In a coordinated attack timed to overshadow Russia’s flagship international economic gathering, Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on the outskirts of St Petersburg early Wednesday, just hours before the opening of the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, an event designed to draw foreign direct investment back to Russia amid sweeping Western sanctions. As dawn broke over Russia’s second-largest city, thick plumes of black smoke billowed into the sky from a burning oil terminal, a visible marker of the attack that disrupted operations across the region. Local Russian authorities confirmed that air defense systems intercepted 59 drones launched overnight, but debris from the downed unmanned vehicles hit three separate districts of St Petersburg. Remarkably, no fatalities were reported in the strikes, though critical infrastructure was impacted: mobile internet connectivity was disrupted across parts of the city, and St Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport was temporarily shut down to all air traffic as a security precaution. The ripple effects of the attack extended beyond Russia’s borders, with neighboring Latvia and Estonia both issuing temporary air raid alerts for their northern border regions. Hours after the initial attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly confirmed responsibility for the strikes, confirming that targets included the burning St Petersburg oil terminal and a key Russian naval outpost in Kronstadt, a coastal town just off St Petersburg’s shoreline. In a post on his official social media channels, Zelensky framed the attack as part of what he called Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions plan” — a widely understood euphemism for long-distance strikes against Russian infrastructure that supports its invasion of Ukraine. “The Ukrainian plan of long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as it is needed to bring peace closer,” Zelensky wrote. Kronstadt holds major strategic significance for Russia, as it serves as the primary forward base for the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet. Unverified footage posted to social media by Ukrainian military personnel showed drones approaching docked Russian naval vessels at the base, with the video cutting out moments before expected impact. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, later claimed via Telegram that the Russian corvette Boikiy had sustained direct damage in the attack. The timing of the strike carries significant symbolic weight, as the St Petersburg International Economic Forum — long nicknamed the “Russian Davos” — is the cornerstone event on Russia’s annual political and economic calendar. Prior to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the forum regularly drew high-profile Western delegations, including Fortune 500 CEOs and sitting heads of state. This year, for the first time in nearly 10 years, a low-profile unofficial delegation from the United States is scheduled to attend, led by Rodney Mims Cook Jr., head of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the official overseeing former President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom renovation project. Controversial U.S. right-wing commentator Candace Owens and pro-Putin American actor Steven Seagal are also listed as attendees. A senior official with Ukrainian defense technology firm Fire Point, Denys Shrilierman, leaned into the timing of the attack in a playful post on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “Due to such distinguished guests and the importance of the event itself, we couldn’t ignore it – and urgently flew to [St Petersburg].” The post was paired with drone footage of unmanned vehicles crossing the Baltic sky followed by clips of thick black smoke rising from unnamed locations along St Petersburg’s seafront. The St Petersburg strikes mark a notable milestone in Ukraine’s evolving strike capabilities: in the more than four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Kyiv has built a rapidly expanding domestic defense sector, allowing it to regularly produce and deploy long-range drones that can strike targets deep inside Russian territory. Ukraine has focused most of these long-range attacks on energy and oil infrastructure, framing these facilities as critical components of Russia’s war machine that fund its military operations. The strikes on St Petersburg came amid continued tit-for-tat attacks across the front lines and behind enemy lines. On the same Wednesday as the St Petersburg attack, a Russian-installed official in the Moscow-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine reported that seven civilians were killed when a drone struck a passenger bus traveling along a regional highway. For its part, Russia continues to launch large-scale combined missile and drone strikes across major Ukrainian cities, resulting in consistent civilian casualties. Just two days before the St Petersburg attack, Russian strikes across multiple Ukrainian regions killed at least 22 civilians and injured dozens more, according to Ukrainian emergency officials. In the wake of the St Petersburg strikes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Moscow planned a coordinated response to the Ukrainian attack. “Our responses will be systemic in nature,” Peskov told reporters Wednesday, offering no additional details on what form the retaliation would take.
作者： admin
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Rare albino buffalo named after Donald Trump for its golden locks draws crowds at Bangladesh zoo
A rare albino buffalo with a striking tuft of golden-blond hair and a 1,500-pound frame has become the most unexpected viral sensation in Bangladesh, packing the Dhaka National Zoo with curious visitors nearly a week after the animal was relocated from a rural farm to the capital’s public facility.
