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Pakistan locks down Islamabad as Imran Khan’s party vows to march on capital
Tens of thousands of police deployed and roads barricaded as PTI party demands release of jailed former PMLeaders from Imran Khan’s party have vowed to go ahead with a nationwide demonstration in Pakistan to demand the former prime minister’s release, even as the government deployed tens of thousands of police to Islamabad, barricaded highways and issued arrest warrants to try to stop the march.The state has taken extreme measures to prevent Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from proceeding with the march. It was announced after mounting concerns of the treatment of Khan, who has been in jail since 2023 on corruption charges. Continue reading...
Protests against war crimes verdicts add pressure on Kosovo's government
Daily protests in Kosovo against war crimes convictions for former rebel commanders spread throughout the Balkan country on Friday, adding pressure on the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who has faced a monthslong political crisis.
A data-sharing clause derailed U.S.-Zimbabwe health talks. Now all funding ends this month
The United States will end funding for Zimbabwe's health programs at the end of September following the collapse of negotiations over a U.S.-proposed deal that Zimbabwe rejected in part over a requirement to share sensitive health data, the U.S. Embassy said Friday.
Uzbekistan converts diplomacy into capital as it draws closer to Trump
Nearly a year after Uzbekistan and the U.S. announced economic deals at a White House summit, the Central Asian country is touting its ability to transform diplomatic pledges into lucrative investment.
105-year-old under investigation over deaths at Nazi POW camp
German prosecutors are investigating a 105-year-old man on suspicion that he worked as a guard at a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp during World War II and was an accessory to multiple killings there.
Pomp over progress in Xi’s US summit with Trump is a win for China
While US president hailed visit as ‘great’, almost nothing of substance was achieved on resolving thorny issuesKey takeaways from the Trump-Xi summit in WashingtonIf the Beijing meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in May was the “stalemate summit”, the second round of talks between the presidents of the US and China this week seemed to give up entirely on the idea of breakthroughs.Instead, it was described as a celebration of “diplotainment” rather than diplomacy, where pomp prevailed over progress and where one of the main outcomes was the news that two giant pandas would soon be sent from China to Atlanta zoo. Continue reading...
Seething Kristen Holmes fact-checks Trump in real time: 'Fundamentally not true'
A Truth Social post by President Donald Trump taking aim at the media was quickly and angrily fact-checked by CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.On Thursday, Trump shot off an irate post about how CNN and MS NOW didn't cover his White House welcome ceremony for Chinese leader Xi Jinping."CNN and MSDNC's Ratings have dropped considerably," Trump wrote, using his name for MS NOW, a jab at the network's progressive lean. "The primary reason is NO CREDIBILITY! They only write badly about a man who won the Election IN A GIANT LANDSLIDE."He continued, "CNN and MSDNC, to show you how fake they are, today refused to cover one of the Biggest and Most Beautiful Events to take place in many years, the arrival at the White House of the Highly Respected President of China, Xi Jinping...the event was magnificent — Actually made for Television."Holmes reacted to the post minutes after it came out."He is clearly very angry that there has been no coverage of his meeting," Holmes said, but she noted that claims in the post are "fundamentally not true." CNN would have covered the event, Holmes stressed, but its reporters were still not allowed into the White House when it took place.A judge temporarily blocked Trump's media ban earlier in the day and ordered the White House to restore access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico. However, the Trump administration initially tried to continue restricting their access, and the event with Xi took place before the White House finally relented. It seemed like no one told Trump about the series of events, Holmes said."Either somebody in President Trump's administration or the press office is lying to President Trump, or he does not have a fundamental understanding of what is happening today, or he himself is not telling the truth in this post," Holmes said, nearly yelling out of frustration. "And I do want to be very clear to the president of the United States that we would have covered this event had you not banned CNN and MS NOW and Politico."
