Category: World

Israel said its carrying out strikes inside Iran with ‘unprecedented intensity,’ destroying numerous security offices and damaging the gate at Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison. DW has the latest.

Trump ‘still interested’ in Iran diplomacy, White House says

US President Donald Trump is reportedly still open to diplomacy with Iran following strikes carried out by US bombers over the weekend, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

“If the Iranian regime refuses to come to a peaceful diplomatic solution, which the president is still interested in and engaging in, by the way, why shouldn’t the Iranian people take away the power of this incredibly violent regime that has been suppressing them for decades?” Leavitt said on Fox News.

Trump earlier in the day suggested regime change if the Iranian government cannot “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Many of Trump’s supporters and allies are opposed to the US getting involved in another war for regime change in the Middle East, some two decades after toppling Saddam Hussein in neighboring Iraq.

Germany’s CDU says supports US attacks despite foreign minister’s comment

A top figure in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said on Monday that his party supported the attacks on Iran by Israel and the US

The remarks came after after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, from the same party, called the US actions “unfortunate.”

In an interview with public-service broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Wadephul said, “Unfortunately, there has now been this military action, which the US seemed to feel was necessary.”

The CDU’s general secretary, Carsten Linnemann, said the German government’s support for the attacks did not contradict Wadephul’s statements.

“There is no contradiction in, on the one hand, working toward a diplomatic resolution and, on the other, supporting these military strikes by the US and Israel — and that is precisely what this government does,” he said. “That is why I consider the actions by the Americans in this regard as right.”

He added that “the mullah regime [in Iran] has suffused this world with terror for 40 years.”

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/israel-strikes-irans-evin-prison-in-tehran/live-73001224

Experts say that influencer content might help China humanise its global image – but overly positive portrayals risk online backlash.

Street food, spontaneous dances with aunties, and marvelling at the convenience of high-speed trains and sleek electric vehicles.

These are some of the scenes of China being captured by foreign influencers on social media.

As part of efforts to rebrand itself on the world stage, Beijing is inviting young global influencers on an all-expenses-paid 10-day trip to China this July. There, they will collaborate with local content creators, immerse themselves in Chinese culture, and showcase the “real China” to their followers.

Recruiting influencers from around the world – able to engage audiences in more authentic ways – may do more for China’s soft power campaign than diplomats, or even cuddly pandas, say analysts.

“Their perceived independence and relatability may help present a more grassroots and humanised portrayal of China – one that resonates more with global audiences than messages delivered by state media, diplomats, or elite commentators,” said Dr Li Mei, a media and communications lecturer specialising in China at the University of Sydney.

Influencers are often seen as “genuine individuals rather than agents of political messaging”, she said, adding that “this higher level of trust makes influencers a more credible source of information and cultural exchange”.

“This influencer strategy … (is) to a large degree more effective than what we call panda diplomacy,” said Cheng Mingming, a professor in digital marketing at Curtin University in Perth, Australia.

“They might be invited by the Chinese government … but content is generated by them, not the government so it’s different,” he added.

Cheng also noted that the Chinese government wants outsiders to know that “China is developing rapidly, is actually a safe place to travel and is also enjoying really great economic growth”.

At a regular press conference on Jun 12, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian shared a message: “A true China with its multiple facets and dimensions is being discovered by more and more people around the world.”

“We will open wider, broaden our vision of innovation, and deepen cooperation to share more opportunities and benefits with the rest of the world, and let people all over the world see and experience an ever-cooler China,” he added.

SUCCESS OF ISHOWSPEED
One recent example of influencer power in action is US content creator IShowSpeed, who travelled to China for a 10-day visit in April.

With a combined social media following of more than 120 million followers across various platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, IShowSpeed’s visit was hailed as a major win for promoting Chinese soft power, sparking widespread curiosity among fans about developments in the country.

His videos and livestreams of travels across major cities like Chongqing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing – where he marvelled at Chinese high-speed trains and technology, used Chinese digital payment apps and test drove cutting-edge electric vehicles – have amassed millions of views on average and also turned him into a social media sensation within China.

“The stuff he shows is actually pretty real – street food, random aunties dragging him into dancing, super chill vibes at night in big cities like Shanghai or Chengdu – that’s just how it is,” wrote a YouTube fan in a comment that drew hundreds of likes.

“I get why people are debating whether his videos are ‘Chinese propaganda’ or whatever but from my perspective, it’s just a dude reacting to a place that is actually pretty safe, modern and fun to explore.”

“It’s surely not the full picture of China but it’s definitely not fake either … he’s showing a side of China that’s real for a lot of us living here.”

“His streams changed my perspective,” wrote one Reddit user in a thread discussing the 20-year-old influencer’s global adventures.

“Speed has no agenda, (he’s) just someone who wants to explore the world, learn new cultures and meet new people. He should win a Nobel peace prize for his trip to China,” said another.

“IShowSpeed was not the first Western influencer to visit China but his trip was arguably one of the most prominent, particularly among Gen Z audiences,” Dr Li said, adding that his visit “certainly opened an additional window through which international audiences could observe everyday life in China”.

“This kind of exposure provides an alternative narrative to the dominant portrayals often portrayed in mainstream Western media coverage of China, which tends to focus on themes such as censorship, lack of freedom or geopolitical tensions,” she said.

“Influencers offer a more informal, personal and relatable lens – showcasing aspects of Chinese society that are frequently overlooked and glimpses of daily life that suggest normalcy, dynamism and even modernity.”

Cheng said IShowSpeed’s China content had a significant impact on his followers but remained sceptical about its long-term impact on views towards the country.

“It raised awareness but whether (it will) change perceptions and behaviours, we just can’t verify that at this stage.”

EXCLUSIVE ACCESS
Following the global attention generated by IShowSpeed’s visit, China is now inviting young foreign influencers on paid trips to the country.

The “China-Global Youth Influencer Exchange Programme”, co-organised by the Secretariat of the World Youth Development Forum (WYDF) and state-backed Beijing Youth Daily, has been promoted actively across state media channels and social platforms.

The trip is expected to kick off on Jul 14 and influencers will get to visit various tech giant headquarters across the country, such as Xiaohongshu’s office in Shanghai.

They will observe tech demos by innovation firms in Shenzhen and livestream videos from locations like the Great Wall of China.

They will also have a hand at practising traditional taichi in the city of Handan in Hebei province, known for its history and cultural sights.

However, a few conditions must first be met.

Influencers must be 35 years old or younger and have a sizable online following of at least 300,000 followers across different social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X.

College Daily, an online publication targeted at Chinese students studying in the US, said applicants should love Chinese culture and have “no history of bad behaviour”.

Selected influencers will get to work with 10 Chinese influencers, each with more than 1 million followers on popular Chinese social media apps like Xiaohongshu and Douyin.

During the trip, at least two short-form videos must be published, along with a collaborative highlight reel involving Chinese creators.

“From entertainment to culture”, there are no restrictions on the type of content, the ad said, adding that all creators “regardless of style” were welcomed.

Beyond the appeal of a 10-day all-expenses-paid trip, a major draw for young influencers would be “exclusive access” to events and restricted areas typically off-limits to tourists, said Cheng.

“If you’re invited (to China) by the Chinese government, you’re going to have exclusive access to things that others will not have,” he said. “You’ll (be able to) see things that go on behind the scenes.”

“The Chinese market is a powerful draw,” added Dr Li.

“With its massive population and highly active digital media users, China presents huge opportunities for influencers looking to grow their reach,” she said.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-global-us-influencers-soft-power-5191976

Justin Bieber shared a cryptic message about receiving the “silent treatment” after Hailey Bieber stepped out without her wedding ring while in New York City.

The “Peaches” singer took to his Instagram Stories Sunday to repost a video of a content creator saying, “Bitch, if you’re giving me the silent treatment at least tell me why.

“I have anxiety and I have overthinking. Left and right, they go hand-in-hand. If you give me any room for error, there will be error.”

Reps for Justin, 31, weren’t immediately available to Page Six for comment.

Hailey, meanwhile, was photographed sans her massive, pricey diamond ring multiple times while out in the Big Apple on Thursday.

The Rhode founder, 28, first appeared without the ring while dining at The Commerce Inn in the West Village for breakfast.

Later that day, she also ditched the statement piece while dining with fellow models Suki Waterhouse and Camila Morrone at Chez Fifi.

Hailey and Justin, however, have dodged split rumors for years since they got married in 2018.

Most recently, the couple sparked concern over their union when the businesswoman unfollowed the two-time Grammy winner via Instagram in March.

At the time, the beauty mogul claimed that it was due to a glitch after Justin reactivated his account.

Hailey addressed breakup rumors, and slammed “bitches” who won’t “move on” in her May cover story for Vogue.

“Well, I thought seven years in it would’ve [died down] already, and it hasn’t,” she told the outlet.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2025/06/22/celebrity-news/justin-bieber-shares-cryptic-post-about-silent-treatment-after-hailey-ditches-ring/

Pakistan condemned on Sunday the strikes ordered on its neighbour Iran by Donald Trump, a day after Islamabad had said it would nominate the U.S. President for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Pakistan on Sunday said Trump’s decision to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities violated international law and that diplomacy was the only way to resolve the Iran crisis.

“The unprecedented escalation of tension and violence, owing to ongoing aggression against Iran is deeply disturbing. Any further escalation of tensions will have severely damaging implications for the region and beyond,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Also on Sunday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif telephoned Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and “conveyed Pakistan’s condemnation of the U.S. attacks,” a statement from the Pakistani leader said.
Pakistan’s information minister and the foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the apparent contradiction in the country’s positions over the weekend.
In Pakistan’s biggest city, Karachi, thousands marched in protest against the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
A large American flag with a picture of Trump on it was placed on the road for demonstrators to walk over. The protesters shouted out chants against America, Israel and Pakistan’s regional enemy India.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-condemns-trumps-bombing-iran-day-after-nominating-him-peace-prize-2025-06-22/

A local boat captain has spoken out about the severity and rarity of the conditions

AT least six people have been confirmed dead and two others missing after a boat capsized during a storm on Lake Tahoe.

A group of 10 people took to the lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Saturday afternoon.

Reports of a capsized vessel and all passengers being in the water near D.L. Bliss State Park were received by the US Coast Guard at around 3pm.

Officials have confirmed that of the 10 passengers on board, six have died, two are being treated in hospital, and another two are missing.

A search for survivors is ongoing and the identities of those dead and missing have not yet been released.

Those who died are all adults, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

A seasonal lifeguard and a park ranger who responded to the emergency call were able to get the two survivors onto nearby rocks where they performed CPR, South Tahoe Now reported.

Despite swimming to assist a third person in the water, they were pronounced dead after being pulled onto the Coast Guard boat which took them to an awaiting EMS team on Lester Beach.

The 27-foot vessel is believed to have flipped after storms caused a large swell and eight to 10-foot waves that battered the boat.

Witnesses told the local news outlet that weather conditions abruptly changed on the lake as strong winds “suddenly came from the north, creating eight to ten-foot troughs”.

Experienced boat captain Joby Cefalu said such conditions on the lake are “worse than 30-foot waves on the sea” and that it was an incredibly rare event for the summer.

Footage shared by the news outlet shows the usually-tranquil lake being buffeted by strong winds causing continuous waves to crash into and violently rock the vessels on the water.

After hours of clear blue skies, the sky grew dark and a storm whipped up with even snow reported in the area, until sunny and clear conditions returned just an hour later, per ALERTCalifornia.

CBS News reported 45 mph winds over the lake at the time of the incident.

“It was a very, very tragic day on Lake Tahoe,” Cefalu said.

In response to a statement by the Sheriff’s Office, one local who filmed the violent waves on the lake said “it was crazy”.

“You could have a life vest on and still no make it,” another added.

“Eight foot waves make it hard to spot you and Lake Tahoe is hypothermic year round.”

“At approximately 3 p.m., a response crew from Coast Guard Station Lake Tahoe diverted to assist California State Parks and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office after receiving a report of 10 people in the water,” the US Coast Guard said in a press release.

“The individuals were aboard a 27-foot gold Chris-Craft vessel that reportedly capsized due to a large swell.

“Weather was reported to be 30 knot winds and 6-8 foot swell.”

“Six people are reported deceased, two people were brought to a local hospital, and the search for two missing people is still ongoing,” it added.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the fatalities and injuries just after 10 pm local time and added that the search for those still missing would resume on Sunday morning.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14535672/boat-capsizes-lake-tahoe-accident-storm-dead-missing/

It was an unprecedented attack years in the making, with some last-minute misdirection meant to give the operation a powerful element of surprise.

U.S. pilots dropped 30,000-pound bombs early Sunday on two key underground uranium enrichment plants in Iran, delivering what American military leaders believe is a knockout blow to a nuclear program that Israel views as an existential threat and has been pummeling for more than a week. American sailors bolstered the surprise mission by firing dozens of cruise missiles from a submarine toward at least one other site.

Dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, U.S. officials say the plan was characterized by a “precision strike” that “devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” even as they acknowledged an assessment was ongoing. For its part, Iran denied that any significant damage had been done, and the Islamic Republic pledged to retaliate.

Taking off from the U.S. heartland, B-2 stealth bombers delivered a total of 420,000 pounds of explosives, aided by an armada of refueling tankers and fighter jets — some of which launched their own weapons. U.S. officials said Iran neither detected the inbound fusillade, nor mustered a shot at the stealthy American jets.

The operation relied on a series of deceptive tactics and decoys to maintain the secrecy, U.S. officials said hours after the attack, which was preceded by nine days of Israeli attacks that debilitated Iran’s military leadership and air defenses.

A decoy plan

Even before the planes took off, elements of misdirection were already in play. After setting parts of the plan in motion, Trump publicly announced Thursday that he’d make a decision within two weeks on whether to strike Iran — ostensibly to allow additional time for negotiations, but in actuality masking the impending attack.

One group of B-2 stealth bombers traveled west from Missouri on Saturday as decoys, drawing the attention of amateur plane spotters, government officials and some media as they headed toward a U.S. air base in the Pacific. At the same time, seven other B-2s carrying two “bunker buster” bombs apiece flew eastward, keeping communications to a minimum so as not to draw any attention.

Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at Sunday’s briefing that it was all “part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise” and that only “an extremely small number of planners and key leaders” knew about it in Washington and Florida, where U.S. Central Command is based.

After 18 hours of furtive flying that required aerial refueling, the armed B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, arrived on time and without detection in the Eastern Mediterranean, from where they launched their attack runs. Before crossing into Iran, the B-2s were escorted by stealthy U.S. fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft.

A graphic released by the Pentagon showed the flight route as passing over Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. It was unclear whether those countries were notified of the U.S. overflight in advance. Most U.S. lawmakers were also kept in the dark, with some Republicans saying they were provided a brief heads-up by the White House before the strike.

“Our B-2s went in and out and back without the world knowing at all,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters Sunday.

A multifaceted attack

About an hour before the B-2s entered Iran, Caine said that a U.S. submarine in the region launched more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles against key targets, including a site in Isfahan where uranium is prepared for enrichment.

As the U.S. bombers approached their targets, they watched out for Iranian fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles, but encountered none.

At 6:40 p.m. in Washington and 2:10 a.m. in Tehran, the first B-2 bomber dropped its pair of GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrators on the deeply buried Fordo uranium enrichment plant. It was the first time these so-called “bunker busters” had ever been used in combat. Each 30,000-pound bomb is designed to burrow into the ground before detonating a massive warhead.

The Fordo site received the bulk of the bombardment, though a couple of the enormous bombs were also dropped on a uranium enrichment site at Natanz.

The U.S. bombs fell for about half an hour, with cruise missiles fired from submarines being the last American weapons to hit their targets, which included a third nuclear site at Isfahan, Caine said.

Both Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the sites.

A look at the numbers

The mission included:

— 75 precision-guided weapons: these included 14 GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs deployed by the seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and more than two-dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a U.S. submarine.

— 125 aircraft, including the B-2 bombers, fighter jets and refueling planes.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/iran-fordo-us-strike-trump-israel-nuclear-sites-320a85327f94ed7496f09564261f3148

President Donald Trump’s order to “obliterate” Iranian nuclear-weapons sites just made the whole world a lot safer — not only because he kept a maniacal regime from acquiring nukes, but because other nations must now think twice before defying the United States.

“American deterrence is back,” proclaimed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “When this president speaks, the world should listen” — because the US military “can back it up.”

And, indeed, US military might is a thing to behold.

What a refreshing change from the Obama and Biden years.

Time and again, President Joe Biden issued a toothless, finger-wagging “Don’t” — only for his targets to laugh and do as they pleased anyway, knowing that America’s adversaries would face no real consequences.

“Don’t, don’t, don’t,” Biden threatened any “hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel” after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023; Hezbollah and the Houthis struck the Jewish state anyway.

Last year he told Iran “don’t” after it threatened to attack Israel; Tehran responded by launching hundreds of missiles at Israeli targets.

Biden warned Vladimir Putin of “severe consequences” for invading Ukraine; Putin went ahead.

Even after Iranian-backed militants killed three US soldiers and injured 30 others in Jordan last year, Biden’s response was all but nonexistent.

Joe earned the world’s contempt his first year in office with his disastrous Afghan withdrawal, and kept on earning it by repeatedly hesitating in getting Ukraine the arms it needed to do more than slow the Russian onslaught.

President Barack Obama was no better. Recall his “red line” on Syria’s use of chemical weapons? When Bashar al-Assad used them anyway, Obama set off on an elaborate dance to not follow through — even facilitating Moscow’s return to being a Mideast player when Putin offered face-saving cover for Bam’s back-down.

Obama’s answer to Iran’s nukes was to hand the regime billions in exchange for promises to delay gaining them, a deal Tehran quickly violated.

The Obama crew confused America’s enemies with its friends; Biden was just confused — but each opened to door to chaos with bumbling that led to the rise of ISIS and Putin’s first grab of Ukrainian territory on Bam’s watch, then the latest Ukraine war plus the Middle East in flames after Joe took over.

Yes, Trump prefers diplomacy, even to end Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

But he also warned that no deal meant “bombing the likes of which they have never seen before” — and now has proved that his words aren’t empty threats.

And just as Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and other malign actors saw Biden’s Afghan bugout as a US retreat and a license for belligerence, they heard the rumble of Trump’s massive bunker-buster bombs Saturday — and the message they sent about America’s new resolve.

It’s true that Trump strongly prefers peace and is reluctant to use military power, but he’s now proved beyond a doubt that he will use it — and to overwhelming effect — when necessary.

Plus, US deception and strategic misdirection in advance of Saturday’s strikes now make it clear that Trump’s trademark ambiguity is reason for the other guys to worry about what he might do.

America is well-served by that “unpredictability,” even as it was ill-served by Obama and Biden’s predictable weakness.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/22/opinion/finally-a-prez-who-understands-peace-through-strength-just-made-the-world-safer/

At least 22 people have been killed and 63 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack at a church in Damascus, Syria’s health ministry has said.

A man opened fire with a weapon at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Prophet Elias in the Dweila neighbourhood during a service on Sunday evening before detonating an explosive vest, according to the interior ministry.

It said the attacker was affiliated with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). There was no immediate claim from the group itself.

Photos and video from inside the church showed a heavily damaged altar, pews covered in broken glass and blood spattered across the walls.

Witness Lawrence Maamari told AFP news agency that “someone entered [the church] from outside carrying a weapon” and began shooting. People “tried to stop him before he blew himself up”, he added.

Another man who was in a nearby shop said he heard gunfire followed by an explosion that sent glass flying. “We saw fire in the church and the remains of wooden benches thrown all the way to the entrance,” Ziad said.

It was the first such attack in Damascus since Islamist-led rebel forces overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of devastating civil war.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch said in a statement: “The treacherous hand of evil struck this evening, claiming our lives, along with the lives of our loved ones who fell today as martyrs during the evening divine liturgy.”

According to initial information, the bomb blast occurred at the entrance to the church, resulting in the deaths of people who were both inside the building and in the immediate vicinity, it added.

The patriarchate called upon Syria’s interim authorities to “assume full responsibility for what has happened and continues to happen in terms of violation against the sanctity of churches, and to ensure the protection of all citizens”.

Interior Minister Anas Khattab said specialised teams from his ministry had begun investigating the circumstances of what he called a “reprehensible crime”.

“These terrorist acts will not stop the efforts of the Syrian state in achieving civil peace,” he added.

The office of UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, condemned the attack and urged Syrians “to unite in rejecting terrorism, extremism, incitement and the targeting of any community”.

US special envoy Tom Barrack said: “These terrible acts of cowardice have no place in the new tapestry of integrated tolerance and inclusion that Syrians are weaving.”

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – whose Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria and is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US and UK – has repeatedly promised to protect religious and ethnic minorities. However, Syria has been rocked by two waves of deadly sectarian violence in recent months.

IS has frequently targeted Christians and other religious minorities in Syria.

In 2016, the group claimed a series of blasts near the Shia Muslim Sayyida Zeinab shrine in a southern suburb of Damascus, which killed more than 70 people.

IS once held 88,000 sq km (34,000 sq miles) of territory stretching from western Syria to eastern Iraq and imposed its brutal rule on almost eight million people.

Despite the group’s military defeat in Syria in 2019, the UN has warned that the threat posed by IS and its affiliates remains high.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c307n9p43z9o

U.S. officials proposed Monday to protect the pangolin, a small, nocturnal mammal covered in scales, under the Endangered Species Act.

The pangolin is “the most trafficked mammal in the world” in large part for its scales, used in traditional Chinese medicine, and meat, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking to add protections for four species of the pangolin native to Asia — including the Chinese, Indian, Sunda and Philippine pangolin — and three species native to Africa, including the white-bellied, black-bellied and giant pangolin. Seven species are in danger of extinction, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

An eighth species from Africa, the Temminck’s ground pangolin, is already protected by the law. Scientists also say two more species of the mammal may exist.

The protections were signed into law in 1973 with bipartisan support and are key for preserving global biodiversity and keeping iconic types of plants and animals, such as the bald eagle, from dying out. The Endangered Species Act protects over 2,000 U.S. and foreign species.

Conservation and environmental groups say habitat loss from climate change is just one reason the act is especially critical today.

The endangerment listing, once finalized, would help strengthen trade and import restrictions of pangolin parts in the U.S., except in the case of scientific or other conservation purposes, according to the Center.

It is illegal to trade them; the pangolin received certain commercial trade protections under the 2017 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. But tons of poached scales representing thousands of pangolin have been found by authorities around the world in recent years.

“I’m delighted the United States is doing its part to save these adorably odd creatures,” Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Pangolins are on the razor’s edge of extinction, and we need to completely shut down any U.S. market for their scales. There’s no good reason for anybody to ingest any part of a pangolin.”

The pangolin eats insects and rolls into a ball when threatened by predators. The Fish and Wildlife Service said pangolin populations have declined due to targeting by poachers and criminal activity, noting “proceeds from the illicit sale of pangolins and other imperiled species often fund serious crimes, including drug and arms trafficking.”

While the act requires endangered species listing regardless of their origin, the designation could also assist in prosecuting smugglers violating the protections.

Advocates, including from the International Fund for Animal Welfare and other national and international groups, have for years petitioned to list the pangolin. In 2020, these organizations and the Fish and Wildlife Service signed an agreement to enforce listing deadlines.

Polar bears, as well as penguins — similarly not found in the U.S. — have also been in discussions for listing over the years.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/pangolin-endangered-species-wildlife-service-7e74f6b423a76a8b12495ea258ed27fd

President Trump caught the world off-guard Saturday by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites — after his apparently strategic deception indicating that such strikes weren’t imminent and trickery with the deployment of US Air Force B-2 bombers.

Trump said Thursday he would make a decision in the “next two weeks” to allow more time for negotiations, giving the sense of reprieve amid fevered speculation he might join Israel’s airstrikes.

“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Trump said in a statement just two days before the unprecedented US attack.

The timing was stunning in part because six B-2 stealth bombers capable of carrying 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs had been tracked leaving Missouri early Saturday — and were likely incapable of reaching Iran until late Sunday, according to published flight times.

The B-2 is believed to be the main type of plane capable of delivering 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs capable of obliterating underground facilities.

Israel lacked the planes needed to drop the heavy bombs and since last Thursday had been dropping less-powerful 2,000-pound bombs.

Trump announced the attack shortly after returning to the White House from his golf resort in Bedminster, NJ — a trip in which he suspiciously took no reporter questions.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space,” Trump wrote.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/21/us-news/trumps-iran-attack-catches-world-off-guard-after-fakeouts-with-b-2-flights-and-two-weeks-timeframe/

A birthday celebration ended in chaos when a luxury New York city party Yacht packed with nearly 400 people slammed into a Hudson River pier Saturday afternoon, injuring dozens of passengers, according to officials and law enforcement sources.

The Timeless was attempting to dock around 4:18 p.m. when a line snapped, causing it to collide with the pier at West 125th Street and the Henry Hudson Parkways, officials and sources told The Post.

“The boat was supposed to let us off at 4, so everybody was in the area where you can depart from the boat,” said Zytin King, a lifelong New Yorker who was celebrating her 69th birthday on board the vessel with loved ones – a tradition they’ve honored for 20 years.

“Some people are coming down the stairs and the boat just ran into the dock. And so they fell, there was no support, nothing for them to grab onto. Some people fell inside of the boat. A lot of people were hurt really badly.”

About 35 people suffered minor injuries, with 23 transported to area hospitals for additional evaluation, fire officials said.

No one was thrown overboard, a source added.

“I fell onto my mother when the boat crashed,” one of King’s relatives said.

“It all happened so fast.”

The 352 passengers and crew aboard were escorted – some in wheelchairs – off the yacht following the collision.

“I heard people going to the ambulance saying, we are hurt, but we had a good time,” said Delores Mitchell, 69, who was overseeing the boat’s catering.

Despite the scare, King plans to keep the party going in Harlem, adding that she feels blessed no one was seriously hurt in the crash.

“The DJ is over there already,” King, a party promoter, told The Post.

“We were blessed because people were standing along the side of the boat so when it hit, they could have gone over, but they didn’t.”

The three-story vessel, the largest within the Empire Cruises’s charter fleet, is equipped with three bars, a climate controlled indoor seating area that holds up to 550 passengers for trips along the Hudson River, according to its website.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/21/us-news/nyc-boat-carrying-hundreds-smashes-into-hudson-river-pier/

Pakistan has announced it plans to nominate US President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, citing the role that Islamabad says he played in helping to negotiate a ceasefire last month between India and Pakistan.