The unusual saga began when a local farmer noticed the buffalo’s pale coat and distinctive hairstyle bore an uncanny resemblance to the signature look of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The farmer shared a short clip of the horned mammal to social media, and the video spread like wildfire across regional platforms, drawing hundreds of sightseers to the small farm located on the outskirts of Dhaka in the days that followed.
What makes the story even more surprising is the buffalo’s original fate: the animal had been purchased ahead of Eid al-Adha, the annual Muslim Festival of Sacrifice, and was marked for slaughter. Instead, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the buffalo seized and transferred to the Dhaka zoo, citing growing public safety risks from the uncontrolled crowds gathering at the rural farm. Authorities issued a full refund to the buyer who had purchased the buffalo for the holiday ritual to finalize the transfer.
Since the move, hundreds of visitors have continued to brave sweltering, humid Bangladeshi summer temperatures each day to catch a glimpse of the viral buffalo. On Tuesday, crowds pressed against the railings of the animal’s enclosure, many holding up smartphones to capture footage, with parents lifting small children onto their shoulders to get a clearer view of the attraction. Zoo staff have rolled out special pampering care for the new star: keepers regularly style its blond hair, spray it down with cool water, and set up fans nearby to help it beat the heat.
Many visitors who traveled from across the country say the comparison to the former U.S. president is impossible to miss. “There is a clear resemblance to Donald Trump in its eyes, hairstyle, and skin color,” said Mohammed Nasim, a university student based in Dhaka. “And just as Donald Trump has a one-of-a-kind personality and lives a life that’s always in the spotlight, this buffalo, after going viral, is living a similar life now – it gets endless attention and special treatment that no other animal here gets.”
Not everyone has welcomed the joke, however. Initially, the zoo posted a display sign next to the enclosure that openly labeled the buffalo “Donald Trump,” but that signage has since been removed. The zoo’s head curator was fired from their post the previous Saturday, with no official explanation released for the dismissal, a move widely linked to backlash over the naming.
Critics argue that attaching the name of a prominent global political leader to a farm animal is a disrespectful misstep. “Giving a farm animal the name of one of the world’s most influential leaders was certainly the wrong thing to do,” said Mohammad Joynal Adedin, a Dhaka resident who still visited the zoo to see the buffalo despite his objection. “It seems disrespectful. I think the farmer who did this made a poor decision.”
For many other visitors, though, the viral fame of the buffalo was reason enough to make the trip. “Since before Eid, I had been seeing posts on Facebook saying that ‘Donald Trump’ would be sacrificed. Later, I heard that instead of being slaughtered, it had been placed in the zoo,” said Mohammad Habibur Rahman, a traveler who made the trip to Dhaka from Jashore, a city in southwestern Bangladesh. “So, I thought I would come to the zoo and see ‘Donald Trump’ for myself.”
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UK orders Google to allow publishers to opt out of AI scraping for search summaries
In a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind regulatory action announced Wednesday, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered Google to grant all online content publishers serving British users the explicit right to opt out of having their work scraped to train the tech giant’s artificial intelligence systems and power its AI-driven search features. The ruling marks one of the most significant regulatory interventions to date to balance the rapid growth of generative AI against the intellectual property rights of content creators, and it uses the CMA’s new digital market oversight authorities to curb what regulators frame as the outsized market power Google holds over the UK’s online search ecosystem.
Under the terms of the order, Google is required to build and roll out robust, effective tools that let publishers block their content from being used to develop two of the company’s high-profile AI offerings: AI Overviews, the AI-generated summary panels that appear at the top of search results, and the broader AI Mode search experience. Beyond the opt-out right, Google must also implement clear, prominent attribution for any publisher content included in AI-generated search results, with direct working links directing users to the original source material. The order also extends the opt-out right to content used for fine-tuning Google’s large language AI models, giving publishers full control over whether their work contributes to the company’s AI development.
This ruling was widely anticipated by industry observers, after the CMA released draft proposals for the new rules earlier this year. The regulatory move followed an investigation that confirmed a tangible negative impact on news publishers: after Google launched its AI Overviews feature, publishers saw measurable drops in referral traffic from search, as fewer users click through to original content when an AI summary is provided directly in search results. The new requirements also apply to the sweeping AI updates Google unveiled for its search platform in May 2024, which integrate artificial intelligence more deeply into every layer of the user search experience.
