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  • Right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos detained by ICE

    Right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos detained by ICE

    Controversial right-wing political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, a British national long based in the United States, has been listed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention records, according to recent data checks of the agency’s inmate registry.

    The 41-year-old commentator, who previously served as an editor for conservative outlet Breitbart News and briefly worked with American rapper Kanye West, is currently believed to be held in a Louisiana detention facility, based on publicly searchable ICE detainee data. A self-described provocateur who has styled himself as the “most fabulous supervillain on the internet,” Yiannopoulos has long faced fierce condemnation from critics who label him a spreader of harmful hate speech targeting marginalized groups.

    As of press time, neither ICE representatives nor Yiannopoulos himself have responded to requests for comment from the BBC. A nationwide search of the agency’s detainee database confirms that a detainee matching Yiannopoulos’ name and British nationality is currently in ICE custody, though the exact reasons and specific circumstances surrounding his detention remain unconfirmed and undisclosed to the public.

    Raised in Kent, in southern England, Yiannopoulos has resided in the U.S. for many years and became a polarizing public figure during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when he emerged as an early high-profile backer of Donald Trump. He even headlined a “Gays for Trump” rally during that year’s Republican National Convention and repeatedly supported Trump’s calls for stricter U.S. immigration policies. Despite his early alliance with the Trump movement, the pair had a very public falling out. While Yiannopoulos still claims to back parts of Trump’s policy agenda, he posted a critical statement on social media platform X back in March of this year claiming that Trump “has lost his way, bought off by foreign interests.”

    Yiannopoulos has drawn widespread backlash for years over incendiary remarks targeting transgender people, Muslim communities, the Black Lives Matter movement, feminists, and even LGBTQ+ groups — a notable controversy given that he previously identified as gay, and now describes himself as “ex-gay.” Some of his most infamous provocative columns include pieces titled “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” and “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?”

    One of the most serious scandals of his career came in 2017, when he was disinvited from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) — a major annual gathering of U.S. conservatives that has repeatedly hosted Trump — after video surfaced of comments that appeared to condone pedophilia. Shortly after the incident, Yiannopoulos issued an apology and resigned from his position at Breitbart. He has repeatedly pushed back against the accusations, arguing his remarks were describing his own personal experiences of abuse as a child, rather than endorsing the act.

    For years, Yiannopoulos has been publicly associated with the alt-right, a loose ideological movement defined by its opposition to mainstream political correctness and feminism that includes outspoken factions of neo-Nazis and white supremacists. While he has stated he does not consider himself an official member of the alt-right, he has previously described the movement as “energising and exciting.”

  • Autopsy shows National Guard fatally shot Memphis man in the back

    Autopsy shows National Guard fatally shot Memphis man in the back

    A newly released autopsy report has upended the initial official account of the July 5 fatal shooting of 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson by Tennessee National Guard members in Memphis, confirming the single bullet that killed him entered the man’s back rather than his chest. The document, obtained by the BBC from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center Office of the Medical Examiner, details that the fatal bullet pierced Johnson’s right back, traveled through his lung, and exited through his upper right chest. This finding directly contradicts the original narrative shared by law enforcement, which claimed Johnson was shot twice in the chest by guard members after he confronted them with a weapon.

    Included in the autopsy report is an investigative narrative from a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) agent, which recounts the sequence of events as originally told to investigators. According to the agent’s account, Memphis police and National Guard troops were dispatched to the area following reports of nearby gunfire. When they encountered Johnson, the narrative states, he reached toward his waistband, and after officers observed him drawing a firearm, they opened fire, claiming he was struck once in the chest. Separately, the report notes Johnson was carrying a loaded handgun magazine, a detail that comes amid Tennessee’s permissive gun laws that allow legal gun owners to carry weapons openly.

    Johnson’s family has renewed demands for full transparency and legal accountability in the wake of the autopsy’s conflicting findings. Evaniel Johnson, the victim’s grandfather and a former Nashville correctional officer, told the Associated Press that officials owe the public clarity about what occurred. “Be transparent – you shot him in the back,” he said. “I just want to make sure somebody be responsible for what happened. Some accountability. They ain’t never going to bring my grandson back. If he ain’t caused you no threat, you have no reason to be killing.”

