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Category: Global

  • Trump says he will sue BBC for ‘anywhere between $1-5billion’ for editing his speech

    Trump says he will sue BBC for ‘anywhere between $1-5billion’ for editing his speech

    US President Donald Trump has said in an interview on Friday that he will sue the BBC for “anywhere between $1billion to $5billion’ for editing his speech in an “egregious” manner in 2021 on the day his supporters stormed the Capitol building.

    The BBC sent Trump an apology earlier in the week but said that there was no legal basis for a case. The letter seemingly prompted Trump to lash out. 

    Talking to GB News’ Bev Turner, “I’m not looking to get into lawsuits, but I think I have an obligation to do it. This was so egregious.”

    He added that if one doesn’t do such things, one doesn’t stop them from happening to other people. 

    The American President also talked to journalists outside the White House, stating, “We’ll sue them from anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week. I think I have to do it.” 

    Trump had given BBC until Friday night to issue a full retraction, an apology and offer of compensation for what he said amounted to misleading the viewers watching the channel’s flagship show Panorama on Jan 6. 

    BBC has called their editing of the speech an “error of judgement” but refused to pay any financial liability.

    A spokesperson for BBC said, “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

    In the same interview, Trump called London’s Sadiq Khan a “terrible, terrible mayor”. He then went on a diatribe against the Muslim mayor, referring to him as a “disaster” and a “nasty person”. He also repeated his false claims that there are areas in London where the police can’t go because Sharia is being implemented there. 

    The BBC had admitted that “our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”. 

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters the corporation is a “Leftist propaganda machine”.

  • Four dead in Russia’s massive combined attack on Ukraine

    Four dead in Russia’s massive combined attack on Ukraine

    At least four people were killed after Russia unleashed a massive combined attack on Kyiv early Friday, sparking fires and scattering debris across many districts of the capital.

    Reports quoted authorities as saying that at least 27 people were also injured as emergency crews responded to multiple strikes.

    At least 430 drones and 18 missiles were used in the attack across the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

    He said the attack, which struck other regions of the country, was targeting Kyiv.

    “A specially calculated attack to cause as much harm as possible to people and civilians,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. He added the Azerbaijan Embassy was damaged by fragments of an Iskander missile.

    As many as 15 people were hospitalised, including one man in critical condition and a pregnant woman, after a series of powerful explosions sounded in the city and airs defenses were activated.

    City authorities warned that power and water outages are possible.

    In the Darnytskyi district, debris landed in the yard of a residential building and on the grounds of an educational facility. A car caught fire after being hit by falling fragments.

    In the Dniprovskyi district, debris damaged three apartment buildings, a private household and caused a fire in an open area. In the Podilskyi district, five residential buildings and a nonresidential structure were damaged.

    Falling debris sparked a fire in an open area near a medical facility and inside a nonresidential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district. In the Holosiivskyi district, debris ignited a fire at a medical facility and damaged another nonresidential building.

    In the Desnianskyi district, fires were recorded in two residential buildings, a fire broke out on the roof of a residential building in the Solomianskyi district and debris caused a fire in a private home of the Sviatoshynskyi district.

    In the Kyiv region, Russian strikes damaged critical infrastructure and private homes, injuring at least one civilian, regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said. A 55-year-old man in Bila Tserkva suffered thermal burns and was hospitalized, he said. Fires broke out in private houses in the capital’s suburbs.

  • In rare concern, Israeli president, top army officials say Jewish settlers’ attacks on Palestinians must end

    In rare concern, Israeli president, top army officials say Jewish settlers’ attacks on Palestinians must end

    Israeli president and high-ranking military officials have condemned attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, calling for an end to a growing wave of settler violence in the occupied territory.

    President Isaac Herzog described the attacks as “shocking and serious”, becoming a rare and powerful voice to what has been muted criticism by top Israeli officials of the settler violence.

    Herzog’s position, while largely ceremonial, is meant to serve as a moral compass and unifying force for the country.

    He said the violence committed by a “handful” of perpetrators “crosses a red line”, adding in a social media post that “all state authorities must act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon”.

    His remarks, and those of two high-ranking military officials, came after dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf in the West Bank on Tuesday, setting fire to vehicles and other property before clashing with Israeli soldiers.

    The Israeli army’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, echoed Herzog’s condemnations of the West Bank violence, saying the military “will not tolerate the phenomena of a minority of criminals who tarnish a law-abiding public”.

    On Wednesday, police said three of the suspects were released and that one, a minor arrested on suspicion of arson and assault, will remain in custody for six more days, as ordered by a judge.

    Police said the actions of the three who were released are still under investigation “with the goal of bringing offenders to justice, regardless of their background”.

