being] under the clinical team any longer,” she was unable “to function normally at home as [she] perhaps once used to.”
Middleton added, “[Having] someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment … is really valuable.”
Finding a “new normal … takes time,” the royal continued.
The 43-year-old noted that despite “not necessarily [being] under the clinical team any longer,” she was unable “to function normally at home as [she] perhaps once used to.”
Middleton added, “[Having] someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment … is really valuable.”
Finding a “new normal … takes time,” the royal continued.
She completed her chemotherapy treatment in September 2024, and four months later, revealed her cancer-free status in a lengthy statement.
“I remain focused on recovery,” she wrote in January.
“As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust.”
Middleton has been slowly resuming her royal roles in the last couple of months, most recently attending Trooping the Colour in June.
Meghan Markle’s lifestyle company, As Ever, was forced to issue refunds and offer free food to customers after one of their newly released items was oversold.
Some unlucky customers who purchased the Duchess of Sussex’s apricot spread on June 20 received an email from the company, advising them that their orders could not be fulfilled.
“Due to high demand, we are unable to fulfill your order of the apricot spread at this time,” the email read. “We are refunding the purchase of this item by the end of this week.”
Meghan Markle’s lifestyle company, As Ever, was forced to issue refunds and offer free food to customers after one of their newly released items was oversold. Getty Images
The As Ever team also told the consumers that when the apricot spread was “back in stock,” they would “be the first to receive it, free of charge.”
Several customers shared that they were disappointed with the sales blunder but happy that Markle and her team are rectifying the situation.
“Great news!! I’m getting my two jars of jam!! Unfortunately, I’m only getting one jar of the apricot jam, but I’m getting refunded and they will send a jar the next time!! I can’t wait! #AsEver,” one costumer on X wrote.
“Just received a message from AsEver. They cannot fill my order of 1 jam but are refunding me and sending me a free jar in the next order. I like the way they take care of customers,” another praised.
“😢😢😢😢 Has anyone else received this? I’m so bummed. But at the same time…WOW, they’ll send me a FREE jar once it becomes available,” a third fan tweeted alongside a screenshot of the email from As Ever.
“Shout out to #AsEver! I got my order today sans the apricot spread. BUT I had an email that because they couldn’t fullfill it not only are they refunding me they promised me a freebie when it’s back in stock! That’s over & above but I’d expect nothing less from Meghan & the team,” a fourth person gushed.
In April, Markle, 43, was forced to apologize for being unable to fulfill customers’ orders after As Ever’s limited-edition honey sold out.
In addition to receiving refunds, the unlucky shoppers were also promised they would receive her next limited-edition item in the mail “as a gift from [Markle].”
In February, the mom of two announced on Instagram that her company, American Riviera Orchard, would be renamed as As Ever after her original brand name faced several trademark snags.
Since the rebrand, the former “Suits” actress has faced criticism.
Most recently, jam guru Donna Collins slammed Markle’s new apricot spread after it quickly sold out online.
Guests attending Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s days-long, $50 million wedding lineup in Venice were allegedly left exhausted halfway through the extravagant affair.
“What people won’t know from the pictures is how exhausting and full-on it was for the guests,” a source told the Daily Mail on Tuesday.
The insider noted that the summer heat — as well as the constant back and forth between venues —made the entire over-the-top itinerary difficult for attendees to get through.
“What people won’t know from the pictures is how exhausting and full-on it was for the guests,” a source told the Daily Mail Tuesday. REUTERS
“The heat didn’t help but people were forever needing to get around Venice, which means by boat, and that was a hassle and took ages,” the source said.
“And there were a lot of people who all needed to get to the same place at the same time,” the source added.
A-list invitees were allegedly grumbling about the less-than-restful schedule of events.
“People were complaining about being completely tired by the time of the wedding day, never mind the day after,” the source alleged.
Festivities kicked off last Thursday night with a welcome dinner at the Madonna dell’Orto Church in Cannaregio, as guests were spotted arriving via water taxis and boats, including the bride and groom.
Sánchez stunned in a structured gold Schiaparelli haute couture gown with floral embellishments for the first lavish soirée.
The next day, the Amazon founder, 61, and Sánchez, 55, said “I do” at the breathtaking basilica on San Giorgio Maggiore island. The “Fly Who Flew to Space” author looked glam in a corseted, long-sleeve lace gown by Dolce & Gabbana for their nuptials.
The celebrations continued into Saturday with a luxurious pajama party where performers included Usher and DJ Cassidy.
A slew of celebrities were present at the three-day affair, including Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sydney Sweeney, Jerry Seinfeld, Orlando Bloom, Jessica Alba, Bill Gates, Brooks Nader and Ivanka Trump.
Also present were Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Kenner, Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner.
A source told Page Six last week that Kris allegedly pushed for Khloé, Kendall and Kylie to be invited to the wedding.
“Originally, the quintet was going to be a duo of just Kim [Kardashian] and Kris,” our source said, adding, “But Mama Kris asked Lauren if she could bring the other three when they were in Paris for the bachelorette party.”
American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press. Two U.S. contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices. (Production: Luke Garratt)
American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press.
Two U.S. contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open license to do whatever they wished.
They said their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians. One contractor said bullets were fired in all directions — in the air, into the ground and at times toward the Palestinians, recalling at least one instance where he thought someone had been hit.
“There are innocent people being hurt. Badly. Needlessly,” the contractor said.
He said American staff on the sites monitor those coming to seek food and document anyone considered “suspicious.” He said they share such information with the Israeli military.
Videos provided by one of the contractors and taken at the sites show hundreds of Palestinians crowded between metal gates, jostling for aid amid the sound of bullets, stun grenades and the sting of pepper spray. Other videos include conversation between English-speaking men discussing how to disperse crowds and encouraging each other after bursts of gunfire.
The testimonies from the contractors — combined with the videos, internal reports and text messages obtained by the AP — offer a rare glimpse inside the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the newly created, secretive American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip’s population. Last month, the U.S. government pledged $30 million for the group to continue operations — the first known U.S. donation to the group, whose other funding sources remain opaque.
Journalists have been unable to access the GHF sites, located in Israeli military-controlled zones. The AP cannot independently verify the contractors’ stories.
A spokesperson for Safe Reach Solutions, the logistics company subcontracted by GHF, told the AP that there have been no serious injuries at any of their sites to date. In scattered incidents, security professionals fired live rounds into the ground and away from civilians to get their attention. That happened in the early days at the “the height of desperation where crowd control measures were necessary for the safety and security of civilians,” the spokesperson said.
Aid operation is controversial
Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, setting off the 21-month war, Israel has bombarded and laid siege to the strip, leaving many teetering on the edge of famine, according to food security experts.
For 2 1/2 months before GHF’s opening in May, Israel blocked all food, water and medicine from entering Gaza, claiming Hamas was stealing the aid being transported under a preexisting system coordinated by the United Nations. It now wants GHF to replace that U.N. system. The U.N. says its Gaza aid operations do not involve armed guards.
Over 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the war erupted, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants.
GHF is an American organization, registered in Delaware and established in February to distribute humanitarian aid during the ongoing Gaza humanitarian crisis. Since the GHF sites began operating more than a month ago, Palestinians say Israeli troops open fire almost every day toward crowds on roads heading to the distribution points, through Israeli military zones. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and witnesses.
In response, Israel’s military says it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm. It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centers.
AP’s reporting for this article focuses on what is happening at the sites themselves. Palestinians arriving at the sites say they are caught between Israeli and American fire, said the contractor who shared videos with the AP.
“We have come here to get food for our families. We have nothing,” he recounted Palestinians telling him. “Why does the (Israeli) army shoot at us? Why do you shoot at us?”
A spokesperson for the GHF said there are people with a “vested interest” in seeing it fail and are willing to do or say almost anything to make that happen. The spokesperson said the team is composed of seasoned humanitarian, logistics and security professionals with deep experience on the ground. The group says it has distributed the equivalent of more than 50 million meals in Gaza in its food boxes of staples.
GHF says that it has consistently shown compassionate engagement with the people of Gaza.
Throughout the war, aid distribution has been marred by chaos. Gangs have looted trucks of aid traveling to distribution centers and mobs of desperate people have also offloaded trucks before they’ve reached their destination. Earlier this month, at least 51 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded while waiting for the U.N. and commercial trucks to enter the territory, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and a local hospital. Israel’s military acknowledged several casualties as soldiers opened fire on the approaching crowd and said authorities would investigate.
Videos, texts, internal reports document havoc at food sites
AP spoke to the two contractors for UG Solutions, an American outfit subcontracted to hire security personnel for the distribution sites. They said bullets, stun grenades and pepper spray were used at nearly every distribution, even if there was no threat.
Videos of aid being dispensed at the sites seen by the AP appear to back up the frenetic scenes the contractors described. The footage was taken within the first two weeks of its distributions — about halfway into the operations.
In one video, what appear to be heavily armed American security contractors at one of the sites in Gaza discuss how to disperse Palestinians nearby. One is heard saying he has arranged for a “show of force” by Israeli tanks.
“I don’t want this to be too aggressive,” he adds, “because this is calming down.”
At that moment, bursts of gunfire erupt close by, at least 15 shots. “Whoo! Whoo!” one contractor yelps.
“I think you hit one,” one says.
Then comes a shout: “Hell, yeah, boy!”
The camera’s view is obscured by a large dirt mound.
The contractor who took the video told AP that he saw other contractors shooting in the direction of Palestinians who had just collected their food and were departing. The men shot both from a tower above the site and from atop the mound, he said. The shooting began because contractors wanted to disperse the crowd, he said, but it was unclear why they continued shooting as people were walking away.
The camera does not show who was shooting or what was being shot at. But the contractor who filmed it said he watched another contractor fire at the Palestinians and then saw a man about 60 yards (meters) away — in the same direction where the bullets were fired — drop to the ground.
This happened at the same time the men were heard talking — effectively egging each other on, he said.
In other videos furnished by the contractor, men in grey uniforms — colleagues, he said — can be seen trying to clear Palestinians who are squeezed into a narrow, fenced-in passage leading to one of the centers. The men fire pepper spray and throw stun grenades that detonate amid the crowd. The sound of gunfire can be heard. The contractor who took the video said the security personnel usually fire at the ground near the crowds or from nearby towers over their heads.
During a single distribution in June, contractors used 37 stun grenades, 27 rubber-and-smoke “scat shell” projectiles and 60 cans of pepper spray, according to internal text communications shared with the AP.
That count does not include live ammunition, the contractor who provided the videos said.
One photo shared by that contractor shows a woman lying in a donkey cart after he said she was hit in the head with part of a stun grenade.
An internal report by Safe Reach Solutions, the logistics company subcontracted by GHF to run the sites, found that aid seekers were injured during 31% of the distributions that took place in a two-week period in June. The report did not specify the number of injuries or the cause. SRS told the AP the report refers to non-serious injuries.
More videos show frenzied scenes of Palestinians running to collect leftover food boxes at one site. Hundreds of young men crowd near low metal barriers, transferring food from boxes to bags while contractors on the other side of the barriers tell them to stay back.
Some Palestinians wince and cough from pepper spray. “You tasting that pepper spray? Yuck,” one man close to the camera can be heard saying in English.
SRS acknowledged that it’s dealing with large, hungry populations, but said the environment is secure, controlled, and ensures people can get the aid they need safely.
Verifying the videos with audio analysis
To confirm the footage is from the sites, AP geolocated the videos using aerial imagery. The AP also had the videos analyzed by two audio forensic experts who said they could identify live ammunition — including machine-gun fire — coming from the sites, in most cases within 50 to 60 meters of the camera’s microphone.
In the video where the men are heard egging each other on, the echo and acoustics of the shots indicate they’re fired from a position close to the microphone, said Rob Maher, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Montana State University and an author and research expert in audio forensic analysis. Maher and the other analyst, Steven Beck, owner of Beck Audio Forensics, said there was no indication that the videos’ audio had been tampered with.
The analysts said that the bursts of gunfire and the pop sequences in some of the videos indicated that guns were panning in different directions and were not repeatedly aimed at a single target. They could not pinpoint exactly where the shots were coming from nor who was shooting.
GHF says the Israeli military is not deployed at the aid distribution sites. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said the army is not stationed at the sites or within their immediate proximity, especially during operating hours. He said they’re run by an American company and have their own security.
One of the contractors who had been on the sites said he’d never felt a real or perceived threat by Hamas there.
SRS says that Hamas has openly threatened its aid workers and civilians receiving aid. It did not specify where people were threatened.
American analysts and Israeli soldiers work side by side, contractors say
According to the contractor who took the videos, the Israeli army is leveraging the distribution system to access information.
Both contractors said that cameras monitor distributions at each site and that American analysts and Israeli soldiers sit in a control room where the footage is screened in real time. The control room, they said, is housed in a shipping container on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The contractor who took the videos said some cameras are equipped with facial recognition software. In live shots of the sites seen by the AP, some videos streams are labeled “analytics” — those were the ones that had the facial recognition software, said the contractor.
If a person of interest is seen on camera — and their information is already in the system — their name and age pops up on the computer screen, said the contractor. Israeli soldiers watching the screens take notes and cross-check the analysts’ information with their own drone footage from the sites, he said.
The contractor said he did not know the source of the data in the facial recognition system. The AP could not independently verify his information.
An internal SRS report from June seen by the AP said that its intel team would circulate to staff a “POI Mugs Card,” that showed photos of Palestinians taken at the sites who were deemed persons of interest.
The contractor said he and other staff were told by SRS to photograph anyone who looked “out of place.” But the criteria were not specified, he said. The contractor said the photos were also added to the facial recognition database. He did not know what was done with the information.
SRS said accusations that it gathers intelligence are false and that it has never used biometrics. It said it coordinates movements with Israeli authorities, a requirement for any aid group in Gaza.
An Israeli security official who was not named in line with the army’s protocol, said there are no security screening systems developed or operated by the army within the aid sites.
US airstrikes on Iran set back the regime’s nuclear program between one to two years, but likely “closer to two,” the Pentagon’s top spokesperson said Wednesday.
“Our assessment of the battle damage around Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan remains unchanged,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters during a press briefing.
“We believe, and certainly all of the intelligence that we’ve seen has led us to believe, that those facilities, especially, have been completely obliterated.”
US allies share the Department of Defense’s internal intelligence assessments of the effectiveness of last month’s military operation on Iran’s uranium enrichment sites, Parnell noted, including how long the Pentagon expects it will now take the Islamic Republic to build a nuclear weapon.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least,” Parnell said.
The Pentagon believes Iran is now close to two years away from developing a nuclear weapon. @SecDef
Last month, President Trump and several top administration officials slammed a leaked preliminary assessment of Operation Midnight Hammer, which reportedly indicated Iran could bring its nuclear program back online in as quickly as one to two months.
The classified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) bomb damage assessment — reported by the New York Times and CNN — estimated that on the high end, Iran could restart uranium enrichment within a year, according to those who viewed the report.
Multiple B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped 14, 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear sites as part of Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22.
The attack was complemented by a barrage of dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles fired by a US submarine.
Trump ordered the airstrike after intelligence pointed to Iran getting close to developing a nuclear weapon and after more than a week of back-and-forth strikes between Tehran and Israel.
The family of the Colorado terror suspect who injured 8 Israeli hostage supporters with homemade firebombs last month can be deported, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.
US District Court Judge Orlando Garcia dismissed Mohamed Sabry Soliman family’s legal challenge to their deportation — stating that the Trump administration has conducted normal and legal removal proceedings.
Soliman’s wife and five children had sued to prevent expedited removal proceedings, but the judge ruled he “lacks jurisdiction to grant Petitioners the relief they seek.”
The family of terror suspect Mohamed Soliman can now be deported following a ruling from a federal judge. Toby Canham for the NY Post
Garcia’s decision superseded another court’s ruling last month, when Biden-appointed US District Court Judge Gordon Gallagher slammed the brakes on the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Soliman’s family.
Soliman, 45, and his family moved to the US from Egypt in 2022 but both his work authorization and tourist visas have expired.
Charges against the madman include 12 federal hate crime charges and state charges including two counts of first degree murder.
Disturbing video footage of the June 1 attack in Boulder, Colorado, showed the 45-year-old screaming “Free Palestine” and calling for death to “Zionists” as he tossed Molotov cocktails and sprayed homemade flamethrowers.
Eight victims, four men and four women between 52 and 88 years old, were hospitalized with burn injuries as a result of Soliman’s heartless attack; 21 others suffered injuries but were not hospitalized.
Those victims were supporting “Run for Their Lives” in support of Israeli hostages captured by terror group Hamas.
Kyiv has warned that an interruption of US weapons shipments will encourage Russia to prolong the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
On Tuesday the White House said it had cut off some weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
The decision was taken “to put America’s interests first” following a defence department review of US “military support and assistance to other countries”, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two countries were now “clarifying all the details on supplies”, while the foreign ministry warned any delays “would only encourage the aggressor to continue war and terror, rather than seek peace”.
The ministry particularly emphasised the need for Kyiv to strengthen its air defences – as Russia continues to pummel the country with missiles and drones on a near-nightly basis.
A Kyiv-based US diplomat was invited to the foreign ministry for talks on Wednesday.
However, Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had not received any official notification from the US about the “suspension or revision” of the weapons deliveries, and urged people not to speculate on the basis of partial information.
But in a statement the defence ministry also said the path to ending the war was “through consistent and joint pressure on the aggressor”.
At the weekend Ukraine endured its biggest aerial attack since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with more than 500 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles launched at its cities.
US officials did not immediately say which shipments were being halted.
According to American broadcaster NBC, the weapons being delayed could include Patriot interceptors, Howitzer munitions, missiles and grenade launchers.
The US has sent tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, leading some in the Trump administration to voice concerns that US stockpiles are too low.
The Kremlin, for its part, welcomed news of the reduction in weapons shipments, saying reducing the flow of weapons to Kyiv will help end the conflict faster.
“The fewer the number of weapons that are delivered to Ukraine, the closer the end of the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Fedir Venislavskyi, an MP for Ukraine’s ruling party, said the decision was “painful, and against the background of the terrorist attacks which Russia commits against Ukraine… it’s a very unpleasant situation”.
A Ukrainian military source quoted by the AFP news agency said Kyiv was “seriously dependent on American arms supplies, although Europe is doing its best, but it will be difficult for us without American ammunition”.
Ukraine’s European allies have spent billions in military aid over the last three-and-a-half years.
However, military support for Kyiv is not endorsed by everyone on the political spectrum.
Czech President and former top Nato official, Petr Pavel, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine – but he told BBC Russian he could “not guarantee” continued ammunition support for Kyiv, as that was dependent on the result of forthcoming Czech elections.
“I don’t know what will be the priorities of a new government,” he said.
The Pentagon’s move is based on concerns that US military stockpiles are falling too low, a source told CBS News, although Anna Kelly stressed “the strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned – just ask Iran”.
Separately, the US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, said in a statement the Pentagon “continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine”.
However, he added “the department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving US forces’ readiness for Administration defence priorities”.
The pause comes less than a week after President Donald Trump discussed air defences with Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit in the Netherlands.
Trump said US officials “are going to see if we can make some of them available” when asked by the BBC about providing extra Patriot anti-missile systems to Ukraine.
Referring to his conversation with Zelensky, Trump said: “We had a little rough times sometimes, but he couldn’t have been nicer.”
The two had a heated confrontation in the Oval Office in February. Afterwards, Trump said he was pausing military aid to Ukraine that had been earmarked by the previous Biden administration. Intelligence sharing with Ukraine was also suspended.
But both pauses were subsequently lifted.
In late April, the US and Ukraine signed a deal that would give the US access to Ukraine’s mineral reserves in exchange for military assistance.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday – the first time in over two-and-a-half years.
They spoke on the phone for more than two hours, Macron’s office said, adding the French president had urged a ceasefire in Ukraine and for talks to start on a “solid and lasting settlement of the conflict”.
The Kremlin said Putin had “reminded Macron” that the West’s policy was to blame for the war, because it had “for many years ignored Russia’s security interests”.
Last month, Russia’s long-time leader told a forum in St Petersburg that he saw Russians and Ukrainians as one people and “in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours”.
Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.
US President Trump said Hamas should accept truce terms and that the situation would “only get worse.” The call came after dozens of charities have called for an Israeli and US-backed Gaza aid group to be disbanded.
Trump also said he hopes there would be a ceasefire in place in Gaza “next week”Image: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo/picture alliance
Trump says Israel agrees to set 60-day ceasefire terms
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel agreed to set terms for a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
“Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Without specifying the proposed terms, Trump said he hoped the militant group Hamas would accept the ceasefire terms reached with the help of Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
“The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal,” Trump wrote. “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The announcement came ahead of a scheduled meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next Monday.
US pushes for Gaza truce next week
The United States pushes for a truce in Gaza “sometime next week,” President Donald Trump said.
The Republican leader told reporters he hopes a ceasefire in the brutal war between Israel and Hamas can be in place before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House on July 7.
“We hope it’s going to happen, and we’re looking for it to happen sometime next week,” Trump said before leaving Washington for Florida.
The quick end to Israel’s 12-day war with Iran has sparked fresh hopes for a stop to the fighting in Gaza. More than 20 months of combat have left over two million people facing a dire humanitarian crisis.
Trump has urged Israel to “make the deal in Gaza,” but Israeli forces have kept up their offensive across the Palestinian territory.
Israeli army reviewing Gaza cafe strike that killed 24
The Israeli army says it is reviewing an airstrike on a popular Gaza seafront cafe it claims targeted militants but that rescuers say has left 24 dead.
In a statement to AFP, the army said it hit “several Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip.”
Gaza’s civil defense reported that at least 24 Palestinians were killed and dozens more wounded when the Al-Baqa cafe, a busy spot along Gaza City’s coastal promenade, was hit on Monday.
An Israeli army spokesperson said “steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians using aerial surveillance” before the strike. “The incident is under review,” he added.
The Al-Baqa cafe and restaurant had become a regular gathering place for residents who have not been displaced by the conflict, surviving more than 20 months of war and heavy bombardment.
A SPLIT verdict has been reached in the federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The courtroom received a letter from the jury at around 4:05 pm on Tuesday, informing the judge that jurors had reached a verdict on four of the five counts.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs listens as lead prosecutor Maurene Comey makes rebuttal arguments for the government on June 27Credit: Reuters
The note said the jury reached a verdict on counts 2-5, which are the sex trafficking and transportation for engaging in prostitution charges.
However, it also indicated that jurors were unable to agree unanimously on count 1 – the racketeering conspiracy charge.
Combs faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence if convicted of either prostitution charge, and a minimum of 15 years if convicted of either sex trafficking count.
He faces a life sentence if convicted on the racketeering conspiracy charge.
Judge Arun Subramanian ruled to give the jury more time to deliberate over the deadlocked charge after receiving proposals from the prosecution and the defense on how to move forward with the split verdict.
Moments later, the judge dismissed the jury for the day and instructed them to continue their deliberation on count 1 on Wednesday morning.
BLISTERING CLOSING ARGUMENTS
In closing arguments, prosecutors described Combs as the “leader of a criminal enterprise” who used his expansive “wealth, power, violence, and fear to get what he wanted.”