    Andre Wharton, the Johnson family’s attorney, who provided a copy of the autopsy to the BBC, said the new evidence confirms the family’s long-held concerns about the encounter with the Memphis Safe Task Force. “The autopsy findings reinforce the serious concerns we have regarding Tyrin’s shooting and the circumstances surrounding his encounter with the Memphis Safe Task Force,” Wharton said in a formal statement. “The fact that Tyrin was actually shot in the back, contrasted with officer and task force’s accounts, only further underscores the devastating nature of this encounter.”

    The medical examiner officially listed Johnson’s cause of death as a homicide, a classification that denotes a death caused by another person and does not inherently indicate criminal intent. To date, no criminal charges have been filed against any of the involved guard members. When approached by the BBC for comment on the conflicting autopsy findings, the TBI declined to issue a new statement, pointing instead to its original July announcement and confirming the investigation remains active and ongoing. The agency also clarified that early claims that Johnson turned and pointed a weapon at guardsmen were never distributed by the TBI itself. The Tennessee National Guard has not yet responded to repeated requests for comment from the BBC.

    State Representative Justin Pearson, a Memphis Democrat, publicly weighed in on the case Friday, posting a statement to the social platform X calling for a full, independent investigation. “Johnson should be alive today,” Pearson wrote, adding that “The National Guard is not welcome here. Mr Johnson’s murder is a horrifying example of the brutality and injustice the Memphis Unsafe Task Force has brought to our city.”

    The National Guard deployment to Memphis is part of the broader Memphis Safe Task Force, an initiative launched under the current presidential administration’s policy to deploy National Guard troops to major U.S. cities. Former President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump framed the deployment, which is concentrated primarily in Democrat-led municipalities including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., as a targeted measure to combat rising violent crime across urban centers.

  • Watch: Puppy rescued from drain using a bucket and cheese

    Watch: Puppy rescued from drain using a bucket and cheese

    A charming tale of compassion and quick thinking has emerged from Florida, where a young puppy trapped in a narrow underground drain was saved in an unconventional rescue operation that relied on two simple tools: a common bucket and a tasty wedge of cheese.

    According to official details released by the Tampa Police Department, the rescue unfolded after local residents spotted the stranded puppy and called authorities for help. First responders faced a tricky challenge: the confined space of the drain made it difficult to reach the frightened animal directly. Instead of relying on heavy equipment that could risk harming the puppy, the rescue team crafted a simple, gentle solution. They lowered a bucket baited with cheese into the drain, relying on the puppy’s hunger to coax it into the container. The plan worked perfectly: the curious, hungry puppy climbed into the bucket, and responders were able to lift it safely to the surface unharmed.

    Following the successful rescue, the puppy was taken into the care of local animal control services, where it received a quick health check and was placed up for adoption. Unlike many stray animals that wait weeks or even months for a loving home, this lucky puppy did not wait long. Tampa Police confirmed that shortly after it was taken into the system, a new adoptive family stepped forward to give the young dog a permanent, loving home.

    The entire rescue was captured on camera, and the footage has quickly spread across social media, drawing warm reactions from animal lovers around the region. The story serves as a reminder of how simple problem-solving and a commitment to helping vulnerable animals can turn a dangerous situation into a happy ending.

  • Fed has ‘work to do’ if price rises don’t ease for Americans, Warsh says

    Fed has ‘work to do’ if price rises don’t ease for Americans, Warsh says

    The annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, a high-profile gathering that draws central bankers, senior government officials, and leading academics from across the globe to debate pressing economic challenges, kicked off this week with a stark warning from the newly appointed leader of the U.S. Federal Reserve about persistent inflationary pressures.

    Kevin Warsh, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the central bank in May, used his first keynote address at the Wyoming-based conference to lay out his policy stance, noting that while summer inflation readings came in better than many forecasters had projected, the data has not yet shown that underlying cost-of-living pressures have meaningfully improved for U.S. households.

    Warsh emphasized that with annual inflation still running well above the Fed’s long-standing 2% target – the latest official data puts 12-month price growth at 3.4% as of July – the central bank’s top priority right now must be taming rising prices. “Here is my standard: We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do,” he told attendees.

    While Warsh explicitly cautioned that his remarks should not be interpreted as binding forward guidance for future rate decisions, his comments have immediately shifted market expectations for the Fed’s upcoming September 15-16 policy meeting, where officials will set the federal funds rate. In addition to signaling that further tightening remains on the table if inflation does not cool fast enough, Warsh also argued that the Fed’s post-2008 practice of providing explicit forward guidance on future rate moves has outlived its usefulness.

