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GOP senator celebrates 'literally starving' Iranians: 'They can't feed themselves'
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) touted President Donald Trump's naval blockade of Iran because he said it was "literally starving" the people of the country.In an interview with Newsmax host Ed Henry this week, Marshall argued that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" after Trump suggested to CNBC that he was willing to begin bombing Iran again if negotiations failed."And, well, again, we have our foot on Iran's neck right now," the senator explained. "When the president walks in the room, he's negotiating. There's a camera in front of him. He's negotiating, and again he's negotiating with these irrational religious zealots, that's just next to impossible, so they need to know he's serious and he's dead serious.""If this turns into weeks, I think that's when we're going to start getting antsy," he continued. "But also, we had this embargo working as well, the blockade.""And we're literally starving them both financially, as well as they can't feed themselves either very long."Marshall argued that the lack of negotiations with Iran was "a good thing.""The embargo, the blockade is there as well," he remarked. "I've got confidence in the president. That the president's got this."
British woman died in Ghana trying to recoup money from scammers, inquest told
Janet Fordham died in crash after travelling to see man who claimed he would help to recover money from earlier scamsA British woman who was scammed out of up to £1m in a string of so-called romance frauds died in a road crash after travelling to west Africa to try to recoup some of her lost fortune, an inquest in Devon has heard.Janet Fordham was cheated of her life savings and her home over a period of five years by fraudsters apparently based in the UK, Germany, the US and Ghana, the inquest in Exeter was told. Continue reading...
Allies scratch heads after Trump’s 'naughty list' of bad friends leaks: report
European diplomats were left perplexed after the Trump administration’s “naughty and nice” list of NATO nations was leaked this week, though details as to how the White House intends to punish allies given the “naughty” designation remain scant, Politico reported Wednesday.According to three European diplomats and a Pentagon official “familiar with the plan,” the list “includes an overview of members’ contributions to the alliance and places them into tiers,” and was drafted as a means to help the Trump administration look “for ways to punish allies who refused to back the Iran war,” Politico’s report reads.“They don’t seem to have very concrete ideas… when it comes to punishing bad allies,” a European official told Politico on the condition of anonymity. “Moving troops is one option, but it mainly punishes the U.S. doesn’t it?”Joel Linnainmäki, a former Finnish official who assisted in the nation’s 2023 acceptance into NATO – an acronym for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – was left equally confused by the Trump administration’s intentions behind the drafting of the list.“[President Donald] Trump and his team are busy trying to extract themselves from their self-inflicted quagmire,” Linnainmäki told Politico. “Likely the administration does not have the bandwidth to open another hostile front with Europe as long as the war continues.”Trump has long been a critic of NATO, with tensions escalating amid his administration’s war against Iran as NATO countries refused to join in the efforts.“Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social last month. “They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran.”Trump has also floated leaving the NATO alliance, a move that critics noted would likely be illegal due to U.S. law strictly prohibiting a president from single-handedly terminating the United States’ NATO membership.
Heatwaves, floods and wildfires pose rising threat to democracy, report finds
Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather.At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted by climate-related impacts over the last two decades, researchers found. Continue reading...
Millions in India stripped of vote before critical state election, as government seeks to ‘purify’ electoral roll
Experts say Muslims and other minorities have been disproportionately deleted from the electoral roll ahead of the West Bengal elections this weekMillions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchisement of minorities.In West Bengal, a total of 9.1 million names have been deleted from the register, more than 10% of the electorate. While many were dead or duplicates, about 2.7 million people have challenged their expulsions, but still been removed. Continue reading...
Condom prices could rise 30% due to Iran war, says world’s top producer Karex
Karex produces more than 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands like Durex and Trojan, as well as the NHS The world’s top condom producer, Malaysia’s Karex Bhd, plans to raise prices by 20% to 30% and possibly further if supply chain disruptions drag on due to the Iran war, its chief executive has said.Karex is also seeing a surge in condom demand as rising freight costs and shipping delays have left many of its customers with lower stockpiles than usual, CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Trump brags about only 'losing 13 men' in Iran war: 'We've done a great job'
President Donald Trump praised himself for "doing a great job" after 13 service members were killed in the Iran war.During a Tuesday interview on CNBC, Trump noted that many other wars lasted years instead of months."I would have won Vietnam very quickly," he reflected. "I would have, if I were president, I would have won Iraq in the same amount of time that we won [Iran] because essentially we've won here.""The Democrats can say, well, we should have done better," the president continued. "But we can't let traitors, like [Chuck] Schumer, put pressure on you where they say, we want out. Think how bad that is. I'm negotiating with these people."Trump insisted he wasn't going to rush into ending the war in Iran."And, you know, we have, I mean, if you look at this, what we've suffered in terms of losses, we lost 13 men, and that's terrible," he remarked. "But if somebody would have said, we've done this and obliterated that country, obliterated it, and we lost 13 men, people would have said, that's not possible to have done that. It's not possible.""So we've done a great job," he added, "and I don't want to be rushed by people that are really treasonous as far as I'm concerned."
