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  • Trump says no Iran talks planned, claims Hormuz ‘new US territory’

    Trump says no Iran talks planned, claims Hormuz ‘new US territory’

    In a dramatic reversal of comments made by his own senior envoy just 24 hours earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that no diplomatic negotiations with Iran are currently ongoing or planned, doubling down on his incendiary threat to claim sovereignty over the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz as new American territory.

    The ongoing conflict between the U.S.-backed coalition and Iran, which erupted nearly six months ago when Trump launched joint military operations alongside Israel in late February, has left the key energy chokepoint locked in a tense stalemate with no clear path to de-escalation. On Monday, White House senior advisor and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner told Fox News that Washington and Tehran were engaged in “very positive and active conversations” aimed at easing tensions. But Trump directly contradicted that claim in a post to his Truth Social platform Tuesday morning.

    “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect,” Trump wrote. He added that “The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” a claim that has not been independently verified. Multiple anonymous U.S. sources confirmed to Agence France-Presse that low-level positive discussions had indeed taken place in recent weeks, but noted that Trump has instructed his negotiating team to pause engagement until Iran signals it is prepared to meet U.S. demands for a comprehensive agreement.

    Hours before his post disavowing talks, Trump shared an altered map on Truth Social labeling the Strait of Hormuz as “NEW U.S. Territory,” repeating a provocative claim he first floated to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, where he argued that seizing the waterway would be “a good idea.” This threat fits a well-documented pattern of the second-term president: when confronted with intractable foreign policy challenges, he has issued outlandish threats to annex sovereign territory, all of which have yet to be acted on. Since returning to the White House in 2025, Trump has publicly threatened to annex Canada as the 51st U.S. state, seize Greenland from Denmark, take control of Cuba, and assert U.S. sovereignty over the Gaza Strip.

    Iran responded to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s global oil supplies transit daily, as a direct retaliatory measure against the ongoing war. Tehran has stated it will not reopen the waterway until Washington meets a sweeping set of preconditions: ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, lifting crippling oil sanctions, unfreezing billions of dollars in blocked Iranian state assets, and paying reparations for damage caused by the war.

    “I want to state clearly that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the American commitments stipulated in the memorandum of understanding… are implemented,” Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a nationally televised speech Tuesday.

    Kushner had framed Trump’s approach as deliberate this week, telling reporters the president “is going to be very patient… he doesn’t want to rush to a deal.” But political analysts note that Tehran has little incentive to rush negotiations: Trump’s domestic approval ratings have slid steadily as his campaign promise to keep the U.S. out of costly “forever wars” has collapsed under the weight of the six-month Iran conflict. The war has also driven sharp increases in energy and consumer prices across the U.S., creating major political headwinds for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of critical November midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress for the final two years of his term.

    Trump has increasingly showed public frustration with the stalemate in recent days. On Monday, he made an extraordinary threat against U.S. ally Oman, saying he would “bomb the shit” out of the country if it interfered with efforts to reach a deal over the strait. At the same time, Qatar — which has served as a key neutral mediator in the stalled talks — announced Tuesday that a preliminary cooperation agreement between Iran and Oman over transit through the strait has cleared the way for potential resumption of broader negotiations to end the regional conflict.

  • US primaries test Democrat comeback hopes in Trump stronghold

    US primaries test Democrat comeback hopes in Trump stronghold

    On Tuesday, voters across multiple U.S. states headed to polling places for a critical round of primary elections, with all political eyes turning to Florida — a one-time battleground that has emerged as the make-or-break landscape for both parties’ congressional ambitions this November. Once counted among America’s most competitive swing states, Florida has shifted dramatically toward the Republican Party over the last 10 years, with former president and current 2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump carrying the state by a comfortable 13-point margin in last year’s presidential election, and GOP candidates holding every major statewide office.

    For Democrats, who only need a net gain of three congressional seats nationwide to retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives from Republicans’ narrow current majority, Florida has unexpectedly become a high-stakes battleground. A mid-decade redistricting plan spearheaded by outgoing Republican Governor Ron DeSantis redrew congressional maps to create four solid pickup opportunities for the GOP, targeting seats currently held by Democratic incumbents.