    Tuesday’s violence in the West Bank was the latest in a series of attacks by young settlers that have surged since the genocide in Gaza erupted two years ago. The attacks have intensified in recent weeks as Palestinians harvest their olive trees in an annual ritual.

    Separately, Israel reopened a crossing into the northern Gaza Strip that had been closed for two months. The move was welcomed by officials at the United Nations (UN), who say Israel has been too slow in surging humanitarian aid to the territory since a ceasefire began last month.

    The Israeli military also said it killed four armed fighters who posed an “immediate threat” in areas of southern Gaza under its control. In Khan Yunis, one person was killed while approaching Israeli troops across the so-called yellow line.

    In Rafah, three people were killed while troops in the area were working to destroy underground tunnels.

  • ‘Sniper safaris’: Italy to investigate tourists who went to Bosnia to shoot civilians

    ‘Sniper safaris’: Italy to investigate tourists who went to Bosnia to shoot civilians

    Italian authorities have opened an investigation in Milan to determine whether claims of Italian tourists paying money to shoot civilians in Bosnia are true. 

    Citizens of multiple countries, including Italy, are at the center of explosive claims that state that they paid huge amounts to travel to Sarajevo to shoot at civilians in “sniper safaris” in the 1990s. 

     
    Milan’s public prosecutor office opened an investigation into the claims on the complaint of journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni who says there was a “manhunt” by “very wealthy people” with a passion for weapons who “paid to be able to kill defenceless civilians” from Serb positions in the hills around Sarajevo.

    Reports have claimed that different rates were charged for killing children, men and women. More than 11,000 civilians were killed in the siege of Sarajevo by Serb forces. 

    Although the allegations are not new, Gavazzeni has reportedly gathered extensive, including intelligence from Bosnian officers. 

    Italy’s counter-terrorism prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis will investigate the murder charges. 

    A Bosnian intelligence officer told the journalist that in 1994, Bosnia passed on the information to Italy’s military intelligence. 

    Italy’s military intelligence then told the Bosnians that citizens were indeed travelling from the border city of Triesto to the hills surrounding Sarajevo. “We’ve put a stop to it and there won’t be any more safaris,” the officer reportedly told the Bosnians. 

    ‘Sarajevo Safari’, a documentary film made in 2022, alleges that the killer tourists came from a host or different countries, including USSR and USA. 

    Gavazzeni alleges that many people took part in the practice, “at least a hundred” in all, with Italians paying up to €100,000 (£88,000) in today’s terms.

    Italian prosecutors have compiled a list of witnesses to talk to.

  • Elon Musk tries to prove he’s ‘human’ after best-selling author slams his behaviour

    Elon Musk tries to prove he’s ‘human’ after best-selling author slams his behaviour

    Elon Musk has gone on a binge of tweets trying to prove that he is a ‘human’ with real human interests after best-selling author Joyce Carol Oates tweeted out about his odd behaviour. 

    On Saturday morning, Musk shared a video of an AI generated woman, smiling at the camera. By evening, best-selling author Joyce Carol Oates tweeted out an observation about the richest man on earth that got traction on the very platform he owns, X (formerly Twitter). 

    The 87-year-old writer said, “So curious that such a wealthy man never posts anything that indicates that he enjoys or is even aware of what virtually everyone appreciates— scenes from nature, pet dog or cat, praise for a movie, music, a book (but doubt that he reads); pride in a friend’s or relative’s accomplishment; condolences for someone who has died; pleasure in sports, acclaim for a favorite team; references to history.” 

    Joyce concluded the tweet with an incisive observation: “In fact he seems totally uneducated, uncultured. The poorest persons on Twitter may have access to more beauty & meaning in life than the ‘most wealthy person in the world.” 

    Musk’s usual X activity revolves around complaining about trans persons, retweeting anyone who praises him and agreeing with far-right extremists. 

    Oates’ diatribe, that went viral, got under Musk’s skin. He let off a furious series of tweets, calling her “an angry liar”, “demonstrably false” and “mean”. 

    Then the billionaire tried to prove Oates wrong by suddenly replying to an account dedicated to movies. He called Edge of Tomorrow a “great movie” and then wrote, “Man on Fire is great!” He also wrote another one liner about Fifth Element, offering nothing more than short sentences to show why he liked the movies. 

    Musk has previously talked about books, including Douglas Adams’ best-selling A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But most of social media was in agreement that it seemed like he hadn’t actually read the book. 

    He also infamously made a faux-pas when he described his Tesla Cybertruck as a vehicle “the Blade Runner would have driven”. There is no character called the Blade Runner in the movie Blade Runner. 

    Joyce Carol Oates’ tweet has been viewed more than five million times and has received more than 11,000 retweets.

  • India interested in Israel’s LORA missile system: reports

    India interested in Israel’s LORA missile system: reports

    India plans to acquire and locally produce Long Range Artillery (LORA) ballistic missiles developed by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), it has emerged.