On X, the Pakistani government said Trump deserved the award “in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis”.

India has denied the US served as a mediator to end the fighting last month, and says it does not want any diplomatic intervention from a third party.

Trump has often suggested he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize, whose winner this year will be named in October.

In May, Trump made a surprise announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following four days of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Pakistan’s government said in its post early on Saturday: “President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation.

“This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker.”

There was no immediate response from Washington or New Delhi.

Trump has repeatedly said that India and Pakistan ended the conflict after a ceasefire brokered by the US, and also that he had used trade as a lever to make them agree.

Pakistan has corroborated US statements about brokering the ceasefire, but India has denied it.

Last month, Trump said he told India and Pakistan that a ceasefire was necessary in order for them to maintain trade with the US.

“I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys [India and Pakistan]. Let’s stop it,” he told reporters.

The Nobel move was applauded by Mushahid Hussain, a former chair of the Senate Defence Committee in Pakistan’s parliament.

“Trump is good for Pakistan,” he told Reuters. “If this panders to Trump’s ego, so be it. All the European leaders have been sucking up to him big time.”

But Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, criticised the move as “unfortunate”.

“A man who has backed Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and called Israel’s attack on Iran as ‘excellent’,” she wrote on X.

“It compromises our national dignity,” she added.

On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had helped broker negotiations between multiple nations, but despite this: “No, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.”

Trump entered office vowing to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars, although peace deals in both conflicts have eluded him so far.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyx5yw8y28o

A photo of the Prince of Wales with another generation – this time of puppies – has been posted on social media by Kensington Palace to mark his 43rd birthday.

The picture, taken by the Princess of Wales, shows Prince William with their family’s Cocker spaniel, Orla, and three of her four recently-arrived puppies.

The message for Prince William was signed online “with love”, with the initials of Catherine and their children, George, Charlotte, Louis, and “the puppies”, plus a paw print emoji.

The picture was taken in Windsor earlier this month.

There was also a message online for Prince William from the official account of the Royal Family, saying “Happy Birthday to The Prince of Wales!”, plus some celebratory emojis.

An accompanying picture, of the prince sitting on a stone wall, was taken while he visited farmers and food producers on the Duchy of Cornwall – a parcel of land William now owns – in May.

Orla was given to the royal couple by Catherine’s brother, James Middleton, in 2020, shortly after the death of their previous dog Lupo.

The dog – seen walking behind William in the picture – gave birth to four puppies in May.

Spaniels are well known for their affectionate behaviour and the picture shows the puppies clambering around the prince.

In the puppy picture, the prince looks relaxed in a pair of jeans and trainers – an informal moment after recent showcase occasions, including Trooping the Colour and the Order of the Garter procession.

He also visited a project linked to his Earthshot environmental prize which creates a type of sustainable dye that can reduce the fashion industry’s use of harmful chemicals – so colours can really be green.

Catherine did not appear at Royal Ascot earlier this week, with royal aides saying she had to find a balance in how she returned to public events. In January, the princess revealed she was in remission after her cancer diagnosis last year.

On Friday, she sent out a message about her support for children’s hospices – saying they helped families who were “heartbroken, fearful of the future and often desperately isolated”.

And now her photo has marked her husband’s birthday.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk645er1kpo

In the winter of 1956, The Times correspondent David Holden arrived on the island of Bahrain, then still a British protectorate.

After a short-lived career teaching geography, Holden had looked forward to his Arabian posting, but he hadn’t expected to be attending a garden durbar in honour of Queen Victoria’s appointment as Empress of India.

Everywhere that he went in the Gulf – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman – he found expected traces of British India.

“The Raj maintains here a slightly phantasmal sway,” wrote Holden, “a situation rich in anomaly and anachronism… The servants are all bearers, the laundryman a dhobi, and the watchman a chowkidar,” he wrote, “and on Sundays the guests are confronted with the ancient, and agreeable, Anglo-Indian ritual of a mountainous curry lunch.”

The Sultan of Oman, educated in Rajasthan, was more fluent in Urdu than Arabic, while soldiers in the nearby state of Qu’aiti, now eastern Yemen, marched around in now-defunct Hyderabadi army uniforms.

In the words of the governor of Aden himself:

“One had an extraordinarily powerful impression that all the clocks here had stopped seventy years ago; that the Raj was at its height, Victoria on the throne, Gilbert and Sullivan a fresh and revolutionary phenomenon, and Kipling a dangerous debunker, so strong was the link from Delhi via Hyderabad to the South Arabian shore.”

Although largely forgotten today, in the early 20th Century, nearly a third of the Arabian Peninsula was ruled as part of the British Indian Empire.

From Aden to Kuwait, a crescent of Arabian protectorates was governed from Delhi, overseen by the Indian Political Service, policed by Indian troops, and answerable to the Viceroy of India.

Under the Interpretation Act of 1889, these protectorates had all legally been considered part of India.

The standard list of India’s semi-independent princely states like Jaipur opened alphabetically with Abu Dhabi, and the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, even suggested that Oman should be treated “as much a Native State of the Indian Empire as Lus Beyla or Kelat [present day Balochistan]”.

Indian passports were issued as far west as Aden in modern Yemen, which functioned as India’s westernmost port and was administered as part of Bombay Province. When Mahatma Gandhi visited the city in 1931, he found many young Arabs identifying as Indian nationalists.

Even at the time, however, few members of the British or Indian public were aware of this Arabian extension of the British Raj.

Maps showing the full reach of the Indian Empire were only published in top secrecy, and the Arabian territories were left off public documents to avoid provoking the Ottomans or later the Saudis.

Indeed, as one Royal Asiatic Society lecturer quipped:

“As a jealous sheikh veils his favourite wife, so the British authorities shroud conditions in the Arab states in such thick mystery that ill-disposed propagandists might almost be excused for thinking that something dreadful is going on there.”

But by the 1920s, politics was shifting. Indian nationalists began to imagine India not as an imperial construct but as a cultural space rooted in the geography of the Mahabharata. London saw an opportunity to redraw borders. On 1 April 1937, the first of several imperial partitions was enacted and Aden was separated from India.

A telegram from King George VI was read aloud:

“Aden has been an integral part of British Indian administration for nearly 100 years. That political association with my Indian Empire will now be broken, and Aden will take its place in my Colonial Empire.”

The Gulf remained under the purview of the Government of India for another decade, however.

British officials briefly discussed whether India or Pakistan would “be allowed to run the Persian Gulf” after independence, yet a member of the British legation in Tehran even wrote of his surprise at the “apparent unanimity” of “officials in Delhi … that the Persian Gulf was of little interest to the Government of India.”

As Gulf resident William Hay put it, “it would clearly have been inappropriate to hand over responsibility for dealing with the Gulf Arabs to Indians or Pakistanis”.

The Gulf states, from Dubai to Kuwait, were thus finally separated from India on 1 April 1947, months before the Raj was itself divided into India and Pakistan and granted independence.

Months later, when Indian and Pakistani officials set about integrating hundreds of princely states into the new nations, the Arab states of the Gulf would be missing from the ledger.

Few batted an eyelid, and 75 years on, the importance of what had just happened is still not fully understood in either India or the Gulf.

Without this minor administrative transfer, it is likely that the states of the Persian Gulf Residency would have become part of either India or Pakistan after independence, as happened to every other princely state in the subcontinent.

When British Prime Minister Clement Attlee proposed a British withdrawal from the Arabian territories at the same time as the withdrawal from India, he was shouted down. So Britain retained its role in the Gulf for 24 more years, with an ‘Arabian Raj’ now reporting to Whitehall rather than to the Viceroy of India.

In the words of Gulf scholar Paul Rich, this was “the Indian Empire’s last redoubt, just as Goa was Portuguese India’s last solitary vestige, or Pondicherry was the tag-end of French India”.

The official currency was still the Indian rupee; the easiest mode of transport was still the ‘British India Line’ (shipping company) and the 30 Arabian princely states were still governed by ‘British residents’ who had made their careers in the Indian Political Service.

The British only finally pulled out of the Gulf in 1971 as part of its decision to abandon colonial commitments east of Suez.

As David Holden wrote in July:

“For the first time since the heyday of Britain’s East India Company, all the territories around the Gulf will be at liberty to seek their own salvation without the threat of British intervention, or the comfort of British protection. This final remnant of the British Raj – for that, in effect, is what it is – has been for some years now an obvious, if in some ways charming, anachronism … But its day is over.”

Of all the national narratives that emerged after the Empire’s collapse, the Gulf states have been most successful at erasing their ties to British India.

From Bahrain to Dubai, a past relationship with Britain is remembered, but governance from Delhi is not. The myth of an ancient sovereignty is crucial to keeping the monarchies alive. Yet private memories persist, particularly of the unimaginable class reversal that the Gulf has seen.

In 2009, Gulf scholar Paul Rich recorded an elderly Qatari gentleman who “still got angry when he related to me the beating he received when as a young boy of seven or eight he stole an orange, a fruit which he had never seen before, from an Indian employee of the British agent”.

“The Indians, he said, were a privileged caste during his youth, and it gave him immense pleasure that the tables had turned and they now came to the Gulf as servants.”

Today Dubai, once a minor outpost of the Indian Empire with no gun salute, is the glittering centre of the new Middle East.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgq3wlp22j9o

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that in his view the whole of Ukraine was “ours” and cautioned that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as part of a bid to carve out a buffer zone along the border.
Ukraine’s foreign minister denounced the statements as evidence of Russian “disdain” for U.S. peace efforts and said Moscow was bent on seizing more territory and killing more Ukrainians.

Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, more than 99% of the Luhansk region, over 70% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and fragments of the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Asked about fresh Russian advances, Putin told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that he considered Russians and Ukrainians to be one people and “in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours”.
Kyiv and its Western allies say Moscow’s claims to four Ukrainian regions and Crimea are illegal, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly rejected the notion that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.

He has also said that Putin’s terms for peace are akin to capitulation.
Putin, who ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, said on Friday he was not questioning Ukraine’s independence or its people’s striving for sovereignty, but he underscored that when Ukraine declared independence as the Soviet Union fell in 1991 it had also declared its neutrality.
Putin said Moscow wanted Ukraine to accept the reality on the ground if there was to be a chance of peace – Russia’s shorthand for the reality of Russia’s control over a chunk of Ukrainian territory bigger than the U.S. state of Virginia.
“We have a saying, or a parable,” Putin said. “Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.”

‘COMPLETE DISDAIN’

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing in English on the X social media platform, said: “Putin’s cynical statements demonstrate complete disdain for U.S. peace efforts.”

“While the United States and the rest of the world have called for an immediate end to the killing, Russia’s top war criminal discusses plans to seize more Ukrainian territory and kill more Ukrainians.”
Wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, “he brings along only death, destruction, and devastation,” Sybiha said.
Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said Russia had shown “openly and utterly cynically that they ‘don’t feel like’ agreeing to a ceasefire. Russia wants to continue the war.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-the-whole-ukraine-is-ours-theory-may-take-city-sumy-2025-06-20/

Vance Boelter’s disguise wasn’t perfect. The silicone mask was somewhat loose-fitting and his SUV’s license plate simply read “POLICE” in black letters. But it was good enough on a poorly lit suburban street in the dead of night.
At 2:36 a.m. on Saturday, 30 minutes after authorities say Boelter shot and seriously injured Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, he paused behind the wheel of the SUV near the home of another senator, Ann Rest, in the city of New Hope.

The SUV was stocked with weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, as well as fliers advertising a local anti-Trump rally scheduled for later Saturday and a written list of names of people he appeared to be targeting. Senator Rest, prosecutors would later say, was among those Boelter set out to kill on June 14.
As Boelter sat in the SUV down the street from Rest’s home, another police car – this one an actual police car – approached.
A female officer from the New Hope police department, after hearing about the Hoffman shootings, had come out to check on Rest. Seeing the SUV, complete with flashing lights and police-style decals, she believed the man inside was a fellow officer.

But when she attempted to speak to him – one officer greeting another – she got no response. Instead, the man inside the SUV with police markings simply stared ahead. The New Hope officer drove on, deciding to go ahead and check on Rest.
Rest would later say the New Hope officer’s initiative probably saved her life, an opinion shared by New Hope Police Chief Timothy Hoyt.
“With limited information, she went up there on her own to check on the welfare of our senator,” Hoyt told Reuters. “She did the right thing.”
The brief interaction in New Hope underscored the carefully planned nature of Boelter’s pre-dawn rampage and how his impersonation of a police officer, including body armor, a badge and a tactical vest, confounded the initial attempts to stop him.
After the encounter with the New Hope officer, Boelter, 57, drove away from the scene, moving on to his next target. Police would pursue him for another 43 hours. In the process, they would draw in a phalanx of state and federal agencies, in what ranks as the largest manhunt in Minnesota history and added to the sense of disorientation in a nation already grappling with protests over immigration, the forcible removal of a U.S. Senator from a press conference and a rare military parade in Washington.

Federal prosecutors say they may seek the death penalty for Boelter, who has been charged with murdering two people and trying to kill two others, in what Governor Tim Walz has called a “politically motivated” attack.
Prosecutors said they are still investigating the motive and whether any others were involved. Boelter has yet to enter a plea. Manny Atwal, a public defender representing Boelter, said he was reviewing the case and declined to comment.
This reconstruction of the manhunt is based on court documents, statements by law enforcement officials, and interviews with a Boelter friend, local police officers, lawmakers, and residents of the impacted neighborhoods.
While the events unfolded like something out of a TV crime drama, there were parallels with past shooting sprees, criminal justice experts said. James Fitzgerald, a former FBI criminal profiler, said he would not be surprised if Boelter studied a mass shooting in Canada in 2020, when a gunman posing as a police officer killed 22 people in the province of Nova Scotia.

“These guys always do research beforehand. They want to see how other killers were successful, how they got caught,” said Fitzgerald, who helped the FBI capture the “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski in 1996. “And, of course, a way you’re going to buy yourself some time is to pose as a police officer.”

HOFFMAN SHOOTING

The violence began at the Hoffman’s brick split-level home in Champlin, a leafy, middle-class suburb of Minneapolis. With his emergency lights flashing, Boelter pulled into the driveway just after 2:00 a.m. and knocked on the door.
“This is the police. Open the door,” Boelter shouted repeatedly, according to an FBI affidavit.
Senator Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, soon determined Boelter was not a real police officer. Boelter shot Senator Hoffman nine times, and then fired on Yvette, who shielded her daughter from being hit.
As Boelter fled the scene, the daughter called 911.
The Hoffmans were on a target list of more than 45 federal and state elected officials in Minnesota, all Democrats, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson told a briefing on Monday.
Boelter voted for President Donald Trump, was a Christian and did not like abortion, according to his part-time roommate, David Carlson. Carlson said Boelter did not seem angry about politics.
Thompson said Boelter “stalked his victims like prey” but that the writings he left behind did not point to a coherent motive. “His crimes are the stuff of nightmares,” he said.
After the Hoffman’s, the next address plugged into Boelter’s GPS system was a lawmaker about 9 miles away in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove.
Surveillance cameras from the home of State Representative Kristin Bahner show a masked Boelter ringing the doorbell at 2:24 a.m. and shouting “Open the door. This is the police. We have a warrant,” the FBI affidavit says.
Bahner and her family were not at home.
From there, Boelter moved on to New Hope and the close encounter with the officer who had dispatched to Rest’s home. After that, he wasn’t seen by police again until he arrived at the residence of Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the state House, in Brooklyn Park.
Sensing that Hortman might be a target, Brooklyn Park police officers had decided to check on her. When they arrived at 3:30 a.m. they saw a black Ford Explorer outside her house, its police-style lights flashing. Boelter was near the front door.
When Boelter saw the officers exit their squad car, he fired at them. He then ran through the front door on the house, where he killed Melissa and Mark Hortman, her husband.

‘DAD WENT TO WAR’

When Boelter left the Hortman’s home, he abandoned his fake-police SUV. Inside the car, police found a 9mm handgun, three AK-47 assault rifles, fliers advertising a local anti-Trump “No Kings” rally and a notebook with names of people who appear to have been targets, according to court documents.
From that point, Boelter was on the run. Little has been revealed about his movements during the period, although police say he visited his part-time residence in north Minneapolis. He also sent texts. In one, to his family’s group chat, Boelter writes, “Dad went to war last night”. In another, to a close friend, Boelter says he may be dead soon.
Police also know that by early morning on Saturday Boelter had met a man at a Minneapolis bus stop who agreed to sell him an e-bike and a Buick sedan for $900. The two drove to a bank where Boelter withdrew $2,200 from his account. A security camera shows Boelter wearing a cowboy hat.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-days-terror-how-minnesota-shooter-evaded-police-got-caught-2025-06-21/

Israeli officials have told the Trump administration they do not want to wait two weeks for Iran to reach a deal to dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and Israel could act alone before the deadline is up, two sources said, amid a continuing debate on Trump’s team about whether the U.S. should get involved.
The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on Thursday in what they described as a tense phone call.

The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that U.S. President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the U.S. will get in the Israel-Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli participants on the call included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir, according to a security source.
The Israelis believe they have a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried site at Fordow, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, said the sources. The U.S. is the only country with the bunker-busting bombs powerful enough to reach the facility, which is dug into the side of a mountain.

Reuters reported on Saturday that the United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, reinforcing the possibility that the U.S. could participate directly in an attack. The B-2 can be equipped to carry America’s 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, designed to destroy targets deep underground, such as the one at Fordow.
A person in Washington familiar with the matter said Israel has communicated to the U.S. administration that it believes Trump’s window of up to two weeks is too long and that more urgent action is needed. The person did not say whether the Israelis made that point during the high-level call.
During the call, Vice President JD Vance pushed back, saying the U.S. should not be directly involved and suggesting that the Israelis were going to drag the country into war, said the sources. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also participated in the call, said a security source.

A White House official strongly disputed the characterization of Vance’s comments in the call but declined to elaborate. “The Vice President did not say this during the call,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier that a phone call had taken place on Thursday.
The prospect of a U.S. strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some prominent members of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.
Vance has frequently criticized past U.S. involvement in conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, but has lately defended Trump against Republican critics who urge the administration to stay out of the Iran conflict.
Other Republicans, including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they hope Trump will help Israel finish destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump, who campaigned on a promise to keep the U.S. out of what he called “stupid” foreign wars, has himself seemed conflicted at times about whether to join the Israeli attack on Iran or focus on diplomatic efforts to end Tehran’s nuclear program. But his rhetoric in recent days has become increasingly aggressive toward Iran.

Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond.

STRIKE ON FORDOW INCREASINGLY LIKELY

Publicly, Netanyahu has not ruled out Israel attacking Fordow alone, though officials have not provided any details on how that would be achieved.
Four sources said it is now increasingly likely that the country will launch a solo military operation. Israeli air superiority over much of Iran makes an operation more feasible, though still risky, said two of the sources.
The Israelis feel they have the momentum and have limited time given the costs of the war, one source added.
“I don’t see them waiting much longer,” said the source.
It is not clear whether such an operation would involve bombing, ground forces, or both. Two of the sources said that rather than attempting to destroy the entire site Israel could instead do significant damage to it.
That could mean focusing on destroying what is inside the site rather than the site itself, said one of the sources, declining to elaborate.
Some analysts have speculated that Israel could use special forces to enter Fordow and blow it up from inside.
Another scenario being considered, according to a source familiar with the matter, would be to drop a series of munitions in rapid succession in an attempt to breach the fortified site, similar to how the Israeli military killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last year.
Such a strike could be followed by an incursion by special forces, the source said.
It is not clear that Israel has munitions powerful enough to penetrate the fortified facility. It is widely believed that to have a high chance of success, U.S. intervention would be needed.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/israel-seeks-swift-action-iran-sources-say-with-split-us-administration-2025-06-21/

Hailey Bieber fueled rumors that she and husband Justin Bieber are headed for divorce after she was spotted without her wedding ring while out and about in New York City.

The model was photographed going ringless on Thursday as she stepped out on two separate occasions — the first being for breakfast at The Commerce Inn in the West Village.

Photos obtained by Page Six reveal she wore a khaki trench coat and sunglasses for the outing, but made sure to leave her $500,000 jewelry piece at home.

Hailey, 28, was later seen that evening with models Camila Morrone and Suki Waterhouse as they headed for a girls’ night out at Chez Fifi on the Upper East Side.

For her second look, the billionaire babe looked chic in a black leather coat and matching high-neck top with wide-leg jeans.

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

Divorce rumors have followed the couple for some time. However, the speculation appeared to be reignited earlier this year after Hailey unfollowed Justin, 31, on Instagram in March.

The Rhode Skin founder claimed the unfollowing happened because of a glitch that took place when Justin deactivated and reactivated his account.

Hailey addressed the incessant divorce speculation that has plagued the famous pair since their 2018 wedding in her Vogue interview last month, calling out “bitches” who won’t “move on.”

“Well, I thought seven years in it would’ve [died down] already, and it hasn’t,” she said.

“You would think after having a child, people would maybe move on, chill out a little bit, but no,” the first-time mom, who welcomed son Jack Blues with Justin last August, added. “So I guess these bitches are going to be mad.”

The couple also continues to face added scrutiny as many have expressed their concern for the “Beauty and a Beat” singer’s well-being after he was seen acting erratically and recreationally smoking marijuana on several occasions.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/21/celebrity-news/hailey-bieber-ditches-her-wedding-ring-as-justin-bieber-divorce-rumors-loom/

Mahmoud Khalil vowed to resume his pro-Palestinian activism as he returned to New York a day after he was released on bail from a jail for immigrants, even as US President Donald Trump’s administration said it will continue its efforts to deport the recent Columbia University graduate.

He arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon to cheers and ululations from friends and supporters. Khalil, 30, was reunited with his wife, a US citizen, and greeted at the airport by US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York.

“Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine again,” Khalil said, holding a bouquet of flowers. “I just want to go back and just continue the work that I was already doing, advocating for Palestinian rights, speech that should actually be celebrated rather than punished”.

Khalil, who recently graduated from Columbia University in Manhattan, was a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel student protest movement that swept campuses last year. Federal immigration agents arrested him in the lobby of his Columbia apartment building on March 8, making him the first target of Trump’s effort to deport international students with pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel views.

Ocasio-Cortez, speaking alongside Khalil at the airport, condemned the Trump administration for what she called “persecution based on political speech”.

“Being taken is wrong. It is illegal,” she said. “It is an affront to every American”.

“Free Palestine!” Khalil said with a raised fist as he left the airport.

Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and became a US lawful permanent resident last year. Nonetheless, citing an obscure part of federal immigration law that has not been invoked in more than 20 years, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had determined that Khalil and several other foreign pro-Palestinian students at US schools must be deported because their presence here could harm the government’s foreign policy interests.

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly conflates their criticism of the Israeli government, one of the United States’ closest allies, with antisemitism.

Earlier this month, US District Judge Michael Farbiarz in New Jersey ruled that the government could not detain or deport Khalil based on Rubio’s determination, finding the Trump administration was violating Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech.

On Friday, he ordered the Trump administration to release Khalil on bail while he continues to fight the government’s deportation efforts and his lawsuit accusing the government of wrongful detention.

A spokesperson for Trump said in a statement after the ruling that Khalil should be deported for “conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests” and for omitting or incorrectly describing his employment history on his application for form to become a permanent resident. Khalil has said his application form was correct and the allegations of omission are spurious.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/mahmoud-khalil-vows-resume-pro-palestinian-activism-after-release-us-jail-5195991

Honda R&D – the research and development arm of Honda Motor – landed a rocket for the first time on Tuesday – after it reached an altitude of nearly 1,000 feet.

The experimental reusable rocket reached an altitude of 890 feet during its test flight – staying aloft for 56.6 seconds.

It landed just 14.6 inches from its target touchdown point at the carmaker’s test facility in northern Japan, according to Honda.

Weighing in at 2,890 pounds when fully fuelled (1,984 pounds dry), the rocket is 20.7 feet tall and measured 2.8 feet in diameter.

Honda’s rocket has become the first prototype rocket outside the US and China to pull off a flight like this.

The company said the launch and landing test demonstrated “key technologies essential for rocket reusability, such as flight stability during ascent and descent, as well as landing capability”.

The Japanese car manufacturer first revealed in 2021 that it had been working on a rocket engine for at least two years.

After six years of development, this successful test marked a major step in Honda’s push into space innovation.

But Honda is not alone in the race beyond Earth.

Other car makers like Geely, GM, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota and Venturi are partnering with space tech companies.

Unlike Honda and Venturi that have developed rockets or space vehicles, Toyota has been involved more in robotics and space exploration tech.

Geely, GM and Hyundai-Kia are partnering with aerospace firms or investing in space tech startups – rather than independently developing rockets yet.

It comes after talk of a merger between car rivals Nissan and Honda collapsed in February.

But the door to collaboration remains wide open.

Nissan’s CEO Ivan Espinosa said in March that the company is “very open” to partnerships.

The company’s chief performance officer, Guillaume Cartier, said Nissan had “never stopped” talking with its Japanese rival, confirming that the two continue working towards a potential partnership.

Espinosa, who officially took over on April 1, said his company faces up to five simultaneous crises – including a damaged brand, low morale and the execution of a sweeping turnaround.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/14533950/car-maker-space-race-rocket/

The 21 Arab and Muslim-majority countries made it clear where they stood in the Iran-Israel conflict.

In a statement published earlier this week, they expressed their “categorical rejection and condemnation of Israel’s recent attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” which started on June 13. The countries spoke of the need to halt “Israeli hostilities against Iran” and expressed “great concern regarding this dangerous escalation, which threatens to have serious consequences on the peace and stability of the entire region.”

The signatories included both Jordan and Saudi Arabia. But their stated opposition to Israel’s attacks on Iran has not prevented them from intervening in the conflict, at least indirectly. Jordan, for example, has shot down missiles flying from Iran towards Israel. The Jordanian military confirmed they had done this in a statement, explaining that missiles and drones could have fallen onto Jordan, “including in populated areas, causing casualties.”

As with any other sovereign state, missiles or other unauthorized objects crossing a country’s airspace are often deemed violations of either domestic or international law.

The Saudi Arabians have not issued a similar statement, but experts say it’s likely they’ve allowed Israel to shoot missiles down in their airspace and may have cooperated on surveillance too.

Domestic politics in turmoil

But just as it has done in the recent past, this kind of military action could cause domestic tensions. Among the people of both nations, there is a historical antipathy towards Israel based on past wars and conflicts. That’s especially true for Jordan, where at least one in five locals, including the country’s queen, are of Palestinian descent.

