Global Pulse

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  • ICJP urges investigation into UK charity over support for illegal Israeli settlement

    ICJP urges investigation into UK charity over support for illegal Israeli settlement

    A London-based legal advocacy organization focused on Palestinian rights has formally called on Britain’s Charity Commission to launch a formal investigation into a UK-registered charity over its documented support for an illegal Israeli settlement built on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank.

    The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) confirmed it has submitted an official grievance against the Gainsborough Trust, highlighting that the charity’s publicly stated core objectives include collecting and dispersing funds to support residents of Modiin Illit — a large Israeli settlement established in the occupied West Bank that the UK government now formally recognizes as illegal under international law.

    Citing a recent public statement from UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband that explicitly reaffirms the UK’s position that Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories is unlawful, the ICJP is pushing the Charity Commission to not only open a probe but also issue a formal ruling on whether a UK-registered charity can legally designate residents of an illegal settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) as official charitable beneficiaries.

    The legal group added that the regulator must also examine whether the Gainsborough Trust’s board of trustees has properly fulfilled its fiduciary and legal obligations in managing the charity’s operations, fundraising, and distribution of grants. Under existing UK charity legislation, all funds raised by registered entities must be exclusively allocated to recognized charitable causes that deliver public benefit, with no provisions for supporting activities deemed illegal under international law.

    The call for investigation follows a bombshell investigation published this week by Declassified UK, which uncovered that the Gainsborough Trust is one of six UK-based charities that have collectively channeled nearly £2 million to illegal Israeli settlements over the past three years. Declassified’s analysis of charity financial records shows the Gainsborough Trust reported total income of more than £448,000 between 2021 and 2024.

    While the exact sum transferred directly to projects in Modiin Illit remains unconfirmed, as the Gainsborough Trust’s annual financial filings do not name specific grant recipients, the documents show roughly £120,000 was disbursed to institutions categorized as higher education, £70,000 to groups labeled as providing basic education in Jewish principles, £2,595 to a religious center for prayer and learning, and additional grants to initiatives supporting “destitute families” and “poor brides.”

    This latest complaint comes months after the Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into eight other UK charities, following allegations from Labour MP Melanie Ward that 32 UK-registered charities have funneled a total of £28 million to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    The ICJP emphasized that the UK’s recent updated policy announcement on Israeli settlements aligns the country with the landmark 2024 advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which formally concluded that Israel’s continued presence and settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories violates international law.

    Orlaith Roe, public affairs and communications officer for the ICJP, said the UK government’s formal recognition of the occupation’s illegal status makes targeted regulatory scrutiny of UK charities far more urgent. “Having recognised that Israel’s occupation is unlawful and announced measures to ban economic activity connected to illegal settlements, there can be no inconsistency when it comes to the charitable sector,” Roe explained. “The Charity Commission must ensure that UK charities are not being used as a vehicle to support activities that are unlawful, political or otherwise outside their exclusively charitable purposes.”

  • Family ‘devastated’ as missing girl case stays closed

    Family ‘devastated’ as missing girl case stays closed

    It has been more than five and a half decades since a three-year-old British toddler vanished from an Australian beach, and the long-running fight for justice for the young victim has hit another devastating roadblock.

    Cheryl Grimmer, a native of Bristol, had only just relocated with her family to Australia when she disappeared in January 1970 from Fairy Meadow Beach near Wollongong, just outside Sydney. The toddler was waiting in beach changing rooms while her older brother, who was supervising her at the time, turned away for a matter of seconds – by the time he looked back, Cheryl was gone. Extensive searches across the area turned up no clues about what happened to her, leaving the family trapped in decades of unresolved grief.

    Decades after the disappearance, the case saw a major breakthrough in 2017, when investigators charged a man in his 60s with Cheryl’s abduction and murder. The case, however, collapsed before it could go before a full trial in 2019, after a judge ruled that a confession the suspect had given as a teenager was inadmissible in court. The man, who cannot be named publicly for legal reasons and is only referred to as ‘Mercury’, has consistently denied any involvement in Cheryl’s death, and prosecutors were forced to drop all charges.

    In the years that followed, Cheryl’s family mounted a years-long public campaign to pressure authorities to revisit the case. The 2022 BBC podcast *Fairy Meadow*, which explored the full details of the disappearance and its aftermath, brought renewed attention to the cold case, and at least one new witness came forward with potential information after the series aired.

