Category: Australasia

On Monday, President Donald Trump made yet another unprecedented and violent threat against a country in the Middle East.
But this time the target of his ire was unexpected. Oman, an American ally for almost 200 years, would be bombed “to s***” if it interfered with a potential US-Iran peace deal, Trump told a FOX News reporter.
It was not the first time that Trump had threatened Oman, previously warning the country in May to “behave” or face potential military action.
Throughout the US-Israeli war in Iran, Muscat has endured retaliatory strikes across its ports and energy infrastructure but has still taken part in negotiations towards a resolution.
The Strait of Hormuz runs between both countries and it therefore has a personal interest in progress.
But Trump, growing increasingly frustrated with deadlocked talks after a 60-day interim deal expired on Monday, lashed out at the US ally on Monday warning: “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s**t out of them.”
Tehran says it has ..

Voters in Florida head to the polls on Tuesday as a Republican campaigning to become the state's first Black governor faces a crowded field and Democrats wage primary battles for a reduced pool of left-leaning seats under redrawn congressional maps.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is banking on President Donald Trump’s endorsement to claim the Republican gubernatorial nomination ahead of November. He is challenged in the primary by Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and political newcomer James Fishback.
Leading the Democratic field for governor is David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who changed party affiliation last year.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a prominent conservative who has both aligned and clashed with Trump, cannot seek election to a third straight term due to limits.
open image in galleryU.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is facing off against Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and political newcomer James Fishback in the primary (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)Tuesday’s primary contests will finalize the Nove..

The White House was forced to deny on Monday that Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ phone was hacked a second time after it emerged that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham received texts from a person he thought was President Donald Trump’s top aide.
Politico first reported that Burnham had briefly “engaged” with text messages purporting to be from Wiles, a veteran Florida political operative who is the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, before becoming concerned that the messages in question were not actually from Wiles.
The prime minister’s office said the “few messages” exchanged were “of no significance” and described the incident as a “national security matter” on which there would be no further comment.
But the incident was concerning enough that the British government contacted the White House about it through their embassy in Washington over fears that Wiles’ phone had been breached as it was a year ago, when business people and political figures began receiving t..

President Donald Trump has threatened to launch an attack on ally Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, which remains largely out of service amid the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
A 60-day period to negotiate a ceasefire deal between the parties expired on Monday with no news of an extension and talks deadlocked in the same position as two months ago.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s**t out of them,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Monday. The president had previously threatened to “blow up” the country in May if it did not “behave”.
He told the outlet that the US had a backchannel with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and added: “They should put up the white flag of surrender.”
open image in galleryPresident Donald Trump appears to have become increasingly frustrated by the conflict he started in the Middle East in February (AFP/Getty)The IRGC hit back at the comments saying they were “fantasies resulting from delusions and nightmares of defeat an..

It has been a summer defined by a single image: a raging fire tearing through woodland, sending thick plumes of black smoke into a dusty sky.
Across the world, wildfires have scorched more than 370 million acres of land across 80 countries so far this year, a land mass larger than France, Spain and Germany combined.
No region has been spared. Fires have torn through the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa, the lush rainforests of South America and the luxury resorts on France’s Atlantic coast, worsened by record-breaking heatwaves and widespread drought.
open image in galleryFirefighters looking at the burnt-out remains of a house following a blaze in Stourbridge (PA)In the UK, several heatwaves have triggered huge wildfires in the New Forest and the West Midlands in scenes described as “apocalyptic”. More than 1,017 blazes have raged so far this summer – topping last year’s record-breaking total – with almost half of those in July alone. And more than 1,400 acres – the equivalent to 900..

Hegseth says US can keep up naval blockade ‘indefinitely’ after Tehran vows to prolong warQatar has denied accusations from Iran that they are holding Iranian pilots.
Tehran was accused of violating Qatari airspace in March and failing to ⁠respond to attempts to contact them.
A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said on social media on Saturday that search and rescue teams later found the remains of one of ⁠the pilots and that it ​had ⁠contacted Iran to coordinate a handover.
The spokesperson said Tehran had yet to respond ⁠to an invitation to review details of its operations.
The ​statement ⁠came after Iranian ‌state news agency IRNA cited a senior military official as saying three Iranian pilots had been captured ‌alive by Qatari forces after ejecting ‌from fighter jets during a combat mission targeting a military base in Qatar.
An Iranian ​military official said on Sunday that Qatar should let an Iranian ⁠team in to investigate the fate of Iranian pilots who Tehran says are ⁠being..

Police are searching for multiple suspects after a shooting at Virginia State University left five people wounded early Saturday.
The shooting happened near the university's Quad Annexes, and both campus police and Chesterfield County police are actively investigating. County police said officers found five people suffering from gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories when they arrived.
The five victims were taken to hospitals, where one is in critical condition, county police said. The other victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The university said in a statement that the shooting involves “multiple suspects” and urged people to avoid the immediate area.
“VSU Police and the Chesterfield County Police Department are actively investigating,” the university statement said. “The campus community should continue to avoid the area and follow all law enforcement instructions.”
There is a large law enforcement presence on campus Saturday morning as the Bureau of ..

President Donald Trump issued a long Truth Social rant on Saturday, railing against the “TREASONISTS” who allegedly “revealed Top Military Secrets” by suing to stop the construction of his White House ballroom.
The “treasonists” in question are the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has opposed Trump's ballroom — the construction of which began only after the president ordered the East Wing of the White House demolished — and has sued to halt further building at the site.
“They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others. In this case, they are trying to stop one that is vital to our National Security, and the Safety of all Presidents of the United States, both current and future, their families, staff, and Cabinet members,” Trump wrote.
The president fought the lawsuit to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., where last week it ruled that the Constitution gives Congress — not the president — the power to mak..

Donald Trump’s administration is asking the Supreme Court for permission to build a massive ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing of the White House after a federal appeals court rejected the president’s attempts to construct the sprawling facility without approval from Congress.
Federal courts have allowed the president to continue construction on what officials have described as an expansive underground bunker while questioning the legality of the entire project after destroying the East Wing to make way for a 90,000 square foot facility that the administration argues is vital to national security and the president’s safety.
In a 2-to-1 ruling last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. said the Constitution gives Congress — not the president — authority to make substantial changes to the White House. That decision upheld an exclamation point-filled injunction by District Judge Richard Leon, who called the president the “steward” of the White House but not “the ow..

The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is defending a $1.7 billion plan to install barriers and other infrastructure in a national park on the Mexican border — despite opponents who say it would needlessly transform the far West Texas landscape.
Commissioner Rodney Scott said the barriers were needed to keep Big Bend National Park “safe, secure, and pristine so American families can enjoy the beauty of our country, free from fear of cartel activity, for generations to come.”
Scott also reiterated that the project had been scaled back from an earlier plan to erect a controversial border wall, saying, “We are NOT building a 30-foot wall or stadium lighting through Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, or the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.”
“What people are seeing right now is survey and design work — NOT construction of a wall through the park,” he said in a statement posted on the CBP website. “We are working to preserve the landscape and protect the access vis..