The Russian president says Iran’s nuclear programme continues and society remains united behind political leadership.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to comment on speculation that Israel or the United States may try to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and continued to push for a political solution to the Iran-Israel conflict during a meeting with international journalists.
“If I may, I hope that this will be the most correct answer to your question. I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to,” he said in response to questions about Khamenei on Thursday from the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that the conflict could lead to regime change in Iran, where Israeli attacks have targeted senior military leaders and top nuclear scientists.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 585 people, among them 239 civilians, since last Friday, according to a US-based Iranian human rights group.
US President Donald Trump earlier said that Washington knew the location of Khamenei. He said the US would not act for now, although he has not ruled out the possibility that the US may join Israel’s attack on Iran.
Despite the threats from Netanyahu, Putin said that Iranian society remains united behind its government.
“We see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there … that there is a consolidation of society around the country’s political leadership,” he said.
The Russian leader has presented himself in recent days as a possible mediator between the two sides, although his overtures have been rebuffed by world leaders like Trump due to Moscow’s close ties with Tehran.
Despite the roadblocks, Putin has continued to push for a peaceful resolution that would need to ensure Iran’s “peaceful nuclear activities” and the “interests of Israel from the point of view of the unconditional security of the Jewish state”.
“This is a delicate issue, and of course, we need to be very careful here, but in my opinion, a solution can be found,” he said.
Russia has yet to supply Iran with weapons, despite signing a strategic partnership in January, he said, although it continues to help with Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran says this programme is designed for civilian use and has consistently denied seeking a bomb, but Israel claims Iran intends to build a nuclear weapon.
Putin said Tehran’s nuclear programme continues underground despite the recent Israeli air strikes.
“These underground factories, they exist, nothing has happened to them,” Putin said.
Putin also said that more than 200 Russians continue to work at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. The group is safe, he said, after Moscow “agreed with the leadership of Israel that their security would be ensured”.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.”
The second public appearance by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the Israeli strikes began six days ago came as Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting that the missile threat from Iran was easing.
Khamenei spoke a day after President Trump demanded in a social media post that Iran surrender without conditions and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”
Trump initially distanced himself from Israel’s surprise attack on Friday that triggered the conflict, but in recent days he has hinted at greater American involvement, saying he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire. The U.S. has also sent more military aircraft and warships to the region.
‘Nobody knows what I’m going to do’
Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump would not say whether he has decided to order a U.S. strike on Iran, a move that Tehran warned anew would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it happens.
“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters at the White House. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Trump added that it’s not “too late” for Iran to give up its nuclear program as he continues to weigh direct U.S. involvement in Israel’s military operations aimed at crushing Tehran’s nuclear program.
“Nothing’s too late,” Trump said. “I can tell you this. Iran’s got a lot of trouble.”
“Nothing is finished until it is finished,” Trump added. But “the next week is going to be very big — maybe less than a week.”
Trump also offered a terse response to Khamenei’s refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.
“I say good luck,” Trump said.
‘The Iranian nation is not one to surrender’
Khamenei dismissed the “threatening and absurd statements” by Trump.
“Wise individuals who know Iran, its people and its history never speak to this nation with the language of threats, because the Iranian nation is not one to surrender,” he said in a low-resolution video, his voice echoing. “Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them.”
Iran released Khamenei’s statement before the video was aired, perhaps as a security measure. His location is not known, and it was impossible to discern from the tight shot, which showed only beige curtains, an Iranian flag and a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei’s immediate predecessor, who died in 1989.
An Iranian diplomat had warned earlier Wednesday that U.S. intervention would risk “all-out war.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei did not elaborate, but thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran’s weapons. The U.S. has threatened a massive response to any attack.
Another Iranian official said the country would keep enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, apparently ruling out Trump’s demands that Iran give up its disputed nuclear program.
Strikes in and around Tehran
The latest Israeli strikes hit one facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, the Israeli military said. Military officials said their defenses intercepted 10 missiles overnight as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminished. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Israel struck two centrifuge production facilities in and near Tehran.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military also struck the headquarters of Iran’s internal security forces on Wednesday, without specifying the agency or location. The strike marks a shift toward targeting Iran’s domestic security apparatus, which has long cracked down on dissent and suppressed protests.
Israel’s air campaign has struck several nuclear and military sites, killing top generals and nuclear scientists. A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 585 people, including 239 civilians, have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded.
Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliatory strikes, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel, causing heavy damage, and air-raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter.
Iran has fired fewer missiles as the conflict has worn on. It has not explained the decline, but Israel has targeted launchers and other infrastructure related to the missiles.
By Wednesday, Israel eased some of the restrictions that it had imposed on daily life when Iran launched its retaliatory attack, allowing gatherings of up to 30 people and letting workplaces reopen as long as there is a shelter nearby.
Schools are closed, and many businesses remain shuttered, but Israel’s decision to reverse its ban on gatherings and office work for all but essential employees signals the Israeli military’s confidence that its attacks have limited Iran’s missile capabilities.
Casualties mount in Iran
The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said it had identified 239 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 126 as security personnel.
The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in Iran.
Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.
Shops have been closed across Tehran, including in its famed Grand Bazaar, as people wait in gas lines and pack roads leading out of the city to escape the onslaught.
A major explosion was heard around 5 a.m. Wednesday in Tehran. That followed other explosions earlier in the predawn darkness. Authorities in Iran offered no acknowledgement of the attacks, which have become increasingly common as the Israeli airstrikes have intensified.
At least one strike appeared to target Tehran’s eastern neighborhood of Hakimiyeh, where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy.
Iran says it will keep enriching uranium
Israel says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing. Trump has said Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.
Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. U.S. intelligence agencies have said they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bomb.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, but has never publicly acknowledged them.
Iran’s ambassador to Geneva, Ali Bahreini, told reporters that Iran “will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes.”
He rejected any talk of a setback to Iran’s nuclear research and development from the Israeli strikes, saying, “Our scientists will continue their work.”
Israel welcomes first repatriation flights
Israelis began returning on flights for the first time since the country’s international airport shut down at the start of the conflict.
Two flights from Larnaca, Cyprus, landed Wednesday at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, said Lisa Dvir, an airport spokesperson.
Israel closed its airspace to commercial flights because of the ballistic missile attacks, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad.
Krauss, Gambrell and Frankel write for the Associated Press. Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Iran, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed.
The Smithsonian’s statement said the organization’s secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch, “has the support of the Board of Regents in his authority and management of the Smithsonian.” The statement suggested that all personnel decisions will be made by Bunch, not Trump.
The announcement came after a much-anticipated Board of Regents meeting to discuss the fate of Sajet. The Washington Post had reported that Sajet quietly continued to show up for work each day after Trump’s social media post, which said he was firing Sajet for being “a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI.”
The Smithsonian’s statement Monday did not explicitly state that Sajet would remain in her position, and the institution did not respond to a Times question on that subject. But the text of the statement is clear in its intent, beginning: “In 1846, the Smithsonian was established by Congress as an independent entity.”
It continues: “Throughout its history, the Smithsonian has been governed and administered by a Board of Regents and a Secretary. The board is entrusted with the governance and independence of the Institution, and the board appoints a Secretary to manage the Institution.”
The Smithsonian’s move comes shortly after the White House proposed a 12% reduction in funding to the Smithsonian in the 2026 budget — including the elimination of funding for the National Museum of the American Latino, which is in the development stages and aims to open on or near the National Mall; and the Anacostia Community Museum, which opened in 1967 and honors Black culture.
The Smithsonian became a target for Trump beginning March 27, when he issued an executive order titled “Restoring truth and sanity to American history.” That order demanded an end to federal funding for exhibitions and programs based on racial themes that “divide Americans.”
“Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,” the order read. It also instructed Vice President JD Vance to remove “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian’s 21 museums and the National Zoo in Washington.
One major difference between the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian: The Kennedy Center’s board is appointed by the president, but the Smithsonian’s board consists of officials representing all three branches of government. Vance is on the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, as is Chief Justice John G. Roberts.
“Since its inception, the Smithsonian has set out to be a nonpartisan institution,” the statement Monday read. “As the nation’s museum, the Smithsonian must be a welcoming place of knowledge and discovery for all Americans. The Board of Regents is committed to ensuring that the Smithsonian is a beacon of scholarship free from political or partisan influence, and we recognize that our institution can and must do more to further these foundational values.
“To reinforce our nonpartisan stature, the Board of Regents has directed the Secretary to articulate specific expectations to museum directors and staff regarding content in Smithsonian museums, give directors reasonable time to make any needed changes to ensure unbiased content, and to report back to the Board on progress and any needed personnel changes based on success or lack thereof in making the needed changes.”