It’s difficult for Jordan’s government to justify shooting down Iranian missiles headed for Israel, which is why the explanation of self-defense was given. “This message — ‘we are only defending ourselves’ — is being repeated on all channels,” says Edmund Ratka, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s office in Amman, Jordan.

Ratka says this is also due to the Jordanian political scene at the moment. In April, the country’s government banned the country’s largest political opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, over connections to an alleged plot to destabilize the country.

“The [ban] seems carefully calibrated and intended to stem rising popular support for the [Muslim brotherhood] movement as the kingdom navigates a difficult regional backdrop,” Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow with British think tank Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program, wrote at the time, as well as “undermine its growing appeal among a population incensed by Israel’s war in Gaza.”

This makes it all the more important for the Jordanian government to make sure that taking down Iranian missiles is not seen as solidarity with Israel, says Stefan Lukas, founder of the Germany-based consultancy, Middle East Minds. “Still, the decision [to do so] further escalates tensions,” he told DW.

There’s no way Jordan wants to be seen as defending Israel, Ratka confirms, “Because the Jordanian people largely perceive Israel as the aggressor.”

But, he adds, they feel the same about Iran, too. “We regularly conduct surveys in Jordan, and for years, they’ve shown there isn’t much sympathy for Iran in Jordan,” Ratka noted. “Because Iran is seen as a state that repeatedly interferes in Arab affairs with the intent to destabilize.”

Jordan also has other reasons for shooting down the Iranian missiles, Lukas says. Jordan can’t directly oppose the US, he says, referring to a 2021 defense cooperation agreement between the US and Jordan, which allows US forces, vehicles and aircraft to enter and move around Jordan freely. Jordan “is far too dependent on the US and, to some extent, on Israel too — both financially and in terms of security policy.”

It’s a difficult argument for the Jordanians to make. If they were that concerned about protecting domestic airspace, then the government would have to protest the presence of Israeli forces overhead, too.

As Ratka points out, though, Israel hasn’t violated Jordanian airspace with its attacks on Iran. “So the Jordanian leadership can, with some justification, claim it would combat any airspace violation,” he says. “Even if, in fact, it’s only fighting the Iranians.”

Saudi Arabia’s balancing act

Saudi Arabia is also in a tricky spot. It signed the same declaration as 20 other Arab and Muslim-majority countries did, and even before that, had referred to Iran as a “brotherly nation” in a statement condemning Israeli attacks on the nation of around 92 million.

The use of the word “brotherly” was seen as noteworthy by analysts because it’s usually reserved for fellow Arab-majority countries, whereas the Iranians are mostly Persians.

But beyond the official rhetoric, Saudi Arabia is pursuing a completely different course, Lukas says. “Unofficially, Saudi Arabia is participating in the action against Iran,” he confirms.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/are-jordan-and-saudi-arabia-defending-israel/a-72977996

Pope Leo XIV has renewed calls for a deeper consideration of the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on humanity, voicing concern for the development and well being of children and youths.

The recently installed pontiff made his remarks on Saturday, when he welcomed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and parliamentary delegations from 68 further nations to the Vatican for the Second Annual Rome Conference on Artificial Intelligence.

“In particular, it must not be forgotten that artificial intelligence functions as a tool for the good of human beings, not to diminish them or even to replace them,” said Leo, who added that AI’s “static memory” could not match the “creative, dynamic” power of human memory.

“Our personal life has greater value than any algorithm, and social relationships require spaces for development that far transcend the limited patterns that any soulless machine can pre-package,” he told attendees.

Pope warns AI is a threat to how humans process reality

Although the pontiff acknowledged the unquestionable advantages such computing offers, he nevertheless warned of the threat it poses to how we understand life and the world around us.

“AI, especially generative AI, has opened new horizons on many different levels, including enhancing research in healthcare and scientific discovery; but also raises troubling questions on its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp and process reality.”

Leo, who has repeatedly addressed the issue of AI and its impact on society since becoming pope in May, urged “serious reflection” on the “inherently ethical dimension of AI,” noting that respect for the uniqueness of human existence was an essential element of any discussion about its use and regulation.

“All of us, I am sure, are concerned for children and young people, and the possible consequences of the use of AI on their intellectual and neurological development,” he said.

“Our youth must be helped, and not hindered, in their journey towards maturity and true responsibility,” he added, calling young people “our hope for the future.”

‘True meaning of life’ vs. ‘availability of data’

For all of the praises that AI proponents sing, claiming, among other things, that it allows more access to information and that if computers are allowed to perform the tasks of workers, former laborers will then be able to pursue other more fulfilling creative tasks, Leo warned of the dangers of mistaking “access to data” for actual intelligence. “Authentic wisdom,” he said, “has more to do with recognizing the true meaning of life, than with the availability of data.”

The pontiff also underscored AI’s potential for “misuse for selfish gain at the expense of others, or worse, to foment conflict and aggression.”

“Society’s well-being,” said Leo, “depends upon their [young people] being given the ability to develop their God-given gifts and capabilities, and to respond to the demands of the times and the needs of others with a free and generous spirit.

“This entails taking into account the well-being of the human person not only materially, but also intellectually and spiritually. It means safeguarding the inviolable dignity of each human person and respecting the cultural and spiritual riches and diversity of the world’s peoples,” according to Leo.

AI, the Catholic Church and ‘the future of our human family’

Leo has said the Catholic Church is keen on contributing to a peaceful and thoughtful public discussion about the advent of AI “and the future of our human family.”

A final concern brought up by the pontiff addressed the strains AI puts on relations between young people and the elderly, pointing to what he called the “necessary intergenerational apprenticeship that will enable young people to integrate truth into their moral and spiritual life, thus informing their mature decisions and opening the path towards a world of greater solidarity and unity.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/pope-leo-warns-leaders-about-pitfalls-of-ai/a-72994484

 

SEETHING Iranians burned US and Israeli flags and swore their allegiance to the regime in mass protests across the country.

Thousands flooded the capital’s streets after weekly prayers, chanting for the death of the west and pledging their lives to the Supreme Leader.

Israel has urged the people of Iran to rise up against the regime, but there are still pockets of support for the Islamic government.

But alongside their loyalty to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the crowds aimed vitriolic hate at Israel and the West.

Photos show Israeli and US flag deliberately set on fire and trampled on.

A sea of Iranian and Hezbollah flags and photos of Khamenei were paraded through the roads.

Footage also shows demonstrators brandishing pictures of commanders killed over the past week by Israel’s missiles.

One banner read: “I will sacrifice my life for my leader.”

Iranian state TV said: “This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country.”

The broadcaster said that protests also took place in other cities – particularly Tabriz in northwestern Iran and Shiraz in the south.

And there are reports of smaller scale gatherings in towns around the country.

While these crowds back the regime, there are plenty in Iran who want to see it toppled and the people finally freed from its tyranny.

Thousands have drained from Tehran and even left the country.

Friday’s protests were by far the largest since Israel and Iran began trading missiles.

People took to the streets despite the ongoing threat of Israeli bombs.

In Isfahan, home to one of the nuclear facilities Israel has hit, thousands joined in the funeral of an Iranian killed in an Israeli attack.

Several men were seen carrying a coffin draped with Iranian flags and with a photo of a uniformed soldier.

Behind them, men, women and children followed, chanting: “Death to Israel, death to America.”

Protester Abu Hussein, a 54-year-old taxi driver, told Arab News: “It is an unjust war… Israel has no right.

“Israel is not in it for the (Iranian) nuclear (program).

“What Israel and the Americans want is to dominate the Middle East.”

The protests came on a day that efforts to find a diplomatic solution got gathered momentum.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Geneva to meet European foreign minsters – including those from the UK, Germany and France.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14524605/iranians-burn-us-israel-flags-chant-protests/

A STRONG earthquake of 5.1 magnitude has struck northern Iran amid a war with Israel.

The quake struck some 22 miles away from Iran’s Semnan region at 9:19pm local time and was also felt in Tehran’s Qom region.

The quake struck only 6.2miles (10km) deep, relatively shallow.

Semnan is home to the Semnan Missile Complex operated by Iran’s military as well as the Semnan Space Centre.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to pound Iran’s nuclear facilities and other military targets.

The goal, as the Israelis say, is to thwart the Iranian regime’s efforts to produce nuclear weapons as well as more ballistic missiles.

It also includes long-range weapons that can strike targets far beyond Israel.

So far, Israel has struck dozens of military targets as well as several nuclear facilities across Iran.

This includes a water reactor at the Arak nuclear plant in Iran.

Pictures of the aftermath showed what appears to be a giant crater on the top of the reactor within the facility.

The nuclear site had been “inactive” as it was yet to be completed, but the IDF said it had to be taken out because it was designed to cultivate plutonium for use in nuclear weapons.

Alongside Arak, Israel has confirmed strikes on the reactors at Natanz and Isfahan.

An IDF spokesperson also said that fighter jets had also struck the Bushehr nuclear power plant – which is the only working one in the country.

But in a U-turn, the IDF then retracted the claim, with a spokesperson saying: “It was a mistake,” and that he could not confirm or deny that the facility had been targeted.

At the heart of its nuclear program is the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which is encased in steel more than 300 feet beneath solid rock – and has so far escaped serious damage.

Israel’s arsenal lacks huge bunker buster bombs needed to destroy the underground enrichment facility – some 125 miles from capital Tehran.

Only America currently has the fearsome GBU-57 bombs capable of blitzing Fordow.

It’s a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb that can penetrate deep inside the ground before blowing up.

The 20-foot-long monster bomb can explode to obliterate enemy targets that are often hidden beneath mountains and massive layers of rocks.

Its 30,000lb weight means that its sheer kinetic force enables it to reach deeply buried targets – almost 200ft beneath the surface.

At the heart of Tehran’s nuclear program is the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which is encased in steel more than 300 feet beneath solid rock – and has so far escaped serious damage.

Israel’s arsenal lacks huge bunker buster bombs needed to destroy the underground enrichment facility – some 125 miles from capital Tehran.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14527445/earthquake-strikes-iran-israel-fordow/

 

EERIE new footage reportedly taken by the US military has captured a never-before-seen disc-shaped UFO mysteriously darting through the air.

Independent journalist Jeremy Corbell leaked the video and said he was stunned by the “implications” of the jaw-dropping sight.

He published the video on his social media on Tuesday, which he claims captures the unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) soaring through the clouds.

Corbell said the clip has made history because of the object’s shape.

Most UFOs caught on camera have a sort of pill shape, but this one looks straight out of a science-fiction movie.

The video was taken by the military on November 23, 2020, and it was released after Corbell spent years verifying the footage with inside sources.

He said that US officials themselves admitted the UAP was a “disc” with an unknown origin.

They said the craft “displayed abrupt movement and intelligent control” as it can be seen flying to the right before suddenly changing directions.

The UFO also noticeably doesn’t give off any heat signatures or signs of thermal propulsion like a normal aircraft would.

Between the never-before-seen shape and the bizarre movement, Corbell said the sighting “has implications that are huge,” he told the Daily Mail.

“This is the first time in history that military filmed footage of a disc-shaped UAP, designated as such by the military, has been captured on camera and released to the public,” he said.

Corbell explained that it was “astonishing” that a UFO of that shape could nimbly dart through the air without emitting heat signatures.

“It’s a perfect-looking disc, maybe it’s an orb,” he told NBC News.

The object is believed to be between 200 and 400 meters in diameter, but Corbell said that the size is debated.

It was captured flying around the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to coordinates seen in the corner of the video.

The military still considers the object a UAP and continues to investigate the sighting, according to Corbell.

CORBELL’S CALL

The journalist claims that he’s spoken with service members who had first-hand experience witnessing the footage.

He called for Congress to respond to the video and said that military whistleblowers are ready to testify and describe what they saw.

Corbell hopes that releasing this footage will encourage transparency from officials who witness UAPs.

“The source is legit. We know it’s real,” Corbell’s cohost George Knapp said in their podcast Weaponized.

“It was not supposed to be made public. But it should’ve been.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14524977/jeremy-corbell-ufo-disc-video-us-military/

Seven men were arrested on suspicion of assault after an altercation outside Iran’s embassy in west London on Friday (Jun 20) left two people injured, police said.

The Metropolitan Police said the men were detained “on suspicion of grievous bodily harm” and that two individuals were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The fight is understood to have broken out among members of a group of protestors.

Demonstrators opposing Iran’s clerical leadership have been staging protests outside the embassy since Sunday. The group displayed flags associated with Iran’s ousted monarchy alongside Israeli flags.

The demonstrators support Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whose pro-Western regime was overthrown during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Photographs published by British media showed two injured men receiving medical attention on the pavement beside the protest encampment.

Following the incident, the police imposed a ban on further protests in the vicinity of the embassy. One additional man was arrested for allegedly breaching the ban.

The arrests came as Iran and Israel continued to exchange fire eight days into their ongoing conflict, while the United States weighed potential involvement.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/seven-arrested-london-over-iran-embassy-altercation-5194726

Before visiting Sarawak, I didn’t think too much of the area. I had never been to the island of Borneo, home to Malaysian states Sabah and Sarawak, Indonesian Kalimantan, and the nation of Brunei.

I also only had a faint idea that Sarawak was where many indigenous communities of the Orang Dayak, or Dayak people, lived. I had heard it was “rich with culture”, but I didn’t really know what that meant, and thus, the place simply didn’t strike much interest in me.

So, the last thing I expected was a trip there to alter parts of my brain chemistry, but it did.

Witnessing the Gawai Dayak parade and staying in a longhouse (or rumah panjang) didn’t just take me out of my routine. It deepened how I think about indigenous heritage and culture, and what it means to be Singaporean, an identity rooted in the Southeast Asian region and shaped by the coming together of many different ethnicities.

In Sarawak, culture blends in a way that feels far more fluid and natural than I was used to (hi, Chinese-Malay-Indian-Other model in Singapore).

COMING TOGETHER DURING GAWAI DAYAK

My visit to Sarawak was anchored by the Gawai Dayak, a harvest festival celebrated annually in late May and early June by the native Orang Dayak, which included the Iban, Bidayuh and Melanau.

That weekend, I was in Betong, a rural town about three hours from the city of Kuching, where I saw people of different ethnicities come together for a celebration that spanned generations.

People gathered to eat Iban dishes infused with unmistakable Malay and Chinese influences, and wore traditional Dayak attire, like the women’s marik empang and men’s kelambi.

They spoke in a mix of languages – including Jaku Iban, Bahasa Melayu Sarawak, Hokkien, and English – and sang Nusantaran-style songs that echoed through the streets. The songs were filled with the sounds of drums, gongs and stringed instruments, carrying a festive spirit that felt both familiar and new.

Some wore headgear adorned with feathers or beak-like structures symbolising the rhinoceros hornbill, and amulets believed to ward off evil spirits. I saw women in hijab wearing their Iban costumes with pride, and young boys donning their cross necklaces alongside their Bidayuh warrior beads, balancing cultural expression and religious values.

According to the Sarawak government’s 2020 census, the state is home to around 2.5 million people. The largest ethnic group is the Iban, who make up about 30 per cent of the population, followed by the Chinese and Malay communities.

Sarawak’s story, from colonial rule to self-governance to being part of Malaysia, is different from that of Peninsular Malaysia. For many Iban, their sense of identity is rooted not just in national borders but in the shared heritage of Borneo.

During the parade, I spoke to a man in his eighties, who told me he had been celebrating Gawai Dayak since before Sarawak’s self-governance on Jul 22, 1963.

The elder recalled how Gawai Dayak only became an official celebration in 1965. Now, six decades later, he smiled watching toddlers and teenagers drum and ululate down the streets of Betong.

Of course, like anywhere else, there are differences and disagreements, and not everything is perfect. But watching people of all ages, races and religions come together during Gawai Dayak, laughing, drumming, dancing, was deeply heartening.

It showed me that it’s possible to celebrate indigenous heritage without turning it into something performative or commercial. It’s not solely about capitalising on a practice that’s been revered for years but creating a space to honour that specific culture – in this case, the native people who have lived there for thousands of years – and letting that pride be shared, respectfully, by people of many backgrounds.

What seemed like just a foreign parade then made me reflect on my own country’s culture, heritage, and indigenous communities. I thought of all the stories of our native people, such as the Orang Pulau or islanders in Singapore, and the way we can continue honouring them.

EXCHANGING STORIES WHILE STAYING IN A LONGHOUSE

Another significant part of my visit was when I got to stay in a modern longhouse, befriend my lovely hosts, and listen to them and their stories. The longhouse, called Rumah Panjang Engkeranji, was also a central gathering place for the town’s Gawai Dayak celebrations and a glamping-style experience.

Traditional longhouses are made of teak and elevated on stilts – an architectural design that is more sustainably appropriate in our weather and climate – but Rumah Panjang Engkeranji was built from concrete, a more cost-effective choice today.

The longhouse had 22 bilik, or individual family living quarters, and I stayed in the 21st. The whole building stretches about 50 metres long and 5 metres deep, has two storeys, and is home to over 50 nuclear families.

Each bilik belongs to a multi-generational family, and all the bilik in a longhouse share a central corridor called the ruai. It’s where weddings, funerals, festivities like Gawai Dayak, Christmas and more take place.

The ruai is where children play, neighbours catch up, and friendships (possibly even love stories) blossom. It was heartwarming to see how everyone flowed in and out of each other’s spaces.

At the bilik where I stayed, I was warmly hosted by Junan anak Kusau, whom I affectionately called Uncle Charles, and his daughter, Agnes Jentang anak Junan. Their family are devout Christians with many friends and distant relatives of other faiths.

Because it was the Gawai Dayak weekend and many extended families had returned to the longhouse, I also met Agnes’ distant relative, Belle, who used to live in the longhouse before she got married and moved to another longhouse closer to Kuching with her husband.

Belle was incredibly kind. She showed me around, shared stories about her family tree, and explained more about her Iban practices. She is the fifth generation in her family to live in that bilik, and she still travels four hours from Kuching to be there every Gawai.

She laughed heartily whenever we joked about modernity and the changes it brings to Sarawakian culture. She loves preserving her familial traditions, but she acknowledges how change is a constant that she doesn’t wish to resist.

Case in point, she’s proud to still cook her family’s dishes such as kasam ensabi, Iban fermented vegetable pickle, or umbut pantu, a type of vegetable soup, all of which are staples in many Iban homes. But she serves them alongside her own spaghetti bolognese or fried rice with kimchi.

THE MANY GEMS AROUND SINGAPORE

The stories I hear from Belle, Agnes, their Uncle Charles and the elder I met during the Gawai Dayak Parade made the place and the whole visit feel personal and closer to me as a Singaporean than I thought.

This isn’t some tired “city girl meets kampung life” narrative unfolding here (I’m frankly over that trope). This wasn’t about culture shock. Living in a longhouse is undoubtedly a far cry from what I’m used to in Singapore, but it isn’t just about the obvious on-the-surface differences.

What was more significant about the experience was recognising the depth and value of what communal living offers, something I believe all modern city folks could benefit from.

It was meaningful to be in a space where neighbours remember your name and your story, even if you’re from ten bilik down and only crossed paths for a brief moment. There’s a quiet kind of warmth in knowing the people around you care: That they remember you’re a new parent, that you’re facing financial struggles, or simply trying your best to be a better version of yourself.

Sarawak also reminded me once again of the many travel gems close to us that we often (unfortunately) sleep on.

When it comes to travelling, Singaporeans often chase destinations that are further or colder – and hey, I love Tokyo and London, too – but there’s so much beauty just a few hours away, in places that are culturally rich, deeply communal, and part of our larger regional story.

Source : https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/travel/sarawak-longhouse-gawai-dayak-southeast-asia-identity-466751

Sean “Diddy” Combs kept his shockingly massive supply of baby oil and lubricant in cabinets, drawers and an apparent humidity-controlled case — similar to a cigar humidor, according to new photos.

The evidence, which comes from the FBI’s March 2024 raid on Combs’ Los Angeles home, was shown during the disgraced music mogul’s sex trafficking case on Friday, giving jurors an inside glimpse at Diddy’s drug-filled “swinger” lifestyle.

Officials uncovered an array of weapons along with an overwhelming 200 bottles of baby oil and 900 bottles of lubricant that appeared to be kept in multiple corners of his home, including his bedroom.

In addition to Combs’ Los Angeles home, officials also raided his Miami mansion around the same time last year — the results of which were shown to jurors on May 20.

The FBI discovered a slew of weapons, several boxes of high-platform heels typically worn by exotic dancers and lingerie, bottles of baby oil and lubricant, and various bags filled with narcotics.

Most of the sexual-natured items were allegedly used to serve his infamous “freak-off” parties.

Jurors previously heard graphic testimony regarding the wild parties last month as Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura took the witness stand.

The “Me & U” singer, 38, shared that Combs introduced her to the wild, drug-fueled sex marathons when she was 22 years old and claimed that Combs viewed the sex performances as “voyeurism.”

She also alleged the “freak-offs” would take place weekly and the longest one lasted up to about four days.

Large amounts of baby oil would be used for the the events, which involved Ventura engaging in sexual behavior with various escorts while Combs would masturbate as he watched.

Diddy was arrested in a New York City hotel on Sept. 16, 2024.

Upon being taken into police custody, authorities revealed Combs had bottles of baby oil, pink ketamine and $9,000 in cash in the hotel with him.

They also found a prescription bottle of clonazepam that was made out to Frank Black — an alias that Combs often used, according to Ventura and the Bad Boy Records founder’s ex-assistant.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/20/celebrity-news/sean-diddy-combs-kept-precious-stash-of-baby-oil-lube-in-apparent-humidity-controlled-case-photos/

Mommy and me time!

Michelle Obama is enjoying a glamorous vacay with her daughters, Malia and Sasha, in Mallorca. The trio was photographed at the Lobster Club in Puerto Portals, Calvià, earlier this week.

The former First Lady, 61, looked stylish in a colorful printed dress and hoop earrings, while Sasha, 24, wore an off-the-shoulder white t-shirt and a flowy brown skirt. Malia, 26, looked similarly effortlessly chic in a navy blue polka dot top and a denim mini skirt.

Former president Barack Obama, 63, wasn’t present. But joining the family was James Costos, former U.S. ambassador to Spain, as well as his partner, Michael Smith. Smith has been the Obamas’ longtime interior designer, and he’s also responsible for the 2010 makeover of the Oval Office.

The group appeared relaxed in the outdoor setting, enjoying lunch amid other diners at the exclusive venue that features live music, an infinity pool and stunning Mediterranean views.

Although Barack wasn’t at the getaway, Michelle squashed rumors the two were splitting on an episode of “The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett” last month.

The rumors came after Barack attended multiple high-profile public events solo, including President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“That’s not who we are,” Michelle said, noting that she and her husband of 32 years would never “quit” at their marriage. “And I know that about him. He knows that about me.”

She recently paid tribute to him on Father’s Day with a sweet Instagram post. Michelle shared a throwback picture of Sasha sitting on her lap, while Malia sits on Barack’s lap.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/20/celebrity-news/michelle-obama-takes-daughters-malia-and-sasha-on-a-vacation-to-spain/

Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil walked out of a Louisiana immigrant detention center on Friday, hours after a judge ordered his release, a major victory for rights groups that challenged what they called the Trump administration’s unlawful targeting of a pro-Palestinian activist.
“Although justice prevailed,” he said upon his release in the rural town of Jena, “it’s long, very long overdue. And this shouldn’t have taken three months.”

On March 8 Khalil, a prominent figure in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, was arrested by immigration agents in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has called the protests antisemitic and vowed to deport foreign students who took part. Khalil became the first target of this policy.
After hearing oral arguments from lawyers for Khalil and for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz of Newark, New Jersey, ordered DHS to release him from custody at a jail for immigrants in rural Louisiana by 6:30 p.m. (2330 GMT) on Friday.

Farbiarz said the government had made no attempt to rebut evidence provided by Khalil’s lawyers that he was not a flight risk nor a danger to the public.
“There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner,” Farbiarz said, referring to Khalil as he ruled from the bench, adding that punishing someone over a civil immigration matter was unconstitutional.
Khalil is the latest in a string of foreign pro-Palestinian students arrested in the U.S. starting in March who have subsequently been released by judges. They include Mohsen Mahdawi and Rumeysya Ozturk.
Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., says he is being punished for his political speech, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Khalil condemned antisemitism and racism in interviews with CNN and other news outlets last year.

The Syrian-born activist plans to return to New York to be with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, and their infant son, who was born during Khalil’s 104 days in detention.
“This ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others,” Abdalla said in a statement. “Today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom.”
The White House condemned the decision to release Khalil, saying he should be deported for “conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests” and fraudulently obtaining a student visa.
“There is no basis for a local federal judge in New Jersey —who lacks jurisdiction — to order Khalil’s release from a detention facility in Louisiana,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “We expect to be vindicated on appeal.”

The immigration proceedings against Khalil continue.
Khalil, wearing a keffiyeh and raising his right fist as he approached journalists outside the detention center, condemned what he called the Trump administration’s racist immigration policies. He said he was leaving behind hundreds of men housed at the detention center who should not be there.
“The Trump administration are doing their best to dehumanize everyone here,” he said outside the gates of the facility. “No one is illegal, no human is illegal.”
Khalil said that his time in detention had changed him.
“Once you enter there, you see a different reality,” he said. “A different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice.”
The Louisiana immigration judge in his case had denied his asylum request on Friday, ruling he could be deported based on the government’s allegations of immigration fraud, and denied a bail hearing. Farbiarz’s decision rendered the bail request moot.
Like others facing deportation, Khalil has avenues to appeal within the immigration system. Farbiarz is also considering Khalil’s challenge of his deportation on constitutional grounds, and has blocked officials from deporting Khalil while that challenge plays out.
Earlier this month, Farbiarz ruled the government was violating Khalil’s free speech rights by detaining him under a little-used law granting the U.S. secretary of state power to seek deportation of non-citizens whose presence in the country was deemed adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests.
On June 13, the judge declined to order Khalil’s release from a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, after Trump’s administration said Khalil was being held on a separate charge that he withheld information from his application for lawful permanent residency.
Khalil’s lawyers deny that allegation and say people are rarely detained on such charges. On June 16, they urged Farbiarz to grant a separate request from their client to be released on bail or be transferred to immigration detention in New Jersey to be closer to his family in New York.
At Friday’s hearing, Farbiarz said it was “highly unusual” for the government to jail an immigrant accused of omissions in his application for U.S. permanent residency.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-judge-orders-release-pro-palestinian-activist-khalil-2025-06-20/

Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson on Friday said that the airline would not operate any flight “Where there is any doubt.”

