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  • Oregon teacher fought school attacker before armed dad shot suspect ‘multiple times’

    Oregon teacher fought school attacker before armed dad shot suspect ‘multiple times’

    A quiet Thursday at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, erupted into horror when a 16-year-old former student opened fire inside a special education needs classroom, leaving four people dead and two others injured. In the chaotic moments that followed, quick thinking and extraordinary bravery from a classroom teacher and a passing father prevented the attack from becoming an even deadlier mass casualty event, law enforcement officials confirmed at a Friday press briefing.

    The unidentified teacher, who was in the targeted classroom when the shooting began, made the split-second decision to confront the gunman. Before launching herself at him, she threw her mobile phone to alert others to the danger, then grappled with the teen to wrest control of his shotgun away as the pair tumbled to the classroom floor. During their struggle, an off-site bystander, 36-year-old local carpenter Kaylub Giamanco, drove past the school and witnessed the suspect opening fire in the parking lot before shooting through a window to gain entry to the building.

    Giamanco, a father of two daughters who attend Silver Rail Elementary, kept a legally concealed .40-caliber pistol in his vehicle. The carpenter, who had just finished lunch and was heading home when he encountered the unfolding violence, grabbed his weapon and rushed inside to intervene. He opened fire on the suspect, striking him multiple times and killing the teen before he could continue his attack. When police searched the suspect after he was stopped, they recovered an additional 44 rounds of shotgun ammunition, confirming he had fired roughly 15 shots inside the classroom already.

    Four people lost their lives in the attack before the suspect was neutralized: three children and one teacher. Police have publicly named two of the victims: 5-year-old student Rhoam Summer and 25-year-old teacher Meghan Lambert. The families of the two other deceased children, aged 8 and 11, have requested that their identities remain private at this time. Two additional people were wounded: a 54-year-old teacher remained hospitalized for treatment as of Friday, while a 7-year-old student was listed in serious but stable condition.

    Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz commended the two heroes who stepped in to stop the attack during Friday’s press briefing. “To the people who showed courage in the face of such violence, and intervened to prevent this tragedy from being any worse, we owe you a debt of gratitude,” Krantz said. He confirmed that the teacher who confronted the gunman walked away from the encounter unharmed, and that her quick action “almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.”

    Police identified the shooter as Griffin J. John II, a former Silver Rail Elementary student who himself received special education services at the school during his time enrolled. Law enforcement has already executed a search warrant at the suspect’s residence, and investigations are ongoing to map out the 16-year-old’s movements before the attack, determine how he obtained the shotgun and ammunition, and uncover a potential motive for the violence. Authorities have confirmed the suspect traveled to the school on foot, but no other details about his planning have been released to the public.

    Though law enforcement has not publicly named Giamanco out of respect for his privacy, his family confirmed his identity to U.S. media outlets. In a statement released through CBS News, the family said Giamanco is a lifelong resident of Bend who does not seek public recognition for his actions. “He wants to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel, and community for the outpouring of love and support,” the statement read, adding that Giamanco and his family “respectfully ask for privacy” to process what happened.

    Political leaders have weighed in on the attack, with both state and federal officials praising the intervention that stopped further bloodshed. Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for Georgia on Friday, former U.S. President Donald Trump called Giamanco a “great hero,” noting that the attack would have had a far higher death toll without his intervention. “It’s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,” Trump said. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek also acknowledged the bystander’s heroic actions, while noting that stopping the attack will “carry a heavy emotional burden.” “I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,” she said.

    In the wake of the tragedy, local community members have organized a candlelit vigil to honor the victims and support their families, as Bend comes to terms with one of the deadliest school shootings in recent Oregon history.

  • Trial of German steakhouse heiress that sparked a huge spy scandal

    Trial of German steakhouse heiress that sparked a huge spy scandal

    For more than a year, a single criminal trial has held the attention of the German public, weaving together a bitter family custody battle, alleged connections to international intelligence operatives, and an unexpected bombshell that has upended the country’s national security community. At the center of the Hamburg proceeding is 53-year-old Christina Block, heiress to the multimillion-euro Block House steakhouse chain, a beloved culinary institution that has operated across Germany for half a century. Block stands accused of orchestrating a violent cross-border abduction of her two youngest children from their father’s home in Denmark, a plot that prosecutors say involved hired operatives from an Israeli security firm and ties to current and former spies from both Germany and Israel.

