Israeli settlers standing near seized properties belonging to the Palestinian Al-Tubasi family in the West Bank village of Jalud on Aug 25.LONDON – “A handful of lawless rioters” is how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the widespread violence inflicted over the weekend by Israeli Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the occupied territories of the West Bank.Netanyahu claimed that he expects the Israeli army, police and the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, to arrest these rioters and “bring them to justice”.
Read briefing Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Aug 28.WASHINGTON - US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Iran’s Larak island on Aug 30, a US official said, marking the first known American strikes on Iran since late July.“I can confirm that earlier today US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz,” the US official said.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens, and would be met with a “response and punishment” from Tehran, Iranian state media reported.Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the US carried out a drone strike on the island.US President Donald Trump said last week that all mines had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran has been told that any ship or boat placing new mines will be destroyed.The last known US strikes on Iran were in late July as the war has reached a stalemate in recent weeks with Washington threatening to impose costly sanctions on countries that support Iran.The US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28 and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. The Iran war has now crossed its six-month mark.US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. Eighteen US service members have been killed in the conflict.The war has led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict used to see a transit of about a fifth of the world’s oil barrels consumed. REUTERS
Read briefing US President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to attack Kristen Welker (right) as the “unpopular ‘hostess’ of the once great Meet the Press” talk show.WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Aug 30 threatened a prominent NBC broadcast journalist with possible punishment by US media regulators as the Republican expressed disappointment with coverage of his candidate endorsements ahead of November’s midterm elections.Trump took to his Truth Social platform to attack Kristen Welker as the “unpopular ‘hostess’ of the once great Meet the Press” talk show.He objected to her having said the president had had “mixed results” on his endorsement of political candidates in party primaries, insisting the races had gone his way 98 per cent to 100 per cent of the time.Welker, speaking early Aug 30 to a local NBC affiliate, said Trump would “loom large over these midterms.”When it came to endorsements, she added, he “had some mixed results, but most recently, his pick of Senator Darline Graham... was successful in her primary battle.”Trump, in his comments, said “because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment”. The Federal Communications Commission assigns and oversees licenses for radio and television broadcast frequencies.“Unfortunately, she is not the only one,” he added. “The Radical Left News is going out of their way to harass, demean, and libel anything ‘TRUMP.’”Welker is an award-winning journalist who earned bipartisan praise after moderating a 2020 presidential debate featuring Trump and Joe Biden, the Democrat who won that year’s election.An NBC News spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, defended Welker on Aug 30, telling AFP that “Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her.”Trump’s endorsements overall have proved helpful for Republican candidates running for statewide office.But his approval ratings have slid, and at least 10 of Trump’s picks have been defeated this cycle, according to a tally compiled by Ballotpedia. They include four US House hopefuls and six candidates for governor, among them conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell in Minnesota.Billionaire Trump used American media to his advantage over the years as a provocative real estate developer in New York. But as president he dramatically turned against the press and what he called “fake news.”He has sued several newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and ordered federal funding slashed for public media.His administration has ramped up restrictions and attempts to intimidate journalists, and the FCC – headed by a close Trump associate – has pressured broadcasters to toe the line.“I hope that Chairman Brendan Carr, and the fine people of his Commission, will take this Threat to our Country very seriously,” Trump said.The latest attack is part of the Trump administration’s months-long offensive against media outlets it deems overly critical.Such efforts are facing growing resistance from news organisations and major broadcast networks.Several of them have filed lawsuits against the FCC, arguing such pressure constitutes political retaliation that violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech.Relations between Trump and Welker have been under pressure for months. In June the president abruptly cut short an interview with her following a tense exchange, during which he grew irritated by Welker’s questioning, particularly on the war against Iran.Experts argue the FCC lacks the legal authority to punish broadcasters or reporters for their viewpoints.According to a 2025 paper by the Yale Journal on Regulation, the US Supreme Court has confirmed that US law “does not grant the FCC the power to ban controversial speech.” AFP