    NBC News election analyst Steve Kornacki noted that Democrats already face a favorable national political landscape for flipping the House, but warned that a successful Republican gerrymander in Florida could upend that calculation. “Simply put, they [Republicans] need every additional seat they can get — badly,” Kornacki added. The redrawn district lines have pushed multiple sitting Democratic House members into districts that voted heavily for Trump in 2024, forcing many to scramble to find safer territory to run for reelection. Two incumbents are still seeking reelection in their new, deep-red districts, while another running in a reconfigured conservative seat faces a primary challenge from a democratic socialist candidate who aligns with the party’s progressive insurgent wing, which has notched primary wins in other states this cycle.

    Beyond congressional races, Florida’s primaries will also serve as a key test of whether Democrats can rebuild their ability to compete for statewide offices. Former Republican U.S. Representative David Jolly, who switched parties and has become one of the most prominent Trump critics in the Democratic Party, is widely expected to secure the Democratic nomination for governor. On the Republican side, Trump-backed U.S. Representative Byron Donalds is the clear favorite to win the GOP nomination, putting him on track to become Florida’s first Black governor if he wins in November. Donalds faces a primary challenge from wealthy businessman James Fishback, who has drawn widespread backlash for racially charged attacks, including labeling Donalds a “slave” to political donors and a “DEI Republican.”

    In the open Democratic Senate primary, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman — who gained national attention as the key witness in Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2020 — is facing off against a progressive state legislator. For Republicans, the congressional primaries have also been fraught with internal tension: GOP House candidates include a sitting lawmaker who denies allegations of assault and revenge porn, a pro-Israel incumbent widely criticized for repeated anti-Muslim rhetoric, and a right-wing social media influencer who has run an explicitly anti-Semitic campaign.

    Florida was not the only state holding primaries on Tuesday. Alaska held its Senate and House primaries, while Wyoming Republicans selected their nominees for governor, U.S. Senate, and an open House seat. In California, a special congressional election to replace Democrat Eric Swalwell — who resigned from the House in April following unproven sexual misconduct allegations he denies — narrowed to a contest between two Democratic candidates, with millions of dollars in outside spending pouring in from groups aligned with the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.

    In a striking final note, President Trump, who has spent years attacking mail-in voting as a corrupt system that enables widespread fraud and pushed for strict restrictions on the practice, voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary. The White House defended the choice, arguing there was no contradiction because Trump was currently traveling outside of Florida, making in-person voting impossible for him.

  • Meta in court over child social media addiction

    Meta in court over child social media addiction

    A historic federal trial that could reshape the future of global social media regulation opened on Tuesday, with Meta Platforms standing accused of intentionally designing its flagship products Instagram and Facebook to hook underage users, inflicting widespread mental health harm on children across the United States.

    A coalition of 29 U.S. states, led by legal teams from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, first brought the lawsuit against the tech giant in 2023, and is now seeking roughly $200 billion in financial penalties alongside mandatory structural changes to Meta’s platforms to protect minor users. The three core charges against the company include: deceiving the public about the proven harms of its apps for children; engineering algorithmic and interface features specifically designed to encourage compulsive use — even building easily bypassed screen time limits to retain young audiences; and collecting personal data from children under 13 without required parental consent, a direct violation of federal privacy law.

    Legal and public health experts have widely framed the case as social media’s equivalent of the 1990s tobacco industry reckoning, drawing direct parallels between Meta’s alleged practices and the decades-long campaign by big tobacco companies to downplay harms and hook young consumers. Just as states won landmark penalties and mandatory industry changes against tobacco firms 26 years ago, which have cost the industry more than $176 billion in payments to date, this trial could trigger a sweeping reckoning across the entire social media sector.

    Nora Freeman Engstrom, a Stanford Law School professor, told Agence France-Presse that a ruling against Meta could mark “the beginning of a broader reckoning” that forces the company to completely overhaul its two billion-plus user platforms. If the courts side with the states, the coalition is pushing for mandatory changes including enforceable screen time limits for minor users, among other safety protections.

    Meta has forcefully rejected all allegations against the company. A company spokesperson told AFP that Meta “strongly disagrees” with the claims, noting that the firm has collaborated with parents, child safety experts and law enforcement to implement protective safeguards for young users. Meta already suffered two state court convictions on related charges in California and New Mexico earlier this year, both of which it is currently appealing.

