Top World News
US lawmakers demand Trump officials halt plan to send Afghans to DRC
Government urged to reconsider proposal for 1,100 Afghans, currently stranded in Qatar, who worked with US forcesDozens of US lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Thursday to roll back any plans to ship to unsafe third countries Afghan nationals who worked with US forces during the war in their homeland.In a letter seen by Reuters, more than 80 House of Representatives members, including at least three Republicans as well as Democrats, appealed to secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to reconsider plans for 1,100 Afghans who have been stranded in Qatar awaiting relocation. Continue reading...
Canadian mother sues OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT led her daughter to kill herself
Suit filed in US alleges chatbot told Alice Carrier, 24, ‘maybe this is just the end’ as she struggled with suicidal thoughtsA Canadian mother sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, in US court on Thursday, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged her daughter to kill herself. The lawsuit is the latest in a slew accusing the company of failing to address dangerous conversations between users and the company’s chatbot.Kristie Carrier said in a lawsuit filed in San Francisco state court that her daughter, Alice, told ChatGPT about her suicidal ideations more than a dozen times leading up to her death but that OpenAI’s safety systems never flagged the conversations for human review or terminated them. Continue reading...
Delhi issues ‘strong protest’ after US strikes kill three Indian seafarers in Gulf
Washington claims vessel was violating its blockade of Iranian ports and failed to comply with instructionsThe Indian government has voiced a “strong protest” after three Indian seafarers were killed in US military strikes against oil tankers travelling through the strait of Hormuz.US Central Command confirmed that its aircraft had fired two Hellfire missiles at the engine room of the MT Settebello as it sailed through the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Toronto police officer shot while investigating US consulate attack
Suspect, 19, still at large after officer dies in hospital having been shot while searching an apartmentA Toronto police officer has been shot dead as police raided an apartment allegedly linked to the March attack on the US consulate, the city’s police chief, Myron Demkiw, said.Demkiw said 43-year-old constable Marc Pinizzotto was shot while conducting an early-morning search warrant in the north-west of the city and later died at a hospital. Continue reading...
London council seizes social housing flat rented by Sierra Leone first lady
Fatima Jabbe-Bio kept tenancy in Southwark despite living for much of year at presidential lodge in FreetownA social housing flat rented by Sierra Leone’s first lady has been seized by a London council.Southwark council confirmed it had repossessed the two-bedroom home in Walworth previously occupied by Fatima Jabbe-Bio, whose tenancy was reported by the Times last year. Continue reading...
'But — but Iran!' Trump's rigged-election rant hijacks Fox News war interview
Asked Thursday about bombing Iran's civilian water supply on Fox News, Donald Trump launched into a minutes-long rant about rigged elections instead.Brian Kilmeade, the Fox News host who fielded Trump's call-in, had framed the water strike in approving terms — describing the U.S. campaign as an "Anaconda" strategy squeezing Iran into submission. But when he pointed out that American strikes had hit a water facility serving a population already running out of water, Trump changed the subject.The strike Kilmeade referenced had, the night before, knocked out drinking water for roughly 20,000 residents in the southern Iranian town of Sirik — during a heat wave pushing temperatures above 113 degrees. Weapons experts told CNN the munitions appeared to be US-made GBU-39 precision-guided bombs. The New York Times reported the strike may constitute a war crime; the Geneva Conventions explicitly protect drinking water installations from attack.Trump had other priorities."'In 2020, I got more votes than anybody in history, Republican Party,'" he told Kilmeade. "'And we got more votes, but the election was rigged.'"From there, Trump pivoted to the California governor's race, where his endorsed candidate, Steve Hilton, had just secured a spot on the November ballot against Democrat Xavier Becerra. Trump claimed he personally forced California officials to "approve" Hilton after going "on a tear" about election fraud — a claim with no factual basis. PolitiFact rated Trump's broader assertion that California's ballot-counting pace proved cheating as "Pants on Fire." Hilton advanced because he got enough votes under the state's standard counting procedures."'But — but Iran!" Kilmeade interjected, but Trump kept going."'It's a rigged election. Okay,'" Trump said.Kilmeade muttered he shouldn't have brought up the election at all. Trump, apparently satisfied, finally relented."'Let's get back to Iran,'" he said. "'Much simpler. It's a much simpler situation.'"Whether bombing a civilian water supply in 113-degree heat qualifies as simpler is a question international law experts are now actively debating.