    Earlier this year, New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sally Dowling agreed to revisit the original 2019 decision to drop the case, in response to repeated requests from the Grimmer family. But in a recent letter to the family, Dowling confirmed she would not reverse the original decision, upholding the judge’s ruling to exclude the confession.

    In the letter, Dowling explained that she had conducted a full fresh review of the case to determine whether the original decision to end proceedings was justified. She noted that the core question of the review was whether the trial judge’s ruling to throw out the recorded confession could be reasonably challenged. After careful examination, she concluded the ruling was sound, and the original decision to drop further prosecution would stand. Acknowledging the outcome would be hard for the family, Dowling offered to meet with them to discuss the decision further.

    The Grimmer family, who submitted hundreds of pages of detailed legal arguments to support their request to reopen the case, says they have been left furious and heartbroken by what they describe as a cursory, brief response to their years of campaigning. They have now sent a formal reply to the DPP demanding a more thorough explanation of how their legal arguments were addressed in the review.

    Ricki Nash, Cheryl’s eldest brother, said the decision and its limited explanation was ‘incredibly difficult to accept’. He reflected on the life the toddler was never able to live: ‘Cheryl was three years old. She never got the opportunity to grow up, have a career, fall in love, have children or live the life that was taken from her. Our family has spent more than half a century living with that loss.’

    Despite the setback, the family says they will not abandon their fight. ‘We have continued fighting because we believe Cheryl deserves to have the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and death properly examined,’ Nash said. ‘Our family is devastated and angry, but we are not going to stop asking questions – we owe that to Cheryl.’

  • New imagery reveals US underplaying extent of damage from Iranian attacks

    New imagery reveals US underplaying extent of damage from Iranian attacks

    New leaked images obtained exclusively by CBS News have pulled back the curtain on what multiple active-duty US service members allege is a deliberate effort by the US government to downplay the severe scope of damage Iran has inflicted on American military assets across the Middle East. The images, shared by anonymous deployed personnel, offer visual confirmation of far greater destruction than the public has been told of to date.

    One clear photo captured at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Force Base documents a direct strike on the rear section of a Boeing E-3 Sentry four-engine airborne early warning aircraft. Additional imagery from the same base shows gutted barracks and operational buildings left hollowed by Iranian attacks. The pattern of unreported destruction extends to Kuwait’s Camp Buehring, where photos also show significant damage to US infrastructure.

    “This is major damage to our bases that hasn’t been communicated to the American public,” one anonymous active service member told CBS. “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face.”

    The allegations of public understatement come amid longstanding criticism that US officials have minimized the impact of Iranian retaliation for ongoing military operations tied to the US-Israel campaign against Iran, which began in February of this year. Beyond the unreported infrastructure damage, growing alarms have sounded over the massive depletion of US munitions stockpiles caused by the sustained conflict.

    A declassified report released Monday by the US Department of War’s Office of the Inspector General, submitted for congressional review, confirms these growing concerns, explicitly acknowledging that the conflict has created critical strategic ammunition “shortfalls” for the US. “The munitions expenditure on OEF [Operation Epic Fury] has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply,” the inspector general’s report states.

    To address the growing gaps and production delays, the Pentagon has launched efforts to cut red tape in procurement, reduce manufacturing lead times, and build up stockpiles of critical materials, components, and high-demand munitions, the report adds. However, the document also warns that scaling up domestic defense production requires extended lead times, meaning shortfalls could persist for years.

    Notably, the inspector general’s findings directly contradict public claims made by US President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who have repeatedly stated the conflict has not created any munitions shortages for the US. This is not the first time unaddressed stockpile gaps have been reported: in the opening weeks of the conflict, Middle East Eye first revealed that US missile interceptor stockpiles were stretched so thin that allied Gulf states were placed on waiting lists for requested defense systems.

    The inspector general’s report also catalogs far heavier losses to US air and naval assets than previous official statements acknowledged. It confirms four F-15 fighter jets have been completely destroyed, one F-35 stealth fighter has sustained damage, seven KC-135 aerial refueling tankers have been damaged, and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper surveillance and strike drones have been lost to Iranian attacks. The report also verifies that Iran has carried out targeted drone and ballistic missile strikes on the US Navy’s primary regional logistics hub based in Bahrain.

    Across all US military installations in seven Middle Eastern nations—Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan—the report documents that hundreds of buildings and structures have been either damaged or destroyed by Iranian retaliatory strikes. Officials have not yet determined whether all damaged bases will be fully reconstructed, nor has a clear plan been finalized to cover the costs of repairs, which are not included in the current estimated war price tag.

