TOP NEWS

Aug. 28 (UPI) — King Harald V of Norway died early Friday in an Oslo hospital where he was undergoing treatment for a rare blood disorder. He was 89 years old.

He passed peacefully at 6:35 a.m. local time, according to the Royal Palace, which said the royal flag was flying at half mast on the palace roof.

Family were called to his bedside after his condition worsened on Thursday at the national hospital, 10 days after he was admitted suffering from complications from haemolytic anaemia, a rare blood condition that depletes the number of red blood cells, causing fatigue and shortness of breath.

Harald leaves behind his wife Queen Sonja, also 89, the new king, Haakon, their daughter Princess Märtha Louise and six grandchildren.

King Haakon, 53, was due to hold an extraordinary council of state with the government later on Friday.

Harald’s cousin, King Charles, was among the first to pay their respects in a message in which he also wished Haakon, to whom he is godfather, “success and good fortune” as he assumes the monarchy.

In a statement on X, Charles and Queen Camilla said they were profoundly sad to hear his “dear cousin,” had died, extending their “deepest and most heartfelt condolences” to Queen Sonja and all her family, and saying Britain shared Norway’s grief at what he said was a time of “such heartbreaking loss.”

He said Britain and Norway shared a particularly close relationship dating back more than 120 years, with London one of the first capitals to recognize it following independence from Sweden in 1905 and that the allies’ bond was further strengthened by their shared “dreadful trials” during World War II.

Born in 1937, Harald’s mother brought him and his siblings to Sweden when the Nazis occupied Norway in 1940 and when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered them refuge, moved to Washington for the remainder of the war, returning to Norway in 1945.

After becoming crown prince at the age of 20, Harald served in the military and went up to Oxford University in 1962 where he studied studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College.

He broke with royal tradition in the face of the opposition of his father, King Olav V, by marrying the then-Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a businessman, in 1968, instead of a scion of one the European royal families.

Harald stepped up as regent in 1990 after Olav became ill and ascended the throne in 1991 after his father died on Jan. 17 of that year.

Judge blocks Trump’s mail voting rules for a second time, just days before ballots go out for the midterms.

A United States federal judge has for a second time blocked the Trump administration’s overhaul of election rules aimed at limiting voting by mail.

District Judge Indira Talwani late on Thursday blocked the US Postal Service’s new ballot rules for 14 days, hours after the agency said they had taken effect.

The ruling is part of an ongoing battle prompted by President Donald Trump’s bid to limit voting by mail, which is heating up as the US heads towards midterm elections in November that will decide control of Congress and the Senate.

Nearly a third of American voters cast votes by mail. The first ballots for the midterms are due to be sent out in about a week.

The new rules require states to submit approved voter lists and follow new ballot formatting before USPS can deliver voting slips. The restrictions were enacted on Thursday after the Supreme Court cleared the way for them.

Talwani wrote in a statement late on Thursday that states “have neither time nor funds” to redesign ballots, update election systems or train officials on the new USPS portal before the upcoming election.

The fight traces back to March, when Trump ordered the Postal Service to withhold ballots unless states supplied approved voter lists and new formatting rules.

Voting rights groups and democratic officials sued, arguing only states and Congress, not the president, can set election rules. Talwani agreed, blocking the rules over the summer.

On Monday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority threw out that earlier ruling on a technicality, saying that the legal challenge on which it was based was filed too early.

Democratic officials and voting rights groups quickly refiled their challenge once the rules became official, allowing Talwani to block them once more in a late-night order.

Separately, attorneys general from 24 states filed a new lawsuit this week making the same core argument: that only the Senate and Congress, not the president, can have constitutional authority to set election rules.

A hearing on the refiled case is scheduled for September 3, just as ballots are set to go out. That timeline means whatever Talwani or a higher court decides next could take effect as voting begins, or after it is already under way.

Who: Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield, Liverpool, United Kingdom
When: Saturday, August 29, at 12:30pm (11:30 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the buildup from 08:30 GMT ahead of our live text commentary stream

Both sides are looking for their first wins of the season, as Liverpool host Forest at Anfield.

Liverpool struggled in their first competitive game under new boss Andoni Iraola, although they battled to come back from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw away at Newcastle.

The Reds are still hoping to bolster their rather threadbare squad and are reportedly closing in on a deal to sign French forward Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain.

Meanwhile, Forest have lost their first two games of the season as they begin a new era under coach Oliver Glasner.

Forest lost both games at home to Leeds – the first a 1-0 defeat in their opening league game last weekend, the second a 2-0 midweek loss in the League Cup.

So both teams will be very eager to find their form at Anfield and get back to winning ways.

Iraola hoping for ‘good news soon’ in transfer market

Liverpool’s new boss said on Thursday it is no secret the club are in the hunt for more wingers after reports that the Reds are edging closer to a deal for Barcola.