For Google, the company has signaled it is cooperating with the CMA’s order. In an official blog post, Mrinalini Loew, Google’s general manager for search ecosystem, noted that the company is already working alongside global regulators to give website owners appropriate control over their content as AI reshapes user preferences. “Today, we’re beginning to test a new control that lets website owners manage how their links and content appear in generative AI Search features,” Loew wrote.
CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell framed the ruling as a win for both content creators and UK consumers. The new measures will deliver “fair treatment, greater transparency and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers,” Cardell said, adding that the rules will help tens of millions of British users “better understand and trust the information presented to them.” Regulators also note the order will strengthen publishers’ negotiating position when they enter into content licensing deals with Google, leveling a playing field that has long been tilted toward the U.S.-based tech giant. For the purposes of the ruling, any entity that publishes online content accessible to users in the UK qualifies as a covered publisher, meaning the opt-out right applies to everyone from individual bloggers to large national news organizations.
The landmark decision sets a global precedent for AI regulation, as other countries around the world grapple with how to address the widespread scraping of copyrighted content to train commercial AI systems. As the first major regulator to mandate a broad opt-out right for publishers in AI search, the CMA’s action could serve as a template for future policy and regulatory action in other major markets.
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5 up-and-coming teenagers who could emerge at the World Cup
For decades, the FIFA World Cup has served as the ultimate launching pad for young soccer talent, turning promising teenagers into global superstars. History is dotted with iconic examples: a 17-year-old Pelé led Brazil to World Cup glory in 1958, cementing his legacy as the greatest player the sport has ever seen. Decades later, 18-year-old Michael Owen announced himself to the world with a breakout 1998 tournament in France, and Kylian Mbappé locked in his superstar status at just 19 by steering France to the 2018 World Cup title.
As the 2026 expanded 48-team World Cup approaches, official FIFA rosters confirm a historic group of 22 teenagers will take the global stage, continuing this long tradition of young breakthroughs. Several of these prospects have already solidified their places at top European club sides. Spain’s 18-year-old Lamine Yamal and 19-year-old Pau Cubarsí have already spent a substantial period impressing fans and pundits alike with Barcelona. Germany’s 18-year-old Lennart Karl just wrapped a career-changing breakthrough season with Bayern Munich, proving he belongs among the sport’s elite. Beyond the teenagers, a cohort of young players aged 20 to 21 who have already established themselves at the club level are gearing up for their first ever World Cup appearances, including France’s Warren Zaïre-Emery and Désiré Doué, both regular starters for two-time defending Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.
While hundreds of players will compete across the tournament, five teenage standouts have already drawn widespread attention as the most likely to deliver a legendary breakout performance on soccer’s biggest stage:
### Gilberto Mora (Mexico, 17)
Widely regarded as Mexico’s most promising young talent in decades, Mora is set to become the youngest Mexican player to ever feature at a World Cup, and holds the distinction of being the youngest player across all 48 participating nations’ 2026 rosters. The teenage midfielder has already turned heads in Liga MX playing for Club Tijuana, and was a starting member of the Mexican squad that claimed the 2025 Gold Cup title. He already holds multiple age-related records in Mexican soccer: in August 2024, he became the youngest player to both start and score in the Mexican top flight at just 15 years old, and in January 2025 he became Mexico’s youngest senior international debutant at 16. Top clubs across Europe, including Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as multiple Premier League sides, have been linked with scouting the teenage prospect ahead of the tournament.### Yan Diomande (Ivory Coast, 19)
The 19-year-old winger, who earned his place in Ivory Coast’s World Cup squad off the back of a strong season with German side RB Leipzig, has taken an unconventional path to the global stage. Diomande moved to the United States as a child, where he dominated high school soccer competitions in Florida. He went on trial with Major League Soccer clubs Colorado Rapids and Charlotte FC before ultimately signing with Spanish second-tier side Leganés in 2024. It took less than a year for Leipzig to identify his elite potential and sign the winger, and he earned his first senior cap for Ivory Coast the same year, featuring at the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations.### Endrick (Brazil, 19)
