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  • The Pitt leads Emmy nominations, but Stranger Things snubbed in top categories

    The Pitt leads Emmy nominations, but Stranger Things snubbed in top categories

    The stage is set for the 78th annual Emmy Awards, television’s most prestigious honor in the United States, and two standout series have surged to the top of this year’s nominee lineup. HBO Max’s gripping new medical drama *The Pitt* claims the highest number of nominations with 25 total nods, while the farewell season of HBO Max’s beloved comedy *Hacks* trails closely behind with 24 nominations, cementing both shows as the frontrunners heading into the September awards ceremony.

    A notable contingent of British acting talent has earned recognition across multiple categories this year. Leading the pack is Welsh star Matthew Rhys, who made history as the only nominee to land two lead acting nods: one for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy for Apple TV+’s *Widow’s Bay*, and a second for Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Netflix’s *The Beast In Me*. Rhys is joined by fellow British nominees including Riz Ahmed for *Bait*, Carey Mulligan for *Beef*, Gary Oldman for *Slow Horses*, and Rufus Sewell for *The Diplomat*, all of whom earned nods in major acting categories.

    However, this year’s nomination round has also brought several high-profile snubs that have already sparked industry conversation. Two of Netflix’s biggest hit series, *Stranger Things* and *Euphoria*, both wrapping their final seasons, failed to secure a spot in the coveted Best Drama Series shortlist. *Stranger Things* walked away with seven total nominations, all of which are in technical categories such as cinematography and editing, while *Euphoria* lead Zendaya is the only cast member to earn a main acting nomination, picking up a nod for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

    Another surprise omission came for *The Bear*, the critically acclaimed FX on Hulu comedy that just concluded its run. While the series earned a spot on the Best Comedy Series shortlist, its lead star Jeremy Allen White – who took home the Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy in both 2024 and 2025 – was left off this year’s nominee list.

    The full list of nominees spans all major television genres and platforms, with *Widow’s Bay* (19 nominations), *Pluribus* (18 nominations), and *Beef* (16 nominations) rounding out the top five most-nominated shows this year. In the Best Drama Series category, nominees include *The Diplomat* (Netflix), *The Gilded Age* (HBO Max), *A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms* (HBO Max), *Paradise* (Hulu), *The Pitt* (HBO Max), *Pluribus* (Apple TV+), *Slow Horses* (Apple TV+), and *Your Friends & Neighbors* (Apple TV+).

    For Best Comedy Series, the lineup features *Abbott Elementary* (ABC), *The Bear* (FX/Hulu), *Hacks* (HBO Max), *Margo’s Got Money Troubles* (Apple TV+), *Nobody Wants This* (Netflix), *Only Murders In The Building* (Hulu), *Shrinking* (Apple TV+), and *Widow’s Bay* (Apple TV+). The Best Limited or Anthology Series category nominees are *All Her Fault* (Peacock), *The Beast In Me* (Netflix), *Beef* (Netflix), *DTF St Louis* (HBO Max), and *Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette* (FX/Hulu).

    For *The Pitt*, lead star Noah Wyle earned a triple nomination this year: he is up for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, in addition to nods for directing and co-producing the series, marking a career high for the actor. *Hacks* also saw multiple cast members recognized, with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder both earning comedy acting nominations.

    Winners across all 78th Emmy Award categories will be announced during a live ceremony hosted in Los Angeles on September 14. Additional related content from this year’s nominee class includes exclusive interviews with Noah Wyle, Matthew Rhys, and Carey Mulligan, alongside deep dives into fan-favorite series that wrapped their runs this season.

  • Arizona toddler found alive in hospital morgue after declared dead from drowning

    Arizona toddler found alive in hospital morgue after declared dead from drowning

    A shocking case of medical error has emerged from the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert, Arizona, where an 18-month-old toddler was incorrectly pronounced dead following a near-drowning incident, only to be discovered alive hours later in a medical examiner’s cold storage facility, newly unsealed police records confirm.

    The incident unfolded on February 8, as the toddler’s extended family had gathered at the home to watch the annual NFL Super Bowl. At roughly 5:30 p.m. local time, panicked family members discovered the young child floating face-down in the property’s unmonitored swimming pool and immediately placed an emergency call to law enforcement. First responders arrived on scene within minutes, initiated advanced resuscitation efforts, and rushed the unconscious toddler to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center for urgent care. Roughly an hour after the child arrived at the hospital, attending physician Dr. Aryan Toosi declared the 18-month-old dead at 6:20 p.m.