    “Oversharing policy deliberations and overcommitting to future decisions can lead markets, businesses, and households astray,” he said, adding that the practice also limits the Fed’s “freedom to make the right calls when it’s time to decide.”

    The Fed has held interest rates steady at a range of 3.5% to 3.75% for five consecutive meetings through July, as officials balanced inflation concerns against broader economic uncertainty. Persistent tensions between the U.S. and Iran have driven a sharp surge in global oil prices in recent months, keeping upward pressure on energy and broader consumer costs.

    Following Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech, CME Group data shows that bond and interest rate markets have sharply increased their bets on a September rate hike. Analysts at Capital Economics noted that Warsh delivered a “far clearer – and hawkish – message” than expected, leaving the door open to an earlier rate increase than markets had previously priced in.

    “Hikes are not guaranteed, but Warsh is now at least suggesting he is on board with them if economic growth remains strong and monthly core Personal Consumption Expenditures price growth remains a bit too firm,” the firm’s analysts wrote in a note to clients.

    Rate hikes work to cool inflation by raising borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, encouraging lower spending that in turn eases upward pressure on prices. While higher rates deliver better returns for savings accounts, they also push up costs for mortgages, auto loans, and credit card debt, and increase the interest payments the U.S. government owes on its national debt.

    In a development that underscores the growing fiscal pressure facing the U.S., rising interest payments have now pushed the total national debt past the $40 trillion mark, more than doubling over the past decade across both the Trump and Biden administrations. Data from the Congress Joint Economic Committee shows the debt is growing at a staggering rate of roughly $90,000 per second, or $7.8 billion per day.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently announced a plan to buy back more government debt in an effort to lower overall borrowing costs, but market optimism around the measure faded quickly after the announcement.

    The Fed’s September rate decision will also carry significant political weight, as the U.S. approaches upcoming mid-term elections, with voters across the country already listing affordability and rising living costs as one of their top policy concerns. President Trump, who appointed Warsh to lead the Fed, has a well-documented history of criticizing previous Fed chair Jerome Powell, repeatedly pressing for steep rate cuts and arguing that rate hikes hold back U.S. economic growth. Analysts and political observers will be closely watching Trump’s reaction to whatever decision the Fed makes next month.

  • A summer of foodborne illness is already testing Trump’s pick for top regulator

    A summer of foodborne illness is already testing Trump’s pick for top regulator

    A historic wave of foodborne illnesses across the United States this summer has thrown the future of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration into sharp relief, as former President Donald Trump’s nomination of White House insider and physician Heidi Overton to lead the agency faces growing scrutiny from lawmakers, public health experts, and even some administration allies. The nomination arrives at a moment of deep crisis for the FDA, which has been gutted by widespread staffing cuts, a mass exodus of senior leadership, and widespread public anger over a delayed, disjointed response to outbreaks that have sickened thousands of Americans.

    This summer’s outbreak season has been one of the worst on record. More than 17,000 confirmed cases of cyclospora, a parasite that causes severe persistent diarrhea, have been reported, a massive jump from just 1,180 cases during the same period last year. Most cases have been linked to contaminated iceberg lettuce produced by Taylor Farms, with infections recorded across nine states. Alongside the cyclospora surge, outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella have been traced to alfalfa sprouts, eggs, jalapeños, frozen blueberries, and multiple other common food products, leaving consumers confused and anxious about which foods are safe to eat.

    Public health experts and food safety advocates trace the slow, ineffective response to these outbreaks directly to years of staffing cuts and institutional disruption at the FDA. Current and former agency observers warn that years of underfunding was pushed to a breaking point last year, when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired 20% of FDA employees as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to downsize the federal civil service. The agency has also been without a permanent Senate-confirmed commissioner for nearly three and a half months, following the resignation of former head Marty Makary, who stepped down after a public clash with the White House over Trump’s plan to lift a ban on flavored vapes over concerns about youth addiction. Several senior agency leaders left shortly after Makary’s departure, leaving critical leadership posts vacant and agency morale at historic lows.