One of the most hyped Brazilian prospects to emerge in recent years, 19-year-old striker Endrick earned his place in the 2026 World Cup squad after a strong loan spell with French side Lyon, where he found his form following a tricky start to his European career. Endrick rose through the ranks at Brazilian powerhouse Palmeiras before being signed by Real Madrid as a future star. After a slow start adapting to the intensity of La Liga, he was sent on loan to Lyon, where he exploded into form over the past season. His impressive performances caught the eye of new Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who named him to the World Cup squad, where he will compete alongside superstars Neymar, Vinícius Júnior, and Raphinha, as well as another rising 19-year-old prospect, Rayan, who impressed in his debut Premier League season with Bournemouth.### Ibrahim Mbaye (Senegal, 18)
At 17 years old earlier this year, Mbaye became the youngest goal scorer in Africa Cup of Nations history, helping carry Senegal to the tournament final. The teenage forward came through the Paris Saint-Germain academy, and made his senior debut in Ligue 1 at just 16 years old in 2024. He earned his Champions League debut the following year, and gradually earned more consistent first-team minutes with PSG throughout the 2025-26 season, even featuring in the European competition that PSG ultimately won.### Kendry Páez (Ecuador, 19)
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder has already established himself as a regular starter for the Ecuadorian national team. English Premier League side Chelsea struck a pre-deal to sign Páez from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle back in 2023, with the transfer going through when he turned 18 in 2025. Chelsea loaned him to French side Strasbourg shortly after the transfer was completed, and he currently plys his trade on loan at Argentine giants River Plate. Known for his slick dribbling ability and explosive change of pace, a standout performance at the 2026 World Cup could set up his long-awaited permanent move back to top flight European soccer. -
She watched a wildfire destroy her town, so she’s building fire-proof bunkers
The 2017 Atlas Wildfire that tore through Napa, California, left a trail of irreversible destruction: more than 51,000 acres of scorched land, 783 structures reduced to ash, and six lives lost. For aerospace engineer and northern California resident Linda Cantey, the disaster left an indelible emotional mark. She and her husband escaped by mere minutes after waking to frantic calls, but an elderly couple on their street perished when a power outage trapped them behind a stuck garage door.
That traumatic experience pushed Cantey to turn grief into action. Beyond joining local wildfire safety advisory boards, she partnered with a mining firm that specialized in underground emergency refuge chambers, challenging the team to adapt their life-saving expertise for above-ground wildfire protection. The result, launched just last month, is Fort: a compact, shed-like backyard bunker designed to shelter up to eight people. Fitted with fire-resistant materials and a 4-hour supply of breathable air, the structure can withstand temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit for three full hours.
“If it wasn’t for Linda, we wouldn’t have built this, I don’t think,” said Josh Behling, president of Wildfire Safety Systems and one of Fort’s co-developers. To prove the bunker’s reliability, Cantey and Fort’s CEO even volunteered to remain inside during a real-world fire test, with first responders on standby.
Fort is far from the only innovative response to the growing wildfire crisis. NASA data confirms that extreme wildfire activity has doubled globally over the past 20 years, and major blazes continue to devastate U.S. western states: just this month, the Sandy Fire north-west of Los Angeles triggered mass evacuations after burning more than 2,000 acres. As risk rises, survivors and entrepreneurs have developed a wide range of solutions, from high-tech hydraulic homes to low-cost natural vegetation management.
Just one night before Fort’s launch in April, another team of innovators pitched their concept on the popular U.S. reality show *Shark Tank*. HiberTec Homes, developed by former real estate developer Holden Forrest after the 2018 Woolsey Fire destroyed 1,200 homes near his Malibu residence, is designed to retract completely underground in minutes when a wildfire approaches. Forrest sketched the original idea on the back of his 9-year-old daughter’s homework, never expecting an architect to take the concept seriously. What followed was years of collaboration with engineers to refine the patented technology. A 1,000-square-foot HiberTec home is priced at approximately $1.2 million, and the first model is expected to hit the market by 2030. For Forrest, the project is more than a business: it’s a life mission, prompting him to sell his own home and all his possessions to advance the technology.
Not all solutions carry a six- or seven-figure price tag. Goat grazing, a low-tech approach to clearing flammable underbrush that fuels wildfire spread, has seen a dramatic surge in demand across fire-prone states. In Colorado, Kimberly Jones has grown her business Goat Mowers LLC from a herd of 25 goats to 250 over the past seven years, as homeowners increasingly turn to natural vegetation management. She reports a sharp uptick in new requests this year amid record dry conditions, and already has proof of the method’s effectiveness: last year, a wildfire stopped just 100 yards short of a home her goats had cleared 17 days prior.
