threats

Aug. 24 (UPI) — North Korea has test-fired two missiles newly designed to protect against aerial attacks, overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, state media announced Sunday.

The supreme leader oversaw the missile tests along with multiple members of the Workers’ Party of Korea and military officials, the Korea Central News Agency reported. The outlet said the missiles have “superior combat capability” and a “fast response” to attacks from aerial targets such as drones and cruise missiles.

The testing came less than a week after Ulchi Freedom Shield 25, joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, ABC News reported. The annual training exercises began Monday and were expected to end Thursday.

The training was expected to include live-fly events with U.S. F-35A and F-35C Lightning II aircraft as well as space-related elements, the Defense Department said. The Pentagon said the exercises work to strengthen the agencies’ response capabilities.

“Ulchi Freedom Shield 25 underscores the continuing military partnership between the U.S. and South Korea and is implemented in the spirit of the Oct. 1, 1953, mutual defense treaty,” the Defense Department said in a post Thursday.

“It continues to reinforce the role of the alliance as the linchpin for regional peace and security, reaffirming the ironclad commitment between the U.S. and South Korea to defend their homelands.”

Hours before North Korea’s missile test, U.N. Command confirmed the South Korean government fired warning shots at about 30 North Korean soldiers who crossed the Demilitarized Zone.

South Korean “forces issued several warning broadcasts in an attempt to notify the soldiers that they had crossed the [Military Demarcation Line], but they did not respond to the broadcasts,” a spokesperson for the U.N. Command’s Military Armistice Commission said in an email to Yonhap News Agency.

South Korean “forces then fired warning shots in a designated warning shot area to compel the [North Korean] soldiers to return to the north side” of the demarcation line.

Yonhap said the North Korean military has been working to fortify the border with South Korea since April 2024, adding barbed wire fences and anti-tank barriers near the Demilitarized Zone.

Iran and European countries agree to resume nuclear talks next week despite threats of unilateral sanctions.

Iran and three major European powers have agreed to resume nuclear talks next week, even as the threat of revived sanctions looms.

Iranian state media reported on Friday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a call with his French, British and German counterparts, during which they agreed deputy ministers would meet on Tuesday.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul confirmed the talks, warning that Europe was prepared to re-impose United Nations sanctions under the so-called “snapback” mechanism unless Iran committed to a verifiable and lasting deal. “Time is very short and Iran needs to engage substantively,” he said.

According to Iranian outlets, Araghchi rejected the threat, accusing the European trio of lacking “legal and moral competence” to trigger snapback sanctions and warning of consequences if they did so.

The three European governments, backed by the United States, have accused Tehran of advancing uranium enrichment in violation of international commitments and say its programme could be used to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran has said its work is strictly for civilian purposes, and Western governments have not provided any evidence that Tehran is weaponising its nuclear programme.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has said Iran remains far from building a nuclear weapon. In March, US National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard testified that intelligence agencies had found no evidence of Iran moving towards a bomb.

Talks between Iran and the US collapsed in June after Washington and Israel attacked Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day conflict.

Since then, IAEA inspectors have not been allowed into Iran’s facilities, despite the agency’s chief, Rafael Grossi, stressing that inspections are essential.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned the IAEA to abandon its “double standards” if it hopes to restore cooperation over the country’s nuclear programme, amid an acute mistrust following Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, and the UN nuclear watchdog’s refusal to condemn the strikes.

In July, Pezeshkian signed a law suspending Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA, with Tehran making it clear that it no longer trusts the agency to act impartially.

Negotiations between Tehran and the Europeans last took place in Geneva on June 20, while the fighting was still under way. Little progress was reported at the time.

Iran’s state broadcaster said an Iranian delegation would travel to Vienna on Friday to meet IAEA officials, but offered no further details.

Aug. 20 (UPI) — A North Carolina man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a federal charge for racially harassing a group of people in a Charlotte pizza shop and threatening to kill them with a loaded military-style rifle.

The U.S. Justice Department announced that Maurice Hopkins, 32, had pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations over a June 2024 incident in which he targeted a group of eight Indians over their race, color, religion and national origin. The incident occurred during the height of the 2024 election when federal authorities warned of increased threats of violence against minority communities.

Officers arrived at the pizza shop after receiving a call about Hopkins, who was making racial remarks to the group and said he “had something for them” and was going to “get his AR” after being asked to leave, according to a police affidavit.

A witness told police that Hopkins left and returned with a white four-door vehicle. The witness saw the red tip sight on the gun and tried unsuccessfully to distract Hopkins from going into the store. Hopkins then entered the store and pointed the rifle at customers, according to the document.

During the incident, Hopkins asked the victims if they were Americans, and then proceeded to call them terrorists, demand they speak English and told them to go back to their country, according to the Justice Department release. The victims fled through the pizza shop’s back door.

Hopkins’ sentencing date has not been set. He could face a maximum of 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to one charge of interference with federally protected activities.

Around the same time of the incident, federal prosecutors indicted the leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group that planned to kill minorities in New York City on New Year’s Eve. The group allegedly plotted to have a recruit dressed as Santa Clause hand out poisoned candy.

Earlier that year, a group of Massachusetts eight-graders were charged criminally for their participation in a “mock slave auction” and making racist comments at Black students on Snapchat.

The Taliban’s leader has warned that Afghans ungrateful for its hardline rule will be severely punished by God in a statement marking the fourth anniversary of the group’s return to power.

The statement from Haibatullah Akhunzada was made in a social media post on Friday to commemorate “Victory Day”, four years on from the chaotic United States and NATO withdrawal from the country after more than 20 years of war as the Taliban retook the capital, Kabul.

The threat was a stark reminder of the sweeping restrictions and repression of rights, especially of women and girls, that has taken place under the Taliban’s rule, which is based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

In his statement, Akhunzada said Afghans had faced hardships for decades in the name of establishing religious law in the country, which he said had saved citizens from “corruption, oppression, usurpation, drugs, theft, robbery and plunder”.

“These are great divine blessings that our people should not forget and, during the commemoration of Victory Day, express great gratitude to Allah Almighty so that the blessings will increase,” his statement said.