    The report pegs current documented war costs at approximately $33.4 billion, a figure that excludes additional infrastructure repair expenses. Of that total, $3.7 billion is tied to lost and destroyed equipment, while $22.3 billion accounts for munitions expended since the conflict began.

  • Life on the edge in Lebanon: The psychological toll of living along Israel’s ‘Yellow Line’

    Life on the edge in Lebanon: The psychological toll of living along Israel’s ‘Yellow Line’

    Perched on a strategic hilltop just outside Israel’s self-declared Yellow Line in south Lebanon, the small village of Ghandouriyeh bears the brutal, visible scars of months of cross-border conflict. Most of its residential buildings stand as hollowed rubble or flattened heaps of concrete, the result of Israeli strikes earlier this year that turned once-lived-in homes into uninhabitable wreckage. It is here that 66-year-old Mariam Ismail Ballout waited on August 28 at the entrance of a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) mobile medical clinic, desperate to collect medication and escape the chaos that has upended her life.

    “All our houses are ruined, all our houses are on the ground, demolished,” Ballout told Middle East Eye, her voice cracking before tears overtook her. She lost everything when her home burned to the ground: no refrigerator, no washing machine, no access to gas for cooking—every basic necessity of daily life gone overnight.

    Ghandouriyeh sits just south of Froun, one of Lebanon’s designated “pilot zones” in the Nabatieh governorate, a region that has remained on edge despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced in June. A rolling green valley called Wadi al-Hujeir blocks direct sightlines to Israeli military positions on the other side of the border, but little else shields residents from the constant threat of violence. A large plastic bin marked with an Arabic warning of “enemy” territory beyond is the only barrier between the village outskirts and roads now closed to all travel.

    Against all advice, roughly 228 families have returned to Ghandouriyeh in recent months, even though the village has no access to running water or electricity. Village mayor Mohammed Ali Nader told Middle East Eye that most returnees have no other option: they cannot afford to rent housing elsewhere, forcing them to cram into damaged, partially standing homes and share space with neighbors who have also lost everything. While Nader confirmed the village has not suffered a direct strike in months, residents live in a permanent state of high alert—a chronic stress that medical experts say is fueling a growing, underreported mental health crisis across the region.

    MSF, which operates daily mobile medical units across hard-to-reach parts of south Lebanon, has become a critical lifeline for communities cut off from regular healthcare access. Almas Al Andary, a 33-year-old MSF counselor and clinical psychologist working out of the Ghandouriyeh clinic, says the conflict has triggered new mental health disorders among people who never experienced symptoms before. “We definitely see a lot of people having acute stress disorders. And these symptoms we can’t formally diagnose because the crisis is still ongoing,” Al Andary explained. Intense, persistent responses to daily triggers—including the constant buzzing of Israeli drones that hover over the village nearly every day—are the most common complaints: widespread tension, hypervigilance, crippling fear, and constant anxiety about the next strike.

    MSF’s internal records reflect the scale of the growing need: since the war resumed on March 2, the organization’s counselors have conducted 1,326 individual mental health sessions across southern Lebanon, and requests for psychological support have climbed steadily month over month. On the day of Middle East Eye’s visit to Ghandouriyeh, the persistent hum of an Israeli drone hung over the village. Only three patients came to the clinic that day—an unusually low number, which Al Andary attributed to overnight air strikes that sent most residents fleeing to the relative safety of the valley overnight. Of the three patients that did show up, two were first-time visitors seeking mental health support.

    The crisis extends far beyond Ghandouriyeh. Earlier this year, Embrace, a leading Lebanese mental health non-profit that runs the country’s National Lifeline, reported that call volume during the 2026 conflict was 55 percent higher than during the 2024 cross-border war. Despite this surge, little public data exists to document the full scope of mental health harm in southern Lebanon under the fragile, nominally ceasefire conditions. On the ground, frontline medics say the reality is stark. Farah Kerbaj, a community health educator, told Middle East Eye that widespread sleep disorders are rampant, forcing many residents to rely on sleep and mental health medications just to get through the day. Reem Farhat, an MSF midwife working in the region, added that most patients she sees are in a state of constant agitation, their nerves frayed by months of uncertainty.

    Stigma around mental health treatment and the chaos of tracking care for displaced families have only compounded the crisis, medics say. For Ghandouriyeh, the most urgent immediate need is access to clean water—without it, residents cannot grow crops to feed their families, the mayor says. But even the most basic calm remains out of reach: most families keep their bags packed, ready to flee at a moment’s notice, a constant state of readiness that aligns with the hypervigilance Al Andary documents in her patients.