Liverpool have also been credited with an interest in Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr as potential recruits to fill the void left by Mohamed Salah’s departure.

“We cannot talk about players that right now are not ours, but it is evident that we are trying to improve or try to fill that position because we don’t have the numbers,” Iraola told a pre-match news conference ahead of his home debut against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

“I hope we have good news soon but we are still not there.”

The arrival of French international Barcola could lead to Cody Gakpo’s exit from Anfield.

The Dutchman, who scored in Iraola’s first match in charge in a 2-2 draw at Newcastle last weekend, is reportedly a target for Manchester City and Tottenham.

“When the market is open, you cannot guarantee anything with anyone. You never know who’s going to arrive,” Iraola added when asked about Gakpo’s future.

“I would like to know how the market finishes but I don’t know what will happen with any of our players. I cannot guarantee anything.”

‘I’m no magician’: Glasner already feeling the heat

The Austrian expressed frustration with the recruitment situation at his new club after their second defeat to Leeds, saying that Forest had “ignored reality” after losing at home to Leeds for the second time in a matter of days.

“The fact is that this team had a relegation battle for nine months. Very turbulent season and it ended with a huge effort to stay in the league, and this is our starting point,” he said.

“It’s really very important not to blame anybody because sometimes I tell them facts and they say, ‘Oh, Glasner is complaining’.

“No, no, no. But [our] best midfielder [Elliot Anderson] leaves the club and now we expect we compete for European places because Oliver Glasner is in. Sorry, this is what I can’t deliver within six weeks.

“I’m no magician, no messiah, just hard work. That is what we have to do.”

Glasner should at least be pleased that Forest broke the club’s transfer record on Thursday to sign the talented, but out-of-favour young striker Liam Delap from Chelsea for a reported 45 million pounds ($61m).

Prediction

The Opta supercomputer has made Liverpool the favourites, with a win probability of 61.1 percent. Forest were given a 18.2 percent chance of winning, while a draw was estimated at a 20.7 percent likelihood.

Head-to-head

They have faced each other 124 times; Liverpool winning 61, Forest 33 and 30 draws.

Last five encounters:

• February 22, 2026: Forest 0-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
• November 22, 2025: Liverpool 0-3 Forest (Premier League)
• January 14, 2025: Forest 1-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
• September 14, 2024: Liverpool 0-1 Forest (Premier League)
• March 02, 2024: Forest 0-1 Liverpool (Premier League)

What happened when Liverpool and Forest last played?

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister struck the winner deep into stoppage-time as his side snatched a scarcely-deserved 1-0 win at Forest in the Premier League in February.

After a pedestrian 90 minutes in which they barely managed a shot on target, Mac Allister lit the fuse with a stoppage-time effort that was ruled out for handball before rifling home a rebound in the 97th minute to grab the win.

Liverpool’s team news

The Reds are missing a number of long-term casualties, including forward Hugo Ekitike, who is recovering from an Achilles injury, as well as right-back Conor Bradley and centre-back Giovanni Leoni, who have knee issues.

Defender Joe Gomez remains sidelined due to a muscle injury.

Alexander Isak is again likely to play at centre forward, with Florian Wirtz playing behind him in the number 10 role. Cody Gakpo is set to play on the left wing, despite reported interest from other clubs.

Victor Munoz impressed when he came off the bench against Newcastle, and may start out on the right wing in place of Rio Ngumoha.

Predicted starting XI:

Alisson (goalkeeper); Frimpong, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch; Munoz, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak

Forest’s team news

Defender Nicolo Savona has been ruled out after a setback in his return from a knee problem, while injured midfielder Ryan Yates is also set to miss out.

Full-back Neco Williams and playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White are both doubts due to knocks, although Forest are hopeful that both key players will be fit in time.

Predicted starting XI:

Sels (goalkeeper); Cunha, Milenkovic, Murillo; Aina, McAtee, Sangare, Netz; Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Jesus

Aug. 28 (UPI) — The Justice Department is suing four more states over offering in-state tuition benefits to qualifying undocumented students, for a total of 21 lawsuits filed against so-called Dream Acts amid the Trump administration’s anti-immigration push.

The lawsuits against Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington — all Democratic-led — were individually filed Thursday, alleging their laws providing undocumented students with in-state tuition and financial assistance unconstitutionally discriminate against out-of-state U.S. citizens to whom such benefits are not offered.

“By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and Arizona are pushing citizens to the side and ignoring federal law. No more,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. said in a statement.

“Our efforts will not cease until President Trump’s promise is fulfilled: illegal aliens will not receive benefits denied to American citizens.”