    In a pre-trial dispute, Meta attempted to block Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineer and a key whistleblower for the states, from testifying. Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over the case, rejected that motion as a “Hail Mary” effort to “eliminate a strong witness” for the plaintiffs, handing the state coalition an early procedural victory.

    Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder and chief executive officer, and Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, are listed as star witnesses for the trial, which is scheduled to run for six weeks with a verdict expected by October. An eight-person advisory jury has been selected, though Judge Rogers will issue the final ruling in the case.

    In pre-trial arguments last week, legal counsel for the states clarified that they are seeking approximately $200 billion in penalties, pushing back against Meta’s earlier court filing that claimed the states were seeking more than $1 trillion. The states’ legal team argued Meta inflated the number “for shock value.”

    This trial is the first federal case in what legal analysts predict will be a growing wave of litigation targeting major social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube. Families, educators and state governments across the country have brought forward claims that major platforms’ business models prioritize user engagement over child safety, contributing to a national youth mental health crisis.

    Vincent Joralemon, director of the University of California Berkeley’s Life Sciences Law and Policy Center, told AFP that the biggest immediate stakes for Meta are reputational damage and the threat of being forced to implement sweeping, costly changes to its core products. “While cases about social media harms revolve around the intersection of technology and addiction, the case against Meta focuses on its business practices, similar to when US regulators sued tobacco companies,” Joralemon explained, echoing the widespread comparison to the 1998 tobacco settlement that transformed that industry forever.

  • West Bank siege exposes Israel army inaction on settler violence

    West Bank siege exposes Israel army inaction on settler violence

    Widely regarded as the most formidable military force in the Middle East, capable of launching precision strikes deep into hostile territory, the Israeli military has found itself unable to dislodge a small group of extremist settlers from a occupied site in the West Bank village of Qusra for more than a week. The ongoing stalemate has thrown into sharp relief long-documented patterns of inertia when it comes to reining in settler violence against Palestinian residents, a failure experts trace directly to the current Israeli government’s ideological and political backing for illegal settlement expansion, alongside growing settler influence within military ranks.

    The standoff began over a week ago, when a small cohort of settlers established a presence outside Qusra, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and blockaded Palestinian residents inside their homes, cutting off access to food, water and other essential supplies. The siege drew widespread condemnation from both the international community and domestic Israeli observers, with the United States calling for urgent action after it emerged one of the trapped Palestinians holds American citizenship.

    Despite multiple deployments of Israeli troops to the site, tangible action to remove the settlers has been minimal. Beyond public statements of condemnation, the detention of a single settler, and the dismantling of temporary settler tents, no force has been used to end the blockade. Footage from the scene even showed some of the first arriving soldiers praying alongside the extremist settlers, prompting the military to promise disciplinary action that has yet to materialize. Videos obtained by AFP from a besieged Palestinian resident show settlers returning to the site by Monday, riding quadbikes and casually chatting and shaking hands with deployed Israeli forces.

    Analysts and former Israeli officials say this paralysis is not an anomaly, but the direct result of government policy that puts the military in an untenable position. “The government’s support for extremist settlers puts the military in an impossible situation,” explained Nimrod Novik, a senior advisor and former special envoy to late Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres. Novik noted that the military is forced to choose between upholding its professional mandate to crack down on violent settler activity, or aligning with a government agenda that provides ideological and material backing to extremist settlers. “The result is paralysis with rare exceptions due either to the severity of the crimes or US intervention,” he added.

    Since seizing control of the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has allowed more than 500,000 Israeli settlers to move into the territory, where settlements are widely recognized as illegal under international law. The territory remains home to roughly 3 million Palestinians, who are denied the full citizenship rights granted to settlers. Under the current right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, settlement construction has reached all-time highs, with multiple cabinet members publicly supporting the establishment of outposts that are even illegal under Israeli domestic law, and openly calling for the full annexation of the West Bank.