“He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law,” Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik said.
“It was his kingdom. Everyone was there to serve him.”
The core evidence of the prosecution’s case was the disturbing and graphic nature of the drug-fueled “freak-offs” that at times Combs allegedly coerced his ex-girlfriends to participate in with male escorts.
Slavik described to jurors how Combs forced his former lovers Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane” into participating in the punishing sex marathons and with the help of an inner circle of “loyal lieutenants” covered up the alleged crimes.
Ventura and Jane were sometimes required to perform the lewd acts, which were also called “hotel nights and wild king nights,” while they were hurting from urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to prosecutors.
Ventura testified that the choreographed encounters, which she said were directed by Combs, could last days, with the longest she ever participated in being four days.
On the other hand, Combs’ defense team slammed the prosecution’s case as an attack on “your bedroom” and one’s sex life.
“They go into the man’s bedroom. They go into the man’s most private life. Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. That’s the crime scene,” Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, said during closing arguments.
Agnifilo summarized the seven-week trial as a “tale of two trials,” arguing one side is the one told by the evidence of the case, by witnesses, videos, and text messages, and the other was a “badly, badly, exaggerated” story told by prosecutors.
The defense attorney argued the sexual encounters involving Combs, Ventura, “Jane,” and male escorts were consensual, and called the “freak-offs,” which were sometimes video recorded, “homemade porn.”
“You want to call it swingers, you want to call it threesomes, whatever you want to call it, that is what it is – that’s what the evidence shows,” Agnifilo told the jury.
A SECRETIVE Russian “killer satellite” deployed in space was detected launching another mysterious flying object near a US spacecraft.
Kosmos-2558 is a Russian military satellite that is currently on an orbital path which is suspiciously close to USA-326 – an American spy satellite.
Kosmos-2558 as seen on June 28Credit: TU Delft
The 14F150 Nivelir-type satellite was deployed into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) – and has presumably been stalking the US space asset since 2022.
It is believed to have the capacity to constantly monitor enemy spy satellites and potentially shoot them down if needed.
Space program researchers have now detected a new object that appeared to have separated from the Russian inspector satellite on June 26.
The new flying object, named 2025-089C or simply Object C, appeared to be a subsatellite that was launched by Kosmos-2558.
It was filmed on 28 June 2025 from Leiden, the Netherlands, using a powerful astronomy camera.
The clip shows Kosmos 2558 passing through the frame.
Just 16 seconds later, Object C can be seen moving in the same direction but on a different orbit.
It is believed that Object C is a highly manoeuvrable sub-satellite with onboard high-speed kinetic anti-satellite weapons.
Two earlier Russian satellites of the same type, Kosmos-2519 and 2542, also released subsatellites, which were designated Cosmos-2521 and 2543.
Bart Hendrickx, a long-time space researcher and Russian space program expert, wrote in his blog: “Both of those [Russian] satellites showed significant manoeuvring capability and each fired a high-speed projectile that was interpreted by the Pentagon as an anti-satellite weapon.
“This happened when they were flying in the vicinity of other Russian satellites.”
Last year, Putin launched a terrifying weapon system into space capable of killing other satellites.
The Pentagon said that the Russian counter-space weapon was put into the “same orbit” as a US government satellite – and is likely tracking the space device already.
The Russian space object believed to be Cosmos-2576 was launched on May 16 on a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome, some 497 miles north of Moscow.
It is now following American spy satellite USA 314, operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office.
An unofficial Russian source claimed the launch carried a “secret military device”.
While it was previously reported as a Russian space satellite, the US has now warned it could be a counter-space weapon capable of attacking other such tech.
Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder said: “Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter-space weapon.
“It was deployed into the same orbit as a US government satellite and assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter space payloads from 2019 and 2022.”
“We will continue to monitor the situation … we have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the space domain and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the joint and combined force.”
Russia’s Roskosmos state space agency said the launch was “in the interests of the defence ministry of the Russian Federation”.
In 2023, US intelligence chiefs warned that Russia is planning to launch nukes into space that would destroy satellites in a “grave” threat to the world’s security.
SHOPPERS have been urged to check their pantries after a box of chocolates sold at a popular supermarket chain was recalled.
The candy was distributed to multiple US states before health officials uncovered a life-threatening ingredient hiding inside.
Chocolates sold at a Walmart rival have been recalledCredit: Getty
The Food and Drug Administration recalled Wegman’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Nonpareils this week, which were sold at the brand’s 112 stores.
That’s because the chocolates don’t warn of the potential presence of milk, which could cause a life-threatening reaction to those with allergies, the administration said.
The product comes in 18.5-ounce packages and was produced by Mellace Family Brands California in Ohio.
The company admitted to the mistake and said it “was caused by a temporary breakdown in the suppliers’ manufacturing process.”
No one has experienced health issues from the chocolates yet, according to the FDA.
The candies were distributed to stores in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington DC before they were recalled.
Shoppers should know that the items could be contaminated with the allergen even if the best-by date hasn’t passed.
The recalled chocolates have best-by dates from December 28 to April 12, according to the recall notice.
Anyone who has purchased any of the chocolate is urged to go back to the store and get a full refund.
The affected lot codes are 55021, 55031, 55491, 55501, 56061, and 56071.
MORE RECALLS
The chocolate candy is just the latest in a string of contaminated items that had to be yanked from shelves.
One snack sold at Trader Joe’s was found to have life-threatening bacteria lurking inside.
The item that was affected was the Face Rock Creamery Vampire Slayer Cheddar Curds.
Health experts said that the cheese could contain listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium.
Listeria can cause people to fall ill with listeriosis, which is a dangerous infection that puts younger children and older adults at risk.
Common side effects of the infection include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, diarrhea, and convulsions.
The bacteria can even cause pregnant women to have stillbirths or miscarriages, and newborns can be killed.
Listeria is often found in soft cheeses, milk, deli foods, and prepared meats.
TRAGIC backpacker Juliana Marins told her family “I’m not afraid” in a final text before her death on an Indonesian volcano.
The 26-year-old’s mum, Estela Marins, revealed it was written at the start of her daughter’s doomed Southeast Asia trip.
Juliana pictured with her mum Estela at the airport shortly before the doomed tripCredit: Globo1
In a message shown to Brazilian programme Fantastico, Juliana said: “Mami, I love you so much. I was heartbroken when we said goodbye.
“In fact, that’s the only thing that worries me: letting you, papi or my sister be disappointed. Other than that, I’m not afraid of much, much less trouble.
“I was raised by a woman who can solve any problem and who is not afraid to take the plunge and go after her dreams. I am like that too. I have different desires and dreams.
“I love you all very much! And I will always be grateful for all the support, care and affection. That is what makes me not afraid.”
Juliana died after falling more than 1,600 feet from a cliff on a hike up Mount Rinjani, an active volcano in Indonesia, on June 21.
Her body was only recovered three days later, after a complex and delayed rescue operation.
New autopsy ordered
Her body is due to arrive in Brazil today, Globo reports.
There, a second autopsy will be carried out to determine whether she could have survived the fall with timely help.
The request for the new examination was made by the Public Defender’s Office and fast-tracked by President Lula da Silva.
Authorities say the autopsy must be done within six hours of her return to preserve evidence.
The first autopsy, conducted in Bali, found that she died from trauma within 20 minutes – but drone footage and witness accounts have cast doubt on that timeline.
‘Left behind’ on the trail
Juliana, from Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, had been hiking with six tourists and two local guides when she became exhausted and stopped to rest.
The publicist and dancer’s family has since blasted the “botched” rescue mission and claimed her tour guide abandoned her.
“Juliana was in this group, but she got very tired and asked to stop for a while. They kept going, and the guide didn’t stay with her,” said her sister, Mariana Marins.
Guide Ali Musthofa claimed he was only “three minutes” ahead and returned when Juliana didn’t show up — only to find she had fallen.
“I saw the light of a flashlight on a ravine about 150 meters deep and heard Juliana’s voice calling for help,” he said.
Rescue drones later spotted the Brazilian alive on the cliff, but poor weather and lack of equipment delayed efforts to reach her.
She was officially confirmed dead on June 24, and her family has accused Indonesian authorities of failing to provide assistance.
Initial reports claimed rescuers had reached Juliana and provided food and water. The Brazilian embassy repeated this — but it turned out to be false.
Elon Musk (left) taking a picture with his phone on Mar 4, 2025, and US President Donald Trump on Jun 27, 2017. (Photos: AFP)
United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (Jul 1) he could consider deporting Elon Musk, after the South African-born billionaire slammed his flagship spending Bill.
Trump also said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk headed before stepping down in late May, may train its sights on the Tesla and SpaceX founder’s government subsidies.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he would consider deporting Musk.
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”
Trump doubled down on the threat when he said he believed Musk was attacking his so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support electric vehicles (EV).
“He’s losing his EV mandate. He’s very upset about things, but you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that.”
Trump made similar comments on his Truth Social network late on Monday, saying that “without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa”.
Musk, the world’s richest person, was Trump’s biggest donor in the 2024 election and initially maintained a near-constant presence at the newly elected president’s side.
A man runs as storm clouds hover above at Bronte Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Jul 1, 2025. (Photo: Reuters/Bianca De Marchi)
A wild weather system pummelled Sydney for a second day on Wednesday (Jul 2), with the storm forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights, bringing down trees and taking out power to thousands of homes in Australia’s southeast.
Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia, Australia’s biggest airlines, have together cancelled at least 55 domestic flights in and out of Sydney on Wednesday, the airport’s website showed. Some international flights have been delayed.
Sydney’s train services have also been disrupted, with authorities urging people to avoid non-essential travel.
“Be really careful. It’s really wild out there, if you can delay travel, please do so,” New South Wales state Emergency Services Chief Superintendent Dallas Burnes told ABC News.
“As people wake today and see the damage from last night, we’re expecting a very busy day.”
A coastal low-pressure system, described by meteorologists as a “bomb cyclone”, smashed Australia’s southeast coast overnight with wind gusts of more than 100 kph, uprooting trees and damaging power lines. Roughly one month’s worth of rain fell over six hours in some regions.
The weather phenomenon forms quickly and causes air pressure to drop significantly within a short period of time.
More than 35,000 properties are without power in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, after the storm overnight, outage data showed.
Several roads in the state’s Illawara region south of Sydney have been closed due to flooding and fallen trees. Evacuation orders were issued due to coastal erosion in the Central Coast region, while dozens of warnings remain for wind damage and flash flooding.
Conditions are expected to worsen through Wednesday before the system eases and move into the Tasman Sea, and then track toward New Zealand on Thursday.
The United States is asking Asia to increase defence budgets to 5 per cent of their GDP. Do Southeast Asian countries need to? (Illustration: CNA/Rafa Estrada)
In President Donald Trump’s second term, the United States has called on allies and partners in Europe and Asia to hike defence expenditures to 5 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP).
Vigorous debate on the merits of such a target has ensued, among top-ranking government officials and faceless social media commenters alike.
Those in favour point to countries embroiled in long-running tensions in their neighbourhood, such as South Korea; and cite Western countries spending close to the 5 per cent figure during the Cold War.
In the opposing camp, some note the US itself spending 3.4 per cent of GDP on defence last year, even if it was the top spender globally in absolute terms.
One particularly well-received online remark stated: “Why should someone tell you how and how much to spend for (your) defence?”
Asia was drawn into the conversation at this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Indo-Pacific allies in particular should spend more on their defence needs to deter the likes of China and North Korea.
The Pentagon chief said China was a real and imminent threat seeking to “fundamentally alter the region’s status quo”.
He said it did not make sense for key Asian allies to spend less than European and American countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), whom he claimed were pledging to spend 5 per cent of their GDP on defence – a figure first floated by Mr Trump in January.
In the president’s first term, he said NATO members should raise their defence spending to 4 per cent of GDP.
The need to match Europe’s pace and level of defence spending was brought up again by the US Defense Department in June.
Last week, NATO agreed to more than double its defence spending benchmark from 2 per cent to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 – with the exception of some countries like Spain.
The historic decision by the 32-member alliance comes amid a war in their backyard – the deadliest since World War II – prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But it is a different picture in Asia despite Korean tensions, the China-Taiwan issue, friction between India and Pakistan as well as Thai-Cambodian clashes along a shared border.
And in Southeast Asia, the posture of most countries towards China is markedly different from the US’ assessment of Beijing as a threat, experts say.
BALANCING OR LEANING?
To be sure, Southeast Asian ties with China are not entirely without strain. Most prominently, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia have overlapping claims with Beijing in the South China Sea.
Issues over the vital waterway for global trade topped a list of geopolitical concerns in the region according to a study by Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS) think-tank.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China have long been in the process of negotiating a code of conduct to keep peace and security in the South China Sea.
The ISEAS survey, published in April, polled over 2,000 thought leaders across the region. Asked who they would side with if forced to, 52.3 per cent picked the US while 47.7 per cent chose China.
The narrow margin reflects the “delicate balancing act” ASEAN must maintain between the two superpowers, with economic dependence on China and security interests with the US, ISEAS noted in its report.
The think-tank concluded that China remains perceived as the most influential economic and political-strategic power in Southeast Asia, outpacing the US by “significant margins”.
In a Jun 24 piece for American magazine Foreign Affairs, veteran Singapore scholars Khong Yuen Foong and Joseph Chinyong Liow observed that Southeast Asia was “clearly leaning towards” Beijing.
This was based on their assessment of interactions between ASEAN countries and China and the US, though they also added that “alignment patterns are not set in stone”.
REGIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
In 2024, the defence budgets of Southeast Asian countries ranged between 0.78 per cent (Indonesia) and 4.09 per cent (Myanmar) of their respective GDP.
The US is concerned that Southeast Asian states are not contributing sufficiently to deterring or dissuading Beijing from using force to settle political disputes, said Mr Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University.
Defence spending is one measure of political will to contribute to deterring China, but in the absence of will to confront China’s aggression, the US still seeks capable allies who can independently and competently contribute to maintaining peace and stability regionally, he added.
This would require adequate spending on military procurement as well as training, to build up the capability to jointly address threats beyond individual state borders.
The problem with the US casting China as a threat to be deterred is that few Southeast Asian states see Beijing in purely adversarial terms or consider it a singular factor underlying their defence considerations, ISEAS senior fellows Hoang Thi Ha and William Choong wrote in an analysis.
“Southeast Asian claimant states in the South China Sea – particularly the Philippines and Vietnam – may stand out for a sharper sense of threat arising from Chinese maritime encroachments, yet even they do not define China solely as a threat,” they said.
Shangri-La Dialogue senior fellow Evan Laksmana also pointed out that in Southeast Asia, threats to security are “a lot more diverse”, from illegal fishing to transnational crime.
Even if there was an increase in the defence spending, it may not be directed towards conventional capability development the way the US would like, said Dr Laksmana, who is also the editor of the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
He also cautioned against conflating what the US expects for its allies versus its non-allies.
The US is a strategic partner of ASEAN, but only two in the bloc – the Philippines and Thailand – are treaty allies. It may be more “pressing” for them to have an answer to the US’ questions on defence spending, said Dr Laksmana, who leads IISS’ Southeast Asian security and defence research programme.
After Mr Hegseth’s speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, visiting senior fellow Zack Cooper at the RSIS think-tank observed in a commentary that American engagement was overly focused on military cooperation, when what Southeast Asian countries really want was economic cooperation.
Moreover, US leaders often view the region through the lens of its own competition with China, rather than recognising Southeast Asian countries as important and valuable in their own right, he added.
GUNS VS BUTTER
Putting aside the need to, just how feasible is the 5 per cent target?
In NATO’s case, it agreed that at least 3.5 per cent should be spent on pure defence, up from the current guideline of 2 per cent.
The remainder would go to security- and defence-related critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, ports and airfields.
Emeritus professor of politics at the University of New South Wales’ Carl Thayer noted, however, that a key difference was in Southeast Asia having no military alliance structure comparable to NATO.
ASEAN has a Political-Security Community Blueprint which has not indicated what percentage of each member’s GDP should be spent on defence, he added.
The blueprint aims to provide a roadmap for member states to live in peace with one another and the world at large.
Branding the 5 per cent figure “pie in the sky” for Southeast Asia, Prof Thayer said countries in the region could in fact undermine their own security if they shifted excessive resources to military spending.
This, at a time when the global and regional economy has retracted and supply chains have been disrupted by tariffs imposed by the US.
“A more prudent course of action would be incremental increases in defence expenditure to modernise their armed forces to keep pace with technological change,” he added.
Experts said Southeast Asian countries have typically grappled with the classic “guns versus butter” trade-off between allocating money to military or civilian goods.
Tariffs aside, majority of the region is still trying to recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, said IISS’ Dr Laksmana, concluding it would not be realistic to expect Southeast Asian states to increase defence spending over the next few years or so, whatever timeframe the US has in mind.
It also should not be forgotten that the region has its own dynamics, he added.
For instance, if Indonesia were to suddenly raise its defence budget by five times, it would spark concern among Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
“The bordering countries will also start to ask questions why my neighbour is suddenly increasing defence spending,” he said.
“(Those) kinds of conversations are very subject to local, historical context and all of the challenges of having neighbours in the region.”
THE SINGAPORE CASE
Both Singapore’s Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan have described the country’s approach to geopolitical rivalries as not taking sides, but upholding principles such as a global order underpinned by law and sovereignty.
China was the first country outside of Southeast Asia which Prime Minister Lawrence Wong visited, after assuming the role in May last year. During his trip in late June, he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and spoke of the “close and steadfast” partnership between both countries.
With the US, though not a formal treaty ally, experts said Singapore is considered a “solid” security partner.
Defence spending for the country has stayed within the range of 3 per cent of GDP over the past decade.
During its Ministry of Defence’s (MINDEF) Budget debate earlier this year, former defence minister Ng Eng Hen said he expected growth in defence expenditure to “taper down” from the 2026 financial year, and to keep within the 3 per cent range over the next decade.
This is, of course, barring major conflicts or severe economic uncertainty. Given rapid changes in the external environment, if the need arises, Singapore “must be prepared to invest more to further strengthen our capabilities”, Dr Ng told parliament then.
UNSW’s Prof Thayer said that if Singapore were to up its defence spending to meet the US’ target, it would raise the possibility of “entrapment” in the event of any armed conflict between the superpowers.
Singapore’s interests lie in “mitigating the vulnerability of its small size rather than expeditionary warfare”, he added.
Dr Laksmana said: “If there is some artificial benchmark in terms of the growth in defence spending, it will be on Singapore’s own terms, not the US.
“It will be on Singapore’s own calculations and interest.”
CNA has asked MINDEF to comment on the US’ 5 per cent target, and if there are plans to boost defence spending amid the volatile geopolitical landscape.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism reaches a milestone this week
Hundreds of followers of the Dalai Lama have gathered in northern India for the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader’s 90th birthday, amid growing anticipation that he could give a clue about his eventual successor.
The Dalai Lama is due to release a video message and a statement on Wednesday, his office has told the BBC, although there’s no clarity on what he will say.
The Dalai Lama fled across the border to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.
He set up a government-in-exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala and has been seen as an alternative source of power for those who resent Beijing’s tight control of Tibet.
The milestone birthday on Sunday will be preceded by the three-day 15th Tibetan Religious Conference, starting on Wednesday morning. Celebrations began on Monday – the Dalai Lama’s birthday according to the Tibetan lunar calendar.
Celebrations will be attended by more than 7,000 guests, including a number of Indian ministers. On Monday, photos showed the Dalai Lama blessing Hollywood actor Richard Gere, a long-time follower.
The Dalai Lama, who had earlier said he would release details about his succession around his 90th birthday, told a gathering on Monday that “there will be some kind of a framework within which we can talk about the continuation of the institution of the Dalai Lamas”. He did not elaborate.
In the past, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism has been torn between whether to continue with the 600-year-old institution or not. A few years ago, he said his successor might be a girl, or that there might be no successor at all.
But in recent years, he has also said that if there’s widespread support among Tibetans-in-exile for the post – which there is – then it would continue and his office would choose a successor.
He has always insisted that his successor would be born outside China, something that has angered Beijing.
Even though the Dalai Lama has always advocated a “middle way” to resolve the status of Tibet – genuine self-rule within China – Beijing regards him as a separatist. It says the standard of living of people in Tibet has greatly improved under its rule.
Youdon Aukatsang, an MP in the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, said she did not expect “a clear-cut procedure would be laid down” this week.
“I think everyone is kind of anticipating some kind of revelation from His Holiness about his reincarnation. But I do not expect a very specific kind of revelation,” she told the BBC.
The present Dalai Lama, she said, “is a binding and unifying force for the Tibetan movement” and some Tibetans feel somebody should be recognised soon as his successor because they worry that there may be an impact on the community and the movement going forward.
“The Dalai Lama institution is very important for the Tibetan struggle. It’s also a symbol of Tibetan identity and a beacon of our spiritual refuge. That will continue. I think there will be a vacuum, but we have to continue, we don’t have a choice,” she said.
“We have very, very big shoes to fill but we have to fill them, right? I think many people will have to get into that role, one person will not be enough.”
Experts, however, say if he does announce a successor, then China is also expected to name its own Dalai Lama.
“China will argue that only the Communist Party of China based in Beijing has the authority to find the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama,” Dibyesh Anand, professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster, told the BBC.
“After a period of a few months or a few years, they will have their own proteges identify a small boy as the next Dalai Lama and impose that. Of course, a majority of Tibetans are going to reject it and the majority of people in the world are going to make fun of it. But remember China has immense authority in terms of resources so they will try to impose that.”
Ms Aukatsang says that “despite all these years of trying to control the hearts and minds of Tibetan people inside Tibet”, Beijing has “completely failed”.
A Dalai Lama chosen by China, she says, “will not be recognised, not only by the Tibetans but the world will not recognise it because China doesn’t have the legitimacy to find the future Dalai Lama”.
“We are concerned but we know that irrespective of our concern, China will come up with their own Dalai Lama, we will call it the Chinese-recognised Dalai Lama. I am not worried that Dalai Lama will have any credibility in the Tibetan world or the Buddhist world.”
Tibetan Buddhists believe that their senior monks are reincarnated and a Dalai Lama is chosen by Buddhist officials if they are convinced that the one they are choosing harbours the soul of his predecessor.
The present – 14th – Dalai Lama was born on 6 July 1935 in a small Tibetan village in a farmer family and was named Lhamo Dhondub. When he was two years old, a search party of Buddhist officials recognised him as the reincarnation of the 13 previous Dalai Lamas.
According to his official biography, the clinching evidence came when the officials showed him a number of possessions that had belonged to his predecessor. The toddler correctly identified items belonging to the 13th Dalai Lama saying, “It’s mine. It’s mine”.
Enthroned before he turned four, he was educated at a Tibetan monastery and has a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy.
But in 1950, when he was 15, the troops of Mao Zedong’s newly-installed Communist government marched into Tibet. A year later, China drew up a 17-point agreement legitimising Tibet’s incorporation into China.
A Tibetan revolt in 1959, seeking an end to Chinese rule, was crushed and thousands of protesters were killed.