Read briefing Ukraine’s ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov is seeking Western capital to build weapons development firms that he said will help Kyiv resist Moscow.Ukraine’s former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov is seeking US investment for a defence technology fund, he said in an interview with the Financial Times that was published on Aug 30.Fedorov is also seeking Western capital to build and manage weapons development companies that he said will help Kyiv resist Moscow, the Financial Times said.The former defence minister did not say whether he would benefit financially from the fund, nor did he give details on his role overseeing it, according to the FT.Meanwhile Ukraine’s new defence minister, Yevhenii Khmara, said Kyiv would seek to bring forward part of a €45 billion (S$66 billion) loan from the European Union planned for 2027, as well as lobbying allies for greater contributions and new countries that had not yet given. REUTERS
Read briefing The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - Europe’s largest - needs power to keep its six non-operating reactors cool.VIENNA - The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been without off-site power for more than a week and is currently relying on emergency diesel generators, the UN’s nuclear watchdog said Aug 29.The plant, which needs power to keep its six non-operating reactors cool, has only a 10-day diesel supply on site, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.It has not had a delivery to an off-site storage facility in about six months, but the plant had been supplied with diesel on Aug 26 and 27 from another off-site location, the IAEA added.“The availability of diesel fuel is of paramount importance whenever a nuclear power plant loses off-site power,” said IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi.“The current situation once again shows why reliable external power and secure supply routes are indispensable for nuclear safety and security.”The plant lost its regular power supply “following military activity on the northern side of the Dnipro River”, the statement said.The Vienna-based group said it was trying to negotiate a local ceasefire to allow repairs to electrical lines.On Aug 28, the IAEA said there had been three incidents this week involving drones at the Zaporizhzhia plant, injuring two employees, and raising renewed safety concerns.The plant, in southern Ukraine, was seized by the Russian army in March 2022, just weeks after its full-scale invasion.Both sides in the conflict regularly accuse the other of attacking the site on the banks of the Dnipro river that marks the front line in the sector.
Read briefing British far-right political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos is pictured after his arrest by federal immigration agents at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.LOS ANGELES - British far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was deported back to his home country, the United Kingdom, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said on Aug 29.The deportation on Aug 28 came a day after Yiannopoulos, 41, was arrested at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).A DHS spokesperson said he “chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws” after legally entering the country in May 2019.Yiannopoulos, who has called for stricter immigration enforcement than the Trump administration has carried out, including ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, did not appear for an immigration hearing and was issued a final order of removal on July 22, according to DHS.The celebrity news site TMZ.com, which broke the news of his arrest, suggested that Yiannopoulos, who has close ties to the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, was in New Orleans ahead of the musician’s scheduled performance there on the night of Aug 28.Yiannopoulos was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign and often espoused anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant rhetoric.In a June 2025 post on the social media platform X, he wrote: “We have got to deport millions and millions and millions of people. Without that, nothing else matters.” REUTERS
Read briefing Palestinians inspecting the damage following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Aug 27.GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories - Israel’s military said it struck a Hamas commander within the compound of a Gaza hospital on Aug 29, while the territory’s health officials said Israeli strikes elsewhere killed three people.It is the latest bloodshed to occur in the war-shattered territory despite a US-backed ceasefire that took effect in October 2025, with Israel continuing to target Palestinians it says are militants.The military said it struck a Hamas commander who “was hiding within the compound” of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, but was unable to immediately confirm if he had been killed.It said the commander, who it did not name, advanced “attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians” and was hit in a structure adjacent to hospital buildings.The hospital reported that three people had been injured in an Israeli strike near a warehouse close to the maternity ward inside the medical facility.The military said steps had been taken to “mitigate the risk to civilians”, adding that it had warned Gazan medical authorities two days earlier about “the cessation of the use of medical facilities for terrorist purposes”.Earlier in the day, Al-Aqsa Hospital reported one person killed by Israeli fire in the eastern area of the city.In Gaza City, the civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas, said an Israeli strike near a roundabout in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood killed two people and injured several others.When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it struck a “military operative” in the area.Israel has kept striking Gaza and its forces have made further inroads despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced in October, with Israel insisting it must eliminate threats from Hamas, which led the unprecedented Oct 7, 2023 attack against Israel.Israeli operations in Gaza have killed at least 1,313 people since the ceasefire came into effect, according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry, which also operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks over the same period, as well as the death of one civilian contractor. AFP