In an email to the employees Wilson said, “The additional pre-flight checks we are doing reduces the number of hours aircraft are available to operate, which – also considering the extra flight time arising from new airspace closures in the Middle East, on top of the Pakistan closure – is why we have… [decided] to reduce the amount of flying over the coming weeks. We will progressively restore when the time is right.”

Speaking about the crash, Wilson said Air India will continue to support the families of the deceased and those who have been affected by the tragedy.

The Email further read, “Around 500 colleagues from Air India and 17 other Tata companies remain in Ahmedabad to help the families of passengers, crew and those on the ground. Progress is being made, together with the authorities, on reconciling families with their loved ones, and as of this morning more than 200 have received some degree of solace and closure.”

“This is equally true for those of our colleagues, who we will support in the same way. You may have read social media commentary on the perceived lack of visibility of Air India at the services held for our colleagues. I can assure you that we have had senior representation at each and every one. We are, however, taking care that our presence does not cause disruption at a time so important for families and loved ones, as a matter of respect,” the official communication read.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/wont-fly-any-aircraft-in-doubt-air-india-ceo-after-ahmedabad-crash

President Trump tore into the US intelligence community on Friday for having been “wrong” about how close Iran was to acquiring a nuclear weapon months ago, telling reporters that he now believes Tehran has a “tremendous amount” of enriched uranium that could build a bomb in just a few weeks.

Trump made the assessment after breaking from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony before Congress in March that Iran was not building nuclear weapons.

“What intelligence do you have that Iran is building a weapon? Your intelligence community said they have no evidence that they are at this point,” the reporter asked Trump on the tarmac outside of Bedminster, New Jersey.

“Then my intelligence community is wrong,” the president said, asking who said that.

“She’s wrong,” he said of Gabbard.

The spy chief had also noted in her testimony that Iran’s uranium stockiples were at unprecedented levels for a non-nuclear state.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that “Iran has all that it needs to keep a nuclear weapon” and “all they need is a decision from the Supreme leader to do that.”

Trump was more lenient in his approximation Friday, saying it was either a “matter of weeks” or a “matter of months” before Tehran had all the components.

The president announced Thursday that he would be making his final decision on whether to strike Iran using the US military “within the next two weeks” if Tehran doesn’t “come to their senses” about the need to eliminate its nuclear program.

“We’re going to see what that period of time is, but I’m giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum,” Trump added Friday.

He appeared to rule out using US ground forces to invade Iran.

“Well, I’m not going to talk about ground forces. The last thing you want to do is ground force,” the commander-in-chief said.

Iran’s foreign minister earlier on Friday had rejected the notion of a cease-fire in the conflict.

“I think it’s very hard to make that request right now,” Trump also said of potentially calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and telling him to halt the strikes on Iran.

“If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens. We’ll see what happens.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/20/us-news/trump-makes-bold-claim-about-irans-nuclear-ambitions-says-his-intelligence-community-is-wrong/

 

An Israeli childcare center was obliterated by a ballistic missile and dozens of Iranian military targets were bombed Friday — as Israel and Iran continued to pummel each other with strikes a week into their war.

Disturbing surveillance video showed an Iranian “cluster rocket” wiping out the daycare facility in Beersheba in southern Israel early on Friday, officials said.

“The building sustained significant damage. Miraculously, no children or staff were present — the attack occurred just after closing time on Friday,” the Colel Chabad Daycare Center acknowledged after the strike.

Hours later, sirens started sounding across other parts of the Jewish state as missile impacts were reported in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa, Israel’s military said.

In the port city of Haifa, one hospital said it received 19 wounded people from the site of an Iranian missile blast. Two people had serious-to-moderate injuries and the rest were lightly hurt, the hospital said.

Israel’s paramedic service, Magen David Adom — or MDA, said a 16-year-old boy was in serious condition after suffering shrapnel wounds to his upper body and a 54-year-old man was in moderate condition after a shrapnel injury to his legs. The service didn’t specify which strikes the two had been wounded in.

Still, about 20 missiles were fired in the latest Iranian strikes, an Israeli military official said.

The missile and drone attacks used long-range and ultra-heavy missiles against military sites, defense industries and command and control centers, Fars news agency reported, citing an Iranian military spokesman.

Israel, for its part, said it conducted airstrikes in Iran on Friday with more than 60 aircraft hitting industrial sites to manufacture missiles.

At least five people were injured when Israel hit a five-story building in Tehran that housed a bakery and a hairdresser’s, Fars reported.

The military also struck the headquarters of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which the US has in the past linked to alleged Iranian research and testing tied to the possible development of nuclear explosive devices.

It also carried out airstrikes targeting the areas around Kermanshah and Tabriz in western Iran, where the military said 25 fighter jets struck “missile storage and launch infrastructure components” first thing Friday.

Iran, though, didn’t immediately acknowledge the losses.

“A week has passed since the operation began,” Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters. “We are strengthening our air control in the region and advancing our air offensive. We have more sites to strike in Tehran, western Iran and other places.”

Separately, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said he’d instructed the IDF to step up its onslaught on Tehran in an effort to “destabilize the regime.”

“We must strike all symbols of the regime and its mechanisms of oppression, such as the Basij, as well as the base of the regime’s power, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Katz said.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/20/world-news/childcare-center-bombed-dozens-of-military-sites-targeted-as-iran-israel-war-rages-on/

History was happening in Manhattan — and Madonna was on her iPad.

“Hamilton” actor Anthony Ramos is calling out the pop star for her behavior when she attended the Tony-winning Broadway show years ago.

During a “Watch What Happens Live” appearance, Andy Cohen asked the performer, 33, “Who was the most terrifying celebrity to spot in the audience during your ‘Hamilton’ days?”

Ramos replied: “The most terrifying was Madonna with her iPad in her face.”

“She was like this the whole time,” he added on Thursday, as he pretended to look down at a screen.

“I was like, ‘Damn, shorty,’” he continued. “I’m like, ‘If you not enjoying it that much, you know the door’s right there. You ain’t got to stay here.’”

The Post reached out to a rep for Madonna for comment.

Ramos starred in the original 2015 musical, taking on two roles — including playing Alexander Hamilton’s son Philip, who is killed in a duel.

The actor isn’t the first to speak about Madonna’s appearance at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

Lin-Manuel Miranda — who starred as Alexander Hamilton and also wrote the book and music — tweeted about the incident at the time.

“Tonight was the first time I asked stage management NOT to allow a celebrity (who was texting all through Act 2) backstage. #noselfieforyou,” he wrote at the time.

Despite not sharing the person’s name, rumors circulated that Madonna was the culprit.

The Grammy winner’s publicist denied the accusations, stating: “It’s not true. She was invited backstage four different times.”

“She texted post show when they were doing their fundraising pitch,” her rep continued. “Madonna had already made a generous donation.”

Jonathan Groff, who played King George III, also confirmed the rumors, sharing that she was not invited backstage “because that b–ch was on her phone.”

The “Spring Awakening” star, 40, expressed, “You couldn’t miss it from the stage. It was a black void of the audience in front of us and her face there perfectly lit by the light of her iPhone through three-quarters of the show.”

The “Vogue” artist is no stranger to Broadway, having starred in the play “Speed-the-Plow” by David Mamet play in 1988.

Then, in 1996, Madonna portrayed Eva Perón in the film adaptation of “Evita.” She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.

Broadway vet Patti LuPone previously won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Eva on Broadway in 1979.

The actress, 76, was critical of Madonna’s take on the role.

While on “Watch What Happens Live” in 2017, a viewer asked LuPone, “Did you and Madonna ever have a conversation about your two iconic performances as Evita?”

“No,” she responded. “But she was downstairs at the Mitzi Newhouse when I was upstairs doing ‘Anything Goes’ in the Vivian Beaumont, and a press agent actually put a sign up that there was only one diva allowed in this theater at a time. It wasn’t me! It was the press agent that did it. I don’t know whether she ever found out about it. I did meet her after her opening night party, and the only thing that Madonna has ever said to me was, ‘I’m taller than you.’ Bada-bing!”

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/20/entertainment/hamilton-star-anthony-ramos-calls-out-madonna-for-her-behavior-at-broadway-show/

Whether you reckon they are cute, ugly or just plain weird, chances are you have heard of the furry dolls that have become a global sensation – Labubu.

Born a monster, the elf-like creature from Chinese toy maker Pop Mart is now a viral purchase. And it has no dearth of celebrity advocates: Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian and Blackpink’s Lisa. Ordinary folk are just as obsessed – from Shanghai to London, the long queues to snap up the doll have made headlines, sometimes descending into fights even.

“You get such a sense of achievement when you are able to get it among such fierce competition,” says avowed fan Fiona Zhang.

The world’s fascination with Labubu has almost tripled Pop Mart’s profits in the past year – and, according to some, even energised Chinese soft power, which has been bruised by the pandemic and a strained relationship with the West.

So, how did we get here?

She’s not kidding around.

Former first lady Michelle Obama said she was “glad” she didn’t have a son because he would have turned out exactly like her husband, former President Barack Obama.

Obama, 61, doled out the ego-checking barb on Wednesday’s episode of “IMO,” the podcast she hosts with her brother Craig Robinson, as the siblings were chatting with Hot 97 radio personality Angie Martinez, who suggested the mother of two “should have threw a boy in the mix.”

“I’m so glad I didn’t have a boy,” Sasha and Malia’s mom plainly stated.

“Because he would have been a Barack Obama. Ooh,” the “Becoming” author said, looking down and shaking her head for emphasis.

“Baby Barack! It would have been amazing,” Martinez enthusiastically countered.

“No, I woulda felt for him,” Obama said.

The episode focused extensively on parenting male children as Martinez has one son and Robinson has three boys.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Obama’s musings pointed to a potential preoccupation with her 32-year marriage to the former president — which many have speculated is on the rocks.

“Teach [your son] about how to deal with the traffic stop, but also teach him how to communicate in a marriage and to be a listening father,” Obama said before scoffing at the idea of having a baby Barack.

Despite the possibly unintended jab, Michelle praised her hubby for his parenting prowess just last week in an interview with rock legend — and noted Democrat — Bruce Springsteen.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/19/us-news/michelle-obama-so-glad-she-didnt-have-a-son-would-have-been-a-barack-obama/

The Adams administration has inked a nearly $1 billion no-bid contract with the hotel industry for emergency shelter space — despite boasting that the migrant crisis is tapering off, The Post has learned.

Taxpayers are on the hook for the $929.1 million reupped with the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation as the total city population still includes a whopping 86,000 people, including homeless individuals and asylum seekers.

“These hotel units will be used by social services vendors to house emergency shelter clients who have entered the [Department of Homeless Services] shelter system,” the agency said in a notice posted Wednesday.

The reupped contract took effect in January and runs through June 30, 2026. It was awarded via “negotiated acquisition” – meaning it was not put out for competitive bids. The initial contract was negotiated through the end of 2025, as previously reported by The Post.

The move is a head-scratcher, said Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

“Why do we need to be using so many hotels for day to day homeless management?,” Gelinas said. “This is turning an emergency program into a permanent program and taking a block of hotel rooms off the tourist market while people complain the city’s hotel room costs are so high.”

Gelinas said the city should have made hotels bid against each other instead of treating the hospitality industry “as a monopoly” with a sole source contract.

Under the new contract, it’s up to the Hotel Association as a “fiscal agent” of the program to connect the city with hotels that are willing to set aside rooms to shelter homeless individuals and families in exchange for rental payments.

The overall cost to house migrants per night is $352 — including $130 to hotels for the room rental, city officials said last year. The association takes a “nominal fee” for administrative expenses, its CEO said.

“This agreement is an extension of the non-profit HANYC foundation’s ongoing work since COVID to connect city funding with hotels to address New York’s need to provide emergency services to the homeless,” said Hotel Association CEO Vijay Dandapani.

“The foundation began providing this service five years ago pro-bono and only takes a nominal fee for limited administrative expenses in order to ensure taxpayer money is spent efficiently.”

Dandapani said the $929.1 million is the maximum authorized but not guaranteed to be spent under the contract, and noted the city’s spending on these services “has declined steadily over the last two years.” The contract comes as the trade group is lobbying city lawmakers to slash the hotel occupancy tax on tourists from 6% to 3%.

The city began relying more extensively on hotels for emergency lodging and shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help contain the spread of the deadly bug, a trend that dramatically expanded during the peak of the migrant crisis, when 4,000 asylum seekers flooded the Big Apple each week.

The Adams administration defended extending the emergency contract with hotels, saying the Big Apple is still grappling with a high shelter population compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019, when there were 61,415 people in shelters.

The number hit as high as 140,134 in January 2024, a staggering 127% from two years prior, according to a report issued by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

Under New York’s right to shelter policy, the city must provide emergency shelter to all who need it, sources said.

The city said it has now spent $3.12 billion on shelter and related costs to house migrants since the crisis began in 2022, including costs to rent hotel rooms.

“As the city’s shelter system was pushed to its limits following an influx of new arrivals, the Adams administration acted quickly and decisively to effectively address the crisis and acquire emergency shelter capacity to serve households in need,” a Department of Social Services/Homeless Services spokesman said.

“While the administration’s whole-of-government response to the crisis has significantly reduced the number of households living in shelter, the total shelter census still far exceeds pre-pandemic highs.”

Some 150 hotels in the five boroughs sheltered migrants in tens of thousands of rooms at the peak of the migrant crisis set off in the midst of an influx at the southern border during the administration of former President Joe Biden.

The historic Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan became a very visible symbol of the city’s struggles to contend with the influx of migrants into the city. Roosevelt was used as an intake center near tourist hot spots and in an area packed with commuters while “tent cities” plagued by issues including crime popped up elsewhere in the five boroughs.

But Mayor Eric Adams announced the phase-out and closure of the city’s largest emergency shelters in recent months — including the massive tent encampments at Randall’s Island and Floyd Bennett Field. The closure announcements came as the number of new arrivals plummeted and some asylum seekers were moved outside of the Big Apple.

President Trump returned to office in January, launching a border crackdown and taking a hardline stance on illegal immigration, which has further fueled the slowing influx into the city. Illegal border crossings have slowed to a trickle under beefed up enforcement — from a peak of 4,000 per week to just a few hundred.

Locally, dozens of hotels that were used as migrant shelters were slowly phased out and transitioned back to lodging tourists, including those in Times Square and around John F. Kennedy Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/19/us-news/nyc-inks-1-billion-shelter-contract-with-hotels-despite-end-of-migrant-crisis/

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faced growing calls for her resignation in a deepening political crisis set off by a leaked recording of her negotiating with Cambodia’s former leader in the two nations’ latest border dispute.

Paetongtarn apologized to the public on Thursday, after a major coalition partner used the leaked phone call to pull out of the fragile government led by her Pheu Thai Party. Paetongtarn has already been criticized for a perceived soft stance toward Cambodia, especially by right-wing nationalists who are longtime foes of her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The latest border dispute involved an armed confrontation May 28 in a relatively small contested territory in which one Cambodian soldier was killed.

Outrage over the leak

Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen posted the full, 17-minute phone call on his Facebook page after a shorter version was leaked Wednesday. He said he recorded the conversation “to avoid any misunderstanding or misrepresentation in official matters,” adding that he shared the recording with at least 80 people.

In the recording, Paetongtarn was heard calling Hun Sen “uncle” as they discussed through translators whether they should lift border restrictions imposed after the deadly clash. Backlash revolved around her calling a Thai army commander in charge of the border area where the clash happened as “an opponent.” Critics said she was trying to please Hun Sen too much and made Thailand look weak.

However, she said she would no longer engage in a private talk with Hun Sen as she could not trust him. “It’s now clear that all that he cares about is his popularity in the country, without considering impacts on relations with other countries,” she said.

Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it submitted a protest letter over the leaked recording with the Cambodian ambassador, saying that Cambodia’s actions were unacceptable and “a breach of diplomatic etiquette, a serious violation of trust, and undermines conduct between two neighboring countries.”

Paetongtarn has described the two families as having close, longtime relationships. Her father Thaksin and Hun Sen reportedly regard each other as “godbrothers.” In 2009, Hun Sen appointed Thaksin as a Cambodian government adviser, but Thaksin soon resigned the position.

Mounting pressure

Hours after the leak, the Bhumjaithai party, the biggest partner in Paetongtarn’s ruling coalition, said it would quit because of the leaked phone call. The party’s statement said the recording “posed an impact on Thailand’s sovereignty, territory, interests and the army.” The party called for Paetongtarn to take responsibility for the damage, although they did not say how.

There has already been a rift between Bhumjaithai and Pheu Thai over reports that the former would be shuffled out of the powerful Interior Ministry. Several Bhumjaithai leaders are also under investigation over the alleged rigging of the Senate election in which many figures who are reportedly close to the party claimed a majority of seats.

The departure of Bhumjaithai left the 10-party coalition with 255 seats, just above the majority of the 500-seat house.

Opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut of the People’s Party on Thursday called for Paetongtarn to dissolve Parliament and hold a new election. He said the leaked phone call was “the last straw” that destroyed people’s faith in her administration.

Dozens of nationalists protesters gathered near the Government House on Thursday, holding Thai national flags and signs calling for Paetongtarn to resign. Some senators said they will file a motion to impeach her, and several other individuals also filed complaints over the matter to law enforcement agencies.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/thailand-paetongtarn-shinawatra-cambodia-hun-sen-23aa38541ae1b42616d934781d62cd38

Japan’s core inflation hit a more than two-year high in May and exceeded the central bank’s 2% target for well over three years, keeping it under pressure to resume interest rate hikes despite economic headwinds from U.S. tariffs.
The data underscores the challenge the Bank of Japan faces in juggling pressure from sticky food inflation and risks to the fragile economy from uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade policy.

The core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food costs, rose 3.7% in May from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, exceeding market forecasts for a 3.6% gain and accelerating from a 3.5% increase in April. It was the fastest annual pace since the 4.2% hit in January 2023.
The increase was driven by stubbornly high prices of food, excluding volatile fresh items like vegetables, with Japan’s staple rice seeing prices double in May from year-before levels.
Rice balls cost nearly 20% more than year-before levels, while a bar of chocolate saw prices rise 27%, the data showed.

While slower than the 5.3% increase in goods prices, service-sector inflation accelerated to 1.4% in May from 1.3% in April in a sign firms were steadily passing on labour costs.
“Given heightened uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy, the BOJ is taking a wait-and-see approach to scrutinise developments in bilateral trade talks,” said Ryosuke Katagi, market economist at Mizuho Securities.
“But today’s data shows anew that domestic inflation is heightening particularly that for goods. When looking just at price moves, conditions for additional rate hikes will likely stay in place throughout 2025,” he said.
A separate index that strips away the effects of both volatile fresh food and fuel costs rose 3.3% in May from a year earlier after a 3.0% rise in April, the data showed.
The rise in the index, which is closely watched by the BOJ as a better indicator of demand-driven price moves, was the fastest since January 2024 when it increased 3.5%.

Food prices, excluding those of volatile fresh food, rose 7.7% in May from a year earlier, faster than the 7.0% gain in April, reflecting the pain households are feeling from rising living costs.
BOJ policymakers expect such cost-push pressures to moderate later this year and, coupled with expected rises in wages, underpin consumption and keep Japan on track to durably achieve their 2% inflation target backed by solid domestic demand.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect core inflation in Tokyo, considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends, to slow to 3.3% in June from 3.6% in May.
But some analysts are less convinced.
“Inflation is overshooting expectations. The rise in food costs is particularly big and re-accelerating this year,” said Yoshiki Shinke, an economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, adding that firms seem keen to raise prices further.

“Core consumer inflation will likely slow below 3% in August and below 2% early 2026. But the pace of slowdown could be more moderate than we expect,” he said.
The BOJ ended a massive stimulus programme last year and in January raised short-term rates to 0.5% on the view Japan was on the cusp of durably meeting its 2% inflation target.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japans-core-inflation-hits-2-year-high-keeps-rate-hike-bets-alive-2025-06-19/

A Chinese PhD student who drugged and raped 10 women in the UK and China was on Thursday (Jun 19) jailed for life, with a minimum term of 24 years.

Passing sentence, UK judge Rosina Cottage said that to the world, Zou Zhenhao, 28, appeared “well to do, ambitious and charming” but this was in fact a mask hiding a “sexual predator”.

Zou, who lived in south London, used online platforms and dating apps to meet women, inviting them to his home under the pretext of having drinks or studying before drugging them.

Zou was found guilty of 28 offences: 11 counts of rape, three counts of voyeurism, 10 counts of possession of extreme pornographic images, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of drugs with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Over the course of the four-week trial, prosecutors presented evidence proving Zou was a serial rapist who used social media platforms and dating websites to target his victims.

After inviting them to his apartments in London and China, he drugged them before carrying out his attacks. Zou would secretly film these rapes using a mobile device and hidden cameras.

He kept some of the victims’ jewellery and clothing afterwards, prosecutors said.

Police officers found hundreds of videos of the attacks.

He was jailed at Inner London Crown Court, with the 24-year minimum term reduced by time he had already spent in custody.

“Zou is a serial rapist and a danger to women. His life sentence reflects the heinous acts and harm he caused to women and the danger he posed to society,” said prosecutor Saira Pike.

Detective Inspector Richard MacKenzie from London’s Metropolitan Police said outside court: “The sheer scale of his offending, which spanned two countries, makes him one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen.”

Originally from Dongguan in Guangdong Province, Zou is believed to have moved to the UK in 2017 and began studying for a PhD at University College London in 2019.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/rapist-zou-zhenhao-chinese-phd-student-uk-china-jail-life-sentence-5192461

A SMALL plane has crashed and left one person dead and another critically injured near Boston.

The Mooney M20 aircraft crashed on a street close to Beverly Regional Airport in Massachusetts at around 8.45am on Thursday.

Two men were inside the aircraft that crashed on Sam Fonzo Drive, just outside the Beverly Regional Airport, according to the Beverly police and fire departments.

One man was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was airlifted to a hospital, authorities said.

The names of the pilot and passenger have not been made public.

No one on the ground was injured.

The reported fixed-wing aircraft with four seats appeared to be badly damaged – and was resting against a utility pole.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said: “The preliminary information we have is the plane crashed under unknown circumstances.”

It added: “Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft.

“The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation.”

The NTSB investigator said a preliminary report would likely be out in two weeks’ time.

Witnesses told WBZ-TV that they saw a puff of smoke before the plane came tumbling down.

This could be a sign of an engine failure.

Police Chief John Lelacheur told the TV channel: “It’s a holiday [Juneteenth], there’s not a lot of businesses open right now.

“We’re going to go through footage when we can with the various businesses when they open, bring some people in and then, obviously, do some follow up tomorrow.”

The plane, which departed from Beverly, was flying to Ticonderoga Municipal Airport – around 100 miles north of Albany, New York, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Beverly is a suburb of Boston with a population of over 42,000 people.

It comes as five people died after two helicopters crashed into each other in Finland in May.

The helicopters had reportedly taken off from Estonia, and were on their way to an aviation event.

Flight tracking data showed the aircraft flying closely together for most of their journey.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14518644/light-plane-crashes-boston/

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto signed a strategic partnership agreement with Russia on Thursday following talks in St Petersburg with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The agreement comes as Indonesia enters the BRICS grouping as a full member, and Prabowo on Thursday thanked Putin for his support on Indonesia’s BRICS bid.

“Today we have met and our relationship is getting stronger again,” Prabowo said in a statement.

“My meeting with President Putin today was intense, warm and productive. In all fields of economics, technical cooperation, trade, investment, agriculture, they all have experienced significant improvements,” the statement said.

Putin called Indonesia one of Russia’s “key partners” in the Asia Pacific.

“Our relations are mutually beneficial and are steadily developing on the basis of long-standing traditions of friendship and mutual assistance,” he said.

Another BRIC in the wall

The BRICS grouping was conceived as a counter to Western-led forums like the G7, and has provided Putin with an avenue out of international diplomatic isolation over his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow’s deepening of ties with Indonesia is seen as part of a bid to partner with more global south countries.

During the meeting Thursday at St Petersburg’s Constantine Palace, Putin said he was confident Indonesia would make a significant contribution to the BRICS grouping, whose other members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Russia has also proposed deepening military, security, trade and nuclear ties with Indonesia.

During the meeting, sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia and the Russian Direct Investment Fund agreed to create an investment fund worth $2.29 billion (€2 billion).

Indonesia’s non-alignment

Indonesia’s president maintains a non-aligned foreign policy, vowing to share close ties with any country, including Russia and the United States.

Prabowo’s government has already announced trade concessions to avert the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump.

He also insists Indonesia will not join any military bloc, although it conducted joint naval exercises with Russia in the Java Sea last November.

In 2023, it upgraded its relationship with the US to a comprehensive strategic partnership. And Prabowo’s government has already announced trade concessions to avert the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/indonesia-inks-strategic-partnership-with-russia/a-72978138

The world is on course to crash through a dangerous warming threshold with key climate indicators shifting at an alarming rate, more than 60 top UN scientists have warned.

Bill Hare, CEO of think tank Climate Analytics, said Thursday it was “inevitable” that the world would breach the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) limit in around five years “unless emissions are reduced quickly.”

“If emissions are reduced quickly, rapidly, as we know they can be, there is still a likelihood of exceeding a low overshoot of the 1.5 limit, and by low overshoot, I mean 1.6 degrees,” he said during a press briefing at the UN interim climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany.

Unless action is taken now, Hare added, it would not be long before the world also “bust through 2 degrees.”

‘We are already in crunch time’

The global surface temperature briefly exceeded the 1.5-degree limit in 2024, as greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation hit a new high. Coal, oil and gas account for more than 80% of global energy consumption, despite increasing investment in renewable energy.

Scientists have said crossing the 1.5 limit, first set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement by nearly 200 nations, would see a rise in extreme heat waves, devastating droughts and more intense storms. That increase has already been felt in recent years.

The Indicators of Global Climate Change report, out Thursday, says that to have a 50% chance of staying under the threshold, the world can only release 130 billion tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide. At the current rate of CO2 emissions, however, that “carbon budget” will likely be spent by 2028.

“We are already in crunch time for these higher levels of warming,” co-author Joeri Rogelj, a professor of climate science and policy at Imperial College London, told journalists, adding there was a “very high chance” that the world would “reach and even exceed 1.5 C.”