U.S. Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill on Tuesday by the narrowest of margins, advancing a package that would slash taxes, reduce social safety net programs and boost military and immigration enforcement spending while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt.
The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives for possible final approval, though a handful of Republicans there have already voiced opposition to some of the Senate provisions.
Trump wants to sign it into law by the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said he aimed to meet that deadline.
The measure would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, give new tax breaks for income from tips and overtime pay and increase spending on the military and immigration enforcement. It also would cut about $930 billion of spending on the Medicaid health program and food aid for low-income Americans and repeal many of Democratic former President Joe Biden’s green-energy incentives.
The legislation, which has exposed Republican divides over the nation’s fast-growing $36.2 trillion debt, would raise the federal government’s self-imposed debt ceiling by $5 trillion. Congress must raise the cap in the coming months or risk a devastating default.
The Senate passed the measure in a 51-50 vote with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie after three Republicans – Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky – joined all 47 Democrats in voting against the bill.
The vote followed an all-night debate in which Republicans grappled with the bill’s price tag and its impact on the U.S. healthcare system.
Much of the late horse-trading was aimed at winning over Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had signaled she would vote against the bill without significant alterations.
The final Senate bill included two provisions that helped secure her vote: one that sends more food-aid funding to Alaska and several other states, and another providing $50 billion to help rural hospitals cope with the sweeping cuts to Medicaid.
‘NOT FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY’
The vote in the House, where Republicans hold a 220-212 majority, is likely to be close.
Johnson, the House speaker, said during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Republican leadership would seek to move the legislation through the Rules Committee on Wednesday morning and get it before the entire House before Friday’s holiday, unless travel plans were upset by thunderstorms that have menaced the Washington area.
“Hopefully we’re voting on this by tomorrow or Thursday at latest, depending on the weather delays and travel and all the rest – that’s the wild card that we can’t control,” Johnson said.
A White House official told reporters that Trump would be “deeply involved” in pushing House Republicans to approve the bill.
“It’s a great bill. There is something for everyone,” Trump said at an event in Florida on Tuesday. “And I think it’s going to go very nicely in the House.”
People pass by the National Debt Clock in New York City, U.S., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rights
An initial version passed with only two votes to spare in May, and several House Republicans have said they do not support the Senate version, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will add $800 billion more to the national debt than the House version.
Republicans have struggled to balance conservatives’ demands for deeper spending cuts to reduce the impact on the deficit with moderate lawmakers’ concerns that the Medicaid cuts could hurt their constituents, including service cutbacks in rural areas.
The House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives who repeatedly threatened to withhold their support for the tax bill, has criticized the Senate version’s price tag.
“There’s a significant number who are concerned,” Republican Representative Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said of the Senate bill.
A group of more moderate House Republicans, especially those who represent lower-income areas, have objected to the steeper Medicaid cuts in the Senate’s plan.
Meanwhile, Republicans have faced separate concerns from a handful of House Republicans from high-tax states, including New York, New Jersey and California, who have demanded a larger tax break for state and local tax payments.
The legislation has also drawn criticism from billionaire Elon Musk, the former Trump ally who has railed against the bill’s enormous cost and vowed to back challengers to Republican lawmakers in next year’s midterm elections.
House Democrats are expected to remain unanimously opposed to the bill.
“This is the largest assault on American healthcare in history,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. “It’s the largest assault on nutrition in American history.”
The Senate bill would deliver some of its biggest benefits to the top 1% of U.S. households, earning $663,000 or more in 2025, according to the Tax Foundation. These high earners would gain the most from the bill’s tax cuts, the CBO has said.
Independent analysts have said the bill’s tightening of eligibility for food and health safety net programs would effectively reduce poor Americans’ incomes and increase their costs for food and healthcare. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecast that nearly 12 million more people would become uninsured under the Senate plan.
The bill’s increase in the national debt effectively serves as a wealth transfer from younger to older Americans, nonpartisan analysts have said.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured a remote migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” as his Republican allies advanced a sweeping spending bill that could ramp up deportations.
The facility sits some 37 miles (60 km) from Miami in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons, fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the country under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Trump raved about the facility’s quick construction as he scanned rows of dozens of empty bunk beds enclosed in cages and warned about the threatening conditions surrounding the facility.
“I looked outside and that’s not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon,” Trump said at a roundtable event after his tour. “We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is really deportation.”
The complex in southern Florida at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport is estimated to cost $450 million annually and could house some 5,000 people, officials estimate.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will send 100 National Guard troops there and that people could start arriving at the facility as soon as Wednesday.
In promoting the opening of the facility, U.S. officials posted on social media images of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats. The Florida Republican Party is selling gator-themed clothing and beer koozies.
Two environmental groups filed a legal motion last week seeking to block further construction of the detention site, saying it violated federal, state and local environmental laws.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court, said construction will lead to traffic, artificial light and the use of large power generators, all of which would “significantly impact” the environment.
The groups, Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, said the site is located at or near the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected area that is a habitat for endangered Florida panthers and other animals.
“Putting aside whether intractable political gridlock over immigration reform constitutes an ’emergency,’ it does not give license to the state and federal governments to simply disregard the laws that govern federal projects affecting environmentally sensitive lands, essential waterways, national parks and preserves, and endangered species,” the groups wrote.
Some local leaders, including from the nearby Miccosukee and Seminole tribes, have objected to the facility’s construction and the construction has drawn crowds of demonstrators.
President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visit a temporary migrant detention center informally known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in Ochopee, Florida, July 1. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein Purchase Licensing Rights
Trump dismissed environmental concerns on Tuesday, saying in wide-ranging remarks that the wetlands’ wildlife would outlast the human species. He said the detention facility was a template for what he’d like to do nationwide.
“We’d like to see them in many states,” Trump said.
HARDLINE POLICIES
The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that adds tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement alongside several of the president’s other tax-and-spending plans.
Trump has lobbied fiercely to have the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and the measure still needs a final sign-off from the House of Representatives.
The Republican president, who maintains a home in Florida, has for a decade made hardline border policies central to his political agenda. One in eight 2024 U.S. election voters said immigration was the most important issue.
But Trump’s campaign pledges to deport as many as 1 million people per year have run up against protests by the affected communities, legal challenges, employer demands for cheap labor and a funding crunch for a government running chronic deficits.
Lawyers for some of the detained migrants have challenged the legality of the deportations and criticized the conditions in temporary detention facilities.
The numbers in federal immigration detention have risen sharply to 56,000 by June 15, from 39,000 when Trump took office, government data show, and his administration has pushed to find more space.
The White House has said the detentions are a necessary public safety measure, and some of the detained migrants have criminal records, though U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics also show an eight-fold increase in arrests of people charged only with immigration violations.
Trump has spoken admiringly of vast, isolated prisons, built by El Salvador and his administration has held some migrants at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, in Cuba, best known for housing foreign terrorism suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
A view of pressers and furnaces used to make rare earth permanent magnets at a factory owned by Neo Performance Materials, in Narva, Estonia, March 10, 2025. Sergei Nehhozin/Neo Performance Materials/Handout via REUTERS /File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
For years, Rahim Suleman had reached out repeatedly to automakers and other potential clients to market the rare earth magnets from the plant his company was building in Estonia, one of just a handful outside dominant producer China.
But after April 4, when Beijing imposed new restrictions on the super-strong magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines, Suleman retired his sales pitch. He didn’t need it any more.
Ever since China’s export controls tightened some rare earth exports to a trickle in the midst of a trade war with the U.S., causing chaos in supply chains and some auto plant shutdowns, “the phone is ringing off the hook”, said Suleman.
Companies starting new plants in Europe, the U.S. and Asia had previously reported difficult talks on deals that embedded the higher costs to make magnets outside China, which benefits from cheaper labour costs and economies of scale as well as government support via tax refunds.
But the crisis has led many customers to soften or drop objections about paying those premiums as they scramble to hammer out deals, according to a dozen industry participants including automakers, magnet makers, rare earth producers, consultants and government officials interviewed by Reuters.
While rare earths magnets from China are beginning to flow again, customers remain on edge about the threat of future shortages.
Suleman’s company, Neo Performance Materials (NEO.TO), launched output of permanent magnets at its Estonia plant in May. Now, he said, “everybody wants to talk about how (they can) satisfy their demand out of our facility”.
He said he has no worries about lining up enough customers who will pay a premium – $10 to $30 per kg, with EVs typically holding 2-4 kg of magnets per vehicle – over the price they usually pay for Chinese magnets.
Output at Neo’s factory in Estonia is starting small, providing samples to its first customer, which Suleman declined to identify. German auto parts supplier Schaeffler (SHAn.DE), told Reuters it is a customer of the plant, but declined to comment on how much it is paying.
In Korea, customers of NovaTech (285490.KQ), which produces magnets in China, are prepared to pay 15% to 20% more for magnets made in Vietnam, a company source told Reuters, adding there was “a growing sense of crisis among customers”.
The company, which sells China-made magnets used in Samsung’s phones and tablets, is investing at least 10 billion won ($7.39 million) in a plant in Vietnam launching early next year to make magnets using locally processed rare earths from a partner, the person and another company official told Reuters.
Britain’s Less Common Metals, one of the few firms outside China involved in a key step of rare earths processing – making rare earth metals and alloys – says it is battling to cope with new enquiries.
“Now, post-April 4, it’s like someone stuck a cattle prod into the whole industry,” said Grant Smith, its majority owner and chairman.
He said LCM has held discussions with numerous companies that use magnets as they seek alternative supply sources, though he declined to name them. The firm now has plans to expand into France and other countries.
A FINE BALANCE
Despite the new willingness to pay a premium, it will take many years or even decades to build up production outside of China, which accounts for 90% of global permanent magnet supply, industry participants said.
And the question of how much more should be paid for rare earths and magnets outside of China is a tricky one.
Too high a premium for mined rare earths could see consumers cutting down their use, while premiums that are too low would not be enough to allow for construction of ex-China projects, analysts and consultants say.
Automakers are willing to pay more to guarantee ex-China supplies, but they are also in the midst of an EV price war that has left them with razor-thin margins, and will still be queasy at what they regard as excessive premiums, according to industry participants.
One executive at a rare earths company said their firm has held discussions with automakers that are prepared to pay $80 per kg for neodymium-praseodymium oxide (NdPr), a rare earth needed for magnets used in motors and generators – a figure Reuters has not independently verified.
That is already a significant – near 30% – premium over the Chinese price of $62 based on data from price reporting agency Fastmarkets.
“The purchasing departments have it in their DNA to save each cent or fraction of a cent, but things are changing,” said the executive, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
“They’re realising they’re losing more by having to close a plant for a month than paying a premium to guarantee supplies.”
Critical minerals consultancy Project Blue says that for NdPr, a price of $75 to $105 per kg is needed to support enough production to meet demand.
Australia’s Barrenjoey goes further, saying NdPr prices need to be $120 to $180 per kg to fund a substantial wave of production that would encompass around 20 global mining projects.
One executive at a European automaker said his industry could not afford to pay excessive premiums. His company has agreed deals for other critical minerals at a 5% to 10% premium, based on certification they are produced sustainably, he said.
His company sold cars globally, he said, and could not make a profit if it had to pay a high premium for all the raw materials produced outside of China.
Some automakers, such as BMW (BMWG.DE), have developed EVs that do not use rare earths, while others have reduced the amount of rare earths in their vehicles. However, getting rid of rare earths is not feasible in the medium term, analysts say.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce took their “love story” to Ohio.
The couple was spotted on a low-key lunch date at JoJo’s Bar in Chagrin Falls on Tuesday, per local outlet WKYC.
Photos circulating on social media from the outing in the Cleveland area showed the “Fortnight” hitmaker sitting at a table with two other people.
An eyewitness told the outlet that one of the men pictured was her athlete beau.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce stepped out for a low-key lunch date at JoJo’s Bar in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, on Tuesday. GC Images
The singer, 35, was spotted wearing a loose-fitting long-sleeved white shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
The Kansas City Chiefs star made an appearance in Chardon, Ohio, on Monday for the Alex’s Way charity golf tournament at the Sand Ridge Golf Club, per a fan account.
The casual sighting of the lovebirds came after the Cleveland Heights native made a confession about his high-profile relationship with the pop star.
During his appearance on Tuesday’s episode of the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast, Kelce, 35, was asked whether he “miscalculate[d]” anything about dating the Grammy winner.
The NFL player admitted he was forced to adjust to the level of paparazzi scrutiny in his life.
“That’s probably the only thing I didn’t really grasp until you’re in it. That’s probably the craziest thing,” the tight end said.
“Like, I’m just playing golf and all of the sudden in the trees there’s just a f–king guy with a camera,” he continued. “Like, ah s–t. I gotta go to the restroom now. I can’t just go over here and take a piss.”
Kelce clarified with the hosts that he has “never been ashamed of slamming beers” before he name-dropped us on the episode.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, center, arrives at Government House for a cabinet meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday, pending an ethics investigation over accusations that she was too deferential to a senior Cambodian leader when the two discussed a recent border dispute in a phone call that was leaked.
Paetongtarn has faced growing dissatisfaction over her handling of the dispute, which involved an armed confrontation on May 28, in which one Cambodian soldier was killed. In a call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, she attempted to defuse tensions — but instead set off a string of complaints and public protests by critics who accused her of being too fawning.
Paetongtarn’s suspension raises the possibility of renewed instability in Thailand, a still fragile democracy that has suffered several similar bouts of uncertainty. At the root of much of that were concerns from the conservative establishment, including the military, that the political dynasty started by Paetongtarn’s father, the popular but divisive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was growing too powerful.
She is the third member of her family to hold the prime minister’s office — and the third to face the possibility of removal before her term ended. Thaksin was removed from office in a 2006 coup and driven into exile, while his sister, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawtra, was removed by a court order in 2014, followed shortly after by a coup.
This “recurring cycle of political instability” would likely keep repeating unless Thailand goes through a genuine democratic reform that includes limiting power of unelected institutions, said Purawich Watanasukh, a political science lecturer at Thammasat University in Bangkok.
“Without such foundational reforms, any government, regardless of who leads it, will remain vulnerable to the same forces that have repeatedly disrupted Thailand’s democratic development,” he said.
Growing discontent
The suspension also comes at a time when the country is facing an economic slowdown and growing discontent with Paetongtarn and her Pheu Thai party, in general, with critics saying her government’s performance has been underwhelming.
The judges voted unanimously Tuesday to review the petition accusing her of a breach of the ethics, and voted 7-2 to immediately suspend her from duty as a prime minister until a ruling is given. The court gave Paetongtarn 15 days to give evidence to support her case.
After the court order, Paetongtarn said that she would accept the process and defended her actions.
“I only thought about what to do to avoid troubles, what to do to avoid armed confrontation, for the soldiers not to suffer any loss,” she said.
Fallout from leaked call
She also apologized to people upset over the leaked call and left the Government House shortly after.
Suriya Jungrungruangkit, who is a deputy prime minister and a transport minister, will take charge as acting prime minister, said Chousak Sirinil, minister of the prime minister’s office.
Earlier Tuesday, before the court suspended Paetongtarn, King Maha Vajiralongkorn had endorsed a Cabinet reshuffle after a major party left the government coalition over the leaked call.
In the reshuffle, Paetongtarn also received the position of culture minister, in addition to prime minister, though it’s not clear if she can take the oath to take up that role.
In the call about the border tensions, Paetongtarn could be heard urging Hun Sen — a longtime friend of her father — not to listen to a Thai regional army commander who had publicly criticized Cambodia about the border dispute, and called him “an opponent.”
Thousands of conservative, nationalist-leaning protesters rallied in central Bangkok on Saturday to demand Paetongtarn’s resignation.
Paetongtarn also faces separate investigations by another agency over the leaked call — a case that could also lead to her removal.
The Constitutional Court last year removed Paetongtarn’s predecessor over a breach of ethics. Thailand’s courts, especially the Constitutional Court, are viewed as a defender of the royalist establishment, which has used them and nominally independent agencies such as the Election Commission to cripple or sink political opponents.
Political dynasty
Paetongtarn, 38, is the youngest daughter of Thaksin. Her father has remained beloved by many of the Thailand’s poor and working classes who long saw him as their champion.
But the family’s political fortunes now may be on the wane.
Thaksin alienated many of his supporters with what looked like a self-serving deal with his former conservative opponents. It allowed his return from exile in 2023 and the party he supported to form the new government, while sidelining the progressive Move Forward Party, which finished first in a national election, but was seen by the conservative establishment as a greater threat.
Thaksin has faced several legal challenges since his return. On Tuesday, he attended a court hearing in a case alleging he defamed the monarchy in 2015.
Prosecutors amassed a mountain of damning evidence and key legal victories against Bryan Kohberger in the weeks before they offered him a plea deal for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger’s defense pushed for delays, tried to block most of the evidence against him, and even suggested a list of “alternate perpetrators” who they claimed could have committed the killings.
But the judge denied most of their motions, allowing a tidal wave of evidence to be presented against the 30-year-old criminology Ph.D. student at his trial, which was scheduled for next month.
The families of victims Kaylee Gonclaves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, slammed the decision to spare Kohberger a trial — and the chance of death by firing squad.
Bryan Kohberger has cut a plea deal. Getty Images
The mother of Ethan Chapin, 20, has said they support the plea deal, while Madison Mogen’s family has not publicly weighed in.
Here are the few of the biggest pieces of evidence prosecutors would have used at Kohberger’s trial.
A man with “bushy eyebrows”
One of the two survivors of the Moscow, Idaho attack reported spotting a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” prowling around the house around 4 a.m., when the stabbings occurred.
The description was bad news for Kohberger, whose own brows are replete with wool.
His defense asked Judge Steven Hippler to bar testimony and evidence related to “bushy eyebrows,” calling the witness’s description irrelevant and unreliable.
Hippler denied that motion, as well as a motion to block the survivors’ initial 911 call in which one mentions seeing a strange man in the house.
A white Hyundai
Security camera footage showed a white Hyundai Elantra circling the area around the victims’ house in the early morning hours on the day of the murders and finally speeding away just after 4 a.m.
Police began looking into local Hyundai Elantra drivers and landed on Kohberger, a PhD criminology student at the nearby Washington State University.
Cell phone tower records
Cell phone tower records showed that Kohberger – or at least his phone – had been up and about during the morning of the stabbings.
His phone disconnected from the network around 2:30 a.m. in Pullman, Wash., then reconnected around 4:30 a.m. near Blaine, a town outside Moscow.
Records also placed Kohberger near the house a dozen times in the days before the murder. He was also nearby around five hours after the slayings, suggesting he cased the property and returned to the crime scene.
A bloody, DNA-laced knife sheath
And perhaps most damning of all — prosecutors has physical evidence that put Kohberger inside the house.
Investigators found a bloody sheath for a Ka-Bar knife at the murder scene. His DNA was found on the button strap of the sheath.
Kohberger’s Amazon.com purchase history also showed he bought a Ka-Bar ahead of the attack.
Detectives recovered trash from Kohberger’s Pennsylvania family home to obtain genetic samples to match the DNA.
Some of the samples were actually recovered from the house next door, as officers watching the suspect observed him dropping off bags of trash in his neighbors’ trash cans.
Hockey Hall of Famer and Red Wings great Alex Delvecchio died Tuesday, the team announced.
He was 93 years old.
Delvecchio was a three-time Stanley Cup champion and spent 24 years in the NHL as one of the game’s best centers while playing alongside another NHL legend, Gordie Howe.
Red Wings’ Alex Delvecchio (10) in action vs. the Buffalo Sabres. Sports Illustrated via Getty Ima
“Alex was more than a Hockey icon, he was a devoted husband, loving father, grandfather, great grandfather, cherished friend, and respected teammate to so many,” the Delvecchio family said in a statement. “While the world knew him as an incredible hockey player with numerous accomplishments on the ice, we knew him as someone whose humility, strength, competitiveness, kindness and heart were even greater than his professional achievements.
“For decades, your love and support meant everything to Alex and to all of us. We are deeply grateful and thankful to everyone.”
Outside of Howe, no player in Red Wings history may encompass playing for Detroit more than Delvecchio.
Delvecchio played the second-most seasons with the franchise, spending 12 as team captain — an honor only Steve Yzerman had held for longer.
Over the course of his NHL career, Delvecchio recorded 456 goals and 825 assists for 1,281 points in 1,550 games.
“When you think of the Red Wings, you think of Howe,” Bruins legend Phil Esposito told Sport magazine in 1971. “But Alex is the most underrated player in the game today — underrated by everyone but the players.”
Delvecchio became a mainstay on the Red Wings roster by the 1951-52 season, recording 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) during his rookie campaign as the Red Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup.
He would go on to become a key piece of the “Production Line” between Howe and Ted Lindsay, winning another two cups in 1954 and ’55.
After retiring 11 games into the 1973-74 season, Delvecchio would go on to coach and serve as general manager of the franchise at various points through the 1976-77 season.
“Alex was a cherished part of the Red Wings family, and I’m grateful for the years my husband Mike and I shared with him, as well as the remarkable legacy he leaves behind—both in the rafters of the arena and in the hearts of Red Wings fans everywhere. My heartfelt condolences go out to the Delvecchio family during this time of loss,” Red Wings co-owner Marian Ilitch said in a statement.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch (third from left) joins queer officers protesting after they were barred from marching in uniform. Getty Images
For the fifth straight year, the folks who run the city’s Pride parade banned cops from marching in uniform: Gay officers have to closet their NYPD affiliation to participate.
The pretext that NYC Pride’s Heritage arm offers is that it doesn’t want anyone marching armed, and cops must carry their weapons when in uniform.
Yet the issue never proved a problem before Heritage imposed the ban in 2021, at the height of anti-police obsessions after George Floyd’s death.
Nor did anyone complain when NYPD officers responded rapidly Sunday night after two teens got shot near the Stonewall Inn.
Plus, of course, armed police guarded the parade itself.
“It is the height of hypocrisy that uniformed officers are fit to line the parade route and keep everyone safe, but they are unable to march in their own uniform and under their own banner,” thundered Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who joined protesting police on the parade sidelines.
“The ones being asked to stay out of sight are us, the gay, the trans, the queer, and our allied officers who have risked everything to serve both this city and this community. It is not about safety, it is about exclusion” decried Det. Brian Downey, president of Gay Officers Action League.
Blame the way the extremists seem to grab control of almost every left-of-center institution, including supposedly single-issue outfits like the ACLU, or figure it’s just part of how the “unicause” mysteriously demands a single party line on everything from surgically trans-ing kids to denouncing Israel to despising the police.
It’s still bizarre to see the now-triumphant gay-rights movement refusing to recognize the full identity of LGBTQ cops.
While we typically think of cutting calories as an attempt to squeeze into our favorite pair of skinny jeans, it’s worth remembering that scientists think of it in terms of longevity more so than looks.
It’s been known for quite some time that severely reducing calorie intake can extend lifespan, which is why intermittent fasting has become all the rage.
However, even the most disciplined among us would admit that it’s “not sustainable” — a fancy way of saying that it sucks.
Extensive research has found that an immunosuppressant drug turned longevity darling delivers almost the same life‑extension benefits as slashing calories. Yura Yarema – stock.adobe.com
Now, a new study out of the UK suggests you can have your cake and eat it, too, so to speak.