    The conflict between Block and her ex-husband Stephan Hensel stretches back years, following their separation. Initially, all four of the couple’s children resided with Block in Hamburg. After Hensel remarried and relocated to Denmark, the two youngest children began making regular visits to his home. In 2021, the children stayed with Hensel and were not returned to Hamburg per their agreed custody arrangement. A Hamburg court later ruled Block retained full custody and ordered the children’s return, but a Danish court ruled in early 2023 that the children could remain with their father despite their unlawful initial removal to the country. Hensel currently faces pending charges of child abduction in Germany, and has accused Block of physical abuse toward the children – claims Block has repeatedly denied, countering that Hensel is acting out of revenge against her.

    According to the official indictment, the abduction plot unfolded during 2023-2024 New Year celebrations, as Hensel and the two children – then 10 and 13 years old – watched a fireworks display. Prosecutors allege that six men, led by 36-year-old Israeli citizen Jonathan G, ambushed Hensel, beat him, and forced the children into a waiting vehicle. As the group traveled toward the German border, they switched vehicles, bound the 13-year-old girl’s hands and gagged both children, before completing the journey to Baden-Württemberg in a campervan. The children were held there against their will until Block arrived on January 2, 2024, to pick them up and bring them to her Hamburg home, prosecutors say.

    Block, family lawyer Andreas Costard, and Jonathan G face three core charges: abduction of minors, grievous bodily harm, and unlawful imprisonment. Block’s partner, former TV sports presenter Gerhard Delling, and three additional co-defendants face aiding and abetting charges. All defendants have pled not guilty except for Jonathan G, who admitted participating in the operation but told the court he believed he was taking part in a legitimate “rescue mission” to return the children to their rightful custodian. Block has repeatedly denied any advance knowledge of the plot, telling the court the abduction was “a catastrophe” that she never would have condoned. Her legal team argues the Israeli security team acted entirely on their own initiative, without Block’s approval or knowledge.

    That claim has been directly contradicted by David Barkay, the head of the Israeli security firm who is not a defendant in the current trial but faces future legal proceedings. Barkay, who a witness identified as a former Mossad operative, told the court that both Block and Costard were fully aware of the planned operation to retrieve the children, though he acknowledged he withheld full operational details from the pair because he “didn’t trust them.”

    The most shocking development in the case came earlier this month, when evidence uncovered during the investigation into Block’s trial led to the arrest of 80-year-old August Hanning, Germany’s former head of foreign intelligence, on charges of treason and espionage. While Hanning’s espionage charges are not directly connected to the ongoing Block trial, he is accused of involvement in an earlier 2022 attempt to abduct the children from Denmark, arranging security personnel for a trip Block made to the country. Hanning’s lawyer denies those earlier allegations.

    When investigators searched Hanning’s home as part of the preliminary inquiry into the 2022 abduction attempt, they stumbled upon evidence linking Hanning to a separate espionage scheme: prosecutors allege he purchased roughly 2,000 confidential documents from his former chief of staff, then passed classified state secrets to an unspecified foreign power. Hanning is currently in custody, and his lawyer has called the charges “unfounded,” claiming his client is the victim of “unjust persecution.” The revelation has sent shockwaves through Germany’s intelligence community, as officials and the public scramble for answers about the scope of the alleged betrayal and the foreign actor involved.

    For now, the Block trial itself remains paused for a two-week adjournment – the latest in a string of delays that have stretched the proceeding across 15 months. This most recent delay came after the key witness, Hensel’s current wife, failed to appear for her scheduled testimony. As the case unfolds, it continues to tie a bitter family dispute to one of the most damaging espionage scandals in modern German history.

  • Wife of top Burnham adviser backs Sally Rooney after books withdrawn over Palestine Action support

    Wife of top Burnham adviser backs Sally Rooney after books withdrawn over Palestine Action support

    A fierce debate over political expression and government overreach has engulfed UK politics this week, after prominent author and journalist Sarah Helm publicly challenged the Labour government’s ban on Palestine Action, throwing the legality and public impact of the controversial proscription into the national spotlight.

    Helm, a veteran former foreign correspondent for *The Independent* and longstanding critic of Israeli policy toward Palestinians, stepped forward this week to defend best-selling Irish novelist Sally Rooney, who has had all her works pulled from UK distribution after announcing she would direct book proceeds to Palestine Action. The grassroots direct action group, which targets arms manufacturers that supply components to Israel, was proscribed as a terrorist organization by Keir Starmer’s Labour government in July 2025. Under the new law, public expressions of support for Palestine Action or membership in the group carry a maximum criminal penalty of 14 years in prison.