Read briefing QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 29 - Dozens of masked Israeli settler militants attacked homes surrounding the occupied West Bank village of Qusra on Saturday, the first major attack since a siege by settlers in the area earlier this month drew an international outcry.The settlers surrounded a Palestinian home, throwing stones while seven Palestinians were trapped inside, according to witnesses who spoke to Reuters.Saddam Oday, one of those trapped, said the Israeli military fired tear gas into the home and detained the residents inside while letting him go. He said the Israeli military had not detained any of the settlers and had allowed them to leave.The owner of the house, Luay Bayruti, said when the military arrived they handcuffed, blindfolded and beat those inside, before later releasing them.The Israeli military said in a statement that troops and border police forces had arrived on the scene to remove "rioters" and protect the residents inside the house.The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why they had reportedly fired tear gas at the house and detained and beaten the residents.In his first public statement on Qusra, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he condemned the violence in Qusra and blamed a "handful of rioters"."I strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence committed in the villages of Qusra and Jalud," said Netanyahu, referring to a separate incident in a neighbouring village.The United States had previously pressured Netanyahu to publicly condemn the militant settlers who had besieged Palestinians in their homes, U.S. and Israeli officials told Reuters around two weeks ago.The Israeli government has previously blamed a "fringe minority" for settler violence, a characterisation disputed by findings from rights groups.A U.N. inquiry in June found that Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli mission in Geneva rejected the report's findings.Bayruti said that after calling the Israeli military for help, he and six others were trapped inside the home for more than an hour as settlers threw stones.Bayruti showed a Reuters reporter his bandaged arm, which he said had been injured by a stone during the attack.Oday, a medic, said four of those trapped had suffered injuries due to the tear gas, and two had suffered injuries from the stones thrown by settlers.The attack occurred a few hundred yards away from three homes to which settlers laid siege this month, drawing international condemnation and a massive Israeli military deployment that residents say has kept them effectively trapped in their homes."They spotted the residents working on their house, which is still under construction and they started throwing rocks," said Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American whose home was one of the three under siege this month. He said he watched Saturday's attack occur from his home.Ridi said he had seen near-daily encroachments of Israeli settlers into the area surrounding his home, despite the heavy Israeli military presence in the area.Rights groups say the increasing settler presence on the edge of Palestinian villages, like Qusra, is part of a wider effort by settlers to seize more land from Palestinians, further eating into territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state.Violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank has increased, with some emboldened by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has overseen a massive settlement expansion in the territory.U.N. bodies and most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law regarding military occupations. Israel rejects this, viewing the area as disputed rather than occupied. REUTERS
Read briefing Spanish military personnel arriving at Ceuta’s border with Morocco on Aug 15, following a mass crossing of migrants into the tiny Spanish territory the previous month.MADRID - Four Moroccan migrants in Spain’s enclave of Ceuta were arrested on Aug 29 for throwing stones at a patrol of Spanish soldiers, one of whom fell and injured himself while pursuing the assailants, a police spokesman told AFP.It was the second such incident to occur in recent days in the tiny territory located in North Africa, following the arrests on Aug 27 of 12 Moroccan migrants who threw stones at a Spanish military vehicle, injuring one of its four occupants.Ceuta remains a source of tension, politically and security-wise, for Spain since tens of thousands of migrants crossed over into it from Morocco on July 30 and 31, triggering alarm among Madrid’s EU partners.Most of those migrants left in subsequent days, but thousands remain in Ceuta, wandering the streets and sleeping on beaches of the territory whose population is 80,000.Ceuta residents protesting against the presence of the remaining migrants clashed with police on Aug 27, prompting Spain’s government to appeal for calm.Madrid is seeking ways to reduce the number of remaining migrants in Ceuta without breaching EU and international asylum and migration laws.Thousands of migrants remain in Ceuta since tens of thousands crossed into the Spanish enclave from Morocco on July 30 and 31, triggering alarm in the EU.The EU’s commissioner for migration, Magnus Brunner, said on X on Aug 29 that Spain had asked for help from the European Union’s border control agency Frontex, the police cooperation agency Europol and the EU Agency for Asylum.“We are already working on the request and will take a swift decision,” Brunner said, calling the situation in Ceuta “challenging”.“The priority remains to ensure the swift return of all those who remain illegally in Ceuta,” he said. AFPResidents arguing with police on Aug 28, near a demonstration against the presence of migrants in Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta.