    “We’re already working with a system that was teetering on the edge, and last year’s cuts and upheaval have pushed it over the cliff,” explained Sarah Sorscher, food safety director at the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest. Jerold Mande, a former FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture official and current nutrition professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted that the CDC’s first public health alert for the cyclospora outbreak came 10 weeks after the first cases were detected in early May, a delay that left the public in the dark for months. “Poor communication has left people on edge and panicked about what they can eat,” Mande said.

    For many affected consumers, the frustration is deeply personal. David Hargrave, a 59-year-old Texas resident, has experienced daily diarrhea for a month and a half after contracting cyclospora over the Fourth of July holiday. “It scares you, not knowing what’s safe to eat anymore,” he said. Toby Davis, another person sickened by the parasite after eating at a Taco Bell that required an emergency room visit, blamed mass layoffs of veteran FDA experts for the slow response. “This is the consequence of careless mistakes,” said Davis, an independent voter. “Do I think more people will get sick because of their negligence? Absolutely.”

    Even some supporters of the administration’s health agenda have expressed caution. Jacqueline Capriotti, a supporter of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement founded by Kennedy, agreed that food safety must be the FDA’s top priority. “We tell people to eat real food, but we first have to guarantee that real food is safe to eat,” she said.

    Against this backdrop of crisis, Trump has tapped Overton, a former general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and chief policy officer at the conservative America First Policy Institute, to lead the agency. Trump has publicly praised Overton as a “rockstar” and a trusted ally who will advance his administration’s priorities. But public health experts worry that Overton, a long-time Trump insider, will prioritize loyalty to the president over evidence-based public health policy.

    John Swartzberg, professor emeritus of infectious diseases at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, warned that Overton inherits an agency with shattered morale and a long list of unaddressed crises. “She’s stepping into an agency where morale is already rock bottom,” Swartzberg said. “Turning that around is going to be an enormous, incredibly difficult challenge.”

    Overton’s nomination also faces political headwinds. She must first win confirmation from the U.S. Senate, with no hearing date set yet. The Senate Health Committee, which will consider her nomination, is chaired by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who has already voiced “strong concerns” about Overton due to her support for Trump’s executive order to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule. Even some members of the MAHA movement oppose her nomination over her reported role in a Trump executive order to expand domestic production of glyphosate, a weed killer that MAHA activists argue is carcinogenic. The White House has denied that Overton played any key role in drafting the order, but prominent MAHA influencer Alex Clark has publicly raised the accusation on social media. Still, Capriotti argues that critics are too quick to judge, saying “She’s a well-respected physician, and I think she deserves a chance to prove herself.”

    The Trump administration has pushed back against claims that staffing cuts and leadership turnover have hampered its outbreak response. A HHS spokesperson insisted that “the Trump Administration has mounted a robust response to each outbreak” and claimed that “FDA has the staff needed to continue investigating outbreaks, as no FDA investigators were affected by staffing changes or reductions in force.” White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended Overton’s qualifications in a statement to the BBC, saying she “has been integral to ensuring that the Administration’s policies are correct, consistent, and grounded in Gold Standard Science,” and adding that the White House “looks forward to her swift confirmation by the Senate.”

    The stakes of the confirmation fight extend far beyond food safety, as Overton would also oversee the FDA’s handling of other high-profile controversial policy priorities for the Trump administration, including vaccine regulation and access to abortion medication. For public health advocates and consumers still reeling from this summer’s outbreak wave, the confirmation will set the course for the agency that regulates 80% of the U.S. food supply at a moment of historic institutional instability.

  • ‘Not far enough’ – US parents and teens on Meta’s new limits for young users

    ‘Not far enough’ – US parents and teens on Meta’s new limits for young users

    A landmark $18 billion settlement between Meta Platforms and 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories has ended a high-profile lawsuit over the tech giant’s impact on child mental health — but many American parents who have watched their children navigate social media’s harms say the new restrictions fall far short of fixing the systemic problem.

    The lawsuit, first launched in 2023 by 29 states, accused Meta of intentionally engineering its platforms — which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — to trigger addiction in young users, misleading the public about well-documented youth safety risks, and violating federal privacy regulations governing the collection of children’s personal data. The settlement was announced mid-trial this week, just as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was preparing to take the stand; the agreement does not require Meta to admit any wrongdoing.