    Body camera footage captured by responding Gilbert police officers, later obtained by local NBC affiliate 12 News, records the declaration of death: after officers noted that they still observed faint signs of life, Dr. Toosi dismissed their concerns, telling officers “please do your thing and let me do my thing. I went to medical school for a reason.” He then formally marked the time of death as 18:20 and called for a moment of silence before the child’s body was transferred to the hospital’s morgue to await pickup by the county medical examiner’s office.

    Five hours after the death was declared, a transporter from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office arrived at the hospital to collect the remains. When the transporter opened the cold storage unit holding the toddler, he made the startling discovery that the child was still breathing. The toddler was immediately airlifted to a specialized pediatric care facility for emergency treatment, and in a stunning turn of events, made a full recovery and was later released to family members.

    Full medical details of the toddler’s condition and the misdiagnosis have not been released to the public, as medical records were not included in the unsealed police report, leaving many questions unanswered about the sequence of events that led to the incorrect death declaration. Scott Holden, attorney for Dr. Toosi, told the Associated Press that the public narrative released so far omits critical contextual and medical details, noting “there is much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.” The BBC has reached out to Holden for additional comment on the case, but has not yet received a response.

    Alongside the internal hospital review, law enforcement has opened a separate investigation into the circumstances that allowed the toddler to access the pool unsupervised. Investigators reported detecting a strong odor of marijuana inside the home at the time of the incident, and Gilbert Police have formally recommended filing negligence charges against the toddler’s parents. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has not yet announced whether it will move forward with formal charges, and is still reviewing the case file.

    Mercy Gilbert Medical Center released a public statement following the revelation of the incident, confirming that the facility has launched a full organizational review of the toddler’s care. “We conducted a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care,” the statement read, adding that “this is a heartbreaking situation” and declining to share further details due to patient privacy regulations.

  • Bowen: For all his bluster, Trump has no better option than talks with Iran

    Bowen: For all his bluster, Trump has no better option than talks with Iran

    At the NATO summit held in Turkey, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered an unusually harsh verbal attack against Iran, issuing a stark new threat of expanded military action that has sent fresh shockwaves through already tense Middle Eastern geopolitics. In unvarnished remarks, Trump dismissed Iran’s leadership as “scum” and “sick, vicious people,” claiming the regime would immediately use a nuclear weapon if it acquired one, and declaring that diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff were effectively finished. “It’s over,” he told reporters, before doubling down on the threat of new attacks hours later: “We will probably hit them harder again tonight. I gave them a little warning. We’re going to hit them hard again tonight.”

    Trump’s shifting rhetoric on the conflict has been well-documented: he has alternated between declaring victory over Iran, threatening the complete destruction of Iranian civilization, and signaling openness to negotiated settlement. Even in his latest bellicose remarks, however, the president left the door open for ongoing talks. When asked whether the recent escalation of strikes between U.S. forces and Iran had ended negotiations, Trump noted that his chief negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could continue discussions if they chose, adding “I don’t care, they can talk. But I think they’re wasting their time,” and labeling Iranian leaders “a bunch of lying guys.”

    This mixed messaging underscores a core reality: despite months of joint military operations by the U.S. and Israel, the two countries have failed to topple the Islamic regime in Tehran, leaving diplomacy as the only viable path forward for Washington. The current crisis comes amid a period of national mourning in Iran, which this week held funeral rites for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28. Negotiations had already been paused to accommodate the funeral period, and the new round of threats has dealt a significant blow to already fragile diplomatic efforts.

    Mediators working to broker a negotiated settlement described the recent escalation as “a setback for sure,” noting the atmosphere between the two sides is “very tense.” The deep lack of trust between Washington and Tehran means even minor escalations can derail progress, as neither side believes the other will uphold the terms of any final agreement. No one disputes that the U.S. retains overwhelming military capacity to inflict massive damage on Iranian targets, but successive strikes have failed to break the Iranian regime’s resolve to defend its core strategic demands, chief among them full Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz.

