CENTCOM: ‘Safe path’ through Hormuz is US priority in ‘Project Freedom’
US CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins says the main priorities in Hormuz are securing safe routes & blockading Iran.
Arsenal beat Atletico to reach first Champions League final in 20 years
Bukayo Saka seals a 1-0 win for Arsenal as they take their Champions League semifinal 2-1 on aggregate against Atletico.
Before Vatican trip, Rubio defends Trump remarks on Pope Leo over Iran
Comments come before Marco Rubio’s meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday.
Israel kills one boy, injures officers in strike on Gaza police station
A 15-year-old boy, Mahmoud Sahweil, was killed when Israel struck a Gaza police station.
US Army says ‘Project Freedom’ in blockaded Hormuz has ‘just begun’
A US Central Command spokesperson says the mission to secure a safe passage of ships in the blocked waterway has begun.
Could OPEC break lead to era of energy volatility?
How unstable is the global oil market?
Mauritania’s plan to close private schools sparks backlash
Mauritania’s plan to shut most private primary schools and move students into free public schools is sparking backlash.
US plans to hike tariffs on EU cars to 25% will hit luxury market the most
US says it will hike tariffs to 25% because the EU has not complied with trade deal last year that set tariffs at 15%.
Miscalculation over Strait of Hormuz could ‘bring an all-out war’
Neither the US nor Iran are willing to compromise on the Strait of Hormuz, increasing the chance of miscalculation.
Sudan recalls Ethiopia ambassador after strikes on Khartoum
Sudan has recalled its ambassador to Addis Ababa, accusing Ethiopia of being behind attacks on Khartoum’s airport.
Video: Trump says Iran should ‘wave the white flag’
US President Donald Trump said Iran should ‘wave the white flag of surrender’ in the war.
US push for Lebanon and Israel leaders to meet could inflame tensions
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun is under pressure to meet with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on a US visit this month.
US to take steps to curb antidepressant prescribing, RFK Jr says
Plan promotes ‘deprescribing’ as psychiatrists warn crisis stems from lack of access to care, not overuse
The federal health department will begin a series of steps intended to curb antidepressant use in the US, Robert F Kennedy Jr announced this week.
Antidepressants, specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, have long been a target for Kennedy, the Trump administration’s health secretary, who talked about the plans at an event Monday hosted by the Make America Healthy Again Institute, an organization focused on advancing the MAHA agenda. He has claimed without evidence that the drugs are linked to a rise in school shootings and has expressed concerns about weaning off the medications and withdrawal symptoms.
Continue reading...Alberta separatists submit 300,000 signatures to push independence referendum
Authorities investigate leak of 2.9 million voters’ details, adding to turmoil around independence push
Alberta separatists have delivered more than 300,000 signatures to elections officials in western Canada, in support of their attempt to force an independence referendum in Canada’s oil-rich province.
But the effort stumbled immediately as a separatist-linked group posted the personal data of nearly three million residents online in one of the largest data breaches in Canadian history, fomenting fears of a possible political interference crisis.
Continue reading...Four Palestine Action activists convicted of criminal damage
Activists found guilty over break-in at Israeli defence firm’s UK site after jury deliberated for more than 14 hours
Four out of six Palestine Action activists who stood trial over a break-in at an Israeli defence firm’s UK site have been convicted of criminal damage.
Charlotte Head, 29; Samuel Corner, 23; Leona Kamio, 30; and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were all found guilty on Tuesday of smashing up property, including drones, manufactured by Elbit Systems and computers at its factory in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024.
Continue reading...Man and ex-partner killed in Bristol blast after he forced entry into house
Ryan Kelly, 41, had ‘explosive device’, say police, who are treating death of woman, Jo Shaw, 35, as homicide
A man forced his way into a house in Bristol with an “explosive device” a few minutes before a blast that killed his ex-partner and himself.
Police said they were treating the death of the woman, whom they believe to be 35-year-old Jo Shaw, as homicide and named the man who died as her former partner, Ryan Kelly, 41.
Continue reading...UK convicts four Palestine Action activists over break-in at Israeli firm
Members of the now-banned Palestine Action group raided Elbit's facility in Bristol months into Israel's war on Gaza.
Barrister in Palestine Action trial facing contempt of court proceedings
Rajiv Menon KC accused of defying judge’s orders to not inform jury of right to acquit on basis of conscience
A leading human rights barrister is facing contempt of court proceedings after he was accused of defying a judge’s orders during a trial of Palestine Action activists.
Rajiv Menon KC is accused of breaching the judge’s directions while giving his closing speech in the trial of six people in relation to a 2024 direct action protest at an arms factory of the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol.
Continue reading...Hundreds of animals rescued from ‘appalling’ conditions at California sanctuary
San Diego Humane Society finds more than 400 animals at Julian facility, with malnutrition and injuries amid bankruptcy dispute
Authorities in California have rescued more than 400 animals, including horses, cats, dogs and goats, from a now shuttered sanctuary in San Diego county.
The San Diego Humane Society conducted the massive operation last week at Villa Chardonnay, a sprawling facility in Julian that had operated since 2003.
Continue reading...Democrats urge Rubio to acknowledge Israel possesses nuclear weapons amid Iran war
Letter from House Democrats to secretary of state calls for end to ambiguity over Israel’s nuclear weapons programs
House Democrats have asked the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to publicly announce that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, arguing that Washington must end decades of ambiguity over the issue amid the conflict with Iran.
In a letter sent on Monday, 30 Democrats wrote that it was unsustainable for Donald Trump to collaborate with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on a military campaign against Iran – with the stated goal of preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon – without publicly acknowledging the US ally’s possession of the bomb.
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