    As part of the settlement, Meta has outlined a slate of new restrictions for teenage users: a default 2-hour daily time limit on platform use, hiding public like counts on all posts, disabling automatic video playback, muting push notifications during standard school hours, and banning the use of extreme, body-altering beauty filters. The company is also updating its age-verification protocols and parental control tools, and has agreed to bring on an independent auditor to confirm the measures are properly implemented and maintained long-term. Meta has additionally structured the deal to withhold $5 billion of its settlement payout, releasing those funds only if competing platforms including YouTube and TikTok adopt similar youth protection rules, and has pledged to cut the default daily time limit to one hour if other major platforms match its restrictions.

    But for parents across the U.S. who have directly experienced social media’s harms to their children, the changes feel like too little, too late. Elizabeth Cardner, a Houston mother of two teen daughters, calls the new rules a welcome step that signals growing public awareness of social media’s dangers, but doubts they will deliver meaningful long-term change. “It will save a few arguments at home, but it doesn’t go far enough,” Cardner told the BBC. Her 14-year-old daughter Paige, who supports the like-count hiding and filter ban, agrees that benefits will likely be temporary. With artificial intelligence advancing rapidly, Paige notes, users will quickly find new workarounds to create unregulated altered content. “People will find new ways to have fake filters, and correct certain parts of their videos or pictures,” she explained. “So I think it’ll help until people use other resources to try and find new ways to do that.” For Cardner, the situation is a no-win bind: banning her girls from social media entirely would only leave them socially excluded by their peers, but keeping them on the platforms means exposing them to documented harms. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any winning on it.”

    Andria Rose, a Boston-area mother of two teens, echoes that frustration, describing herself as feeling defenseless against platforms that draw children in despite parental efforts. “No matter how much I protect my kids, Facebook, Instagram – they’re coming in and literally, like, taking them out of their rooms,” she said. While she calls Meta’s new restrictions “fantastic,” she argues they do not address the core issue of platform addiction. “They’re trying to limit the drug, but they’re not controlling the drug,” Rose said. She points to her own addiction to social media, which disrupts her nightly sleep, as evidence of how much more vulnerable children are to the platforms’ design. For Rose, Meta’s $18 billion settlement is a negligible drop in the bucket compared to the profits the company has earned from young users, particularly during the pandemic when screen time surged nationwide. She calls the payout “like throwing a couple of dollar bills at a problem.”

    Long Island mother Joanie Story, who has four sons, criticizes Meta’s decision to tie further restrictions and full settlement payment to competing platforms’ action, calling the move “petty.” “That’s like saying: ‘You know, we have the ability to fix what is broken, but we’re only gonna fix it halfway,’” she said. Story knows firsthand the damage unregulated social media can cause: two of her sons were accidentally exposed to explicit content on a non-Meta platform years ago, and one has required ongoing therapy for four years as a result. “It’s almost like being abused,” she said. Even so, she acknowledges that Meta’s new rules are “good controls” that represent a small step forward.

    Some parent advocates argue that meaningful change cannot come from tech company regulations alone, and requires collective action from families. Mark SooHoo, a Chicago suburban father of three and an advocate with the organization Wait Until 8th, which encourages parents to pledge to delay giving children smartphones until they finish eighth grade (around age 13 or 14), says social media and smartphones are inextricably linked, and both pose unique risks to young people. SooHoo notes that most parents cave to peer pressure to give their children smartphones early to avoid social exclusion, but his group’s message is intentional: “We do want them to be left out. We want them to be left out of all the negative impacts of social media.” Rather than relying on social media companies to implement change, SooHoo says more parents should join the pledge to prioritize youth safety. “A communal problem requires a communal solution,” he argued.

    Multiple peer-reviewed studies have confirmed that unregulated social media use carries significant mental health risks for children and adolescents, and a 2025 BBC investigation found that underage users are routinely exposed to harmful content including bullying, suicide glorification, and violent material on major platforms. As Meta begins rolling out its new restrictions, parents across the country remain in a holding pattern, waiting to see if the changes will deliver on their promised protections — while many remain convinced that much more work is needed to address youth social media harm.

  • Six months into the Iran war: What has Trump accomplished?

    Six months into the Iran war: What has Trump accomplished?

    Half a year has passed since the United States launched its military engagement in Iran, and a critical question now hangs over the mission: have the core promises made by the Trump administration at the conflict’s opening been fulfilled? In an on-the-ground assessment, BBC correspondent Tom Bateman has set out to examine the gap between initial pledges and the current reality on the ground six months into hostilities.