    “We’re fed up, honestly. We’re fed up with wars; we’ve had enough wars,” said Mohammed Gannem, a local resident who returned to Ghandouriyeh with his family in June, relieved to find his home still standing but still unable to sleep through the night. Gannem says he is particularly worried about the impact of constant conflict on his two young daughters; his youngest, nearly two years old, now flinches in terror at the sound of incoming shelling, a fear she never had before this year’s war.

    Medics say the steady rise in demand for mental health support has two overlapping causes: a growing willingness among Lebanese people to seek help for mental health struggles, as historical stigma slowly fades, and a parallel rise in desperation as the ceasefire holds in name only. Israel continues to carry out strikes beyond the Yellow Line in Nabatieh, Tyre, and other southern districts, which have claimed dozens of lives since the June truce. The Lebanese Army confirmed last week it has ramped up operations in southern non-occupied areas amid growing signs of escalating tensions.

    Georges Jreij, an MSF counselor based at another mobile clinic in Beirut’s southern suburbs, says mental health distress often rises in waves following the outbreak of conflict, with a predictable surge around the six-month mark— a threshold the war will hit this month. “It’s usually the time it takes for the brain to really realise the situation, to be able to think about the stuff that people are going through,” Jreij explained. “And the central nervous system sort of calms down in these periods, so other sides of the brain are reactivated.”

    As the MSF clinic’s day in Ghandouriyeh drew to a close, a brief, unexpected sound cut through the constant drone buzz: the playful jingle of a pale pink ice cream van, its windscreen cracked from past strikes, slowly winding past the piles of ruined homes. For a moment, the sound offered a faint, fleeting echo of normal life in the hilltop village. But as the jingle faded into the distance, the menacing buzz of surveillance drones returned, a constant reminder that for the residents of south Lebanon, the crisis is far from over.

  • Taking on the Houthis? Turkey could pay a steep price

    Taking on the Houthis? Turkey could pay a steep price

    As Turkey moves toward ratifying a landmark defense agreement with Saudi Arabia under the Mecca pact, regional analysts are warning that new security commitments could pull Ankara into an unwanted confrontation with Yemen’s Houthi movement – a shift that would carry critical implications for Turkish strategic and commercial access to the Horn of Africa.

    The tripartite Mecca pact, which brings together Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, is scheduled to go before the Turkish parliament for ratification in October, following the body’s current recess. Even before formal approval, two developments have raised the specter of conflict: ongoing Houthi cross-border attacks targeting Saudi infrastructure, and Ankara’s recent decision to join the Saudi-led Multinational Maritime Defense Alliance.

    Multiple regional security and political experts who spoke with Middle East Eye emphasize that Turkey has no inherent interest in a direct military clash with the Houthis. Instead, the prevailing view among analysts is that Ankara is positioned to leverage its unique dual relationships with both Riyadh and Tehran – the Houthi movement’s primary backer – to facilitate de-escalation, while potentially providing Riyadh with defensive military support to strengthen its air and missile defense capabilities. A senior Turkish official confirmed to MEE that Saudi Arabia has not yet formally requested operational military assistance from Turkey under the terms of the pact.

    Despite this cautious starting point, analysts warn that escalation of tensions would put key Turkish strategic interests at severe risk, particularly the critical maritime supply routes that run through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb strait – a chokepoint that the Houthis have effectively controlled since earlier this month.

    Ebuzer Demirci, a research fellow at the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Secure Futures Lab, explained that Bab al-Mandeb serves as a primary maritime gateway for Turkey connecting it to key trade and security partners in China, India, and across East Africa. For Turkey’s extensive engagement in Somalia, this route is particularly indispensable.

    “What would be affected is the direct line between Ankara and Mogadishu, at a time when piracy off Somalia is already rising again,” Demirci noted. While most routine trade involving Somalia passes through the Indian Ocean for global markets, all of Turkey’s heavy military equipment, naval rotation personnel, and bulk supplies for its embassy, military training base, offshore oil exploration projects, and planned spaceport in Mogadishu move through the Suez Canal-Red Sea-Bab al-Mandeb corridor. Urgent supplies and personnel move by air, but any disruption to seaborne traffic would drastically raise operational costs for all Turkish activities in the country.