    The strait remains the central sticking point in all negotiations. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s global oil and gas supplies pass through its waters, giving Iran unparalleled leverage over the global economy – a far more practical strategic asset than an unbuilt nuclear program. Tehran has made clear it will not surrender authority over the strait, even if that means walking away from a proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) that includes significant economic incentives for Iran, such as the unfreezing of billions in overseas assets and the lifting of restrictions on Iranian oil exports. The regime has been emboldened by the failure of U.S. and Israeli forces to eliminate it, and Khamenei’s well-attended funeral demonstrated that the Islamic government retains a strong base of domestic support. While domestic opposition to the regime still exists, a brutal crackdown on mass protests in January that killed thousands of demonstrators has forced opposition groups into hiding, eliminating any immediate domestic challenge to Tehran’s leadership.

    The framework for a potential final agreement has already been outlined by mediators. In exchange for international recognition of Iran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz, the unfreezing of overseas assets, and the normalization of Iranian oil exports, Tehran would agree to new limits on uranium enrichment, allow the return of United Nations nuclear inspectors, and account for existing stockpiles of highly enriched uranium – which Trump has labeled “nuclear dust.” Even as the broad outlines of a deal remain on the table, however, the past 24 hours of escalation have underscored how difficult it will be to bridge the gap between the two sides and reach a lasting, stable resolution to the conflict.

  • China urges end to US embargo against Cuba at UN debate

    China urges end to US embargo against Cuba at UN debate

    On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly moved forward with a long-awaited debate on Washington’s six-decade-old economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba, defying opposition from the United States after a preliminary vote saw 136 nations back the discussion, nine oppose it, and 30 abstain. The debate, which Cuba formally requested, centers on the urgent global demand to terminate the punitive US measures that have crippled the Caribbean island’s development for generations.

    Speaking during the debate, Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the UN, confirmed Beijing’s full support for the meeting and for Cuba’s campaign to lift the blockade. He emphasized that the lopsided 136-9 vote in favor of holding the debate is a clear reflection of the international community’s collective aspiration for justice and rejection of unilateral coercive measures.

    Fu detailed the staggering human and economic toll of the 60-plus-year embargo, noting that Cuba has accumulated more than $170 billion in direct losses from the blockade. Critical public infrastructure serving everyday Cubans — including hospitals, schools, public water systems, and grain storage facilities — have been pushed to the brink of collapse under the sustained pressure of the sanctions, he added.

    Currently, Cuba is grappling with a cascading set of crises exacerbated by the embargo: severe acute fuel shortages, a worsening national energy and electricity crisis, and persistent blockages to the import of life-saving medicines, medical equipment, and other essential goods. Vulnerable populations, including children and pregnant women, have borne the brunt of these shortages, Fu said. According to Xinhua News Agency, Cuba, which relies almost entirely on fuel imports to keep its economy running, received only one oil tanker — the Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin carrying 100,000 metric tons of crude — in the six months leading up to the debate. The country requires approximately eight fuel tankers per month to maintain normal economic and social operations.

    Fu stressed that the US embargo directly violates the core purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including the fundamental norms of sovereign equality, peaceful resolution of international disputes, and the prohibition of the threat or use of force against other states. Beyond violating international law, the measures infringe on the basic rights of the Cuban people to subsistence and sustainable development, and erode the global international order rooted in international law and established multilateral norms, he added.

    In a clear call to action, Fu reiterated China’s demand that the United States immediately end its blockade of Cuba, eliminate all forms of coercive pressure against Havana, and stop violating the Cuban people’s fundamental rights to survival and development. He also called on the wider international community to stand with Cuba in defense of its national sovereignty, equal standing in the global community, and national dignity, and to collectively push back against illegal blockades, unilateral sanctions, and military targeting of small states.

    Fu emphasized that all nations must uphold the UN Charter’s core principles, adhere to the norm of sovereign equality, reject external interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, prioritize peaceful dispute settlement, and oppose unilateral use of force. He added that all unauthorized unilateral sanctions — those imposed without explicit approval from the UN Security Council — have no basis in international law and systematically damage the sovereignty and security of targeted states.