The Trump administration is asking the courts to enjoin the states from enforcing their so-called Dream Acts that require colleges and universities to offer the in-state benefits to certain noncitizen students. The lawsuits argue the laws conflict with a 1996 federal statute that bars states from offering in-state tuition to people not lawfully present in the United States unless a citizen of the United States is eligible for the same benefit without regard to whether they are a resident of the school’s state.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said he plans to fight the lawsuit.

“Washington State won’t be bullied into changing how we provide opportunities for young people in our state,” he said in a statement.

“We’ll see them in court, and we expect to win.”

The Justice Department has been targeting these laws following an April 2025 Trump-signed executive order that directed the attorney general to identify and stop enforcement of policies that favor “aliens over any groups of American citizens,” specifically highlighting Dream Act laws.

Proponents of these laws argue that they put postsecondary education within reach of those who otherwise would never have the opportunity to attend university, while reducing high school dropout rates as well as raising student incomes and tax contributions.

Of the 21 lawsuits, five states have been enjoined from enforcing their laws, while the other lawsuits continue to be litigated.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — The U.S. military said it has clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian mines, removing a major obstacle to President Donald Trump‘s goal of regaining freedom of navigation through the vital energy route, though Iran refutes the claim.

The strait has become a focal point in the U.S. war against Iran, which has been restricting maritime traffic at the chokepoint via military drones, missiles and mines since the conflict began.

Trump has repeatedly stated for months that the strait is open, despite the number of ships making it through each day dwindling from about 140 vessels to only a handful.

U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper announced in a video posted online that the U.S. military has “achieved a major milestone” in the Strait of Hormuz.

“We have successfully cleared sea mines in the strait’s international shipping lanes that were laid months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Internationally recognized transit routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines, thanks to the incredible work of the U.S. military,” he said.

Cooper made the announcement a day after Trump on Tuesday said on his Truth Social platform that he had been informed that the mines had been cleared by the U.S. Navy.

“Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed,” he said.

“Through Space Force, we are watching every square inch of the Strait,” he added. “There is Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect.”

The claim could not be independently verified.

However, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, refuted Trump’s comments, saying only Iran knows where the mines are, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.

“The Strait of Hormuz is closed both because of the presence of mines and because of our military actions. If America is making this claim, why is not a single vessel passing through?” he said, seemingly meaning none have transited without Iran’s permission.

“These remarks are propaganda intended to create calm in global energy markets. No one has accepted these claims.”

Gharibabadi was speaking about framework for the strait being by Iran and Oman.

A provision of the proposed agreement concerns the implementation of a joint project to clear the strait of mines.

Iran has restricted transit of the strait since the war began Feb. 28, when it was attacked by the United States and Israel. While the United States launched the war with the goal of preventing Tehran from securing a nuclear weapon and encouraging regime change, the Trump administration has now focused on regaining freedom of navigation through the strait. Iran is fighting to maintain its ability to oversee ships transiting the chokepoint.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — The National Weather Service named Tropical Storm Dolly on Thursday, as it makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean toward the eastern Caribbean.

Dolly was located about 1,315 miles east of the Leeward Islands, which include the Virgin Islands, St. Martin and several others, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. AST update.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was moving west at a blistering 23 mph.

The NHC said Dolly should continue moving westward for the next couple of days over the central Atlantic and be nearing the Leeward Islands over the weekend.

“Although it will encounter warmer ocean waters, Dolly is likely to move into less favorable atmospheric conditions during the next couple of days,” the NHC said. “Some slight short-term strengthening is possible, but increasing vertical wind shear, relatively dry air and the fast forward motion of the system should begin to adversely affect Dolly fairly soon.”

It is forecast to be a post-tropical storm within 48 hours.

Heavy rain from Dolly could begin to affect the Leeward Islands late Saturday into Sunday, and the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola Sunday and Monday. The heavy rain may produce flash flooding, especially in areas of higher terrain, the NHC reported.

The name Dolly was chosen in advance and not as a tribute to the late Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday.

“The timing of the use of the name Dolly for this storm is purely coincidental,” the NHC said.

Trials for a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain are ongoing, as DRC authorities try to control the Ebola outbreak.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has begun vaccinating people against Ebola, with health workers and other front-line workers being prioritised.

However, the vaccine being distributed this week is licensed for another strain, and its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has not been determined.

There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for the new strain, and clinical trials are ongoing to find a suitable vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain.

The first injections are being given to health workers in the Congolese city of Kisangani.

More than 50,000 doses of the vaccine have been received, according to the Congolese health minister, Samuel Roger Kamba.

The outbreak is concentrated in the Ituri province, which borders Uganda.

Kamba said: “We will cover all the provinces that are around Ituri, moving in the ring towards the centre of the outbreak.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine had been approved for use in the DRC.

About 20,000 of the doses allocated to the DRC will be used in a clinical trial to test its effectiveness against the latest strain. Health workers are calling for more doses.