“If, against God’s will, we fail to express gratitude for blessings and are ungrateful for them, we will be subjected to the severe punishment of Allah Almighty.”

He also advised government ministers to remove the word “acting” from their job titles, signalling the consolidation of his administration’s rule in the country amid a lack of internal opposition.

Victory Day

Four years on from its return to power, the Taliban government remains largely isolated in the international arena over the severe rights restrictions imposed under its rule although Russia became the first country to officially recognise the Taliban administration in early July.

It also has close ties with China, the United Arab Emirates and a number of Central Asian states although none of these officially recognises the Taliban administration.

Victory Day parades were planned in several Afghan cities on Friday, and in Kabul, helicopters were scheduled to drop flowers across the city. Photographs of an official ceremony in Kabul to open the commemorations showed a hall filled exclusively with male delegates.

‘An open wound of history’

Rather than celebrating, members of the activist group United Afghan Women’s Movement for Freedom staged an indoor protest in the northeastern province of Takhar against the Taliban’s oppressive rule, The Associated Press news agency reported.

“This day marked the beginning of a black domination that excluded women from work, education and social life,” the group said in a statement to the agency.

“We, the protesting women, remember this day not as a memory, but as an open wound of history, a wound that has not yet healed. The fall of Afghanistan was not the fall of our will. We stand, even in the darkness.”

Afghan women also held an indoor protest in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the agency reported.

Repression and death threats

The United Nations, foreign governments and human rights groups have condemned the Taliban for their treatment of women and girls, who are banned from most education and work, as well as parks, gyms and travelling without a male guardian.

Inspectors from the Vice and Virtue Ministry require women to wear a chador, a full-body cloak covering the head, while a law announced a year ago ordered women not to sing or recite poetry in public and for their voices and bodies to be “concealed” outside the home.

Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Akhunzada and the country’s chief justice on charges of committing gender-based persecution against women and girls.

ICC judges said the Taliban had “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy, family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion.

At least 1.4 million girls have been “deliberately deprived” of their right to an education by the Taliban government, a UN report from August 2024 found.

Among the restrictions imposed on women is a ban on working for nongovernmental groups, among other jobs. A UN report this month revealed that dozens of Afghan women working for the organisation in the country had received direct death threats.

The report said the Taliban had told the UN mission that its cadres were not responsible for the threats and a Ministry of Interior Affairs investigation is under way. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Mateen Qani, later told The Associated Press news agency that no threats had been made.

In the meantime, Iran, Pakistan and the US have been sending Afghan refugees back to Taliban rule, where they risk persecution.

Taliban rulers say they are not behind the threats and are investigating, according to the United Nations.

Explicit death threats have been made against dozens of Afghan women working for the United Nations in Afghanistan, according to a new UN report, where their rights have been severely curtailed since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The UN mission to the country said female national staff were subjected to direct death threats in May, in the latest update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan published on Sunday.

The report says the Taliban told the UN mission that their cadres were not responsible for the threats, and an Interior Ministry investigation is under way.

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Mateen Qani, however, said no threats had been made. “This is completely incorrect”, Qani told The Associated Press news agency.

“The ministry has an independent department for this, and we have a strategic plan for protection and security so there is no threat to them in any area, nor can anyone threaten them, nor is there any threat to them.” Qani did not answer questions about an investigation, according to AP.

The threats came from unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, other agencies, funds, and programmes, “requiring the U.N. to implement interim measures to protect their safety”, according to the report.

The Taliban barred Afghan women from working at domestic and foreign nongovernmental organisations in December 2022, extending this ban to the UN six months later. They then threatened to shut down agencies and groups still employing women. Aid agencies and NGOs say the Taliban have disrupted or interfered with their operations, allegations denied by authorities.

The UN report is the first official confirmation of death threats against Afghan women working in the sector. The report also highlighted other areas affecting women’s personal freedoms and safety, including inspectors from the Vice and Virtue Ministry requiring women to wear a chador, a full-body cloak covering the head. Women have been arrested for only wearing the hijab.

Women have also been denied access to public areas, in line with laws banning them from such spaces.

A UN report from August 2024 found that Afghanistan’s Taliban government has “deliberately deprived” at least 1.4 million girls of their right to an education during its three years in power.

About 300,000 more girls are missing out on school since UNESCO last carried out a count in April 2023, it said on Thursday, warning that “the future of an entire generation is now in jeopardy.”

ICC targets Taliban for persecution of women

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in July for two top Taliban leaders in Afghanistan on charges of abuses against women and girls.

ICC judges said at the time there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhunzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution.

“While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement in July.

The Taliban has “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy, family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said.

The Taliban has rejected the ICC warrants as “baseless rhetoric”, saying it does not recognise the ICC’s authority, and underlined the court’s failure to protect the “hundreds of women and children being killed daily” in Gaza.

Stanford University’s student newspaper is suing the Trump administration, claiming the threat to deport foreign students for speaking out against Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza is chilling free speech.

That threat is hampering the paper’s ability to cover campus demonstrations and to get protesters to speak on the record, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Northern California.

Some Stanford Daily writers, who are foreigners in the country on student visas, have even turned down assignments to write about unrest in the Middle East because they’re afraid they’ll be deported. Writers have also asked the paper to remove previously published stories from its website, citing the same concerns, the lawsuit says.

“In the United States of America, no one should fear a midnight knock on the door for voicing the wrong opinion,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote in their complaint.

The suit accuses Trump administration officials, specifically Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem, of placing their statutory authority to deport a foreign visa holder whose beliefs they deem un-American ahead of the constitutional right — guaranteed by the 1st Amendment— to free speech.

“When a federal statute collides with First Amendment rights,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote, “the Constitution prevails.”

Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, scoffed at the lawsuit, calling it “baseless.”

“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” she said in a statement.

The lawsuit — which was filed by the 133-year-old student newspaper, not by the university itself — is the most recent salvo in an increasingly bitter fight between Trump and many of the nation’s elite universities. The president has made clear he sees top schools as hotbeds of liberal ideology and breeding grounds for anti-American sentiment.

