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The diaspora hope the death of Ali Khamenei will bring change – and peace – even as fears remain over Iran’s futureOn Saturday night, with bombs falling across the Middle East and rumours of the death of Ali Khamenei, the longtime ayatollah of Iran, spreading, the streets of north London resembled a party.Thousands of revellers filled Finchley Road, a part of London often called Little Tehran because of the large Iranian community, waving flags, many with the lion and sun, the flag of the Iranian state before the 1979 Islamic revolution. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump vowed that Iran's naval fleet would soon be "floating at the bottom of the sea."In a Sunday post to Truth Social, the U.S. president gave an update on the progress in the fight against the Iranian Navy."I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important," he wrote. "We are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters."Trump added: "Other than that, their Navy is doing very well!"The president's claim came a day after the U.S. military began strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader.

Iran has appointed senior cleric Alireza Arafi as the jurist member of a temporary Leadership Council following the reported death of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli air strikes, according to state media.

Donald Trump faces a political minefield after his second military strike on Iran in less than a year, with conservative voters and MAGA supporters—promised no new wars—expressing fury over the attacks.The president's Iran operation has ignited a firestorm among his base, with supporters and former backers reminding him of his 2024 campaign pledge to avoid military adventurism.According to Politico's Erin Doherty, the political damage is substantial and immediate action is necessary.A POLITICO poll from last month found only half of 2024 Trump voters—50 percent—supported military action against Iran, while 30 percent opposed it. "Those fractures, combined with largely unified opposition from Democrats, meant Americans broadly did not want an attack on Iran," Doherty wrote. An Economist/YouGov poll conducted the following weekend confirmed broad public opposition to military action in Iran.The stakes are particularly dire for Republicans heading into a difficult midterm election. "The Republican Party is already staring down a difficult midterm landscape, where even small defections from their winning 2024 coalition could carry outsized consequences," the report states.Trump now confronts a volatile political calculation where support within his coalition was tepid at best before the strikes, and overall public opposition significantly outweighs backing.Michigan-based Republican strategist Jason Roe outlined the binary outcome: "The political risk depends on the outcome. If we break Iran without terrorist attacks coming to America or harm coming to allies in the region, it will be a political win for Trump. … If this expands into a protracted conflict, or ends up with troops on the ground, it will be a liability."You can read more here.

Campaign groups write to technology secretary amid concerns that sites could double overall electricity demandDatacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand.Campaign groups have written to the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, warning that the energy required by new AI infrastructure poses a “serious threat to efforts to decarbonise the electricity grid”. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump faced backlash after at least three U.S. service members were killed following the strikes he ordered on Iran over the weekend.On Sunday, U.S. Central Command announced that three members of the armed forces had been killed in action during Operation Epic Fury."Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty. Major combat operations continue, and our response effort is ongoing," CENTCOM said in a statement. "The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified."The announcement was met with prayers and criticism."Sacrificed by the pedos of Washington to protect Tel Aviv while Israelis are singing and dancing in bomb shelters. What a sad ending," Hadi Nasrallah lamented."3 Americans are now KIA in Trump's regime change war of choice," Breaking Points host Saagar Enjeti wrote."RIP. Praying for their families," Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson commented. "I am reminded, apropos of nothing, that the one of (if not the first) casualties of Operation Iraqi Freedom was a young Marine rifleman named Jose Gutierrez. He was a Guatemalan immigrant who granted American citizen after he died fighting for our country.""Donald Trump has more American blood on his hands, having helped cause the unnecessary deaths of these three soldiers with his illegal, unprovoked, unnecessary war on Iran," Mehdi Hasan said.

An Israeli spokesperson dismissed the alleged deaths of Iranian schoolgirls and the claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a war criminal.During a press conference near rubble in Tel Aviv on Sunday, reporter Secunder Kermani of Britain's Channel 4 News acknowledged that "Khomeini, the Iranian regime, have clearly done terrible things, particularly to their own people.""But your Prime Minister is a wanted war criminal. You don't have the moral high ground here at all," he said. "This is a war crime!" the Israeli spokesperson shouted. "This is a war crime! Targeting civilians, targeting elderly women, killing, murdering her caregiver from the Philippines.""What about the hundred or so schoolgirls in Iran that are being killed in a strike at that?" Kermani asked. "Yes, next question, please," the spokesperson replied. "Let's allow others."

MHRA says Prof Jacob George will no longer be involved after gender-critical social media posts from last yearA health official who reportedly intervened to pause a clinical trial on the use of puberty blockers has been removed from any further involvement due to accusations of bias.Prof Jacob George, who was appointed chief medical and scientific officer at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in January, raised concerns that led to the Pathways trial being put on hold by the government, according to the Sunday Times. Continue reading...