Read briefing Residents protest against insecurity after a fatal overnight raid by an armed gang, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, in Kenscoff, Haiti, August 24, 2026. REUTERS/Fildor Pq EgederAug 28 - Nearly 200,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti in the first eight months of this year, a U.N. official told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Friday, days after a brutal gang attack killed nearly 50 people near the capital.The forced return represents at least 20,000 more people than in the same period last year, Indrika Ratwatte, the acting assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the meeting.Sunday night's attack took place days after Haiti received its first U.S. deportation flight since the Trump administration won a legal battle ending Temporary Protected Status for around 350,000 Haitians. On Thursday, another flight arrived with migrants from the U.S. and the Bahamas.Haitian security analysts have meanwhile warned that the flood of illegal arms entering the country is worsening the conflict that has claimed more than 21,000 lives since 2022.The U.N. estimates most guns in Haiti originate from the southeastern United States, though many are trafficked into the country through the land border with the Dominican Republic.Ratwatte briefed the Security Council alongside Carlos Ruiz, the head of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), who warned that without improved security, efforts to advance preparations for the country's first elections in a decade remain "severely constrained and vulnerable to setbacks."Ruiz said three boys and two girls were among the 47 people killed in the hillside community of Kenscoff near the capital Port-au-Prince on Sunday, where houses were set on fire and people who sought to escape were attacked inside a church."This latest heartbreaking episode is a stark reminder of the urgent need to further strengthen international security support for Haiti," Ruiz said.Diplomats argued the attack showed the need to more rapidly scale up the deployment of the U.N.-backed multinational force mandated to help police fight gangs that have massively expanded their influence over the last five years.Haitian authorities first requested foreign military assistance in 2022, but this was slow to materialize, and a year ago the U.N. mandated a different, larger and more aggressive force to deploy, called the Gang Suppression Force (GSF).The GSF aims to reach a capacity of 5,500 troops by fall this year. The Security Council will vote on whether to renew its mandate at the end of September.U.S. representative Jennifer Locetta called on the Security Council to renew the mandate."The GSF was not created to issue statements from within a compound wall or spend our money while Haiti suffers," she said, adding if more countries bring material support to the force, it could help police fight gangs more efficiently."This attack is precisely why the U.N. authorized Gang Suppression Force's mission and mandate matters," she said.A representative for the Haitian government said Chad, Mongolia and Ivory Coast had agreed to support the force and work was under way for similar agreements with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Jamaica and Guatemala. The latter two countries had already deployed personnel under a prior iteration of the force. REUTERS
Read briefing US President Donald Trump holding up a jacket given to him by the Artemis II crew members after presenting them with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Aug 28, 2026.HOUSTON, Texas - US President Donald Trump signed an order on Aug 28 creating a US Space Academy, billing it as a new military and civilian institution modelled after West Point and other military service academies.The proposed academy would build on Trump’s space agenda, which he and White House officials have described as a key component of his legacy.Trump launched the US Space Force as a sixth branch of the military during his first term, has attended multiple NASA launches and now aims to return Americans to the moon and eventually reach Mars.An eight-member commission, led by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, will advise the president on launching the institution, which Trump’s proclamation said would “develop a professional corps of civically grounded leaders prepared to advance American interests within the space domain.”Speaking at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Trump said he would choose the location for the academy “very shortly,” and hinted that the Texas congressional delegation in attendance wanted the institution in the Lone Star State.He has pledged that the US will land astronauts on the moon during his final year in office. “A nation cannot be first on Earth if we’re going to be second in space,” Trump said during a ceremony to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four crew members of the Artemis II mission.That crew – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen – spent more than nine days in space, circumnavigating the moon and traveling deeper into space than any human before.The multibillion-dollar US moon programme is targeting its first astronaut landing in 2028, involving SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket system.That rocket’s development has been delayed, risking the timeline - but another moon lander from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin that is also under development might make the 2028 deadline instead.The Artemis programme rivals the lunar ambitions of China, which is aiming for its own crewed moon landing around 2030 following a series of increasingly ambitious robotic missions.Both countries are seeking to establish a long-term crewed presence on the lunar south pole, where coveted water ice embedded in the lunar soil could be a key ingredient for fuel on the moon.Trump added that the US would launch a separate nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars in 2028 that would be the gateway to broader interplanetary travel. Isaacman said the missions would “inspire the next generation to carry the fire of exploration even further.”Trump’s order said implementing those goals requires new institutions to recruit and train future astronauts, engineers and scientists.It is unclear how logistics for the space academy – including building the campus, creating the programming and recruiting students – would work. Funding would need to be approved by Congress, which is historically gridlocked.Space Force officer candidates are generally commissioned through the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, also has a long tradition of its graduates becoming astronauts.“You think of West Point, and you think of Annapolis, and you think of the Air Force Academy, and you think of the Coast Guard Academy. They’re all good,” Trump said.“But we’re going to have now the Space Force Academy for what the people in this room love the most.”Many US space companies have struggled to attract new talent as the industry rapidly expands, with demand for spacecraft services and rocket launches soaring. Major players such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin have ramped up competition in the sector, driving up the cost of new hires for some smaller companies, analysts say.Staffing challenges have also snagged the US Space Force, whose workforce is 25 per cent lower than what Congress requires for the branch, according to a 2025 watchdog report.Trump also spent part of his two-day trip in Texas raising money for Republican Senate nominee and Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton ahead of November’s midterm elections. REUTERS