His weapon of choice is to threaten to withhold billions of dollars in federal research grants from institutions that refuse to adopt policies on issues such as diversity, transgender rights and Israel that fall in line with his Make America Great Again ideology.

Critics call Trump’s campaign an attack on academic freedom, but fearing massive budget cuts, several Ivy League schools — including the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Brown — have recently cut deals with the Trump administration in an attempt to limit the damage.

Stanford announced this week that it will be forced to lay off hundreds of employees as a result of cuts to research funding and changes to federal tax laws.

The Stanford Daily’s lawsuit focuses on two unnamed students, John and Jane Doe, who the paper’s lawyers say began self-censoring out of a well-founded fear of having their visas revoked and being deported.

Rubio has claimed that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 allows the secretary of State to revoke a noncitizen’s legal status if it is decided the person’s actions or statements “compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.”

Rubio used that interpretation to justify the March arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was held in a Louisiana jail before a federal judge ordered his release.

The complaint cites the cases of two other foreign students — one at Columbia and one at Tufts — who were arrested for participating in pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations.

At Stanford, the plaintiff referred to as Jane Doe was a member of the group Students for Justice in Palestine. She has published online commentary accusing Israel of committing genocide and perpetuating apartheid, according to the lawsuit. She has also used the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which has become a flash point in the Israel-Gaza debate.

Referencing the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — which includes Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — the slogan is viewed as a call for freedom and self-determination by Palestinians. To many Israelis, it sounds like a call for their total destruction.

As a result, Doe’s profile appeared on the Canary Mission, a pro-Israel website that creators say is devoted to outing “hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews.” Department of Homeland Security officials have acknowledged they consult the website’s profiles — most of which are of students and faculty at elite universities — for information on people worthy of investigation.

As a result, since March, Jane Doe has deleted her social media accounts and has “refrained from publishing and voicing her true opinions regarding Palestine and Israel,” the lawsuit claims.

John Doe has participated in pro-Palestine demonstrations, has accused Israel of genocide and chanted, “From the river to the sea.” But after the Trump administration started targeting campus demonstrators for deportation, he “refrained from publishing a study containing criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza,” according to the lawsuit.

Unlike Jane Doe, John has since resumed public criticism of Israel despite the threat of deportation, according to the lawsuit.

Report says Karim Khan ‘privately threatened’ by then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron with UK’s withdrawal from International Criminal Court.

New details have emerged about a series of intimidation campaigns, including threats to safety as well as possible sanctions, directed at the British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as he pursues an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israeli officials in Gaza.

Karim Khan has also been subjected to intense pressure from top British and United States public officials for The Hague court to withdraw the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the Middle East Eye (MEE) news website reported.

The latest report followed an earlier revelation by the London-based online publication in July that Khan and the ICC were threatened with being “destroyed” if they pursued the case against Israel.

According to the MEE report published on Friday, Khan was “privately threatened” by then-British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in April 2024 that the UK would defund and withdraw from the ICC if it issued warrants against the Israeli leaders, which it did so in November.

In May 2024, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also “threatened” Khan with sanctions if he applied for the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, the MEE reported.

Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Khan and four ICC judges.

Khan also received a security briefing warning him that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency “was active in The Hague and posed a potential threat” to him, the MEE reported.

Khan, who is currently on indefinite leave amid allegations of sexual misconduct, was also reportedly told by his female accuser in text messages that there were “games being played” and attempts to make her a “pawn in some game I don’t want to play”, according to the MEE.

The ICC investigations into Khan’s alleged behaviour were later closed after the female witness refused to cooperate with them, but a separate United Nations probe remains.

Khan has strenuously denied all the allegations against him.

Two weeks before he was forced to go on leave in May 2025, Khan also reportedly met with Nicholas Kaufman, a British-Israeli defence lawyer at the ICC, to discuss the Israel investigation, the MEE report said.

In a note of the meeting on file at the ICC, Kaufman reportedly told Khan that if the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were not dropped, “they will destroy you, and they will destroy the court.”

The report said some ICC lawyers have privately “expressed doubts” about the allegations against Khan, which emerged after the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were issued.

The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. Deif has since been confirmed killed in an Israeli attack.

The Israeli defendants remain internationally wanted suspects, and ICC member states are under a legal obligation to arrest them.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 60,430 Palestinians and wounded 148,722.

In recent months, Israel has been accused of committing new war crimes after reports that Israeli forces intentionally shot and killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians waiting to collect humanitarian aid from GHF food distribution points.

KYIV, Ukraine — Glide bombs and ballistic missiles struck a Ukrainian prison and a medical facility overnight as Russia’s relentless strikes on civilian areas killed at least 27 people across the country, officials said Tuesday, despite President Trump’s threat to soon punish Russia with sanctions and tariffs unless it stops.

Four powerful Russian glide bombs hit the prison in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, authorities said. At least 16 inmates were killed and more than 90 wounded, Ukraine’s Justice Ministry said.

In the Dnipro region of central Ukraine, authorities said Russian missiles partially destroyed a three-story building and damaged nearby medical facilities, including a maternity hospital and a city hospital ward. At least three people were killed, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman, and two other people were killed elsewhere in the region, regional authorities said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said overnight Russian strikes across the country hit 73 cities, towns and villages. “These were conscious, deliberate strikes — not accidental,” Zelensky said on Telegram.

Trump said Tuesday he is giving Russian President Vladimir Putin 10 days to stop the killing in Ukraine after three years of war, moving up a 50-day deadline he had given the Russian leader two weeks ago. The move meant Trump wants peace efforts to make progress by Aug. 8.

Trump has repeatedly rebuked Putin for talking about ending the war but continuing to bombard Ukrainian civilians. But the Kremlin hasn’t changed its tactics.

“I’m disappointed in President Putin,” Trump said during a visit to Scotland.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia is determined to achieve its goals in Ukraine, though he said Moscow has “taken note” of Trump’s announcement and is committed to seeking a peaceful solution.

Zelensky welcomed Trump’s shortening of the deadline. “Everyone needs peace — Ukraine, Europe, the United States and responsible leaders across the globe,” Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram. “Everyone except Russia.”