    Helm’s public rebuke came in response to veteran Sky News journalist Adam Boulton, who appeared on air Thursday to attack Rooney, claiming she held a “very strong pro-Palestine, and, I have to say, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish stance”. On the social platform X, Helm fired back: “God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action. Sounds like Adam would have all our books swept off the shelves in a jiffy.”

    What makes Helm’s act of defiance particularly politically charged is her personal connection to the top ranks of the UK government: she is married to Jonathan Powell, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s chief national security adviser, who retained the post after Burnham took office from Keir Starmer. Powell, a former senior Downing Street official during Tony Blair’s premiership, made headlines last month when he publicly opposed Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s decision to sanction illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    Beyond her career as a journalist, Helm is a noted authority on the history of Gaza, publishing *Gaza: The Long Road to Destruction, 1870-2024* in 2025, a work that draws on firsthand interviews with survivors of the 1948 Nakba to document the territory’s modern history. She has also contributed reporting and analysis to Middle East Eye.

    In the wake of her social media post, pro-Israel advocacy groups including the Campaign Against Antisemitism have formally called for UK police to open a criminal investigation into Helm for violating the proscription law. As of this week, thousands of people across the UK have been arrested for holding pro-Palestine Action placards or posting messages of support for the group online, a crackdown that human rights organizations have already labeled draconian and a fundamental attack on civil liberties.

    Campaign groups opposing the ban say Helm’s open defiance exposes the inherent absurdity and unsustainability of the legislation, which is set to be challenged in the UK Supreme Court next month. “How can Andy Burnham’s government possibly defend this ban in the Supreme Court next month when his own national security adviser’s wife has openly defied it? This unprecedented attack on free speech in our country is plainly unsustainable,” said a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, an organization campaigning to overturn the proscription. “We know of 36 people who have been arrested and had their homes raided for similarly expressing support for Palestine Action on social media. We hope Sarah will not face the same treatment for standing up for free speech and Palestinian lives. But her defiance further exposes the absurdity of a ban that cannot be enforced against everyone who challenges it.”

    Marji Mansfield, a 70-year-old retired tax adviser who was arrested earlier this year for posting a short clip expressing support for Palestine Action on social media and had counter-terrorism officers raid her home, echoed that sentiment. “Sarah Helm is similarly at risk of arrest for speaking out against the first ever ban of a direct action protest group in Britain,” Mansfield said. “We are on the right side of history.”

    The current controversy began earlier this week when news broke that Rooney’s books would be removed from the UK market. After the ban was enacted, Rooney publicly stated she would continue supporting Palestine Action, noting that the group remains legal in her home country of the Republic of Ireland. She explained that UK publishers could face criminal charges for continuing to distribute her work, so she voluntarily ended distribution of her books in the UK. Rooney previously canceled a September 2024 trip to England to accept a major literary award out of fear she would be arrested over her political views. The Supreme Court challenge to the ban is scheduled for a hearing later this year.

    Even within the UK government, there are growing signs of unease over the scope of the crackdown that has followed the ban. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband acknowledged last month that the government is reviewing whether the proscription was politically wise, admitting that leaders never intended the policy to result in mass arrests of peaceful activists. “I don’t think anyone’s intent was to have those people criminalised, but obviously the Supreme Court has got to look at this issue, and obviously it’s something we keep looking at as government,” Miliband said.

    Human rights groups have condemned the knock-on effects of the ban on artistic and political expression, warning that it has created a culture of fear where writers face professional ruin for holding dissenting views. “Whatever one’s views on Palestine Action, we should all be concerned when laws intended to combat terrorism end up silencing artistic freedom and the ability to engage in peaceful political dissent,” Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, told *The Guardian*. “Writers should not find their books disappearing from shelves because of their political beliefs. Nor should people have to choose between expressing their conscience and pursuing their livelihoods.”

  • Palestinians wounded, US journalist hospitalised after coordinated attack by masked Israeli setters

    Palestinians wounded, US journalist hospitalised after coordinated attack by masked Israeli setters

    A violent incident in the occupied West Bank has left multiple people injured, including a group of Palestinian olive farmers and a veteran American photojournalist, following a coordinated assault by dozens of masked Israeli settlers. The attack unfolded in the village of Abu Falah, located northeast of Ramallah, where local Palestinian families had gathered to carry out their annual olive harvest—a critical cultural and economic tradition for communities across the region.

    Witnesses on the scene confirm that approximately 80 settlers, all wearing masks and black clothing, swept into the village’s olive groves. The group immediately began hurling rocks at the unarmed harvesters before setting multiple sections of the agricultural groves on fire, destroying crops that many local families depend on for their year-round livelihood.