I think for Man United it’s best to ship [him] out. If I was the manager I’d be a little bit similar to [Ruben] Amorim in the case of I just want team players.
I want a bunch of lads who are good, honest, hard working team players. And I don’t get that vibe from Garnacho, I don’t get that vibe from a few of the players.
You look at the full-time whistle after the Europa League game. You have Brennan Johnson doing an interview.
He looks like he hasn’t had a haircut for about three months, [hair] horrible all over the place, but his interview was incredible.
You could tell he’s a real nice lad, he’s hard working, he does everything for the team. Then you look at Garnacho. Fresh trim a day ago, dyed blonde ready for the final.
The full-time whistle goes, he’s sat on the pitch sulking by himself, not trying to get behind the other lads, picking them up, saying, ‘Well done we got this far’.
“And I think that there is the big contrast. I just want good lads, honest, hard working lads.
“I know he’s not been great, but he’s a 22-year-old kid who has been asked to play centre-forward for Manchester United on his own for the last two years.
“He’s had to play every week. He’s the only one there, and he’s a 22-year-old kid.
“With the way they play, Man United should have at least three top centre-forwards, and I’d bring him into that group.
“Get [Victor] Osimhen and [Viktor] Gyokeres. Hojlund has struggled – like mad of late especially but he’s not had the chance to sit down and watch.
“If a striker is lacking confidence the manager should sit him down and say, ‘Have a look, get a bit of hunger back, a bit of feeling back for the game’.
“We all know he has centre-forward qualities — we’ve seen it. Not enough, I know that. But if he had experience around him.
“Say he had Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke around him, it would bring him on so much. He’s been absolutely flogged to death.
“People forget how young he is. A lot of it is confidence.”
“Manchester United said they didn’t want to sell me,” he said. “They said if I wanted to go I could, but they didn’t need the money. I spoke to coach Ruben Amorim who, throughout that period, he was pushing for me not to go.”
Fernandes said it was an “exciting offer” from Al-Hilal and it would have been “easy” to move to Saudi Arabia, with several Portuguese players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Cancelo and Ruben Neves currently there.
However, he added: “I want to play at the highest possible level.
“I want to play major competitions. I know I still can and I want to be happy doing the thing I love the most.
“For better or worse, this is how I see football and I’m passionate about football and this is the decision I’ve made.”
United are understood to be delighted by the news, which came after boss Amorim expressed his belief on Friday that Fernandes would stay.
There were no direct conversations between United and Al-Hilal, so they were never presented with a bid they could turn down.
However, it was expected the Saudi side were prepared to offer between £80m and £100m to sign him in time for this month’s Fifa Club World Cup.
It is not clear whether Al-Hilal will now pursue new targets.
Fernandes has made 290 appearances and scored 98 goals for the club since his £47m move from Sporting in January 2020.
Former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville told Sky Sports he believes the transfer would not have been a poor deal for the Old Trafford club but added: “He’s so important.
“The fact that he wants to stay, the fact that he wants to go through this and come out the other side, because it would have been easy for him at the end of this season to say, ‘Look, I’m done here’, will endear him towards Manchester United fans even more.
“To turn that money down at a point where Manchester United are at their lowest ebb and say, ‘No, I want to fight through this, I want to see it through the other side, I want to come out and achieve things’, I think it says a lot about him as a person, as a character.
“The club needs people who are going to run through a brick wall for them.”
June 2 (UPI) — China on Monday rejected claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that it has broken the terms of the recent trade deal made between the two nations.
A Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said in a press release that it “firmly rejects” the “unreasonable accusations” and instead alleged that the United States failed to fulfill its duties.
The statement said that China followed through in canceling or suspending “relevant tariffs and non-tariff measures” implemented in response to Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” against China and several other nations.
It also noted that despite its conciliatory actions, the Trump administration has “successively introduced a number of discriminatory restrictive measures against China” such as export control guidelines for AI chips, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and refering to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio‘s announcements of plans to “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese students.
“The United States has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations. Instead of reflecting on itself, it has turned the tables and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts. China firmly rejects unreasonable accusations,” China said.
“If the [United States] insists on its own way and continues to damage China’s interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”
Trump said in a social media post on Friday that China had “totally violated its agreement with us” after the two sides had reached the deal in Geneva in May.