The Kremlin pushed back, with a top Putin lieutenant warning Trump against “playing the ultimatum game with Russia.”

“Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran,” former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is deputy head of the country’s Security Council, wrote on social platform X.

“Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,” Medvedev said.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the Kremlin has warned Kyiv’s Western backers that their involvement could end up broadening the war to NATO countries.

“Kremlin officials continue to frame Russia as in direct geopolitical confrontation with the West in order to generate domestic support for the war in Ukraine and future Russian aggression against NATO,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said late Monday.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles along with 37 Shahed-type strike drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said 32 Shahed drones were intercepted or neutralized by Ukrainian air defenses.

The Russian attack close to midnight Monday hit the Bilenkivska Correctional Facility with glide bombs, according to the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine.

Glide bombs, which are Soviet-era bombs retrofitted with retractable fins and guidance systems, have been laying waste to cities in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian army is trying to pierce Ukrainian defenses. The bombs carry up to 6,600 pounds of explosives.

At least 42 inmates were hospitalized because of serious injuries, and an additional 40 people, including one staff member, sustained various injuries.

The strike destroyed the prison’s dining hall, and damaged administrative and quarantine buildings, but the perimeter fence held and no escapes were reported, authorities said.

Ukrainian officials condemned the attack, saying that targeting civilian infrastructure, such as prisons, is a war crime under international conventions.

The assault occurred exactly three years after an explosion killed more than 50 people at the Olenivka detention facility in the Russia-occupied Donetsk region, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners were killed.

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling the prison. The Associated Press interviewed over a dozen people with direct knowledge of details of that attack, including survivors, investigators and families of the dead and missing. All described evidence they believed points directly to Russia as the culprit. The AP also obtained an internal United Nations analysis that found the same.

Russian forces also struck a grocery store in a village in the northeastern Kharkiv region, police said, killing five and wounding three civilians.

Authorities in the southern Kherson region reported one civilian killed and three wounded over the last 24 hours.

Alongside the barrages, Russia has also kept up its grinding war of attrition, which has slowly churned across the eastern side of Ukraine at a heavy cost in troop losses and military hardware.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that Russian troops have captured the villages of Novoukrainka in the Donetsk region and Temyrivka in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine launches long-range drones

Ukraine has sought to fight back against Russian strikes by developing its own long-range drone technology, hitting oil depots, weapons plants and disrupting commercial flights.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that air defenses downed 74 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight, including 43 over the Bryansk region.

Yuri Slyusar, the head of the Rostov region, said a man in the city of Salsk was killed in a drone attack, which started a fire at the Salsk railway station.

Officials said a cargo train was set ablaze at the Salsk station and the railway traffic via Salsk was suspended. Explosions shattered windows in two cars of a passenger train and passengers were evacuated.

Arhirova and Novikov write for the Associated Press.

Iranian diplomats are meeting their counterparts from Germany, the United Kingdom and France for renewed nuclear talks, amid warnings that the three European powers could trigger “snapback” United Nations sanctions outlined under a previous 2015 deal.

The meeting, which is under way in Turkiye’s Istanbul on Friday morning, is the first since Israel’s mid-June attack on Iran, which led to an intensive 12-day conflict, with the United States militarily intervening on Israel’s behalf and attacking key Iranian nuclear sites.

Israel’s offensive – which killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of civilians, as residential areas were struck, as well – also derailed US-Iran nuclear talks that began in April.

Iran said on Friday that the meeting is an opportunity for the so-called E3 group of Germany, UK and France to correct their positions on Iran’s nuclear issue. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in an interview with state news agency IRNA that Iran considers the talk of extending UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to be doubly “meaningless and baseless”.

The resolution, which cemented the 2015 deal Iran reached with world powers, under which it curbed enrichment in return for much-needed sanctions relief, is due to expire in October. It enshrines the big powers’ prerogative to restore UN sanctions.

Since then, the E3 have threatened to trigger the “snapback mechanism”, which would reinstate the sanctions on Iran by the end of August, under the moribund 2015 nuclear deal which US President Donald Trump unilaterally torpedoed in 2018 during his first term.

The option to trigger the snapback expires in October, and Tehran has warned of consequences should the E3 opt to activate it.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who is attending the talks Friday, alongside senior Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi, warned this week that triggering sanctions “is completely illegal”.

He also accused European powers of “halting their commitments” to the deal after the US withdrew from it.

“We have warned them of the risks, but we are still seeking common ground to manage the situation,” said Gharibabadi.

Warning from Tehran

Iranian diplomats have previously warned that Tehran could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty if UN sanctions are reimposed.

Restoring sanctions would deepen Iran’s international isolation and place further pressure on its already strained economy.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged European powers to trigger the mechanism. Israel’s June 13 attack on Iran came two days before Tehran and Washington were scheduled to meet for a sixth round of nuclear negotiations.

On June 22, the US struck Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.

Before the conflict, Washington and Tehran were divided over uranium enrichment, which Iran has described as a “non-negotiable” right for civilian purposes, while the US called it a “red line”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran is enriching uranium to 60 percent purity – far above the 3.67 percent cap under the 2015 deal, but well below the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade levels.

Tehran has said it is open to discussing the rate and level of enrichment, but not the right to enrich uranium.

A year after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran reportedly began rolling back its commitments, which had placed restrictions on its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Israel and Western powers accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons – a charge Tehran has consistently denied. Both US intelligence and the IAEA said they had seen no evidence of Iran pursuing a nuclear weapon in the build-up to the June conflict.

Enrichment is ‘stopped’

Iran insists it will not abandon its nuclear programme, which Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called a source of “national pride”.

The full extent of the damage sustained in the US bombing remains unclear. Trump has claimed the sites were “completely destroyed”, but US media reports have cast doubt over the scale of destruction.

Araghchi has noted that enrichment is currently “stopped” due to “serious and severe” damage to nuclear sites caused by US and Israeli attacks.

In an interview with Al Jazeera that aired on Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is prepared for another war and reiterated that its nuclear programme will continue within the framework of international law, adding the country had no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons.