    “The international community must protect the Cuban people’s rights to subsistence and development, and pressure relevant parties to implement longstanding General Assembly resolutions calling for an end to the embargo,” Fu said. “All sanctions and secondary sanctions targeting Cuba must be terminated immediately, and frequent threats of additional punitive measures must end, so that the Cuban people can exercise their right to pursue a better life.”

    Addressing the broader global implications of unilateral coercion, Fu noted that international fairness and justice are central to the survival and development of every nation, and no country can remain insulated from the harm of hegemonism and power politics. “No country has the right to anoint itself as the global police, nor can any nation claim to be the world’s sole judge of acceptable conduct,” he said.

    Fu affirmed that the Chinese people deeply empathize with the suffering the Cuban people have endured for decades, and that China will continue to provide all possible support and assistance to Cuba within its means. He also called on UN member states and global UN agencies to scale up humanitarian aid to Cuba, help address critical shortages of fuel, food, and medicine, ease the ongoing humanitarian crisis on the island, and uphold the basic norms of international humanitarianism.

    Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla welcomed the General Assembly’s decision to proceed with the debate, pushing back against longstanding US claims that Cuba poses a national security threat to Washington. “Cuba is not a threat. Cuba is the nation that is under threat,” Parilla said, affirming Cuba’s unwavering commitment to peace, international law, multilateralism, truth, and justice, while condemning Washington’s decades-long policy of hostility and aggression toward his country.

    Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 developing nations and China, Laura Dupuy Lasserre, Uruguay’s permanent representative to the UN, echoed these calls, noting that the embargo harms every critical sector of Cuba’s economy, including public health, food security and nutrition, agriculture, trade, foreign investment, tourism, and banking. “The Group therefore calls for the immediate, complete and unconditional lifting of the embargo, including all measures with extraterritorial effects,” Lasserre said. “Ending these restrictions is essential not only for Cuba’s development and the well-being of its people, but also for upholding the UN Charter, international law and the credibility of multilateralism.”

  • Outcry as Meta lets users make AI images from public Instagram profile pics

    Outcry as Meta lets users make AI images from public Instagram profile pics

    Tech giant Meta has sparked widespread public and regulatory criticism over its newly launched artificial intelligence image generation tool, Muse Image, which carries the controversial capability to create AI-altered images using existing public profile pictures from users without their prior explicit consent.

    As a new addition to the fast-growing market of text-to-image generative AI tools, Muse Image converts short text prompts into custom-created images. It is currently rolled out to users across the United States, accessible via the Meta AI standalone app and web interface, as well as integrated into WhatsApp and Instagram Stories. Unlike many competing tools that rely exclusively on user-uploaded source material, Muse Image draws on the massive library of public user content hosted across Meta’s social platforms, enabling it to incorporate existing profile and user images into new AI-generated creations.

    While Meta has framed the tool as an accessible creative innovation, and confirmed that even users with public Instagram accounts can opt out of having their images repurposed for AI generation via a dedicated settings toggle, critics have decried the feature as a major threat to digital privacy and personal security. The opt-out process requires users to manually navigate to Instagram’s settings menu, select the “Sharing and Reuse” tab, and disable the content reuse toggle for posts and reels – a step many users are unaware of, according to campaigners.

    Donald Campbell, advocacy director at UK-based tech justice non-profit Foxglove, told the BBC that the unconsensual reuse of personal images is an “obvious recipe for disaster”. Campbell noted that over the past 12 months alone, social platforms have already recorded a long list of harms stemming from non-consensual AI-altered images, ranging from non-consensual deepfake pornography to identity fraud and reputational damage. He questioned why Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would choose to facilitate what he described as “creepy image manipulation” on a mass scale.

    Privacy International, another global digital rights advocacy group, also joined the criticism, arguing that the launch of Muse Image is the latest example of big AI companies treating users’ personal data and likenesses as uncompensated raw material for commercial exploitation. The criticism has been echoed by ordinary social media users, with one commenting on X that pulling real users into AI-generated photos without explicit permission is “a privacy landmine waiting to detonate”.

    The controversy comes as global regulators are already ramping up scrutiny of non-consensual AI image generation across the tech sector. UK communications regulator Ofcom is currently conducting an investigation into X (formerly Twitter) over the role of Elon Musk’s Grok AI in creating and distributing non-consensual AI-altered images of real individuals. Meta’s launch of Muse Image is almost certain to face intensified regulatory review amid growing concerns about the risks of unregulated generative AI.