The report’s authors said the findings should be taken as a reality check by global policymakers.

“I tend to be an optimistic person,” said lead author Piers Forster, head of the University of Leeds Priestley Centre for Climate Futures in the UK. “But if you look at this year’s update, things are all moving in the wrong direction.”

Sea level rise has doubled

The report, a regular update between the landmark UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports released every five to seven years, also highlighted other concerning key climate indicators.

Sea level rise has doubled in recent years, up from around 1.8 millimeters per year between 1908 and 2018 to 4.3 mm since 2019, putting coastal cities and small island states at risk.

The Earth’s energy imbalance, the difference between the amount of solar energy entering the atmosphere and the smaller amount leaving it, has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. Until now, 91% of human-caused warming has been absorbed by the oceans, but scientists said they don’t know how much longer humanity can rely on them to soak up the excess heat.

Rogelj said actions moving forward now could still “critically change” the rate of warming and limit the increasingly destructive effects of climate change.

“It’s really the difference between just cruising through 1.5 C towards much higher levels of 2 C or trying to limit warming somewhere in the range of 1.5,” he said.

Global conflict, Trump’s policies weaken climate efforts

But action on that front has taken a hit, with global concerns shifting to security and other pressing matters amid multiple ongoing conflicts. Climate experts have pointed out that President Donald Trump’s move to target climate action and pull the US out of the Paris agreement could also weaken international efforts to tackle the problem.

“You need everybody on board doing the right thing, and this is very difficult,” said Brazilian climate secretary Andre Correa do Lago, president of the upcoming COP30 climate summit, speaking with DW before the report was released.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/crunch-time-for-climate-action-scientists-warn/a-72974250

Since a Hamas-led terror attack left nearly 1,200 people dead in Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 55.000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza, and destroyed large parts of Gaza. Israel has blocked nearly all foreign journalists from reporting from Gaza. Palestinians journalists have worked within the territory to get news and images out to the world.

There are many online videos that show mass destruction. However, there is also a lot of confusion about the images shared online. Though much of the content is real, oftentimes AI-generated images go viral, contributing to the confusion. DW has confirmed that one video that has recently circulated widely is real.

Does this video really show Gaza?

Claim: This viral video, which had been viewed more than 9 million times when this article was published, shows some of the mass destruction in Gaza (archived here). “The world was silent while Israel committed genocide — now they lecture us about ethics? Gaza,” the post on X reads. In the video, you can see footage taken with a drone, showing a large area after a bombing and massive destruction.

The low quality and grey tones make the video look suspicious, so some users are asking in the comments if it is real. DW found that the video is not manipulated or AI-generated, as asserted by some, but what Gaza really looks like at the moment.

The first clue that the footage is real is the name Abu Samar, written as a watermark in the left corner of the video. DW found out that this is the name of the photographer and even found his Instagram profile. His full name is Mohammed Abu Samar. He posted a higher-quality version of the video on Instagram on April 4. It’s very detailed, the colors are realistic, and the movements of the people are authentic.

Additionally, we found the footage on Associated Press, dated February 16 and 17, 2025. It says that it’s the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza. Samar has contributed to AP several times.

Media report that Israel has bombed Jabaliya multiple times since the strikes began, claiming it was a Hamas command center. That claim cannot be verified independently.

What can be verified is the mass destruction of Jabaliya caused by Israel. Recent satellite images from Google Earth show the destroyed refugee camp in December 2024.

The video posted on X shows an accurate example of the destruction in Gaza.

False narratives cause confusion

We also had a closer look at the account that posted the video on X. It’s called Iranian Military Commentary and has a blue check mark next to it, implying that it is a real and official account. However, that is not true. The blue check mark indicates that the account subscribes to X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue), which any user who pays and meets basic eligibility requirements can get.

It is not an official account.

It is labeled a “commentary account” which means that it is commenting on topics related to Iranian military actions. It also states that in its bio: “Updates on the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-viral-drone-video-of-gaza-destruction-is-real/a-72968972

International Yoga Day is observed every year on June 21 to promote physical, mental, and spiritual well-being

British Conservative MP Bob Blackman on Thursday hosted a special yoga session in the UK Parliament. The event, held just ahead of International Yoga Day on June 21, saw the participation of several Members of Parliament and staff.

Sharing photos from the gathering on social media platform X, Blackman wrote, “I hostedhosted a fantastic Yoga event in Parliament, atended by many MPs and colleagues. Yoga is India’s gift to the world!”

See more

I hosted a fantastic Yoga event in Parliament, atended by many MPs and colleagues. Yoga is India’s gift to the world! This Saturday marks #InternationalYogaDay2025 https://t.co/r7g6SGK4iF pic.twitter.com/x3SZFmQNuI

— Bob Blackman (@BobBlackman) June 19, 2025

Earlier in the day, he had invited his fellow parliamentarians to join the session.

“This Saturday is the longest day and also #InternationalYogaDay – India’s gift to the world! I invited colleagues to our Yoga event in Parliament, to practice yoga and having a healthy, long life,” he shared on the platform.

International Yoga Day is observed every year on June 21 to promote physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Recognised by the United Nations in 2014, the day highlights the many benefits of yoga, from improving flexibility and strength to reducing stress and anxiety.

Events are held across the globe to raise awareness of the positive impact of yoga on overall health and quality of life.

Blackman, MP for Harrow East, is well-known for his strong support for India in the UK Parliament. He has repeatedly spoken out in favour of India’s domestic and foreign policy stances and has openly criticised Pakistan for allegedly backing cross-border terrorism.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/indias-gift-to-the-world-british-mp-bob-blackman-hosts-yoga-event-in-uk-parliament-ws-l-9394491.html

New Zealand announced on Thursday (Jun 19) it was suspending NZ$18.2 million (US$10.97 million) in budget funding to the Cook Islands, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the Cook Islands’ deepening ties with China.

A spokesperson for New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement that the country’s core sector support funding relies on a high trust bilateral relationship and New Zealand decided in early June to pause the funding.

We “will also not consider significant new funding until the Cook Islands Government takes concrete steps to repair the relationship and restore trust”, the spokesperson said.

“New Zealand hopes that steps will be taken swiftly to address New Zealand’s concerns so that this support can be resumed as soon as possible.”

New Zealand along with Australia has become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific region and the potential threats it poses to the country’s national security. In January, the government halted new development funding to the Republic of Kiribati, an island in Micronesia.

The Cook Islands is a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand. New Zealand commits to defend the South Pacific nation if asked, Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens, and the two countries commit to consult on security, defence and foreign policy issues.

Over the past three years, New Zealand has provided NZ$194.2 million to the Cook Islands through the development programme, according to the government.

In February, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown visited China and signed a strategic partnership that spanned areas from deep-sea mining to education scholarships but excluded security ties.

This concerned New Zealand, which says the Cook Islands did not properly consult on the documents ahead of the signing, which breached the arrangement between the two countries.

The Cook Islands government had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publishing. The New Zealand government said Brown was told of the decision in early June by letter.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/new-zealand-halts-cook-islands-funding-china-row-5191106

As this club concludes its latest summit by defining success merely as avoiding a rage quit by the American guest, one wonders: What’s the point anymore? Bloomberg Opinion’s Andreas Kluth weighs in.

Fifty years ago, it seemed like such a good idea. At the initiative of the West German and French leaders, the six leading industrialised democracies convened their first regular meeting to manage a troubled world – problems included the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the oil shocks and stagflation.

They later became the Group of Seven (G7), then briefly Eight, then Seven again. But as this club concludes its latest summit in the Canadian Rockies by defining success merely as avoiding a rage quit by the American guest, one wonders: What’s the point anymore?

The world is on fire from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and beyond, and the G7 leaders are at odds over how to analyse, let alone solve, any of these conflicts.

French President Emmanuel Macron and others want Israel to desist from further escalation against Iran. US President Donald Trump may not have wanted Israel to attack Iran while his own envoy was trying to negotiate a deal with Tehran, but now that the war is underway he seems fine with Israel finishing the job.

Macron also intends to recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. By contrast, Trump’s ambassador to Israel told Bloomberg that the US no longer believes in a two-state solution, not even in the long term.

The discord over the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has even deeper roots. Trump promised to end it in a single day but, five months into his second term, has all but walked away from even trying. The blame belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin (who once was the eighth summiteer in the group, until he was kicked out for annexing parts of Ukraine in 2014).

Putin shows no interest in good-faith negotiations and adroitly strings Trump along – the two just had another call, after which Trump even suggested (to Macron’s horror) that Putin might mediate the Israel-Iran showdown.

NOT QUITE DEJA VU

As Trump wavers in supporting Ukraine, the Europeans understand that they need to step up; they are urging much harsher sanctions against Russia. In that demand, they have backers in the US Congress, even among Republicans. But Trump, so far, has other instincts.

That’s hardly a secret to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who does not represent a G7 nation but is again on the guest list, along with leaders from the Global South such as South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa. Both men were recently humiliated by Trump in reality-TV-inspired ambushes at the White House – Trump in effect accused his South African guest of presiding over genocide against white Afrikaners.

The host, Canada’s Mark Carney, survived his own visit to the White House relatively unscathed but owes his election largely to his promise to Canadians to resist one of Trump’s most outlandish taunts: his repeated threat to annex Canada as America’s 51st state. Apropos outlandish threats: Macron none-too-subtly travelled to Canada via Greenland, to show support for that Danish territory, which Trump also covets.

All this and more is happening against the backdrop of the trade wars that Trump has launched against his fellow summiteers and other guests (Mexico’s leader is also invited).

Coordinating a harmonious and open global monetary and commercial regime was the original purpose of these annual summits. Now the best that the six non-American participants can hope for is to talk Trump out of his worst protectionist impulses before even more draconian trade barriers snap into action next month.

Deja vu all over again, you might shrug. After all, Trump already disrupted a G7 meeting in Canada once. That was in 2018, when he balked at signing the joint communique – the ritual common statement produced at the end of a summit – and for good measure called his host, Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau, “dishonest and weak”.

“PREPARING THE RED CARPET FOR GODZILLA”

At the time the G7 could still write off the drama as a breach of decorum rather than the beginning of its own demise. That is becoming harder. (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which holds its summit next week, is nervous for the same reason.)

The underlying issue is that Trump doesn’t share the values of the other six democracies and no longer has any checks on his whims. To the extent that the G7 used to embody “the West”, that common basis is gone.

Running a summit in these circumstances is “like preparing the red carpet for Godzilla”, one Canadian official told the Financial Times. Nobody expected agreement on anything of substance. Carney has even scrapped the formality of trying to issue a joint communique at the end of the meeting. As it happens, Trump didn’t even stick around that long.

All this is great news if you’re watching from Moscow or Beijing. Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in particular, probably delights as the formerly US-led West dissolves in slow motion, just as he tries to rally other blocs under China’s hegemony – while the G7 summit is in progress, he’s visiting Kazakhstan for meetings with Central Asian nations.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/g7-summit-donald-trump-relevant-west-global-politics-5189106

Iran’s supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes Wednesday and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” European diplomats prepared to hold talks with Iran on Friday.

The second public appearance by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the Israeli strikes began six days ago came as Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting that the missile threat from Iran was easing.

Khamenei spoke a day after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded in a social media post that Iran surrender without conditions and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”

Trump initially distanced himself from Israel’s surprise attack aimed at Iran’s nuclear program, but in recent days he has hinted at greater American involvement, saying he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire. The U.S. has also sent more military aircraft and warships to the region.

Senior European diplomats were set to hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday in Geneva, according to a European official familiar with the matter.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to discuss matters freely, said the meeting would include high-ranking diplomats from Germany, France and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union’s top diplomat.

There are no plans for American involvement in the talks, although that could change, according to another U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic communications.

Separately, the U.N. Security Council scheduled a second emergency meeting on the Israel-Iran conflict for Friday at the request of Russia, China and Pakistan. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to help mediate, suggesting Moscow could help negotiate a settlement allowing Tehran to pursue a peaceful atomic program while assuaging Israeli security concerns.

“In my view, a solution could be found,” Putin said Wednesday at a session with journalists.

In a video address to Israelis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Trump’s support in the conflict, calling him “a great friend of Israel” and praising U.S. help defending Israel’s skies.

“We speak constantly, including last night,” he said Wednesday. “We had a very warm conversation.”

‘The Iranian nation is not one to surrender’

Khamenei dismissed the “threatening and absurd statements” by Trump.

“Wise individuals who know Iran, its people and its history never speak to this nation with the language of threats, because the Iranian nation is not one to surrender,” he said in a low-resolution video.

“Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them.”

Iran released Khamenei’s statement before the video was aired, perhaps as a security measure. His location is not known, and it was impossible to discern from the tight shot, which showed only beige curtains, an Iranian flag and a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei’s immediate predecessor, who died in 1989.

An Iranian diplomat had warned earlier Wednesday that U.S. intervention would risk “all-out war.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei did not elaborate, but thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran’s weapons. The U.S. has threatened a massive response to any attack.

Another Iranian official said the country would keep enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, apparently ruling out Trump’s demands that Iran give up its disputed nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Iranian state TV reported late Wednesday that it was under a cyberattack by Israel.

Social media users reported that the regular broadcast on state TV was briefly interrupted and replaced with an anti-government video urging people to take to the streets. After the normal broadcast resumed, a message on the screen said, “If you see an irrelevant message on the screen, it’s due to a cyber attack by the Zionist regime.”

Strikes in and around Tehran

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told a news conference Wednesday that Israel launched three waves of aerial attacks in the last 24 hours, deploying dozens of warplanes to strike over 60 targets in Tehran and western Iran.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military struck the headquarters of Iran’s internal security forces, without specifying the agency or location. The strike marks a shift toward targeting Iran’s domestic security apparatus, which has long cracked down on dissent and suppressed protests.

Iran’s police force acknowledged the strike hours later, saying that Israel hit its central command buildings in Tehran and wounded some officers, without saying how many.

In addition, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said, Israel hit two centrifuge-production facilities in and near Tehran.

The Israeli military said it began a new round of airstrikes Thursday in Tehran and other areas of Iran, without elaborating.

Israel’s air campaign has struck several nuclear and military sites, killing top generals and nuclear scientists. A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded.

In retaliation, Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel, causing heavy damage.

Israeli military officials said their defenses intercepted 10 missiles overnight and several more Wednesday evening as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminished. Air-raid sirens forced Israelis to run for shelter. There were no reports of injuries.

Iran has fired fewer missiles as the conflict has worn on. It has not explained the decline, but Israel has targeted launchers and other infrastructure related to the missiles.

Some U.S. diplomats and their families at the U.S. Embassy in Israel were evacuated Wednesday, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic movements. A number of diplomats left on a government plane shortly before U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced that the embassy was making evacuation plans for private American citizens, the officials said.

By Wednesday, Israel eased some of the restrictions that it had imposed on civilians when Iran launched its retaliatory attack, allowing gatherings of up to 30 people and letting workplaces reopen as long as there is a shelter nearby.

Casualties mount in Iran

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said it had identified 263 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 154 as security personnel.

The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in Iran.

Iran has not published regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-missile-attacks-nuclear-news-tehran-trump-06-18-2025-c6c90028dc340e2716724412fcec2cf0

Sam Cooper had just trekked 7 miles (11 kilometers) through a rain-sodden stretch of the Appalachian Trail when he sat down outside a little country store in Pennsylvania to take on its ice cream challenge.

Nearly 40 minutes and 2,500 calories later, the dairy farmer from Chapel Hill, Tennessee, was polishing off the final titanium sporkful of chocolate chip cookie dough on Tuesday and adding his name to the list of “thru-hikers” who have celebrated the trail’s halfway point by downing a half-gallon of ice cream.

By the end Cooper, 32, whose trail name is Pie Top, was calling the experience “pure misery.”

“I don’t think anybody should be doing this,” Cooper said cheerfully. “This is not healthy at all.”

The ice cream challenge is thought to have begun more than four decades ago at the Pine Grove Furnace General Store in Gardners, a few miles north of the current true halfway point on the 2,197-mile (3,536-kilometer) trail. Thru-hikers, as they’re known, are the fraction of the trail’s 3 million annual visitors who attempt to walk its entire length in a single, continuous trip.

As they slog their way north through Virginia and Maryland, the ice cream challenge is a regular topic of conversation among thru-hikers at shelters and campfires, said Stephan Berens, 49, a psychiatric nurse from Nuremberg, Germany.

Berens, whose trail name is Speedy, polished off his black cherry and vanilla in about 25 minutes after completing 17 miles (27 kilometers) on the trail that day — and with seven (11 kilometers) more to go that afternoon.

‘The most free I’ve ever felt’

Trail experts say hikers can need up to 6,000 calories a day, a practical challenge when food needs to be carried up and down rocky terrain. The slender Berens figures he’s lost about 20 pounds (9 kilograms) since starting April 8.

“I thought it would be worse, but it’s OK,” said Berens, smiling and patting his stomach after finishing the half-gallon. “Such a crazy idea.”

Zeke Meddock, trail name Petroglyph, didn’t bother timing himself but finished his choice of a quart and a half carton of chocolate chip cookie dough and a pint of strawberry. The diesel mechanic from North Amarillo, Texas, began his hike on March 27, two months after finishing a stint in the U.S. Army.

“You’re basically walking away from life,” said Meddock, 31. “It’s the most free I’ve ever felt.”

So far this year, about 50 thru-hikers have finished the challenge, earning the honor of having their photos posted on a store bulletin board. In a notebook to record their thoughts, Chicken Louise wrote on May 24: “Life choices?” The next day, Seagull weighed in with, “I feel bad,” and Hyena issued a cry for help: “It was very fun for the first 15 minutes. Now, I (and my family) want to die.”

The ice cream challenge record, less than 4 minutes, was set two years ago by a man with the trail name Squirt. Two decades ago, the mark to beat was about 9 minutes.

Thru-hikers who want to attempt the record may only allow the $12 worth of ice cream to start to melt in the sun for a few minutes. They must be timed by a store employee.

“It’s called the half-gallon challenge,” Cooper said. “Very appropriately named.”

Bragging rights and a spoon

Bruce Thomas, a 41-year-old disability support worker from Medicine Hat in Alberta, Canada, passed on the ice cream challenge, opting instead for a breakfast sandwich and another one for the road.

“It’s early morning and I’m pretty sure I cannot do it,” said Thomas, trail name Not Lazy.

Those who do finish in a single sitting are awarded a commemorative wooden spoon — and bragging rights for the rest of their hike. Some people get sick. Others wash down the ice cream with a hamburger.

The ice cream challenge is one of several quirky traditions and places along the trail. There’s a shelter in Virginia where hikers confess their sins in a logbook, a two-hole outhouse in Maine with a cribbage board between the seats and a free canoe ferry across the Kennebec River that’s considered an official part of the trail. And at Harriman State Park in Tuxedo, New York, hikers encounter the renowned “Lemon Squeezer,” a narrow rock formation.

About one in three people who launch a thru hike take the roughly 5 million steps required to go the distance. They most often walk from south to north, starting in Springer Mountain, Georgia, and wrapping up 13 states later at Maine’s Mount Katahdin.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/appalachian-trail-hiker-ice-cream-challenge-dd293db68ec54812658347a1ea23d954

3D-printed guns could become “the weapon of choice” for criminals and violent extremists around the world, an expert has told the BBC. These DIY, untraceable firearms have been recovered in several recent criminal cases, including the alleged use of a partially 3D-printed gun in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

BBC Trending has investigated the global spread of 3D-printed guns across social media platforms including Telegram, Facebook and Instagram, as well as websites offering how-to guides.

3D-printed guns, often described as a type of “ghost” gun, are untraceable firearms that can be assembled using a 3D printer, downloadable blueprints and some basic materials. Designed to evade gun-control laws, the technology has advanced rapidly in the last decade, with the latest models capable of firing multiple rounds without their plastic components breaking.

According to Nick Suplina of Everytown, a US-based gun control organisation, 3D-printed guns could become the “weapon of choice” for people planning acts of violence: “The materials have gotten better, the cost has gone down, and the ease of access of these blueprints is at a high,” he said.

BBC Trending’s investigation began with advertisements for guns on Instagram and Facebook. In October 2024, the Tech Transparency Project, a non-profit that monitors technology companies, found hundreds of gun ads – including for 3D-printed and other ghost guns – appearing on Meta’s platforms, in violation of its policies.

Meta declined to comment on the findings at the time. Several months later, BBC Trending found similar gun adverts still showing as active in Meta’s ad database.

Many of these gun adverts directed potential customers to Telegram or WhatsApp channels. On Telegram, we found channels displaying a variety of guns for sale. Some of these appeared to be 3D-printed. One Telegram account with over 1,000 subscribers claimed to ship weapons globally.

BBC Trending contacted the account, which called itself “Jessy”, to confirm whether it would be willing to break the law by shipping 3D-printed guns to the UK. Within an hour, Jessy offered us a Liberator or a Glock switch.

A glock switch (also known as an auto sear) is a small, sometimes 3D-printed part that converts a pistol into an automatic weapon.

The Liberator, designed in 2013 by “crypto-anarchist” Cody Wilson, is the world’s first widely available 3D-printed gun, capable of firing a single shot.

Jessy claimed he could smuggle the weapon through UK customs, asked for payment of £160 in bitcoin, then suggested a bank transfer to a UK account we couldn’t trace.

When we later contacted Jessy, identifying ourselves as the BBC, he acknowledged that selling weapons in the UK is illegal but sounded unapologetic.

“I run my business, sell some straps [slang for weapons] online,” he said.

We did not proceed with the transaction to test Jessy’s claims. While his casual attitude suggested he might have been a scammer, his ability to advertise on Meta and operate on Telegram highlights apparent loopholes that real gun dealers could exploit.

When contacted, Meta told the BBC that the adverts we highlighted had been “automatically disabled in line with our policies”, and that inclusion in its ad library “doesn’t necessarily mean the ad is still live or visible”.

Telegram said that Jessy’s account had been proactively removed for breaching its policies. A spokesperson added: “The sale of weapons is explicitly forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service and is removed whenever discovered. Moderators empowered with custom AI and machine learning tools proactively monitor public parts of the platform and accept reports in order to remove millions of pieces of harmful content each day, including the sale of weapons.”

Concerningly though, people seeking 3D-printed guns don’t need to buy readymade ones through social media. They can assemble their own. Models like the FGC-9 are designed using only 3D-printed plastic and repurposed metal components, with no commercially available gun parts required.

“You are essentially becoming a DIY gunsmith,” says Dr Rajan Basra, a researcher at King’s College London. However, “It’s not as easy as printing off a sheet of A4 paper in your office printer.”

As the BBC has previously reported, there are websites offering free step-by-step guides and downloadable blueprints for building 3D-printed guns.

One such guide was written by Matthew Larosiere, a gun rights attorney in Florida. He’s associated with the global pro-3D-printed gun community, which has many members in the USA who see the Second Amendment right to bear arms as a human right.

BBC Trending challenged him about why he is sharing information to help people build a lethal weapon.

He replied: “It’s just information. It’s ones and zeros. The fact that the information has a use case that makes you uncomfortable, I understand and I sympathise with that, but that doesn’t make it correct to say it’s anything more than information.”

Asked about the risk of this “information” being used in a school shooting or massacre, he replied: “I thank God that has not happened.” He cited Myanmar as a country where, in his view, 3D-printed guns have served a positive cause.

Myanmar is currently the only known case of 3D-printed guns being used in active military conflict. The FGC-9’s use by resistance fighters against the junta has been widely reported.

But as BBC Burmese’s Hnin Mo discovered, many of these groups have since stopped using 3D-printed guns. This is despite resistance forces producing hundreds of FGC-9s in 2022 and 2023, which cost over ten times less than machine guns on the black market.

The rebel leaders Hnin Mo spoke to cited the junta’s tight control over imports of essential materials like glue and metal. Additionally, these groups now have more conventional weapons at their disposal, such as RPGs or machine guns.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg84rke4ejo

HULK HOGAN has been hospitalized after deathbed rumors swirled on social media.

There had been talk on social media the WWE legend was suffering major health concerns.

However, according to TMZ, it is understood he is NOT on death’s door.

They report the 71-year-old was taken to hospital this week to address lingering neck and back issues.

The concerns around his health started after a report by radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge.

He suggested Hogan was not in good shape, according to reports.

But TMZ say the Hulkstar is doing well after his hospital visit.

He is understood to be back up and moving again.

The wrestling icon had undergone neck surgery last month.

It is believed he had a fusion operation.

He was said to “feel a little better” after the procedure.

The WWE ace – real name Terry Bollea – was back to work under 24 hours later.

He was preparing for the launch of his own wrestling league, the Real American Freestyle.

“Quick turnaround,” a rep told TMZ at the time.

Hogan told Logan Paul on his podcast he’s had at least 25 surgeries between 2014 and 2024.

“I’ve had 10 back surgeries,” he said.

“Both knees and both hips replaced, shoulders – everything.”

Hogan had been battling against the wear-and-tear of years in the ring.

Social media set ablaze after rumors of him being on his deathbed.

“We do not want to lose Hulk Hogan,” one said.

Another said: “Even though I don’t like the Hulkster anymore glad to hear that rumor was false.

“I don’t wish death on anyone.”

A third added: “Death doesn’t work for me brother.”

And a fourth commented: “What a legend.”

Donald Trump supporter Hogan has been a divisive character in and out of the ring over the years.

He joined the WWE in 1979, going to the main event numerous WreslteManias.

The NWO icon appeared in New Japan Pro Wrestling and other promotions through his long career.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/sport/14510330/hulk-hogan-dead-wwe-rumors-hospital-wrestling-health/

 

For Juliana Lumumba, he was not just a politician: Patrice Lumumba was her father. That’s why she continues to demand the truth about an assassination for which no one has faced justice.

For more than 60 years, Juliana Lumumba has had questions. Who murdered her father? How did the Americans help? What did the United Nations do? Did they stand idly by, even though he was under their protection?

They are uncomfortable questions, political questions. And Juliana will not rest until she has answers.

“You cannot be the child of Patrice Lumumba without this impacting your life” she says.

Her gaze is composed as she looks out of the window of her house in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Lumumba murder case could go to trial

On June 17, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office announced that it has requested that the case in connection with the assassination of Juliana’s father be referred to a Brussels criminal court. It follows more than a decade of investigation.

The Belgian state is partly responsible for the murder. A 2001 parliamentary investigation established that King Baudouin, Belgium’s then-monarch, knew about the assassination plan but did nothing to stop it.