A massive analysis recently published in the journal Aging Cell revealed that rapamycin — the immunosuppressant drug turned longevity darling — delivers almost the same life‑extension benefits as slashing calories.
“Dietary restriction — for example, through intermittent fasting or reduced calorie intake — has been the gold standard for living longer. But it’s difficult for most of us to maintain long-term,” Zahida Sultanova, a researcher at the University of East Anglia, said in a statement.
“We wanted to know if popular anti-aging drugs like rapamycin or metformin could offer similar effects without the need to cut calories,” she added.
Researchers analyzed 167 studies across eight vertebrate species, including primates, rodents and fish, to find that rapamycin’s results were surprisingly similar to rigorous dietary restriction.
The same findings did not hold for the popular Type 2 diabetes drug metformin.
Rapamycin, isolated from soil on Easter Island in the 1970s, was originally used to suppress immune response in organ transplant patients and treat rare diseases.
It works by inhibiting the mTOR pathway, which governs cell growth and repair, and it appears to mimic the cellular cleanup triggered by fasting, known as autophagy.
Although rapamycin is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of organ rejection, it’s not cleared for anti‑aging purposes in humans.
While low doses of the drug seem to have no serious side effects, some studies suggest that because it suppresses the immune system, it can raise the risk of infection.
Other common side effects include headache, chills, joint pain, diarrhea, nausea and mouth sores.
Anti-aging acolyte Bryan Johnson, 47, said last year that he dropped the drug from his routine after years of experimentation because “the benefits of lifelong dosing of rapamycin do not justify the hefty side-effects.”
He reported occasional skin and soft tissue infections, abnormal amounts of fats in his blood, heightened blood sugar and a higher resting heart rate.
Flights at several major airports along the East Coast were delayed after ground stops at all three of the New York metro area airports Monday afternoon sparked a travel disaster that stranded thousands from New York to Washington, DC.
The Federal Aviation Administration first announced that flights at JFK International Airport would be grounded due to a severe thunderstorm on the horizon.
The FAA announced that flights at JFK International Airport would be grounded due to a severe thunderstorm. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
Newark Liberty Airport was also added to the mix, with outgoing flights shut down until 6:30 p.m., according to the FAA.
LaGuardia Airport was eventually thrown in too and grounded all planes through 8 p.m., according to the FAA’s airport status.
The thunderstorm stops had a domino effect, beginning with delays at Philadelphia International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport before spreading to others, trailing up and down the East Coast.
Wait times have kept ticking up even though the ground stops were only supposed to last through the early evening as airlines seek to make up for lost time.
Departure delays at JFK were estimated to be around 2 hours and 35 minutes, according to the FAA.
The single thunderstorm in the Empire State wound up sparking a staggering 1,500 flight delays.
On top of that, more than 6,000 flights in and out of the country were also delayed, and nearly 600 others were cancelled, according to FlightAware.
Flights in Washington were grounded until 5 p.m. Flights in Philadelphia, meanwhile, were stuck on the tarmac until 6:30 p.m., but their delays at least dropped down to just 1 hour and 15 minutes, according to the FAA.
Chinese Foreign Minister Mao Ning said that the border dispute is complicated and takes time to resolve. She said that Beijing is ready to hold discussions on delimitation.
China says border dispute with India complicated, ready to discuss delimitation
China on Monday said that the longstanding boundary dispute with India is “complicated” and will take time to resolve. However, it expressed readiness to hold discussions on delimiting the border and maintaining peace in the border areas.
The statement came in response to remarks made by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during his meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun on June 26 in Qingdao, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ conclave.
During the bilateral talks, Singh proposed that India and China work towards resolving the “complex issues” under a structured roadmap. He called for steps to de-escalate tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and a rejuvenation of existing mechanisms to demarcate the border.
When asked to comment on Rajnath Singh’s remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday said that the two countries have already established the Special Representatives (SRs) mechanism and agreed on the “Political Parameters and Guiding Principles” for a boundary settlement.
“The boundary question is complicated, and it takes time to settle it,” Mao told reporters in Beijing regarding the apparent delay in resolving the issue despite 23 rounds of SR-level talks.
However, Mao noted that “the positive side is that the two countries have already established mechanisms at various levels for thorough communication.”
“China stands ready to maintain communication with India on issues including delimitation negotiation and border management, jointly keep the border areas peaceful and tranquil, and promote cross-border exchange and cooperation,” Mao said reiterating China’s readiness to continued dialogue.
The 23rd round of the SR-level talks between India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was held in December last year, marking the first such engagement since the 2020 border frictions in eastern Ladakh.
At that meeting, both sides positively affirmed the implementation of the October 2024 disengagement agreement, which enabled patrolling and grazing activities in the relevant areas.
In Qingdao, Singh emphasised the need to create “good neighbourly conditions” and called for “action on the ground” to bridge the trust deficit stemming from the 2020 standoff. He also briefed Dong on the recent Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor targeting terror networks in Pakistan.
When asked whether a resolution timeline could be expected, Mao responded, “We hope that India will work with China in the same direction, continue to stay in communication on relevant issues and jointly keep the border areas peaceful and tranquil.”
Republicans are inching closer to getting their tax and spending cut bill through Congress with a final Senate vote likely late Monday or early Tuesday.
At some 940 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations. President Donald Trump has admonished Republicans, who hold majority power in the House and Senate, to skip their holiday vacations and deliver the bill by the Fourth of July.
Democrats are united against the legislation and were offering scores of amendments to alter it Monday as the Senate slogged through what is known as a vote-a-rama. Senators can offer an unlimited number of amendments, with each receiving a vote. Once the bill clears the Senate, it would have to pass the House before Trump can sign it into law.
The office of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is seen at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Here’s the latest on what’s in the bill. There could be changes as GOP lawmakers continue to negotiate.
Tax cuts are the priority
Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump’s first term expire. The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill. It temporarily would add new tax breaks that Trump campaigned on: no taxes on tips, overtime pay, the ability to deduct interest payments for some automotive loans, along with a $6,000 deduction for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year.
It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200. Millions of families at lower income levels would not get the full credit.
A cap on state and local deductions, called SALT, would quadruple to $40,000 for five years. It’s a provision important to New York and other high tax states, though the House wanted it to last for 10 years.
There are scores of business-related tax cuts, including allowing businesses to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment and research.
The wealthiest households would see a $12,000 increase from the legislation, which would cost the poorest people $1,600 a year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House’s version.
Middle-income taxpayers would see a tax break of $500 to $1,500, the CBO said.
Money for deportations, a border wall and the Golden Dome
The bill would provide some $350 billion for Trump’s border and national security agenda, including $46 billion for the U.S.-Mexico border wall and $45 billion for 100,000 migrant detention facility beds, as he aims to fulfill his promise of the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.
Money would go for hiring 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, with $10,000 signing bonuses and a surge of Border Patrol officers, as well. The goal is to deport some 1 million people per year.
The homeland security secretary would have a new $10 billion fund for grants for states that help with federal immigration enforcement and deportation actions.
To help pay for it, immigrants would face various new fees, including when seeking asylum protections.
For the Pentagon, the bill would provide billions for ship building, munitions systems, and quality of life measures for servicemen and women, as well as $25 billion for the development of the Golden Dome missile defense system. The Defense Department would have $1 billion for border security.
How to pay for it? Cuts to Medicaid and other programs
To help partly offset the lost tax revenue and new spending, Republicans aim to cut back on Medicaid and food assistance for the poor.
Republicans argue they are trying to rightsize the safety net programs for the population they were initially designed to serve, mainly pregnant women, the disabled and children, and root out what they describe as waste, fraud and abuse.
The package includes new 80-hour-a-month work requirements for many adults receiving Medicaid and food stamps, including older people up to age 65. Parents of children 14 and older would have to meet the program’s work requirements.
There’s also a proposed new $35 co-payment that can be charged to patients using Medicaid services.
More than 71 million people rely on Medicaid, which expanded under Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and 40 million use the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Most already work, according to analysts.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law and 3 million more would not qualify for food stamps.
The Senate proposes a $25 billion Rural Hospital Transformation Program to help offset reduced Medicaid dollars. It’s a new addition, intended to win over holdout GOP senators and a coalition of House Republicans warning that the proposed Medicaid provider tax cuts would hurt rural hospitals.
A ‘death sentence’ for clean energy?
Republicans are proposing to dramatically roll back tax breaks designed to boost clean energy projects fueled by renewable sources such as energy and wind. The tax breaks were a central component of President Joe Biden’s 2022 landmark bill focused on addressing climate change and lowering healthcare costs.
Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden went so far as to call the GOP provisions a “death sentence for America’s wind and solar industries and an inevitable hike in utility bills.”
Under the bill, a tax credit that subsidizes the production of electricity would be eliminated for any wind and solar plant not plugged into the grid by the end of 2027. But Republicans aren’t just looking to roll back the tax breaks Biden put into place: they’re also looking to add a tax for new wind and solar projects that use a certain percentage of components from China.
A tax break for people who buy new or used electric vehicles would expire on Sept. 30 of this year, instead of at the end of 2032 under current law.
Meanwhile, a tax credit for the production of critical materials will be expanded to include metallurgical coal used in steelmaking.
Trump savings accounts and so, so much more
A number of extra provisions reflect other GOP priorities.
The House and Senate both have a new children’s savings program, called Trump Accounts, with a potential $1,000 deposit from the Treasury.
The Senate provided $40 million to establish Trump’s long-sought “National Garden of American Heroes.”
There’s a new excise tax on university endowments. A $200 tax on gun silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns was eliminated. One provision bars money to family planning providers, namely Planned Parenthood, while $88 million is earmarked for a pandemic response accountability committee.
Another section expands the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, a hard-fought provision from GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, for those impacted by nuclear development and testing.
Billions would go for the Artemis moon mission and for exploration to Mars.
The bill would deter states from regulating artificial intelligence by linking certain federal AI infrastructure money to maintaining a freeze. Seventeen Republican governors have asked GOP leaders to drop the provision.
Additionally, a provision would increase the nation’s debt limit, by $5 trillion, to allow continued borrowing to pay already accrued bills.
Former New York Governor Kathy Hochul aide Linda Sun, right, and her husband, Christopher Hu, leave Brooklyn Federal Court after their arraignment, Sept. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin, File)
A former aide to two New York governors already facing charges of acting as an illicit agent of China pleaded not guilty on Monday to additional charges that she improperly profited from the state’s purchase of face masks and other key medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Linda Sun, 41, and her husband, Chris Hu, 40, — who is also charged — entered not guilty pleas to charges of wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Hu also faces tax evasion charges.
The two remain free on bond and are due back in court Aug. 25 ahead of an expected November trial.
Sun’s lawyer Jarrod Schaeffer declined to comment following Monday’s proceedings but has previously dismissed the new charges as “feverish accusations unmoored from the facts.” Hu’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond Monday but have also similarly denied the charges.
Prosecutors say the couple collected millions of dollars in kickbacks by exploiting Sun’s role in helping New York procure personal protective equipment, or PPE, during the pandemic in 2020.
They say Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen, used connections in her native China to secure PPE for the state, though she didn’t disclose her family’s ties to two vendors that received more than $44 million, prosecutors say.
The young man’s heart was sliced from his chest and placed on his body. His name was No. 56 on a handwritten list of 60 dead that included his cousins, neighbors and at least six children from their coastal Syrian village.
The men who killed 25-year-old Suleiman Rashid Saad called his father from the young victim’s phone and dared him to fetch the body. It was next to the barbershop.
“His chest was wide open. They cut out his heart. They put it on top of his chest,” said his father, Rashid Saad. It was late afternoon on March 8 in the village of Al-Rusafa. The killings of Alawites were nowhere near over.
The slaughter of Suleiman Rashid Saad was part of a wave of killings by Sunni fighters in Alawite communities along Syria’s Mediterranean coast from March 7 to 9. The violence came in response to a day-old rebellion organized by former officers loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad that left 200 security forces dead, according to the government.
A Reuters investigation has pieced together how the massacres unfolded, identifying a chain of command leading from the attackers directly to men who serve alongside Syria’s new leaders in Damascus. Reuters found nearly 1,500 Syrian Alawites were killed and dozens were missing. The investigation revealed 40 distinct sites of revenge killings, rampages and looting against the religious minority, long associated with the fallen Assad government.
Syria’s coastal killings
Nearly 1,500 Syrian Alawites died in the March 7-9 massacres and dozens are missing. Reuters discovered 40 distinct sites of revenge killings, rampages and looting.
The days of killing exposed the deep polarization in Syria that its new government has yet to overcome, between people who supported Assad, whether tacitly or actively, and those who hoped the rebellion against him would ultimately succeed. Many in Syria resent Alawites, who enjoyed disproportionate influence inside the military and government during Assad’s two-decade rule.
The Reuters findings come as the Trump administration is gradually lifting sanctions on Syria that date back to Assad’s rule. The rapprochement is an awkward one for Washington: Syria’s new government is led by a now-dissolved Islamist faction, formerly known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which was previously al-Qaeda’s Syria branch, known as the Nusra Front.
The group, formerly led by new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has been under U.N. sanctions since 2014. Al-Sharaa, a Sunni Muslim like the majority of Syrians, became president in January after leading a surprise offensive that culminated in the collapse of Assad’s government and the capture of Damascus.
At least a dozen factions now under the new government’s command, including foreigners, took part in the March killings, Reuters found. Nearly half of them have been under international sanctions for years for human rights abuses, including killings, kidnapping, and sexual assaults.
Syria’s government, including the Defense Ministry and president’s office, did not respond to a detailed summary of the findings of this report or related questions from Reuters about the role of government forces in the massacres.
“The bullets were raining down on us, sister. We didn’t know where to go and how to escape.”
In an interview with Reuters just days after the killings, al-Sharaa denounced the violence as a threat to his mission to unite the country. He promised to punish those responsible, including those affiliated with the government if necessary.
“We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won’t accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us,” he said.
Among the units Reuters found to be involved were the government’s General Security Service, its main law-enforcement body back in the days when HTS ran Idlib and now part of the Interior Ministry; and ex-HTS units like the elite Unit 400 fighting force and the Othman Brigade. Also involved were Sunni militias that had just joined the government’s ranks, including the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade and Hamza division, which were both sanctioned by the European Union for their role in the deaths. The EU has not sanctioned the ex-HTS units. The United States hasn’t issued any sanctions over the killings.
President al-Sharaa has ordered a committee to investigate the violence and set up “civil peace” mediations.
Yasser Farhan, the spokesperson of the committee, said the president will receive its findings in two weeks as the committee is currently analyzing information then writing its final report based on testimonies and information gathered from over 1,000 people, in addition to briefings from officials and interrogations of detainees. He advised Reuters against publishing its findings before the report’s release.
“We are unable to provide any responses before completing this process in respect for the integrity of the truth,” he said, adding, “I expect that you will find the results useful, and that they uncover the truth.”
Killings continue to this day, Reuters has found.
Syria’s new government has said it feared losing control of the coast to the uprising of Assad supporters. It issued unequivocal orders on March 6 to crush an attempted coup of “Fuloul ,” or “remnants” of the regime, according to six fighters and commanders and three government officials.
Many men who received the commands had been wearing government uniforms for just a few months and shared an interpretation of Sunni Islam notorious for its brutality.
Some that day eagerly interpreted the word “fuloul” to mean any and all Alawites, a minority of 2 million people whom many in Syria blame for the crimes of the Assad family, who are Alawite.
One official of the new government, Ahmed al-Shami, the governor of Tartous province, told Reuters that Alawites are not being targeted. He acknowledged “violations” against Alawite civilians, and estimated around 350 people died in Tartous, in line with what Reuters also found. That figure has never been published by the government.
“The Alawite sect is not on any list, black, red or green. It’s not criminalized and it’s not targeted for retaliation. The Alawites faced injustice just like the rest of the Syrian people in general” under Assad, the governor said. “The sect needs safety. It’s our duty as a government which we will work on.”
In response to a request for comment on Reuters’ findings, Anouar El Anouni, a spokesperson for the European Union, noted that the EU had condemned “horrific crimes committed against civilians, by all sides,” but did not say why former HTS units were not also sanctioned. Spokespeople for the U.S. State and Treasury Departments did not respond to requests for comment.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa promised an investigation into the killings. A fact-finding committee has interviewed more than 1,000 people but has yet to release its report. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are estimated to have been killed since 2011, when Assad’s crackdown on protests descended into civil war. He went after any suspected dissidents. But Sunnis, who fielded the most visible of the armed groups arrayed against Assad, were disproportionately targeted.
Reuters spoke with over 200 families of victims during visits to massacre sites and by phone, 40 security officials, fighters and commanders, and government-appointed investigators and mediators. Reuters also reviewed messages from a Telegram chat established by a Defense Ministry official to coordinate the government response to the pro-Assad uprising. The news agency’s journalists examined dozens of videos, obtained CCTV footage and reviewed handwritten lists of victims’ names.
Some of the attackers responding to the March uprising carried lists of names of men to target, including former members of Assad militias who had been temporarily amnestied by the new government. Entire families with those surnames would later appear on lists of the dead handwritten by village elders. Multiple survivors described how the bodies of their loved ones were mutilated.
The fighters, many of them masked, mustered in the new government’s heartland of Idlib, Homs, Aleppo and Damascus. And when armored convoys rolled out to western Syria, the militias’ cries of “Sunnis, Sunnis” rose in the night along with rhyming slogans calling for people to “slaughter the Alawites,” according to videos verified by Reuters.
Many of the videos showed fighters humiliating Alawite men, forcing them to crawl and howl like dogs. Others, some filmed by the fighters themselves, showed piles of bloodied bodies.
Among the dead were entire families, including women, children, the elderly and disabled people in dozens of predominantly Alawite villages and neighborhoods. In one neighborhood, 45 women were among the 253 dead. In another village, 10 of 30 killed were children. In at least one case, an entire Alawite town was emptied almost overnight, its hundreds of residents replaced by Sunnis.
The first question arriving fighters asked residents was telling, according to more than 200 witnesses and survivors: “Are you Sunni or Alawite?”
THE UPRISING
Ubaida Shli and his twin brother were the youngest of a Sunni family of nine boys and girls from Idlib, a city in northwest Syria, according to their older sister, Yasmine.
The twins traveled to Libya as mercenaries. Two years ago they joined the HTS law enforcement body known as General Security Service in Idlib, where HTS was essentially running its own parallel administration.
That was how Shli found himself, at age 23, wearing the black GSS uniform and guarding a checkpoint near the town of Baniyas, according to Yasmine and the WhatsApp voice notes he sent her, which Reuters reviewed.
Around sundown on March 6, the checkpoint and other GSS posts across Latakia and Tartous provinces came under attack and dozens of security forces died.
According to the new government and residents of the regions, the attackers were led by officers still loyal to Assad.
The officers were joined by young men who lost their livelihoods when the new government fired thousands of Alawite employees and dismantled Assad’s security apparatus, according to interviews with residents. One community leader described the uprising as a spontaneous decision of desperate people.
Shli sent his sister a voice message around 8:30 p.m. to tell her half the men around him were dead. He sounded calm and resigned to his fate.
“He said he was helping find ways to get the bodies of the men out,” she said. She asked why he didn’t run away. His response: There is no escape.
Yasmine learned her brother was dead two hours later.
Pro-Assad forces also staged attacks in Baniyas, the biggest city in Tartous. They seized the main road and hospital and attacked the new government’s security headquarters, according to Aboul Bahr, a security official stationed in Baniyas who was spending that night in Idlib. Reuters could not independently verify his account.
A woman passes a burned-out building in Baniyas, the largest city in the Tartous region. The city was a center for the pro-Assad uprising that prompted the government to send hundreds of reinforcements to the coast. REUTERS/Stringer
Al-Sharaa said 200 security forces were killed in the uprising but the government has not released names or an updated tally. The Defense Ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters about an updated number of forces killed or the role of government-affiliated forces in the massacres of Alawites.
The EU on June 23 imposed sanctions on three pro-Assad officers, saying they were responsible for leading militias that “fueled sectarian tensions and incited violence.”
Supporters of the fallen leader “wanted to stage a coup and declare an autonomous region along the coast,” said Hamza al-Ali, the GSS officer in charge of the town of Al-Qadamous, nearly 30 kilometers to the east.
The Defense Ministry called for reinforcements from all the factions that had recently joined President al-Sharaa’s forces. Mosque megaphones across the country sounded calls for jihad.
Mohammed al-Jassim, commander of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade told Reuters he was hospitalized in Turkey for health reasons when the fighting erupted. Reuters could not confirm al-Jassim’s location during the massacres. He denied his men had any role in the violence.
He said he was soon added to a chat group led by a top Defense Ministry official, whom he said he knew only as Abu Ahd. Abu Ahd al-Hamawi is the pseudonym of Hassan Abdel-Ghani, the Defense Ministry spokesman.
Al-Jassim’s brigade, which is also known as Amshat, was ordered to reopen the coastal M1 highway linking Latakia and Jableh. He said his militia took up positions outside the city of Jableh.
As the massacres of Alawites unfolded, the Defense Ministry spokesman Abdel-Ghani said publicly the operation on the coast was proceeding as planned with the goal of keeping control of the region and “tightening the noose on the remaining elements of officers and remnants of the fallen regime,” according to the state-run news agency SANA.
Behind the scenes, Abdel-Ghani was running the Telegram chat of militia leaders and military commanders that coordinated the government response to the pro-Assad uprising, according to a dozen text and audio messages in an exchange between him and a senior commander from another faction.
Two people confirmed the Telegram handle was Abdel-Ghani’s and that Abu Ahd is his nom de guerre. Reuters contacted him directly on Telegram at the handle. He told Reuters he has been questioned by the committee investigating the killings but declined to comment further.
The messages referred to force locations and movements, including one from Abdel-Ghani at the bridge leading to the village of Al-Mukhtareyah, where massacres were taking place.
Nanar Hawach, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the killings eroded the new government’s legitimacy among Syrians, especially minorities.
“Deploying units known for hostility toward communities they view as adversaries, and with a track record of abuse, led to predictable outcomes,” Hawach said. “They failed to uphold their basic duty to protect.”
In a sign of the government’s tenuous control over its own fighters, newly integrated factions faced off in village streets at times, according to witnesses in three different locations who all described seeing one side trying to protect bewildered civilians from uniformed men trying to kill them.
578 DEAD, 26 LOCATIONS
The M4 highway leads inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The M1 leads south, paralleling the coastline before veering east near Lebanon.
The massacres that began before dawn on March 7 would mostly follow those two arteries. Many of the towns were farm communities, with citrus orchards hanging heavy with lemons and oranges in March and fields of vegetables that grow abundantly year-round in the Mediterranean climate.
Al-Mukhtareyah, the first village off the M4 highway connecting Idlib and Latakia, came under attack around 6 a.m.
Swarms of men, including many in GSS uniforms, broke down doors to pull men outside, forcing some to crawl and dragging others away, eight witnesses told Reuters. The shooting lasted about an hour. When it was over, 157 people were dead – nearly a quarter of Al-Mukhtareyah’s population, according to a list from a community leader that Reuters verified with multiple surviving residents.