Read briefing Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (right) and Berlin's Senator for Interior, Digitalisation and Sport Iris Spranger attending a press conference on Aug 28 about a cyberattack which hit the Berlin's Senate network.BERLIN - A ransomware group said on Aug 28 it was putting up for auction a trove of data it stole from Berlin state agencies, and city officials refused to pay.The Rhysida group, which researchers say operates from Russia or Eastern Europe, said on its website it took 5.79 terabytes of data including 46,500 contracts as well as emails, phone numbers, passwords and classified information.The group said it was auctioning the data at a starting price of 30 bitcoin (S$98,866) in just under seven days, showing a countdown timer on its website.The cyberattack on Berlin's network comes less than a month before the city-state holds elections on Sept 20.Broadcaster RBB reported on the evening of Aug 27 that Berlin had received ransom demands for an unspecified amount following the attack.“The state of Berlin will not submit to extortion,” Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner and Berlin’s interior senator, Iris Spranger, said in a joint statement on Aug 28, before the ransomware group claimed the attack on their website.Officials could not provide details on the content or scope of the affected data because the extent of the breach was still being examined, Wegner said at a press conference.Spranger said the city’s election infrastructure had not been affected and that, according to security officials, no data related to the election had been compromised.Rhysida has claimed nearly 280 attacks since it emerged in June 2023, according to cybercrime research platform eCrime.ch.Roughly half of its victims have been in the US, followed by the UK, Canada and Italy, as well as other nations, according to Ransom-DB, a ransomware analysis and tracking service.The group has repeatedly targeted government institutions, such as the October 2023 hack of the British Library. The group has also claimed attacks on the Chilean army, schools, healthcare facilities and businesses of all sizes. REUTERS
Read briefing Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (centre) visiting an exhibition honouring Minab School attack victims, on Aug 28, in Tehran.TEHRAN - Iran left the door open to diplomacy on Aug 28, six months into a war with the United States that has upended the Middle East, but only if Washington abandons its pressure campaign.“Putting diplomacy back on track isn’t impossible. It hinges on US understanding of one simple fact: pressure doesn’t work,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X on Aug 28.Diplomatic efforts, spearheaded by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar, have tried for months to bring an end to the war started by the US and Israel in late February to no avail.While a ceasefire was agreed in April and a memorandum of understanding towards a final peace deal was signed in June, no agreement has been forthcoming and Washington has since declared “economic warfare” against Tehran.In the latest effort to reinvigorate diplomacy, Araghchi met his Qatari counterpart on Aug 27 in the Iranian capital to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, closed by the Islamic republic at the start of the war, at the tail end of a week of intense Iranian talks with Oman and Pakistan.A US naval counterblockade of Iranian ports is squeezing petrol supplies in Iran, amid a shortfall of domestic production, as the US ramps up pressure on its foe, declaring an “economic D-Day”.The April ceasefire put an end to the most intense fighting, but sporadic attacks, mainly around the Strait of Hormuz, have dimmed the prospects of a final peace agreement.In a statement on Aug 28, US Senator Jack Reed criticised President Donald Trump over the war.“Six months later, not a single objective has been achieved,” said Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.“Indeed, he has weakened our position in the Middle East and the world significantly.”Tehran has for weeks been holding talks on the future of Hormuz with Muscat, whose territorial waters account for the other half of the strait, while insisting that Hormuz will remain closed so long as Washington has not fulfilled its commitments under the June memorandum, which calls for lifting the US counterblockade and removing sanctions.“The US should build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights and uphold commitments,” Araghchi said.Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari reiterated to state television on Aug 28 that if the memorandum was not implemented and the US “does not respect its commitments, not only will the Strait of Hormuz remain closed, but the United States must be ready for our offensive actions and we will seek them in the most distant places”.While Washington now aims to crush Iran economically, Tehran has weathered decades of international sanctions and experts remain sceptical about how much more pressure the US can bring to bear.Analysts say the US plan to isolate Iran would require unlikely cooperation from trading partner China, which has defended its cooperation with Tehran and vowed to safeguard its interests.China remains able to buy Iranian crude, an important source of revenue for Tehran, via overland routes not reliant on the Strait of Hormuz.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said “no one is above the reach of US sanctions” when asked if Washington would target Chinese banks that do business with Iran, ahead of an expected September visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US capital. AFP