    Settler violence against Palestinians has been a persistent issue for decades, with the vast majority of perpetrators never facing legal consequences. But experts say attacks have spiked dramatically in recent months, driven by the government’s pro-settler agenda and shifting dynamics within the military. Nadav Weiman, a former Israeli sniper who now leads Breaking the Silence, an advocacy organization made up of Israeli military veterans, says the entire infrastructure of occupation is structured to prioritize settlers over Palestinian residents. “The infrastructure of the occupation is built in a way that for a soldier, for us, it’s almost impossible to enforce the law on violent settlers and very easy to do whatever we want on Palestinians,” Weiman told AFP.

    Weiman explained that rules of engagement for handling violent settlers are almost never clearly outlined to rank-and-file troops, who are typically told to refer civilian settler incidents to police rather than intervening directly. “In 22 years of collecting testimonies from soldiers in the West Bank, I can tell you that in the majority of the units, nothing is being told to the soldier on what they can do with settlers,” he added.

    Beyond unclear guidance, lines between the military and the settler movement have become increasingly blurred in recent years. A growing share of military officers are drawn from the settler community, many of whom attend hardline ideological pre-military academies that promote expansionist settlement goals. The current commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank, Major General Avi Bluth, is himself an alumnus of the Bnei David pre-military academy based in the illegal Eli settlement.

    That blurring of boundaries accelerated dramatically after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on southern Israel. With the bulk of active duty Israeli troops deployed to the Gaza war and northern front against Lebanon, the military drafted thousands of settler reservists into local regional defense units tasked with securing West Bank settlements. Israeli rights group Yesh Din estimates that roughly 7,000 armed settlers were mobilized into these units in the first months of the war. Research from the group shows these settler reservists are far less likely to intervene to stop attacks on Palestinian communities, and often participate in the violence themselves. While most have now been released from active reserve duty, the military has allowed them to retain their issued firearms and uniforms, enabling a wave of unchecked violence by settlers operating with the veneer of official military authority.

    When contacted by AFP for comment, an Israeli military spokesperson stated that police are the primary body responsible for enforcing the law against Israeli citizens in the West Bank, and that soldiers are only instructed to intervene to stop ongoing violence and detain suspects until police arrive. The spokesperson added that any failure to follow military orders is reviewed thoroughly, with disciplinary action taken when appropriate. But critics say this division of responsibility is just a convenient excuse for inaction, given police rarely pursue charges against settlers.

    In the wake of the Qusra siege, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has called for police to take over full responsibility for law enforcement related to settler activity in the West Bank, arguing it is not the military’s job to “chase” violent settlers. While observers say the policy is unlikely to be implemented in the near term, they note it would mark a major step toward Israel’s formal annexation of the occupied territory. Ahead of Israeli national elections scheduled for October 27, observers are skeptical that there is any political will within the current government to crack down on extremist settler violence, despite growing international pressure. But they warn the unchecked escalation of attacks poses severe risks for regional stability. “Should settler violence continue, it will be astonishing if a major bloody conflagration doesn’t ensue,” Novik warned.

  • Beleaguered FIFA chief Infantino rids himself of critic Lamour

    Beleaguered FIFA chief Infantino rids himself of critic Lamour

    FIFA, the global governing body of football, is facing deep internal turmoil after embattled president Gianni Infantino oversaw the departure of Kevin Lamour, one of his most prominent critics within the organization. Lamour, a French executive who held the chief operating officer role for less than two years, broke ranks with senior leadership last month to publicly denounce Infantino’s poorly executed proposal to bring private investment into flagship FIFA competitions, including the men’s World Cup.

    According to reporting from The New York Times, Lamour refused to endorse the plan just ahead of last month’s World Cup final, when five senior FIFA directors were first briefed on the proposal. Lamour publicly dismissed the initiative as “the project of one person”, a direct rebuke of Infantino’s centralized, untransparent approach to pushing the policy through. The French executive’s open criticism quickly isolated him from top leadership; he was notably absent from an emergency leadership meeting held in Morocco two weeks ago, where the rest of the senior directors present publicly reaffirmed their “full support” for Infantino.

    Lamour’s exit is the latest in a string of high-profile resignations tied to the controversial investment proposal. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s special advisor and a former investment banker with close ties to former U.S. President Donald Trump, also stepped down in protest, calling the plan “a bad deal for FIFA’s member associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game.” Two other senior FIFA executives also joined the opposition, forcing the initiative — which was first launched on July 28 — to be scrapped just four days later.