In California, Blue Tent Farms’ fire mitigation division Western Grazers has expanded its goat herd from 10 to 5,000 to meet growing demand from clients ranging from the U.S. Forest Service to utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric, as well as individual homeowners. “The minute the grass begins to turn, I get requests, probably 10 a week, from homeowners,” said managing partner Tim Arrowsmith.
These new solutions, while promising, are not yet available at scale. Fort currently only has two demonstration units, with initial projections calling for roughly 150 orders per year, manufactured in Utah and shipped five weeks after purchase. The bunker is marketed as a last-resort option for those unable to evacuate, not a replacement for timely evacuation orders.
For Cantey, the work has also been a form of healing. “It’s therapy for all of us, because what we’ve witnessed, and what we’ve experienced, we wouldn’t want anybody else to go through. But it’s going to keep happening,” she explained. As wildfire risk continues to climb, these innovators remain committed to filling gaps in safety protection, turning personal trauma into life-saving tools for communities across the West.
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Foreign nationals among at least 21 killed in Delhi fire
A devastating fire that swept through an unregulated multi-story guest house in New Delhi, India’s capital, has left at least 21 people dead and multiple others injured, local law enforcement confirmed this week. Many of the fatalities were foreign nationals from neighboring South Asian countries, who had traveled to the national capital to seek medical treatment or accompany family members receiving care at nearby medical facilities, according to local media reports.
The building, located in the busy Malviya Nagar neighborhood of south Delhi, was operating as an informal bed-and-breakfast specifically catering to patients and their families visiting a large private hospital just a short distance away, officials confirmed. As of the latest updates, more than 40 people have been pulled from the charred structure and transported to local hospitals for emergency care. Authorities have not yet been able to confirm an exact headcount of how many people were staying in the building when the fire ignited, and the origin and cause of the blaze remain under active investigation.
Emergency response teams got the fire fully contained and under control rapidly, according to senior fire department official AK Malik. “The fire was brought under control quite early on – it was contained very quickly. We have now cleared the building and opened it up for the police,” Malik told reporters. Rescue and evidence-gathering operations are still ongoing at the site as investigators work to piece together what caused the fire and whether any regulatory violations contributed to the death toll.
Delhi’s local government minister Ashish Sood stated that authorities are probing whether the building held all the necessary legal permits to operate as a commercial accommodation facility. Sood confirmed that any individuals found responsible for regulatory violations will face full criminal prosecution.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued formal condolences to the families of the deceased and announced state compensation: 200,000 Indian rupees (approximately $2,088 USD) to the next of kin of those killed, and 50,000 rupees to those who sustained injuries in the blaze.
Social media footage and broadcast news clips from the scene show large flames billowing from the building’s upper floors as onlookers gathered nearby. Video of the aftermath shows the building’s entire exterior blackened by soot and fire damage, as emergency workers comb through debris searching for additional victims and evidence.
Eyewitnesses described chaotic, panic-stricken scenes as the fire spread through the structure faster than most occupants could escape, trapping dozens of people on the second and third floors. Local residents rushed to help before professional emergency crews arrived, pulling several people to safety and creating makeshift landing zones with mattresses pulled from a nearby corner shop to catch people jumping from upper floors.
“The fire broke out at about 08:50… we rushed to the spot to see that the entire building was on fire. There is a mattress shop at the corner from where we took out mattresses and laid them on the road,” local resident Wasim Raj told the Indian news agency ANI. “People started to jump out of the building from the second and third floors. The fire-fighting team had reached the spot immediately and started rescue work.”
Another nearby resident, Sher Khan, described hearing trapped people screaming for help from upper floors as the fire grew in intensity. “As the fire intensified, it seemed as if there was no way to jump from here. People spread mattresses, and some from the third floor jumped out with a little kid… She was saying that she fractured her leg,” Khan recalled.
Local lawmaker Satish Upadhyay confirmed that multiple occupants of the guest house were citizens of Bangladesh and other South Asian nations, all in Delhi for medical care.