They included 28 members of the Abdullah family; 14 from the Darwish family; and 11 from the al-Juhni family, according to the lists compiled by survivors and community leaders.
“The bullets were raining down on us, sister. We didn’t know where to go and how to escape,” said a woman who lost her father and brothers.
Another woman who lost 17 relatives shared a screenshot from a video verified by Reuters. She pointed to a pile of bodies in the screenshot and said: “This is my family.”
She traced an arrow onscreen toward a dead man in a pale jacket and sent it to Reuters. “This is my husband.”
The village was all but empty days after the massacre, residents said. With no one to harvest, oranges rotted on the trees.
The villages with the most bloodshed were those whose residents belonged to a subset of Alawites called al-Klazyia, according to Ali Mulhem, founder of the Syrian Civil Peace Group, an organization that documents abuses and mediates disputes. The Assad family were al-Klazyia Alawites, as were many of the dictator’s ranking security officials, said Mulhem and a senior Alawite community leader.
Among the places linked to the al-Klazyia sub-sect was Sonobar, a farming community of around 15,000 whose homes are interspersed with fields of vegetables.
The elite HTS force called Unit 400 moved into Sonobar in December, promising that the town would be left in peace under the new leadership, three villagers told Reuters. They described life as tense, but bearable.
Early on March 7, the Unit 400 men and hundreds of reinforcements converged and started killing. In all, according to 17 witnesses, nine separate factions attacked.
One young man said he saw Unit 400 fighters opening fire as they entered his house. Eleven relatives died. He survived by hiding in an upstairs pantry.
Another faction that attacked was the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade, according to survivors who recognized the brigade’s badges. The brigade came to prominence as a Turkish-backed militia during the civil war and has been under American sanctions since 2023, accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of “harassment, abduction, and other abuses.” Al-Jassim told Reuters those allegations were “fabrications” and described his men as highly disciplined.
Spokespeople for the GSS and the Defense Ministry, which oversees Unit 400, didn’t respond to questions about the attacks. Turkey, asked to comment on the role of Sultan Suleiman Shah and other Turkish-backed militias in the killings, did not respond. Turkey’s government hasn’t issued a public response to the EU sanctions imposed on the militias in May.
In a selfie video from Sonobar, a uniformed fighter shows bodies and proclaims: “Suleiman Shah defeated the remnants of the former regime. God is great and thanks to God.”
The camera later pans to 11 unarmed men in civilian clothes, lying dead on some of Syria’s most fertile soil, now tinged with blood. Among the dead pictured were a motorbike repairman, two students, two farmers and an amnestied policeman, according to relatives of the dead, who identified them by name.
Al-Jassim, the commander of Sultan Suleiman Shah, denied that his men were responsible for killings in any of the villages they entered.
“As a commander of a military unit, I know that any order must be obeyed in its entirety,” he told Reuters. “Commands are carried out verbatim, no more, no less.”
In April, the militia – by then rebadged as the 62nd Division of Syria’s army – said the man who filmed the video had no connection with Sultan Suleiman Shah and accused him of impersonating a fighter “to tarnish the reputation of the Division and distort its record.” Reuters could not independently confirm the man’s identity or affiliation.
Another group identified themselves as fighters for the Jayish al-Islam militia.
Jayish al-Islam’s media officer posted pictures on Facebook of fighters heading to the coast on March 7. He also posted a copy of an amnesty document he claimed was found on the body of the Assad-era policeman indicating that the dead man had broken the pledge he signed not to take up arms against the new government.
“There is no safety, no stability in our country except by purging them,” wrote Hamza Berqidar, the media officer. The post received 160 likes.
One woman from Sonobar told Reuters the fighters commandeered her living room.
“Do you know who we are?” one asked her. She said she replied: “You’re the army!”
No, she said they told her. “We are jihadists from Jayish al-Islam. We came to teach you Islam.”
Media officer Berqidar and Jayish al-Islam didn’t respond to requests for comment on the violence.
In all, 236 residents of Sonobor were killed, according to lists reviewed by Reuters and verified with multiple residents. They were mostly young men, ranging in age from 16 to 40. The injured included a pregnant woman, who miscarried but survived her gunshot wounds.
One young mother said her husband was at a neighbor’s when her door was smashed down. The gunmen went upstairs and started breaking things, looking for him.
The group left and was replaced by another faction, she said. Then a third, whose leader embraced her children and promised they would be unharmed. A fourth faction opened fire on the building. A fifth group of fighters, wearing green headbands, arrived with a translator. They didn’t speak Arabic. She didn’t recognize their language.
“Three militants came and pointed rifles at my head,” she said. They told her: “You are Alawite pigs. You deserve what is happening to you. If you cry you will be shot dead, and your body will be on top of the other dead bodies.”
All the time, she said, she was trying in vain to reach her husband.
After sunset, the woman ventured out. She found him on the ground, shot in the eyes and heart.
Witnesses said the fighters stole food to break the Ramadan fast, celebrating outside as terrified women peeked through the windows.
A photo from Sonobar, confirmed by two surviving Alawites from the town, showed a message scrawled on the wall of one home: “You were a minority, and now you are a rarity.”
828 DEAD, 10 LOCATIONS
The first group of armed men to arrive Saturday in the town of Al-Rusafa numbered around a dozen. It was a little after 10 a.m. Some wore black fatigues and sneakers.
Residents had been trapped inside since the day before, when a government convoy of around 50 vehicles, including a tank, had set up positions around the village, cut the electricity and started shooting, sometimes at people and sometimes at random.
Now, on Saturday, this new group of fighters seemed unsatisfied when they peered inside the Saad family home.
“They ordered the boys to lie on the floor, which they did. They dragged them outside,” said Ghada Ali. She watched helplessly as they stepped on the prone body of 17-year-old Saleh, her youngest.
“They told them to howl like dogs while filming them,” she said. After a time, they sent Saleh to his mother, and then one of the fighters asked why she still wept. “I want my children,” she responded.
“We sent you one back,” she said they told her. As for her elder son, 25-year-old Suleiman Rashid, they said perhaps he’d return soon.
Instead, his father Rashid Saad received a phone call. “We killed him and cut out his heart,” they told him. “Come get your son before the dogs eat him.”
Saad and his brother, who lost four sons that day, grabbed blankets and called on Saleh to help. They carried all five bodies home, and the women buried them in the garden, Saad said.
The community leader said the attackers identified themselves as from the Hamza, Sultan Suleiman Shah and Jaysh al-Ezza factions. Representatives of Hamza and Jaysh al-Ezza declined to comment on the violence in the town. Al-Jassim denied his men were ever in Al-Rusafa.
In all, 60 Alawites died in Al-Rusafa, according to lists seen by Reuters. The youngest was a 4-year-old.
Just as in Sonobar, survivors said the attackers left a message on the walls: “Sunni men passed through here. We came to shed your blood.”
Nearer the coast, the residents of Qurfays despaired. The town and the white-domed shrine at its center are named for Ahmed Qurfays, a revered Alawite religious figure.
Forces from the Othman Brigade, along with Unit 400, had taken up positions in the village after Assad’s fall, according to two survivors and one person with relatives there.
On Friday, with news of the killings spreading around the region, villagers chose four respected residents to mediate with the Othman Brigade fighters.
They sat in a semicircle on a farmhouse balcony outside Qurfays, and the villagers tried to persuade the fighters that the town harbored no Assad supporters and there was no need for them to stay and fight. “They insisted on staying, because they said there was a plan already in place,” said a person familiar with the talks. The sound of automatic weapons and anti-aircraft guns rattled in the distance.
The fighters and mediators left the farmhouse and headed back to the village. While they had been talking, a half-dozen men were shot to death there, and their bodies were strewn across the shrine’s yard and steps, according to two witnesses.
The Defense Ministry, which directly oversees the Othman Brigade and Unit 400, did not respond to requests for comment about the killings in Al-Rusafa and Qurfays.
“None of these men were carrying weapons, and no one was part of the former army. One of the men was mentally ill,” one of the witnesses said.
Around 50 worshippers were beaten inside the shrine, said the other witness, who was among the injured.
Still, it felt like perhaps they’d escaped the mass death they’d heard about elsewhere. On Saturday morning, the witnesses said, they realized they were wrong.
A new convoy of 80 vehicles arrived. Someone fired once in the air, and then, as though awaiting a signal, the militia members opened fire. In all, 23 people died over two days, according to photos of the dead shared with Reuters.
Looting continued as Qurfays mourned, said the witness who was beaten inside the shrine. The man said his brother was killed.
He said one of the Unit 400 men told him crying was banned and that the village should be thankful just for being allowed to bury their dead.
“I couldn’t cry,” the man said. “I didn’t have the courage to cry.”
74 DEAD, 4 LOCATIONS
By Sunday, the frenzied killings were subsiding.
It was time to bury the dead, fearfully and often in secret.
For 48 hours or more, grieving Alawite women had stood guard over the bodies of fathers, brothers, husbands and children. Many families only discovered the scale of the violence when they emerged to streets reeking of death, or tried to beat away dogs ripping apart corpses.
In Baniyas, near where the pro-Assad attack on the checkpoint touched off the revenge killings, there were 253 bodies to bury, according to the lists of the dead shared with Reuters.
In the town of Jableh, the toll stood at 77 Alawites, according to 30 family members. The town was targeted by Unit 400 and the Othman Brigade, along with Sultan Suleiman Shah, Hamza and the Turkistan Islamic Party, made up of Uyghurs and other foreign fighters, according to six witnesses and one security official in Jableh.
Suleiman Shah commander Al-Jassim said his men entered Jableh and left because they saw “many violations” and did not want to take the blame for killings that weren’t their fault. Representatives of the other forces didn’t reply to questions.
The Telegram chat showed the Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Abdel-Ghani, was notified about “breaches” in Jableh. His response, in the chat: “May God reward you.”
Many survivors, especially in Baniyas, said they had Sunni neighbors who smuggled them to safety or who tried to protect them.
In Jableh, a Sunni neighbor intervened to help evacuate the mortally wounded husband of Rasha Ghoson, over the objections of two General Security Service men. With her neighbor’s help, an ambulance agreed to take Ghoson’s husband to Latakia, but doctors there couldn’t revive him.
Standing alongside the body in the overflowing morgue, Ghoson said a GSS officer in charge of death records refused to issue a document to an Alawite.
“He said: ‘infidel!’” and walked away, she recalled. Her legs and hands trembled as she recounted the ordeal.
As with most of the massacre victims, there is still no death certificate for Ghoson’s husband.
Demonstrators rally on the day the Supreme Court justices hear oral arguments over U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to broadly enforce his executive order to restrict automatic birthright citizenship, during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
President Donald Trump’s administration will not deport children deemed ineligible for U.S. citizenship until his executive order curtailing birthright citizenship takes effect on July 27, a government lawyer said on Monday after being pressed by two federal judges.
During separate hearings in lawsuits challenging Trump’s order, U.S. District Judges Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Joseph LaPlante in Concord, New Hampshire, set expedited schedules to decide whether the order can be blocked again on grounds that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, curbing the ability of judges to impede his policies nationwide does not preclude injunctions in class action lawsuits.
Both judges asked U.S. Department of Justice lawyer Brad Rosenberg, who represented the government in both cases, for assurances that the Trump administration would not move to deport children who do not have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident at least until the executive order takes effect.
Rosenberg said it would not, which Boardman and LaPlante respectively asked him to confirm in writing by Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the Maryland case, immigrant rights advocates revised their lawsuit just a few hours after the 6-3 conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled in their case and two others challenging Trump’s executive order. The New Hampshire lawsuit, a proposed class action, was filed on Friday.
The Supreme Court ruling did not address the merits or legality of Trump’s birthright citizenship order, but instead curbed the ability of judges to issue “universal” injunctions to block the Republican president’s policies nationwide.
But while the Supreme Court restricted the ability of judges to issue injunctions that cover anyone other than the parties appearing before them, Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s opinion held out the possibility that opponents of a federal policy could still obtain the same type of relief if they instead pursued cases as class actions.
William Powell, a lawyer for immigration rights groups and pregnant non-citizen mothers pursuing the case, told Boardman at a hearing on Monday that an immediate ruling was necessary to address the fears and concerns migrants now face as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision.
“They want to see how fast we can get class relief because they are afraid about their children and their babies and what their status might be,” Powell said.
Trump’s executive order, which he issued on his first day back in office on January 20, directs agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of U.S.-born children who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident, also known as a “green card” holder.
In Friday’s ruling, the high court narrowed the scope of the three injunctions issued by federal judges in three states, including Boardman, that prevented enforcement of his directive nationwide while litigation challenging the policy played out.
Those judges had blocked the policy after siding with Democratic-led states and immigrant rights advocates who argued it violated the citizenship clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which has long been understood to recognize that virtually anyone born in the United States is a citizen.
Immigrant rights advocates in the hours after the Supreme Court ruled swiftly launched two separate bids in Maryland and New Hampshire to have judges grant class-wide relief on behalf of any children nationally who would be deemed ineligible for birthright citizenship under Trump’s order.
The Supreme Court specified the core part of Trump’s executive order cannot take effect until 30 days after Friday’s ruling. Boardman on Monday pressed Rosenberg on what it could do before then.
“Just to get to the heart of it, I want to know if the government thinks that it can start removing children from the United States who are subject to the terms of the executive order,” Boardman said at the end of the hearing.
Boardman scheduled further briefing in the case to continue through July 9, with a ruling to follow. LaPlante scheduled a hearing for July 10.
The celebrity hairstylist and co-owner of IGK Salon, who goes by MelissaWillCutYou on Instagram, has chopped the locks of style stars like Sofia Richie Grainge, Paige DeSorbo, Brooks Nader and even Sir Paul McCartney. Her bespoke cuts, which currently have a five-month waitlist, will set you back between $400 and $600.
But when Parizot moved to NYC in her early 20s, she was making just $8.75 an hour as a salon assistant.
She’s the stylist behind Sofia Richie Grainge’s quietly luxurious locks. Melissa Parizot/Instagram
“Surviving in New York on $280 a week is really difficult, but it’s also the thing that pushed me. It forced me to love what I do,” the beauty pro tells Page Six Style.
Parizot also quickly learned that even at a top salon, competition for clients can be fierce — so she harnessed the power of social media to reach out to influencers, offering them free trims in exchange for posts on their platforms. It worked.
“I got a few girls in, and then their friends wanted to come in too. And I still do hair for those girls today,” she says.
Parizot’s big break came in late 2018, when she lopped Hailey Bieber’s long, blond locks into a chin-length bob. The model’s new ‘do went viral, and requests from beauty editors and new clients started pouring in.
She says Bieber, who has fine hair, was excited by the prospect of a beauty reset; most celebrities and models subject their strands to daily damage through the use of hot tools and extensions, and a big chop can make a major difference in the health of their hair.
“You can hold onto hair that’s not working and have the length that you want, but what if we work with what you have and try to make your hair look its best where it’s at right now?” Parizot says.
Another early high point came when the hairstylist found herself in the home of a music legend.
“I got the opportunity to go to Paul McCartney’s house to do his wife’s hair, and that was pretty epic,” she recalls, adding that she wound up giving the 19-time Grammy winner a trim too — but was able to maintain her composure because she “didn’t grow up listening to the Beatles.”
“When you don’t really know how cool it is, you don’t fangirl,” she says. “Celebrities are real people! Discretion is always really important.”
While a short cut might’ve catapulted her career, these days Parizot is best known for her long, bouncy, layered looks. She also prefer cutting clients’ hair while it’s dry rather than wet, which gives her a full picture of the hair’s natural shape and texture as she works.
“I’m definitely known for very big, voluminous blowouts,” she says, but adds that she always tailors her cuts to her clients’ individual face shapes and lifestyles: “These voluminous looks are gorgeous, but at the end of the day, how many people are roller-setting their hair at home?”
And given the considerable cost and waiting time attached to her appointments, Parizot also considers the grow-out period before she starts snipping away; after all, some of her clients fly in from other continents for her services.
G7’s statement reiterated its stance that Iran “can never have nuclear weapons” and urged Iran from “reconstituting its unjustified enrichment activities”.
The group of some of the world’s most advanced economies condemned calls in Iran for “the arrest and execution of IAEA Director General Grossi”.(File/AFP)
The foreign ministers of the ‘Group of 70 (G7) countries have urged Iran to resume negotiations for a deal to address the country’s nuclear program in a joint statement on Monday. The statement said that they support the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which was announced by United States President Donald Trump, and have urged all the parties to avoid actions that could “further destabilize the region”.
The statement also reiterated in the context of the recent 12-day war between Israel and Iran that the former “has a right to defend itself.”
“We reiterate our support for the security of Israel,” the group said.
The foreign ministers of the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America – met on June 25 in The Hague and discussed Middle East tensions.
In the joint statement released on Monday, the G7 countries appreciated Qatar’s “important” role in facilitating the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and expressed “full solidarity to Qatar and Iraq following the recent strikes by Iran and its proxies and partners against their territory.”
‘Iran can never have nuclear weapons’
The statement reiterated the G7 nations’ stance that Iran “can never have nuclear weapons” and urged Iran from “reconstituting its unjustified enrichment activities”.
“We call for the resumption of negotiations, resulting in a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran’s nuclear program,” the statement said.
“In order to have a sustainable and credible resolution, we call on Iran to urgently resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as required by its safeguards obligations and to provide the IAEA with verifiable information about all nuclear material in Iran, including by providing access to IAEA inspectors,” it added.
The group of some of the world’s most advanced economies also condemned calls in Iran for “the arrest and execution of IAEA Director General Grossi”.
While speaking on the India-US trade deal, the White House said Trump shares a “very good relationship” with Modi and the agreement is nearing completion.
US President Donald Trump (R) and PM Narendra Modi during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC. (File)(Bloomberg)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described India as a “strategic ally” in the Indo-Pacific region during a press briefing on Monday (US local time) while addressing a question on the India-US trade agreement, she added that President Donald Trump shares a “very good relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and noted that the trade deal is close to completion.
US President Donald Trump (R) and PM Narendra Modi during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC. (File)(Bloomberg)
US President Donald Trump (R) and PM Narendra Modi during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC. (File)(Bloomberg)
“Yes, the President said that last week (that the US and India are very close to a trade deal), and it remains true. I just spoke to our Secretary of Commerce about it. He was in the Oval Office with the President. They are finalising these agreements, and you’ll hear from the President and his trade team very soon when it comes to India,” ANI news agency quoted her as saying.
Responding to a question regarding China’s role in the Indo-Pacific, Leavitt reiterated, “India remains a very strategic ally in the Asia Pacific and the President has a very good relationship with Prime Minister Modi, and he will continue to have that.”
Responding to a question regarding China’s role in the Indo-Pacific, Leavitt reiterated, “India remains a very strategic ally in the Asia Pacific and the President has a very good relationship with Prime Minister Modi, and he will continue to have that.”
India-US trade talks
On June 26, India and the US began another round of bilateral trade talks aimed at finalising an early harvest deal before the US imposes country-specific reciprocal tariffs on imports from 57 countries, including India, starting July 9, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Led by chief negotiator and special secretary for commerce Rajesh Agrawal, the Indian delegation arrived in Washington for a two-day round of talks beginning last week. The main goal of this round is to address existing trade disputes and reach an interim agreement that could form the basis for the first phase of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by September or October 2025.
After this initial phase, both sides are expected to begin negotiations for a full-fledged free trade agreement (FTA) with the aim of doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
India is pushing for the US to roll back all current and planned retaliatory tariffs, including a 26% reciprocal tariff – comprising a 10% duty that took effect on April 5 and an additional 16% set to begin from July 9.
Sources involved in the talks said most of the elements of a preliminary agreement have been ironed out by negotiators, but final decisions now rest with the political leadership to resolve a few remaining differences. Two major sticking points continue to hold up the deal, they added.
APPLE Siri users have just hours to claim a one time check from a $95 million payout.
The clock is ticking with payments only offered to eligible Americans if they file on or before July 2, 2025.
The claims alleged are a violation of consumer protection laws and privacy laws.Credit: Alamy
The settlement alleges that the company recorded confidential or private communications from current or former owners or purchasers of Siri Devices.
It’s also alleged that while Apple obtained the users’ information, it was then shared with third parties due to an “unintended Siri activation.”
The reported claims are a violation of consumer protection laws and privacy laws.
Apple, however, denies any unlawful practices.
But to get hold of the cash, eligible users must file a claim by July, 2 2025.
GET YOUR MONEY
The $95 million settlement provides a cap of $20 per Siri Device.
The amount of cash available will increase or decrease depending on how many claims have been submitted.
And the final amount can’t be known until all claims have been evaluated.
Those eligible may submit claims for up to five Siri Devices.
While the settlement cost has been revealed, it still must go to court.
On August 1, 2025, at 9am the court will have the final approval hearing, to decide whether to approve the Settlement.
The final amount and payment date will not be decided until the court hearing.
ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?
The settlement benefits all U.S. current, former, owners or purchasers of a Siri Device whose confidential or private communications were obtained by Apple.
Additionally, the data must have been shared with third parties without consent or knowledge.
The dates to qualify are September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024.
Just note that the settlement class excludes:
Apple
Any entity in which Apple has a controlling interest
Apple’s directors
Officers and employees
Apple’s legal representatives, successors, and assigns
Judicial officers assigned to this case and their staff and immediate families
MORE MONEY
T-Mobile is also sending out the first round of $25,000 checks from the $350 million data breach settlement.
The data breach settlement has been involved in the lawsuit for years, relating to a 2021 cyberattack.
Roughly 76 million customers were exposed, potentially revealing personal information such as addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth.
Popular home appliance brand Whirlpool is also paying up after it was found that some of its refrigerators, sold under three different brands, may develop frost build-up that interferes with cooling.
KIM Jong-un wept as he watched himself draping flags over the coffins of North Korean troops who he sent to die on Putin’s front-line in Ukraine.
Around 12,000 North Koreans were shipped over to fight for Russia – but they were ill-prepared for the battlefield and many were decimated.
Kim hosted a ceremony which remembered the soldiers taken out by Zelensky’s brave army – and things got emotional for the tyrant.
Thousands of North Koreans stood to attention in the vast auditorium, with Kim in the front row.
Images of Kim draping the North Korean flag over soldiers’ coffins were broadcast on a giant screen at the front while a huge orchestra played emotional music.
Women in long dresses sang passionately and there was even a harp player stationed on the stage.
Kim draped flags over at least six coffins, and could be seen resting his hands on them in reflection.
Watching the scenes back, the dictator’s eyes shone with emotion.
Other members of the audience – which reportedly included North Korean and Russian soldiers – were also visibly moved.
The state-run Korea Central News Agency hailed the gala for reaffirming the “ties of friendship and the genuine internationalist obligation between the peoples and armies of the two countries that were forged at the cost of blood”.
The event was attended by Russia’s culture minster Olga Lyubimov, who was visiting the Hermit Kingdom to mark the first anniversary of the strategic partnership treaty between their countries.
Signed last June by Putin and Kim, the treaty included a mutual defence pact – guaranteeing they will protect one another.
The treaty is believed to have accelerated co-operation between the nations.
Moscow is understood to be providing Pyongyang with vital military technology – including blueprints for missile guidance systems and air defence weapons.