    Internal communications from FIFA leadership have attempted to frame the upheaval as a minor disruption to the organization’s core mission. In an internal email to staff, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom downplayed the controversy, saying, “Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.” Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s head of global football development, also supported scrapping the plan, calling it “absolutely necessary”. Despite both leaders claiming they had no advance knowledge of the private investment proposal, both are named in a letter from UEFA’s U.S. legal counsel that bars them from destroying any documents related to the plan. UEFA, European football’s governing body, has already publicly called for Infantino to step down.

    Infantino’s handling of the investment proposal has created sharp rifts across football’s six continental confederations, just months ahead of the FIFA presidential election scheduled for next March in Rabat. Last week, the presidents of UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and CONCACAF (the governing body for North, Central America and the Caribbean) released an unfiltered joint statement attacking the proposal as a “shabby, back room, opaque deal” and criticizing Infantino’s leadership. “Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding — or demanding — power to be held. When an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,” the statement read.

    CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani, who signed the statement, is widely regarded as the leading challenger to Infantino’s bid for a fourth and final term as FIFA president. The unified opposition front, however, has already fractured along regional lines. Mexico, one of the co-hosts of this year’s 2026 World Cup, broke ranks with CONCACAF despite not launching an open attack on the confederation’s stance. In Asia, Qatar — host of the 2022 World Cup — has publicly blasted the AFC for failing to consult its member associations before releasing the joint statement.

    Qatar Football Association president Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has publicly demanded an explanation for the lack of consultation, questioning the AFC’s authority to speak on behalf of all 47 of its member associations, including Qatar. Qatar is not alone in backing Infantino; Kuwait, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and the Philippines have also issued public statements of support for the Swiss incumbent. AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, who lost the 2016 FIFA presidential election to Infantino, pushed back against the criticism on Tuesday, telling AFP, “I categorically reject any suggestion that my participation in the joint statement exceeded my authority or that the AFC erred in participating in it.”

    Support for Infantino remains solid in the African Football Confederation (CAF) and South America’s CONMEBOL. The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has refused to join calls for Infantino’s departure, but New Zealand, one of OFC’s member associations, has broken ranks and withdrawn its support for his re-election bid. As the March election approaches, the departure of Lamour has only deepened uncertainty about the future of FIFA’s leadership and the future of governance in global football.

  • Australian sharemarket falls for fifth day despite surging healthcare stocks, record BHP profit

    Australian sharemarket falls for fifth day despite surging healthcare stocks, record BHP profit

    Australia’s benchmark share index has extended its downward run to five consecutive trading sessions, defying strong gains across the healthcare sector and a bumper full-year result from global mining giant BHP that failed to reverse broader market momentum on Tuesday. The flagship S&P/ASX 200 edged down 3.20 points, a marginal 0.04% drop, to close at 9070.00, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 4.80 points, or 0.05%, to settle at 9274.20. The Australian dollar traded at roughly 70.97 U.S. cents by market close. The trading day delivered a deeply mixed session for Australia’s 11 market sectors, with five closing in positive territory and six finishing lower. Leading all gainers by a wide margin, the healthcare sector surged 7.81% overall, while the energy sector posted a more modest 0.99% rise. The materials sector also recorded mild growth, driven entirely by strong investor demand for BHP shares following the miner’s latest earnings release. BHP closed 2.65% higher at $63.85 per share, though other major local mining players failed to share in the upward momentum: Rio Tinto slipped 0.55% to $167.40, while Fortescue Metals Group fell 0.39% to $17.68. Even with BHP’s share gain, copper prices closed 0.55% lower at $6.57 per pound. Biotech and blood products giant CSL, the heaviest-weighted stock in the healthcare sector, led the sector’s explosive rally despite posting a significant annual net loss. CSL shares jumped 17.25% to close at $157.82, recovering a large portion of the losses the stock has recorded over the past 12 months. Cochlear, the leading implant manufacturer, saw its shares rally 7.58% to $141.20 after releasing an upbeat earnings update, while medical imaging tech firm Pro Medicus gained 11.88% to $196.75 following an annual report that showed a 24.1% rise in underlying profit to $144.7 million. Jamie Hannah, deputy head of investments and capital markets at VanEck, noted that the sharp rally in CSL shares was surprising given the company’s weak bottom-line results in the annual report. “CSL was slightly ahead of analyst expectations, but the market really latched onto the company’s guidance for strong growth next year, and that pushed shares up by a huge amount, nearly erasing the entire drop the stock has seen over the past year,” Hannah explained. “It’s quite incredible. I think you have to question whether the size of the market movement actually reflects the underlying earnings results we’ve seen this earnings season. Right now, companies are under enormous pressure to deliver strong results; if they don’t, investors punish them quite heavily on the market.” Hannah added that the small gain in the energy sector could be traced directly to a recent rally in global crude oil prices, which hit $91 U.S. per barrel ahead of Tuesday’s market close. “That always gives a boost to energy stocks broadly,” he said, “paired with BHP’s stronger-than-expected result, that was enough to keep the sector in positive territory.” The heavyweight financial sector was one of the biggest drags on the benchmark index, with Australia’s so-called Big Four banks all closing in negative territory. Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 1.44%, ANZ dropped 0.53%, and Westpac declined 1.17%, while National Australia Bank also posted a small single-digit loss. In other individual company news, A2 Milk Company recovered 8.58% on Tuesday after falling 3.26% in the previous session following its own earnings release. Infrastructure firm Reliance Worldwide saw its shares soar 24.65% to $4.50 per share after Canadian global investment giant Brookfield announced a $4.1 billion takeover bid for the company.

