World

A dispute over allegedly looted Ukrainian grain has pushed Kyiv and Israel into a sharp diplomatic clash, opening another front in the international fallout from Russia’s war. Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, has for months accused Russia of shipping out agricultural goods taken from occupied areas seized after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion. "Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a statement on…

A new indictment has thrust former FBI director James Comey back into the legal and political spotlight, accusing him of threatening US President Donald Trump’s life just five months after an earlier case against the longtime Trump critic was dismissed. Handed up by a grand jury in North Carolina, the indictment centers on an Instagram post Mr Comey, 65, shared in May last year showing the numbers "86 47" arranged in seashells. At the time, Mr Trump told Fox News that "86" was slang for kill and that "47" pointed to his…

Australia is moving to tighten the screws on the world’s biggest tech companies, unveiling draft laws that would tax Meta, Google and TikTok unless they voluntarily reach payment agreements with local news publishers. The proposal lands as traditional media organisations worldwide fight to stay afloat while audiences increasingly turn to social media for headlines, updates and breaking news. Canberra’s position is straightforward: if major digital platforms share articles that help draw users to their services, local…

South Sudan is sliding deeper into a hunger emergency, with nearly two-thirds of the population — about 7.9 million people — facing acute food insecurity as fighting flares again between government and opposition forces. The heaviest violence has gripped Jonglei State, where troops loyal to President Salva Kiir have been fighting militias aligned with his longtime rival, Riek Machar, since December. The renewed clashes have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in a nation already ranked among the poorest and most corrupt…

A courtroom fight with sweeping implications for the future of artificial intelligence gets underway today, as billionaires Elon Musk and Sam Altman face off over OpenAI’s transformation from a nonprofit venture into a profit-driven powerhouse valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Opening statements in Mr Musk's civil case against OpenAI and Mr Altman are set for federal court in Oakland, California, after nine jurors were selected yesterday. Mr Musk alleges that Mr Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI's chief executive…

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has accused Israeli authorities of systematically denying Gaza’s population the water needed to survive, describing the policy as a form of “collective punishment” against Palestinians. The medical charity said the widespread destruction of civilian water systems across the enclave, combined with restrictions on access, forms “an integral part of Israel’s genocide”. In its report, "Water as a Weapon", MSF said this “engineered scarcity” is unfolding in parallel with the…

A 21-year-old man has appeared in court in Austria accused of helping plot an attack on a Taylor Swift concert, a threat that forced the cancellation of the pop star’s scheduled 2024 performances in the country. Authorities pulled the plug on three summer 2024 dates on Ms Swift’s record-setting "Eras" tour after warning that an alleged attack was in the works. Beran A., brought into court by masked police officers, has remained in custody since his arrest in August 2024 and is charged with terror-related crimes along with…

Nathan Chasing Horse, once known for his role in Dances With Wolves, has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls. A Nevada judge handed down the sentence on Monday, after a jury had earlier found him guilty on 13 counts, most tied to the sexual assault of three women. Jurors cleared him on several other charges. Chasing Horse, 49, will become eligible for parole after 37 years behind bars. In court, accusers and relatives told Judge Jessica Peterson they are still living with the…

President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s latest outline for ending the two-month war, according to a US official, dealing a fresh blow to hopes of defusing a conflict that has rattled energy markets, pushed up inflation and left thousands dead. The new Iranian proposal would postpone any discussion of Tehran’s nuclear programme until the war — paused after a ceasefire announced earlier this month — is formally over and disputes over Gulf shipping are settled. Mr Trump opposes that sequencing and wants nuclear matters on…

Russia has moved to tighten its crackdown on LGBTQ activism, with a court declaring the country’s leading LGBTQ rights group “extremist” — a ruling that effectively bans the organisation and exposes its supporters to prosecution. The decision marks the latest step in a years-long campaign against LGBTQ organisations, one that has intensified sharply since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and deepened an already forceful conservative shift. A court in Saint Petersburg sided with a case filed by the…