    Demirci added that Houthi restrictions on Turkish shipping would not completely erase Turkey’s regional influence, which is rooted in long-term institutional partnerships across Somalia and other Horn of Africa states rather than solely dependent on maritime access. Even so, any disruption would raise trade costs, slow transit times, and complicate ongoing Turkish strategic projects in the region. Most importantly, Demirci noted that the most likely scenario is not a full closure of the strait, but selective Houthi control that targets shipping linked to Saudi Arabia and its partners – a situation that would still create significant costs for Ankara, but would remain manageable.

    Turkey already maintains an active naval presence in the region: its warships currently escort an energy exploration vessel operating off the Somali coast, and Ankara continues to participate in a United Nations-backed anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.

    Tensions have already risen ahead of Turkey’s ratification of the pact: last week, a senior Ansar Allah (Houthi movement) official, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, issued a public warning to Turkey and Pakistan against intervening on Saudi Arabia’s behalf, stating that any direct intervention would come with a “heavy price.”

    In Ankara, the broad consensus is that Turkey cannot afford a direct confrontation with the Houthis, and should instead prioritize diplomatic mediation between Riyadh, Tehran, and the Yemeni group. Betul Dogan-Akkas, an assistant professor of international relations at Ankara University, pointed out that Turkey has never designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization, leaving critical diplomatic communication channels open. She added that Turkey’s large Yemeni diaspora community, which retains deep tribal connections across Yemen, gives Ankara unique political capital to push for diplomatic resolution to the years-long Yemeni civil war.

    “The members of the Mecca alliance would probably not want their first action to be directed against another Muslim group,” Dogan-Akkas noted.

    Muhammed Huseyin Mercan, a senior fellow at Ankara-based think tank Seta, echoed that assessment, warning that any military confrontation would create ripple effects far beyond the Red Sea. He pointed to recent attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure carried out by Iran-aligned Iraqi militias, noting that a Turkish clash with the Houthis would severely strain Ankara’s relations with Baghdad, and complicate ongoing peace efforts to resolve the conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

    Turkey has recently made significant progress in encouraging PKK and affiliated groups to disarm and integrate into Iraqi political and administrative structures, a process that relies heavily on Baghdad’s cooperation. The Iraqi militias that back the Houthis have already demanded the full withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Iraq as a condition for their own disarmament and integration into Iraq’s national armed forces, so a Houthi confrontation could derail these fragile peace talks, Mercan explained.

    “Turkey should try to bring all sides to the table and help lay the groundwork for a comprehensive agreement to end Yemen’s civil war,” Mercan told MEE.

    Even with these substantial risks, experts agree that Turkey is still likely to move forward with providing defensive military support to Saudi Arabia, including drones, air defense systems, and ammunition. Senior regional officials familiar with ongoing negotiations confirmed to MEE that Ankara plans to provide defensive assistance while deliberately avoiding direct military intervention inside Yemeni territory.

    The deployment of defensive assets, including aircraft, system operators, and technical support personnel, could begin as early as October, immediately after the Turkish parliament ratifies the Mecca pact. The assistance is explicitly structured to counter Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi territory. This aligns with Turkey’s existing defense relationship with Riyadh: in recent years, Ankara has already signed multiple major agreements to supply drones and ammunition to the Saudi military.

    Yasmeen al-Eryani, executive director for knowledge production at the Sana’a Center, a Yemeni-based independent think tank, noted that the crisis also creates a unique diplomatic opening for Turkey. “Turkey has actively strengthened its relations with Saudi Arabia while maintaining a delicate balance with Tehran. It can help convey messages, promote de-escalation and mitigate the impact of the conflict,” al-Eryani said. She added that Ankara could play a valuable secondary mediation role to reduce tensions surrounding the Houthi control of Bab al-Mandeb, benefiting all regional states that rely on the strait for global trade.

  • Michelin-starred Seoul restaurant fined for using ants as garnish

    Michelin-starred Seoul restaurant fined for using ants as garnish

    A high-profile fine has been handed down to a prestigious two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Seoul for serving an unapproved food ingredient: imported ants used as a fancy dessert garnish, in a case that has sparked public discussion around food safety regulations and unconventional culinary practices in South Korea.

    Evett, the fine-dining establishment at the center of the case, saw its owner hit with a 15 million won ($10,965; £8,144) fine, while the restaurant’s operating company received an additional 10 million won penalty for breaking the country’s Food Sanitation Act, local media outlets have confirmed. Prosecutors had initially pushed for a harsher sentence, requesting a one-year prison term and a 20 million won fine for the owner, but the judge ultimately reduced the penalty after accounting for the owner’s guilty plea and lack of prior criminal history. Even so, the judge emphasized that the violation was not minor: tests of the ants found heavy metal levels exceeding national safety standards, compounding the breach of food regulations.

