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Iran targets doctors and lawyers for helping protesters

In the days after Iran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters, Amir*, a doctor in a private clinic outside Tehran, came face-to-face with one of the Islamic regime’s spies.
According to Amir, the man had entered the clinic during a night shift posing as a patient. Once the time of his appointment came, the man began interrogating the doctor.
He asked whether Amir had been working on the nights of 8 and 9 January – the most deadly 48 hours of the protests, when security forces began firing lethal rounds on protesters under the cover of an internet blackout.
open image in galleryShotgun pellets in the foot area of a patient seen in CT scan and X-ray images (Supplied)“I dodged the questions as much as I could,” Amir says. “I think he was there to scare me more than to gather information because I think they have the information.”
Although he did not disclose this to his interrogator, Amir wasn’t supposed to be working on that now infamous 8 January: a bloodstained date that ..

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Pakistan launches strikes on Afghanistan, with Taliban saying dozens killed

Pakistan launches strikes on Afghanistan, with Taliban saying dozens killed2 hours agoShareSaveOttilie MitchellShareSaveEPA/ShutterstockIslamabad said the strikes were launched on Afghanistan following recent suicide bombings in PakistanPakistan has carried out multiple overnight air strikes on Afghanistan, which the Taliban has said killed and wounded dozens of people, including women and children.
Islamabad said the attacks targeted seven alleged militant camps and hideouts near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and that they had been launched after recent suicide bombings in Pakistan.
Afghanistan condemned the attacks, saying they targeted multiple civilian homes and a religious school.
The fresh strikes come after the two countries agreed to a fragile ceasefire in October following deadly cross-border clashes, though subsequent fighting has taken place.
The Taliban's defence ministry said the strikes targeted civilian areas of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
Officials in Nangar..

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Iran students stage first large anti-government protests since deadly crackdown

Iran students stage first large anti-government protests since deadly crackdown12 hours agoShareSaveSiavash Mehdi-Ardalan,BBC PersianandJaroslav LukivShareSaveScuffles break out at Sharif University in TehranStudents at several universities in Iran have staged anti-government protests – the first such rallies on this scale since last month's deadly crackdown by the authorities.
The BBC has verified footage of demonstrators marching on the campus of the Sharif University of Technology in the capital Tehran on Saturday. Scuffles were later seen breaking out between them and government supporters.
A sit-in was held at another Tehran university, and a rally reported in the north-east. Students were honouring thousands of those killed in mass protests in January.
The US has been building up its military presence near Iran, and President Donald Trump has said he is considering a limited military strike.
The US and its European allies suspect that Iran is moving towards the development ..

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UAE launches pioneering gene therapy to treat autism and rare brain disorders in children

UAE breaks new ground in children’s healthcare with cutting-edge gene therapy initiatives / AI Image The UAE has officially entered a new era of “precision medicine.” Moving away from simply managing symptoms, Emirates Health Services (EHS) recently unveiled two ambitious gene therapy projects designed to strike at the root causes of autism and rare brain disorders. By leveraging genetic engineering, the UAE isn't just treating patients, it’s aiming to “repair” the biological blueprints that cause these conditions in the first place.Gene therapy in the UAEThe United Arab Emirates has unveiled two groundbreaking gene therapy projects focused on treating serious neurological and genetic conditions in children. These efforts mark a major shift from conventional symptom-based care to tackling the underlying genetic causes of disease, potentially transforming neurodevelopmental healthcare in the region.One key project focuses on genetic causes linked to autism and epilepsy. It is being..

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Elon Musk is no longer the richest person in the world? How this Nottingham Woman surpassed him to become a ‘quadrillionaire’ (but on paper)

Source: Nottingham Post Sophie Downing, a 29-year-old business owner from Nottingham, has reportedly become the richest person in history according to a local coffee shop receipt. The catch is that her fortune can only be spent at 200 Degrees Coffee.The Nottingham story began with a simple Christmas gift. Sophie received a voucher that she thought was £10 for the café. When she tried to buy a matcha latte last week, the till displayed an astonishing balance of over £63 quadrillion. A person richer than the world’s richest man? Strange! It is roughly 100,000 times more than Elon Musk’s net worth and 670 times the total value of the world economy.Check below the whole story of Sophie, who is the ‘Richest Person in the History’, but only for COFFEE?Nottingham woman finds coffee voucher worth tens of quadrillionsSophie first used the card at the Flying Horse Walk branch on February 12. The barista reportedly froze when the balance appeared on the screen. “His face was just like, ‘what?’” s..