Under the terms of the deal, the two sides agreed to pause tariffs between the countries for 90 days as China reduced tariffs on American goods from 125% to 10% while the United States cut tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified Trump’s comments on CBS News “Face the Nation” Sunday, stating that China was “withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement,” and then confirmed those products to be rare earths.
The high court has declined to hear a bid to block a project that Indigenous groups say would destroy a site of religious significance.
The United States Supreme Court has declined to weigh a bid from a Native American advocacy group to block the construction of a large copper mine on land that many Apache people consider sacred.
The court turned down an appeal by the group Apache Stronghold on Tuesday, keeping in place a lower court’s ruling that would allow the project to move forward.
At the heart of the case is a stretch of federal land in the Tonto National Forest, part of the western state of Arizona.
The San Carlos Apache tribe know the land as Oak Flat — or Chi’chil Bildagoteel in the Apache language. Members of the tribe point out that the land, with its ancient groves of oak, has long been used as a site for prayer, ceremony and burial.
But Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of the mining conglomerates Rio Tinto and BHP, believes the site sits atop the second largest copper deposit in the world.
In 2014, under former President Barack Obama, the US Congress approved a land swap that gave Resolution Copper 9.71sq km (3.75sq miles) of the Oak Flat forest in exchange for other parcels of land in Arizona.
That, in turn, triggered a years-long legal showdown, with members of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache tribe arguing that construction on the Oak Flat site would violate their religious rights. In their petition to the Supreme Court, they described Oak Flat as a “direct corridor to the Creator”.
The sun sets over Oak Flat Campground, a sacred site for Native Americans located 113km (70 miles) east of Phoenix, on June 3, 2023 [File: Ty O’Neil/AP Photo]
“Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other Native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat, outside of present-day Superior, Arizona, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else,” Apache Stronghold said in a news release in early May.
The group has also argued that the project would violate an 1852 treaty between the US government and the Apaches, promising that the government would protect the land to “secure the permanent prosperity and happiness” of the tribe.
The administration of President Donald Trump, however, has promised to push through the land transfer. The US Forest Service estimates the mining project could produce nearly 40 billion pounds of copper — or more than 18 billion kilogrammes.
But critics anticipate the result would be a crater as wide as 3km (2 miles) and nearly 304 metres (1,000ft) deep.
By refusing to review the Apache Stronghold’s appeal, the Supreme Court is allowing a decision to stand from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco.
In March 2024, that appeals court ruled along ideological lines to allow the land transfer to proceed: Six judges voted in favour, and five against.
But on May 9, a federal judge in Arizona temporarily blocked the government from transferring the land, while the Apache Stronghold pursued its appeal to the highest court.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito did not participate in Tuesday’s decision, likely due to his financial ties to the companies involved. But two justices, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, issued a dissent calling the Supreme Court’s decision not to weigh in “a grave mistake”.
“While this Court enjoys the power to choose which cases it will hear, its decision to shuffle this case off our docket without a full airing is a grievous mistake — one with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations,” Gorsuch wrote.
“Just imagine if the government sought to demolish a historic cathedral on so questionable a chain of legal reasoning. I have no doubt that we would find that case worth our time.”
The land swap was approved as part of a 2014 defence spending bill. A required environmental impact statement was issued during the final days of Trump’s first term in office in January 2021.
Meghan Markle is ‘difficult to work with’ and ditches her friends when things don’t go her way, an expert has claimedCredit: Splash
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The Duchess of Sussex ‘dumped’ the royal family in a similar way to her friends, the expert addedCredit: Splash
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The real reason Edward Enninful and the Duchess fell out has been revealed, sources claimCredit: Getty
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Enninful was said to be ‘furious’ after the Duchess backed out of an issue in 2022Credit: Sussexroyal/Instagram
It comes after reports claimed Meghan dropped her former best pal Edward Enninful after a row over the cover of Vogue.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, and the former magazine editor were once thick as thieves who bonded over mint tea and “philosophising”.
The ex-Suits actress said the duo were “like-minded thinkers” after she helped edit an edition in 2019.
But insiders told the Mail on Sunday that the pair cut contact over Enninful’s plans to cover Meghan and Harry’s charity work in a feature.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers told The Sun: “None of this surprises me at all, because we see it the whole time when things don’t go her way. She just overreacts.
