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The administration of US President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block the spending of $4.9bn on foreign aid programs The administration of US President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to freeze $4.9 billion in foreign assistance funds approved by Congress. The move follows a ruling last week by Federal District Judge Amir Ali, who said the administration cannot unilaterally withhold billions in foreign aid that Congress has already approved. Under the US Constitution, only Congress can decide how federal money is spent, and the executive branch is legally required to carry out the appropriations unless Congr…

Dutch municipalities have said their shelters are full as arrivals continue Ukrainian immigrants can no longer be housed in Dutch townships as shelters are at capacity and people are being turned away, according to the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). About 4.7 million people have fled Ukraine to other parts of Europe since the conflict between Moscow and Kiev escalated in February 2022. Around 120,000 have gone to the Netherlands, including men who have left the country to avoid mobilization. According to the VNG, “almost” all of the 97,000 municipal shelter spaces in the Netherlands are occupied, while around 300 …

Latvian authorities have reportedly ordered 841 individuals who refused to take or failed a mandatory language test to leave the country Latvian authorities have ordered 841 Russian citizens to leave the country, citing their failure to take or pass a mandatory language test, state-owned broadcaster LTV has reported. Since independence in 1991, Latvia has refused to grant citizenship to a large section of the minority group, issuing them instead “non-citizen passports.” The latter bar holders from voting or working in certain sensitive jobs. Russian speakers currently comprise approximately 25% of the Baltic country’s total populati…

Poland says it is closing crossings with Belarus due to security concerns related to Moscow-Minsk military drills Poland will close its border with Belarus later this week as Minsk prepares to hold joint military exercises with Moscow, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday. The Zapad-2025 military drills, scheduled for September 12-16, is part of regular strategic exercises held roughly every four years by Russia and Belarus. Tusk described the maneuvers as “very aggressive” and staged “very close to the Polish border.” “The response includes maneuvers on our side, by the Polish military and allied forces,” Tusk said duri…

Scott Bessent reportedly had a heated clash with housing regulator Bill Pulte at a private Trump-aligned dinner US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allegedly threatened to punch Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte “in the f***ing face” during a private dinner, according to media reports. The confrontation was reportedly defused by a club co-owner and ended with the two being seated apart. The exchange allegedly took place last week at the Executive Branch club in Washington DC, a private club co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., during a dinner hosted for podcaster Chamath Palihapitiya’s birthday. Bessent reportedly l…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that unilateral tariffs are undermining emerging markets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a call for solidarity and reform at the Extraordinary BRICS Leaders Meeting on Monday, warning that the world faces an era of “disruption and chaos” that threatens to derail development in the Global South. In an address, Ramaphosa said the global economic landscape is undergoing seismic shifts—from unipolarity to multipolarity—characterised by rising geopolitical tensions, trade wars, and a resurgence of protectionism that is exacting a toll on developing economies. ”The uncertainty of the…

The IDF attacked the group’s headquarters in Qatar, with around ten explosions reported Israel has conducted a “precise strike” against the “senior leadership of Hamas,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Tuesday, shortly after multiple blasts rocked the headquarters of the Palestinian militant group in Doha, Qatar. DETAILS TO FOLLOW View the full article

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has insisted the facility on the Blue Nile poses no harm, seeking to calm the fears of downstream Egypt and Sudan Ethiopia has officially inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric plant, a controversial project expected to generate up to 5.15 gigawatts of power for the landlocked nation, where nearly half the population is estimated to lack access to electricity. The inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile on Tuesday went ahead despite fierce opposition from downstream Egypt and Sudan, which fear the project will disrupt vital water flows. “To our brothers: E…

American funds should not be used for “foreign wars” while the country faces $37 trillion in debt, Marjorie Taylor Greene has claimed US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has proposed removing $600 million in Ukraine support from the draft Pentagon spending bill, arguing that Americans’ “hard-earned tax dollars” should not go to foreign aid. The Georgia Republican proposed cancelling the allocation of these funds in the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years to shift priorities toward the US. With Donald Trump back in the White House, the US has dramatically cut military aid to Kiev, pausing more than $1 billion in planned funds. …