  • Ex-Australia batter Warner fined for drink-driving

    Ex-Australia batter Warner fined for drink-driving

    One of Australian cricket’s most recognizable former stars, David Warner, has been handed a court sentence following his guilty plea to a drink-driving charge stemming from an Easter Sunday incident in Sydney earlier this year. The 39-year-old, who retired from all forms of international cricket in 2024, was arrested after failing a random roadside breath test that revealed his blood alcohol concentration was more than double New South Wales’ legal limit. Court documents detail that Warner was driving his family home from a private social gathering when he pulled over at a breath testing checkpoint, and made an attempt to swap seats with a female passenger in his vehicle before officers could approach, a move that was confirmed during Tuesday’s hearing at Waverley Local Court.

    In her ruling, Judge Clare Farnan imposed an A$1,500 fine (equivalent to roughly £1,109) and ordered Warner to install an ignition interlock device on his vehicle, a breathalyzer-linked system that blocks a car from starting if it detects any alcohol in the driver’s system. While Judge Farnan acknowledged that Warner presents a low risk of reoffending, she emphasized the need for strict sentencing, noting that drink-driving remains a leading cause of fatal road accidents across New South Wales. The judge also highlighted that the offence was considered aggravated by the presence of Warner’s children in the car at the time of the stop.

    Warner’s legal team had argued ahead of the sentencing that the former batter should avoid a formal criminal conviction, claiming that extensive negative media coverage of the incident had already harmed his commercial and broadcasting opportunities. Currently, Warner works as a cricket commentator for Fox Sports Australia, most recently covering Bangladesh’s historic Test match victory over Australia in Darwin earlier this year. He also continues to hold captaincy roles in elite domestic T20 competitions, leading both the Pakistan Super League’s Karachi Kings and Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) Sydney Thunder.

    Notably, Sydney Thunder is owned by Cricket New South Wales, which partners with the New South Wales state government on a public awareness campaign aimed at reducing drink-driving across the state. In an official statement released after the court verdict, Cricket NSW reaffirmed its commitment to road safety: “Our organisation is a strong advocate of safe driving, including avoiding drink-driving. We continue to take this incident seriously, including educating all players on the importance of safe driving.”

    During his 16-year international cricket career, Warner built a legacy as one of Australia’s most explosive opening batters, appearing in 383 matches across Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International formats for the national side. He amassed 8,786 runs and 26 centuries in 112 Test matches, and added another 6,932 runs and 22 centuries in 159 ODI innings, cementing his place as one of the country’s top run-scorers in modern cricket history.