    According to Israeli media reports, Indian Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has signed with Israeli Defence Director General Amir Baram a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen defence collaboration between the two countries.

    India’s interest in Israel’s LORA was reinforced by the usage of the Rampage missile in recent military encounters with Pakistan, reports said. While Rampage, with a range near 250 kilometres and deployed from aircraft such as the Sukhoi-30 and MiG-29, is highly accurate, its shorter range exposes launch aircraft to advanced air-defence systems.

    LORA, developed by IAI’s MLM division, reportedly extends operational reach to about 400 kilometres, allowing strikes on enemy sites while keeping aircraft outside the threat envelope.

    The missile weighs 1,600 kilograms, flies at supersonic speeds, and uses satellite navigation protected against disruption. One of its outstanding features is that it is “fire and forget”, meaning that once it has been launched at the target, there is no need to guide it.

    It can carry various warheads for deployment against soft targets or against bunkers.

    India, which is the largest buyer of Israel’s defence industries according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), accounted for roughly 34% of Israel’s defence exports from 2020 to 2024.

    Reports said India is also interested in the “Ice Breaker” cruise missile, which is designed for attacks at ranges of about 300 km against land and sea targets. The missile is effective in all weather conditions, can function well in environments saturated with electronic warfare, and has infrared (IIR)-based navigation and missile guidance capabilities, which, through AI, can acquire and identify targets.

  • ‘Obesity Ban’; Trump restricts visas for overweight people

    ‘Obesity Ban’; Trump restricts visas for overweight people

    The US State Department has issued new guidelines that recommend that migrant visas should not be issue for overweight people. 

    The guidelines include obesity as part of a list of medical conditions that could result in the refusal of visas. The rest of the list includes cardiovascular conditions, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases and mental-health conditions. 

    Officials have been told to evaluate visa candidates on their ability to pay for lifelong care without the interjection of government funds. 

    The directive applies only to immigrant visas. Those on short term visas or non-immigrant visas, are exempt from the guidelines, a state department official has confirmed to media outlets. 


    The latest restrictions are part of large-scale changes that the US has put in place since Donald Trump became President. The administration has cracked down on H1B visas in particular, imposing a $100,000 fee on skilled workers, a move that particularly affected India. The fee will only be applicable on new visa applications, restricting the number of workers that can come into America to work. 

    H1B visas require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. 

    Trump tried to change the H1B visa in his previous term, however he was stalled by courts and legal challenges. He has repeatedly called the visas “very bad” and “unfair” for American workers. 

    Trump’s State Department has also introduced a new type of card, called the Gold Card, authorising fast-track visas for those who seek to make a ‘significabt financial gift’. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik has confirmed that the new scheme is being rolled out with 80,000 gold-cards ready for issuance. Trump said of the policy, “The main thing is, we are going to have great people coming in, and they are going to be paying.”

  • All 20 troops killed in C-130 crash: Turkish defence ministry

    All 20 troops killed in C-130 crash: Turkish defence ministry

    Turkish defence ministry has confirmed deaths of 20 soldiers as its C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed in Georgia on Tuesday.

    The C-130 Hercules is a cargo, troop and equipment carrier aircraft. It is described as a four-engine, turboprop military transport aircraft that can make use of unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings.

    Its versatile airframe has enabled it to be used for other purposes as well, including as a gunship and for airborne assault and reconnaissance operations. It is now viewed as one of the main tactical airlifters for many militaries.

    According to Reuters, the military plane had taken off from Azerbaijan for Turkey, crashing in the Sighnaghu municipality of Georgia’s Kakheti district.

    Ankara has not yet provided a reason for its deadliest military incident since 2020 but said that Turkish and Georgian authorities are inspecting the site.

    Initial footage from the scene showed chunks of twisted metal strewn across a grassy knoll while unverified footage on social media showed the plane breaking apart mid-air, corckscrewing towards the ground in a blaze.

    The leaders of Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, have all conveyed condolences. Tom Barrack, the United States (US) Ambassador to Turkey, has also expressed his country’s solidarity with Turkey after the crash.

    Earlier, Turkish Defence Minster Yasar Guler spoke to his Georgian and Azerbaijani counterparts, as well as Azerbaijan’s chief of staff, to discuss search and rescue operations.

    US firm Lockheed Martin, which makes the C-130 that is widely used by air forces around the world, expressed its condolences and said it was committed to helping Turkey in any way during the investigation.

  • Trump proposes $2,000 for every American from tariff revenue

    Trump proposes $2,000 for every American from tariff revenue

    US president Donald Trump on Sunday floated a fresh plan to give most Americans $2,000 each, funded by tariff revenues collected by his administration. 