Valery Gerasimov, who has led the Russian troops in the Ukraine conflict since 2023, received the decoration for “bravery and selflessness” Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded Chief of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, the ‘Order of Courage,’ according to a presidential decree published on Tuesday. The state decoration, established in 1994, recognizes selfless acts of courage and valor. The official notice said the award was given to Gerasimov “for courage, bravery and selflessness shown in the performance of military duty.” The 70-year-old general has headed the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces since 2…

Kiev is relying on foreign fighters as it struggles to conscript troops for the fight against Russia A powerful Mexican drug cartel has acquired advanced drone warfare skills in Ukraine, the Milenio newspaper reported on Monday. Moscow has long argued that the Ukraine conflict fuels global instability by spreading weapons and fostering reckless behavior by Kiev in pursuit of its war aims. Foreign fighters have become a key part of Ukraine’s military strategy as authorities face resistance to conscription at home. Milenio examined propaganda materials released by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a major criminal group based…

PM K.P. Sharma Oli and several other ministers have quit after a standoff with youth protesters at anti-corruption rallies led to 19 deaths Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and three ministers have resigned after deadly protests over alleged government corruption left multiple people dead in the capital, Kathmandu. The demonstrations, led mainly by people in their late teens and early 20s, erupted on Monday after authorities banned several major social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and X. The protests turned violent, with 19 confirmed dead in Kathmandu and about 400 injured, including more than 100 police offi…

Falling birth rates and a shrinking population have prompted new initiatives to discourage terminating pregnancies A college in Russia has introduced an abortion-prevention course. The Primorsky Vocational College in Crimea said on its website this week that the experimental program will run through the 2025-2026 school year, with two events scheduled each month. The aim of the course is to raise students’ awareness of the legal and ethical repercussions of terminating a pregnancy and to educate them on reproductive health. The classes will be conducted by a psychologist and a class teacher. Among the planned events are a debate ti…

Seven Algerian minors traveled nearly 300km by boat and eventually arrived in Ibiza The Spanish authorities have detained seven Algerian teenagers who crossed nearly 300km of open sea in a recreational boat to reach the Spanish island of Ibiza in what local media is calling an unprecedented case. The teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 17, turned up on Playa d’en Bossa beach aboard a Geisa Naval Open 550 motorboat that was reported stolen in Algeria, Algerie360 said on Sunday. It is believed that the journey across the Mediterranean happened spontaneously because the teenagers were wearing only casual beach clothes, used a mobile …

The worst act of eco-terrorism in recent history has become a surreal exercise in convenient blame-shifting Once upon a time, long, long ago, scandals had consequences even in the West, at least sometimes. In the ancient US of 1974, Richard ‘Tricky Dick’ Nixon had to go because of Watergate, which, unlike Russiagate, was real, if hardly sensational by our standards today. Even in the late 1990s, early post-unification Germany, the career of a giant like Helmut ‘chancellor of unification’ Kohl took a lethal hit from a rather boring affair turning on creative accounting in party finances. Indeed, biased media hype and liberal pearl-cl…

Beijing is reportedly preparing to reopen its domestic bond market to major companies including Rosatom and Gazprom Major Russian companies, including nuclear giant Rosatom and gas major Gazprom, are considering issuing yuan-denominated ‘panda bonds’, according to media reports. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Russian companies have been barred from Western capital markets under sweeping sanctions, pushing them to seek financing alternatives in Asia. Now China is preparing to reopen its domestic bond market to major Russian energy companies, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Chinese regulators reportedly…

Boris Johnson is suspected of misusing public funds for personal gain and bending ethical rules Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has profited from contacts and influence he gained while in office, The Guardian alleged on Monday, citing a trove of leaked documents. The outlet said it had obtained about 2GB of files, including emails, letters, invoices, spreadsheets, speeches, and contracts, from the Office of Boris Johnson, the company that manages his post-government business dealings. Most of the material covers September 2022 to July 2024 but the trove also includes earlier records from his premiership. The Guardian hi…