And after months of speculation, the leaders finally admitted that North Korean troops have been fighting for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
Kim’s men were first reported to be in Russia back in October, and the following month there was strong evidence of them on the battlefield.
They fought alongside Putin’s men mainly in the Kursk region – an area of Russia which Ukraine took in a surprise incursion.
Thousands of the North Koreans died, with analysts suggesting they were not prepared for the modern style of drone warfare.
However, it was admitted that the Korean soldiers were ultimately instrumental in Russia winning back the land in March this year.
As the tyrants’ ties strengthen, North Korea is expected to send another 6,000 troops over to Russia later this summer.
A JET burst into flames just minutes after takeoff, killing all six people on board in a fiery crash caught in chilling 911 calls.
The plane went down behind a home in a wooded area shortly after 7 am on Sunday.
A twin-engine jet crashed just minutes after takeoff on Sunday, killing all six people on boardCredit: WKBN
The deadly crash happened in Howland Township, near the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Ohio.
Authorities said the twin-engine Cessna 441 was headed for Bozeman, Montana, a popular Rocky Mountain destination known for its outdoor tourism and proximity to Yellowstone National Park.
“There was a big bang. I don’t know what it was,” one 911 caller told dispatchers after witnessing the horrific scene.
Another resident said he was outside having coffee when he heard an “odd” – sounding plane overhead, followed by a “huge amount of smoke.”
“I heard a loud crash, a horrible crash. I could hear trees cracking, heavy impact,” said neighbor Joe Nuskievicz told CBS local affiliate WKBN.
“I knew that it crashed, but I couldn’t see it. I told my wife we need to go drive down the road real quick.
“I pulled up to the driveway of a house and ran to the back of the yard at the very edge of the yard. It was probably 75 yards from where I was standing.”
The aircraft crashed just two miles from the end of the airport’s runway and was fully engulfed in flames when emergency crews arrived.
“There were no survivors,” Western Reserve Port Authority executive director Anthony Trevena confirmed at a news conference.
Trumbull County Coroner identified the victims as 68-year-old Veronica Weller; her husband, James Weller, 67; their son, John Weller, 36; and his wife, Maria Weller, 34.
The pilot was 63-year-old Joseph Maxin.
His co-pilot was identified as 55-year-old Timothy Blake.
“This is a very tight-knit community,” Trevena said.
“We are all heartbroken and are deeply saddened and offer our deepest, most sincere condolences to those affected.”
Michael Hillman, president of JETS FBO Network, said the two crew members were highly experienced.
“These were the best of the best… I can’t say enough about them, give anything to rewind the day, take them to breakfast instead,” Hillman told Associated Press.
The Youngstown Air Reserve Station assisted in putting out the flames, along with multiple other agencies, including the EPA, Highway Patrol, and HAZMAT teams.
“Our crews were met with difficult access to the plane. It landed in a heavily wooded area,” Howland Fire Chief Ray Pace told WKBN.
“The plane was on fire back in the woods,” Pace said, adding that the local drone team also assisted.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation into what caused the crash.
Officials said it’s still unclear why the plane went down just seven minutes after takeoff.
A TOP Iranian cleric has issued a fatwa against President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – calling for their deaths.
In the Islamic religious decree, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi branded both leaders as “enemies of God”.
The Iran State Radio and Television (IRIB) building hit by an Israeli strikeCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
The Shiite cleric issued the fatwa after the 12-Day war between Israel and Iran, which was also briefly joined by the US following American military strikes against Tehran.
It effectively states that Trump and Netanyahu “waged war against [Allah] and must be made to regret their words and actions.
“Those who threaten the leadership and integrity of the Islamic Ummah are to be considered [mohareb],” it added.
Under the Iranian under Iranian penal code, mohareb – someone who wages war against god – must be punished by “execution or crucifixion” or face “amputation of the right hand and left foot or exile”.
The fatwa also forbids any Muslim to cooperate with or support the two leaders – and says that any jihadist who is killed while attacking them will receive a reward from Allah, the New York Sun reports.
It reads: “It is necessary for all Muslims around the world to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes.
“[A] Muslim who abides by his Muslim duty and suffers hardship or loss in their campaign, they will be rewarded as a fighter in the way of God, God willing.”
Critics of the Mullahs’ regime have condemned the fatwa, calling it a state-endorsed incitement to global terrorism.
Popular British-Iranian commentator Niyak Ghorbani said: “The West must realise: the Islamic Republic is not only targeting its own people — it is preparing for global violence in the name of religion.”
The fatwa comes just days after Trump said he saved Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from an “ugly death”.
During the 12-Day War, the Israelis, on multiple occasions, suggested that targeting Ayatollah Khamenei was “not off the table”.
But Trump, who said he knew exactly where the supreme leader had been hiding, did not let the US forces or the IDF” assassinate Khamenei.
In a Truth Social post, Trump raged: “I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.
“And he does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’
“I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life.”
Trump also blasted the Ayatollah’s claims that Iran won the war.
He said: “Why would the so-called ‘Supreme Leader,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the war-torn Country of Iran, say so blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel, when he knows his statement is a lie, it is not so.
“As a man of great faith, he is not supposed to lie.”
Iran’s top mullah Khamenei, 86, claimed victory over Israel and America despite his country being hammered for almost two weeks.
He ludicrously claimed Iran had almost crushed Israel, and the government in Tel Aviv was on the verge of collapse.
That’s despite the IDF controlling the skies over Tehran, assassinating dozens of top generals and nuclear scientists, and destroying dozens of valuable missile batteries in just 12 days of fighting.
Khamenei also said that Iran had given the US a “severe slap” to its face and that it had “gained nothing” from the attack on Iran’s nuke plants.
The Ayatollah said: “The American regime entered a direct war because it felt that if it did not, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed.
“However, it gained no achievements from this war.
“Here, too, the Islamic Republic emerged victorious, and in return, the Islamic Republic delivered a severe slap to America’s face.”
Trump also floated the idea of a regime change in Tehran to “Make Iran Great Again” after bombing the Islamic Republic.
Less than a day after the US military blitzed three key facilities central to the Iranian regime’s nuclear ambitions, Trump hinted that the Mullahs’ regime could well be toppled.
The president wrote in a post on Truth Social: “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!”
Trump’s post came despite his MAGA administration repeatedly saying the US is not looking for a regime change in Iran.
The 12-Day War began On June 13 when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion – a sophisticated campaign of bombing which targeted Iran’s military nuclear sites.
The Israelis also brilliantly orchestrated Operation Red Wedding – 30 top Iranian military chiefs killed in near-simultaneous blitz as Israel sought to root out the country’s military strength entirely.
Iran retaliated by launching daily salvos of ballistic missiles across Israel, but failed to hit any strategic targets.
Less than a fortnight later, Trump joined the Israeli bombing campaign against Iran.
The US military’s flagship B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped more than a dozen 30,000lb GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).
The bunker-buster bombs were used to hit Iran’s Fordow Nuclear Enrichment Plant.
Iran, which vowed to hit US military bases across the Middle East, sought its revenge by launching missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base – America’s biggest military station in the region.
But Tehran seemingly cooked up a fake attack after passing warnings to its Qatari allies, which allowed all US service personnel and aircraft to be moved out of harm’s way.
Sputnik is a multilingual radio station and news portal used to disseminate Kremlin propagandaImage: Thiago Prudencio/DAX/ZUMA/picture alliance
Police in Baku raided the offices of Russia’s state-funded news agency Sputnik on Monday, local media reported.
The swoop came as tensions between Azerbaijan and Russia escalated after the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis in a police raid last week in Yekaterinburg.
What do we know about the raids on Sputnik?
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said Sputnik continued to operate in the country through “illegal financing” despite its accreditation being revoked in February 2025.
Authorities said arrests were made during the search, but did not provide further details. Images published by local outlets showed two men being led away by masked officers.
According to Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti, the detainees included Sputnik Azerbaijan’s editor-in-chief, Yevgeny Belousov, and its director, Igor Kartavykh.
Russian authorities denounced the move as “unfriendly acts by Baku and the illegal arrest of Russian journalists.”
Sputnik, a multilingual radio and news portal, is widely viewed as a tool for spreading Kremlin propaganda abroad.
Why are Russia and Azerbaijan at odds?
Tensions between Moscow and Baku have been simmering for months. Relations worsened after the downing of an Azerbaijani passenger plane over Grozny in late 2024, an incident that forced Russian President Vladimir Putin to apologise to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The latest flare-up follows a wave of arrests of ethnic Azerbaijanis in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg over the weekend. Russian authorities detained about 50 people suspected of involvement in contract killings between 2001 and 2011.
At least two people died during the arrests — one reportedly from heart failure. Baku condemned the actions as “unacceptable” and summoned the Russian ambassador in response.
Online scam centers were initially concentrated in Cambodia, with additional trafficking hubs later uncovered in Laos and MyanmarImage: Kyodo News/IMAGO
Human trafficking-fueled scam centers have significantly expanded their operations worldwide, according to a crime trend update released on Monday by the international police agency Interpol.
Hubs where trafficking victims are forced to take part in online fraud first emerged in a few Southeast Asian nations, but investigators are now also uncovering similar fraud centers in other regions.
Where are scam centers spreading?
According to the international police organization, victims now come from 66 countries across all continents, highlighting what Interpol describes as a “global crisis” involving hundreds of thousands of people.
Scam centers are now increasingly found in other regions, including the Middle East, West Africa — fast emerging as a new regional hub — and Central America.
Victims are often lured with fake job offers and then held captive in scam compounds. Many are blackmailed over alleged debts, beaten, sexually exploited, and in some cases tortured or raped.
Inside these centers, they are forced to run online scams, mostly targeting people abroad to steal money.
A 2024 Interpol-led operation exposed dozens of cases where victims were coerced into committing fraud, including a raid on an industrial-scale scam centre in the Philippines. That same year, police dismantled a centre in Namibia where 88 youths were forced to scam others.
Emerging technologies are fuelling this trend further. The crime update notes a surge in the use of artificial intelligence, from generating fake job ads to creating deepfake profiles for “sextortion” and romance scams.
Who are the victims?
Interpol says the pool of those preyed upon has widened significantly.
While early human trafficking victims were mainly Chinese-speaking and came from China, Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore, people are now being trafficked to such hubs from South America, East Africa and Western Europe.
“Tackling this rapidly globalizing threat requires a coordinated international response,” said said Interpol’s acting head of police services Cyril Gout.
Who are the people traffickers?
The report found that about 90% of human trafficking facilitators came from Asia, while 11% were from South America or Africa.
About 80% of these facilitators were men, with 61% aged between 20 and 39.
Online scam centers were initially concentrated in Cambodia, with additional trafficking hubs later uncovered in Laos and Myanmar. Today, similar operations have been identified in at least four more Asian countries, and evidence shows the model is spreading to other regions such as West Africa, where cyber-enabled financial crime is already common.
In its findings, Interpol warned that the spread of such criminal networks needs urgent, coordinated action to disrupt trafficking routes and support victims.
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot died in a crash while repelling a Russian air attack that involved hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, authorities said on Sunday, as Moscow intensifies night-time air barrages in the fourth year of war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, and bestowed upon him posthumously the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest decoration.
A woman pets a dog as she takes shelter inside a metro station during a Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 29, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko Purchase Licensing Rights
He also called for more support from Washington and Western allies to bolster Ukraine’s air defences after the attack, which damaged homes and infrastructure across the country and injured at least 12 people, according to local authorities.
In Kyiv, families huddled in metro stations for shelter after air raid sirens rung out. Machine-gun fire and explosions were heard across the capital and in the western city of Lviv, where such attacks are less common.
The governor of the Lviv region, bordering Poland, said the raid targeted critical infrastructure.
Ukraine has now lost three F-16s since it began operating the U.S.-made jets last year. Kyiv has not revealed the size of its F-16 fleet, but they have become a central and heavily used part of Ukraine’s defences.
The pilot flew the damaged jet away from a settlement but had no time to eject before it crashed, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
“The pilot used all of his onboard weapons and shot down seven air targets. While shooting down the last one, his aircraft was damaged and began to lose altitude,” the Air Force said on Telegram.
Ukrainian military expert Roman Svitan, speaking earlier this month, said the F-16 was not ideally suited to all tasks in the war, particularly repelling drones which swarm Ukrainian cities, as it is better used against higher-speed targets.
Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Ustymenko had been flying missions since the time of a campaign that began in 2014 against Russian-financed separatists who had seized parts of eastern Ukraine.
“He mastered four types of aircraft and had important results to his name in defending Ukraine,” he said. “It is painful to lose such people.”
The Ukrainian military said in total Russia launched 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types to Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian forces destroyed 211 of the drones and 38 missiles, it said, while 225 more drones were either lost due to electronic warfare or were decoys that carried no explosives.
Writing earlier on X, Zelenskiy said: “Moscow will not stop as long as it has the capability to launch massive strikes.” He said Russia had launched around 114 missiles, 1,270 drones, and 1,100 glide bombs just in the past week.
Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency said one person was killed by a Ukrainian drone in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Both Ukraine and Russia say they do not attack civilian targets. POLITICAL WILL
Ukraine says recent attacks highlight the need for further support from Washington, which under President Donald Trump has not committed to new military aid for Ukraine.
Trump said he was considering a Ukrainian request for more Patriot missile, opens new tab batteries after he met Zelenskiy at a NATO summit last Wednesday.
“This war must be brought to an end – pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection,” Zelenskiy said in his X post. “Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defence – the thing that best protects lives.”
He said Ukraine was ready to buy the American air defence systems and it counts on “leadership, political will, and the support of the United States, Europe, and all our partners.”
Russia has launched large-scale strikes on Ukrainian cities every few days in recent weeks, causing widespread damage, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds more.
During the latest barrage, explosions were heard in Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and the Ivano-Frankivsk regions, witnesses and regional governors said. The Ukrainian military said air strikes were recorded in six locations.
After finishing the first verse of the song, the mom of three yelled, “Stop, stop, stop, stop” as she sat at a standstill above screaming fans below. Julian Dakdouk via PictureGroup/Shutterstock
Somebody’s getting fired.
Beyoncé was left dangling midair in a car while performing during the first Houston “Cowboy Carter” tour stop.
On Saturday, the “Cuff It” singer was catapulted into the air in a red car for the performance of her country hit “16 Carriages.”
While the vehicle was supposed to make its way around the venue so fans who don’t have floor seats could get a closer look at Beyoncé, the car began leaning to one side and came to a complete stop.
After finishing the first verse of the song, the mom of three yelled, “Stop, stop, stop, stop” as she sat at a standstill above screaming fans below.
After crew members rushed over, the red car was lowered to the ground and Beyoncé was safely removed.
In true Beyoncé fashion, the pop star walked back over to the stage to finish belting out the song.
After videos of the incident went viral, her entertainment company, Parkwood, took to Instagram to explain what happened.
“Tonight in Houston, at NRG Stadium, a technical mishap caused the flying car, a prop Beyoncé uses to circle the stadium, and see her fans up close, to tilt,” the statemen read.
“She was quickly lowered and no one was injured. The show continued without incident.”
Earlier this month, the Grammy winner effortlessly bounced a wardrobe malfunction while kicking off the London leg of her tour.
While performing her 2022 hit “I’m That Girl,” Beyoncé’s metallic fringed chaps fell to the floor mid-dance move.
A state-owned mining company said it had warned against working the “artisanal” shaft in Sudan’s northeast because of the “risk to life.” Gold-mining has helped fund the brutal civil war that broke out in 2023.
Collapses at artisanal mines are common in Sudan [FILE: Aug 31, 2018]Image: Interpol/AP/picture allianceAt least 11 miners were killed after a gold mine collapsed in Sudan, a state-owned mining company announced on Sunday.
The Sudanese Mineral Resources Company (SMRC) said the collapse occurred in an “artisanal shaft in the Kirsh al-Fil mine” in the government-controlled area of Houeid over the weekend.
Seven other workers were injured and taken to hospital, according to the company.
Sudan is a major exporter of gold, but collapses at artisanal and small-scale mines are common due to poor safety standards.
SMRC said it had previously suspended work in the mine that collapsed and “warned against its continuing activity due to its posing great risk to life.”
As more women in Pakistan embrace self-expression and economic freedom online, they’re often met with harassment, privacy violations and violence.
TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, where women have found both an audience and an incomeImage: AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images
Earlier this month, 17-year-old TikTok star Sana Yousaf was shot dead by a man who had repeatedly contacted her online, according to police.
The killing of the popular Pakistani teenager, who had more than 1 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, has raised renewed concerns over the safety of online personalities in Pakistan, particularly young women.
“I had posted a story on social media while at a burger shop,” Hira Zainab, a Pakistani social media user, told DW.
“On my way back, a car passed by, and someone called out my name.”
Zainab, who has been active on Instagram since 2017, has maintained several public accounts, including a food blog and a society column. She said this wasn’t the only instance where online stalking turned into a real-life encounter.
“Once, I was at a salon, and after I left, I received a message saying, ‘That color looks nice on you.'”
Both times, Zainab said the messages came from strangers who had previously made online advances she had ignored.
Are Pakistan’s patriarchal norms to blame?
Other recent incidents — such as leaked video footage purporting to show TikToker Maryam Faisal in a private moment with a partner — have highlighted concerns about women’s digital safety.
In Pakistan, self-expression and economic independence in digital spaces comes with a surge of threats, privacy violations and social backlash pressures that often escalate into real-world violence.
According to a 2023 study by the Digital Rights Foundation, an NGO that advocates women’s rights in the digital space, 58.5% of online harassment complaints in Pakistan are filed by women.
But public conversation rarely addresses the deeper, systemic issue — particularly the patriarchal norms that stretch from the online world into homes, workplaces and society at large.
Women with public-facing digital lives have been asking why visibility so often come at a cost.
Many women face ‘hate comments,’ ‘rape threats’
DW spoke with several Pakistani women who use social media in a public capacity.
Yusra Amjad, a Pakistani poet, has used Instagram publicly since 2017.
“What started with poetry grew into opportunities for content creation and collaboration,” she told DW. “The coolest thing that happened was when Yrsa Daley-Ward, a British African poet, selected someone from Instagram comments for a video call and I won,” Amjad said. “I also connected with Indian writers and poets.”
But she also recalled one of many hate comments she has received. “When my mother and I did yoga in a park, hate comments alluded to it being shameless and dishonorable,” she said.
Women seen as threat to patriarchy, family and culture
Bisma Shakeel, who is based in the Pakistani city of Kohat, uses social media to raise awareness about mental health, focusing on narcissistic abuse and domestic violence.
Her motivation stems from personal experience, having left a toxic relationship in which her partner was controlling and discouraged her from using social media to build a professional presence.
But the 29-year-old’s journey wasn’t straightforward.
Securing permission from her family to post videos showing her face took time. For many women, freedom on social media, just like in offline spaces, exists on a spectrum.
“My father is liberal, but even he said, ‘You shouldn’t post. People will talk. In our community, girls don’t do that,'” said Shakeel.
Though she is now active on social media, she said it doesn’t come without risk.
“Not so much on Instagram, but on TikTok, you can’t imagine the kind of threats we get. Rape threats, death threats,” she said.
Women in Pakistan — especially those who are visibly active online, whether talking about politics or society or simply owning their space — are often judged and perceived as a threat to religious and cultural values.
”That framing is what makes the harassment feel ‘deserved’ to many. It’s not random, it’s deeply structured: she’s labeled as immoral or un-Islamic, and then attacking her becomes a form of social or religious duty,” said Maham Tariq, a feminist activist associated with Pakistan’s Aurat Azadi March (“Women’s Freedom March”).
“It allows people to feel righteous while being violent.”
Leather from cattle raised in deforested areas and on Indigenous land in the northern Brazilian state of Para is being turned into luxury items in Italy, according to an investigation.
Buyers of luxury leather goods don’t expect products to be linked to deforestation and human rights violations, said nonprofit EarthsightImage: rosarenan@hotmail.com/Depositphotos/IMAGO
Designer brands such as Coach, Fendi and Hugo Boss have been listed as buyers of raw materials sourced from destroyed forests in Para, the northern Brazilian state set to host the UN Climate Conference, COP30, in November.
The allegations, which most companies have denied, are detailed in a report published by Earthsight, a UK-based nonprofit focused on environmental and injustice investigations. Their findings draw on thousands of records of Brazilian leather exports, data on the cattle sector, court rulings and satellite imagery, as well as interviews and on-the-ground research.
“Consumers probably expect that when buying a luxury product, the high price tag guarantees some level of ethics and sustainability,” Lara Shirra White, an Earthsight researcher, told DW. “They don’t expect that the leather bag might be linked to deforestation and human rights violations.”
The NGO warns of products made from the hides of cattle reared on farms embargoed for environmental violations, including some operating illegally within Para’s Apyterewa Indigenous Territory, which was heavily deforested during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro from 2019 to 2022.
As part of its research, Earthsight investigated the business operations of Frigol, a Brazilian meatpacking company identified as one of the buyers of cattle raised on the territory.
The report says at least 17,000 animals were sold to Frigol between 2020 and 2023, which is “enough to produce 425 tons of leather.”
Researchers linked some of those cattle to illegal farms but said it’s not possible to determine the exact number that left Apyterewa, in part because Frigol itself “does not trace most of its indirect suppliers.”
The report says this gap in reporting leaves the company’s “supply chain vulnerable to the widespread practice of ‘cattle laundering,'” in which cows from illegal farms are transferred to legally registered properties before being sold.
Paulo Barreto, senior researcher at the Brazilian conservation and sustainable development Institute of Man and Environment of the Amazon, Imazon, said control over indirect suppliers is either nonexistent or incomplete.
“As a result, cattle raised in illegally deforested areas end up entering the market as if they were legal. The lack of a transparent public system regarding the origin of the cattle makes control difficult.”
Frigol, however, told DW via email that it does not purchase cattle from Indigenous lands and monitors 100% of its direct suppliers.
“We are committed to working together with industry institutions, the production chain and public authorities to make progress,” the company said in a statement. It added that it believes “only individual traceability of animals for socio-environmental purposes will make it possible to mitigate deforestation across all links of the cattle supply chain.”
Brazilian leather, Italian prestige
According to Earthsight’s research, after the animals are slaughtered at Frigol’s facilities, a percentage of cow skins are exported, in part by the Brazilian leather company Durlicouros, which shipped 14,700 tons of hide to Italy between 2020 and 2023. Some of that, the report found, went to the Italian tanneries Conceria Cristina and Faeda.
The research lists high-end names like Coach, Fendi, Chloé, Hugo Boss and Saint Laurent among Conceria Cristina’s clients. Faeda, meanwhile, provides leather to brands such as Chanel, Balenciaga and Gucci, according to the investigation.
In response to a DW request for comment, Chanel cited deforestation as a “major concern” and said it no longer works with Faeda due to unmet traceability requirements: “92% of the calfskin we use is sourced from Europe, and we audit slaughterhouses and farms outside Europe to ensure they are not in deforestation zones.”
The Kering Group, which owns Balenciaga, Gucci, and Saint Laurent, told DW that while the two Italian companies mentioned in the report are suppliers, “the leather they provide to any Kering house does not come from Brazil.”