Since the 12-day conflict, Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA, accusing it of bias and of failing to condemn the attacks.

Inspectors have since left the country, but a technical team is expected to return in the coming weeks, after Iran said future cooperation would take a “new form”.

Israel has warned it may resume attacks if Iran rebuilds facilities or moves towards weapons capability. Iran has pledged a “harsh response” to any future attacks.

Seoul, South Korea – When Sideny Sim had a chance to visit the United States on business several years ago, it was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

Like many South Koreans, Sim had long admired the US as a cultural juggernaut and positive force in the world.

These days, Sim, a 38-year-old engineer living near Seoul, feels no such love towards the country.

As US President Donald Trump threatens to impose a 25 percent tariff on South Korea from August 1, Sim cannot help but feel betrayed.

“If they used to be a country that was known to be a leader in culture, the economy and the perception of being ‘good,’ I feel like the US is now a threat to geopolitical balance,” Sim told Al Jazeera.

South Korea and the US share deep and enduring ties.

South Korea is one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia, hosting about 28,000 US troops as a bulwark against North Korea.

The US is home to a larger South Korean diaspora than any other country.

But with the return of Trump’s “America First” agenda to Washington, DC, those ties are coming under strain.

In a Pew Research Center survey released earlier this month, 61 percent of South Koreans expressed a favourable view of the US, down from 77 percent in 2024.

Like dozens of other US trading partners, South Korea is facing severe economic disruption if it cannot reach a trade deal with the Trump administration by the August deadline.

The Asian country, which is a major producer of electronics, ships and cars, generates more than 40 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) from exports.

In addition to sending a letter to South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung outlining his tariff threats, Trump earlier this month also claimed that Seoul pays “very little” to support the presence of US Forces Korea (USFK).

Trump’s comments reinforced speculation that he could demand that the South Korean government increase its national defence spending or contributions to the costs of the USFK.

After Trump last week told reporters that South Korea “wants to make a deal right now,” Seoul’s top trade envoy said that an “in-principle” agreement was possible by the deadline.

With the clock ticking on a deal, the uncertainty created by Trump’s trade policies has stirred resentment among many South Koreans.

Kim Hyunju, a customer service agent working in Seoul, said that although her company would not be directly affected by the tariffs, Trump’s trade salvoes did not seem fair.

“It would only be fair if they are OK with us raising our tariffs to the same level as well,” Kim told Al Jazeera, adding that the Trump administration’s actions had caused her to feel animosity towards the US.

“I can’t help but see the US as a powerful nation which fulfils its interests with money and sheer power plays,” Kim said.

“I’ve always thought of the US as a friendly ally that is special to us, especially in terms of national defence. I know it is good for us to maintain this friendly status, but I sort of lost faith when Trump also demanded a larger amount of money for the US military presence in our country.”

Kim Chang-chul, an investment strategist in Seoul, expressed a more sanguine view of Trump’s trade policies, even while acknowledging the harm they could do to South Korean businesses.

“The US tariff policy is a burden for our government and businesses, but the move really shows the depth of US decision-making and strategy,” Kim told Al Jazeera.

“Trump wants South Korea to be more involved in the US’s energy ambitions in Alaska. It’s part of the US pushing for geopolitical realignment and economic rebalancing.”

Earlier this year, the US held talks with South Korean officials about boosting US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to South Korea, a major LNG importer.

Keum Hye-yoon, a researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), said it has been difficult for a US ally like South Korea to make sense of Trump’s comments and actions.

“When Trump cites ‘fairness’ in his tariff policy, it’s based on unilateral expectations of improving the US trade balance or restoring economic strength to certain industries,” Keum told Al Jazeera.

“As allies like South Korea share supply chains with the US and work closely with its companies, disregarding these structures and imposing high taxes will likely create burdens on US businesses and consumers as well.”

While Trump’s most severe tariffs have yet to come into effect, South Korean manufacturers have already reported some disruption.

South Korea’s exports dropped 2.2 percent in the first 20 days of July compared with a year earlier, according to preliminary data released by Korea Customs Service on Monday.

Kim Sung-hyeok, the head of research at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Labour Institute, said exporters in the auto, steel, semiconductor and pharmaceutical sectors had been especially affected.

“As exports in these fields decreased considerably since the tariff announcements, production orders in domestic factories have declined,” Kim told Al Jazeera.

“Some automotive and steel production lines have closed temporarily, while other manufacturing sites have closed altogether. Voluntary resignations and redeployments have become rampant in some of these workplaces.”

Kim said small companies may face the brunt of the tariffs as they are not capable of “moving their manufacturing plants to the US”, or “diversifying their trade avenues outside of the US”.

“And as major companies face a general decline in exports, these small companies will consequently face a shortage in product delivery volume that will cause employment disputes,” he said.

The Korea Development Institute estimated in May that the number of employed South Koreans would increase by just 90,000 this year, in part due to the economic uncertainties, compared with a rise of 160,000 last year.

Even before Trump’s arrival on the political scene, US-South Korea relations had gone through difficult periods in the past.

In 2002, two South Korean middle-school girls were killed when they were struck by a US Army armoured vehicle.

After the American soldiers involved in the incident were found not guilty of negligent homicide by a US military court, the country saw an explosion in anti-US sentiment and nationwide protests.

In 2008, nationwide protests took place after the South Korean government decided to continue importing US beef despite concerns about the risk of Mad Cow Disease.

More recently, President Lee, who was elected in June, has emphasised the importance of maintaining positive relations with China, Washington’s biggest strategic rival and competitor.

The KIEP’s Keum said the US-South Korea relationship has evolved into a partnership where the US has become a “conditional ally”, where “economic interests take precedence over traditional alliance”.

“The US is increasingly demanding South Korea to cooperate in its containment strategy of China among its other socioeconomic policies,” she said.

Keum said that South Korea will need to seek out alternative markets and diversify its exports to mitigate the fallout of Trump’s agenda.

“South Korea also doesn’t need to act alone. The country can seek joint action with countries such as EU members, Japan and Canada to come up with joint responses to the current predicament,” she said.