Sudanese officials have reportedly hailed the withdrawals as a major step toward restoring security and rebuilding Khartoum Sudan’s transitional government has announced the withdrawal of troops from the capital, Khartoum. The move is aimed at enabling residents who fled the city to return after more than two years of a brutal civil war that has devastated the African state. More than 3,000 fighters, representing 98% of the state’s combat forces, have been withdrawn and redeployed outside Khartoum State, Ibrahim Jaber, the chairman of the committee overseeing the capital’s reconstruction, told journalists on Sunday, according to loc…

K P Sharma Oli has quit over the recent fatal standoff with young demonstrators Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday, as furious protests against th government intensified across the Himalayan nation’s capital, Kathmandu. Nepal’s army has confirmed that Oli and six cabinet ministers were moved to an undisclosed location after protesters set fire to the residences of both the prime minister and the vice president. Anti-government and anti-corruption protests turned violent after several major social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and X, were banned on Monday. The ban was revoked on Tuesday. …

The artist’s latest mural appearing to critique the misuse of judicial power has sparked an investigation Secretive street artist Banksy could be unmasked by a UK police probe into his new mural in London, The Telegraph has reported. Known for his politically charged and socially critical works, Banksy has kept his identity hidden for more than 25 years. According to the newspaper, the Metropolitan Police is investigating graffiti that appeared on an external wall of the Queen’s Building, part of the Royal Courts of Justice complex, on Monday. The mural shows a judge in a wig and gown holding a gavel about to strike a protester, who…

Peter Navarro has claimed that the members of the group have “long hated each other” White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro has claimed that the BRICS group is unlikely to last because the members have “long hated each other.” In an interview with US President Donald Trump’s former strategist, Steve Bannon, on Monday, Navarro said none of the BRICS members could survive without selling products to the US. ”India has been at war with China for decades… and I just remembered, it was China that gave Pakistan the nuclear bomb,” Navarro told Bannon. “They have ships flying around the Indian Ocean with Chinese flags. [Indian Prime Minis…

Kathmandu has been forced to reverse a restriction it had imposed on websites such as X, YouTube, and Facebook The Nepalese government has reversed its decision to ban social media sites, following violent protests that resulted in 19 deaths and over 400 injuries. The protests, led by people mostly in their late teens and early 20s, broke out on Monday after several major social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and X, were banned. These sites were among 26 that were blocked for failing to register under new regulations, which local media reports said censored free speech. Clashes intensified when demonstrators broke t…

Other released documents include the sex offender’s will and his 2007 non-prosecution agreement with authorities The House Oversight Committee has published hundreds of pages of records from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, including the financier’s so-called “birthday book,” with chair James Comer (R-Ky.) accusing Democrats of selectively “cherry-picking” documents to smear President Donald Trump. The disclosure on Monday evening followed a subpoena issued to the Epstein estate in late August. Alongside the 238-page “birthday book,” the panel released Epstein’s will, his 2007 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Flor…

The Democrats published a note featuring a drawing of a woman’s body and allegedly signed by the US president The Trump administration has reacted to the release of a note that Democrats claim was written by President Donald Trump for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, dismissing it as “fake news” designed to fuel a political hoax. The note, published Monday as part of congressional documents, included typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, ending with the words: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” It appeared to be signed “Donald” below the waistline of the drawing. White House…

The US president’s son has accused social media activists of hypocrisy Donald Trump Jr. has criticized social media users who display the Ukrainian flag in their online profiles but have remained silent about the recent killing of a young Ukrainian woman in North Carolina. Irina Zarutskaya, who fled Ukraine after the escalation of the conflict in 2022, was fatally stabbed on August 22 while riding a Charlotte light rail train. Surveillance footage released by authorities over the weekend shows her being ambushed and brutally attacked from behind. “Strangely, all the clowns with Ukraine flags in their bio are also all silent on this…