“Clearly in this case with Edward Enninful, she has made something of an enemy, because he then dropped her from something she would have liked to be a part of, and it seems to happen the whole time.
“She’s very demanding. She’s difficult to work with. She has her ideas of what she wants to do, and she doesn’t seem to want to listen to anybody else, and that’s when you get into a trouble.”
Mr Vickers also highlighted how many people are now removed from Meghan’s life, from ex-husbands to close pals.
Her shocking claims surrounding the Royal Family since quitting the UK in 2020, from her Oprah interview to Netflix documentary, have also seen her alienated from her in-laws.
Meghan’s got it all WRONG – She’s shown us the real her but we HATE it
And countless staff members have joined a long list of people who no longer wish to associate with the mum-of-two.
“There is a theme which runs through all this is that she’s always rejecting people, or indeed, falls out with,” said Mr Vickers.
“Her father for one, who was very good to her when she was growing up, her first husband just gets dumped, her Canadian chef lover in Canada, dumped as well.
“Jessica Mulroney, her great friend in Canada, dumped, the entire British Royal family, and apart from her mother, all her own family.”
He dubbed the reported fall out with Enninful a “normal theme” and added “everything she does seems to go wrong”.
Mr Vickers continued: “She should listen to somebody like Edward Enninful, he’s a very highly qualified editor, and he knows what he’s doing, running a very important magazine.
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Prince Harry has been feuding with his family since quitting the UK with Meg in 2020Credit: Getty
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Thomas Markle is now estranged from his daughterCredit: Channel 5 / Thomas Markle: My Story
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Trevor Engelson was Meghan Markle’s first husbandCredit: Getty – Contributor
“I would have thought it would have been well in her interest to keep in with him, instead of upsetting him.
“She doesn’t know better. Unfortunately, as has been proved time and time again.”
He added: “She is just so incredibly difficult, and that is the theme, and that is the narrative now, and I suspect that that will go on and probably get worse.”
Mr Vickers suggested part of the trouble stems from the fact everything “is always focused on her”.
He spotlighted the Duchess’ Mother’s Day post in which she praised herself and failed to mention her own mum.
“I really feel sorry for those children, and I wonder what sort of what they’re going to think when they grow up and realise how they’re being used in these things as well,” he added.
This comes after Meghan reportedly cut her plans to work with Enninful on a feature in 2022.
The former editor allegedly wanted to showcase the Duchess’ keynote speech at the One Young World Summit in Manchester in 2022.
However, he didn’t want to give them a front cover.
Conde Nast insiders claimed Meghan axed their arrangement.
A Conde Nast insider claimed: “The duchess and her team had high expectations and were expecting she might get a print cover or at least a digital cover out of it, but Enninful was not able to meet those expectations.
“He already had a magazine cover in the bag for that month.”
“The whole process became very difficult. Edward could only promise her a big showy feature inside the magazine and online – but she turned it down.”
After being told they wouldn’t make the cover, sources claim Meghan asked to be on the special digital cover which would be available with the print edition.
Her request was refused, by Enninful, because he didn’t think it would be “appropriate”.
The Duchess was so offended she walked away from the offer completely, leaving the former editor “furious”.
It is understood this was his breaking point and their friendship was fractured beyond repair.
Insiders also claim it hasn’t gone unnoticed in the Sussex household how much more involvement Enninful has with the Royal Family.
Enninful is now a trustee for The King’s Fund, King Charles‘s charity.
And, he hosted a glitzy New York event for The King’s Trust earlier this month – and Meghan was definitely not on the list sources claim.
Enniful was in “constant contact” with Meghan using WhatsApp as he watched the duchess’s chat with Oprah, the Daily Mail reported.
A source close told the paper: “There were around 15 people on the Zoom, all top Conde Nast people.
“They felt it was important from an editorial perspective that they got together to watch it.”
However, royal biographer Tom Bower previously claimed in his book Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War between the Windsors, that Meghan and Enninful feuded during the creation of Vogue’s September 2019 issue.
Staff were described as being left in “silent exasperation” at Meghan and her demands.
It claimed the duchess proposed poor ideas, and accused her of being difficult to approach with opposing suggestions.
Bower also wrote that Enninful and Meghan had a difference of opinion on how to market the edition – as the former actress wished to leak snippets online before its release, while the editor thought secrecy was best.