    He revived the idea on his Truth Social platform as he tried to build public support around his controversial tariff strategy.

    “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” Trump wrote. He also called opponents of tariffs “FOOLS!” in the same post.

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    Trump cannot move forward with the plan without approval from Congress. 

    Earlier this year, Republican senator Josh Hawley of Missouri introduced a bill that offered $600 in tariff rebates for most Americans and their dependent children. 

    Hawley said, “Americans deserve a tax rebate after four years of [Joe] Biden [White House] policies that have devastated families’ savings and livelihoods.” He added that his proposal would “allow hard-working Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump’s tariffs are returning to this country”.

    The administration has focused on using tariff funds to reduce the national debt, which stands at $38.12tn. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in August that the administration would use tariff collections to start paying down the federal debt rather than issue rebate checks.

    The treasury department reported $195bn in customs duties collected during the first three quarters of the year. Analysts say Trump’s proposed payments could exceed that amount. Erica York, vice-president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, wrote, “If the cutoff is $100,000, 150M adults would qualify, for a cost near $300 billion. If kids qualify, that grows.” She also said, “The math gets worse accounting for the full budgetary impact of tariffs. Adjusting for that, tariffs have raised $90 billion of net revenues compared to Trump’s proposed $300 billion rebate.”

    John Arnold, co-chair of Arnold Ventures, estimated that the dividend payments could reach as high as $513bn.

    Consumers faced an average effective tariff rate of nearly 18 percent in October, the highest since 1934, according to the Yale Budget Lab. After Trump introduced sweeping tariffs on global trading partners in April, companies increased prices and passed some of those costs on to consumers.

    Trump has raised the idea of stimulus checks tied to tariff revenue several times. In October, he said he was looking at checks worth between $1,000 and $2,000. In July, he again discussed tariff rebate checks.

    In February, Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who at the time advised the White House, explored a plan for a $5,000 “dividend” check based on savings created by the department of government efficiency, known as Doge. That idea collapsed when the national deficit increased and the administration overstated how much it saved through Doge.

    The US supreme court heard arguments on Wednesday on Trump’s sweeping global tariffs and signaled doubts about their legality.

  • US official claims ‘containing’ Iranian plot to kill Israel’s Mexico ambassador

    US official claims ‘containing’ Iranian plot to kill Israel’s Mexico ambassador

    Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plotted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico but the bid was foiled and there is no current threat, Reuters quoted a United States (US) official as claiming.

    While the Iranian embassy in Mexico called the accusations “entirely false”, Mexico’s government also said that it had “no information regarding an alleged attack plan”.

    Earlier, the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plot against Ambassador Einat Kranz Neiger had been active through the first half of 2025.

    “The plot was contained and does not pose a current threat,” the official was quoted as saying, adding that it was just the latest in a long history of “Iran’s global lethal targeting of diplomats, journalists, dissidents and anyone who disagrees with them”.

    This, the official said, was something that should “deeply worry every country where there is an Iranian presence”.

    While the official declined to say how the plot was foiled and did not offer further details about the operation, Israel’s Foreign Ministry thanked the security and law enforcement services in Mexico for “thwarting a terrorist network directed by Iran that sought to attack Israel’s ambassador in Mexico”.

    The Iranian Embassy in Mexico, on the other hand, said the accusation was “entirely false”.

    “We will never tarnish the good reputation of Mexicans, our friends. We consider betrayal of Mexico’s interests as betrayal of our own interests, and respecting Mexico’s laws is our highest priority,” a news agency quoted cited the embassy as saying.

    According to Reuters, the US and its allies have frequently alleged that Iran and its proxies have sought to launch violent attacks against Tehran’s opponents. Iranian officials have rejected the allegations, saying they are politically motivated.

    A dozen other countries have condemned what they called a surge in assassination, kidnapping and harassment plots by Iranian intelligence services.

    Britain’s domestic spy chief, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum, last month said that Iran was “frantically” trying to silence its critics around the world.

    He went on to cite how Australia had exposed Iranian involvement in antisemitic plots and Dutch authorities had revealed a failed assassination attempt.

    It merits a mention that the report comes months after deadly clashes between Iran and Israel.

    The clashes, dubbed the “Twelve-Day War”, continued from June 13 to June 25, starting when Israel bombed military and nuclear facilities in Iran in a surprise attack, assassinating prominent military leaders, nuclear scientists, and politicians. Dozens of civilians were also killed.

    Iran retaliated with over 550 ballistic missiles and over 1,000 suicide drones. At least twelve military, energy, and government sites were targeted. The US intercepted Iranian attacks and bombed three Iranian nuclear sites on June 22. While Iran retaliated by firing missiles at a US base in Qatar, the conflict ended with Iran and Israel agreeing to a ceasefire under US pressure.