As of Tuesday, the DRC had recorded 5,713 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 2,744 deaths, according to government figures. The outbreak is the deadliest of all past Ebola outbreaks that have hit the DRC.

The outbreak is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fuelled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements.

The WHO has said it remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued an emergency approval for the use of the drug ivermectin against New World screwworm infestations in cattle, adding to the arsenal of weapons available against the flesh-eating insect.

The FDA approved an Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA, for Bimectin, the generic version of ivermectin, for injections in cattle when administered within 24 hours of birth, at the time of castration, or at the appearance of a wounds, the agency announced.

Bimectin injection remains unauthorized for use in lactating dairy cows or in calves that will be processed for veal.

Thursday’s move is the 14th EUA issued by the FDA against New World screwworm as the Trump administration attempts to deal with the still-growing infestation in Texas.

The Department of Agriculture has confirmed 47 domestic cases of New World screwworm, or NWS, in animals as of Thursday.

NWS is widely feared as a serious health and economic threat that could cost billions of dollars in losses to cattle, bison and horses. The pest was eradicated from the United States in 1966 and eliminated as far south as Panama by 2000, but reemerged in 2022 and has continued moving north through Central America and Mexico.

The U.S.-Mexico border was closed last year to protect U.S. animals from the threat. The ban was subsequently lifted on July 26.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller last month urged the FDA to authorize ivermectin in feed as an additional tool to combat the growing NWS threat.

Injectable ivermectin is not enough to keep pace with the outbreak and protect livestock from further infestations, he asserted.

“Texas ranchers are fighting for their livelihoods and the security of the American food supply. They don’t have time to wait,” Miller said. “We’ve already seen this parasite spread across multiple Texas counties in just a few weeks. Every day we delay is another day the New World screwworm gains ground. We need every effective weapon available, and we need it now.”

The Texas Grain and Feed Association “has committed to rapidly manufacture and distribute medicated feed upon approval, ensuring producers can begin using it without delay,” he noted.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday signed off on a $72.5 million settlement between Bank of America and victims of Jeffrey Epstein over the banking giant’s involvement in the convicted sex offenders crimes.

Judge Jed Rakoff said the agreement was a move toward accountability for the victims, he added that the pain caused by Epstein could be undone. “No amount of money can ever fully compensate Epstein victims for the harm they’ve suffered,” he said.

Around 60 women who were trafficked or abused by Epstein or any of his associates between June 2008 and July 2019 will be covered by the settlement, attorneys for the women have said.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank was accused in a class-action lawsuit of ignoring red flags in Epstein’s transactions in the years after he was first charged with sexually abusing girls and young women.

The lawsuit, which was filed last October, accused Bank of America of “absolute loyalty” to Epstein.

According to Senate Finance Committee data, Bank of America filed suspicious activity reports about more than $170 million in suspicious transactions between billionaire Leon Black and Epstein.

Similar settlements have been reached with JPMorgan Chase for $290 million and Deutsche Bank for $75 million.

None of the banks have admitted wrongdoing.

Kurdish leader appointed to the role days after the dissolution of the force he commanded.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed Mazloum Abdi, leader of the now-dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a presidential advisor.

Al-Sharaa issued Decree No 164, appointing Abdi as “as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic” on Thursday, the Syrian state news agency Sana reported.

The move comes three days after Abdi announced the dissolution of the SDF and the completion of its integration with the Syrian military.

Abdi is the most senior of several Kurdish figures appointed to state posts. Another commander was made assistant defence minister for the eastern region earlier this year.

The advisory role is a lesser position than one offered in January, when al-Sharaa proposed making Abdi deputy defence minister and nominating him as governor of Hasakah province, in order to restore state control over the SDF-controlled provincial capital.

Al-Sharaa and Abdi first agreed to fold the SDF into the central government in March 2025. That deal made little progress before its year-end deadline, spurring state forces to battle into the northeast in January, taking the cities of Raqqa and Deir Az Zor from the SDF.

A ceasefire that ended the fighting placed Raqqa, Deir Az Zor and Hasakah under central government control and committed the SDF to join the defence and interior ministries under a 14-point plan.

One Kurdish-led force has yet to be absorbed. The YPJ, the SDF’s women’s units, asked to join the defence ministry but were told the army’s structure has no units for women.

Alongside the military track, al-Sharaa issued a decree in January recognising Kurdish as a national language and restoring citizenship to Syria Kurds, the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.

The SDF was the largest force still outside the army, and its dissolution leaves Damascus with formal authority over almost all Syrian territory. Reunifying the country has been al-Sharaa’s central promise since former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December 2024.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday named a new head of the agency that oversees his ballroom project at the White House and a proposed national arch in Washington, D.C.

Mark Paoletta, the general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, will take charge of the National Capital Planning Commission. He will replace Mark Scharf, who is set to become White House counsel on Monday.