Juliana’s brother Francois, the plaintiff in a 2011 complaint, accused the Belgian state of war crimes and torture, and of having been part of a conspiracy aimed at the political and physical elimination of his father.

Lumumba fought for the Congo’s independence

On June 30, 1960, Patrice Lumumba freed the Congo from Belgian colonial rule and became the country’s first prime minister. He promised democracy, prosperity and an end to the exploitation of Congolese minerals by foreign powers. But that never happened.

The West – in particular Belgium and the US — opposed Lumumba’s plans to nationalize Congo’s raw materials and his proximity with the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War.

On January 17, 1961, half a year after Lumumba was elected the first prime minister of a free Congo, Congolese separatists took him to the hostile province of Katanga – with Belgian and American blessing.

Lumumba and two of his aides were shot in the forest under the command of Belgian officers. The facts only came to light thanks to investigations by the likes of Belgian sociologist and writer, Ludo De Witte, whose findings were detailed in his 2003 book, “The Assassination of Lumumba.”

Another Belgian officer, Gerard Soete, sawed the bodies in pieces and dissolved them in sulfuric acid. Two teeth were all that remained of Lumumba. Soete kept them as a trophy. Juliana learned about this on television, in a 2000 report on a German broadcaster in which Soete himself recounted the details and held the teeth into the camera. This gruesome memory still angers Juliana.

“How would you feel if they told you that your father was not only killed, buried, unburied, cut in pieces but they also took parts of his body?”, she asks. “To many, he was the first prime minister of the Congo, a national hero. But for me, he’s my father.”

Still fighting for the truth

Years later, Juliana wrote a letter to the Belgian king demanding one of the teeth be returned. No one knows where the second one is. Soete had claimed that he had thrown it into the North Sea. He died shortly after, but later his daughter showed the golden tooth to a journalist. Ludo De Witte then sued her and Belgian authorities confiscated the remains.

In 2022, then prime minister Alexander de Croo returned the tooth to Lumumba’s children at a ceremony in Brussels and apologized – unlike King Philippe, a direct descendant of King Baudouin, who did not utter the word “sorry.” He merely expressed his “deepest regrets” for the violence inflicted on the Congolese people under Belgian rule.

But apologies are not the point for Juliana.

“It’s not a problem of apology. It’s a problem of truth. Verité,” she says. “I need to know the truth.”

Growing up in exile

When her father was murdered, Juliana was just five years old. She learned of it while in exile in Egypt. A few months before Lumumba’s assassination, she and her siblings were smuggled out of their house in Congo, where their father was placed under house arrest, and taken to Cairo with fake passports.

Patrice Lumumba knew he was going to die, Juliana says. He also hinted at it in his last letter to his wife.

In Cairo, Lumumba’s children grew up with Mohamed Abdel Aziz Ishak, a diplomat and friend of Lumumba. But they couldn’t escape their own history.

“We are a political family,” says Juliana. “We came to Egypt for political reasons, hosted by President Nasser. Politics is the core of our lives, whether we like it or not.”

The children also entered politics. Juliana held various ministerial posts, and her brother Francois is the leader of the Congolese National Movement, the party his father founded.

Juliana says that she always knew that her father’s assassination was political, even when she was still a child in Cairo. The news of Lumumba’s death in 1961 spread quickly in the city.

“They set fire to the library of the American university and looted the Belgian embassy,” she recalls. “People in the streets shouted ‘Lumumba, Lumumba.'”

Guilt, accountability and colonial continuities

It wasn’t until 1994, when Congo’s Mobutu dictatorship was on the verge of collapse, that Juliana returned to her homeland after years in exile. This had been her father’s wish.

“He told us, no matter what happens, you have to come back home. So, when it was safe for us again, we came back home, where we belong,” she says.

Today, Juliana is less active in Congolese politics. She doesn’t want to talk about the current situation, the conflict between the Congolese army and the rebel militia M23, or the ongoing exploitation of natural resources by Western nations, China, Rwanda, and other foreign powers.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/who-killed-patrice-lumumba/a-72949990

The Israel-Iran conflict could trigger new security and economic challenges for Pakistan, which is already grappling with militancy, separatism and economic instability.

The escalating Israel-Iran conflict has far-reaching security, geopolitical and economic implications for Iran’s neighbor Pakistan.

Iran shares a 909-kilometer (560-mile) border with Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province. On Monday, Pakistani officials announced several border crossings with Iran were closed indefinitely.

The crossings at Taftan and Gabd-Rimdan in southwest Balochistan remain open for Pakistani nationals seeking to return home. On Wednesday, hundreds of Pakistanis who are usually based in Iran arrived at the Taftan border crossing to make their way further into their homeland.

Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is expected to meet US President Donald Trump later on Wednesday during his official visit to Washington. The meeting is deemed significant in the light of the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict.

Pakistan’s relationship with Iran

The relationship between predominantly Sunni Pakistan and Shiite-majority Iran has been complex, with the cross-border region affected by attacks from Baloch separatists who are fighting a war of independence against the Pakistani state.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) accuses Pakistan’s central government of unfairly exploiting the region’s natural resources.

The BLA has for decades launched attacks against the government, armed forces and even Chinese interests in the region.

The Israel-Iran conflict marks a dangerous turning point not only for Middle East geopolitics, but for Pakistan, according to US-based Pakistan analyst Raza Rumi. To Islamabad, Rumi told DW, “the implications are [anything but] distant.”

“As a country with close ties to key Gulf allies and a complex relationship with Iran, Pakistan will be under pressure to maintain neutrality while safeguarding its strategic interests,” Rumi added.

As fighting between Israel and Iran entered its sixth day on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they were attacking Tehran, Iran’s capital, fueling fears of an all-out war in the region.

Increasing conflict and a potential collapse of the Islamist regime in Tehran could have serious security implications for Pakistan. Also, separatist attacks in Balochistan could impact Pakistan’s border security and internal stability — challenging its already strained security apparatus.

“There is the thorny issue of the Baloch region [in Iran] and a collapse in Tehran could trigger autonomy claims which will embolden the Baloch in Pakistan. Iran and Pakistan have been at loggerheads over this issue in the past,” Ghaffar Hussain, a London-based security, expert, told DW.

For analyst Rumi, “Islamabad would have to bolster border surveillance and work carefully in balancing law enforcement with diplomatic sensitivity toward Tehran.”

“A war on the western border [with Iran] is problematic for Pakistan, especially its restive Balochistan province,” said Muhammad Shoaib, an assistant professor at Quaid-i-Azam University.

Shoaib added that any change to the status quo will be troublesome and a weakened regime would also “present a security challenge.”

Economic impacts

The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran has renewed focus on security in the Strait of Hormuz — a strategic waterway between Oman and Iran that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

A wider conflict in the Middle East, especially around the Strait of Hormuz, could disrupt global oil supplies and drive prices higher, said Rumi.

“Like the rest of the world, Pakistan would be severely impacted, and the war could risk major disruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which could lead to soaring global energy prices,” said Rumi, who noted that Pakistan is already grappling with inflation, currency depreciation and energy shortages.

As a result of the war, rising fuel costs could disrupt markets and key sectors, such as electricity generation, transportation and agriculture, deepening the fiscal crisis and putting further strain on vulnerable households.

“Whether or not Iran has the ability to block the strait of Hormuz remains to be seen… but this would embroil the entire region including GCC nations,” asserted Hussain, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Shoaib, however, feels that the “Iranian conflict, in particular, will impact Balochistan province where a significant chunk of population is [engaged in] informal trade of oil and other commodities.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-iran-israel-conflict-could-destabilize-pakistan/a-72962163

DONALD Trump’s nuclear-hardened “Doomsday Plane” has touched down near to Washington DC as speculation grows over a strike on Iran.

The impervious US Air Force E-4B “Nightwatch” aircraft landed at Joint Base Andrews under the cover of darkness on Tuesday – hours after Trump’s crisis meeting in the White House Situation Room.

Eager aviation followers managed to track the huge Boeing as it went on the move and went on a highly irregular flight path from Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Its movement has sparked fears that it could be a clear indication of Trump and the US joining the war against Iran.

The US government has been urged to join forces with Israel in recent days and bring an end to the Iranian regime in the Middle East.

Trump has even directly threatened Tehran’s Supreme Leader this week, saying “we know where you’re hiding”.

US officials have stressed no official decision has been made yet about their intervention.

But the Nightwatch being moved to just outside of the capital has raised many eyebrows around why it is now so close to the president.

The craft took off from Bossier City and traveled along the coast before landing at the airbase in Maryland at 10:01pm.

The flight lasted for over four hours with never-before-seen call signs also being noticed by online trackers of ORDER01 instead of the typical ORDER6.

The militarized Boeing 747-200 is only used by the White House’s top staff and defence forces in case of a major emergency or global crisis.

The aircraft has only been called into action once before – on September 11, 2001 during the attack on the Twin Towers.

This is due to it being specially designed to keep the US’s most powerful figures safe even in the most deadly conditions.

It is designed to withstand electromagnetic pulses and even nuclear and thermal blasts – hence the “Doomsday Plane” nickname.

They have been in operation since the 1970s and were long considered the best chance for a Cold War president to survive a nuke.

The massive 231ft jet can hold up to 111 crew and passengers on board and features six main areas from a relaxing lounge to a command work area and briefing room.

Another key safety feature is that the plane has four engines and is capable of refueling mid flight allowing for over 35 hours in the air.

Elsewhere, an advanced satellite communications system allows for worldwide conversations with global senior leaders.

An engine can produce 52,500 pounds of thrust from the planes and they can carry up to 800,000 pounds.

This weight can be easily distributed across the massive 231ft long craft that also boasts a 195ft wingspan.

Each individual plane is believed to have cost a whopping $223million to make.

While it is still unclear why the plane was moved overnight, the aircraft is operational 24/7 to make sure it is always available when needed.

Regular training flights are often done throughout the year as well.

It follows a week of signs that the US is preparing to blitz Iran with the most notable being a huge US air armada made up of dozens of military jets landing in Europe this week.

At least 30 large air-to-air refuellers swooped across the Atlantic followed by at least a dozen F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning jets.

Experts said the F-22s and F-35s would most likely be used to bolster Israel’s air defence amid fears Tel Aviv cold run low in its Iron Dome and interceptor missiles.

But there are fears the fighter bombers could also be used to strike targets inside Iran.

The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier was also seen steaming towards the Gulf to reinforce the carrier USS Carl Vinson.

The US President has already warned the “full strength and might” of the military would be used if America was attacked.

Dozens of USAF KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers and KC-46 Pegasus tankers swooped into bases in Prestwick, Scotland, Ramstein, Germany, Moron in Spain and Chania in Crete.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14509510/trump-doomsday-plane-moves-iran/

The crew from an oil tanker was rescued on Tuesday following a collision involving two such vessels near the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Arab Emirates National Guard said the evacuation took place on Tuesday after the crude oil tanker, Adalynn, struck another ship — understood to be the Front Eagle oil tanker — managed by the Anglo Eastern shipping firm which is headquartered in Hong Kong.

The Adalynn was bound for Egypt’s Suez Canal at the time of the incident in the Gulf of Oman.

“The ship’s crew was evacuated from the incident site, located 24 nautical miles off the country’s coast, to the Port of Khor Fakkan using search and rescue boats,” the Emirati National Guard said in a post on X.

Collision not security related — British maritime intelligence

British maritime security firm Ambrey said the cause of an incident, 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan, was not security-related.

Shipping company Frontline said its oil tanker Front Eagle had been involved in a collision and described the event as a navigational incident that was not related to the ongoing regional conflict between Israel and Iran.

“Following the incident immediate action was taken to extinguish a fire on deck of the Front Eagle. We are aware of reports of a fire onboard the Adalynn following the collision,” a Frontline statement said.

The company went on to say that it was “closely monitoring the situation and is cooperating fully with the relevant authorities as emergency response efforts continue.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/uae-rescues-24-from-burning-oil-tanker-after-ship-collision/a-72942917

FORD’S CEO has revealed that the brand was forced to shut down some factories thanks to an industry-wide issue plaguing automakers.

Jim Farley opened up about the “day-to-day” struggle that has sometimes made car production impossible.

The 63-year-old CEO made the admission on Friday, when he spoke about supply chain issues stemming from America’s tense trade relations with China.

Ford and other US auto brands are heavily reliant on the rival nation to get rare earth minerals, which are essential to car production.

American companies get about 90% of their rare earth supplies from China to build features like windshield wipers, seat belts, and speakers, CBS News reported.

So when President Donald Trump sparked a tit-for-tat trade war with the country that resulted in China implementing a 125% revenge tariff, automakers were left worried about the future.

Now, Farley has revealed that the trade issue has had devastating effects on the iconic American brand.

“It’s day to day,” Farley told Bloomberg TV.

“We have had to shut down factories. It’s hand-to-mouth right now.”

Farley didn’t clarify which factories were closed or for how long. The U.S. Sun has reached out to the brand for comment.

The brand shake-up came after Farley warned that Trump’s sweeping 10% global tariffs would “blow a hole” in the auto industry.

He feared his company would be most affected because it has already “maxed out” its footprint in the US, and has relied on overseas production.

“We’re the largest US producer. A lot of people don’t realize that Ford exports a lot of cars outside the US,” Farley told Bloomberg in February.

“We don’t have a lot of excess capacity.”

However, now Farley said he has renewed hope for the industry as the US struck a trade deal with China that left both countries pleased.

Last week, Trump declared that the trade war was over and called his relationship with China’s President Xi Jinping “excellent” after months of heated talks came to a close.

Farley said Ford is working with China’s ministry of commerce to approve new trade plans “one at a time.”

“We’re educating the administration,” he told Bloomberg.

“We’re educating the Chinese leadership about how important these jobs in the Midwest that are dependent,” he said of China’s rare earth supply.

In other Ford news, the brand had to urgently recall over 1 million vehicles over a dangerous “glitch.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/motors/14500928/ford-shut-down-factory-ceo-jim-farley/

NEWLY elected Pope Leo XIV is related to a high-profile cast of A-list celebrities, but his ancestry still has humble roots, his family tree has revealed.

Researchers found that Robert Francis Prevost, the first American to ever lead the Catholic Church, is related to Madonna, Justin Bieber, Hillary Clinton, and other influential stars.

Prevost’s ancestry was traced by academic Henry Louis Gates Jr., the American Ancestors research center, and the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, and the results were published in a bombshell New York Times story.

Gates Jr, who is known for his research on African American culture and history, took an interest in the project after learning about Prevost’s Black ancestry.

According to the researcher, the Pope’s maternal grandparents, who lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, were described as “mulatto” and “Black” in public records.

“This was earthshaking news, but we knew it was only the beginning,” Gates Jr. wrote.

Prevost was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and is of French, Italian, Spanish, and Creole descent.

One of his eighth-great-grandparents moved from France to Quebec, Canada, by the mid to late 1650s, which is where his celebrity links come from.

Prevost descends from Canadian ancestor Louis Boucher de Grandpre, who was born in Quebec, and through Grandpre has several distant cousins.

These cousins include former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his brother Pierre, actress Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, singer Justin Bieber, novelist Jack Kerouac, and Madonna.

After Prevost’s family tree was published, superstar singer Madonna, whose parents were Roman Catholic, shared her excitement on social media.

In an Instagram story, she shared a picture of herself throwing her hands up in excitement alongside her father Silvio Ciccone and wrote, “Silvio! We’re related to the Pope!

“Strike a pose!” she wrote in the excited picture, before sharing the New York Times headline with her followers.

POPE’S ANCESTRY

The motley crew of celebrities wasn’t the only bombshell revelation found in the Pope’s family tree.

The farthest back that his ancestry was traced was back to Spain in the 1500s on his mother’s side, and through that lineage, genealogists found that Prevost is related to minor nobility.

Four of his 11th-great-grandfathers were listed as “hidalgos,” which means gentlemen, in the 1573 census for the small town of Isla.

But Prevost’s ancestry isn’t all noble. At least 17 of his ancestors were identified as partially Black, and many of them were once enslaved.

Researchers say that his ancestry became intertwined with African Americans when relatives moved from Canada to New Orleans.

One fourth-great-grandmother of the Pope, Marie Jeanne, was an enslaved “mulata,” a dated term to describe someone with Black and white ancestry.

She was counted among the property of François Lemelle, who lived in New Orleans.

After Lemelle died, he left Jeanne one-fifth of his estate, including some enslaved people. Thirty years after his death, she owned 1,040 acres, and she went on to own at least 20 slaves.

LEO’S FAMILY

Today, Prevost is known as a beloved sibling and uncle by his brothers, who were elated to hear about his election.

After he was chosen for the sacred position, Pope Leo’s brother John, 71, said his sibling used to “play priest so he put a tablecloth over our mom’s ironing board and we had to go to Mass.”

He said the Pope would use the candy Necco Wafers as “communion” wafers as they played pretend.

“It was all taken very seriously, it was not a joke,” John said.

Louis Prevost, the Pope’s oldest brother, said that he always knew that his sibling was destined for greatness.

“From the time he was five or six years old he knew this was his fate — not that he would be Pope, but that he would be a priest,” Louis told Good Morning America.

“He had that from a very young age, and he never faltered

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14503354/pope-leo-family-tree-madonna-celebrity-relatives-justin/

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Jun 17) said Japan was being “tough” in trade talks and the European Union had not yet offered what he considered a fair deal, as a team led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stayed at the G7 meeting in Canada to keep working on trade issues after Trump’s abrupt early departure.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the EU would need to offer Washington “a good deal” or face higher tariffs.

Trump spoke after leaving the Group of Seven (G7) summit early, in order to focus on the Middle East. He told reporters Bessent was staying on in Kananaskis, Alberta, to keep talking with counterparts on trade.

White House officials said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett also remained in Canada and would be meeting with their counterparts. They said Trump met informally with all G7 members, but had not seen the leaders of India, Australia or Mexico, who were also slated to meet him in Canada this week.

“We’re talking, but I don’t feel that they’re offering a fair deal yet,” Trump said of the European Union. “They’re either going to make a good deal or they’ll just pay whatever we say they have to pay.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit that the objective was still to reach a deal before higher reciprocal tariffs go into effect on Jul 9 after a 90-day pause.

“It’s complex but we are advancing, that is good, and I push hard to pick up more speed, so we are mixed in the negotiations, and we will see what the end brings,” she said.

PHARMA LEVIES COMING

Trump also said there was a chance of a trade deal between Washington and Japan.

“They’re tough, the Japanese are tough, but ultimately you have to understand we’re just going to send a letter saying ‘this is what you’re going to pay, otherwise you don’t have to do business with us’. But there’s a chance,” he said.

Trump also said pharmaceutical tariffs were coming very soon, repeating a threat he has made repeatedly to impose import taxes on medical goods in a bid to force drug makers to rebase production to the US.

“We’re going to be doing pharmaceuticals very soon. That’s going to bring all the companies back into America,” he said. “It’s going to bring most of them back into, at least partially back in.”

Matthew Goodman, a former senior US official and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was always a “stretch goal” for Trump to reach any deals at the G7 summit beyond finalizing the terms of a limited deal with Britain.

The US-UK deal, announced by Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the UK aerospace sector, but the issue of steel and aluminum remained unresolved.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-says-eu-not-offering-fair-trade-deal-japan-being-tough-too-5187906

Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cuts an increasingly lonely figure.

Khamenei has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli airstrikes, leaving major holes in his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process.

One of those sources, who regularly attends meetings with Khamenei, described the risk of miscalculation to Iran on issues of defence and internal stability as “extremely dangerous”.

Several senior military commanders have been killed since last Friday, including Khamenei’s main advisers from the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s elite military force: the Guards’ overall commander Hossein Salami, its aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh who headed Iran’s ballistic missile program and spymaster Mohammad Kazemi.

These men were part of the supreme leader’s inner circle of roughly 15 to 20 advisers comprising Guards commanders, clerics and politicians, according to the sources who including three people who attend or have attended meetings with the leader on major issues and two close to officials who regularly attend.

The loose group meets on an ad hoc basis, when Khamenei’s office reaches out to relevant advisers to gather at his compound in Tehran to discuss an important decision, all the people said. Members are characterised by unwavering loyalty to him and the ideology of the Islamic Republic, they added.

Khamenei, who was imprisoned before the 1979 revolution and maimed by a bomb attack before becoming leader in 1989, is profoundly committed to maintaining Iran’s Islamic system of government and deeply mistrustful of the West.

Under Iran’s system of government he has supreme command of the armed forces, the power to declare war, and can appoint or dismiss senior figures including military commanders and judges.

Khamenei makes the final decision on important matters, though he values advice, listens attentively to diverse viewpoints and often seeks additional information from his counsellors, according to one source who attends meetings.

“Two things you can say about Khamenei: he is extremely stubborn but also extremely cautious. He is very cautious. That is why he has been in power for as long as he has,” said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute think-tank in Washington.

“Khamenei is pretty well placed to do the basic cost-benefit analysis which really fundamentally gets to one issue more important than anything else: regime survival.”

KHAMENEI’S SON AT THE FORE

The focus on survival has repeatedly been put to the test. Khamenei has deployed the Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated Basij militia to quell national protests in 1999, 2009 and 2022.

However, while the security forces have always been able to outlast demonstrators and restore state rule, years of Western sanctions have caused widespread economic misery that analysts say could ultimately threaten internal unrest.

The stakes could barely be higher for Khamenei, who faces an escalating war with Israel, which has targeted nuclear and military sites and personnel with air attacks, drawing retaliatory Iranian missile fire, insiders and analysts said.

The five people familiar with Khamenei’s decision-making process stressed that other insiders who have not been targeted by Israel’s strikes remain important and influential, including top advisers on political, economic and diplomatic issues.

Khamenei designates such advisers to handle issues as they arise, extending his reach directly into a wide array of institutions spanning military, security, cultural, political and economic domains, two of the sources said.

Operating this way, including in bodies nominally under the elected president, means Khamenei’s office is often involved not only in the biggest questions of state but in executing even minor initiatives, the sources said.

His son Mojtaba has over the past 20 years grown ever more central to this process, the sources said, building a role that cuts between the personalities, factions and organisations involved to coordinate on specific issues, the sources said.

A mid-ranking cleric seen by some insiders as a potential successor to his ageing father, Mojtaba has built close ties with the Guards, giving him added leverage within across Iran’s political and security apparatus, the sources said.

Ali Asghar Hejazi, the deputy of political security affairs at Khamenei’s office, has been involved in sensitive security decisions and is often described as the most powerful intelligence official in Iran, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the head of Khamenei’s office, Mohammad Golpayegani, as well as former Iranian foreign ministers Ali Akbar Velayati and Kamal Kharazi, and ex-parliament speaker Ali Larijani, remain trusted confidants on diplomatic and domestic policies issues such as the nuclear dispute, the sources said.

The loss of the Revolutionary Guards commanders nonetheless decimates the top ranks of a military organisation that he has put at the centre of power since becoming supreme leader in 1989, relying on it for both internal security and Iran’s regional strategy.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/iran-leader-khamenei-sees-his-inner-circle-hollowed-out-israel-5186936

Israel needs a 15-ton ‘bunker buster’ bomb to destroy the last untouched nuclear facility in Iran, but only the US has one.

Such a powerful weapon – the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal – is needed because the target, Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, is built some 300 feet inside a mountain near the city of Qom, two hours south of Tehran.

The heavyweight explosive is known as a GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator and was designed by Boeing for the United States Air Force.

Its huge weight means it can only be delivered with a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber – a jet Israel’s air force does not possess.

“The United States controls the bomber and the bomb,” John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point military academy, told The Post. “It would be an American plane and an American munition.”

The missile cost over $500 million for the US Army to develop, and was built to specifications which would allow it to penetrate deep enough into the Fordow plant to destroy the nuclear centrifuges in the complex, according to a 2013 article in the Wall Street Journal, which said at that time 20 of the bombs had been manufactured for the US military.

If the US does opt to help Israel with this extraordinarily powerful weapon, it will almost certainly turn the nuclear facility, protected by layers of granite and steel, to rubble.

“By weight and kinetic force, the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator is designed to penetrate a certain amount of distance into the ground before it blows,” said Spencer.

“That’s why these bunker busters are called Penetrators. They penetrate the ground before they explode. The explosion is strategically delayed.”

Although the US has sold less powerful bunker buster weapons to Israel, they have declined to share the Massive Ordnance Penetrator with any of its allies, partly to ensure it retains an upper hand, according to various reports.

As to what an explosion from a Massive Ordnance Penetrator would feel like, Spencer can only guess. “I’ve seen 500 pounders, and they’ll shake your teeth when they go off. It’s like an earthquake. This will be much more than that.”

However, minimizing the likelihood of a nuclear explosion or leak, said Spencer, “this [explosion] is pretty contained,” He explained that since the bunker buster explodes so far underground, under such strong armor, it is unlikely to cause a nuclear reaction. Instead of breaking through the surface, rubble would cave in. “The risk is for leakage, not an explosion.”

US intelligence has long agreed Fordow is strategic to disabling the Iranian nuclear program.

“If you don’t get Fordow, you haven’t eliminated their ability to produce weapons-grade material,” Brett McGurk, who served as Middle East coordinator for several American presidents of both parties, recently told the New York Times.

In a less than ideal scenario, a state-of-the-art bunker buster is not the only solution.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/17/world-news/the-15-ton-bunker-buster-which-could-destroy-irans-last-nuclear-facility/

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from refusing to issue passports to transgender and nonbinary Americans nationwide that reflect their gender identities.
U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston expanded, a preliminary injunction she issued in April that allowed six transgender and nonbinary individuals who challenged the policy to obtain passports consistent with their gender identities or with an “X” sex designation while the lawsuit moves forward.

Kobick did so after concluding the policy the U.S. Department of State adopted pursuant to an executive order Trump signed likely discriminated on the basis of sex and was rooted in an irrational prejudice toward transgender Americans that violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
While Kobick’s April ruling was limited in its scope, the judge, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, on Tuesday granted the case class action status and halted the policy’s enforcement against transgender, nonbinary and intersex passport holders.
Kobick said granting class action status to two categories of passport holders was appropriate given that the administration’s actions affected them uniformly “by preventing them from obtaining passports with a sex marker consistent with their gender identity.”