    Video footage circulated widely across social media and news platforms captures the assault on Heidi Levine, a photojournalist working for *The Washington Post*. The footage shows Levine being shoved to the ground and repeatedly bludgeoned with sticks by multiple settlers. Emergency medical personnel confirmed that both Levine and one Palestinian were transported to local hospitals for treatment following the attack.

    Recounting the ordeal from her hospital bed, where she is being treated for a bandaged hand and multiple contusions, Levine described the sustained ferocity of the attack. “I was attacked, pushed to the ground. Luckily I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here, because they just kept kicking me and kicking me, probably fifty times,” Levine said in a trembling interview. “After like 10 minutes they tried to get me stand up and then they pushed me down again and continued to kick me. I was trying to hold on to my cameras and my pouch…they eventually broke everything off of me.”

    Matt Murray, executive editor of *The Washington Post*, released an official statement calling for a full, transparent investigation into the attack. Murray stressed that Levine was clearly marked with visible identification confirming her status as a working journalist at the time of the assault, making the unprovoked attack even more alarming.

    Multiple Israeli journalists who witnessed the incident have also spoken out, documenting critical failures by Israeli military forces present in the area. Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, an Israeli journalist and activist who filmed the entire assault, told *The Washington Post* that Israeli soldiers arrived moments before the settlers’ attack, firing tear gas at Palestinian harvesters, then stood by and did nothing to intervene as the assault unfolded. “They did absolutely nothing about the settlers,” Khrzhanovskiy confirmed.

    Oren Ziv, another Israeli journalist who witnessed the attack, added that one Palestinian was hit by gunfire during the incident. Multiple other on-scene reporters, including American journalist Jasper Nathaniel, confirmed that at least one of the attacking settlers was armed with a firearm, and Nathaniel reported hearing sustained machine gunfire during the attack. “If she didn’t have a helmet – and if she was Palestinian – she could be dead,” Nathaniel wrote in a post on the social platform X.

    This attack was not an isolated incident. Separately, Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported another assault on olive harvesters near the town of Birzeit, just north of Ramallah, carried out by Israeli settlers. In that incident, settlers attacked a 70-year-old Palestinian man, leaving him with fractures and multiple severe injuries, and smashed the windows and frames of several vehicles owned by local Palestinians.

    Olive harvesting is one of the most important economic sectors for Palestinians in the West Bank, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual income and supporting tens of thousands of households. Attacks on harvesters and the destruction of olive groves by Israeli settlers have been increasingly common in recent years, with human rights groups documenting a steady rise in such violent incidents amid expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

  • Katie Zacharia leaving her White House role less than five days on the job

    Katie Zacharia leaving her White House role less than five days on the job

    Just days after a chaotic and widely panned first public appearance, Katie Zacharia has stepped down from her position as White House press secretary, multiple sources have confirmed, capping a week of mounting controversy that ended faster than any prior tenure for a senior Trump White House communications official.

    The announcement of her exit came hours after Donald Trump publicly commented on her uncertain future during a press gaggle near Marine One on Friday. Speaking to reporters before the confirmation of her departure broke, the president revealed he had already told Zacharia she was under no obligation to remain in the role. “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” Trump said he advised her, adding that she did not deserve the harsh treatment she had received from the press.

    Zacharia’s short and turbulent tenure began on Tuesday, when she delivered her inaugural press briefing that ran just 14 minutes, took only three questions from reporters, and was marked by visible nervousness. Multiple missteps during the briefing quickly sparked widespread criticism and scrutiny: at one point, she mistakenly referred to her husband as the president while reading from prepared talking points. Later, when asked where she had passed the bar exam – a standard requirement to practice law in the U.S., after Trump and other administration officials had described her as an attorney – she replied, “When I was in China.”

    By Thursday, growing media pressure forced Zacharia to issue a statement acknowledging she had never actually passed a U.S. bar exam. She clarified that she had worked on international transaction law in China using the appropriate local credentials, and maintained that she was hired for a communications role, not a legal position. When pressed in subsequent interviews with major conservative media outlets, including Fox News’ Sean Hannity and *Fox & Friends* – a program Trump regularly watches – she admitted she had never disclosed her bar status to the president, because “those questions weren’t asked.”