WSJ warns Trump he's 'dancing to Iran's tune' and needs a strategy shakeup
President Donald Trump has put himself in a "weak" position in his war against Iran, the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote in an analysis published on Wednesday."For nine weeks, the cease-fire has let Iran dictate events in the Gulf," wrote the board. The way things have progressed, they argued, Iran itself "gets to start each 'skirmish' — shooting at U.S. forces, U.S. allies, or commercial ships — and then decide when the exchange ends," all while attacking Israel through its Hezbollah proxies in Lebanon and using the conflict there as "an excuse to stall talks with the U.S."Through all this, the board wrote, Trump has downplayed Iran's offensives, calling fire on U.S. troops "a trifle," an Iranian bombing of a Kuwaiti airport “not a big deal,” and even saying something almost identical about the Iranian downing of an Apache helicopter.Ultimately, wrote the board, "Mr. Trump limited Israel’s strikes and previewed his own in public. When the U.S. says 'proportional,' Iran hears 'weak.' Offering the regime such forward guidance signals that Mr. Trump still fears a return to war" — all of which tells Iran they have wide latitude to continue violating the ceasefire with minimal to no response from the U.S. military."Mr. Trump won’t want to hear it, but he has been dancing to Iran’s tune," the board concluded. "He will have to break from it or go down as losing the war politically despite the early military gains."This comes as the latest round of talks to resolve the war fail, and new economic data shows inflation surging again as the Strait of Hormuz and much of the world's oil shipping remain blocked.
Trump wishes 'peace for the world' for his birthday minutes after vow to blow up Iran
In four minutes on Wednesday morning, Donald Trump promised to bomb Iran and wished for world peace.At 11:50, gathered in the Oval Office for the signing of a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, President Donald Trump turned to reporters with a warning about Iran. "We hit them hard yesterday, and we're gonna hit them again hard today — in case you miss it, in case you don't turn on your television set," he said.Four minutes later, a reporter asked what Trump wished for himself ahead of his 80th birthday."Peace for the world," he said.The day's strikes follow the downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night. Both crew members were rescued by an unmanned drone boat — the first such operation in U.S. military history.Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday that the U.S. "must, of necessity, respond to this attack." By 5 p.m., CENTCOM had launched strikes on Iranian air defense and radar sites near the Strait — "a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression," it said. Iran hit back within hours, targeting U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.Trump also declined Wednesday to rule out hitting civilian infrastructure. Asked about power plants and bridges, he replied: "I'm not gonna say that to you, but I could do that."He blamed Tehran for the collapse of peace talks, accusing Iran of running out the clock on a deal he called "fully negotiated.""They keep playing us for suckers," Trump said. "They dealt with some very stupid presidents."The war began February 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian military and government sites. It has now surpassed 100 days.
Four days of extreme rain in Indonesia killed 7% of world’s rarest great apes, study finds
Critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan population falls after heavy rain and landslides, fuelled by climate crisis, in North SumatraExtreme rainfall and landslides fuelled by the climate crisis killed 7% of the remaining population of the world’s rarest great ape, a study has found, prompting fears for the species’ survival.The research suggests 58 out of the remaining 800 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) were killed after more than 1,000mm (39in) of rain fell over four days in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province in November 2025. This equates to 11% of the local population and 7% of the entire species. Continue reading...
Trump targeting immigrants from countries hit most by climate shocks
A Guardian analysis reveals how most of 39 countries facing US entry restrictions are most vulnerable environmentally‘Every day it’s more barriers’: how the US is shutting out climate refugeesDonald Trump’s immigration crackdown is largely targeting people from the countries most vulnerable to displacement from climate-driven disasters, a Guardian analysis shows.As the Trump administration pushes policies to boost planet-heating fossil fuels, millions of people are being forced to flee their homelands due to storms, floods and droughts worsened by the climate crisis. Continue reading...
US diplomat found dead in Myanmar as police treat case as possible homicide
Thai woman is in custody in connection with investigation after man was reportedly found dead at a hotel in YangonA US diplomat has been found dead in Myanmar’s largest city, and members of the diplomatic community in Yangon say a Thai woman has been detained by police in connection with the investigation.US officials in Thailand and the US embassy in Myanmar referred questions on the case to the state department, which confirmed the “death of a US government employee” assigned to the embassy in Yangon, but gave no other details. Continue reading...
Trump drops ominous threat as Iran talks fail: 'Now they will have to pay the price!'
President Donald Trump boasted that Iran has been "completely defeated" as the U.S. trades strikes with the Middle Eastern nation.U.S. Central Command announced Tuesday evening that it had conducted "self-defense strikes" in response to the downing of an Army helicopter the previous day, which prompted Trump to threaten a response, and he rejected Iran's claims that the strikes had disputed the diplomatic process by violating the ceasefire."Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess," Trump posted Wednesday morning on Truth Social. "Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!""They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!" the president added, appending the post with his full name.