    In its official description of the tool, Meta says Muse Image uses advanced AI reasoning to interpret complex user prompts, and can seamlessly blend multiple source images into high-quality finished creations that users can download and share across any platform. The tool also includes preset prompt suggestions to inspire creative ideas, and allows users to sketch custom edits directly onto generated images. While the core tool is free for casual everyday creative use, Meta offers expanded usage limits for heavy users via its paid subscription plans.

    A test of the tool demonstrated its capabilities: when asked to generate an image of the tester driving a car, the AI produced a convincing result – though it made a notable error, placing the steering wheel on the left side rather than the right, the standard for vehicles in the United Kingdom where the test was conducted.

    Looking ahead, Meta has confirmed that it plans to expand access to Muse Image in the coming months, rolling the feature out to Facebook and Messenger, and also making the tool available to advertisers for commercial content creation. A video generation variant of the tool is also reportedly in active development at the company.

  • ‘Forgotten’ host Canada’s unforgettable World Cup

    ‘Forgotten’ host Canada’s unforgettable World Cup

    Long labeled the ‘forgotten co-host’ of the 2026 FIFA World Cup shared with the United States and Mexico, Canada has emerged from the tournament with a historic legacy that extends far beyond its 13 hosted matches, transforming domestic soccer culture and uniting the nation behind its men’s national team.

    Heading into the tournament, few outside the country expected Canada to make waves on the pitch. Long overshadowed by the nation’s obsession with ice hockey, and competing with the already established popularities of Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, men’s soccer has long lived as a largely recreational pastime in Canada, even as the country’s women’s national team has climbed to ninth in the global FIFA rankings. This year, however, the underdog Les Rouges defied every projection to deliver the best men’s World Cup run in Canadian history.

    Led by outspoken American head coach Jesse Marsch, Canada captured its first ever World Cup group stage point, claimed its first tournament win, and fought all the way to the knockout round of 16 – a milestone no Canadian men’s side had ever reached before – before bowing out to Morocco. For long-suffering Canadian fans, the historic run has already cemented itself as an unforgettable cultural touchstone. ‘They shocked everyone by making it as far they did,’ Calgary-based fan Matt Lorincz told reporters, echoing a widely shared sentiment across the country.

    The co-hosting tenure for Canada wrapped up in early July with a round-of-16 match in Vancouver that saw Switzerland defeat Colombia. Over the tournament’s run, host cities Toronto and Vancouver delivered vibrant, fan-first experiences that earned praise from international visitors and football leaders alike. Portugal manager Roberto Martinez praised Toronto’s compact, temporary-seated stadium, comparing its electric atmosphere to classic old-school Premier League grounds, while Norwegian visitor Gudmund Agotnes noted the unbeatable vantage point that offered views of both the pitch and the city’s iconic skyline.

    Beyond the on-pitch magic, the World Cup delivered tangible economic and cultural shifts across Canada. In British Columbia, local food service and hospitality industries saw an approximate 5% jump in alcohol sales compared to 2025, with widespread foot traffic injecting much-needed momentum into a Canadian economy facing ongoing stagnation. ‘It raised the spirits of the entire province. I think the whole conversation for the last four weeks had been about soccer,’ said Ian Tostenson, head of the British Columbia Restaurant and Foodservices Association, adding that the event proved Canadians would spend on shared, high-quality experiences even during economic slowdowns.

    Domestic viewership numbers also underscore the growing pull of soccer in Canada: Bell Media, the official host broadcaster, reported the round-of-16 match against Morocco peaked at 11.7 million unique Canadian viewers, making it the most-watched non-final World Cup match in Canadian history. That figure outpaced the 9.8 million total viewers for the 2025 National Hockey League season opener, and average viewership for Canada’s round-of-32 matches beat the typical audience for the long-running iconic broadcast *Hockey Night in Canada*.

    This growing momentum has already translated to tangible investment in the future of Canadian soccer. Canada Soccer, the sport’s national governing body, wrapped up a C$25 million fundraising campaign months ahead of schedule, with the windfall earmarked for expanded youth access, coaching development, national team programming, and the creation of a new national training centre.