There’s deepening conflict between the United States and Brazil over the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

US President Donald Trump threatened 50-percent tariffs – “unacceptable blackmail”, says Brazil’s President Lula da Silva.

So what’s next? And who stands to win or lose?

Presenter:

Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Graziella Testa – Professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation

Vinicius Rodrigues Vieira – Professor at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation

Michael Shifter – Senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue

United States President Donald Trump threatened to impose “very severe tariffs” on Russia on Monday if a peace agreement to end the Ukraine war is not reached in the next 50 days.

Trump has also unveiled a new agreement to supply Ukraine with more weapons.

On the campaign trail ahead of last year’s presidential election, Trump boasted that he would end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours in office.

However, after at least six phone conversations between Trump and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, as well as several meetings between US officials and officials from Russia and Ukraine, no ceasefire deal has been reached.

In May, Putin refused to travel to Istanbul to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for peace talks. The two countries sent delegations instead, resulting in prisoner exchange agreements, only.

So, will Trump’s latest threat convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to change his stance on Ukraine?

What did Trump say about Russia and Ukraine this week?

Weapons for Ukraine

At a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he was “disappointed” in Putin and that Ukraine would receive billions of dollars’ worth of US weapons.

“We’re going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they’ll be sent to NATO,” Trump said, adding that NATO would pay for them. He added that this would include the Patriot air defence missiles that Ukraine has sought urgently.

“We have one country that has 17 Patriots getting ready to be shipped … We’re going to work a deal where the 17 will go, or a big portion of the 17 will go to the war site,” Trump said.

New tariffs for Russian goods

Trump said if Putin fails to sign a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days of Monday this week, he will impose “very severe” trade tariffs on Russia, as well as secondary tariffs on other countries.

“We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs,” Trump said. “If we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100 percent.”

Since the start of the Ukraine war, the US and its allies have imposed at least 21,692 separate sanctions on Russian individuals, media organisations and institutions, targeting sectors including the military, energy, aviation, shipbuilding and telecommunications.

While the trade relationship between US and Russia might be relatively marginal, “secondary tariffs” – first threatened by Trump in March but not implemented – would affect countries such as India and China purchasing Russian oil.

In 2024, Russian oil made up 35 percent of India’s total crude imports and 19 percent of China’s oil imports. Turkiye also relies heavily on Russian oil, sourcing up to 58 percent of its refined petroleum imports from Russia in 2023.

Some Western countries could also be hit by secondary tariffs. In 2024, European countries spent more than $700m on Russian uranium products, according to an analysis by the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, which used data from the European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat.

How has Russia responded to Trump’s latest threats?

Putin has not responded personally.

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday: “The US president’s statements are very serious. Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin. We certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington.”

Peskov stated, however, that decisions made in Washington and other NATO countries were “perceived by the Ukrainian side not as a signal for peace, but as a signal to continue the war”.

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, wrote in an X post on Tuesday that Russia did not care about Trump’s “theatrical ultimatum”.

Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin.
The world shuddered, expecting the consequences.
Belligerent Europe was disappointed.
Russia didn’t care.

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 15, 2025

Sergei Ryabkov, a senior Russian diplomat, said on Tuesday: “We first and foremost note that any attempts to make demands – especially ultimatums – are unacceptable for us,” Russia’s TASS news agency reported.

The Russian stock market appeared untroubled by Trump’s threat, rising 2.7 percent on Monday, according to the Moscow Stock Exchange.

The Russian rouble initially lost value against the US dollar but then recovered after Trump threatened new tariffs on Russia. According to data from financial analysis group LSEG, the rouble was just 0.2 percent weaker at the end of the day, trading at 78.10 to the US dollar after weakening to 78.75 earlier in the day.

The rouble gained 0.9 percent to 10.87 against the Chinese yuan, the most traded foreign currency in Russia. This was after it had weakened by more than 1 percent on Friday.

Will US weapons help Ukraine significantly?

Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at the defence studies department at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that the Patriot missile systems that Trump has pledged to sell to Ukraine are long-range air defences best suited for shooting down ballistic missiles such as Russia’s Iskander M.

“But Ukraine will need short- to medium-range systems as well as multiple rocket launchers in order to defend itself. So it’s more of a political move for Trump rather than anything else,” Miron said.

She added that the significance of these weapons depends on several factors, including whether Ukraine will get 17 systems as allegedly promised, and where the systems would be placed.

How has Trump changed his stance on aiding Ukraine?

A month into his presidential term, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, blaming Zelenskyy for continuing the war with Russia and saying the Ukrainian president “talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start”.

The US has sent Ukraine about $134bn in aid so far – not $350bn – according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) base has also been critical of US funding for Ukraine.

In early July, the Trump administration announced a decision to “pause” arms deliveries to Kyiv, but reversed this a week later. When Trump announced the reversal on July 8, his supporters voiced criticism.

Derrick Evans, one of Trump’s supporters who was among the throng which stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and who was later arrested but then pardoned by Trump in January this year, wrote on X: “I did not vote for this.” Conservative social media duo Keith and Kevin Hodge posted on X: “Who in the hell is telling Trump that we need to send more weapons to Ukraine?”

Trump appears to be attempting to address these criticisms by saying that instead of supplying weapons to Ukraine, he will sell them to NATO.

Furthermore, Miron said, the US is not losing anything by selling weapons, since NATO will be paying for them. “There are not enough systems being provided to make a substantial difference,” she said.

Could Trump’s latest threats force Putin to change his policy?

While Putin has repeatedly voiced his determination to achieve his war aims, he has not specifically stated what they are. Broadly, he has sought territorial gains within Ukraine and has opposed Ukraine’s membership in NATO – these have not changed and are unlikely to do so, according to observers.

“If you were to describe Russia’s approach, it’s ‘keep calm and carry on,’” Miron said, referring to the fact that most Russian officials have not responded to Trump’s threat.

“So they are not going for this informational trap,” she said.

Has Putin changed his stance at all since Russia invaded Ukraine?