    South Korea currently only approves 10 insect species for human consumption, a list that includes common edible insects such as grasshoppers, locusts, and select silkworm varieties — ants are not included on this registry. The owner told investigators they were unaware that serving ants was prohibited under South Korean law, noting that ants are consumed as food in many other regions across the globe.

    The unregulated practice was first uncovered by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which discovered the ant garnish through customer-shared online reviews that included photos of the finished dishes. Investigation found that the restaurant had been adding between three and five ants to select menu items to impart a signature sour flavor for nearly four years, totaling roughly 49,000 ants used over that period. According to the ministry’s import records, most of the ants were sourced from the United States, with a smaller share brought in from Thailand.

    The restaurant’s defense argued that the ants only featured in a small section of the establishment’s 14-course tasting menu, and that all diners were informed they could request an alternative garnish without ants if they preferred.

    It is worth noting that ants are regarded as a delicacy in many culinary traditions around the world, beyond South Korea. Across parts of Southeast Asia, weaver ants and their eggs are a common ingredient in traditional Thai and Cambodian dishes, while in Colombia, queen ants hold a gourmet reputation comparable to caviar. The Michelin Guide, which awarded Evett its two-star rating, describes two-star restaurants as delivering excellent cooking that is worth traveling out of one’s way to experience.

  • Charlie Kirk’s family alleges ‘stunning failures’ by Utah officials led to his assassination

    Charlie Kirk’s family alleges ‘stunning failures’ by Utah officials led to his assassination

    One year after prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a public campus event at Utah Valley University (UVU), his family has launched a legal push blaming systemic security negligence by university and state officials for his death. The 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA was gunned down by a shooter positioned on an overlooking rooftop while addressing a crowd of thousands on September 10, 2025, a shocking killing that reignited national conversations around public event safety and gun violence in the U.S.

    Filed on September 9, 2026, one day ahead of the first anniversary of Kirk’s death, the notice of claim — a standard preliminary step before a full civil lawsuit — names UVU, local law enforcement agencies, the state of Utah, and multiple senior university officials as responsible parties. The document alleges that all named parties had prior knowledge of threats made against Kirk, but failed to implement basic precautionary measures to safeguard his life.

    In the legal filing, Kirk’s family decries what they call “a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions” that created an easily preventable danger for the high-profile conservative figure. The event was held in an open outdoor quad surrounded by multi-story buildings and elevated vantage points, a layout that the family’s legal team describes as deliberately leaving Kirk exposed: “Placing a politically controversial figure like Charlie Kirk in an outdoor event in the quad surrounded by tall buildings and other elevated observation platforms is accurately described as walking him into a fishbowl.”

    Specific accusations against the institutional parties include skipping a comprehensive, site-specific security assessment before the event, deploying an inadequate number of trained law enforcement officers to patrol the area, failing to secure all adjacent rooftops that could provide a shooter line of sight to the stage, and even neglecting to station an on-site ambulance to provide emergency care immediately after the shooting. The filing further emphasizes that the risk of a rooftop attack should have been a top priority for security planners, noting that just 12 months before Kirk’s killing, a close political ally of his — former President Donald Trump — was the target of an assassination attempt carried out by a shooter positioned on a rooftop.

    When reached for comment by CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, UVU confirmed that it had received the notice of claim but declined to address the specific allegations. “We are aware of the notice of claim. UVU addresses legal matters consistent with our established processes,” the university said in an official statement, adding that “our focus remains on supporting our campus community.” No immediate responses to the claims were offered by local police or Utah state officials as of this reporting.

    The accused shooter, 23-year-old Utah native Tyler Robinson, is scheduled to appear in court next month to receive a formal trial date. Robinson has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, which include aggravated murder — a capital offense in the state of Utah — and six additional criminal counts. Prosecutors have already announced they will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.

  • Gaza: Dozens trapped under rubble after Israeli-hit building collapses

    Gaza: Dozens trapped under rubble after Israeli-hit building collapses

    In the early hours of Wednesday, a six-story residential building that had sustained previous damage from Israeli military strikes in western Gaza City collapsed suddenly, leaving at least 14 people dead and dozens more — including many children — trapped under tons of rubble. The catastrophe unfolded while most residents inside were asleep, according to local emergency officials.