Trump begs Iran for mercy based on viral post: 'Please do them no harm!'
President Donald Trump begged Iran's leadership to release eight women he believes will be executed as his administration attempts to negotiate a peace agreement.The 79-year-old president expressed hopes that a delegation, likely led by Vice President JD Vance, will strike a "great deal" with Iran during talks in Pakistan, but he shared a post from a pro-Israel influencer to set a new condition to open negotiations."To the Iranian leaders, who will soon be in negotiations with my representatives: I would greatly appreciate the release of these women," Trump posted Tuesday morning on Truth Social. "I am sure that they will respect the fact that you did so. Please do them no harm! Would be a great start to our negotiations!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP."Iran has executed at least 600 people so far this year, on pace to exceed the record 1,639 people executed last year, but the nation's government has not confirmed that eight women pictured in an X post by right-wing influencer Eyad Yakoby have been sentenced to death."BREAKING: The Islamic Republic is preparing to hang eight women," Yakoby posted Monday night. "Not a word from the international community or so-called human rights organizations."Yakoby's post shows photos of eight young women with their hair uncovered, which is legally required in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, and the post does not contain any identifying details about them or links to any other supporting evidence.
US troops warned against using dating apps amid 'psychological influence' campaign
The U.S. Navy has sounded the alarm in an urgent warning for sailors and their families to secure their social media as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran has prompted an increase in online threats, according to reports on Monday.In an unclassified memo, Secretary John Phelan told Navy personnel that “adversary cyber actors” were looking to “psychologically influence” service members, potentially using their family members to coerce them into opening potentially malicious links and files, The Hill reported.“In response to Operation EPIC FURY, adversary cyber actors are conducting a social engineering campaign actively targeting Department of the Navy (DON) personnel and their families via spear phishing and social media contacts,” according to the memo from April 17. Sailors were urged to scrub their personal information on Google and other search engines, and turn off location tracking, microphone and camera on their cellphones. Service members were also warned to "beware of dating or other apps that encourage or require the use/sharing of personal information" and be careful of any potential strangers who contact them. Officials also recommended sailors change their account settings on social media to the "highest level" of privacy.
Trump promises 'lots of bombs' if Iran doesn't negotiate by Tuesday
President Donald Trump warned that Iran would be on the receiving end of "lots of bombs" if the country's leaders did not negotiate with the U.S. before a ceasefire ends on Tuesday.In a Monday interview, PBS asked Trump about what would happen if the ceasefire with Iran expired on Tuesday."Then lots of bombs start going off," the president insisted. Trump admitted he "didn't know" whether Iran would attend talks in Pakistan."If they're not there, that's fine too," he said. The president was also asked about Jared Kushner's conflicts of interest after the son-in-law was included in the negotiating team. Kushner has business ties to the Middle East."He's purely negotiating for the fact that they're not going to have a nuclear weapon," Trump remarked. "Whether you have business or not, everybody knows that's the right thing. He's a very good negotiator.""We're not negotiating anything other than the fact that they will not have a nuclear weapon. And that's pretty basic when you get right down to it," he added. "He doesn't participate with Saudi now, as you know. He's taken… He doesn't do that. He has a business, but he doesn't participate now."
Pakistan seeks to raise its global standing in push for Middle East peace
Islamabad has seized chance to act as mediator in Iran war and hopes to reap diplomatic and economic benefitsAs Pakistan works frantically to narrow differences between Iran and the US in its newfound role as global peacemaker, it is also seeking to recast its diplomatic standing and attract business.Pakistani officials, mediating between an unpredictable US president and hardliners in Tehran, were on Monday trying to coax both sides to put the conditions in place for a second round of talks in Islamabad this week, including easing the standoff in the strait of Hormuz. Pakistan was optimistic that the meeting would happen, viewing objections voiced by the Iranian side and Donald Trump’s threats as posturing for domestic audiences. Continue reading...
Charlize Theron joins chorus of disapproval over Timothée Chalamet’s ballet comments
The former ballet dancer said Chalamet’s comments were ‘reckless’ in an interview with the New York Times in which she also discussed her violent childhoodActor and former ballet dancer Charlize Theron has joined the chorus of disapproval aimed at Timothée Chalamet over his remarks that appeared to disrespect performers of ballet and opera.In an interview with the New York Times, Theron said: “Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day,” adding: “That was a very reckless comment on two art forms that we need to lift up constantly because, yes, they do have a hard time. But in 10 years, AI is going to be able to do Timothée’s job, but it will not be able to replace a person on a stage dancing live.” Continue reading...