Miron said Putin has expanded his goals since Ukraine’s major cross-border incursion to the Kursk region in August last year. Ukraine’s push into Kursk, which took the Kremlin by surprise, marked the most significant Ukrainian attack inside Russian territory since the war began.

In May this year, Russian troops were tasked with establishing a buffer zone stretching up to 10km (6 miles) into Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with Bloomberg published on July 11.

“I have already said that a decision was made to create the necessary security buffer zone along the border. Our armed forces are currently solving this problem. Enemy firing points are being actively suppressed, the work is under way,” Putin said back then.

While Putin did not provide much detail about what the buffer zones would entail, Russian General Viktor Sobolev said they would allow Russia to push Ukraine’s long-range missiles out of striking range, Ukrainian media reported.

United States President Donald Trump has informed Mexico and the European Union that they face tariffs of 30 percent starting next month.

This has created shock and is raising fears of an all-out trade war, but both Mexico and the EU say they want talks to continue.

So, what is Trump’s strategy – and what are the risks?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Niall Stanage – columnist for The Hill

Greg Swenson – chairman of Republicans Overseas UK

Daniel Gros – director of the Institute for European Policymaking at Bocconi University

WASHINGTON — Just hours after she pleaded not guilty to federal charges brought by the Trump administration, Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey was surrounded by dozens of supportive Democratic colleagues in the halls of the Capitol. The case, they argued, strikes at the heart of congressional power.

“If they can break LaMonica, they can break the House of Representatives,” said New York Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Federal prosecutors allege that McIver interfered with law enforcement during a visit with two other House Democrats to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark. She calls the charges “baseless.”

It’s far from the only clash between congressional Democrats and the Republican administration as officials ramp up deportations of immigrants around the country.

Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed by federal agents, wrestled to the ground and held while attempting to ask a question at a news conference of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. At least six groups of House Democrats have recently been denied entry to ICE detention centers. In early June, federal agents entered the district office of Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and briefly detained a staffer.

Congressional Republicans have largely criticized Democrats’ behavior as inflammatory and inappropriate, and some have publicly supported the prosecution of McIver.

Often in the dark about the Trump administration’s moves, congressional Democrats are wrestling with how to perform their oversight duties at a time of roiling tensions with the White House and new restrictions on lawmakers visiting federal facilities.

“We have the authority to conduct oversight business, and clearly, House Republicans are not doing that oversight here,” said New Jersey Rep. Rob Menendez, one of the House Democrats who went with McIver to the Newark ICE facility.

“It’s our obligation to continue to do it on-site at these detention facilities. And even if they don’t want us to, we are going to continue to exert our right.”

A stark new reality

The prospect of facing charges for once routine oversight activity has alarmed many congressional Democrats who never expected to face criminal prosecution as elected officials. Lawmakers in both parties were also unnerved by the recent targeted shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers — one of them fatal — and the nation’s tense political atmosphere.

“It’s a moment that calls for personal courage of members of Congress,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.). “I wish that we had more physical protection. I think that’s one of those harsh realities that members of Congress who are not in leadership recognize: that oftentimes, we do this job at our own peril, and we do it anyway.”

The arrests and detentions of lawmakers have led some Democrats to take precautionary measures. Several have consulted with the House general counsel about their right to conduct oversight. Multiple lawmakers also sought personal legal counsel, while others have called for a review of congressional rules to provide greater protections.

“The Capitol Police are the security force for members of Congress. We need them to travel with us, to go to facilities and events that the president may have us arrested for,” said Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.).

‘Not a lot of transparency’

As the minority party in the House, Democrats lack the subpoena power to force the White House to provide information. That’s a problem, they say, because the Trump administration is unusually secretive about its actions.

“There’s not a lot of transparency. From day to day, oftentimes, we’re learning about what’s happening at the same time as the rest of the nation,” said Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), who led a prayer for McIver at the Capitol rally.

To amplify their concerns, Democrats have turned to public letters, confronted officials at congressional hearings and used digital and media outreach to try to create public pressure.

“We’ve been very successful when they come in before committees,” said Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), who added that she believed the public inquiries have “100%” resonated with voters.

Tapping into the information pipeline

Congressional Democrats say they often rely on local lawmakers, business leaders and advocates to be their eyes and ears on the ground.

A few Democrats say their best sources of information are across the political aisle, since Republicans typically have clearer lines of communication with the White House.

“I know who to call in Houston with the chamber. I think all of us do that,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) said of how business leaders are keeping her updated.

Garcia said Democrats “need to put more pressure” on leading figures in the agriculture, restaurant and hospitality sectors to take their concerns about the immigrant crackdown to President Trump’s White House.

“They’re the ones he’ll listen to. They’re the ones who can add the pressure. He’s not going to listen to me, a Democrat who was an impeachment manager, who is on the bottom of his list, if I’m on it at all,” Garcia said.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) had a working relationship with a for-profit ICE facility in his district until the Department of Homeland Security in February ended reports as part of an agency-wide policy change. A member of Crow’s staff now regularly goes to the facility and waits, at times for hours, until staff at the Aurora facility respond to detailed questions posed by the office.

‘Real oversight’ requires winning elections

Still, many House Democrats concede that they can conduct little of their desired oversight until they are back in the majority.

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) said that “real oversight power and muscle” only comes “when you have a gavel.”

“Nothing else matters. No rousing oratory, no tours, no speeches, no social media or entertainment, none of that stuff,” Veasey said. “Because the thing that keeps Trump up at night more than anything else is the idea he’s going to lose this House and there’ll be real oversight pressure applied to him.”

Brown writes for the Associated Press.

The Norwegian Refugee Council says the ‘deliberate denial of energy access’ undermines human needs in Gaza.

The lack of reliable energy sources is a key threat to survival in war-torn Gaza, an NGO has warned.

The “deliberate denial of energy access”, like electricity and fuel, “undermines fundamental human needs” in the war-torn enclave, a report published on Monday by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) cautioned. The alert is just the latest regarding the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which is driven by Israel’s blockade amid its war against Hamas.

Israel halted the entry of food, water and fuel in March, putting the Palestinian territory’s population at risk of famine.