    The building, located on al-Sinaa Street, was home to more than 10 extended families totaling approximately 80 people, a large share of whom were children. As of Wednesday afternoon, Gaza’s Civil Defence, the territory’s official emergency and rescue agency, confirmed that 14 bodies had been recovered from the site, including five children, while 10 injured survivors have been pulled out and transported to local medical facilities.

    Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defence, told reporters that rescue teams can still hear the cries of trapped people calling for help from beneath the debris, and crews are working around the clock to reach them. Abdullah al-Majdalawi, the agency’s director of public relations and media, added that operations have continued nonstop since the collapse was reported at roughly 3:10 a.m. local time. “Every victim we have pulled from beneath the rubble appears to have been sleeping on a mattress. They were asleep when the building collapsed,” Majdalawi explained to Middle East Eye in an on-site interview.

    Critical equipment shortages have severely hampered rescue efforts, however. Years of Israeli military operations have destroyed the vast majority of Gaza’s heavy rescue machinery, leaving crews without the tools needed to clear large sections of reinforced concrete quickly. “We lack even the most basic tools,” Majdalawi said. “In the first moments after the collapse, we had to ask neighbours and displaced people nearby to bring hammers, shovels and other tools because of the severe shortage of equipment.”

    Witnesses who live in the surrounding area described the collapse as sudden and devastating. Talal al-Harazin, a 53-year-old displaced Palestinian who lives in a makeshift tent near the building, said the sudden collapse felt like an earthquake. “It took less than 10 seconds for the entire building to come down,” he recalled. Al-Harazin added that the building had been visibly unstable for weeks: it had already sunk roughly three floors after an earlier Israeli strike, and debris fell from its damaged facade daily. “Unfortunately, we expected it to collapse. People had warned them, but they said, ‘Where can we live?’” he said. “Just yesterday, stones fell from it, and we said it could collapse. And that same night, it collapsed.”

    Sabreen Nassir, a 33-year-old displaced woman who also lives in a nearby encampment, said two of her daughters’ close friends remain trapped under the rubble. “My daughters are standing here, watching and waiting for their friends to be pulled out,” Nassir said, noting her family has lived near the building for seven months as displaced people.

    This disaster is not an isolated incident, according to Civil Defence officials. An estimated 2,000 damaged buildings across the Gaza Strip are currently at high risk of sudden collapse after sustaining damage from Israeli strikes, and the vast majority of these structures remain occupied because residents have no alternative shelter. “This is a recurring situation. Buildings at risk of collapse are becoming graves for their residents. The only difference is the timing,” Majdalawi warned. “Dozens of homes have collapsed, and dozens of people have been killed in this way.”

    Officials are also sounding the alarm about growing risks as the winter season approaches. Without a massive influx of temporary shelter units and reconstruction materials, far more deadly disasters are on the horizon, Majdalawi said. “We are now on the verge of a real disaster as winter approaches. If mobile homes, caravans and reconstruction materials are not brought into Gaza, we will see more of these disasters.”

    The ongoing shelter crisis in Gaza stems from the widespread destruction of housing during Israel’s military campaign that began in 2023. UN data estimates that roughly 90 percent of all housing units across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, leaving nearly all of the territory’s 2.2 million residents internally displaced. A report released last month by the Shelter Cluster, led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, found that 1.98 million Palestinians — 94 percent of Gaza’s total population — require urgent shelter assistance and basic household supplies.

    A US-mediated ceasefire agreement reached in October last year was meant to end hostilities, open Gaza’s borders to large-scale humanitarian aid including construction and shelter materials, and launch formal reconstruction efforts. But Israel has repeatedly violated the terms of the truce, carrying out near-daily military operations across the territory, restricting access for reconstruction teams, and blocking the entry of most critical aid supplies, including materials needed to repair or replace damaged housing.

  • Obamas’ ‘fiery and gorgeous’ dog Sunny dies

    Obamas’ ‘fiery and gorgeous’ dog Sunny dies

    Thirteen years after joining the Obama family, the beloved Portuguese Water Dog Sunny, who spent years as one of the official White House pets during Barack Obama’s presidency, has passed away, the former U.S. president confirmed in a public announcement.

    In a heartfelt post shared to X on Wednesday, Obama mourned the loss of what he called a core, cherished member of his family. He described Sunny as a steadfast, loyal companion who remained by the family’s side through every stage of her life, noting that from the moment she joined the Obamas in early 2013, at the start of his second presidential term, the entire family fell in love immediately.