“President Trump has transformed D.C. into a capital worthy of the greatest nation in history,” Mr. Paoletta said in a statement to the news agencies. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to further the president’s historic restoration and beautification of the National Capital Region, especially in the 250th year of our country’s independence.”

The NCPC is the federal government’s planning agency for projects in and around the capital city. According to its website, it “provides overall planning guidance for federal land and buildings in the region.”

In April, the 12-member panel approved the construction of the ballroom where the East Wing of the White House once stood.

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts last week temporarily blocked a ruling by a lower court stopping the project in a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In addition to his post at the OMB, Paoletta has been the acting chief of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau since the start of August. Brian Johnson has been nominated to fill the role at the CFPB permanently.

Paoletta had represented Ginny Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, during the House Select committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — Colombian authorities captured an alleged senior Tren de Aragua leader in Bogotá who was wanted by the United States for crimes that include international arms trafficking and drug trafficking, President Abelardo de la Espriella announced Thursday.

Luis Saúl Pérez Nieto, also known as “Páez” or “Nairobi,” was arrested in Fontibón, a district in western Bogotá. De la Espriella identified him as the gang’s top leader in Peru and a trusted associate of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” the leader of the Venezuelan criminal organization.

Tren de Aragua began as a prison gang in Tocorón and expanded across South America and into the United States. It has been involved in murder, extortion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking, kidnapping and other violent acts.

“Nairobi” allegedly coordinated extortion, international arms trafficking, targeted killings and drug trafficking along strategic routes in South and Central America, according to the president’s announcement.

De la Espriella said U.S. authorities wanted Pérez Nieto in connection with those crimes. Colombian and U.S. officials have not publicly disclosed the jurisdiction handling the case, the specific charges against him or whether Washington has submitted an extradition request.

“Colombia will not be a refuge or sanctuary for any criminal,” De la Espriella said. “We will pursue them, capture them and bring them to justice, no matter where they come from.”

The operation involved Colombia’s National Police and Attorney General’s Office, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to Colombian outlets.

Police sources told Semana that Pérez Nieto was allegedly involved in trafficking ketamine, cocaine and weapons from Bogotá. Authorities had been tracking his movements in the Colombian capital before carrying out the arrest.

Peruvian media also reported the detention, but authorities in Peru had not announced whether Pérez Nieto faces charges or an extradition request there.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” after his dispute with Canada over tariffs last week.

Trump threatened to rename the lake Tuesday on Truth Social, saying, “The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer.”

“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake America,” the president said just before signing the order.

In the Oval Office, a reporter asked what message he was trying to send with the renaming.

“No message,” he said. “As you know, Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very, very sadly. Even the military. You know, we defend Canada for nothing.”

Canada is a founding member of NATO.

The order says that within 30 days, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will update the Geographic Names Information System. The GNIS works with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to standardize geographic names for federal use.

Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Mount Denali to Mount McKinley on his first day in office in 2025. He can’t force other countries or private entities to use the new names, but he can force the federal government to.

Because it’s an international boundary water, Canada and the U.S. jointly manage Lake Ontario through the International Joint Commission under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — More than 100 bone fragments and about 30 teeth were found in El Arenal, a rural community in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco.

The remains were discovered Wednesday at a suspected clandestine extermination site during a search conducted by members of a group named after Vicente Suástegui Muñoz, an activist who disappeared five years ago.

The discovery coincided with the observance of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, which seeks to draw attention to people whose whereabouts remain unknown and demand action to resolve disappearance cases, Infobae reported.

The search occurred in an area considered a priority by families searching for missing relatives because of reports and testimony linked to disappearances in different parts of the region.

Samantha Colón Morales, president of the search collective and Suástegui’s wife, said an anonymous caller alerted her to the presence of bone fragments in the eastern part of Acapulco, local newspaper El Sur reported.

Colón said the site where the remains were found is accessible by dirt roads and is about 40 minutes from the federal highway. Lipsticks, belt buckles and rings were also among the items recovered at the site, she said.

Colón said she believes the property may have been used as an extermination site because of the number of remains and the conditions in which they were found, Quadratín Guerrero reported.

She said that for families of the missing, each piece of evidence recovered could help advance an investigation and eventually establish the identity of a missing person.

Colón explained authorities will analyze the remains to determine how many people they belong to and seek to establish their identities.

More than 115,000 people are listed as missing in Mexico, according to the country’s National Registry of Missing and Disappeared Persons.

Mexico’s disappearance crisis is closely linked to organized crime violence, institutional complicity or inaction and high levels of impunity, which have overwhelmed the country’s forensic services.

Amid limited government resources, hundreds of search collectives have emerged across Mexico. Made up primarily of mothers and other relatives of missing people, their members often risk their lives searching clandestine graves and suspected extermination sites in an effort to find their loved ones.