    Canadian political leadership has also leaned into the moment, embracing the opportunity to showcase the country on the world’s biggest sporting stage. Prime Minister Mark Carney, an avowed sports fan who made headlines as the only leader among the three co-host nations to attend multiple in-stadium matches, delivered a rousing pep talk to the Canadian team in the Vancouver locker room following their 6-0 group stage win over Qatar. ‘You showed a level of character that some people never achieve in their life,’ Carney told the squad. ‘And you showed it when a good part of the country and the world is watching.’ Sports Minister Adam van Koeverden framed the hosting opportunity as a meaningful milestone for Canada as a mid-sized global power, calling the experience a ‘sincere privilege’ that the nation did not take lightly.

    Still, the 2026 World Cup has not been without controversy for Canadian co-hosts. Critics have pushed back on the C$1.1 billion in taxpayer funding allocated to prepare Canadian stadiums and infrastructure for the tournament, with Toronto alone spending an estimated C$380 million amid ongoing municipal budget pressures. ‘I don’t think that hosting the games made the city’s situation any better,’ Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow said of the spending. Van Koeverden countered that public spending was prudent, arguing that the widespread economic activity generated by full stadiums, hotels, and restaurants more than recouped the initial investment.

    Sports industry observers note that Canada was always set to play a less prominent role than its co-host the United States, which hosted the majority of matches and dominated international media attention amid heightened political attention around the Trump administration. Even so, industry analyst John Kristick, a former executive director of the tri-nation United Bid Committee, said the tournament has still fostered widespread national pride across Canada. ‘Every Canadian knows Canada is hosting it, and I think there’s been a great deal of national pride,’ Kristick said.

    For Canadian fans, the biggest win extends far beyond economic numbers or historic match results. In a deeply divided era, the team’s run has drawn diverse communities together around a shared passion. ‘It brought a lot of people together in a very kind of segregated world that we’re living in,’ said Zeileen Reardon, a fan watching the Morocco match at a Calgary bar. ‘So, I think it actually showed the world that we can come together, even for a game.’

    The question hanging over Canadian soccer now is whether this World Cup momentum will prove a one-time high or a permanent turning point. For the millions of new fans drawn to the sport over the past month, the ‘forgotten host’ has already secured its place in Canadian sports history.

  • Trump says ceasefire is ‘over’ after US and Iran trade strikes

    Trump says ceasefire is ‘over’ after US and Iran trade strikes

    A months-long fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran has collapsed completely, after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly declared the interim agreement dead and launched a scathing personal attack on Iran’s top leadership in remarks ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey.

    Speaking to reporters alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump did not mince words in his assessment of the collapsed deal, labeling Iranian leaders “scum” and “cuckoo”, and claiming the Islamic Republic’s leadership is made up of “sick, vicious, violent people”. The breakdown of the June 17 interim ceasefire agreement came after a new round of cross-border strikes that marked the most intense violence between the two nations since the deal was first signed.

    The cycle of renewed hostilities began earlier this week, when three commercial oil tankers were targeted in attacks in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) responded by launching what it described as “powerful” retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets late Tuesday. By Wednesday, Iran had hit back, launching strikes against U.S. military installations stationed in Bahrain and Kuwait in a coordinated retaliatory action.

    In tandem with the collapse of the ceasefire, the Trump administration announced it was reversing its temporary suspension of oil sanctions on Iranian crude exports, a key concession that had been part of the June interim agreement. That move, paired with Trump’s comments, sent global crude oil prices spiking by roughly 6% in immediate market reactions, though prices remained far below the record highs recorded when the Strait of Hormuz was fully closed to commercial traffic earlier in the conflict.

    Trump said that while he would allow U.S. negotiating teams to continue talks if they chose to, he personally sees any further diplomatic engagement as a pointless exercise. “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” he told reporters. “We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say ‘we never even talked about it’. There’s something wrong with them. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. Frankly, I don’t want to waste my time with them. They’re liars.”

    Iran has pushed back against U.S. claims that it violated the ceasefire, with Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accusing Washington of being the party that broke the memorandum of understanding (MoU). Ghalibaf pointed to previous U.S. strikes in southern Iran and what he called repeated violations of Iranian territorial jurisdiction in the Strait of Hormuz as proof of American bad faith. “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Ghalibaf said in a statement responding to Trump’s remarks.