Based on Earthsight’s findings, Hugo Boss issued a statement to say it had conducted a detailed review, and could “confirm that none of the leather” it is supplied with “is connected to any of the alleged parties in connection with the investigation.”
LVMH, which owns Fendi and Louis Vuitton, said it has a system capable of tracing the origin of 98% of the leather used in its products and that it does not source this from South America. And Tapestry, which owns the Coach brand, wrote to DW saying that while the system for tracking raw materials in Brazil is “complex and imperfect,” it is working to be “part of the solution to improve traceability and transparency.”
Chloé, Conceria Cristina and Faeda had not responded to a DW request for comment at the time of publication.
Flaws in the certification system
Durlicouros told DW that it tracks its indirect suppliers and participates in discussions on state and national models for full traceability and compliance.
“In addition, all Durlicouros facilities are certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG), ensuring high standards of sustainability, traceability, and environmental responsibility, according to the purpose of each facility.”
But Earthsight researcher Lara Shirra White said companies often use the certification to vouch for the ethics and sustainability of the leather they produce “instead of conducting meaningful due diligence themselves to ensure their supply chains are deforestation-free.”
She said the problem with the LWG, founded in 2005, is that “it does not require traceability back to the farms,” and can therefore not account for environmental and human rights abuses in the areas where the cattle are raised.
The LWG told DW it is enhancing its “due diligence requirements related to deforestation and land conversion,” which will “include establishing a chain of custody system that would support more detailed traceability across the leather value chain.”
Hundreds were left stranded after the terrifying smash
ALL four pilots involved in a horrifying runway plane collision which saw one jet slice through another’s tail fin have been suspended.
Harrowing footage showed a Boeing shred through a stationary Airbus while on the tarmac – just moments before it was set to take off.
A plane sliced through another one’s wing on a runway
Hundreds were left stranded after the shocking accident which unfolded in front of terrified passengers who watched debris scatter across the runway.
The two Vietnam Airlines aircraft smashed into each other at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam on June 27 – with both aircraft carrying a total of 386 passengers.
The Ho Chi Minh City-bound Boeing 787 was taxiing for take-off when it struck an Airbus A321, parked on the tarmac, waiting to head to Dien Bien.
Vietnam Airlines has now suspended the four pilots involved – two from each jet.
Meanwhile, investigators are still probing the exact cause of the crash.
Initial findings have suggested human error, due to the fact the Airbus was not parked correctly on the runway at the time of the smash.
The dramatic collision took place at the intersection of taxiways S and S3, under clear weather conditions.
In the shocking footage, a blue Airbus can be seen taxi-ing just moments before take-off.
But seconds later, another jet’s right wing rips through the rear section of the stationary aircraft – almost like butter.
Frightened passengers watched in disbelief as they saw parts of the plane’s tail stabilizer shoot off onto the floor.
Both planes immediately disembarked hundreds of panicked flyers after the accident.
And they were given replacement flights to board shortly after.
An independent team hired by the airline are investigating the crash, alongside the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.
The terrifying footage comes after a recent string of horror aviation accidents.
Heartstopping footage showed the moment an American Airlines flight saw smoke and sparks flying from the plane’s engine.
Harrowing video of the incident was shared on social media, showing puffs of smoke and orange sparks coming from the plane’s engine.
It comes as Tehran contradicted the Ayatollah by admitting damage done to their nuclear sites was “severe”
DONALD Trump has claimed that he saved Iran’s Supreme Leader from an “ugly death” by ordering Israeli jets to turn around mid-air during an attack.
The President slammed the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after he claimed Iran had won the war – following Tehran’s response to Trump’s Operation Midnight Hammer attack.
Trump claims he saved the Ayatollah from deathCredit: AFP
In a Truth Social post, Trump raged: “I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.
“And he does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’
Iran responded to Trump’s strikes on key nuclear sites in Iran by targeting a US army base in Doha, Qatar, with a daring missile blitz.
Tehran admitted that Operation Midnight Hammer and Israeli attacks had caused “excessive and serious” damage to the nuclear facilities.
But the admission on Friday contradicted the Supreme Leader’s claims that Trump “exaggerated” the success of the sophisticated attack.
Trump said of the American strikes: “His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered.”
The US President then made the bombshell claim that he saved the Ayatollah’s life, saying he “would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life”.
He explained: “In fact, in the final act of the War, I demanded that Israel bring back a very large group of planes, which were heading directly to Tehran, looking for a big day, perhaps the final knockout!”
He added: “Tremendous damage would have ensued, and many Iranians would have been killed.
“It was going to be the biggest attack of the War, by far.”
Trump also blasted the Ayatollah’s claims that Iran won the war.
He said: “Why would the so-called ‘Supreme Leader,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the war torn Country of Iran, say so blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel, when he knows his statement is a lie, it is not so.
“As a man of great faith, he is not supposed to lie.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister said that US and Israeli airstrikes caused “excessive and serious damage” to the Ayatollah’s nuclear facilities.
And he shut down suggestions that the mullahs would return to the negotiating table for a nuclear deal following the devastating blitz.
Abbas Araghchi said: “I would like to state clearly that no agreement, arrangement or conversation has been made to start new negotiations.
“Don’t take Trump’s words seriously… No plan has been set yet to start negotiations.”
His words came after the White House claimed Iran’s nuclear sites had been “completely and totally obliterated” by the strikes – and said they would take years to rebuild.
An Indian woman in Canada shared a viral video of long queues at a job fair, highlighting intense job competition among international students, sparking mixed reactions.
Screengrab of viral video. (Instagram)
In Canada, numerous Indian and international students lined up for jobs at a humble job fair, revealing the fierce competition for employment. An Indian woman in Canada shared an Instagram video showcasing the long queue of applicants outside the job fair, highlighting the intense competition for employment among international students.
In the video, she addresses a common perception among many Indians that foreign countries guarantee abundant job opportunities and a better lifestyle, and contrasts it with the challenging reality faced by many international students.
The woman said, “Guys, hamare jo Indian friends ya relatives hain jinko lagta hai ki Canada mein bahut jobs aur paisa hai, unko ye video dikha dena,” the Indian woman says in the video.
She then pans to the lengthy queue of job seekers outside the fair, mentioning that the opening is for a basic internship with only 5-6 vacancies. “This is the reality of Canada. If you’re prepared for this, then come to Canada; otherwise, India is better.”
“Life abroad isn’t always a dream. Sometimes it’s just… a long queue,” the caption of the post reads.
The viral video highlighting the job crisis and rising unemployment in Canada has prompted a wave of reactions from both immigrants and those aspiring to move abroad.
One of the users on the social media wrote, “First honest video I saw of letting people know the truth. Other influencers are trying to give people the wrong information and impression to move to Canada.”
Another commented, “Same situation here in Toronto. Even for survival jobs, it’s a long wait.” “Everyone thinks it’s a land of opportunity until they see the reality,” said a third user.
Some users remained hopeful, commenting, “It’s tough, but having the right skills can still lead to success.” Another user chimed in, “The situation is exaggerated – jobs are available if you know where to look.”
A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex, after the US struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran Jun 22, 2025. (Photo: MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/Handout via REUTERS)
Berlin urged Iran on Sunday (Jun 29) to stop making “threats” against the UN’s nuclear watchdog after Tehran rejected its request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the United States.
Tehran has accused Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, of “betrayal of his duties” for not condemning the Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, and Iranian lawmakers this week voted to suspend cooperation with the agency.
“I commend director general Rafael Grossi and his team for their efforts and their unrelenting professionalism. Threats against them from within Iran are deeply troubling and must stop,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on X, without specifying further.
“I call on the Iranian authorities to fully cooperate with the IAEA and to ensure the safety of its personnel,” he added.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that “Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent”.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement during a visit to the site of the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by an Iranian missile barrage, in the central city of Rehovot, Israel Jun 20, 2025. (Photo: Pool via REUTERS/Jack Guez)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (Jun 29) the 12-day war with Iran had created opportunities for Israel, and the first was the return of hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023.
His remarks, coupled with the Jerusalem District Court’s postponement of his testimony this week in his long-running corruption trial, gave rise to speculation that progress may be made to end the Gaza conflict and secure the hostages’ release.
The court accepted on Sunday Netanyahu’s request for the delay, citing classified diplomatic and security grounds. US President Donald Trump had suggested on Saturday the trial could interfere with the Israeli leader’s ability to negotiate.
Israel’s military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on Friday the war in Iran, which ended on Jun 24, could help advance Israeli objectives against the Iranian-backed Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli public radio Kan said Israel’s security cabinet had met on Sunday evening and would meet again on Monday. Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu’s, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, Israeli media said.
On a Sunday visit to a security facility of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, Netanyahu said: “I want to inform you that as you probably know, many opportunities have opened up now following this victory, many opportunities.”
“First of all, to rescue the hostages. Of course we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both tasks,” he said, according to a statement issued by his office.
Israeli advocates for the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, known as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, said his statement prioritising the hostages was a first.
“The families of the hostages welcome the fact that after 20 months, the return of the hostages has finally been designated as the top priority by the prime minister,” they said.
“This is a very important statement that must translate into a single comprehensive deal to bring back all 50 hostages and end the fighting in Gaza,” their statement said. Of the 50 hostages, only 20 are believed to be alive.
Trump said on Saturday that Netanyahu was “right now” negotiating a deal with Hamas, though neither leader provided details, and officials on both sides have voiced scepticism over prospects for a ceasefire soon.
The US has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and a release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages once a permanent ceasefire was in place.
On Sunday, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza before intensified fighting against Hamas.
A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group’s outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory.
The conversation took place as they were leaving Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos’ Venice wedding. AFP via Getty Images
Kris Jenner and Corey Gamble appeared to have some trouble in paradise.
The couple allegedly got into a tense exchange while leaving Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding in Venice, Italy, on Friday, according to video obtained by the Daily Mail.
Lip reader Nicola Hickling claimed to the outlet that the conversation was regarding the “Kardashians” star’s adamant demand to ride alone in a water taxi instead of sharing the transportation with other guests.
In the footage, Jenner can be seen entering a water taxi with Gamble following behind her.
Hickling claimed Gamble told one of the porters, “We’re happy to travel on our own. It’s what Kris would like to do.”
The comment seemed to prompt Jenner to get involved.
“What are you doing? Do you need to talk?” she allegedly asked Gamble. “I told you … for God’s sake … I’d like to travel alone.”
At that point, Gamble stepped out of the taxi to speak with another man and allegedly confirm they would be traveling in the taxi alone before rejoining the reality star.
Despite the tense energy with her longtime beau, Jenner still managed to keep her manners with the staff.
Elsewhere in the clip, Jenner appears to say to Gamble, “Tell them I said thanks,” after one of the porters offered her what appeared to be a napkin to dry off any water from the journey.
Reps for Jenner did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
The couple was seen in Venice celebrating their Bezos and Sánchez’s highly anticipated wedding with a three-day itinerary of events.
Jenner and Gamble, 44, arrived in the city on Thursday along with the matriarch’s daughters Kim and Khloé Kardashian and Kylie and Kendall Jenner.
However, a source told Page Six that Kris’ party of six was not the initial plan as Kendall, Khloé and Kylie were not originally invited to the billionaire’s extravagant Venetian wedding.
It wasn’t until the famous momager worked her magic that she scored invites for her girls.
“Originally, the quintet was going to be a duo of just Kim [Kardashian] and Kris,” said a source. “But Mama Kris asked Lauren if she could bring the other three when they were in Paris for the bachelorette party.”
Two firefighters were killed and a third was injured when first responders were ambushed by an hours-long barrage of gunfire after arriving at the scene of a blaze in Idaho Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
The horrific attack, which began around 2 p.m. local time on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene, ended about five hours later when SWAT teams discovered the lifeless body of a man next to a firearm on the popular tourist trail, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.
Police have not released the suspected gunman’s identity or specified the type of weapon recovered at the horrific scene.
At least two people were killed after a gunman allegedly opened fire Sunday. KXLY
Two people believed to be fire personnel were killed in the ambush, Sheriff Bob Norris told reporters during a press conference earlier in the night.
Iran warned Sunday (Jun 29) that it had little faith in Israel’s commitment to a fragile ceasefire that ended the most intense and destructive confrontation between the two foes to date.
The 12-day war erupted on Jun 13, when Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that killed top military commanders and scientists linked to its nuclear programme. Tehran responded with ballistic missile attacks on Israeli cities.
Mourners attend the funeral ceremony of the Iranian armed forces generals, nuclear scientists and their family members who were killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, Jun 28, 2025. (Photo: AP/Vahid Salemi)
Israel said its aim was to keep the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
The fighting derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, which later joined its ally Israel’s campaign with strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power,” Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, was quoted as saying by state television, referring to Israel.
“We have serious doubts over the enemy’s compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force” if attacked again, he added, six days into the ceasefire.
IAEA Dispute
The conflict rattled the already shaky relationship between Iran and the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has rejected the IAEA’s request to inspect its bombed nuclear sites, accusing its chief Rafael Grossi of “betraying his duties” by failing to condemn the Israeli and US attacks.
Iranian lawmakers voted this week to suspend cooperation with the agency.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Grossi’s request to visit the targeted facilities “meaningless” and “possibly malign in intent”.
Tehran also cited a Jun 12 IAEA resolution criticising Iran’s lack of nuclear transparency as a pretext used by Israel to justify launching its offensive the following day.
The backlash drew a sharp rebuke from Germany and Argentina, Grossi’s home country.
“I commend Director General Rafael Grossi and his team for their unrelenting professionalism. Threats against them from within Iran are deeply troubling and must stop,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X.
Argentina’s foreign ministry said it “categorically condemns the threats against him coming from Iran”.
Neither specified which threats they were referring to, but Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently claimed documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.
Speaking to US broadcaster CBS on Sunday, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani denied there was any threat to nuclear inspectors in Iran, insisting they were “in safe conditions” but their work was suspended. Damage questioned
The United States carried out strikes on three key facilities used for Iran’s atomic programme.
In the days after, Trump said the United States would bomb Iran again “without question” if intelligence indicated it was able to enrich uranium to military grade.
Speaking to CBS on Saturday, Grossi said Iran could “in a matter of months” return to enriching uranium.
Questions remain as to how much damage the US strikes did to Iran’s nuclear programme, with Trump and his officials insisting it had been “obliterated”.
On Sunday, however, The Washington Post reported that the United States had intercepted calls between Iranian officials who said the damage was less than expected.
That followed an early “low confidence” US military intelligence report that said the nuclear programme had been set back months, not years.
Israel has said Iran’s programme was delayed by years, while Tehran has downplayed the damage.
The IAEA said Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent, far above the levels needed for civilian nuclear power, although Grossi previously noted there had been no indication before the strikes that Iran was working to build an atomic weapon.
Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own nuclear arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks on the phone during a meeting at the European Political Community summit in Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania, on May 16, 2025. (Photo: Pool via AP/Leon Neal)
KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday (Jun 29) signed a decree putting his war-torn country on track to leave the anti-landmine Ottawa Convention, according to a document published on his website.
The treaty bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling or using anti-personnel mines, which are designed to be buried or hidden on the ground.
They often leave victims mutilated if they are not immediately killed, and aid groups denounce the long-term risk of unexploded mines for civilians.
More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, though neither the United States nor Russia have joined.
Across Africa, cancer medications have been found to be substandard or counterfeit. That means people are being given medicine that may not work, or that could even cause them harm.
From large hospitals to small pharmacies, at least 10% of medicines in sub-Saharan Africa are substandard or falsified. When it comes to cancer drugs, it’s 17%Image: Barbara Debout/AFP/Getty Images
An alarming number of people across Africa may be taking cancer drugs that don’t contain the vital ingredients needed to contain or reduce their disease.
It’s a concerning finding with roots in a complex problem: how to regulate a range of therapeutics across the continent.
A US and pan-African research group published the findings this week in The Lancet Global Health. The researchers had collected dosage information, sometimes covertly, from a dozen hospitals and 25 pharmacies across Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Cameroon.
They tested nearly 200 unique products across several brands. Around 17% — roughly one in six — were found to have incorrect active ingredient levels, including products used in major hospitals.
Patients who receive insufficient dosages of these ingredients could see their tumors keep growing, and possibly even spread.
Similar numbers of substandard antibiotics, antimalarial and tuberculosis drugs have been reported in the past, but this is the first time that such a study has found high levels of falsified or defective anticancer drugs in circulation.
“I was not surprised by these results,” said Lutz Heide, a pharmacist at the University of Tübingen in Germany who has previously worked for the Somali Health Ministry and has spent the past decade researching substandard and falsified medicines.
Heide was not part of the investigative group, but said the report shed light on a problem not previously measured.
“I was delighted that, finally, someone published such a systemic report,” he said. “That is a first, really significant systematic study of this area.”
Causes need addressing, but it’s not straightforward
“There are many possible causes for bad-quality products,” Marya Lieberman of the University of Notre Dame in the US, the investigation’s senior researcher, told DW.
Those causes can include faults in the manufacturing process or product decay due to poor storage conditions. But some drugs are also counterfeit, and that increases the risk of discrepancies between what’s on the product label and the actual medicine within.
Spotting substandard and falsified products can be difficult. Usually, a medical professional or patient is only able to perform a visual inspection — literally checking a label for discrepancies or pills and syringes for color differences — to spot falsified products.
But that’s not a reliable method. In the study, barely a quarter of the substandard products were identified through visual inspection. Laboratory testing identified the rest.
Fixing the problem, Lieberman said, will require improving regulation and providing screening technologies and training where they’re needed.
“If you can’t test it, you can’t regulate it,” she said. “The cancer medications are difficult to handle and analyze because they’re very toxic, and so many labs don’t want to do that. And that’s a core problem for the sub-Saharan countries where we worked. Even though several of those countries have quite good labs, they don’t have the facilities that are needed for safe handling of the chemo drugs established.”
Not only cancer treatments are affected
Nearly a decade ago, the World Health Organization found around one in 10 medicines used in low and middle-income countries were substandard or falsified. Independent research conducted since has backed those figures up, sometimes finding rates that are potentially twice as high.
“This could lead to treatment failure, adverse reactions, disease progression,” health economist Sachiko Ozawa told DW. Ozawa contributed to the investigation on anticancer drugs and has separately researched other cases of defective medicines.
“For the community, there’s also economic losses in terms of wasted resources,” she said. “So countries may be spending a lot of money on medications that are not going to be effective.”
While high-income countries can monitor supply chains and have stringent regulatory systems in place to identify and withdraw suspect products, the infrastructure to do that is far from common in other regions.
In those places, poor access to affordable medication often drives patients to less-regulated marketplaces. Inadequate governance and regulation, as well as a scarcity of surveillance and diagnostic equipment to test pharmaceuticals, are all contributing to the problem in Africa.
“In high-income countries, I think there’s a much more secure supply chain where you know the manufacturers are vetted, it has to go through very stringent regulatory processes to get approval…it gets tested more frequently,” said Ozawa.
The WHO told DW that following the report’s findings, it was working with the four affected countries to address the problem.
“We are concerned with the findings the article has highlighted. WHO is in contact with national authorities of four impacted countries and obtaining relevant data,” it said in a statement. “We expect to assess full information to evaluate the situation, which often takes time and capacity. But we’re committed to address these issues working with the relevant countries and partners.”
The WHO also reiterated its ongoing call for countries to improve their regulatory frameworks to “prevent incidents of substandard and falsified medicines, including in settings of cancer programs.”
A TEENAGE boy has been mauled by a shark at a popular beach and rushed to hospital with “serious” arm injuries.
Emergency services were called to reports of the attack at Cabarita Beach on New South Wales’ north coast, Australia just before 4pm on Sunday.
The teenage boy was badly bitten on the arm and has sustained serious injuries, said New South Wales Ambulance.
He was airlifted to Gold Coast University by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and remains in a serious but stable condition.
It is not known what type of shark attacked the boy.
The attack comes just weeks after a teenage girl was mauled to death in a horrifying shark attack at Bribie Island, north of Brisbane.
Charlize Zmuda, 17, let out a “piercing scream” as she was fatally bitten by the beast at a popular tourist hot spot in Australia.
Emergency services rushed to the scene after reports of the attack.
Queensland Ambulance confirmed they were responding to a “serious shark bite incident” and had treated Charlize for life-threatening upper body injuries.
Despite their best efforts, the teen sadly passed away.
Devastated family member Renee Zmuda said at the time she would like the community to focus on the “incredible life she lived and not the awful way she died”.
She said in a statement: “Charlize was loved by many and was such a shining light who truly touched the lives of everyone she met.”
Those on one of the large buses were reportedly heading to a wedding ceremony
People surrounded the burnt out buses as they rescued dozens from the wreckageCredit: The Citizen
AT LEAST 40 people have died after two buses crashed into each other before bursting into flames.
Dozens of terrified passengers were trapped inside the flaming vehicles on a highway as they battled to escape the two wreckages.
Several of the dead are yet to be identified due to the seriousness of their burns.
Another 30 people, believed to be from Tanzania, were injured with many being rushed to hospital for treatment.
Those on one of the large coaches were heading to a wedding ceremony, according to local media.
The collision happened on Saturday evening in the Sabasaba area along the MoshiTanga highway in the Kilimanjaro region.
Horror pictured from the scene show the smashed up buses off the side of a road as onlookers assess the damage.
Both vehicles were left charred with the windows appearing to have completely smashed under the intense heat from the fire.
The exact cause of the crash is still unknown but local reports say one of the buses may have suffered a puncture which caused the driver to lose control.
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan paid her respect to the victim’s of the crash.
She said on X: “I send my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, relatives, and friends.
“May God grant peace to the souls of the departed and a quick recovery to the injured.
“May He comfort and strengthen their families during this difficult time.”
It comes as another seriously bus crash saw Brit tourists among dozens injured in an accident on a highway in southern Thailand.
The holidaymakers were visiting the island of Koh Samui when the bus lost control and flipped on its side
In May, a tourist bus smashed into a pickup truck and burst into flames near Yellowstone National Park in Idaho.
The tragic accident left seven people dead as horror footage showed desperate officials trying to extinguish the fireball which erupted on a notoriously “dangerous highway”.
President Donald Trump has said he has a buyer for TikTok, the video-sharing app that was banned in the US amid claims it posed a national security risk.
In a Fox News interview, Trump said he had a group of “very wealthy people” willing to acquire the platform. “I’ll tell you in about two weeks,” he teased.
A sale would need approval from the Chinese government, but Trump told Fox he thought President Xi Jinping “will probably do it”.
This month Trump delayed for a third time the enforcement of a law mandating TikTok’s sale.
The latest extension requires parent company ByteDance to reach a deal to sell the platform by 17 September.
The BBC has contacted TikTok for comment.
A previous deal to sell TikTok to an American buyer fell apart in April, when the White House clashed with China over Trump’s tariffs.
It is not clear if the current buyer Trump says he has has lined up is the same as the one who was waiting in the wings three months ago.
The US Congress passed a law forcing TikTok’s sale in April last year, with lawmakers citing fears that the app or its parent company could hand over US user data to the Chinese government, which TikTok denied.