Last season’s runners-up, Arsenal, will play the likes of Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lille in the league phase.

Two-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were handed meetings with Barcelona, Manchester City and Aston Villa, among their eight matches in the league phase of this season’s Champions League, when the draw took place on Thursday.

PSG, who beat Arsenal on penalties in Budapest in May to retain the trophy, will play Barcelona, Roma, Turkish champions Galatasaray and Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia at home.

Luis Enrique’s team will travel to England twice to face City and Villa. They beat both teams on the way to winning their first Champions League title in 2025, and also defeated the latter in the UEFA Super Cup in Austria earlier this month.

The French champions will also go to Spain to play Villarreal and Italy to take on a Como side coached by Cesc Fabregas.

“I can’t say anything bad about the Champions League, but I won’t be watching the draw. I will be relaxing and going out on my bike, then we’ll take a look at the menu. But I would sign up for the same result as in the last two years,” Luis Enrique told reporters earlier Thursday.

PSG are aiming to become European champions for a third straight year, something only the Real Madrid of 2016 to 2018 have achieved in the last 50 years.

The first matches in this season’s league phase will be played between Tuesday, September 8 and Thursday, September 10, with the final games in late January. UEFA is expected to announce the full fixture schedule on Saturday.

Last season’s runners-up, Arsenal, the Premier League champions, will notably host Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lille, as well as Sabah, the club from Azerbaijan who came through four two-legged qualifying ties to reach the league phase for the first time.

The Gunners have a tough list of away ties against Bayern Munich, Real Betis, Napoli and Slavia Prague.

Fenerbahce back, Viking in

Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool will be at home to Atletico Madrid, Porto, Villarreal and Lens, while playing Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Fenerbahce and Austrian league phase debutants LASK away.

Manchester United, who were not in the first pot of seeds, have home games against Bayern, Roma, RB Leipzig and Sabah, and also a series of difficult away fixtures against Atletico, Sporting of Portugal, Villarreal and Como.

Other notable games include Manchester City visiting Barcelona and Real Madrid entertaining Inter, while last season’s Europa League winners, Villa, must go to Barcelona and play Dortmund at home. Unai Emery’s team will also tackle Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.

The latter are appearing in the Champions League proper for the first time since 2008/09 after beating Lyon in the playoffs this week.

New names in this season’s competition are Como, who have upset the traditional order in Serie A, and Sabah, while LASK made it to this stage for the first time after a stunning comeback win over Celtic in the playoffs.

Last year’s Norwegian champions Viking, from the city of Stavanger, have reached the Champions League proper for the first time, too, and they have a glamorous fixture schedule that includes Bayern, Atletico, Villa and Napoli.

This is the third season since the introduction of the new format for the Champions League, with 36 teams now all pooled together in one giant league and each playing games against eight different opponents.

This season’s final will be played at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on June 5, 2027.

Ratko Mladic, a war criminal convicted over the first genocide on European soil since the second world war, has died prison in The Hague at the age of 84.

Earlier this year, Serbia requested that Mladic be allowed to receive medical treatment outside prison, saying his health condition was “serious” and that he “required serious medical treatment”.

The United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said that Mladic was receiving adequate medical care while in detention.

Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia”, Mladic was one of the best-known and most notorious military commanders of the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia.

International courts convicted him of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was sentenced to life in prison

The most notorious part of his criminal legacy is linked to the genocide in Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Serbia.

Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic’s command seized Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the UN declaring the municipality a “safe area”. After the enclave fell, more than 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were killed by Mladic’s forces in the days that followed.

Some of the civilians were captured and executed at locations in and around Srebrenica. Others were killed after attempting to flee through the forests towards territory controlled by the army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The bodies of victims were later discovered in numerous mass graves, while many were identified years after the war. The remains of around 1,000 victims are still being sought. International courts established that the killings constituted genocide.

Srebrenica has remained a symbol of one of the gravest crimes committed in Europe since the second world war.

From the Yugoslav army to commander of the army of Republika Srpska

Mladic was born in the village of Bozanovici near Kalinovik, about 40km (25 miles) south of Sarajevo.

He began his military career in the Yugoslav People’s army and gradually rose through the military’s command structure.

When Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in the spring of 1992, following Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnian Serbs established their own political and military structures and proclaimed Republika Srpska, which controlled territory covering roughly half of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time.

In May 1992, Mladic was appointed commander of the Republika Srpska’s army. Over the next three and a half years, he sought to seize parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by the army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the capital Sarajevo, devastating areas in his path. However, his forces failed to achieve major territorial gains in several key areas.

The political and military leadership of Republika Srpska sought to separate Serb-controlled territories from Bosnia and Herzegovina and create a separate, territorially contiguous Serb state within the country. Republika Srpska would formally become one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities under the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.