Li Nowlin-Sohl, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the American Civil Liberties Union, called the ruling “a critical victory against discrimination and for equal justice under the law.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly in a statement called the decision “yet another attempt by a rogue judge to thwart President Trump’s agenda and push radical gender ideology that defies biological truth.”
The case is one of several concerning an executive order Trump signed after returning to office on January 20 directing the government to recognize only two biologically distinct sexes, male and female.
The order also directed the State Department to change its policies to only issue passports that “accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”
The State Department subsequently changed its passport policy to “request the applicant’s biological sex at birth,” rather than permit applicants to self-identify their sex, and to only allow them to be listed as male or female.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-blocks-trump-passport-policy-targeting-transgender-people-2025-06-17/

Anne Burrell was noticeably missing from her longstanding role on “Worst Cooks in America” months before her shocking death.

Fans were baffled by the Food Network star’s absence from the celebrity edition of the culinary competition series, which was instead led by chefs Jeff Mauro and Antonia Lofaso.

Neither Burrell nor the network gave an explanation for her absence from Season 28 of the show. Food Network did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment on the matter Tuesday.

In January, confused viewers flocked to the comments of one of Burrell’s Instagram posts to question her unexplained absence.

“Why aren’t you in Worst Cooks? It’s not the same,” one fan wrote at the time, with Burrell cryptically responding, “Honestly I don’t know. 🤷🏼‍♀️😑❤️.”

“Hi Anne, r u still with Food Network?? U r missed very much❤️❤️,” another follower shared, to which she replied, “I miss you guys!!!😊❤️😊❤️.”

When another fan requested that she “come back next season,” the TV personality replied, “I will SO try. 😊❤️.”

Burrell co-hosted and served as a mentor on the popular cooking series from 2010 to 2024.

The TV star unexpectedly died at her home in Brooklyn, NY, Tuesday morning. She was 55 years old.

A New York Police Department spokesperson told Page Six that Burrell was discovered unconscious around 7:50 a.m. Though emergency services arrived promptly, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

An investigation is currently in progress — and a cause of death has not been revealed.

“Anne was a beloved wife, sister, daughter, stepmother, and friend — her smile lit up every room she entered,” her family said in a statement obtained by Page Six.

“Anne’s light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world. Though she is no longer with us, her warmth, spirit, and boundless love remain eternal.”

Food Network also released a statement obtained by Page Six.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/17/entertainment/anne-burrell-was-missing-from-worst-cooks-in-america-ahead-of-shocking-death/

BILL Maher has hit back at an A-list star with an expert takedown on why he decided to sit down for dinner with President Donald Trump in April.

The comedian called out his guest’s hypocrisy in an instant and brought a swift end to their heated debate.

The tiff started when guest Sean Penn questioned the comedian’s decision to meet with Trump in an episode of his podcast Real Time With Bill Maher.

Despite months of hurling insults and criticisms at the president, Maher shocked his audience by grabbing dinner with Trump earlier this year.

He agreed to the meeting after he was introduced by mutual friend Kid Rock, a staunch Trump supporter, and left the meal with a much kinder perspective on the commander in chief.

Penn was explaining why he would never agree to meet with the president before Maher quickly called out his inconsistency, saying, “You’ll meet with f*****g Castro and Hugo Chavez but not the President of the United States?”

Penn quickly dodged the question as he admitted that Trump “triggered” him and said that he “wouldn’t get anywhere” with the president if they had a chat.

Meanwhile, Maher hit back that Trump was a “very different guy” behind closed doors and was grateful to have had a one-on-one meeting with him.

The comedian accused Penn of having a “bad attitude” about America’s leader.

“You don’t know that. You don’t know anything,” blasted Maher.

“I’ll tell you this about Donald Trump, and you don’t know it because you don’t go to dinners […] it’s all about personal relationships.”

The comedian then speculated that Trump would likely want to meet Penn if he were ever willing.

Despite their differences, Penn agreed that sitting down with the president was a good decision.

“You’re so smart […] Look, this is the president of the United States, whether we like it or not,” he said.

“There’s a lot of reasons I was speculating that […] it would be good for you to do that.”

PENN’S POLITICS

Penn has met with powerful political players across the globe for filmmaking and activism purposes.

He once tracked down Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in a hideout to try and strike a movie deal.

The actor has also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and is a staunch supporter of the Russian rival amidst the ongoing war.

In November 2022, Penn gave the president one of his Oscars and told him to return it only when his country defeats Russia.

The war has been one of Penn’s biggest sticking points with Trump, who has been outspoken about his intentions to help devise a peace deal.

Penn, who was once married to Madonna, has also stirred controversy for his relationship with former Venezuelan President Chavez.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14492025/bill-maher-sean-penn-interview-trump-dinner-comeback/

THURSDAY night at 3am was a strange moment.

We had an air raid siren – nothing unusual given this has been almost nightly for months due to missiles from the Houthis.

But having spent days hearing rumours that something was about to go down with Iran, my senses instantly told me this was different.

Shortly after the country-wide alarm, every person throughout Israel received a message from the Home Office Command.

It was both vague and nerve-racking.

It told us to wait for further alerts in case of an “extreme threat” – with nothing more added.

At the same time, we began to hear non-stop warplanes – which have been relentless ever since.

After that, it was clear the whole country was awake, all of social media and every single WhatsApp group was abuzz with “what is going on?” type of anxious chatter.

At some point in the night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a seven-minute speech on YouTube, explaining that Israel is attacking Iran, and with good reason.

A report recently showed that the regime there now has enough uranium for nine nuclear weapons, and can build them within a matter of months.

As this would be enough to obliterate our country – and Iran has made no secret of its intent to do so – Bibi was right when he said we had no choice but to strike.

His speech was articulate, somehow reassuring, and widely applauded. It feels that the country is very much behind him. If pockets of the country aren’t – its fringe groups are.

And like last year, after Israel’s incredible pager operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, everyone is once again in complete awe at Mossad and the IDF for the magnificent long-planned military feat they’ve pulled off.

The next morning, everyone was bleary-eyed from a poor night’s sleep, and in repetition of the days after October 7, the supermarkets were once again wiped of supplies, having been cleared out by panic-buyers as soon as the doors opened.

The hospitals were also cleared, ready for a potential influx of casualties, and everyone told to stay home, attending emergency services only in the most extreme cases.

Then it was shabbat. For those who observe it like me, it was a tough evening – our usual happy gathering and meal was constantly interrupted by air raid sirens, trips to the safe room and countless ear-shattering booms.

The missiles from Iran are far higher in volume and when intercepted, it feels like the whole earth is shaking.

It’s nothing like the missiles from Gaza and Yemen we’ve become accustomed to, which now feel insignificant in comparison.

Since the weekend, we have had the odd siren in the day, but mostly they’ve been going through the night.

We heard the Iranian regime generally sends missiles at night due to the weather – it is too hot in the day to load the missiles up with fuel as the intense sun often causes them to burn out.

So we have some respite during the day, but our nighttimes are fraught with the planes, sirens, shakes and constant sonic booms.

This war has been hanging over our heads for a long time.

Throughout the battle with Hamas, we’ve been fearful of this escalating to what it now has.

But as contradictory as this sounds, now that it has, in some ways it is a relief – especially as we couldn’t have started in a stronger way.

Those who know the bible and the story of Esther, the woman who became Queen of Persia and managed to save the Jewish people from total destruction – there is a line from that story generally being quoted.

Haman – the Perisan courtier who tried to destroy the Jewish people – was told by his wife after his first humiliation that his life will be in danger if he continues to go after the Jews – he didn’t listen and was later hanged along with his whole family.

Even the least religious among us feel it is a precursor to modern day.

It is clear that the nation of Israel is divinely protected, and Iran is going to suffer the same fate as their ancient predecessor Haman if they don’t heed.

Even the few missiles and shrapnel that have managed to get through during the war have generally hit Arabs not Jews.

There is a general feeling of deep resilience and unity within Israel. A very different feeling to the anxious unity of October 7.

This is a stronger feeling – more of a “we got this” rather than the pain of gathering ashes and burying the dead together.

There is hope for the future, not just for Israel, but for the people of Iran too.

We know that deep down, they are our friends, who are suffering the oppression of those in power that terrorise their daily lives.

Unlike the people of Gaza, who have only ever been taught to hate Israel, Iranians remember a time when we treated each other with respect.

The people of Israel and the people of Iran want those times back.

The camaraderie of the nation is now so strong that we are hearing far more complaints of Israelis trying to get back into the country than we are hearing of anyone trying to leave.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14490857/extreme-threat-bombers-israel-war-iran/

DONALD Trump left the G7 summit in Canada a day early after warning “foolish” Iran to evacuate “everyone” from Tehran immediately, sowing fear of a major imminent escalation.

Israel and Iran continued to trade missiles for a fourth night, with Tehran’s civilians fleeing the city in their thousands, but no casualties were reported by Tel Aviv.

Trump said: “I have to be back as soon as I can,” with the White House pinning his return on “what’s going on in the Middle East”.

The President ordered his National Security Council to convene and await his return, though officials maintain that the US will not be joining Israel’s bombing campaign on Iran.

He had originally been scheduled to stay in Canada until late on Tuesday, but by midday Monday had begun signalling he would take flight early.

As Monday night fell, Iran vowed to unleash continuous ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel “until the morning”, though the damage appears limited.

The IRGC’s General Naeini said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency: “The ninth wave of the combined drone and missile attack began and will continue continuously until the morning.”

Monday saw a major escalation in the brewing conflict with Israel directly targeting an Iranian state TV studio which was on air at the time.

Israel accused Iran of using the building “under the guise of civilian activity” as they claimed it was a military communication centre.

Just moments after the blast, Iranian state media announced that Israel should prepare themselves for the “largest and most intense” missile attack in Israel’s history.

Only a handful of ballistic missiles were registered by Israel in the end with minimal damage reported.

But damning satellite pictures have shown just how effective Israel’s attacks have been since the conflict started on Friday.

Iran’s nuclear infrastructure has been decimated by IDF jets who have hammered Iranian depots, HQs, and plants – turning the prized buildings into charred, burnt-out wrecks.

Experts still believe Israel hasn’t yet delivered a fatal blow to Iran’s program with the international atomic body saying some sites are yet to be damaged.

Israel now claims to have air superiority over the enemy which would allow it to methodically target any sites without the threat of having its jets shot down.

A US aircraft carrier also is barrelling towards the Middle East after President Trump warned the “full strength and might” of the military would be used if America was attacked.

The move piled more pressure on Iran’s Ayatollah and comes as Iranians have been heard shouting “Death to Khamenei” – their supreme leader.

Some Tehran locals could be heard yelling for freedom as bombs fell around them, footage posted to social media showed.

Israel possibly may have widened its war goals to include overthrowing Khamenei, according to the Washington Post.

Benjamin Netanyahu has also said that Iran is now “very weak” as he warned of an impending “regime change” in Tehran.

Tension across the Middle East is now skyrocketing as the conflict threatens to spiral into a wider regional war after Pakistan called for the Islamic world to back Iran.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14467652/israel-iran-attack-live-updates/

THE man accused of fatally shooting a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband allegedly had a hit list with dozens of names after being caught by police.

Vance Boelter, 57, is accused of shooting and killing Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home on Saturday, along with injuring Senator John Hoffman and his wife in another shooting.

During the search for the suspect, investigators found a fake police vehicle that Boelter allegedly used to pose as a police officer to carry out the shootings.

Inside the car, police found a cache of weapons, including at least three AK-47 assault rifles and a manifesto with the names and addresses of other public officials.

There were about 45 names in the manifesto, some of which were abortion rights advocates, said law enforcement officials.

Boelter was arrested near his home in Green Isle on Sunday night after a brief manhunt.

He has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, according to Hennepin County court records.

LIST OF DEATH

Named on the list were Senator Amy Klobuchar and “squad member” Rep. Ilhan Omar, reported The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Others include Congresswoman Kelly Morrison, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, and Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott.

Some doctors who worked for Planned Parenthood were on the list, as well as several abortion clinics, including one that is scheduled to open in Omaha, Nebraska.

Former congressman Dean Phillips claimed in an X post that he was on the list as well, writing, “I extend heartfelt gratitude to Minnesota’s law enforcement professionals,” after Boelter’s arrest.

“Now, we must take steps to prevent political violence before it’s too late.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans confirmed that investigators found the manifesto in a press briefing, saying the documents “gives some indications” on a possible motive.

“This is not a document that would be like a traditional manifesto that’s a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings, Evans said.

He called it a notebook “with a lot of lawmakers and others … as opposed to a succinct document.”

“I don’t want the public to have the impression that there’s this long manifesto that’s providing all of this information and details and then associated with names,” he added. “It’s much more about names.”

NIGHT OF TERROR

Boelter was named as a suspect on June 14 after shootings were reported at the homes of Hortman and Hoffman.

Hortman and her husband, Mark, were pronounced dead at their Brooklyn Park home.

The couple’s dog, Gilbert, was severely injured in the attack and had to be euthanized.

“Her children had to put him down after learning their parents had been murdered,” former Minnesota House member Erin Koegel said on X of Hortman’s children.

“Gilbert wasn’t going to survive.

Hoffman and his wife Yvette had surgery after suffering multiple gunshot wounds at their residence in Champlin, about nine miles away from the Hortmans.

Officials said they are “cautiously optimistic” that the pair will survive what Governor Tim Walz called an “unspeakable tragedy” and a “politically motivated assassination.”

The Hoffmans’ nephew revealed that the couple had been shot 11 times during the horror attack.

He shared in a Facebook post how his aunt Yvette had thrown herself on top of her daughter to protect her.

Boelter is scheduled to appear in court on Monday for the charges against him and a federal warrant for “unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14492885/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooter-manifesto-names/

 

KYLIE Jenner caused a fan frenzy when she revealed exactly what breast surgery she had done, but a top New York plastic surgeon is warning against women copying her order.

Kylie, 27, made the admission in response to influencer Rachel Leary who begged for specifics in a TikTok video.

Leary had praised the beauty mogul’s chest as “the most perfect, natural boob job ever,” requesting Kylie to share what she “asked for” when getting her breasts done.

She captioned the clip, “Help a girl out @Kylie Jenner, I just want to know how to get them to sit like that, respectfully.”

To the surprise of many, Kylie replied directly to the clip, writing, “445 cc, moderate profile, half under the muscle!!!!! silicone!!! garth fisher!!! hope this helps lol.”

The exchange came two years after Kylie first confirmed she had undergone a secret breast augmentation at 19 – something she denied for years.

New York plastic surgeon Dr. Norman Rowe, who has not treated Kylie, shared his thoughts on the order in an exclusive chat with The U.S. Sun.

A 450 cc breast implant weighs approximately one pound.

He said, “Kylie, in my opinion, I think they’re a bit too big. I rarely put in big. I always tell my patients – bigger implants, bigger problems, implants will drop.

“I don’t know what technique was used. There are some ways to try and keep them up, but even with the adjunct ways to keep a breast implant up, a 500 on each side, that’s almost a pound.

“Now you say, ‘Oh, it’s not much, it’s only a pound.’ But imagine for the next ten years. On your breast, it will drop.

“I’ve seen those complications, and they’re not fun to deal with.”

“The larger the implant, the quicker it will drop and cause problems.”

He said he’s glad the days of giant breast implants in the 90s and 2000s are over, and most women just want to “get a little cleavage, look better in a sweater.”

Rowe explained, “Two and a quarter is more than enough for me. That’s the patients I see. I don’t do a lot of stripper boobs, as they say.

“Don’t go that big, unless you’re making $20 million on a pole,” he laughed.

Asked if he feels Kylie will need further work done, he said, “She will need to do it. She’s too young to not have them done [again]. She’ll need them done in the next five or six years.

“She’s skinny. Those are those implants are going to drop.

“I’m very conservative. I’ve seen those complications, and they’re not fun to deal with.

“Patients aren’t happy, and once you go down that road, you have two options, either you keep going bigger or you solve it.

“When they drop, you solve the problem by putting in a bigger implant, or you have to put more scars on the breast and put in a smaller implant.

“And I see a lot of people who started off at 300. They had a problem. And rather than take out that implant, put in a 250, a doctor will put in a 400.

“So maybe she had some issues. And to solve the problem they went a little bit bigger as opposed to putting more scars on the breast and doing that.”

Meanwhile, Rowe complimented Kylie’s mom Kris Jenner’s recent facelift which has caused a stir, and said the family still leads the way when it comes to inspiring others to get plastic surgery.

SURGERY SECRETS

He said, “Anything that the Kardashians do on social media or post, the next morning, [or] the same day, my phone blows up. They have millions upon millions of impressionable followers.”

Influencer Rachel was stunned when Kylie revealed her order in the comment section, and she wrote back, “KYLIEEEEE!!! you are the best THANK YOU!!!!”

Fans quickly flooded the comments with praise for the star.

Kylie’s surgeon, Dr. Garth Fisher, is a well-known celebrity doctor and is a longtime favorite of the Kardashian-Jenner clan.

He gave Kourtney Kardashian her boob job, and even carried out a revision facelift for Caitlyn Jenner pre-transition.

Kylie first confirmed her surgery in a 2023 episode of The Kardashians, revealing she had the procedure done before giving birth to daughter Stormi, now seven.

She told Stassie Karanikolaou, “I got my breasts done before Stormi. Within six months of having Stormi – not thinking I would have a child when I was 20 – they were still healing.”

She admitted she regretted the decision, adding, “I had beautiful breasts, like natural t*ts, just gorgeous… and I just wished, obviously, I never got them done to begin with.

“I would recommend anyone who was thinking about it to wait until after you have children. I have a daughter too. I would be heartbroken if she wanted to get her body done at 19.”

She also shared that she wanted to be “the best mom and best example for,” adding, “I wish I could be her and do it all differently because I wouldn’t touch anything.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14494006/kylie-jenner-breast-implants-big-surgeon-warning/

THIS is the dramatic moment an Iranian state TV studio was hammered by an Israeli bomb leaving the anchor fleeing for her life.

The female host is delivering a stirring propaganda monologue during the live broadcast when she is interrupted by heavy shaking and a thundering bang from the blitz.

The woman, in a black hijab, is speaking about another nearby bombing which isn’t seen in the clip.

She said: “What you just heard and saw was the sound of enemy invasion to our country…”

Then a mighty roar happens and the camera shakes as the building the studio is in is hit directly by the IDF.

The Ayatollah’s mouthpiece, working for the channel IRIB, looks visibly shaken and begins to cower.

The green screen behind the presenter cuts out and dust and plaster flies across the studio.

The anchor then turns and flees – but the inset video continues to show Iranian missiles bombing Israeli civilians.

Production staff shout and scream as they also flee the building.

Following the strike, one of the channel’s propagandists spoke to a camera outside the building.

The five-story structure can be seen burning with black smoke rising into the sky as a small firetruck tries to extinguish the blaze.

He raved “the child killing Zionist regime hit the building while we were working.

“We were warned to evacuate, but we all went to work and I was on the first floor. I do not know how many of my colleagues are injured.”

Iran has now threatened the headquarters for Israeli TV studios N12 and Now14 saying that those working there should evacuated immediately.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described Tehran’s state TV broadcaster as a “communication centre for the military”.

They said in a statement the air force targeted a “communication centre that was being used for military purposes by the Iranian Armed Forces”.

The building was being used “under the guise of civilian activity”, they added.

It comes after the IDF issued an evacuation order for the part of Tehran that IRIB is based in.

Defence Minister Israel Katz had said ahead of the evacuation warning: “The Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappear.”

Israel has now been bombing Iran for four days and believes it has air superiority now over the country as it seeks to wipe out Tehran’s nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Iran is retaliating by bombing Israeli civilian areas – with missiles sneaking past the Iron Dome and killing dozens.

With air superiority, Israel has widened its targets away from nuke and military facilities to energy infrastructure, manufacturing plants, and now TV studios.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14492913/iran-israel-tv-presenter-bombed/

Oil prices were volatile on Monday (Jun 16), after surging 7 per cent on Friday, as renewed strikes by Israel and Iran over the weekend increased concerns that the battle could widen across the region and significantly disrupt oil exports from the Middle East.

Brent crude futures were up 6 cents, or 0.08 per cent, to US$74.29 a barrel by 0742 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 21 cents or 0.29 per cent, to US$73.19. They had surged more than US$4 a barrel earlier in the session and also fell into negative territory briefly.

Both benchmarks settled 7 per cent higher on Friday, having jumped more than 13 per cent during the session to their highest levels since January.

Iranian missiles struck Israel’s Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa on Monday, destroying homes and fuelling concerns among world leaders at this week’s G7 meeting that the battle between the two old enemies could lead to a broader regional conflict.

An exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran on Sunday resulted in civilian casualties, with both militaries urging civilians on the opposing side to take precautions against further strikes.

The latest developments have stoked concerns about disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping passage.

About a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption, or some 18 to 19 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, condensate and fuel, passes through the strait.

Buying was driven by the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, with no resolution in sight,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.

“But as seen last Friday, some selling emerged on concerns of overreaction,” he said.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ IN FOCUS

While markets are watching for potential disruptions to Iranian oil production due to Israel’s strikes on energy facilities, heightened fears over a Strait of Hormuz blockade could sharply lift prices, Tazawa added.

Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), currently produces around 3.3 million bpd and exports more than 2 million bpd of oil and fuel.

The spare capacity of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to pump more oil to offset any disruption is roughly equivalent to Iran’s output, according to analysts and OPEC watchers.

“If Iranian crude exports are disrupted, Chinese refiners, the sole buyers of Iranian barrels, would need to seek alternative grades from other Middle Eastern countries and Russian crudes,” said Richard Joswick, head of near-term oil analysis at S&P Global Commodity Insights, in a note.

She performed for the large crowd at Beijing’s National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, on Jun 13, the first night of the Beijing leg of her Aut Nihilo tour. She had her second performance there on Jun 15.

Singaporean singer-songwriter Stefanie Sun has been performing to massive crowds as part of her ongoing tour, Aut Nihilo.

For the first night of the Beijing leg of her tour, on Jun 13, she performed for over 50,000 people at Beijing’s National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest. She performed there again for her second and final show in Beijing on Jun 15.

Sun has also completed the Shanghai and Shenzhen legs of her concert in April and May, respectively. For the first night of her Shanghai concert on Apr 26, she performed in front of 46,000 people, according to her post on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Taiwanese actress Michelle Chen was among the many attendees on the first day of Sun’s Beijing concert.

The actress said on Chinese social media platform Weibo on Jun 14 about the show: “As my favourite Chinese female singer, I have waited too long for this concert.

“I had a chance to watch it (her last concert) more than ten years ago, but I missed it because of work. I didn’t expect that it (her next concert) would be so many years later. I wanted to cry as soon as you came on stage. After all, you carried my youth for so many years,” said the actress known for her role in the 2011 film You Are The Apple Of My Eye.

“Fortunately, there were fast songs, so I only cried for half of the concert,” the 42-year-old added jokingly.

“​​Listening to your songs in those years, the songs always carried one part of innocence, two parts of stubbornness, and three parts of freedom. I found myself in the songs and pursued my dreams. I saw you in person today, and you are so cute! Different from any meaning, you are the green light and so unique.”

This is Sun’s first major tour in a decade since her 2014 Kepler World Tour.

Source : https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/stefanie-sun-beijing-concert-large-crowd-466526

Eric Dane, who announced his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis in April, has revealed the first symptom he experienced about a year and a half ago.

“I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand, and I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” the actor, 52, explained to Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America” Monday.

“I thought maybe I had been texting too much or my hand was fatigued. But a few weeks later, I noticed it had gotten a little worse.”

Dane said he went from one hand specialist to another, then to two neurologists. After nine months of doctors’ appointments, he finally received his “sobering” diagnosis.

Since then, Dane’s right arm — his dominant — has “completely stopped working.”

“And then your left arm is fine?” Sawyer, 79, asked.

“No, it’s going,” the “Grey’s Anatomy” alum replied, adding that he feels he has “a few more months” left of use of his left.

He’s also “worried” about his legs going next.

A few months ago, the father of two — a former competitive swimmer and water polo star — was on a boat trip with one of his teenage daughters, whom he shares with his on-again wife, Rebecca Gayheart.

When he jumped into the ocean, he quickly realized he “couldn’t swim or generate enough power to get [himself] back to the boat.” It was then that he had to accept, “I’m not safe in the water anymore.”

As his daughter “drag[ged]” him back to the boat, Dane was “breaking down in tears.”

“I was just heartbroken,” he lamented.

Asked how “angry” the illness makes him, the “Euphoria” star responded sternly, “Very.”

He elaborated, “I’m angry because my father was taken from me when I was young, and now there’s a very good chance I’m going to be taken from my girls while they’re very young.”

(Dane’s dad died by suicide when the actor was 7.)

As he continues “fighting” the disease, which is largely “out of [his] control,” Dane plans to “spend time with [his] family and work a little bit — if [he] can.”

He made sure to note that he doesn’t believe this is “the end” of his story.

ALS, according to the ALS Association, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to the eventual demise of motor neurons.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/16/celebrity-news/eric-dane-reveals-first-symptom-that-led-to-als-diagnosis/

Kanye West did not change his name for a second time despite online documentation stating otherwise.

“There is no ‘Ye Ye,’” the “Heartless” rapper’s rep told Page Six on Monday.

The misunderstanding was due to “an oddity created by an online form that required something in both first name and last name fields,” West’s spokesperson explained.

Reps for West, 48, did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

Last week, Page Six obtained business documents filed in California by West’s chief financial officer, Hussain Lalani, under the name “Ye Ye.”

The new moniker was listed under “manager or member name” on the rapper’s businesses, including Yeezy Record Label, LLC and Yeezy Apparel.

Previous documents listed his name as “Ye West.”

The “Bound 2” rapper announced in 2018 that he wanted people to call him “Ye” instead of Kanye West.

“the being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE,” he declared via X.

West filed legal paperwork to make the name change permanent in 2021, citing “personal reasons.”

Despite the change, the “All of the Lights” rapper has still been referred to by his former name in the music industry.

In March 2024, his former chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos demanded West be called “Ye” rather than his “slave name” in a letter obtained by Page Six.

“Ye is one of the most recognizable people in the world, on par with presidents and popes,” Yiannopoulos wrote.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/16/celebrity-news/the-truth-behind-kanye-wests-second-name-change-revealed/

Meghan Markle isn’t letting the haters knock her down.

In a preview clip for the next episode of the “Aspire” podcast, set to drop Tuesday, the Duchess of Sussex jokes about the now-viral video she shared of her and Prince Harry dancing around the delivery room.

“You have to be authentic,” the As Ever founder tells host Emma Grede, before asking, “Did you see my ‘Baby Momma’ dance?”