    This is not the first time the ceasefire has been tested since it was signed mid-June. Just one week after the deal was reached, the U.S. launched a new round of strikes after an Iranian projectile hit a commercial cargo ship transiting the strait, before both sides agreed to de-escalate by June 29.

    The original June 17 MoU laid out 14 core terms, including an immediate and permanent end to all military operations across all fronts, and an Iranian commitment to use its best efforts to guarantee safe passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz free of charge for a 60-day period. Following the signing of the interim deal, both sides had been negotiating toward a permanent peace agreement, but talks were paused last week to allow for national mourning ceremonies following the death of former Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

    As of Wednesday, mourning processions for Khamenei were being held in Iraq, with final funeral rites and burial scheduled for Thursday in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad. It remains unclear when diplomatic talks will resume following the latest outbreak of violence, with Trump dismissing questions of a post-funeral resumption saying “I don’t care.”

  • Trump says end of conflict ‘much closer’

    Trump says end of conflict ‘much closer’

    Five years into the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire have advanced further than most observers acknowledge, bringing a long-awaited end to the war within closer reach than ever before.

    Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump outlined that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have expressed a shared desire to conclude the conflict, with active negotiations already underway to finalize a path forward. “I think we are getting much closer than people realize,” he stated. “We’re in talks, and we’ll see if we can get it ended.”

    The comments came just days after Trump held separate phone calls with both heads of state over the weekend, including an 85-minute conversation with Putin on the U.S. Fourth of July holiday. A Kremlin aide confirmed that Trump used the call to present new proposals aimed at advancing peace negotiations. Trump added that his administration has maintained open lines of communication with both Moscow and Kyiv, and that ending the conflict will be a top priority at the upcoming NATO summit, where he is scheduled to hold one-on-one talks with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the gathering in Ankara. A senior U.S. official told Reuters that the bilateral meeting will center on launching a renewed diplomatic push to end the war, with Trump expected to follow up the discussion with another conversation with Putin to build on any progress.

    While the Kremlin has struck a cautious tone, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noting that Moscow has not observed any shifts in the U.S. position on conflict resolution, Zelenskyy offered a more optimistic assessment in an interview with the *Financial Times*. The Ukrainian president argued that Trump’s outlook has been updated by recent Ukrainian military gains on the battlefield, noting that “President Trump wants to be where there’s success.”

    Even as diplomatic momentum builds, however, the conflict has seen a sharp new escalation in military operations over the past 48 hours. Overnight Monday into Tuesday, Ukraine launched the largest drone attack on Moscow in more than two years, dispatching over 430 unmanned aerial vehicles toward the Russian capital. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed in a social media post Tuesday that most of the drones were intercepted and destroyed by Russian air defense systems at long range before they could reach the city center, with only 36 UAVs downed near Moscow’s outer limits. No casualties or major infrastructure damage were reported in the attack.

    A day earlier, Ukrainian military forces announced they had carried out targeted strikes on three Russian oil refineries, including Russia’s largest refinery located in Omsk, more than 2,400 kilometers inside Russian territory. The strikes also hit two “shadow fleet” commercial vessels operating in the Sea of Azov.

    Russia responded to the Ukrainian attacks with a massive retaliatory strike on Kyiv and surrounding areas, using a combination of long-range precision weapons launched from air, land, and sea platforms alongside drone strikes. Ukrainian emergency services confirmed that the attack left at least 24 civilians dead and dozens more injured, with multiple residential high-rise buildings destroyed in two central Kyiv districts. Search and rescue operations were still ongoing as of Monday evening to recover survivors from the rubble.

    The conflicting developments—optimistic diplomatic signals on one hand, and intensifying military violence on the other—set the stage for high-stakes discussions at the NATO summit this week, as global leaders weigh new efforts to bring the drawn-out conflict to a close.

  • US strikes target Iranian military boats

    US strikes target Iranian military boats

    Tensions in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz have spiked sharply after the United States executed targeted strikes against Iranian military boats, in a direct retaliatory move following recent attacks on three commercial oil tankers transiting the key waterway.