  • Philippine student killed in livestreamed school shooting

    Philippine student killed in livestreamed school shooting

    A horrific act of school violence has shaken the southern Philippines after a teenage student killed a fellow classmate in a livestreamed attack earlier this week before turning the gun on himself, law enforcement and school officials confirmed Tuesday.\n\nThe tragedy unfolded at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, a private Catholic high school located in Zamboanga City on western Mindanao island, marking the second fatal school shooting in the country in just two months.\n\nRegional police spokesperson Shella Chang shared initial details of the incident with reporters, noting that the gunman first targeted his victim directly inside their classroom. After firing the fatal shots at the victim, the suspect moved to the building’s fifth floor and took his own life, Chang explained.\n\nPhilippine Interior Secretary Victor Remulla later confirmed that the ninth-grade suspect broadcast the entire attack live on social media via his personal Facebook account. Platform administrators have already taken the suspect’s account offline to prevent further spread of the graphic footage. Local media outlets that obtained portions of the livestream reported the footage was filmed in a first-person perspective, mimicking the style of popular first-person shooter video games. The video shows the gunman moving through a campus hallway before aiming into the occupied classroom and opening fire, prompting uniformed students to scream and flee the room in panic. As of Wednesday, authorities have not released a full count of any additional injuries from the chaotic scene.\n\nNational law enforcement teams have launched a full investigation into the attack, with three core priorities: uncovering the suspect’s motive, tracing the origin and legal ownership of the weapon used, and determining how the firearm was smuggled past campus security checkpoints. Police have not yet released the ages of either the suspect or the victim, pending notification of their next of kin.\n\nAteneo de Zamboanga president Father Guillrey Andal confirmed the two fatalities in an official briefing, saying the entire school community is reeling from the unexpected violence. “We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident,” Andal told reporters outside the campus Tuesday. “Our team is working closely with police to formally identify both individuals so we can first notify and support their families.”\n\nAndal added that the attack had left the entire campus community shaken, saying “this incident has caused deep concern and worry across our school.” In a striking note, he shared that campus security teams had been actively preparing for an active shooter simulation exercise before the attack, as part of a national push to improve school safety.\n\nThe June mass shooting in the central Philippines, which left three teen students dead and 20 more wounded, prompted dozens of schools across the country, including Ateneo de Zamboanga, to roll out active shooter preparedness drills just last month. While school shootings remain extremely rare in the Philippines, the back-to-back attacks have raised new alarms over campus safety and illegal firearms access.\n\nAlthough the Philippine government enforces strict regulations on legal gun ownership, officials have long struggled to crack down on a thriving illegal black market for unregistered firearms across the archipelago.

  • Brisbane mum left ‘horrified’ after discovering shard of glass in bread slice

    Brisbane mum left ‘horrified’ after discovering shard of glass in bread slice

    A frightening food safety incident has unfolded in Brisbane, Australia, where a young girl’s close call has left her mother horrified and triggered formal probes from both a major retail chain and a leading bread manufacturer. The incident, reported just under an hour ago, centers on a 7-year-old girl who found a sharp piece of glass embedded in a slice of commercially produced bread bought from a local Woolworths supermarket.

    Identified only as Laura to protect her family’s privacy, the mother told local outlet 9News that she had prepared a toasted sandwich for her daughter earlier this week, never expecting the dangerous surprise hidden inside the loaf. When the young girl bit into the snack, she stopped short before making the disturbing discovery, immediately returning the sandwich to her mother in a state of distress.

    The small shard of glass was found pressed directly into one slice of Tip Top’s signature “The One” loaf, which Laura had purchased from Woolworths’ Moorooka location. Though the child avoided serious injury, the experience left her severely shaken. “She was shaking and crying,” Laura told reporters, adding that her daughter even remarked, “Glass is not meant to be in bread.”

    In response to the customer’s report, both Woolworths and Tip Top’s parent company, George Weston Foods, have launched independent investigations to trace how the foreign contaminant entered the product.

    A Woolworths spokesperson emphasized the chain’s commitment to public food safety, noting, “Woolworths takes food safety seriously and we are concerned by this customer report.” The company is collaborating with Tip Top to resolve the incident as quickly as possible, and confirmed that no other similar reports have been recorded to date.