Meghan even asked if the magazine could hit the shelves in the US before the UK, according to the book, which ruffled feathers with head of communications, Sara Latham.
Decorated veteran Ben Roberts-Smith failed to have reports that he ‘murdered four Afghan men’ quashed.
Australia’s most decorated living war veteran has lost an appeal against a civil court ruling that implicated him in war crimes while serving in Afghanistan.
Australia’s Federal Court dismissed the appeal lodged by Ben Roberts-Smith on Friday, in the latest setback for the 46-year-old’s fight to salvage a reputation tattered by reports that he took part in the murder of four unarmed Afghan prisoners.
Three federal court judges unanimously rejected his appeal of a judge’s ruling in 2023, which said Roberts-Smith was not defamed by newspaper articles published in 2018 that accused him of a range of war crimes.
In the earlier ruling, a judge had found that the accusations were substantially true to a civil standard and Roberts-Smith was responsible for four of the six unlawful deaths of noncombatants he had been accused of.
Delivering the appeal court’s verdict, Justice Nye Perram explained that the reasons for the decision are being withheld due to national security implications that the government must consider.
The marathon 110-day trial is estimated to have cost 25 million Australian dollars ($16m) in legal fees that Roberts-Smith will likely be liable to pay.
He has however said he will fight to clear his name in Australia’s High Court, his last avenue of legal appeal.
“I continue to maintain my innocence and deny these egregious spiteful allegations,” Roberts-Smith said in a statement. “We will immediately seek to challenge this judgement in the High Court of Australia.”
Tory Maguire, an executive of Nine Entertainment that published the articles Roberts-Smith claimed were untrue, welcomed the ruling as an “emphatic win”.
“Today is also a great day for investigative journalism and underscores why it remains highly valued by the Australian people,” Maguire said.
Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of United States and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other armed groups.
Perth-born Roberts-Smith, a former SAS corporal, had won the Victoria Cross – Australia’s highest military honour – for “conspicuous gallantry” in Afghanistan while on the hunt for a senior Taliban commander.
An Australian military report released in 2020 found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians. The report recommended 19 current and former soldiers face criminal investigation.
It’s not clear whether Roberts-Smith was one of them.
Police have been working with the Office of the Special Investigator, an Australian investigation agency established in 2021, to build cases against elite SAS and Commando Regiments troops who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times said in a series of reports in 2018 that Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him.
He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic leg, which was later brought back to an army bar and used as a drinking vessel.
UN stresses adherence to principles of neutrality and independence in delivering life-saving humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The United Nations has said it will not take part in a US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent, as Israel pledged to facilitate the effort without being involved in aid deliveries.
“This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Thursday.
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily criticised aid plan that the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher described as a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters in Antalya, Turkiye, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday acknowledged the criticisms and said Washington was open to any alternative plan to get aid to civilians “without Hamas being able to steal it”.
“We’re not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza, and I know that there’s opportunities here to provide aid for them,” Rubio said after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Thursday.
“There are criticisms of that plan. We’re open to an alternative if someone has a better one,” he said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Thursday that the UN “has a solid and principled operational plan to deliver humanitarian aid and life-saving services at scale and immediately across the Gaza Strip”.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and has blocked the delivery of all humanitarian assistance to Gaza since March 2, demanding Hamas release all remaining captives.
A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative released on Monday said the Gaza Strip “is still confronted with a critical risk of famine” after more than a year and a half of devastating war, with the vast majority of its approximately 2.1 million people at severe risk.
In a bid to address some concerns, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has asked Israel to expand an initial limited number of so-called secure aid distribution sites in Gaza’s south to the north within 30 days. It has also asked Israel to let the UN and others resume aid deliveries now until it is set up.
“I’m not familiar with those requests, maybe when they went into Jerusalem, but I will tell you that we appreciate the effort of the United States,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Thursday.
“We will not fund those efforts. We will facilitate them. We will enable them,” he said. “We will not be the ones giving the aid … It will be run by the fund itself, led by the US.”
Israel and the US have urged the UN and aid groups to cooperate and work with the foundation.
It is unclear how the foundation will be funded. A Department of State spokesperson said no US government funding would go to the foundation.
A fact sheet on the foundation, circulating among the aid community last week, listed respected former UN World Food Programme chief David Beasley as a potential adviser. However, a source familiar with the effort said Beasley was not currently involved.