    When Hannity asked why she had not simply stated she never practiced law, and pressed her on whether she believed the White House staff had failed to properly prepare her for the role given she was hired less than a week before her debut, Zacharia did not directly confirm missteps by the administration. During her *Fox & Friends* appearance Friday, when host Lawrence Jones asked if she still retained the president’s confidence, she avoided a direct answer, saying only “I hope to be able to build the confidence and trust of everyone around me.”

    Her departure, confirmed by the BBC within hours of Trump’s public comments, makes her exit the shortest in the history of Trump’s White House press teams. The previous record for the quickest departure of a senior communications official was held by Anthony Scaramucci, who left his post as White House communications director after just 10 days during Trump’s first term. On Friday, Scaramucci weighed in on the news on social media platform X, writing: “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”

    The abrupt exit comes as the U.S. heads into the final stretch of campaigning for November’s midterm elections, which will determine which party controls the U.S. Congress. Congressional Democrats have quickly seized on Zacharia’s departure to criticize the Trump White House. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the chamber’s top Democrat, wrote on X that “The White House Press Secretary is gone. MAGA extremists continue to fall apart.”

  • Analysis: Zacharia was thrown into a whirlwind – and failed at a critical time for Trump

    Analysis: Zacharia was thrown into a whirlwind – and failed at a critical time for Trump

    The role of White House press secretary is widely regarded as one of the most high-stakes, pressure-filled positions in American politics, even when the political landscape is stable. For Katie Zacharia, who stepped into the role just weeks before a contentious midterm congressional election that polling predicted would be bruising for former President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, stability was never on the table.

    What followed was an unprecedented collapse: after just five days on the job, Zacharia was pushed out, her tenure cut short by a disastrous 14-minute debut press conference, uneven subsequent media appearances, and growing public scrutiny over alleged misrepresentation of her professional legal credentials. The end of her short time in the role came in characteristically unorthodox fashion, with Trump breaking the news indirectly to reporters gathered at the White House on Friday.

    Recounting a conversation he had held with Zacharia earlier that day, Trump told reporters, “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider. Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this.” He added shortly after that the position “is not for her.” The White House quickly confirmed to the BBC shortly after Trump’s remarks that Zacharia would begin “transitioning” out of the role, ending any speculation about her future in the post.

    The shake-up comes at a precarious moment for the Trump White House, which is already navigating a growing wave of political headwinds ahead of the midterms. Across the country, Republican incumbents and candidates are fighting desperately to hold their congressional seats, with many increasingly choosing to distance themselves from Trump and his policy agenda. This split has exposed new rifts within a party that has remained largely unified around Trump’s leadership for years.

    Compounding these political pressures, the administration has also been rocked by a string of high-profile controversies in recent weeks. These include corruption allegations that forced the resignation of U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, as well as a last-minute cancellation of plans to publicly broadcast a military execution in December, a decision that came after widespread pushback from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

    A seasoned, skilled press secretary is often critical for navigating these kinds of political landmines, helping the White House push its preferred messaging while managing intense media scrutiny. Karoline Leavitt, who held the press secretary role from the start of Trump’s second term until she resigned in August to focus on her family after welcoming her second child, earned consistent praise for her steady performance. She regularly defended the administration from the briefing room lectern, avoided public missteps, and maintained respectful, productive working relationships with White House press corps reporters.

    Leavitt’s capable tenure set a high bar for Zacharia, a political strategist who had been a regular guest on conservative networks including Newsmax and Fox News before her appointment. As a relative newcomer to high-profile White House roles, she was never able to clear that bar – and many political observers note she was never given enough time to find her footing. Still, the speed of her departure is extraordinary, cementing her place as the shortest-serving White House press secretary in modern U.S. history.

    Zacharia’s uneven debut at Tuesday’s press conference, paired with ongoing questions about her professional background, ultimately sealed her fate. Subsequent media appearances, including a tough interview with conservative commentator Sean Hannity on Thursday that Trump confirmed he watched, did nothing to reverse the growing consensus that she was unfit for the role.

    For his entire presidency, Trump has largely functioned as his own de facto press secretary, making major policy announcements and shifting positions from any venue he occupies – whether that is the Oval Office, the White House lawn, or an airport tarmac after a campaign rally. Ironically, Zacharia herself acknowledged this dynamic before she was tapped for the job, writing on X, “President Trump does not need a spokesperson. He is his own best press secretary.”

    Now, that long-running informal arrangement will become formal, at least temporarily. But Trump’s tendency to speak off-script has created consistent challenges for his press secretaries over the course of his two terms, with presidential off-the-cuff remarks often contradicting or undermining public statements made by his press team, and press secretaries frequently being left out of the loop on key policy decisions.