Read briefing FILE PHOTO: Migrants are escorted from a makeshift beach camp to official shelters across the city after authorities cleared the site, following a mass crossing from Morocco, in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, August 20, 2026. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File PhotoMADRID, Aug 28 - Spain asked on Friday for help from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) in processing migrants in the North African enclave of Ceuta almost a month after tens of thousands rushed across the border from Morocco.Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska sent a request to Beate Gminder, the European Commission's director general for migration and home affairs, for help from Frontex, a European Union agency, to screen migrants in the enclave illegally.Authorities say between 5,000 and 8,000 people remain in Ceuta after at least 72,000 people crossed from Morocco on July 30 in a rush that killed 82 migrants on the Spanish side of the border, with 14 more deaths confirmed by Morocco.Spain also asked for 10 more officers from Frontex to help with migrant screening.Marlaska's request comes amid rising tensions in Ceuta after a series of protests by residents who have demanded the migrants leave.Tents used by migrants on Trampolin Beach, where many migrants have been camping out, have been attacked and set on fire.Twelve migrants were arrested on Thursday after stoning an army vehicle, injuring one soldier and four migrants. Eleven were expelled from Ceuta, the El Pais newspaper reported on Friday, citing sources from the city's main court. REUTERS
Read briefing WASHINGTON, Aug 27 - President Donald Trump's administration has issued a memo for universities that seeks to restrict issuance of certain internship work authorizations for international students as the federal government warned that colleges not complying with the regulations may lose certification to enroll foreign students.The federal memo dated August 24 said the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which is part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, has "observed a rise in Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorizations that appear to violate regulatory requirements which permit CPT only where the training is an integral part of an established curriculum.""Failure to comply with SEVP regulations may result in an institution losing certification to enroll foreign students," the memo said.It resulted in some schools, including the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley, pausing certain applications for work authorizations for international students."UCLA has paused certain Curricular Practical Training authorizations while it reviews recent federal guidance and determines next steps," a UCLA spokesperson said.UC Berkeley's international office said the August 24 memo was "more narrow in focus, more direct, and includes content that is more restrictive in nature." The federal government had also issued an earlier memo in mid-August.The UC Berkeley international office said it is extending the pause for certain work authorizations for international students for "the foreseeable future." It said it will continue processing "degree-requirement" CPT as normal and would resume processing "Doctoral Dissertation and Master's Thesis Research CPT."The office said it would consult with legal experts to develop new processes that align with new federal requirements."Nothing about these regulations has changed," the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent, said in a statement. "However, schools and employers should consider themselves on notice: under President Trump, abuse of this generous system will no longer be tolerated."Trump has targeted universities with probes and funding threats over issues like pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's assault on Gaza, diversity initiatives, climate programs and transgender policies.Rights advocates have raised free speech, academic freedom and due process concerns.Separately, the U.S. Justice Department alleged on Thursday admissions practices at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Services favored Black and Hispanic applicants, citing findings of a probe as the Trump administration continued its diversity crackdown."We are disappointed by the DOJ's conclusions, which we believe are incorrect," the university said, saying the admissions policies were in compliance with law and not discriminatory.The Justice Department has alleged similar bias at other schools, saying the department aims for settlement talks. If those efforts fail, the department will file suit, it said.Trump's administration has also revoked visas of student protesters over pro-Palestinian protests that it casts as antisemitic and sympathetic to extremists.Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say opposition to Israel's assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories is not antisemitic and advocacy for Palestinian rights is not the same as supporting extremism. REUTERS
Read briefing Defence attorney Kevin Reddington represents Lindsay Clancy, a woman who says she suffered from postpartum psychosis before strangling her three young children.PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts – The high-profile US murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a woman who says she suffered from postpartum psychosis before strangling her three young children, has sparked a debate in the United States over maternal mental health.The 36-year-old nurse does not deny strangling Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, with fitness bands in their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023.She then jumped out of a second-storey window, leaving her paralysed from the waist down and using a wheelchair.Clancy, however, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children. Her lawyers say this was caused by postpartum psychosis.Prosecutors have rejected her argument, saying she had planned to murder her children and was able to understand the consequences of her actions.For the past several weeks, dozens of women dressed in pink have come to the court in Plymouth to show their support for Clancy – and to make a statement about women’s health more generally.Kelly Woods, a lawyer from Chicago, said she was attending the trial as a “big advocate” for people who suffer from postpartum psychosis.“That is a very under-considered element of this case,” Woods told AFP on Aug 27, when jury deliberations began.“I certainly hope that the medical community can learn from this. I ultimately hope that there is more advocacy for postpartum depression and psychosis.”Psychiatrists and people close to Clancy, as well as her estranged husband, described her distress during the five-week trial.The nurse faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty.Postpartum psychosis is a medical emergency that affects about one to two women in every 1,000 births, said Sally Wilson, national training coordinator at the Britain-based charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis.Clancy’s case is “an incredibly distressing and rare outcome of postpartum psychosis”, Wilson told AFP.During closing arguments, Clancy’s lawyer Kevin Reddington recalled that the mother had made several pleas for help before the killings and received “lousy medical care” from the doctors she consulted.“She was doing everything that she could to get help, and for whatever reason, she still slipped through the cracks,” said Adrienne Griffen, executive director of the nonprofit Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance.“That is the question that everybody is asking, is how do we prevent something like this from happening in the future,” Griffen said, adding that mothers need to be connected with better resources.The trial has revived memories of a similar case that also captivated the country 25 years ago: Andrea Yates, a Texas mother who drowned her five children in 2001.Yates was initially convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but she was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a 2006 retrial and committed to a psychiatric hospital.Prosecutors acknowledged that Clancy was “suffering from mental illness” and tried to kill herself, but they argued that the killings were planned and particularly cruel.Right-wing political voices have condemned the level of violence in the killings and the supporters who have gathered outside the courthouse.“Lindsay Clancy deserves to die for murdering her three children,” Katie Miller, a podcaster and wife of President Donald Trump’s senior aide Stephen Miller, wrote on social media.Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), said the trial and debate around it shows “how profoundly invested Americans and the world remain in the figure of the mother”.She said the case has become an opportunity “for people not just to condemn a tragedy” but also show how “this figure of the good mother and then of course the bad mother becomes a dividing ground in our society”. AFP
Read briefing Dollar General reported its fifth straight quarterly rise in store traffic, which was up 2 per cent.NEW YORK - The biggest dollar-store chains in America said they have seen more customers visit their stores in recent months, with shoppers trying to stretch every dollar they spend in an uncertain US economy.Dollar General, the sector’s largest retailer with more than 21,000 stores across the country, said on Aug 27 that comparable stores sales were up 3.5 per cent in its most recent quarter.
Read briefing WASHINGTON – Construction at the White House might have contributed to an incident in August in which the president’s helicopter came dangerously close to a commercial jet over Washington, according to a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board.According to the report, work to build a new ballroom at the White House forced officials to move the helicopter’s takeoff location temporarily from the South Lawn to the Ellipse, the park south of the White House.But the new location might have been less optimal for communicating with air traffic controllers, leading to communication glitches, the report said.Technicians “conducted a coverage analysis and determined that there was not adequate line-of-sight to ensure communications” between the Ellipse and the tower ”while construction was ongoing at the White House,” the board’s report reads.The report chronicled how garbled communications caused the airport controller to miss multiple warnings from the helicopter crew that they were minutes from takeoff – a notification that would have signalled to the controller to temporarily ground planes while the helicopter passed through the area.Instead, the controller allowed an Envoy Air jet bound for Pensacola, Florida, to depart from an airport runway just as Marine One was about to take off, resulting in the plane and the helicopter passing each other less than 1.6km apart.The board’s findings are preliminary, and its investigation of the incident is ongoing.The White House grounds have been the site of extensive construction, as crews work 20 hours a day, seven days a week, to make progress on US President Donald Trump’s plans to build a massive ballroom.The project has been hotly contested, but last week, the Supreme Court temporarily allowed Trump to forge ahead while it considered whether the 90,000-sq-ft project could be completed.Representatives for the White House did not address questions about the role that the White House ballroom construction might have played in the incident.“Marine One flights are piloted by the finest aviators in the world, and the White House maintains the utmost confidence in these patriots and other security officials who are responsible for ensuring the president’s safety,” Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement.“Although the president was at no point in harm’s way during the Aug 4 momentary loss of separation, the White House continues to work with relevant military, FAA, and other security personnel to ensure the president’s continued safety.”Under current procedures, controllers are expected to keep the congested skies around Ronald Reagan National Airport clear of traffic when the president’s helicopter is traversing the area.In the wake of the Aug 4 incident, Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, said the president was never in danger because the flight paths of the two aircraft would not have converged. He blamed the incident on faulty telecom issues.Earlier this week, Bryan Bedford, who leads the Federal Aviation Administration, told reporters that his agency had made changes to communication procedures and relocated an air traffic antenna to help fix the problems.“The FAA took immediate action following the Aug 4 incident involving Marine One,” Hannah Walden, a spokesperson for the FAA, said in a statement, listing the changes that Bedford had referenced earlier in the week.On Aug 27, just hours after the NTSB released its preliminary report, air traffic controllers again appeared to have difficulty receiving transmissions from Marine One, just minutes before it was due to depart the Ellipse.They relied on other helicopters operating nearby to prepare for the president’s departure.“Eagle 2, Marine One is trying to reach you at three minutes to lift,” one helicopter was heard radioing the control tower at Reagan National, according to transmissions captured on LiveATC.net, a site that compiles and posts recordings of air traffic audio collected by aviation enthusiasts.“Do me a favour: I can’t hear Marine One,” the controller said a couple of minutes later to another helicopter pilot. “If you hear Marine One, can you let me know?”A little more than a minute later, the controller could be heard making contact with the Marine One crew, and the takeoff proceeded without incident, with controllers halting other traffic before takeoff.When asked about the incident, Walden said in a statement that the sequence had been smooth.“The three-minute notification was communicated by alternate means, acknowledged by a controller, and positive contact was established with Marine One before takeoff,” she said.But the events nonetheless harked back to the 2025 tragic collision over National Airport, in which a passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair, killing 67.That accident focused national scrutiny on long-standing shortfalls in air traffic control staffing, and revealed that senior FAA officials had ignored years of warnings that crisscrossing flight paths through the skies surrounding the airport posed critical safety risks.
