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At least 22 killed and more than 120 wounded in Pakistan as protesters try to storm U.S. Consulate
Violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Sunday left at least nine people dead and more than 50 others wounded as pro-Iran demonstrators attempted to storm the U.S. Consulate, authorities said.
Israel targets Iranian leaders in strikes Sunday, as Iran vows revenge for death of supreme leader
Israel targeted the remnants of Iran's military leadership in aerial bombardments on Tehran early Sunday, as the Islamic republic continued retaliatory airstrikes on Persian Gulf nations following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Supporting ‘illegal aggression’ against Iran ‘the worst thing’ Australia could do, international law experts say
Ben Saul says ‘rolling over’ after Israel and US attack is counterproductive for middle powers because it undermines rules-based orderIranian Australians celebrate death of supreme leader and dream of regime changeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastInternational law experts have criticised Australia for “rolling over” and backing what they say is an illegal attack by Israel and the US on Iran.The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, endorsed the fresh war by stating that “Australia supports action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security”. Continue reading...
AI-resistant ‘halo’ stocks drive UK and EU markets to record highs
Investors shifting to ‘heavy-asset, low-obsolescence’ companies insulated from disruption, says Goldman SachsInvestors have a new mantra as they prepare for AI to shake up the global economy – the Halo trade.Interest in Halo – short for “heavy assets, low obsolescence” - has risen as investors seek out companies with tangible, productive assets, which might be insulated from AI disruption, such as energy and transport infrastructure companies. Continue reading...
Afghanistan says it thwarted a Pakistani airstrike attempt on Bagram Air Base
Afghanistan says it has thwarted an attempted Pakistani airstrike on Bagram Air Base, the former U.S. military base north of Kabul
An ugly year for the Louvre: where does the world’s biggest museum go from here?
After a heist and the departure of its boss, the French institution wrestles with water leaks, strikes and much-criticised plans for a €1bn renovationJust over a year ago, Laurence des Cars, the intellectually brilliant (if famously prickly) former head of the largest and most-visited museum in the world, wrote a somewhat alarming note to her boss, France’s culture minister.Des Cars, who on Tuesday resigned as president of the Louvre, lamented the advanced state of disrepair of the iconic museum’s buildings and galleries. Continue reading...
Penny Wong backs Israeli and US strikes on Iran as Labor group decries ‘sycophantic capitulation to militarism’
Australian foreign affairs minister says Israel and US should explain ‘the legal basis for the attacks’ on Iran and won’t say if Pine Gap used during strikesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia has urged Iran to stop retaliatory attacks on countries across the Middle East after the US and Israel bombed Iran, killing its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, when asked about the legality of the strikes on Iran, said it was up to Australia’s allies to explain “the legal basis”. Continue reading...
US and Iranian Ambassadors square off at emergency meeting: 'Be polite!'
The U.S. and Iranian Ambassadors to the United Nations squared off during an emergency meeting on Saturday. The U.N Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the U.S. and Israel's coordinated attack against Iran. Reports indicate Israel bombed multiple sites where Iran's political and military leadership were located, which killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the dictator who had ruled the country since 1989. The U.S struck multiple Iranian ballistic and nuclear missile sites, according to reports. During the meeting, the U.S. Ambassador, Mike Waltz, sharply criticized Iran for its history of killing its citizens and for chanting "death to America at every opening of its Parliament." The Iranian Ambassador, Amir-Saeid Iravani, and other representatives from Middle Eastern countries accused the U.S. of violating international law by carrying out the strikes. At the end of the testy exchange, Iravani lobbed a threat at Waltz. "I would advise the US representative to be polite! It would be better for yourself and the country you represent," Iravani said, throwing his headset onto the table. Waltz offered a terse reply. "I am not going to dignify this with another response, especially as this representative represents a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people and imprisoned many more simply for wanting freedom from your tyranny," Waltz said.