    Effective press secretaries have long served a critical role for the administration: helping manage choppy political waters, smooth over tensions with the media, provide context to investigative journalists, and defuse emerging controversies before they escalate. Trump told Fox News on Friday that he is “in no rush” to appoint a new press secretary to fill the vacant role. But with the midterms just weeks away and political pressure mounting on his administration, Trump will be without the consistent, steady support that Leavitt provided during her tenure. Many political analysts expect he may come to regret moving so quickly to force Zacharia out without a replacement lined up.

  • Trump denies limiting Ukraine access to Starlink network

    Trump denies limiting Ukraine access to Starlink network

    A major international controversy has unfolded over reports of restricted connectivity to the military-grade satellite network Starshield in Ukraine, triggering new tensions between Washington and Kyiv just as European leaders reaffirm their commitment to supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.

    The dispute centers on claims that speed limitations were imposed on Starshield, the military-focused sister service of SpaceX’s civilian Starlink internet network, which has become a critical communications tool for Ukraine’s military amid ongoing Russian attacks. The speed cap, set at 160 kilometers per hour, stripped Ukrainian drones of their connectivity when operating above that threshold, directly undermining Kyiv’s ability to intercept Russian strikes targeting civilian and military infrastructure.

    In the wake of the restrictions, Russia launched a wave of deadly airstrikes across Ukraine on Tuesday that left an estimated 600,000 residents without power, after damaging key energy and communications facilities. Multiple US and Western officials quoted by Reuters have confirmed that the order to impose the restrictions originated from within the current US White House, but US President Donald Trump has pushed back strongly against these accounts.

    Speaking to reporters while departing the White House on Friday, Trump denied any involvement in the decision, claiming “It wasn’t me and I don’t think it was [Starlink owner] Elon [Musk].” He also walked back earlier inflammatory comments, in which he claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was “more difficult to deal with than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” saying he now maintains a positive working relationship with Zelenskyy. When pressed on the Starshield restrictions, Trump added that he was “not sure” the service had ever been restricted at all.

    Starlink owner Elon Musk, who cut off Russian access to the satellite network in early 2022 to give Ukraine a strategic advantage, has also distanced himself from the restrictions. Musk has suggested the US government ultimately controls Starshield operations – a platform originally built for the US Pentagon, which runs on Starlink’s existing satellite infrastructure – and hinted the Pentagon could be responsible for the order.

    The controversy comes amid already simmering friction between the Trump administration and Kyiv. Tensions rose after a controversial new diesel trade deal between the US and Russia drew sharp condemnation from Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian leader had previously paused strikes on Russian oil refineries, but resumed targeting those facilities after the deal was announced. In response, Trump called for a mutual ceasefire targeting energy infrastructure on both sides, and the US had already issued warnings that it could withhold critical defense intelligence if Ukraine refused to halt the refinery strikes.

    Addressing European Union leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels on Friday, Zelenskyy defended his decision to resume strikes, asking, “If I don’t stand up to this… who else will?” The Ukrainian leader also used the summit to press EU leaders for more urgent military and economic support, revealing that Ukraine faces a projected €155 billion cost for the war in 2025, with at least €70 billion of that sum needed from the EU for defense procurement and weapons supplies. The summit’s top agenda items centered on securing new funding to help Ukraine through its fifth freezing winter since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, amid growing concerns over wavering US support.

    French President Emmanuel Macron used the summit’s closing to issue a clear rebuke of shifting US positions, vowing that EU member states would never abandon Ukraine. Macron stated that it was Europe’s responsibility to “hold the line” in the face of what he called “ambiguities” from other partners, a widely interpreted reference to inconsistent US backing for Kyiv. He added that European powers are moving forward with expanding support for Ukraine’s satellite and early warning defense systems, and will review Zelenskyy’s request for additional emergency aid.

    Back in Washington, a bipartisan group of US senators has added further pressure to the administration by signing an open letter demanding a full congressional investigation into the Starshield connectivity disruptions. The letter notes that the reported restrictions “degraded Ukraine’s ability to conduct defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure,” a direct blow to Ukraine’s ability to protect its population from ongoing attack. As of Friday, Zelenskyy confirmed that full connection speeds have still not been restored to Starshield services in Ukraine.

  • What we learned from heated US midterm Senate debates

    What we learned from heated US midterm Senate debates

    With the November 2026 US midterm elections just weeks away, candidates vying for control of the US Senate have taken the debate stage across the country, bringing with them fiery clashes, sharp ideological divides, and ugly personal attacks that highlight the high stakes of this year’s congressional battle. As both major parties fight to win a majority in the chamber, three defining themes have emerged across the most competitive Senate races, all centered on one persistent question that has defined Republican politics since 2016: where do candidates stand on former President Donald Trump?