    The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil consumption, making it one of the most geopolitically important maritime chokepoints on the planet. Any disruption to shipping through this corridor has the potential to send global energy prices soaring and escalate long-running tensions between the U.S. and Iran into a broader regional conflict.

    According to initial official confirmations, the U.S. military launched the strikes after three oil tankers came under attack while moving through the strait, a waterway that Iran has long claimed partial sovereignty over, and where it has frequently seized or attacked commercial shipping in recent years amid rising tensions with Western powers. U.S. officials have framed the operation as a proportional response intended to deter further attacks on commercial maritime traffic, which is protected under international maritime law to move freely through global waterways.

    The incident comes amid more than a decade of escalating friction between Washington and Tehran, over Iran’s nuclear program, its regional military influence through proxy groups, and disputes over international trade sanctions. Global leaders have already begun calling for immediate de-escalation, warning that any further military confrontation in the Persian Gulf could have catastrophic consequences for global energy markets and regional security.

    At this early stage, there has been no official confirmation of casualties or damage to the Iranian vessels from the strikes, and Iran has not yet issued an official public response to the U.S. operation. International shipping companies have already announced they are temporarily rerouting some vessels away from the Strait of Hormuz as a precaution, raising concerns about near-term disruptions to global oil supplies.

  • Utah boarding school where Paris Hilton alleged abuse as a teen loses its licence

    Utah boarding school where Paris Hilton alleged abuse as a teen loses its licence

    After more than 50 years of unaddressed survivor claims of mistreatment and a years-long advocacy campaign led by high-profile survivor Paris Hilton, Utah state regulators have officially revoked the operating license of Provo Canyon School’s Springville girls’ residential campus.

    Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced the license cancellation in an official letter, ordering all campus operations to cease permanently by August 6. The regulator documented a years-long pattern of serious noncompliance at the facility dating back to 2025, including unnecessary physical restraint of students, aggressive inappropriate physical contact between staff and residents, and multiple confirmed instances of neglect. DHHS confirmed the school repeatedly failed to meet required health and safety standards for the youth in its care. The facility, which markets itself as an intensive psychiatric residential treatment center for girls aged 12 to 18, has been given 15 days from the date of the order to file an appeal against the decision. School officials confirmed to local media they are currently reviewing all legal and administrative options, including a formal challenge to the revocation. “As this is an ongoing matter, we are limited in what we can say at this time,” a school spokesperson said in a statement. “Our priority remains providing safe, high-quality care and support for adolescents and their families, and we remain committed to serving those in need.”

    The regulatory action comes after decades of allegations from former students, spearheaded by 45-year-old media personality and hotel heiress Paris Hilton, who was sent to the Provo Canyon School campus as a teenager in the 1990s, when the facility operated under different ownership. Hilton first went public with her allegations in a 2020 documentary about her life, claiming she endured severe abuse during her 11-month stay, including physical assault, forced medication, and extended periods in solitary confinement, all under the guise of “behavioral reform.” She told the BBC in a recent statement that the revocation confirms what survivors have long known. “For more than fifty years, children came forward with stories of abuse, neglect, and trauma. Today, the state confirmed what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care. I was one of those children,” she said. “I know what it feels like to cry for help and believe no-one is coming. Today, children still inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them.”

    Hilton’s advocacy has gone far beyond calling for the closure of this specific facility. She has become a leading voice against abuse in the so-called “troubled teen industry,” a network of private for-profit residential treatment facilities that house youth labeled as having behavioral issues. In December 2024, she testified before the U.S. Congress about her experience, and has lobbied legislatures across multiple U.S. states to pass new regulations to protect vulnerable teens in these facilities. Echoing her years of advocacy, Hilton emphasized after the revocation that institutional power does not shield bad actors from accountability. “When survivors refuse to stay silent, change is possible,” she said.

    This is not the only regulatory action taken against Provo Canyon School in recent months. Last June, health officials imposed emergency temporary restrictions on the facility’s separate boys’ campus in Provo, Utah, after an investigation found staff failed to intervene to protect a student during a violent altercation and delayed seeking urgent medical care for his injuries. Prior to the Springville license revocation, hundreds of former students had joined Hilton in calling for the facility to be shut down, and a new round of formal complaints was submitted to the state licensing agency just last month.