    Sunny was one of two Portuguese Water Dogs that called the White House residence home during the Obama administration. The first, Bo, was gifted to Obama’s daughters Sasha and Malia in 2009, shortly after Obama’s first inauguration, to help the young girls adjust to their new life in the executive mansion. Bo preceded Sunny in death, passing away in 2021, and Obama noted that Sunny is now reunited with her “big brother.”

    During her years in the White House, Sunny gained widespread public attention and met dozens of high-profile figures, ranging from foreign heads of state to Pope Francis. In a notable 2015 meeting, both Sunny and Bo greeted the pontiff during his visit to the White House in the residence’s Blue Room. Beyond official meetings, she was a regular fixture at White House community events, including annual Christmas parties where she interacted with young visitors.

    Reflecting on Sunny’s vibrant personality, Obama shared warm, playful memories of his late dog. He remembered her as a creature of endless energy, who would clear the South Lawn hedges in a single leap as if the green barriers did not exist at all. Her favorite moments were unplanned, quiet joys: running around with family members, rolling across the floor, and having her belly rubbed for extended stretches, no matter how long the family was willing to stay. Even when Sasha and Malia bothered her during naps, she adored the girls, and she often trailed behind the Obama household staff, “helping” them complete their daily work. Obama also added two playful, affectionate quirks: Sunny was a notoriously loud and sloppy drinker, and despite being a water dog by breed, she hated getting wet.

    “For thirteen years, she would be by our side – always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days,” Obama wrote, adding that the entire family would miss her beyond measure.

    Pete Souza, the former official White House photographer who documented the Obama administration for eight years, also shared a tribute, calling it an honor to photograph Sunny during her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He noted that Sunny held the rare distinction of being petted by both a sitting U.S. president and the Pope, and was always a willing, approachable subject for photographs.

    Sunny’s death adds a new chapter to the long, well-documented tradition of presidential pets at the White House, a custom that stretches back to the earliest days of the United States presidency. Over the past century, every U.S. president except Donald Trump has kept at least one pet during their time in office.

  • Photos show widespread damage at US sites from Iranian attacks

    Photos show widespread damage at US sites from Iranian attacks

    Newly obtained images provided by active-duty US military personnel to CBS News, the US partner of the BBC, have brought to light widespread destruction at multiple American military installations across the Middle East inflicted by Iranian strikes. The undated photographs, which have not yet undergone independent verification by the BBC, document shattered infrastructure, destroyed military hardware, and damaged buildings at US sites in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

    One of the most striking images captures a Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base, located roughly 100 kilometers southeast of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The plane, a critical long-range threat detection platform for the US military, has been split cleanly in two, with its tail section crumpled into a mangled heap of twisted metal. BBC Verify had previously confirmed a matching image of the same radar aircraft circulating in March, when a US official confirmed to Reuters that an Iranian strike on the base wounded 12 US personnel, two critically.

    Further images from Camp Buehring, Kuwait, show flattened travel trailers, a large temporary structure torn to shreds, and thick smoke billowing from the damaged site. At another Kuwaiti base, Camp Arifjan, a photograph captures visible structural damage to a four-story building. Damage to the camp, including to satellite communications equipment, was initially reported in March, though it remains unconfirmed whether this image documents the same attack.

    The release of these images comes one day after the Pentagon’s independent watchdog published a damning official report confirming that hundreds of buildings and structures across US bases in seven Middle Eastern nations—Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan—have been damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes since the outbreak of the ongoing conflict. The report quantifies the financial toll of the attacks, putting total equipment losses at $3.7 billion (£2.8 billion). It also notes that dozens of US aircraft have been destroyed or damaged in the months since the war began, including five refueling planes that were damaged or destroyed on the ground in Saudi Arabia by Iranian munitions. Overall, the report calculates that the US has spent $33.4 billion (£24.7 billion) on the conflict through June 29.

    An anonymous active military source speaking to CBS News emphasized that the scale of the damage to US bases has not been disclosed to the American public, saying, “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face.” Requests for comment from the White House and US Central Command have not yet been answered.

    The conflict between the US and Iran began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran. Since that time, Iran has repeatedly retaliated with attacks on US bases across the Gulf region and on Israeli territory. Growing public and political pressure has forced the White House to address calls for an end to hostilities. On Tuesday evening, the US House of Representatives passed its third bill aimed at ending US military involvement in the conflict, approving a measure that would compel President Donald Trump to cease all US military action without prior congressional authorization. The bill passed with support from multiple Republican lawmakers, and is expected to be the final House vote on the issue before November’s US midterm elections.