Category: Culture

A US Air Force refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq during a mission linked to the ongoing war with Iran, according to military officials.
“Rescue operations are ongoing,” the officials said, adding that they were trying to establish the full details of the incident.
“US Central Command is aware of the loss of a US KC-135 refuelling aircraft,” Centcom, which runs US military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement.
“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing.”
However, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of armed factions backed by Iran, said it was responsible for downing the aircraft.
The group said in a statement it had shot down the aircraft “in defence of our country’s sovereignty and airspace”.
Centcom said “two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely”.
“This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” it adde..

Elon Musk’s disciples in his so-called Department of Government Efficiency were embedded across federal agencies with a mandate to fire thousands of public employees and radically cut federal spending.
When Musk deployed DOGE into the National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides vital financial support to research and arts programs, Musk’s staff abruptly choked off more than 1,400 grants, eliminating tens of millions of dollars in public funding within less than a month.
More than 10 hours of newly released video testimony from January uncovers how two DOGE operators relied on ChatGPT and their own largely uninformed judgments to make sweeping decisions about funding for a range of programs and projects — and the people who rely on them.
The depositions, stemming from a lawsuit from the Modern Language Association, the American Council of Learned Societies and the American Historical Association, included testimony from two young DOGE officials, Justin Fox and Nathan Cavanaugh..

Fuel tankers erupt in flames after Iranian boat attacks in GulfThe International Energy Agency warned on Thursday that the world is facing the worst oil supply disruption in history.
Oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel again after more fuel tankers were struck by explosive-laden boats in a suspected Iranian attack this morning.
Two tankers were ablaze in Iraqi waters on Thursday after what appeared to be Iranian strikes, as Iran warned the world should be ready for oil to hit $200 a barrel.
An Iraqi official told state media that its oil ports “have completely stopped operations.” Other countries have moved vessels out of the area as a precaution.
Three crew members are still believed to be trapped on a Thai-flagged bulk carrier hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
As oil markets felt the impact of the war on global trade, Donald Trump insisted that the US had won the war but didn’t want to have to go back every two years.
“We don’t want to leave early do we?” he said on W..

US drugmaker Eli Lilly has issued a public warning about potential health risks from compounded weight-loss drugs containing vitamin B12 and the active ingredient in its medication, Zepbound. The company stated on Thursday that a previously unidentified impurity, arising during preparation, could pose dangers to consumers.
This alert marks the latest move in Lilly's ongoing efforts against drug compounders, which it accuses of marketing illicit versions of Zepbound and its diabetes treatment, Mounjaro. Both drugs share the same key ingredient, tirzepatide. Lilly has initiated legal proceedings against various compounders, wellness centres, and other entities for selling products claiming to contain tirzepatide.
Conversely, compounders maintain their offerings are legitimate under a specific federal law. This provision permits compounding when patients require tailored medications due to medical concerns, such as the inclusion of vitamins or dosages not available in branded product..

Donald Trump's plans for Iran are “incoherent”, “incomplete”, and are on course to drag his administration into a state of “endless war”, a senior Democrat has warned.
The comments from Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy came after he attended a two-hour briefing on the White House's current aims for the conflict.
In a thread on X, Murphy said that while he was unable to share classified information, the private briefings indicate that Trump is unable to “defend this war in public”, and revealed that the administration is not seeking to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons programme, nor force regime change in the country.
“The war goals DO NOT involve destroying Iran's nuclear weapons program,” Murphy wrote, adding that this was surprising “since Trump says over and over this is a key goal”.
open image in galleryBlack smoke and flames billow over Iranian capital Tehran following strikes on an oil depot in the city (Middle East Images)”But then of course we already know a..

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon apparently isn’t feeling the same affordability struggles as many average Americans, as he approved spending more than $93 billion in September, including on luxury food items and iPads.
A new analysis published by government watchdog Open the Books found that in September — the end of the 2025 fiscal year — Hegseth reportedly burned through cash, including spending $9 million on crab and lobster dinners.
According to Military.com, an increase in military officials eating pricey meals has traditionally been viewed as a sign that something may be brewing — such as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran — though it appears Hegseth has been dining well at the Pentagon since at least last spring.
The spending review found that in the month of September alone, the Defense Department spent $6.9 million in total on lobster tail and $2 million on Alaskan king crab, according to the government watchdog. In 2025, the department also spent more than $7.4..

AI is being increasingly used by the US military – and Project Maven is at its heart.
An investigation by The Independent and conflict monitoring group Airwars has found that Abdul-Rahman al-Rawi, a 20-year-old student, is the first civilian killed in a series of airstrikes that were acknowledged to have been carried out with the assistance of AI.
Weeks after the strikes in Iraq in early February 2024, a senior US official boasted about the use of AI to help identify the targets in these strikes – but US Central Command later said it “did not know” whether AI had been involved.
AI in warfare has become an increasingly pressing issue.
Deadly US attacks across Iran, which have killed hundreds in the past week, are reported to have used Palantir’s Maven Smart System (MSS) to identify targets, a broader AI-enabled warfighting decision support system into which Project Maven is typically integrated.
open image in galleryUS military officials last week said American forces are likely respon..

Abdul-Rahman al-Rawi, a student working towards his diploma in construction, stepped out of his home in a quiet street in al-Qaim, north east Iraq, having heard a volley of noise overhead.
Within seconds, the 20-year-old was dead, killed instantly by the impact of a US missile destroying the stationary car he was standing next to in the early hours of that February morning in 2024.
His brother Anmar describes in grisly detail how his brother died in the attack, telling a joint investigation by conflict monitoring group Airwars and The Independent: “It took us two days to gather all of my brother’s remains.”
Abdul-Rahman was caught up in one of 85 co-ordinated attacks carried out by the US that night against Iraqi-government aligned forces and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
open image in gallery20-year-old Abdul-Rahman was killed in February 2024 by a US airstrike on Al-Qaim, Iraq (Anmar al-Rawi)The operation was deemed a success, with a senior American official subsequently..

Reports are emerging of black rain falling over parts of Iran in the hours after US-Israeli airstrikes on oil depots on the weekend, with some outlets describing it as “acid rain”.
Iranian residents have reported headaches, difficulty breathing, and oil-contaminated rain settling on buildings and cars. Iran’s Red Crescent Society warned rainfall following the strikes could be “highly dangerous and acidic.”
As an atmospheric chemist and chemical engineer who researches air pollution, these reports are very worrying, and indicate much more than just acid rain.
This rain would include acids, but also likely a host of other pollutants that are harmful to humans and the environment in the short and long term. It may even be worse than the term “acid rain” conveys.
More broadly, the thick clouds of toxic smoke over densely populated areas in Iran are also a major problem for anyone breathing this air right now.
What could this ‘acid rain’ be?One of the primary ways air pollutants are removed..

Mojtaba Khamenei named supreme leader to succeed father killed in strikes as oil prices surgeIsrael is using white phosphorous over civilian homes in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch has warned.
The organisation said it verified and geolocated seven images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed over a residential part of the southern Lebanese village of Yohmorand civil defense workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in the area.
The white-hot chemical substance can set buildings on fire and burn human flesh down to the bone. Survivors are at risk of infections and organ or respiratory failure, even if their burns are small.
“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“The incendiary effects of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.”
Meanwh..