    For years, Republican candidates who have broken ranks with Trump have faced steep backlash from primary voters, and with Trump retaining enormous influence over the party, the 2026 cycle is no exception. This year, amid sagging approval ratings for Trump and widespread voter anxiety over soaring living costs and record-high fuel prices, Republicans are taking a range of approaches to their ties to the former president. A recent Reuters analysis found that roughly two-thirds of Republican candidates in competitive House and Senate races have broken with Trump on at least some policy or political positions this cycle, even as many others remain firmly aligned with his agenda.

    Maine’s Susan Collins, a four-decade Senate incumbent running for her sixth term, has gone further than most to distance herself from Trump. During a recent debate with Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, Collins highlighted her cross-party voting record, noting: “I voted with President Biden 91% of the time. The fact is, this year alone, this Congress alone, I voted against President Trump 137 times.” The race has tightened far beyond what Collins expected, with conflicting polling leaving the outcome uncertain: a mid-September New York Times/Siena College poll gave Collins a 3% edge, while other surveys place Jackson narrowly ahead. Tensions boiled over during one recent debate when a protester interrupted the event, leading Collins to suggest the protester was linked to Jackson’s campaign. Jackson shot back sharply: “Oh shut up, I don’t even know that kid.”

    Other Republican candidates have struck a middle ground, breaking with the Trump administration on specific policies while retaining public loyalty to Trump himself. In Iowa, a longstanding Republican stronghold, incumbent Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is facing a surprisingly competitive challenge from Democrat Josh Turek, who holds a narrow lead in most recent polling. Hinson has not fully separated from Trump like Collins, but she publicly pushed back on one of his administration’s major energy policy decisions during an October 13 debate. When asked about a Trump-era deal to import hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Russian fuel to the US, Hinson did not hold back: “We need to lower gas prices in this country, we need to lower diesel prices, but I don’t think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it.”

    Beyond debates over loyalty and policy, many matchups have devolved into harsh personal attacks that have dominated headlines in recent weeks. The open Senate race in Michigan, pitting Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim US senator, against Trump-backed former congressman Mike Rogers, has been among the most bitter. During a recent debate, Rogers made a controversial incendiary remark, questioning whether any member of El-Sayed’s family was on a government “watchlist”. El-Sayed pushed back with scathing criticism, dismissing Rogers as “a sock puppet for the Trump administration” and calling him “weak, cowardly [and] won’t stand up until his poll numbers drop”.

    In Georgia, incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and his Trump-backed Republican challenger Mike Collins also traded vicious personal insults. What began as a policy exchange over Ossoff’s accusation that Collins steered public benefits to private data center developers quickly turned into a shouting match, with Ossoff labeling Collins a “bigot” who had “hired half the Third Reich”. The comment came amid ongoing controversy over antisemitic posts made by Collins’ son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, who wrote in one post that “Israel and Zionist Jews” were pursuing policies to “undermine the white, Christian nature of America”. Collins defended himself against the accusations, claiming Ossoff was “spewing craziness” and saying he had “condemned racism, antisemitism, hate; I don’t care where the source is”.

    While dozens of candidates have faced off on debate stages across the country, an ABC News analysis found that 21 of the 35 Senate seats up for election this cycle have no scheduled debates between the two major party candidates. One of the most high-profile absences has been in Texas, where Democratic state representative James Talarico is mounting a surprisingly competitive challenge to Republican former state attorney general Ken Paxton in a race that could decide control of the Senate. If Talarico flips the seat, it would give Democrats one of the four seats they need to claim a majority. Talarico has accepted four separate debate invitations from major news networks, but Paxton has declined all of them. Despite a July 2026 promise from Paxton’s campaign that he would debate, the candidate has not provided any further plans for public debates, even after primary backer Donald Trump publicly urged both candidates to participate.

    Political observers warn that skipping debates carries major political risks. “One thing about not showing up is you lose the opportunity to make the case for yourself, and instead, what you do is you give your opponent the ability and the opportunity to make your case as negative as possible,” Peter Trumbore, a political science professor at Oakland University, told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner outlet.

    As Election Day approaches, all eyes remain on these competitive toss-up races, where candidates’ positions on Trump and their performance on the debate stage could determine which party controls the US Senate for the next two years.