Republicans face a 'major test of loyalty' after Trump's latest 'slap in the face'
Republicans in Congress will return next week to face a "major test of loyalty" after President Donald Trump's most recent "slap in the face," a new report revealed. CNN reported on Saturday that Congress will formally debate and vote on potential military conflict with Iran this week, following Trump's decision to join Israel in bombing multiple sites across the country early Saturday morning. Israel struck multiple sites where Iran's political and military leadership were located, while the U.S. attacked the country's ballistic and nuclear missile facilities. "Those votes to require congressional approval for military action against Iran, which were already set to take place in the House and Senate mid-week, will amount to a major test of loyalty for some of the GOP’s far-right flank, who have for years championed Trump’s promise of keeping America out of foreign wars," CNN reported. "Those Republicans will be forced to take a public stance after months of simmering consternation over Trump’s legal authority as he has dramatically expanded powers abroad with Congress on the sidelines."Multiple Republicans came out against Trump's decision to strike Iran on Saturday. Some of the critics include Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). CNN added that there may be enough defections to "deliver the rebukes" to Trump. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) called the operation a "slap in the face." "The president has launched an illegal war when there is no imminent threat. He did not consult with Congress or allow for a debate in Congress, which even George W. Bush did,” Khanna told CNN. Read the entire report by clicking here.
How succession works in Iran and who will be the country's next supreme leader?
In Iran the supreme leader is the heart of a complex power-sharing theocracy and has final say over all matters of state
This is Trump's war — and he will own all that comes next
The United States is now at war with Iran.A single person — Donald J. Trump — has released the dogs of war on one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and done it without the consent of Congress or our allies, or even a clear explanation to the American people.Just four days after delivering a State of the Union address in which he spoke of ending eight wars — spending just three minutes discussing Iran and a preference for “diplomacy.”Anyone who has doubted Trump’s intention to replace American democracy with a dictatorship should now be fully disabused.I share your despair, sadness, and fear. Even if our president was a wise and judicious man, surrounded by thoughtful advisers with impeccable integrity and wisdom, this would be a highly dangerous move.Trump is facing the consequences of his decision in his first term to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated with Iran by Barack Obama and backed by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China.Trump walked away from that treaty because it was Obama’s — and he hates Obama because Obama negotiated safeguards against Iran enriching uranium to weapons grade. Obama also got Obamacare through Congress, addressed climate change and nuclear proliferation, and was rewarded the Nobel Peace Prize.Obama was a winner. Trump is a loser. Trump cannot stomach this.But why should America and thousands if not millions of innocent people pay the price of Trump’s egomaniacal stupidity?Trump claimed in June to have disarmed Iran. He claimed again in his State of the Union last Tuesday to have “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear weapons program (an assertion rejected by the International Atomic Energy Agency).Since then, Iran has taken steps to dig out the nuclear facilities hit during those strikes and it has resumed work at some sites long known to American spy agencies.But those same spy agencies say there’s no evidence that Iran has made active efforts to resume enriching uranium or trying to build a mechanism to detonate a bomb.Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium remain buried after June’s strikes, making it nearly impossible for Iran to build a bomb “within days,” as Trump and his lapdogs claim.Trump says he wants “regime change.” But unlike Venezuela, the Islamic Republic has nearly a million men under arms. Any attempt to overthrow that regime will require American troops on the ground, and almost surely inflict mass casualties on Americans and on Iranians.Besides, Trump won a second term promising “no regime change” and in 2024 he campaigned as “the first president in decades who started no new wars.”He hasn’t prepared the American people for this. In his State of the Union he bragged again about having ended eight wars. He spent just three minutes discussing Iran and his preference for “diplomacy.”He said Iran has refused to foreswear any nuclear weapons ambitions. Yet just hours before his address, Iran’s foreign minister reaffirmed on X that his country would "under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon."Trump noted the Iran regime’s killing of thousands of protesters, but this hardly justifies a war that may cause the deaths of thousands more innocent civilians. (On Saturday morning, Iran’s Red Crescent said more than 60 children were killed in the strike on Shajarah Tayyebeh school in the southern town of Minab (a toll that has since been raised to 85.)Make no mistake. The costs of this war — mayhem and deaths in the Middle East, higher oil prices (as Iran closes the Straight of Hormuz), increased risk of terrorism in Europe and the United States — could be catastrophic.Yet Americans don’t support this war. They haven’t been told why we’re waging it. Trump’s MAGA base doesn’t want him to engage in regime change. Congress hasn’t approved this war.Trump is going to war for himself and his boundless, malicious ego.Robert Reich is an emeritus professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/. His new memoir, Coming Up Short, can be found wherever you buy books. You can also support local bookstores nationally by ordering the book at bookshop.org
Mexican authorities hand over body of 'El Mencho' to his family
Mexican prosecutors say they have returned the body of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, to his family