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Furious Trump hits out at ‘terrible’ Supreme Court as he announces blanket 10% tariffs on all countries

Donald Trump has announced a 10 per cent global tariff on “all countries” to replace ones struck down by the Supreme Court, calling the ruling “terrible” and branding the justices who rejected his trade policy as “fools”.
The US president’s “reciprocal tariffs”, imposed on most of the rest of the world last April under an emergency powers law, were overturned by the US Supreme Court on Friday in a major blow to the president’s economic agenda.
But he doubled down on imposing levies following the decision, claiming the court “has been swayed by foreign interests” and other countries were “dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long, that I can assure you”.
The UK scrambled to respond in the wake of the announcement, with ministers saying they expect the country’s “privileged trading position with the US” to continue following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The UK received the lowest tariff rate of 10 per cent, and a subsequent deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump saw..

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5 European nations to make drones by tapping Ukraine’s war experience

AdvertisementUkraine warWorldEurope5 European nations to make drones by tapping Ukraine’s war experienceThe initiative by France, Poland, Germany, the UK and Italy comes after a spate of violations of Europe’s airspace involving rogue drones
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAssociated PressPublished: 5:31pm, 21 Feb 2026Five European nations have announced a new programme to produce low-cost air defence systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise hard-won over the past four years of war against Russia.Friday’s initiative of the E5 nations – France, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy – comes as one of many European efforts to bolster defence along their borders, like a “drone wall” with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.Both Moscow and Kyiv have cutting-edge drone warfare capabilities forged in the grim laboratory of war where battlefield innovations have rewritten modern battle tactics. Poland is..

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Views of corruption in Philippines worsen as ‘grease money’ dents confidence

AdvertisementThe PhilippinesThis Week in AsiaEconomicsViews of corruption in Philippines worsen as ‘grease money’ dents confidenceA global index on corruption perceptions shows the Philippines posting its lowest ranking since 2012
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMP1Sam BeltranPublished: 5:00pm, 21 Feb 2026The Philippines has fallen in a global corruption perception ranking, as allegations of financial wrongdoings and court cases surrounding a multibillion-peso flood-control programme have deepened doubts about its governance and dented investor confidence.Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International said the Philippines ranked 120th out of 182 countries and territories in its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, down six places from the previous year.
The country received a score of 32 on a scale of zero as “highly corrupt” to 100 being “very clean”, one point less than its score in 2024 and the lowest it has received since 2012.
AdvertisementThe index released on February ..

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‘Leave immediately’: Residents in Australia’s Victoria state urged to flee out-of-control bushfire

Residents in Australia’s Victoria state were told to flee on Saturday after an out-of-control bushfire tore through steep, forested country.
The blaze began on Thursday night near Gaffneys Creek, located about 50 km northeast of state capital Melbourne.
Victorian emergency services issued the state’s highest alert for residents around the A1 Mine Settlement after the fire moved rapidly along ridgelines, leading to road closures.
“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous,” Victoria Emergency said on its website.
State response controller Alistair Drayton told ABC News that the bushfire was burning in “remote mountainous terrain which is difficult for crews to access from the ground”.
Firefighters had managed to contain the fire’s western edge, but they were still working round-the-clock to bring it under control.
“The fire is burning in complex and steep terrain, with crews working around the clock. They are using heavy machinery to build contain..

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Trump lashes out at Supreme Court justices over tariffs ruling

Trump lashes out at Supreme Court justices over tariffs ruling 7 hours agoShareSaveDaniel BushWashington correspondentShareSaveWatch: Trump says he's “ashamed” of Supreme Court judges over tariffs rulingUS President Donald Trump lashed out in unusually personal terms against the six Supreme Court justices who handed him one of the biggest setbacks of his second term in office by striking down the administration's global tariffs.
The court's Friday ruling was “deeply disappointing”. The justices who joined the majority opinion should be “absolutely ashamed” and lacked the courage to “do the right thing”, Trump said, turning his response into a sweeping attack against a co-equal branch of government.
The broadside was remarkable even for a president known for blowing past political norms and publicly berating those who challenge his authority.
“I'm ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our co..