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President of Myanmar’s military-backed government visits India
Myanmar’s state media says the leader of Myanmar’s military-backed government has embarked on an official visit to India, one of the country’s key regional partners
Truck carrying Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan crashes in eastern Afghanistan, killing 18
An Afghan Taliban official says a truck carrying Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan has overturned on a highway in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 18 people, most of them women and children
US ‘more than capable’ of resuming war against Iran, Pete Hegseth says
Pentagon chief also tells Singapore defence summit of ‘alarm’ at China’s military buildup but says US does not seek ‘needless confrontation’The US warned on Saturday it was “more than capable” of resuming war with Iran after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including Tehran never being able to develop nuclear weapons.The White House had signalled Trump was close to a decision on an initial deal on Friday after weeks of mixed signals in tenuous negotiations, though Tehran denied there was a final agreement on ending the Middle East conflict that has jolted the global economy. Continue reading...
A broken economy and an emboldened regime: Iranians abandoned to endure fallout from war
Some Iranians hoped foreign intervention would unseat the regime but instead the US-Israel war has damaged livelihoods and strengthened those in powerAs Donald Trump swung this week between threats of new military action against Iran and predictions that a lasting ceasefire deal was imminent, many Iranians were left exhausted and gripped by uncertainty.Despite the partial lifting of an internet shutdown that began when the war started on 28 February, fears of worsening repression at home have also fuelled pessimism about the future among some of those to whom the Guardian spoke. Continue reading...
‘Significant’ storm to hammer millions in WA and bring icy weather to NSW, Victoria and SA
Bureau of Meteorology says WA residents should brace for wind gusts higher than 125km/h – the strength of category two cyclonesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA major storm system bearing down on millions of Western Australians on Saturday is bringing cyclone-strength winds, and is set to deliver a “wintry blast” to the east of the country early next week.Residents across WA’s populated south-west were warned to tie down loose items and prepare for destructive wind gusts that could exceed 125km/h from Saturday evening. Continue reading...
Exam fail: Indian students complain en masse about marking errors in key final exams
New digital marking system is aimed at reducing human errors but many students say it has resulted in wrong gradesA national outcry has erupted in India after more than 400,000 students requested copies of their answer sheets amid mounting complaints of errors in the marking of the country’s most important school-leaving examinations.Within days of the grade 12 exam results being issued, students began reporting marking discrepancies they linked to a new digital marking system. Continue reading...
Russian spies are aggressively seeking Western technology as sanctions bite, officials say
Russia's intelligence agencies have grown more aggressive in their efforts to steal Western technology and defense secrets as sanctions squeeze the country's wartime economy, three senior European intelligence officials told The Associated Press.
Trump's plan to send Ebola-exposed Americans to Kenya suffers major court blow
Trump's plan to send Ebola-exposed Americans to Kenya instead of bringing them home suffered a major blow, according to reporting by The Daily Beast. A Kenyan court suspended Trump's plans the day they were supposed to begin, The Beast reported. United States officials planned to quarantine Americans at a Kenyan air force base, with the White House describing it as a "state-of-the-art facility," ABC News reported. The epicenter of the current outbreak, which has led to more than 1,000 suspected cases and nearly 250 deaths, is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although no Americans have been reported infected on U.S soil, a doctor was treated for the virus in Germany, and six Americans have reportedly been exposed, The New York Post reported.
House GOP stealthily moves to reshape US military in ‘unprecedented’ fashion: report
House Republicans on the Armed Services Committee released their defense budget proposal this week for fiscal year 2027, which includes more than $1.1 trillion in spending, but buried within the 500-plus-page document is a provision that one foreign policy analyst warned Friday was “unprecedented,” and could reshape the U.S. military indefinitely.That provision is titled the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” and according to Ben Freeman, a foreign policy analyst at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, it would “provide a higher level of military-industrial integration [with Israel] than the U.S. has with any other country in the world.”Writing in a report published by Responsible Statecraft, Freeman noted that the United States and Israel “already work together heavily” on military operations and intelligence sharing. He also acknowledged that the United States “has worked closely with its NATO partners” militarily. The provision buried within the defense spending proposal, however, was “a different beast entirely,” Freeman warned.“It would fuse the U.S. and Israeli defense sectors in multiple areas vital to the battlefields of the future, like autonomous systems and cyber,” Freeman wrote. “It would also bring extraordinary Israeli influence to the U.S. beyond what it already has through the Israel lobby and its robust network of social media influencers.”The expanded Israeli influence on U.S. politics that the budget provision may clear a path for, Freeman cautioned, could become irreversible.“It would give the Israeli government the opportunity to greatly expand one of the most powerful levers of influence in U.S. politics: jobs in the U.S.,” Freeman wrote.“By expanding or starting new co-production facilities like it already has in Mississippi and Arkansas, the Israeli government could boast of providing jobs on U.S. soil, thereby securing allies among members of Congress who represent the districts where those jobs lie.”Freeman continued, “The result could well be a U.S. political system even more susceptible to the whims of an Israeli government that seemingly has no qualms about drawing the U.S. into military conflicts in the Middle East.”
Trump claims to be on verge of peace deal but Iran signals no agreement reached
US president did not announce decision on deal that could open strait of Hormuz after two-hour situation room meetDonald Trump has claimed he could approve an Iran peace deal on Friday that contains major concessions from Tehran, including the opening of the strait of Hormuz and the elimination of the country’s nuclear programme. However, top Iranian officials signalled a final agreement had not been reached.The two versions indicate Trump may once again be practising his “art of the deal” as he seeks to talk his way out of a war that has disrupted global energy supplies and rocked the world economy. Continue reading...
Protesters arrested at site of proposed main stadium for 2032 Brisbane Olympics
Five people were arrested Friday and other protesters moved away from the site of a proposed main stadium for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics which has become the center point over the future of a heritage-listed park in the city.
U.S. commander meets with Cuban military officials as Trump pressures island nation
The top U.S. commander in Latin America met with Cuban military leaders on Friday in a "brief exchange on operational security matters" near the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, the latest official to visit the island nation as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on its leaders.