Mladic’s forces were involved in a large number of atrocities across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In addition to the Srebrenica genocide, international courts found Mladic responsible for a campaign of terror against Sarajevo’s civilian population, the hostage-taking of UN peacekeepers and other crimes.

The Siege of Sarajevo

Sarajevo was surrounded by Bosnian Serb forces for almost 44 months. From positions on the surrounding hills, they shelled the city and used snipers against its residents.

More than 11,500 people from all ethnic groups were killed, while many others were wounded or displaced.

The Sarajevo Siege, which Mladic directed, became one of the defining episodes of the Bosnian war and one of the longest sieges of a capital city in modern history.

After the war ended in 1995, Mladic evaded arrest and spent almost 16 years in hiding. He became one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives accused of war crimes.

He was arrested in Serbia in May 2011 in the village of Lazarevo, near Zrenjanin, at the home of a relative. Several days later, he was transferred to The Hague, where his trial began before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

His arrest was one of the key conditions set by the international community for Serbia’s progress towards closer relations with the European Union. Belgrade faced political and financial pressure from Western countries to cooperate with the tribunal and transfer Mladic to The Hague.

In 2017, the tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment. The courts established his individual criminal responsibility for a number of crimes.

Mladic in Serbia

Although his convictions were final, Mladic continues to have support among sections of the Serbian public and political circles in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Banja Luka, Belgrade and other areas with predominantly Serb populations, murals depicting him can still be seen. Some members of the public continue to portray him as a military hero rather than a convicted war criminal.

That attitude towards Mladic is part of a broader problem of confronting the legacy of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While international courts have established facts concerning the genocide and other crimes, political and social divisions over the country’s wartime past remain deeply entrenched.

Denial of the Srebrenica genocide and the glorification of convicted war criminals remain serious problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to data from the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, 149 cases of public denial of the Srebrenica genocide were recorded during the first quarter of 2026, including statements by public figures. That represents an increase compared with 2025, when 99 such cases were recorded.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in May 2024 establishing July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

The resolution was intended to preserve the memory of the victims and promote a culture of remembrance, while also reaffirming the importance of confronting genocide denial and preventing the recurrence of such crimes.

Violence has eased since the US-Iran MoU and Israel-Lebanon framework, but Beirut still reports attacks and demolitions.

A Lebanese woman has been killed, and several other people injured by Israeli strikes on the town of Arab Salim, in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said six people were wounded in the attacks on Thursday, including a child, a woman and two elderly people, while the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that the woman who died “had been married for 48 hours”.

The newlywed woman’s house was also destroyed in the attack, NNA said.

Lebanese security sources said at least 10 Israeli strikes had been carried out in the wider Nabatieh area. NNA also reported artillery shelling targeting the outskirts of the town of Rashaf in the Bint Jbeil district.

The Israeli military claimed it was targeting Hezbollah after the Iran-backed group struck its soldiers in the south overnight. The army said it struck Hezbollah “weapon storage facilities”.

“Israel targeted the town of Arab Salim in the Nabatieh governorate. It targeted a residential area,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut about the deadly strike.

“The Israeli army says it is hitting infrastructure, and that this is in retaliation for Hezbollah launching armed drones at its forces in the Ali al-Taher ridge overnight.

“It’s not the first time the Israeli army accuses Hezbollah of targeting its forces in this area, which overlooks the city of Nabatieh’s strategic high ground, which really remains contested territory. We know that the Israeli army wants Hezbollah to vacate this area, so we’re seeing this increase in military pressure,” she said.

According to Israel, Iran-backed fighters “launched two explosive drones” towards Israeli soldiers operating in the Ali al-Taher ridge, but there were no casualties.

Israel has stepped up its strikes on south Lebanon in recent days, following an August 15 wave of strikes that Lebanon said killed 11 people, including several children. Israel’s military said the raids were retaliation for a Hezbollah attack.

Al Jazeera’s Khodr said that while “there has been a reduction in the violence in recent days, we have also witnessed an escalation by the Israeli army”.

“There is growing concern that the [Israeli] army may broaden this offensive, and it may become even more intense,” she added.

Tensions between Israel and Lebanon have been escalating since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in 2023. Lebanon was dragged into the conflict on March 2, days after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Hezbollah struck Israel in support of Tehran. This was followed by massive Israeli air strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.

The continued strikes have renewed debate in Beirut over the “framework” agreement Lebanon signed with Israel in June, which envisages a phased Israeli withdrawal in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army and the disarmament of armed groups, a reference to Hezbollah.

European football’s governing body considers making a criminal complaint ​against Infantino over World Cup selloff plans.

UEFA has asked ⁠a US ⁠federal court for permission to obtain testimony and documents from FIFA entities in ⁠Florida for use in a planned criminal complaint in Switzerland against FIFA President ⁠Gianni Infantino, according to a court filing.