    When the military operation first began, the Trump administration laid out a clear set of strategic and policy goals for the engagement. These ranged from disrupting alleged adversarial activities to achieving specific geopolitical shifts that would boost U.S. and regional security. Six months on, however, the trajectory of the conflict has created uncertainty around whether these targets are within reach, or if the mission has drifted from its original objectives.

    Bateman’s analysis delves into multiple layers of the conflict’s current state, drawing on firsthand reporting from the region, interviews with military personnel, regional stakeholders, and diplomatic sources to assess the actual results of the operation to date. The investigation probes not just military gains and setbacks, but also the broader geopolitical fallout that has reshaped regional dynamics since the conflict began.

    As the war enters its seventh month, the assessment of early progress carries significant weight for both U.S. domestic politics and international relations, as stakeholders around the world continue to debate the wisdom and trajectory of the U.S. engagement.

  • Trump administration illegally retaliated against Anthropic, judge rules

    Trump administration illegally retaliated against Anthropic, judge rules

    In a landmark legal ruling that sets a new precedent for tensions between private artificial intelligence developers and the U.S. military, a federal district judge has found that the U.S. Department of Defense acted unlawfully when it labeled leading AI startup Anthropic a national supply chain security risk, deeming the agency’s action “illegal and baseless”.

    The clash between the two parties stems from Anthropic, the developer of the widely used large language model Claude, declining the Pentagon’s request to grant the U.S. military access to its proprietary AI models for use cases including mass surveillance and the development of autonomous weapons systems. Refusing to comply with the military’s demand, the AI developer argued that its technology was not sufficiently tested or reliable to be deployed safely in weapons systems. It also reiterated its longstanding opposition to using AI for domestic surveillance, framing such use as a violation of fundamental civil rights.

    Following the company’s refusal, the Pentagon publicly designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk under a statute originally crafted to shield U.S. military infrastructure from foreign sabotage. This marked the first time in U.S. history that a domestic American tech company received such a public, official designation. The Biden administration doubled down on the Pentagon’s position, with White House officials publicly attacking Anthropic as “a radical left, woke company” that was overstepping by attempting to restrict U.S. military operations. The Pentagon argued at the time that private sector firms have no right to place constraints on U.S. military action, asserting that the armed forces answer only to the U.S. Constitution, not a private tech company’s terms of service.

    Anthropic swiftly filed a lawsuit challenging the designation, calling the government’s actions both “unprecedented and unlawful”, and argued that Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth had abused his authority by imposing the label in retaliation for the company’s policy choices. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin rejected the government’s national security justification, writing that “citing national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics”.

    The designation carried severe potential consequences for Anthropic: company executives have projected that the label could cost the startup billions of dollars in lost commercial partnerships and irreversible reputational damage. As of Wednesday, the BBC has confirmed it has reached out to the Pentagon, the White House and Anthropic to request official comment on the ruling, with no formal responses released publicly at the time of reporting.

  • Jacob Elordi on why The Dog Stars had him asking ‘What am I missing’ in life?

    Jacob Elordi on why The Dog Stars had him asking ‘What am I missing’ in life?

    Legendary filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott is set to debut his haunting new post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller *The Dog Stars* in UK cinemas on August 28, bringing Peter Heller’s 2012 bestselling novel of the same name to the big screen with a star-studded cast and sharp, timely themes that draw direct parallels to modern global crises. At the core of the story is a bleak 2030s landscape, where a devastating global flu pandemic has wiped out most of humanity, leaving behind only immune survivors in a fractured, anarchic society ravaged by environmental collapse. Leading the cast is 29-year-old Jacob Elordi, fresh off his first Oscar nomination for *Frankenstein*, who stars as Hig, a former mechanic turned civilian pilot who roams the empty skies over Colorado alongside his loyal German shepherd companion Jasper in search of signs of a better, more meaningful future.

    In an interview with the BBC, Elordi explained that the film frames its apocalyptic setting not as a mere action backdrop, but as a mirror to examine the universal human condition. Even when everything familiar has been destroyed, he noted, the core impulse to seek more, hope for more, and crave connection remains unchanged. The cast also includes A-list talents Guy Pearce, Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin, with Pearce playing Pops—a retired Navy SEAL and veteran survivor who takes in Hig after the younger pilot makes an emergency landing near Pops’ isolated homestead. For both Elordi and Pearce, the story’s themes of environmental collapse hit close to home: both actors grew up in Australia, a nation that has faced increasingly severe and widespread bushfires in recent years, with Pearce’s home state of Victoria suffering major damage just this year.