Electricity supply has also been limited. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 2.1 million people in Gaza have no access to power.

“In Gaza, energy is not about convenience – it’s about survival,” Benedicte Giaever, executive director of NORCAP, which is part of NRC, said.

“When families can’t cook, when hospitals go dark and when water pumps stop running, the consequences are immediate and devastating. The international community must prioritise energy in all humanitarian efforts,” she added.

NRC’s report noted that without power, healthcare facilities in Gaza have been adversely impacted, with emergency surgeries having to be delayed, and ventilators, incubators and dialysis machines unable to function.

Lack of electricity has also impacted Gaza’s desalination facilities, leaving 70 percent of households without access to clean water and forcing households to burn plastic or debris to cook, NRC said.

The humanitarian organisation also highlighted how the lack of power has increased the risks of gender-based violence after dark.

“For too long, the people of Gaza have endured cycles of conflict, blockade, and deprivation. But the current crisis represents a new depth of despair, threatening their immediate survival and their long-term prospects for recovery and development,” NRC’s Secretary General Jan Egeland said, urging the international community to ensure the people in Gaza gain access to energy.

Amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, hundreds of people have been killed by the Israeli military as they have sought food and other vital supplies from aid stations set up by the controversial Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

In its latest daily update released on Monday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said the bodies of at least 39 people had been brought to hospitals over the previous 24 hours. At least 317 people were wounded, it added.

Since Israel eased its total blockade last month, more than 400 people are reported to have died trying to reach food distribution points.

The UN’s top humanitarian official in the occupied Palestinian territory issued a stark warning on Sunday over the deepening crisis.

“We see a chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food,” said Jonathan Whittall, who heads OCHA in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“The attempt to survive is being met with a death sentence.”

The rapidly evolving nature of AI is a double-edged sword as far as cybersecurity goes. As user-friendly and beneficial as Generative AI (Gen AI) can be, it is also being misused ever more frequently in the form of trickery and manipulation, such as deepfaking the voice, face or name of a person or organisation to elicit payments. By 2027, for example, 17% of total cyberattacks will involve the use of Gen AI, according to Gartner¹. This figure is expected to rise quickly.

While high-profile incidents continue to underscore the scale and sophistication of AI-driven threats, the same technology also equips companies with powerful, proactive tools to defend their critical infrastructure and stay ahead of attackers. For example, detecting patterns to identify intrusions into networks, or spotting new malware and other threats can flag unusual and potentially harmful activity much quicker than any human could.

As a result, AI’s role in cybersecurity has evolved from a technical issue into a strategic business imperative. 

“Cybersecurity is one of the key concerns today, and companies are investing heavily to combat this”
Aaron Chiew, Head of Digital Channels for DBS’ Institutional Banking Group

AI’s dark side: New frontiers in cyber threats

AI AI brings powerful capabilities, but those same capabilities are amplifying cyber risks in three major ways:

• Accelerated processing times – AI can process vast datasets very quickly, enabling scammers and fraudsters to identify exploitable patterns and design new scam tactics with unprecedented efficiency.
• The prevalence and believability of deepfakes – a case in point was in Hong Kong, where deepfake technology was used to impersonate company executives on a video call, successfully convincing an accounts clerk to transfer $25 million to fraudsters.²
• Rapid creation of deceptive or manipulative information in the form of scam content – including automating scam calls, generating realistic looking fake ads, and creating websites that mimic legitimate businesses to trick people into providing sensitive information or making unauthorised payments.

Such threats have far-reaching repercussions, beyond the obvious financial losses. One of the most damaging is the erosion of trust, both within the organisation and with clients.

For example, Chiew noted employees may start to question the authenticity of the calls they receive, uncertain whether they’re truly speaking to the person they believe they are. This growing uncertainty could lead to more verification steps and processes to confirm the legitimacy of communications. “What might have been a quick transaction in the pre-AI world could now take much longer,” he said. “Whether businesses can maintain the same level of operational efficiency going forward is increasingly uncertain.”

The damage doesn’t stop at the office door. Rebuilding trust with customers can take a long time once a cybersecurity incident becomes public knowledge.

Stepping up defences against AI cyber threats

Companies are not standing still in this new era, with the threat from AI now top of mind. For example, 66% of organisations expect AI to have the most significant impact on cybersecurity in the year to come³.

In response, investment in cybersecurity protection measures has risen significantly across various industry sectors. For example, in August 2024, Gartner projected that global end-user spending on information security would grow by 15% this year to $212 billion⁴.

At the same time, companies are reviewing their processes and implementing stricter communication policies with regard to the role of AI tools as an advanced way to quickly spot and respond to dangers, said Chiew. “They are relooking at how they interact with each other in a digital space, to understand how they implement these cybersecurity protection measures safely so the current processes can run smoothly.”

This is triggering action such as more defined data protection policies in terms of collection and storage, along with stricter guidelines for using social media, plus regular penetration testing of systems and infrastructure.

Turning cyber risk into operational resilience

Companies are at different stages of their cybersecurity journey, but in all cases a clear and structured path to protection is essential.

According to Chiew, early-stage companies should start with the basics:

1. Verify all requests carefully

Always double-check the credibility of requests received by email – especially those involving sensitive financial changes. For instance, if an employee requests a payroll update or a supplier emails to change bank details, confirm the request by calling back using a verified number on record.

2. Audit your internal processes

Regularly review internal workflows to identify weak points that could be exploited through human error or fraud. Even small procedural gaps can open the door to cyber threats.

For mature-stage companies, the key is to strengthen and stress-test:

1. Invest in penetration testing

Engage cybersecurity professionals or specialist agencies to conduct penetration testing and simulate attacks. This helps uncover vulnerabilities in systems, processes, or infrastructure before attackers do.

2. Continuously monitor and upgrade systems

Periodically review your infrastructure and security protocols to stay ahead of evolving threats. As Chiew warns: “It only takes a single loophole or gap – and for scammers, finding and exploiting these gaps is a full-time job.”

Explore DBS’ resources for businesses to protect against scams: https://go.dbs.com/ProtectYourBusiness