  • Trump praises father who shot attacker during Oregon school shooting as ‘great hero’

    Trump praises father who shot attacker during Oregon school shooting as ‘great hero’

    In the wake of an unspecified tragedy that took place near Silver Rail Elementary, local residents have come together to mourn their lost loved ones through quiet, heartfelt acts of commemoration. Multiple photographs captured by Reuters document the outpouring of collective grief as community members leave tokens of remembrance at a growing makeshift memorial established close to the school campus.

    One image shows a small group of residents carrying armfuls of fresh flowers to lay at the memorial site, their quiet gestures speaking to the shared pain that has enveloped the neighborhood following the tragedy. Another photograph captures a woman adding a personal memento — a bracelet — to a memorial display at the cordoned-off perimeter near the school, turning the restricted area into a space for collective mourning. A third image documents a mother and her young child stopping to leave their own floral tribute at the outdoor makeshift memorial, a small act that underscores how the tragedy has touched people of all generations across the community.

    The handcrafted memorial has become a central gathering place for locals to process their loss, share condolences, and stand together in solidarity after a devastating event that has shaken the Silver Rail Elementary neighborhood. The images, captured shortly after the event on October 16, 2026, reflect the raw, compassionate response of a community united in grief.

  • ‘Bismillah, it’s the darkness’: How a suspected police infiltration became a protest meme in France

    ‘Bismillah, it’s the darkness’: How a suspected police infiltration became a protest meme in France

    A nonsensical phrase born from an alleged botched police attempt to infiltrate private student protest groups has rapidly become the defining viral slogan of France’s nationwide high school protest movement, spreading across social media platforms, printed on placards and chanted at demonstrations across the country.

    The slogan, “Bismillah, c’est les tenebres” – which translates from French to “Bismillah, it is the darkness” – first began circulating in early October, after a screenshot of a suspicious Snapchat message from an account named “Mamadou” leaked online. The full message, purportedly sent to gain information on an upcoming school blockade, reads: “Hey, bismillah, it’s the darkness. When’s the school blockade, bro, wallah?” Multiple other similar suspicious messages were reportedly sent from accounts using given names culturally associated with people of North and West African descent.

    Students quickly spotted the red flags in the awkward message. The phrase mixes “Bismillah”, an Arabic term meaning “in the name of God” commonly used by Muslim communities around the world, with nonsensical phrasing and heavy reliance on crude stereotypes of working-class Black and North African youth. This clumsy, stereotypical attempt to mimic Gen Z slang from low-income neighborhoods immediately led students to conclude the accounts were run by undercover police officers trying to infiltrate private protest planning groups. To date, the identity of the account holders has not been independently verified by third-party outlets.

    The absurdity of the message quickly turned it into a viral meme, with hundreds of parodies popping up across TikTok, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and other platforms. Student critics have emphasized that the incident exposes harmful racial stereotypes embedded in law enforcement practices: the alleged infiltrators relied on blatant caricatures of young Muslim and North African people to try to blend into protest groups, resulting in a laughable failure that has now been turned back against authorities.

    What started as an inside joke on Snapchat quickly transformed into a unifying protest slogan. It has been emblazoned on picket signs at mass demonstrations, referenced in videos from school blockades, and even repeated by high-profile activist Greta Thunberg during her appearance at recent protests this week.

    The viral slogan emerged amid a historic wave of student mobilization that first ignited on September 18 in Creteil, a working-class suburb of Paris, before spreading to every corner of France. Hundreds of thousands of high school students have joined walkouts, blockades and demonstrations to decry crippling staff shortages, overcrowded classrooms, crumbling school infrastructure and inadequate learning resources. Many protesters are also calling for sweeping reforms to Parcoursup, France’s controversial higher education admissions system, which critics argue disproportionately disadvantages working-class and minority students.

    Protest organizers have repeatedly highlighted that the substandard learning conditions driving the movement disproportionately harm students from minority backgrounds and working-class suburban communities, the same groups targeted in the alleged infiltration attempt. While the vast majority of the protests have remained peaceful, authorities have responded with aggressive crowd control tactics, including tear gas barrages and baton charges against demonstrators.

    As the movement has grown, grassroots organizers have leaned heavily on internet culture, memes and viral trends to build cross-school solidarity, mock law enforcement and government authority, and draw national attention to their demands. “Bismillah, c’est les tenebres” has become the most prominent example of this: the slogan does not carry any inherent religious meaning, but instead serves as a mocking rebuke of police surveillance, racial stereotyping and the botched infiltration attempt that has now become a symbol of broader systemic failures in French education and policing.