Trump had criticised the app during his first term, but came to see it as a factor in his 2024 election win and now supports its continued use in the US.
Protesters outside of the Supreme Court building during oral arguments in the Mahmoud v. Taylor case on April 22, 2025. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via ZUMA Press
The Supreme Court on Friday handed down a sweeping victory for parental rights and religious freedom — and dealt a devastating blow to the progressive zealots bent on brainwashing America’s children.
In Mahmoud v. Taylor, Montgomery County, Md., parents fought their local school board over a policy requiring young children to read books centered on LGBTQ+ identity.
The justices ruled 6-3 in favor of the parents, who sought the right to opt their kids out of lessons that undermine their religious beliefs.
In his majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito let the books speak for themselves via color reproductions of their pages.
There was no better way to demonstrate that these were not books promoting tolerance and acceptance, but radical attempts at indoctrination.
“Pride Puppy,” part of the district’s kindergarten curriculum, includes a word search listing topics detailed in the book’s illustrations: drag king, drag queen, high heels, lip ring, lace, leather.
Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
Another book, “Born Ready,” features a very young child who identifies as transgender. In it, the character’s older brother protests, “This doesn’t make sense. You can’t become a boy. You have to be born one.”
Their mother scolds him: “Not everything needs to make sense. This is about love.”
The message is clear: If you want issues of sex and gender to make sense, you aren’t a loving person.
The school board, Alito wrote, “encourages the teachers to correct the children and accuse them of being ‘hurtful’ when they express a degree of religious confusion.”
They use the books to do it.
At the heart of the case was the claim that parents’ religious rights were being violated.
But the deeper reality remained unspoken: The school-district progressives weren’t simply undermining the beliefs of Muslim, Christian and Mormon parents.
They were trying to induct the children of these families into their own ideology — one that dismisses biological reality and enshrines “love,” as they define it, as the only acceptable truth.
The conflict also exposed a stark divide between the progressive activists who run the county school system and the religious, largely immigrant families the district serves.
Accustomed to lockstep minority support, leftist county officials were blindsided when the communities they claim to represent pushed back.
And when the minority parents protested, the progressives lashed out.
The curriculum dispute “puts some Muslim families on the same side of an issue as white supremacists and outright bigots,” Montgomery County Council member Kristin Mink complained in one contentious public meeting.
School board member Lynne Harris disparaged a Muslim student who testified at another meeting, telling the press she felt “kind of sorry” for the girl and speculating she was “parroting dogma” she’d learned from her parents.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded apologies from both officials.
When progressives rallied outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments, speaker after speaker insisted the district’s policy was about teaching tolerance to children of supposedly bigoted parents.
After the ruling came down, the district declared in an email to staff, “This decision complicates our work creating a welcoming, inclusive and equitable school system.”
[1/4]’Kolhapuri’ sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, are on display at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Purchase Licensing RightsLuxury fashion powerhouse Prada has acknowledged the ancient Indian roots of its new sandal design after the debut of the open-toe footwear sparked a furore among Indian artisans and politicians thousands of miles from the catwalk in Italy.
Images from Prada’s (1913.F), opens new tab fashion show in Milan last weekend showed models wearing leather sandals with a braided design that resembled handmade Kolhapuri slippers with designs dating back to the 12th century.
A wave of criticism in the media and from lawmakers followed over the Italian brand’s lack of public acknowledgement of the Indian sandal design, which is named after a city in the western state of Maharashtra.
Lorenzo Bertelli, son of Prada’s owners, responded to the sandal scandal in a letter to a trade group on Friday recognising their Indian heritage.
“We acknowledge that the sandals… are inspired by traditional Indian handcrafted footwear, with a centuries-old heritage,” Bertelli, Prada’s head of corporate social responsibility, wrote in the letter to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, seen by Reuters.
The sandals are at an early stage of design and it is not certain they will be commercialized, but Prada is open to a “dialogue for meaningful exchange with local Indian artisans” and will arrange follow-up meetings, he wrote.
A Prada spokesperson issued a statement acknowledging the sandal’s inspiration from India, adding the company has “always celebrated craftsmanship, heritage and design traditions”.
Prada products are beyond the reach of most Indians. Its men’s leather sandals retail for $844 and up, while the Kolhapuri slippers, sold in Indian shops and street markets, start at about $12.
India’s luxury market is small but growing fast, with rising numbers of rich people buying Louis Vuitton bags, Lamborghini cars, luxury homes and watches.
Conversely, Indian culture and crafts are increasingly finding their way into global brand designs. High-end jeweller Bulgari offers a $16,000 Mangalsutra necklace inspired by a chain traditionally worn by married women.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at prosecutors in Israel over the corruption trial that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced, saying Washington, having given billions of dollars worth of aid to Israel, was not going to “stand for this”.
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in Israel on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – all of which he denies. The trial began in 2020 and involves three criminal cases.
On Friday, the court rejected a request by Netanyahu’s lawyers to delay his testimony for the next two weeks because of diplomatic and security matters following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran this month.
He is due to take the stand on Monday for cross examination.
“It is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, adding that the judicial process was going to interfere with Netanyahu’s ability to conduct talks with Palestinian militants Hamas, and Iran.
A spokesperson for the Israeli prosecution declined to comment on Trump’s post.
Trump’s second post over the course of a few days defending Netanyahu and calling for the cancellation of the trial went a step further to tie Israel’s legal action to U.S. aid.
“The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar [sic] a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,” Trump said.
Netanyahu “right now” was in the process of negotiating a deal with Hamas, Trump said, without giving further details. On Friday, the Republican president told reporters that he believes a ceasefire is close.
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power”, was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honour and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The United States and the Group of Seven nations have agreed to support a proposal that would exempt U.S. companies from some components of an existing global agreement, the G7 said in a statement on Saturday.
The group has created a “side-by-side” system in response to the U.S. administration agreeing to scrap the Section 899 retaliatory tax proposal from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, it said in a statement from Canada, the head of the rolling G7 presidency.
A man walk past the G7 members flags at the Manoir Richelieu before the G7 Foreign Ministers summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada March 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
The G7 said the plan recognizes existing U.S. minimum tax laws and aims to bring more stability to the international tax system.
The U.S Treasury Department said that following the removal of Section 899 from the U.S. Senate version of the tax and spending bill, there is a shared understanding that a side-by-side system could preserve important gains made by jurisdictions inside the Inclusive Framework in tackling base erosion and profit shifting.
“We look forward to discussing and developing this understanding within the Inclusive Framework,” the Department said in a post on X on Saturday.
UK businesses are also spared higher taxes after the removal of Section 899 from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill.
Britain said businesses would benefit from greater certainty and stability following the agreement. Some British businesses had in recent weeks said they were worried about paying substantial additional tax due to the inclusion of Section 899, which has now been removed.
“Today’s agreement provides much-needed certainty and stability for those businesses after they had raised their concerns,” finance minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement, adding that more work was needed to tackle aggressive tax planning and avoidance.
G7 officials said that they look forward to discussing a solution that is “acceptable and implementable to all”.
In January, through an executive order, Trump declared that the global corporate minimum tax deal was not applicable in the U.S., effectively pulling out of the landmark 2021 arrangement negotiated by the Biden administration with nearly 140 countries.
Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday criticized the latest version of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill released by the U.S. Senate, calling it “utterly insane and destructive,” weeks after the world’s richest person and its most powerful ended a feud sparked by Musk’s opposition to the bill.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Anonymous plaintiffs, identified as Rita and Marta, in Trump v. CASA pose for a photograph at the CASA Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, U.S., June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard Purchase Licensing Rights
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling blunting a potent weapon that federal judges have used to block government policies nationwide during legal challenges was in many ways a victory for President Donald Trump, except perhaps on the very policy he is seeking to enforce.
An executive order that the Republican president signed on his first day back in office in January would restrict birthright citizenship – a far-reaching plan that three federal judges, questioning its constitutionality, quickly halted nationwide through so-called “universal” injunctions.
But the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, while announcing a dramatic shift in how judges have operated for years deploying such relief, left enough room for the challengers to Trump’s directive to try to prevent it from taking effect while litigation over its legality plays out.
“I do not expect the president’s executive order on birthright citizenship will ever go into effect,” said Samuel Bray, a Notre Dame Law School professor and a prominent critic of universal injunctions whose work the court’s majority cited extensively in Friday’s ruling.
Trump’s executive order directs federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident, also called a “green card” holder.
The three judges found that the order likely violates citizenship language in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
The directive remains blocked while lower courts reconsider the scope of their injunctions, and the Supreme Court said it cannot take effect for 30 days, a window that gives the challengers time to seek further protection from those courts.
The court’s six conservative justices delivered the majority ruling, granting Trump’s request to narrow the injunctions issued by the judges in Maryland, Washington and Massachusetts. Its three liberal members dissented.
The ruling by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who Trump appointed to the court in 2020, emphasized the need to hem in the power of judges, warning against an “imperial” judiciary. Judges can provide “complete relief” only to the plaintiffs before them, Barrett wrote.
A HOST OF POLICIES
That outcome was a major victory for Trump and his allies, who have repeatedly denounced judges who have impeded his agenda. It could make it easier for the administration to implement his policies, including to accelerate deportations of migrants, restrict transgender rights, curtail diversity and inclusion efforts, and downsize the federal government – many of which have tested the limits of executive power.
In the birthright citizenship dispute, the ruling left open the potential for individual plaintiffs to seek relief beyond themselves through class action lawsuits targeting a policy that would upend the long-held understanding that the Constitution confers citizenship on virtually anyone born on U.S. soil.
Bray said he expects a surge of new class action cases, resulting in “class-protective” injunctions.
“Given that the birthright-citizenship executive order is unconstitutional, I expect courts will grant those preliminary injunctions, and they will be affirmed on appeal,” Bray said.
Some of the challengers have already taken that path. Plaintiffs in the Maryland case, including expectant mothers and immigrant advocacy groups, asked the presiding judge who had issued a universal injunction to treat the case as a class action to protect all children who would be ineligible for birthright citizenship if the executive order takes effect.
“I think in terms of the scope of the relief that we’ll ultimately get, there is no difference,” said William Powell, one of the lawyers for the Maryland plaintiffs. “We’re going to be able to get protection through the class action for everyone in the country whose baby could potentially be covered by the executive order, assuming we succeed.”
The ruling also sidestepped a key question over whether states that bring lawsuits might need an injunction that applies beyond their borders to address their alleged harms, directing lower courts to answer it first.
Tens of thousands of people marched in the streets of the Hungarian capital despite police banning the event. Attendees risk a fine and organizers could face a one-year prison sentence.
Hungary’s capital was flooded by people taking part in the the annual LGBTQ+ rights march in defiance of a government banImage: Rudolf Karancsi/AP/picture alliance
Tens of thousands LGBTQ+ rights supporters took part in the Budapest Pride march on Saturday, in defiance of a police ban and threats from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“We believe there are 180,000 to 200,000 people attending,” Pride president Viktoria Radvanyi told the AFP news agency. “It is hard to estimate because there have never been so many people at Budapest Pride.”
Local media sites, including 444.hu and Magyar Hang, estimated the crowd to be closer to 100,000, still far more than the previous record turnout of 35,000 people.
Orban has restricted the rights of the LGBTQ+ community over the past few years, and his party’s lawmakers passed a law in March allowing the ban of Pride marches, claiming it was motivated by the need to protect children.
However, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony declared the Pride parade a municipal event, arguing that this designation exempts it from the assembly law and renders the police ban invalid.
European support
The annual event has now come to symbolize resistance to a general repression of civil society in Hungary under Orban’s nationalist government, which is facing a growing challenge from center-right opposition leader Peter Magyar’s Tisza party ahead of elections next year.
“This is about much more, not just about homosexuality,…This is the last moment to stand up for our rights,” Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, told the Reuters news agency.
“This isn’t just about LGBQT+ rights, it’s also about the right to assemble and about standing up for each other and not allowing [the
government] to oppress us,” another participant, Blanka Molnar, told the AP news agency.
More than 30 embassies have also voiced support for the march, which was due to be attended by European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib and about 70 members of the European Parliament.
Ahead of the parade, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Hungarian authorities not to block the march.
“Our Union is one of equality and non-discrimination,” von der Leyen wrote in a statement. She called these “core values” that “must be respected at all times, in all Member States.”
Anyone attending the march, however, risks being accused of a misdemeanor, while organizing such an event could carry the penalty of a one-year jail sentence, according to a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest by Justice Minister Bence Tuzson.
The so-called child-protection legislation that allowed the ban to be imposed also allows police to hand out fines and to use facial recognition technology to identify attendees.
Civil society under pressure in Hungary
Over the past decade, Orban’s government has frequently been at loggerheads with the EU over its increasing repression of civil liberties and press freedoms under the guise of protecting “Christian” values. Orban has also used nationalism and far-right rhetoric to reinforce his grip on power since reclaiming his position as prime minister in 2010.
The ban on the Pride march is being seen by opponents as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of next year’s elections, at which Orban’s government is expected to face a stiff challenge from Magyar, whose party has been leading in opinion polls.
The FBI says it’s drafting a plan to plug security gaps, including more training for agents
EL CHAPO’S ruthless cartel used a hacker to break into Mexico City’s CCTV system and track down FBI informants — before having them killed.
A shocking new US Justice Department report reveals the Sinaloa Cartel, once run by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, hired a tech expert to spy on American agents and expose their sources.
The hacker hacked into Mexico City’s camera network and phone records in 2018, tailing an FBI assistant legal attaché (ALAT) at the US embassy.
Armed with this intel, the cartel was able to “intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses,” the report said.
The Justice Department added: “According to the FBI, in addition to compromising the ALAT’s phone, the hacker also accessed Mexico City’s camera system, used the cameras to follow the ALAT through the city, and identified people the ALAT met with.”
The findings shine a harsh light on how cartels are now using cutting-edge tech to stay a step ahead of law enforcement.
The audit warned that new technology has “made it easier than ever for less-sophisticated nations and criminal enterprises to identify and exploit vulnerabilities” in government data.
It comes as Mexico’s cops desperately try to catch up.
In Chiapas this week, police unveiled armed drones to take on cartels fighting for smuggling routes along the Guatemalan border.
Just weeks ago, the same force sparked a diplomatic storm by chasing gunmen into Guatemala and engaging in a wild street shootout.
The Sinaloa Cartel — once commanded by El Chapo, who’s now locked up in the US — remains locked in a bloody battle with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Meanwhile, a new breed of younger, tech-savvy narcos is ramping up tactics like cryptocurrency laundering and state-of-the-art surveillance.
“The cartels run a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise and utilize sophisticated technology to enhance their business operations,” said Derek Maltz, former acting DEA chief.
“They utilize state-of-art sophisticated surveillance techniques to identify law enforcement activities and their adversaries.”
The FBI says it’s drafting a plan to plug these glaring security gaps, including more training for agents.
But the Justice Department report warned the threat is so severe that some in the FBI and CIA call it “existential”.
Mexico’s long-running drug war rages on with no end in sight.
More than 400,000 people have been killed since the government first declared war on the cartels in 2006, and tens of thousands more have vanished without a trace.
Despite high-profile arrests and military crackdowns, groups like Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation continue to expand their reach, both at home and across borders.
JUSTIN Bieber hasn’t been to his long-time church for at least three months amid drama with his pastor and accusations of a cult-like atmosphere at the institution, insiders have claimed.
The pop star, 31, had previously been pictured attending Churchome, a nondenominational church in Beverly Hills, with his wife, Hailey Bieber, but he’s been missing in action since March.
Pastor Judah Smith, left, with Bieber during an evening celebrating the release of his album Purpose at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2015Credit: Getty
He is said to be close to Smith, 46, who has been his spiritual advisor for years.
However, their relationship has reportedly caused a rift between Bieber and his best friend, Ryan Good.
Sources previously told TMZ that Bieber hasn’t spoken to Good, who was the best man at his wedding, for a year amid the fallout.
Good, who co-founded the star’s fashion brand Drew House in 2018, left the church due to its supposed “cult-like culture” and has been worried about Bieber, according to the outlet.
He has not returned calls for comment on the situation.
The tension is also said to have escalated when the star added Smith to the Drew House board, despite Good’s reported concerns and the pastor’s lack of business experience.
Bieber has now distanced himself from the brand, telling fans not to buy clothing from Drew House.
The U.S. Sun can reveal the singer has not been seen at Churchome’s monthly in-person services for three months, while Smith hinted at the troubles in a rambling sermon this week.
He has left fans worried with his bizarre behavior and comments about Hailey, including when she featured on the cover of Vogue, admitting in an Instagram post he told he she’d never be on the front of the fashion bible during an argument.
Bieber was also filmed having a public meltdown ranting to paparazzi while at the beach with his family.
His rep has also denied allegations of drug abuse, while followers on social media have been concerned with his weed smoking after becoming a new dad to his son, Jack Blues.
EMOTIONAL SERMON
On Wednesday evening, around 250 people shuffled into the iconic Saban Theater for the so-called Christhome Experience, and Smith apologized as he was late to the stage.
While Bieber was nowhere to be seen, Smith name-dropped his close friend, former E! News host Jason Kennedy, who was sitting in the audience, and admitted pals had been worried about him.
“Recently, I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I’m okay,” Smith admitted. “Which, [at] face value, that is a wonderful thing to do, right? A text, ‘Hey, you good?’ ‘Hey, you okay?’
“The problem is when they add up, I start to wonder … maybe this has happened to you, wait, am I okay?
“So Jason and I went to Miami this past weekend. It was a great time. And I ran into so many old friends I hadn’t seen in a while.
“And I was kind of taken aback because one person said, ‘Hey, are you good? You okay?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, no, I’m good.’ I’m kind of like, what have you heard?
“Then another person, ‘Hey man, are you good? Are you okay?’ Should I not be? Yeah, I’m still married to Chelsea. We’re having sex pretty regularly. My kids are 20, 18, 16, I don’t, uh, yeah.
“And then another person, ‘Hey, you good? You’ve been on my mind.’ Um, thank you. You ever had that? Someone’s like, ‘You’ve been on my mind.’ You’re like, ‘I haven’t thought about them in years.’ You don’t say that, of course. You’re like, yeah, me too. I mean, it’s good to see you.
He went on: “Now part of that is like, wow, what a thrill, what an honor, what a privilege. Now, some of you right now, already, I’ve missed you with this message because you’re like, ‘I wish to God somebody would ask me if I’m okay’, but have you ever been asked so many times if you’re okay, that you started to wonder if you’re okay?
“And I’ll admit in Miami recently seeing old friends, I started to say, ‘no, I’m great’. And then I could hear through my own tone that my response was me also telling them, but also telling me that I’m great.”
He proceeded to reference Bible scripture and stumbled through the sermon as many of his jokes failed to land with the churchgoers.
After an hour, Smith’s speech took an emotional turn as he began tearing up and said, “It’s [life] always been about people, but we made it about popularity and we made it about appearances.”
Smith was unavailable for comment on his relationship with Bieber after the service, and Churchome did not respond to comment calls.
Bieber’s rep also failed to respond when asked for clarification about whether he is still a member of the church.
CULT ACCUSATIONS
During a previous sermon, Smith recounted how paparazzi had asked him to confirm or deny if Churchome is a cult after he stepped out of his car.
“If we’re a cult, we are the worst cult in the history of all cults,” he joked.
“We meet once a month, guys. I stopped doing this every Wednesday. We’ve got to get better at this.”
Bieber and his wife are still following Smith on Instagram despite not showing up to services.
Smith officiated their 2019 wedding and baptized the couple together in 2020.
He has also provided the pair with counseling sessions and featured in the 2020 YouTube documentary series Justin Bieber: Next Chapter.
The U.S. Sun spoke to churchgoers leaving the service on Wednesday, with one admitting it’s had its issues but insisted it’s not a cult.
He said, “I’ve been coming to this church for five years. I’ve grown so much lot spiritually.
“Things aren’t always perfect but I know pastor Judah comes from a good place. He has a good heart, he’s the real deal.
“Haters are gonna hate but I think he has the right intentions.
“At the end of the day, pastors are also human, they do make mistakes, but it’s up to us to help pray for them and uplift them.
“I haven’t had negative experiences with Judah but I used to be in the prayer group and that didn’t work out. I’ll leave it at that. But that didn’t discourage me [from coming].
“Every church has its issues, there’s mental illness with the people that go there. No church is perfect.”
On Bieber being missing from services, he said, “He’s a big celebrity, he’s got a busy schedule. And not to mention the health issues he’s going through, everyone here is supportive.
“He’s participated here, given words here, so we all love him,” he added, saying they would always welcome him.
BIEBER’S CHURCH TROUBLES
It’s not the first time Bieber’s association with spiritual advisors has caused issues in his personal life.
He previously had to distance himself from Hillsong and disgraced pastor Carl Lentz, who was fired in November 2020 due to “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.”
It was later revealed that these “moral failures” included affairs that rocked his marriage.
Hillsong also found itself the subject of a damning documentary that detailed historical accusations of sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s by late church leader Frank Houston.
The churchgoer who spoke to The U.S. Sun revealed he also previously attended Hillsong services but said the two organizations were “two different worlds,” adding, “Carl Lentz is a completely different character.”
A third churchgoer insisted, “There’s no pressuring [people] or anything. I’ve seen Bieber here, they help him get in and out without being [mobbed], but we haven’t seen him recently.”
The student-led protest in Belgrade follows months of nationwide rallies against President Aleksandar Vucic’s government, with organizers threatening to launch a civil disobedience campaign.
Months of protests across the country, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vucic and his governmentImage: Marko Djurica/REUTERS
Police clashed with anti-government protesters in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, on Saturday night, as demonstrators demanded an early parliamentary election and an end to the rule of President Aleksandar Vucic.
Officers in riot gear used pepper spray to disperse crowds after flares were thrown near a counterprotest by Vucic supporters.
Earlier protesters, led by students, issued an ultimatum, saying the government must call a snap election or face a civil disobedience campaign. The main demonstration then ended, but some protesters marched toward the pro-government rally outside parliament. Many were wearing goggles, masks and helmets.
Police detained several dozen protesters, while six police officers were reported injured in clashes, according to Dragan Vasiljevic, the director of police.
Vucic blames foreign influence as students push for early vote
Saturday’s clashes came after months of anti-government demonstrations that were sparked by a deadly rail station collapse in late 2024 that killed 16 people and was widely blamed on government corruption and negligence.
Vucic has repeatedly rejected calls for an early election and accused unnamed “foreign powers” of fueling the protests.
“The country will be defended, and thugs will face justice,” he told reporters in Belgrade on Saturday.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are set for 2027.
Vucic’s refusal has only energized demonstrators, particularly university students, who have become a driving force behind the movement.
“The reluctance of Vucic makes it all the more important to be there now,” said Tara, a student who only gave DW her first name. “We want to show the president that we want elections. The fight is not over, and the protests are not over yet.”
“Realistically, we have to prolong the protest a little longer,” added Kristina.
“But we’re almost at the finish line,” said Teodora. “Vucic is on his last legs.”
In a now routine pre-protest crackdown, more than a dozen people have been arrested, including five on Friday who were remanded for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government, according to Serbia’s Higher Court.