This deadly incident has once again highlighted India’s long-running crisis of unenforced building safety regulations. Fires resulting in mass casualties are a recurring problem across the country, from commercial factories and residential coaching centers to hospitals and public entertainment venues. For decades, repeated investigations into major Delhi blazes have exposed a persistent gap between strict safety codes on paper and lax, irregular enforcement in practice. Common contributing factors across past incidents include infrequent safety inspections, unmaintained and faulty electrical wiring, and buildings regularly operating for purposes outside their approved construction permits.
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US announces new tariffs over forced labour concerns
In a renewed push for hardline trade policy after a major judicial setback earlier this year, the Trump administration has rolled out a new round of import tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% on dozens of U.S. trading partners, framing the move as a response to alleged failures by these nations to crack down on forced labor in global supply chains.
This announcement marks the second major tariff action from the White House since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a large portion of Trump’s previous import duties in February. In that earlier ruling, the court invalidated the controversial “Liberation Day” tariffs that Trump imposed on a wide swath of countries across the globe in April 2025. Trump publicly denounced the ruling at the time, calling it “terrible” and labeling the justices who rejected his trade policy “fools”. Immediately following the Supreme Court decision, the administration implemented a temporary 10% global tariff, after floating a potential 15% rate that never took effect. That temporary measure is set to expire in July unless Congress votes to extend it.
The 60 trading partners targeted in the new tariffs read like a who’s who of major global economies, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, and Japan. Combined, these nations account for a staggering 99.4% of all goods imported into the United States, meaning the new duties will touch nearly every segment of U.S. cross-border trade. The new tariffs stem from a broad investigation the U.S. Trade Department launched back in March, which examined the forced labor enforcement frameworks of all 60 trading partners. After concluding the probe, the agency announced Tuesday that every nation under review had “failed both to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labor (forced labor goods) and to effectively enforce such a prohibition”.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the policy, arguing that allowing unregulated trade with nations that do not police forced labor creates an unfair system for American workers. “It creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field”, Greer said. The U.S. government’s formal position holds that engaging in trade with countries that permit goods made with forced labor constitutes unfair competition for the United States. Still, the policy has drawn sharp criticism from trade analysts and political opponents, who warn that Trump’s broad-based tariff strategy has already driven up consumer prices in the United States and caused economic disruptions in global markets, with new duties set to exacerbate these upward pressures on costs.
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UK government condemns violence at protest over teen’s stabbing death
Fresh political and social unrest has erupted in the United Kingdom following the sentencing of an 18-year-old’s killer, after clashes broke out between protesters and police at a demonstration in the southern coastal city of Southampton this week.
The fatal December 2024 stabbing of Henry Nowak, a white teenager, has roiled national discourse in recent weeks after his killer, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa — a Sikh man — was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum 21-year term on Monday. The case ignited outrage after it was revealed that when responding to the scene, officers initially treated the wounded Nowak as a suspect rather than a victim, after Digwa falsely claimed he had been the target of a racist attack by Nowak. Police body camera footage released after sentencing shows Nowak, who was handcuffed as he lay dying, repeatedly telling officers he had been stabbed and could not breathe, only to be dismissed by responding personnel. The judge in the trial explicitly rejected Digwa’s unsubstantiated racism claim, ruling there was no evidence Nowak made any racist remarks before the attack.
In the aftermath of the sentencing, hundreds of protesters gathered in Southampton on Tuesday to demand answers over the handling of Nowak’s death. But the demonstration quickly turned violent, as a subset of attendees hurled chairs, metal cans, rocks and flares at responding police officers. The incident has deepened an already bitter national debate over policing, knife crime, and systemic bias, after far-right political actors and activists seized on the case to push claims that the UK justice system is inherently biased against white people. That narrative has gained traction among far-right circles, who have weaponized the case to push the popular far-right talking point of “two-tier policing,” which falsely claims law enforcement disproportionately favors ethnic minority groups over white Britons.
Britain’s newly appointed Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood swiftly condemned the Tuesday violence, labeling it “completely unacceptable.” In a statement following the clashes, Mahmood emphasized that the Nowak family itself had already called on the public not to allow Henry’s death to be twisted to fuel further societal division. “There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder,” Mahmood said. “Those responsible can expect to face the full force of the law.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed that condemnation, while also acknowledging the legitimate public concern over the police handling of the case. Starmer told reporters he was “sickened” by the newly released police body camera footage, and confirmed there are pressing unanswered questions about how unproven accusations of racism shaped officers’ on-scene decision-making. The Independent Office for Police Conduct, the national watchdog that probes alleged police misconduct, has launched a full investigation into the actions of officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, who responded to the stabbing. In a move to address systemic gaps exposed by the incident, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has also announced it will conduct a full review of national anti-bias training and guidance for officers.