Read briefing The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has poured tens of millions of dollars into races nationwide through the United Democracy Project.WASHINGTON – The most powerful pro-Israel lobby in the United States is spending more than any other outside group on the 2026 midterms – even as its once-coveted backing becomes an increasingly potent weapon for political opponents.The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has poured tens of millions of dollars into races nationwide through its main election-spending vehicle, the United Democracy Project (UDP).The so-called “super PAC” – a group allowed to lavish unlimited sums to influence elections, provided it operates independently of candidates – has spent US$54 million (S$68.6 million) on congressional races, according to campaign finance monitor OpenSecrets.That has made it the single largest outside spender of the cycle, OpenSecrets said, while the wider pro-Israel donor network spent US$71 million – placing it second only to the cryptocurrency industry.The extraordinary financial firepower underscores AIPAC’s continued influence in Washington – but also a growing backlash over US policy towards Israel and the role of wealthy interest groups in American elections.AIPAC has concentrated much of its spending on Democratic primaries, supporting candidates strongly committed to Israel and trying to defeat critics of unconditional US military aid.It did not respond to a request for comment, but it has rejected suggestions that its influence is collapsing, saying hundreds of candidates it backed have won their primaries.Its money has indeed delivered victories in 2026, but also some expensive failures.In Michigan, AIPAC and allied groups spent around US$30 million in an unsuccessful effort to prevent progressive former health official Abdul El-Sayed from winning the Democratic Senate nomination over establishment-backed Congresswoman Haley Stevens.Progressives have also defeated candidates supported by AIPAC-linked money in congressional contests in California, Illinois and New York, often turning the group’s spending itself into a campaign issue.Eli Clifton, of US foreign policy think-tank the Quincy Institute, said UDP was the biggest spender in Michigan, although 97 per cent of its large contributions came from outside the state – and its biggest donors are Republican billionaires.“This is a special interest that participates outside of the partisan framework, and it’s really all about advancing the interests of a foreign country,” he told AFP.Allies of Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, recently asked AIPAC not to run advertisements publicly on his behalf, US media reported, fearing its overt involvement would benefit El-Sayed in the Arab-American heartland.The discomfort reflects a broader transformation in US attitudes towards Israel following years of war in Gaza and widening conflict across the Middle East.A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48 per cent of American voters believed Washington was too supportive of Israel, including 66 per cent of Democrats – the highest overall figure in nine years of the survey.The change has been clearest on the Democratic left, where candidates increasingly portray AIPAC as too closely aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and emblematic of big-money interests overwhelming ordinary voters.But criticism has spread to the populist right, where some “America First” conservatives have attacked Washington’s support for Israel and blamed pro-Israel lobbying for drawing the United States deeper into foreign conflicts.AIPAC’s financial strength, meanwhile, continues to grow. OpenSecrets says the organisation itself has contributed US$30 million to UDP.And its political power remains formidable, with US military aid to Israel continuing to attract broad support in Congress.But the primaries have demonstrated that record spending cannot guarantee victory – and a once-prized endorsement can now, in some races, be something candidates would rather their opponents talked less about.“That’s precisely why they never mention US foreign policy and Israel in their ads,” Casey Kennedy, co-founder of the Track AIPAC advocacy platform, told AFP.“AIPAC knows AIPAC is toxic, and the more they spend, the more toxic they become with voters across the political spectrum.” AFP
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