    George Weston Foods, which owns the Tip Top bread brand, also released a formal statement outlining its approach to the investigation. A company spokesperson confirmed that the probe is being treated as a top priority, and noted that the brand’s production facilities operate with strict food safety protocols designed to catch contaminants before products leave the plant. “All Tip Top baking facilities have robust food safety and quality assurance processes in place, including sieve controls for all ingredients, to ensure no contaminants are present at the time of dispatch,” the statement read.

    The company added that glass is strictly prohibited in all of its production areas to eliminate risk of this kind of contamination. “Consumer safety is paramount at Tip Top, and we are taking this incident very seriously,” the spokesperson said, confirming that the brand has already reached out to Laura to recover the affected product for testing to support a full investigation.

  • Asian allies stress ‘critical cooperation’ as Trump slashes Korea drills

    Asian allies stress ‘critical cooperation’ as Trump slashes Korea drills

    A sudden policy shift from US President Donald Trump to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea has sent ripples across Northeast Asia, prompting key Asian allies to emphasize the urgent need for strengthened trilateral security cooperation this week.

    Trump made the unexpected announcement Sunday, ordering the Pentagon to reduce the scope of what he called “inappropriate and hostile” drills with Seoul. The following day, he defended the move during Oval Office remarks, arguing that his personal diplomatic ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have made the entire region far safer. The two leaders met three times during Trump’s first presidential term, though no in-person encounter has occurred since Trump returned to the White House. When pressed on whether Kim has responded to recent outreach from him, Trump confirmed Kim had replied and described ongoing talks as “very positive,” but offered no additional details about the content of the exchanges. He doubled down on his positive assessment of his relationship with the North Korean leader, noting “Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect. I understand him. He understands me.”
    Alongside his outreach to Pyongyang, Trump issued a sharp rebuke to South Korea, a longstanding core US ally, for refusing to join Washington’s campaign against Iran — a conflict Trump frames as an effort to block Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. “Wait a minute. We have 39,000 soldiers over there, guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbour, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran. That’s strange,” Trump told reporters. “We can’t go around and protect all of these countries, especially when they’re not there to help us.”

    The exercises in question, the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, are designed to prepare South Korean and US forces for a potential conflict with North Korea, which has long decried the annual drills as invasion rehearsals. Even as Trump moved to scale back the drills, South Korean officials confirmed the exercises had already launched as scheduled, and expressed hope that the positive personal rapport between Trump and Kim would pave the way for a resumption of denuclearization talks. In a statement Tuesday, Seoul’s presidential office stressed the drills carry “no intention to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula.” However, South Korea’s unification ministry, which manages cross-border relations, said it could not independently confirm whether the reported communications between Kim and Trump actually took place. “While communication channels between the two sides exist, we cannot verify the specific content of the exchanges,” a ministry spokesperson said.

    During a working visit to Australia this week, Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi made clear Tokyo’s stance on the value of closer cooperation between the three key Indo-Pacific security partners. “As Japan faces the most severe and complicated security environment in the post-war era, the cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea is critical to the peace and stability of the region,” Koizumi told reporters. His Australian counterpart Richard Marles added that Canberra remains deeply worried about Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, a longstanding position the Australian government has consistently upheld. North Korea has not issued any public response to Trump’s latest announcement or the reported diplomatic exchanges, though the country has repeatedly condemned all joint US-South Korea military drills in the past.

    Trump’s latest move is part of a pattern of repeated criticism of long-standing US alliances that has cast growing uncertainty over Washington’s security commitments across East Asia. The US currently stations roughly 28,500 troops in South Korea, a post-war arrangement dating back to the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty. The announcement of scaled-back drills comes at a time of shifting US military deployments in the Indo-Pacific: the USS George Washington, the only US aircraft carrier currently operating in the Pacific, is being redeployed to the Middle East to relieve the USS Lincoln, which has faced well-documented crew mental health and supply challenges after an extended deployment.

    Trump’s administration has also ramped up pressure on regional US partners to increase their own defense spending. Among those partners is Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as part of its sovereign territory and has repeatedly threatened to seize by force. On Monday, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te announced a pledge to reach a record high defense budget by 2027, with his administration committing to boosting defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product by 2030 to meet growing US defense contribution expectations.