Notably, the victim’s own family has pushed back against efforts to frame the case through a racial or religious lens. Mark Nowak, Henry’s father, said in a statement after the sentencing that his son’s death should not be used to stoke division, and that the family’s priority is pushing for safer streets across the UK rather than fomenting hatred. “This case is not about racism or religion,” he emphasized.
That appeal has not stopped high-profile far-right figures from exploiting the tragedy for political gain. Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, used the sentencing to double down on the two-tier policing narrative Tuesday, urging supporters to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage” and claiming “white lives matter just as much as Black lives.” X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk and notorious British far-right activist Tommy Robinson have also amplified baseless claims of systemic anti-white bias to their massive online audiences, stoking further public anger. The case has also reignited a fringe political push to ban Sikhs from carrying kirpans, the ceremonial religious dagger many Sikh people wear as a symbol of faith. The trial judge confirmed that while Digwa carried a small traditional kirpan, the weapon used to kill Nowak was an 8-inch sheathed dagger separate from the ceremonial item.
The unrest comes as UK political parties grapple with rising far-right influence ahead of upcoming local elections, with critics warning that the exploitation of Nowak’s death risks deepening racial and religious division across the country at a time of already heightened social tension.
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Ukrainian drones set fire to a St. Petersburg oil terminal ahead of Putin visit
On Wednesday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to open his country’s flagship annual international economic forum in St. Petersburg, Ukrainian forces launched a wave of long-range drone attacks that penetrated hundreds of kilometers into Russian territory, striking multiple key targets including a coastal oil terminal in the city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the attack in a social media statement, noting that the drones successfully traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to reach their target. Footage and on-the-ground reports showed thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the oil terminal near St. Petersburg’s port area following the strike.
Russian official confirmation of the attack was limited, with authorities only acknowledging that the strike targeted civilian infrastructure in the city. In response to the incursion, St. Petersburg’s main airport temporarily halted all flight operations overnight, and local mobile internet services were temporarily shut down as a security precaution.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which Putin is scheduled to address on Friday, has long been framed by the Kremlin as a major prestige event designed to showcase Russia’s global economic standing amid mounting international isolation. Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, however, all major Western business leaders and government officials have boycotted the gathering. This year, Saudi Arabia holds the position of special guest and is set to dispatch a large business delegation to the event.
The brazen attack on St. Petersburg marks a fresh political embarrassment for Putin, coming just weeks after he was forced to drastically scale back Moscow’s annual Victory Day military parade over widespread security concerns about potential Ukrainian drone strikes on the capital.
Wednesday’s wave of Ukrainian strikes was launched just 24 hours after Russian forces carried out a massive, widespread assault across Ukraine using a combination of drones and cruise missiles. That attack killed at least 22 civilians and left 138 others injured, carrying out Moscow’s stated threat to ramp up regular long-range barrages against Ukrainian targets.
After more than four years of full-scale conflict, the front line across eastern and southern Ukraine has remained largely static, with both sides relying heavily on swarms of drones that have slowed large-scale troop movements and stalled major offensives. To break the stalemate, both Moscow and Kyiv have increasingly turned to long-range strike operations to gain strategic leverage over their opponent.
For Ukraine, these strikes on Russian energy and industrial infrastructure serve two core strategic goals: cutting into revenue from Russian oil production, which remains the single largest source of funding for Moscow’s war machine, and disrupting Russian manufacturing facilities that produce weapons and military equipment. Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine has repeatedly targeted oil and port facilities in the St. Petersburg region and surrounding coastal areas in recent months.
Beyond the St. Petersburg oil terminal, Zelenskyy confirmed that overnight strikes also hit two additional high-value targets: the Kronstadt naval base, a historic installation that serves the Russian Baltic Fleet, and a weapons manufacturing plant located in Russia’s Tambov region, roughly 600 kilometers (370 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its air defense systems intercepted and downed a total of 354 Ukrainian drones launched during the overnight wave of attacks across multiple Russian regions.