    Pearce pointed out that the film’s desolate, scorched landscape shots echo real-world footage of climate-driven disaster, making the dystopian premise feel far from abstract. “All round the world now there’s just more and more effects of climate change so it’s pretty terrifying that a lot of those things are not far away,” he said. Both cast members also highlighted the film’s undercurrent of hope, rooted in the natural world’s ability to regenerate. Elordi noted that just a few years after the apocalyptic pandemic in the story, lush green forests, thick grass and wildflowers begin to regrow across the scarred landscape, mirroring how coastal ecosystems bounce back after devastating wildfires. “This provides a note of hope and an idea of redemption,” he explained.

    Beyond climate, the story also pushes audiences to reflect on the everyday privileges many people take for granted, from access to groceries to the simple joy of sharing a meal with loved ones. Pearce, who previously collaborated with Scott on 2012’s *Prometheus*, noted that this message feels particularly pertinent even today, when billions of people around the world lack these basic comforts. Elordi added that his character’s quiet restlessness—his search for purpose even when he has secured survival—mirrors the unspoken dissatisfaction many people feel in modern, developed societies: “Everything is sweet for us… and we still go to bed and think ‘What else is there?’, ‘What am I missing?’”

    Scott, the film’s director, shared that the project drew dual inspiration from the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and the original novel’s roots, which was written in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. Combining these two periods of widespread chaos, he explained, created the perfect foundation for a story of societal breakdown: “If you put those two together you’ve got a great combination of chaos. If you have chaos, you get panic and anarchy and away you go.” Scott also drew from his own personal experience building the film’s post-apocalyptic world: born during World War II, he recalled childhood memories of sheltering from incendiary bombings, an experience that gave him first-hand insight into what it feels like to live through an existential crisis.

    For Elordi, working with Scott—an industry pioneer who defined the modern sci-fi and thriller genres—was an unforgettable privilege. “I would have done any movie he sent through for me to make, it’s a privilege to get to work with a pioneer of our industry in my lifetime—it’s kind of unfathomable,” he said. Early critical reception of *The Dog Stars* has been mixed. The Guardian gave the film three stars, calling it “limp and lethargic” that only briefly sparks audience curiosity, while *Empire*’s two-star review criticized it for failing to deliver a convincing answer to its core question about the difference between surviving and thriving. *The Telegraph* also awarded three stars, noting that the film’s action sequences are more nonsensical than frightening. On the more positive side, *The Hollywood Reporter* described the film as “muted but never dull” and an “appealingly mellow watch” that rewards patient viewing.

  • Belugas and dolphins rescued from closed Canadian park arrive in Spain

    Belugas and dolphins rescued from closed Canadian park arrive in Spain

    In a landmark cross-continental animal welfare mission that drew global attention, six marine mammals — two beluga whales and four bottlenose dolphins — have safely completed their long journey from a defunct Canadian marine attraction to a new life in Spain, escaping a potential death sentence that hung over them after their original facility shut down.

    The animals were pulled from the struggling Canadian park, which had been facing ongoing operational and financial challenges that ultimately forced it to close its doors permanently. Left without a permanent home after the park ceased operations, the six marine creatures faced the grim prospect of being euthanized if no suitable relocation plan could be arranged in time.

    Animal welfare organizations stepped in quickly to coordinate the complex rescue and relocation effort, working across national borders to secure permission and arrange logistics for the long-distance transport. After weeks of careful preparation, the belugas and dolphins were moved via specialized transport designed to keep the marine animals comfortable and stable throughout the journey. They have now arrived at their new sanctuary facility in Spain, where they will receive ongoing care from trained marine biologists and animal care specialists in a more natural, spacious environment tailored to their needs.

    The successful relocation marks a major victory for global animal protection advocates, who have long pushed for better outcomes for captive marine mammals when commercial attractions go out of business. It also sets a precedent for international cooperation to protect vulnerable captive animals, highlighting how cross-border collaboration can prevent unnecessary euthanasia of healthy marine life.