Outrage as Trump flaunts 'autopen' portrait in front of world leader: 'Appalling'
President Donald Trump sparked outrage by joking about the "autopen" on a portrait to get a laugh out of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.On Thursday, the White House X account posted a video of Trump giving Xi a tour of the Presidential Walk of Fame, a West Colonnade display of gold-framed portraits of past presidents that Trump installed last September. Former President Joe Biden's portrait is notably swapped out with an autopen, reflecting Trump and his allies' claim that Biden's aides used the signature device on pardons and orders because he was mentally unfit. Biden denies the claim."Trump, Trump," the president said, pointing at the portraits on both sides of the autopen. "This is the autopen...It's Biden," Trump then explained to Xi with a pat on the arm.While people following Trump and Xi on the tour laughed at the joke, online reactions were harsher. Many were outraged that Trump would take a dig at a previous president for the sake of getting a laugh out of a foreign leader."As an American, I find this so embarrassing," former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul reacted. "He calls it the people's house, but he does not treat it as the people's house. Whatever your policy disagreements were with President Biden, 81 million Americans voted for him. To treat him with such disrespect is appalling. To force a foreign guest to participate in your ridicule of Biden is even worse.""I hate this," lamented Philip Klein, the editor of National Review Online, a conservative opinion outlet. "Xi is a commie b— who runs a key US adversary. Biden, warts and all, was a U.S. president.""He's a grotesque human being," blasted former GOP congressman Joe Walsh. "Taking a despicable cheap shot at an American president to make a communist dictator laugh.""How embarrassing for us," bemoaned Gregg Nunziata, a former GOP Senate Judiciary Committee counsel.As an American, I find this so embarrassing.He calls it the people's house, but he does not treat it as the people's house. Whatever your policy disagreements were with President Biden, 81 million Americans voted for him.To treat him with such disrespect is appalling. To… https://t.co/PTwtEpYn6M— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) September 24, 2026
'Order!' UN roiled by another mass walkout as right-wing Trump ally triggers storm-off
Diplomats from dozens of countries walked out of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approached the podium, emptying rows of the chamber in protest before he could say a word.Cheers and chants in support of Palestine broke out Thursday afternoon as dozens of diplomats stormed out. The protest led to a gaveling and a call for "order in the hall!"Netanyahu answered the exodus from the stage with a firm retort."If there are any other moral cowards who have not left this hall, please do so now," he said to a visibly thinned-out room. The walkout comes amid protests against Israel's brutality in Gaza, where the war has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, and against Netanyahu personally. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him last year over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to the siege of Gaza, a warrant he rejects.Netanyahu arrived in New York at odds with the city's leaders. He spent the run-up to the trip attacking Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously warned he would seek to enforce the ICC warrant if Netanyahu set foot in the city. In a video before the speech, Netanyahu declared, "Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani!" and accused him of "supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters" and inciting violence against Jewish New Yorkers.That claim landed flat even on Fox News, where correspondent Trey Yingst flatly rebutted it, noting that Netanyahu's video said Mamdani "strongly supported Hamas, which... isn't true."The mass exit was not the first of the week's UN drama. A day earlier, President Donald Trump used his own General Assembly address to threaten to "annihilate" Iran, remarks one New York Times reporter characterized as a threat to commit a war crime.Netanyahu after the UNGA emptied out ahead of his speech: "If there any other moral cowards who have not left the hall, please do so now." pic.twitter.com/5I3ceI0bSM— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 24, 2026 ????Dozens of delegates from member states walk out of the UN general assembly in protest of Netanyahu's speech pic.twitter.com/afxM14UN8u— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) September 24, 2026
Trump swoons over strongman soulmate Xi – are you feeling jealous, Vladimir?
Deference was deafening as US president rolled out red carpet for world’s biggest jailer of journalists – perhaps he was seeking tipsOne is an authoritarian who represses the media and has a strong allergy to democratic elections. The other is head of the Chinese Communist party.Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to the White House on Thursday, setting the stage for a scene quite unlike anything the august old building has seen over more than two centuries. Continue reading...
Rick Wakeman performs piano concert to 150 rescued moon bears in Vietnam
Former Yes musician plays at sanctuary to raise awareness of animals that remain stuck in cages at ‘bile farms’ Rick Wakeman has played to all kinds of people around the globe, but he has now performed to an audience he had never encountered before – an enclosure of 150 bears.The former Yes musician, who has gone on to have a prolific solo career, played the piano at a Vietnamese bear sanctuary. Continue reading...
Rebel offensive against Ethiopian army stokes fears of return to civil war
Fighting escalates after Tigrayan rebels form new coalition aimed at overthrowing Abiy Ahmed governmentThere are growing fears of a return to civil war in Ethiopia after an offensive by fighters from Tigray into the neighbouring states of Afar and Amhara and the formation of a new rebel alliance aimed at overthrowing the government of the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.About 600,000 people died between 2020 and 2022 during a devastating war between the Ethiopian army and the political party and paramilitary group the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Both sides are now accusing the other of triggering a return to open conflict. Continue reading...