The cross escalation of strikes also resulted in civilian casualties on both sides. In Russia-occupied portions of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian strike hit a civilian bus traveling from Moscow to Crimea. Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-appointed head of the occupation administration, reported that the attack killed seven people and injured 11 others. In Russia’s western Smolensk region, regional governor Vasily Anokhin said a Ukrainian drone strike killed two responding firefighters and wounded two other firefighters plus one local civilian.
On the Ukrainian side, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 198 long-range attack drones at Ukrainian targets overnight, with Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepting and neutralizing 189 of the incoming weapons. In Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, local authorities confirmed that Russian strikes over the preceding 24 hours killed one civilian and injured 15 more, including three children. In the southern Kherson region, overnight Russian shelling and drone attacks killed an 86-year-old civilian woman and wounded five other residents, according to regional officials.
With both sides continuing to escalate long-range attacks and no diplomatic negotiations underway to end the conflict, the war now stretching into its fifth year shows no sign of a near-term resolution.
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Australian judges weigh Indigenous activist’s bid to prosecute King Charles for genocide
MELBOURNE, Australia — A landmark legal bid by a senior Indigenous Australian activist to pursue a private genocide prosecution against Britain’s King Charles III, who also serves as Australia’s ceremonial head of state, moved to the state’s highest appeals court Wednesday, where three judges deferred their decision to a later date.
The 68-year-old claimant, widely known by his community honorific Uncle Robbie Thorpe, brought the appeal to Victoria’s Supreme Court of Appeal after two lower courts dismissed his original filing in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. Thorpe’s legal argument centers on the claim that King Charles, alongside the Australian federal government and its national institutions, perpetuates ongoing genocide against Indigenous Australians through entrenched systemic disadvantage across socioeconomic sectors, a status that has left Indigenous communities the most marginalized demographic group in the country.
Official Australian demographic data bears out the stark inequalities Thorpe highlights: Indigenous people make up just 4% of the national population, yet have significantly lower life expectancies, higher rates of chronic health conditions, disproportionate rates of incarceration and double the unemployment rate of non-Indigenous Australians.
Speaking to reporters from The Associated Press ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Thorpe signaled that if his domestic legal challenges are exhausted without success, he will escalate the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, invoking the UN Genocide Convention to pursue the claim.
“It’s clear that they’re unwilling, unable, reluctant to deal with these international legal issues like genocide,” Thorpe told the AP, referencing Australian judicial institutions. During his address to the appellate panel, Thorpe emphasized that compounding systemic disadvantage is resulting in preventable deaths of Indigenous people across the country. “The Crown is responsible for all this mess,” he said. “Australia’s got away with genocide of Aboriginal people since [British colonizers] arrived here.”
The legal roots of the claim stretch back to 1788, when the British Empire began its colonization of the Australian continent, seizing traditional Indigenous lands without any formal treaty with the native peoples. Colonial policies systematically targeted Indigenous culture: native languages were banned, traditional cultural practices were criminalized as part of a forced assimilation campaign to convert Indigenous people to Christianity and Western social norms, and an estimated 100,000 Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families over more than a century in policies that have since been universally discredited as genocide.
For Wednesday’s hearing, Thorpe wore a traditional possum-skin coat and carried a feather from a wedge-tailed eagle, a sacred totem for many Indigenous Australian communities. He asked the court to address him as Uncle Robbie, or by his traditional tribal name Djuran Bunjileenee — a request granted by presiding Justice Karin Emerton. Court documents formally name the defendant as Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor.
Thorpe’s legal team bases the prosecution on three overlapping legal frameworks: Indigenous law that has operated on the Australian continent for more than 65,000 years, Victorian state common law, and Australian federal criminal law. When lower courts dismissed the case last year, judges ruled that local magistrates lack jurisdiction to consider Indigenous law, that genocide is not codified as an offense under Australian common law, and that any federal genocide prosecution requires formal approval from the federal attorney-general, which has not been granted.
After a two-hour hearing Wednesday, Justice Emerton confirmed the three-judge panel would issue its ruling at an unspecified future date. If Thorpe’s appeal fails here, his last domestic legal recourse is to bring the case before Australia’s High Court. If that effort also fails, he will move forward with his plan to file the prosecution with the ICC in The Hague.