Grede admits that she had indeed seen the video, telling Markle that she even “did a little secret cheer” for her while watching it. “Like, I wanna see that happiness and that honesty and that ‘I don’t give a f–k’ kind of thing,” the podcast host adds.

“By the way, that wasn’t yesterday,” Markle clarifies, reminding fans and critics that she recorded the video while she was pregnant with Princess Lilibet in 2021.

“That was four years ago. So it’s also a really great reminder that, with all the noise or whatever people do, there’s still a whole life. A real, authentic, fun life that’s happening behind the scenes.”

“I’m just grateful that now, being back on social as well, I have a place where I can share it on my own terms,” she concludes.

The comments come after the “With Love, Meghan” host, 43, shared the throwback video via Instagram for her daughter’s fourth birthday on June 4 — and faced immediate backlash.

In the clip, Markle danced next to her hospital bed in a black labor and delivery gown to the viral “Baby Momma Dance Song.” Prince Harry, 40, could be seen crossing back and forth in front of the screen in a casual hoodie and jeans.

“Four years ago today, this also happened,” Markle captioned the video post.

“Both of our children were a week past their due dates… so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn’t work – there was only one thing left to do! 😂.”

Followers took to X to express their dismay. “Everything they do to be ‘relatable’ is weirdly not relatable. It’s bizarre how they never miss,” wrote one person, while another called the video “fake and cringe.”

Others, however, enjoyed the pre-birth dance, writing things like, “SO CUTE,” “LOOOOVE!! Go Meghan and Harry!” and “parenting goals.”

Markle’s pal Christopher Bouzy also came to the couple’s defense, blasting the harsh critics of the video.

“Imagine, for a moment, what it would feel like to have some of the happiest and most vulnerable moments of your life turned into ammunition for hate,” Bouzy told Newsweek.

He further slammed conspiracy theorists who questioned the legitimacy of Markle’s baby bump.

“Every maternity dress and every baby video becomes ‘evidence’ for strangers obsessively trying to prove your pregnancies were a sham. It is sickening and cruel,” he argued.

“Beyond the personal toll on Meghan and Harry, there’s a broader societal damage to consider.”

He continued on, adding, “When conspiracy theories like these flourish, they corrode our collective grasp on reality and decency.”

Despite the intense backlash, the couple was seen stepping out for a family trip to Disneyland with Lilibet and Prince Archie, 6, in June.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/16/royal-family/meghan-markle-speaks-out-on-viral-delivery-room-dance-video-with-prince-harry/

When North Korea’s new warship capsized into the sea during its launch last month, it made international headlines. News organisations followed every development, from its successful refloating to its relaunch last Friday.

But why such interest, given there were no casualties, and the damage to the hull appeared relatively minor?

The intrigue has less to do with the failure itself and more with how Kim Jong Un reacted.

Kim immediately denounced the failure as “a criminal act” that “could not be tolerated”, saying it had damaged the country’s “dignity”. He ordered that the ship be restored immediately, and those responsible be punished. Four party officials were subsequently arrested.

This furious outburst, followed by the ship’s swift repair, teaches us a lot about the North Korean regime, whose moves are often so difficult to decipher.

First, it reveals how serious North Korea is about building a nuclear-armed navy.

Despite having a nuclear arsenal, which is growing in size and sophistication, and an enormous standing army, North Korea’s navy is considered greatly inferior to those of its enemies – South Korea, Japan and the United States – who have some of the most powerful naval fleets in the world.

“Kim Jong Un believes nuclear weapons are the only way he can protect his country, and yet all it has at sea is an old submarine and some small support ships,” said Choi Il, a retired South Korean navy captain.

Therefore, almost since the start of his reign, Kim has prioritised building a modern and powerful navy, equipped with nuclear weapons.

This warship is a key first step towards this goal. It is one of two destroyers North Korea has built over the past year, the first of which launched successfully in April. Weighing 5,000 tonnes, they are by far the biggest warships North Korea has, and are capable, in theory, of firing nuclear short-range missiles.

According to Mr Choi, who now heads South Korea’s Submarine Research Institute, it is extremely rare for a destroyer of this class to capsize during its construction and launch, given the advanced technology required to build one.

This would therefore have been “a very embarrassing incident” for Kim Jong Un, he said, as it “highlights the limitations of North Korea’s shipbuilding”.

Worse still, this flagship project failed in front of his eyes. Kim was attending the ship’s launch ceremony, along with his daughter and a crowd of spectators.

“North Korea is obsessed with showing off. I imagine they were planning a whole series of performances, so of course Kim couldn’t help but be furious”, Mr Choi added.

But experts in North Korea propaganda believe there is far more to Kim Jong Un’s outburst than raw anger and humiliation.

Choosing to publicise the capsizing in the way he did was a deliberate political strategy, they say, and shows Kim is shifting away from the regime’s tendency to conceal unpleasant truths.

Rachel Minyoung Lee from the Washington-based Stimson Centre, who has analysed North Korean propaganda for decades, explained how this has become a core pillar of Kim’s propaganda strategy.

Before Kim came to power, and even in the early years of his rule, the regime would hide anything negative as a way to control the narrative.

But as information has started to spread more freely in North Korea, it has become harder to cover up such major incidents.

“The leadership decided it was almost silly to try and hide what people already knew, and much more effective to show people they were dealing with problems,” Ms Lee said.

“Now, when there’s a problem, you publicise it, you call out those responsible, and demonstrate to people that if you don’t do your job, you will be held accountable. And in doing so, you let everyone know that the government and the leadership are doing their jobs well”.

In the case of the warship, this strategy appears to have worked remarkably effectively. The repairs were completed ahead of schedule, in just over three weeks, defying the expectations of naval experts.

“The rapid relaunch shows how even a failure can be turned into a political success,” said Kim Dong-yup, an assistant professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

But he and others say Kim has used this incident not just to project success but to strengthen people’s loyalty to the regime and its ideology – another consistent feature of his rule.

The ship capsized as it was launched sideways from the dock into the sea – a complicated maritime manoeuvre – and part of the bow got stuck on the launching ramp. But rather than present this as a technical failure, Kim Jong Un claimed the incident was caused by “absolute carelessness and irresponsibility.”

In contrast, he praised a worker who died during the ship’s construction, for “putting his blood and sweat” into the project.

“They turned his death into a symbol of devotion, to strengthen people’s loyalty,” said Professor Kim Dong-yup.

Rather than present Kim Jong Un as an infallible god as was the case for his father and grandfather, they elevated the loyal worker, he said. “This is a big shift in North Korea’s governing technique and shows Kim Jong Un’s astonishing ability to adapt and control the narrative”.

The biggest takeaway for Ms Lee, the propaganda expert, is that “the North Koreans achieve whatever they set out to do.”

“They set this goal of having a nuclear armed navy, and now they’re demonstrating they’re on their way to achieving that”.

No-one thought they could build the destroyers in just over a year, or repair this damage in less than a month, but they have, Ms Lee added, much like they did with their nuclear and missile programme despite the world’s initial scepticism.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9898zjgq2ro

The U.S. military has moved a large number of refueling aircraft to Europe to provide options to President Donald Trump as Middle East tensions erupt into conflict between Iran and Israel, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The officials also said the U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz was heading to the Middle East, in what one of them said was a pre-planned deployment. The Nimitz can hold 5,000 personnel and more than 60 aircraft, including fighter jets.

Taken together, the deployments, which were first reported by Reuters, suggest the United States is greatly strengthening its air power for potentially sustained operations as Iran and Israel trade blows in unprecedented open warfare.
Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb. Since then, Iran and Israel have launched large salvos against each other, killing and wounding civilians and raising concerns about a broader regional conflict.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X late on Monday, said he had ordered the deployment of additional defensive capabilities to the Middle East, but did not offer specifics.

“Protecting U.S. forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” Hegseth said in a post on social media platform X.
AirNav systems, a flight tracking website, said more than 31 U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft – primarily KC-135s and KC-46s – left the United States on Sunday, heading east.
The U.S. officials declined to comment on the number of aircraft. The Pentagon referred Reuters to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The sudden eastward deployment of over two dozen U.S. Air Force tankers is not business as usual. It’s a clear signal of strategic readiness,” said Eric Schouten at Dyami Security Intelligence.
“Whether it’s about supporting Israel, preparing for long-range operations, logistics is key, this move shows the U.S. is positioning itself for rapid escalation if tensions with Iran spill over.”

AirNav systems said the U.S. military flights had landed in Europe, including at Ramstein air base in Germany and airports in the United Kingdom, Estonia, and Greece.
The United States has been cautious so far, helping Israel knock down incoming missiles. Trump vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday.
One of them said the United States did not support going after Iran’s political leadership, as long as Americans were not being targeted.
Trump has lauded Israel’s offensive and warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include U.S. targets.
A third U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to comment on the tanker movement but stressed that U.S. military activities in the region were defensive in nature.

Another source familiar with the issue said the United States has told regional countries that it is making defensive preparations and would switch to offensive operations if Iran strikes any U.S. facilities.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-bolsters-military-options-trump-with-refueling-aircraft-officials-say-2025-06-16/

Shocking footage captures the moment a knife-wielding maniac lunged at officers inside a Manhattan courthouse Monday, slashing two in the neck and face.

The crazed suspect, identified as Jonathan Wohl, 37, of Queens, is seen calmly approaching the metal detectors in Manhattan Criminal court around 9:30 a.m. – but then suddenly pounces on a court officer, video obtained by The Post shows.

The maniac then turns and brutally attacks the second officer, stabbing him repeatedly before he gets tackled into a barrier near the entrance of the courthouse.

Several other officers are then seen taking the unhinged attacker to the ground and putting him in handcuffs, the clip shows.

Law enforcement sources said the accused assailant did not have a scheduled hearing at the 100 Centre Street courthouse and a motive for the assault is not known – although officials called it “targeted.”

“The assaults, captured on surveillance video, appeared preliminarily to be a targeted attack of the uniformed officers working security details at the courthouse,” a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration said in a statement. “Several court officers immediately rushed to stop the assailant, subduing him near a bank of magnetometers, disarming him and taking him into custody.”

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/16/us-news/shocking-footage-captures-moment-knife-wielding-maniac-lunges-at-officers-inside-nyc-courthouse/

President Trump warned that “everyone” in Tehran should “immediately evacuate” in an alarming Monday night Truth Social post as it was revealed he would be leaving the G7 summit a day early due to the Iran-Israel conflict.

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Trump posted on social media.

About an hour later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted that the president would be departing the G7 in Canada early “because of what’s going on in the Middle East.”

“I have to be back early for obvious reasons,” Trump told reporters ahead of his departure from the summit.

“We had a, just a really great relationship with everybody and it’s really nice. I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand. This is big stuff.”

The commander in chief, according to an NBC News report and Fox News host Lawrence Jones III, asked the National Security Council to be ready in the Situation Room upon his return to Washington, DC.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s reported NSC request.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be returning with Trump to DC, NBC News reported, citing a State Department spokesperson.

The president’s evacuation warning came after Israeli officials called for those in Tehran to evacuate earlier Monday ahead of its continued military campaign against Iran, which has included slews of missile exchanges between the conflicting countries.

The evacuation area includes an estimated 330,000 people in central Tehran, including Iran’s state television headquarters, police headquarters and three key hospitals including one owned by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Iranian authorities dismissed Israel’s call for evacuation as nothing more than “psychological warfare.”

Still, thousands have been pushed to flee, the chaos only exacerbated by Tehran’s lack of publicly accessible bomb shelters. A majority of the 9.5 million people in Iran’s capital have been left in limbo as mass evacuations clogged traffic while others lack the means to leave at all.

Those who can’t flee have resorted to waiting out the strikes in their basements or subway stations.

Monday marked the fourth day of military escalation after Israel originally launched multiple missiles aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leadership last Friday. Since then, both countries have swapped missiles back-and-forth, including some that struck an Iranian television news network while live on air.

As the G7 summit began in Canada on Sunday, world leaders assured that the expanding conflict would be a high priority for discussion. Trump, though, skirted a question on the potential for US military involvement.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” he told reporters.

Earlier that same day, Trump told ABC News that it is “possible” the US could get involved in the conflict.

“We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” Trump told the outlet.

The summit representatives intended to issue a signed G7 statement regarding Iran and Israel urging restraint on both sides, but Trump refused to pen the letter.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/16/us-news/trump-warns-everyone-should-immediately-evacuate-tehran-in-ominous-truth-social-post/

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was adamant that the intelligence was “absolutely clear” that Iran was on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon — and described himself as President Trump’s “junior partner” while defending the preemptive strikes.

“These [are] people who chant Death to America, try to assassinate President Trump twice, killed 241 of your Marines in Beirut, killed and injured thousands of American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, try to bomb a restaurant in Washington, DC, chant ‘Death to America.’ Burn the American flag,” Netanyahu said on a special edition of Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

“Look, they also tried to kill me, but I’m his junior partner,” he later added, referring to Trump. “They fired a missile into my bedroom window. They missed.”

That appears to be a reference to a drone shot fired by Hezbollah that hit Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea last year. The drone did not fully penetrate his house, due to reinforced glass and other protective measures.

The Israeli leader also pledged that he would not allow the Jewish people to suffer a “second Holocaust” from a nuclear-armed Iran.

“That is something that we couldn’t possibly accept. Whether it would be six months or 12 months or 13 months is immaterial. Once they go that route, it’s too late, and we will not have a second Holocaust, a nuclear holocaust,” Netanyahu said.

“We already had one in the previous century,” he added. “Never again is now, and we have to act now.”

Israel had conducted preemptive strikes on Iran late last week, targeting its nuclear facilities, top military brass, missile capability and top scientists, sparking a tit-for-tat conflict between the two adversarial nations.

Back in March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that Iran “is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.”

But Netanyahu brushed off that assessment and insisted that Israel had “excellent” intelligence to the contrary.

“The Intel we got and we shared with the United States was absolutely clear — was absolutely clear, that they were working in a secret plan to weaponize the uranium. They were marching very quickly. They would achieve a test device and possibly an initial device within months, and certainly less than a year,” the longstanding Israeli leader claimed.

“We saw enough uranium, enriched uranium for nine bombs,” the Israeli PM later reflected. “It’s like Hitler’s nuclear scientists. Would you leave them? Of course not.”

Iran has quickly retaliated against Israel, with Khamenei vowing that “life will be dark” for Israelis. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared Sunday that “If the aggression stops, naturally our responses will also stop.”

But Netanyahu didn’t seem keen on letting up on Iran, calling Araghchi’s statement “hogwash.” The Israeli prime minister cited two main reasons for the preemptive strikes on Tehran, claiming that the attack was done to “not only protect ourselves, but to protect the world.”

“We were facing an imminent threat, a dual existential threat. One, the threat of Iran rushing to weaponize their enriched uranium to make atomic bombs with a specific and declared intent to destroy us. Second, a rush to increase their ballistic missile arsenal,” the Israeli leader claimed.

Many military analysts believed that a driving factor in Israel’s decision to strike Iran was that the theocratic regime is widely perceived as vulnerable at the moment. Iran’s proxy forces have been battered over the past two years or so.

Israel mounted a pager attack on Hezbollah that wiped out much of the terror group’s top leadership, the Assad regime in Syria collapsed and Hamas has been beaten back significantly.

However, Netanyahu insisted that Israel was forced to act and that it was the “12th hour,” and heavily implied that the threat was imminent.

“Our intel shows that they intend to give these nuclear weapons to their Houthi proxies and others. And that’s nuclear terrorism on a global scale,” Netanyahu warned.

Netanyahu, who has spent some 17 nonconsecutive years as prime minister, also invoked concerns about Iran’s efforts to assassinate President Trump. Last year, it was revealed that the feds foiled an attempt by a Pakistani man who had been collaborating with an Iranian handler to potentially kill Trump. Netanyahu said there was a second attempt as well.

While the Israelis have dramatically diminished Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities, there are looming questions about whether they can get at Iran’s facilities that are buried deep underground, such as the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which is thought to be about half a mile deep.

Many military observers believe Israel would need American bombers capable of dropping heavy bunker-buster bombs to destroy that facility. Netanyahu declined to delve into the specifics about that conundrum.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/15/world-news/netanyahu-vows-we-will-not-have-a-second-holocaust-says-clear-intel-warned-iran-was-on-verge-of-a-nuclear-weapon/

While ICE arrests and deportations have grabbed headlines, President Trump is also running a separate but complementary “mass deportation” program — one that encourages aliens here unlawfully to go home voluntarily.

And if reports are correct, that plan is more successful than anyone could have imagined.

Based on government data, my organization, the Center for Immigration Studies, has conservatively estimated there are about 15.4 million illegal aliens in the United States, a 50% increase over the four tumultuous years of the Biden administration.

That’s no surprise, given how Biden and his Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ignored congressional detention mandates and ushered millions of illegal migrants into the United States.

Trump rode a wave of concerns about the costs those migrants are imposing on schools, hospitals, housing, and essential government services in cities and towns across the United States to a second term.

Now that he’s back in the Oval Office, it’s up to him, “border czar” Tom Homan, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to drive the unauthorized population down and restore credibility to our immigration system.

They’ve implemented a two-track plan to tackle this onerous task.

One of those tracks relies on arrests and deportations of aliens unlawfully here, which at the outset has focused mainly on criminals (the “worst first” strategy).

The other track is more subtle but also cheaper for taxpayers and arguably much more effective —encouraging illegal migrants here to self-deport.

It began with an Inauguration Day Trump directive requiring DHS to ensure all aliens present in the United States — legal and otherwise — have registered with the federal government, and to prosecute those who don’t comply.

By late February, Noem had implemented that registration program.

DHS next launched a multi-million-dollar ad campaign warning migrants not to enter illegally or, alternatively, to leave voluntarily now and possibly “have an opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American Dream.”

Noem also rebranded the notorious CBP One app — which the Biden administration used to funnel hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants into our country — as “CBP Home,” which aliens can use to “notify the U.S. Government of their intent to depart”.

That rebranding coincided with an offer of financial incentives for aliens who leave voluntarily, a stipend of $1,000. That’s in lieu of costly physical deportation, which can cost taxpayers $17,100 per person on average.

How effective has self-deportation been?

One way to track the program is by checking employment numbers. One financial wiz cited by the Wall Street Journal calculated a decline in the immigrant population of 773,000 in the first four months of Trump II.

The Washington Post claims “a million foreign-born workers have exited the workforce since March.” The Post frames this as “a sign of the weakening labor supply.” Yet the paper also notes, “Average hourly wages accelerated, rising by 0.4 percent over the month, to $36.24 in May, as earnings continue to beat inflation in a boost to workers’ spending power.”

In other words, with fewer illegal immigrants, businesses had to raise wages to attract workers.

But aliens will only leave if they believe Trump and Homan are serious about arrests, and employers know the feds are targeting shady businesses.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/06/15/opinion/nearly-1-million-illegal-immigrants-have-self-deported-under-trump-which-has-led-to-higher-wages/

President Donald Trump rejected a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.

After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilize the region.

Asked about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.

“But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we’ll do what we need to do,” Netanyahu said. “And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States.”

Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri later called reports about the Israeli plan to kill Khamenei “fake.”

Netanyahu in the Fox interview also said regime change “could certainly be the result” of the conflict “because the Iranian regime is very weak.”

Trump’s rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday issued a stark warning to Iran not to retaliate against U.S. targets in the Middle East.

Trump in an early morning social media posting said the United States “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran” as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for the third straight day. Iran, however, has said it would hold the U.S. — which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry — responsible for its backing of Israel.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” Trump said.

Hours later Trump took to social media again to predict “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal” and that it could come “soon.”

But as he departed the White House on Sunday evening for the Group of Seven leaders summit in the Canadian Rockies, Trump was more tempered in comments to reporters about when the Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliation would wind down.

“I hope there is going to be a deal, and we’ll see what happens, but sometimes they have to fight it out,” Trump said.

The conflict is expected to loom large during his talks with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union.

The U.S. president said he has a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities “just like I got India and Pakistan to” after the two countries’ recent cross-border confrontation.

India struck targets inside Pakistan after militants in April massacred 26 tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any links to the attackers. Following India’s strikes in Pakistan, the two sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto borders, followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and airbases.

It was the most serious confrontation in decades between the countries. Trump on Sunday repeated his claim, disputed by India, that the two sides agreed to a ceasefire after he had offered to help both nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate.

Trump also pointed to efforts by his administration during his first term to mediate disputes between Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia.

“Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” Trump posted. “Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!”

There’s a divide in Trump world about how far the president should go in backing Israel.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson are among the prominent backers of Trump who have argued that voters supported Trump because he would not involve the nation in foreign conflicts.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-israel-attack-43e3b1ce47d12477ae4533c941386b75

“Stuck”. That is the word most people who have spoken to the BBC use to describe life in Iran right now.

After three days of Israeli attacks, “everyone is trying to escape” Tehran “one way or another,” one resident told BBC News Persian.

On Sunday, long queues formed at petrol stations across the city. Many people tried to leave for remote areas, away from any possible Israeli target, but could not even get out of the province because of heavy traffic.

“Tehran isn’t safe, clearly,” one resident said. “We get no alarms or warnings from officials about Israeli attacks. We just hear the blasts and hope our place isn’t hit. But where can we go? Nowhere feels safe.”

One person who managed to move from Tehran to another province said: “I don’t think I’ve fully processed that I’m living in an active war zone, and I’m not sure when I’ll reach acceptance.”

“This is not my war. I’m not rooting for either side, I just want to survive along with my family.”

Since Friday, Israel hit Iran with its biggest wave of air strikes in years.

Israel’s strikes have led to retaliation from Iran, which has launched missile attacks on Israel.

At least 10 people have been killed in Israel, authorities said. Iranian media, citing the health ministry, reported that 128 people had been killed in Israeli attacks as of midday on Saturday.

One Iranian told the BBC she has not been able to sleep for two nights: “I’ve gone through really tough situations.”

She said the current situation reminds her of bombings and going to shelters during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, when she was a child.

“The difference is that back then, at least when an attack happened, we heard the air raid siren or at least warnings before it happened. But now, during this bombing or any air raid, there’s no sirens or warnings.”

Younger people, born after the war, do not know what it was like, BBC News Persian’s Ghoncheh Habibiazad said.

One woman in Tehran said she has considered leaving the city to escape the attacks.

“We’ve all wanted to go to smaller cities or villages, anywhere we can go, but each of us has loved ones who can’t leave, and we’re thinking of them,” she said. “What we’re experiencing is not fair to any of us, the people of Iran.”

“We’re all trying to get through these days in fear, exhaustion, and a lot of stress, this is extremely hard and painful.”

One resident in the capital said: “I can’t just leave Tehran. I can’t leave my elderly parents who can’t travel far and long and leave the city myself. Besides, I need to show up to work. What can I do now?”

The internet has been unstable, so it is very hard to keep in touch with people inside the country.

Many of those living outside the country are sending messages to loved ones, hoping for a reply.

Some people have also received warnings from the Israel military asking all Iranians to leave areas near military sites. People in Tehran seem most worried about this.

“How are we supposed to know where a military site is and where isn’t?” one said.

Separately, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a message to Iranians on the second day of the attacks said “the time has come” for Iranians to unite “by standing up for your freedom”.

However, people in the country have so far chosen to stay safe and there is little evidence that Netanyahu’s call has resonated on the ground, BBC News Persian’s Daryoush Karimi said.

Inside Iran, what perhaps shocked people the most was the destruction of residential buildings, even more than the attacks on nuclear facilities and airbases, said BBC News Persian’s Pouyan Kalani.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xgxdr01wro

King Charles III shared a heartfelt Father’s Day tribute after his second-born son, Prince Harry, made a plea for them to reconcile.

On Sunday, the monarch shared a throwback photo of himself and his sister, Princess Anne, playing on the swings while their late father, Prince Philip, pushed them.

Charles also shared a photo of his wife, Queen Camilla, with her late dad, Major Bruce Shand, from their April 2005 wedding day.

“To all Dads everywhere, we wish you a happy Father’s Day today,” the British king, 76, captioned the post.

Charles’ tribute comes more than a month after Harry, 40, shared that he would be willing to make amends with his estranged father and brother, Prince William.

“There have been so many disagreements, differences, between me and some of my family,” the Duke of Sussex told BBC News on May 3.

“This current situation that has been ongoing for five years with regard to human life and safety is the sticking point. It is the only thing that’s left,” the dad of two said, referring to him losing his appeal against the UK government’s decision to strip him of his publicly funded security after he stepped down from his royal duties and moved to North America in 2020.

Harry acknowledged that “some members” of his family would “never forgive” him for “lots of things,” including writing his tell-all memoir, “Spare.”

The Invictus Games founder admitted that he didn’t “know how much longer” his father, Charles, had left amid his cancer battle.

“He won’t speak to me,” the prince claimed, “because of this security stuff. But it would be nice to reconcile.”

Despite their “disagreements” and “differences,” Harry said he would “love reconciliation with [his] family” because “there’s no point in continuing to fight.”

The prince released his bombshell memoir, “Spare,” in 2023.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/15/royal-family/king-charles-shares-heartfelt-fathers-day-message-after-prince-harrys-pleas-for-reconciliation/

A royal tribute.

Meghan Markle shared adorable home videos of husband Prince Harry and their kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, in honor of Father’s Day on Sunday.

“The best,” the Duchess of Sussex captioned the heartwarming montage via Instagram. “Happy Father’s Day to our favorite guy 💕.”

See more

The reel — which was set to Jason Mraz’s song “Have It All” — featured candid moments of Harry with their two children over the years.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, was seen happily dancing with toddler Archie in the kitchen, as well as laughing during storytime with his giggly mini-me.

Another sweet clip showed the royal dad being smothered with kisses by his son, 6, and daughter, 4, on a backyard swing.

Markle, 43, also included footage of Harry teaching Archie how to ride a bike.

The doting father was seen cautiously jogging closeby as his son pedaled down a path at their $14 million estate in Montecito, Calif.

The “With Love, Meghan” star was heard cheering from behind the camera as Lili sweetly came up running behind her brother.

Harry and Markle — who married in 2018 — welcomed son Archie in May 2019 and daughter Lilibet in June 2021.

Earlier this month, the royal couple was mocked online after the “Suits” alum shared a throwback video of their “Baby Momma Dance” in the delivery room to celebrate Lili’s birthday.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/06/15/royal-family/meghan-markle-celebrates-best-dad-prince-harry-with-adorable-home-videos/