In an ex parte application filed under US law, European football’s governing body said it is considering ‌criminal proceedings against Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials and advisers over a now-abandoned plan to transfer commercial rights linked to men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new ⁠subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).

“UEFA is actively considering legal action arising out of and in connection with the … plan proposed by FIFA,” read the legal document filed in a Florida court in the United States, according to the AFP news agency.

“More specifically, UEFA and other interested parties are preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.”

UEFA ⁠alleges Infantino developed the proposal in secret with a small group of advisers and investors, bypassing FIFA’s normal ⁠governance processes and failing to consult the FIFA Council, regional confederations ⁠or member associations.

The filing asks ⁠a US court to authorise discovery from FIFA (AMERICAS), Inc. and FWC2026 US, Inc., two Florida-based FIFA entities. UEFA ‌said the organisations may possess documents and witnesses relevant to how the FFE transaction ‌was ‌conceived, structured, valued and approved.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden wrote the European Commission urging it to kickstart a stalled plan to use Russian assets frozen in Europe’s banks and clearing houses to plug a $26.8 billion gap in Ukraine’s defense funding.

The letter to the EU’s top foreign policy chief on Thursday calling for another look at ways to tap into the $244.5 billion of assets came ahead of an informal meeting of foreign ministers being hosted by Ireland on Sept. 1-2, according to Politico, The Kyiv Independent and The Financial Times.

“Ukraine needs more financial support in both the short and long term. We believe now is the time to revert to the issue of how we can make further use of Russia’s immobilized assets for the benefit of Ukraine,” reads the letter, which was addessed to Kaja Kallas and Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee.

The call comes three months after the Netherlands raised the issue at a closed-door meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, arguing that a deal agreed in December for a conditional $105 billion loan over 18 months, would not be enough to keep Ukraine afloat for long.

Efforts back then to leverage frozen Russian assets — the largest portion of which are held in Belgium — were sidelined amid objections from the Belgian government and other EU member states.

The so-called “reparations loan” option, where the assets would be used as surety in the event Russia failed to pay war reparations to Ukraine required to recoup the loan, lacked the votes for the required two-thirds majority of EU states.

What the bloc ultimately finalized in April, was a back-up proposal under which the EU would use its budget to borrow in the international debt markets — with skeptics Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic backing the measure only on condition they would not be on the hook financially.

Wednesday’s letter acknowledges the complexity of the issue but urges policy experts in Brussels to look at alternate solutions that “ensure that the risk rests with all EU Member States and where no Member State holds a disproportionate burden.”

“Now is the time to start a new discussion about how we can make further use of Russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine’s, and our, benefit,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told the Financial Times.

Four people claiming familiarity with the letter said it requested the commission revist the issue of the frozen assets and sought an uddate on the formulation of legal and technical tools to get around the veto wielded by Belgium.

Last time around, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said his opposition was due to Russian legal and economic threats against Belgium, and him personally, and that he needed guarantees that other EU states would share the risks Belgium could be exposed to.

A person familiar with the matter said the Belgian government’s concerns over possible retaliation through the courts and erosion of trust financial markets had not diminished.

In a speech Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the EU to accelerate the pace of loan tranche transfers, saying that even with the money the country was facing a $26.8 deficit in 2026.

That prompted the EU to point to an additional $25.7 billion already approved, $16.8 billion of which had been provided, and call on other Western partners to follow its lead.

Aug. 26 (UPI) — On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of Rasonque, a new treatment option for people with advanced pancreatic cancer.

A tablet taken once a day, the medication targets forms of a protein called RAS, which is a key driver of tumor growth in many patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the most common form of the cancer, the FDA said. This form of cancer develops in cells lining the ducts of the pancreas.

“Today’s approval provides a critical new option for patients facing an extraordinarily difficult and historically hard-to-treat cancer,” said Kyle Diamantas, acting commissioner of the FDA. “It is our fundamental duty to deliver more cures and meaningful treatments to patients as quickly as possible.”

A press release from the FDA said the approval demonstrates the agency’s “commitment to moving with urgency, reducing unnecessary delays and advancing innovative treatments.”

Rasonque has been approved for adults who have metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who have received at one least one prior systemic therapy or those who are not candidates for multiagent systemic therapy.

About 90% to 95% of the new cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed in the United States each year are this form, the FDA said, citing the National Cancer Institute. Johns Hopkins Medicine also said “the vast majority” of pancreatic cancer diagnoses are this form.

In a clinical trial, the new treatment improved median overall survival to 13.2 months from 6.7 months with standard chemotherapy, the FDA said.

“This drug showed unprecedented results in an area of high unmet need,” said Angelo de Claro, director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence.

The agency granted this approval to Revolution Medicines Inc.