News And Current Events

Negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza appear to be at an impasse, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaning towards expanded military operations and Hamas demanding the humanitarian situation be addressed before it returns to talks.

Netanyahu will urge a meeting of the security cabinet on Tuesday to support the full “conquest of the Strip” according to reports in Israeli media that were described as accurate by a source familiar with the matter.

Israel’s Ynet cited senior officials close to Netanyahu as saying: “The die is cast – we’re going for full conquest. If the Chief of Staff doesn’t agree – he should resign.”

Cars and smartphones may rank among South Korea's biggest exports to the US, but few goods inspire a more devoted following than the Asian country's beauty products.

K-beauty - a term that covers a wide range of skincare, makeup and cosmetics from South Korea - is lauded for its quality and value, driving soaring demand in recent years.

The global appeal of South Korean culture has also helped propel the popularity of its cosmetics.

US-based Pearl Mak tells the BBC that she was introduced to K-beauty products by her friends. South Korean serums are better-suited for her skin compared to some Western brands that tend to be more harsh, the 27-year-old graphic designer says.

Now "95% of my skincare is made up of K-beauty products", she adds.

Ms Mak is not alone in her preference for South Korean skincare brands. Americans spent as much $1.7bn (£1.3bn) on K-beauty products in 2024, according to industry estimates. That marks a more than 50% rise compared to the previous year.

K-beauty products are often more attractively priced than their Western counterparts - but also feature ingredients that are not as commonly found in the West - from heartleaf to snail mucin.

US President Donald Trump has now imposed a 15% import tax on South Korean goods traded between Seoul and Washington.

It's less than the 25% levy that Trump had threatened, but many consumers are not taking any chances.

Ali Ahmad's eyes fill with tears as he lifts his shirt to show deep bruises across his back.

While he was detained, Iranian officers struck him and accused him of spying, he says. "They used hoses, water pipes and wooden boards to beat me. They treated us like animals."

He was speaking to the BBC earlier this month at Islam Qala on the two countries' border, before crossing back over to Afghanistan. His name has been changed to protect his identity.

Iran - which says it hosts more than four million undocumented Afghans who fled conflict in their homeland - has been stepping up deportations for months. In March those without papers were given a July deadline to depart voluntarily, but since a brief war with Israel in June, the authorities have forcibly returned hundreds of thousands of Afghans, alleging national security concerns.

Daily returns peaked at about 50,000 people in early July, according to the United Nations – often after arduous journeys.

Ali Ahmad says Iranian officials confiscated his money and phone and left him without "a single penny to travel back". He'd lived in Iran for two and a half years.

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Iran's crackdown has coincided with widespread accusations linking Afghans to Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, including Iranian media reports that cite police sources claiming some individuals were arrested for espionage.

"We're afraid to go anywhere, constantly worried that we might be labelled as spies," one person, who wished to remain anonymous, told BBC News Afghan.

"You Afghans are spies", "You work for Israel" or "You build drones in your homes", are other frequent accusations, according to this individual.

More than 6 in 10 South Koreans gave a positive assessment of the trade deal reached last week between Seoul and Washington, a poll showed Monday.

According to the survey conducted by Realmeter on 1,016 adults aged over 18 on Friday, 63.9 percent said they viewed the deal positively, while 32.3 percent had a negative view.

When asked about the most significant outcome of the negotiations, 23.8 percent cited the reduction of "reciprocal" tariffs to 15 percent and securing the same conditions that were granted to competing countries." South Korea secured the same tariff rate as other key US allies, including those in Europe and Japan.

Another 23.2 percent cited the exclusion of sensitive items, such as rice and beef, from the deal as the main achievement, followed by 17.4 percent who pointed to a $150 billion investment in the US shipbuilding industry.

Over 67 percent of the respondents said the government made efforts in the negotiations, while 30.2 percent said it did not.

The Israeli military is failing to properly investigate war crime accusations against its personnel, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) has stated.

The pattern of IDF investigative activity suggests the probes are focused on protecting “institutional legitimacy” rather than upholding justice, the UK-based the NGO said in a report published on Saturday.

Out of 52 publicly acknowledged IDF probes into alleged war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, only one resulted in a prison sentence, according to AOAV. The incidents took place between October 2023 and June 2025 and involved some 1,300 reported victims.

Six cases in total resulted in an “admission of error,” with officers being either dismissed or reprimanded in three instances. The IDF found “no violation” in seven more cases, the NGO said in its latest report.

A total of 39 cases – or three quarters of all probes monitored by AOAV – have no progress updates available to the public or the English-speaking media. The unresolved cases include the killing of 112 Palestinians queueing for flour in Gaza in February 2024 and an airstrike that killed 45 Palestinians in a camp in Rafah in May 2024, among others.

The data paint “a picture not of military accountability, but of disingenuous damage control,” the monitor said in its report. “There was a lurking suspicion that the outcomes of any investigation may have been to serve to protect institutional legitimacy rather than to deliver justice.”

Ukraine should extend full legal protections to gay people, including same-sex marriage, as part of its bid for EU membership, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said.

Ukraine was granted EU candidate status in 2022 shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia. While Brussels has floated 2030 as a possible accession date, all current member states must approve the move.

“There’s a living expression of the libertarian values that Ukraine is fighting for,” Kristersson wrote in a post on Friday, after meeting with LGBTQ Ukrainian veterans and Sweden’s rights group RFSL in Stockholm. He noted that same-sex couples in Ukraine “cannot enter into marriage or a registered partnership” and said Sweden would “closely monitor” the matter during the EU accession process.

China’s famed Shaolin Temple announced on Sunday that its abbot is under investigation for suspected embezzlement and “improper relationships” with women, reviving decade-old allegations against the controversial, high-profile monk.

Shi Yongxin, known as “CEO monk” for his entrepreneurial endeavors that transformed the Buddhist monastery into a commercial empire, is suspected of criminal offenses including embezzlement and misappropriation of project funds and temple assets, the temple’s authority said in a statement.

The 59-year-old monk was also accused of seriously violating Buddhist precepts by maintaining “improper relationships” with multiple women over an extended period and fathering at least one child, according to the statement.

Buddhist monks in China have traditionally been expected to take a vow of celibacy.

“(Shi) is currently under joint investigation by multiple departments. Further information will be released to the public in due course,” the statement added.

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Later that year, a self-identified Shaolin insider posted a series of explosive allegations on Chinese social media, depicting Shi as an embezzler and womanizer with illegitimate children.

The accuser included documents dating back to the late 1980s purportedly showing Shi being kicked out of Shaolin following theft and other accusations from his own master. Among the documents posted online was a birth certificate for one of the abbot’s supposed illegitimate children, as well as photos of the alleged mother and the child.

The allegations prompted an angry denial from the Shaolin Temple and an investigation from the country’s religious affairs authorities. Asked by BBC Chinese at the time about the allegations, Shi said: “If there were a problem, it would have surfaced long ago.”

The authorities dropped the case in 2017, citing insufficient evidence. Three years later, Shi went on to be re-elected as the deputy head of the Buddhist Association of China – the state supervisory body on the religion – a position he has held since 2002, according to state media.

On Monday, the Buddhist Association of China said in a statement that Shi had been stripped of his ordination certificate – an official proof of a monk’s or nun’s qualification to enter monastic life.

“Shi Yongxin’s actions are of an extremely egregious nature, severely tarnishing the reputation of the Buddhist community and damaging the image of monastics,” the association said.

“The Buddhist Association of China firmly supports and endorses the decision to handle Shi Yongxin’s case in accordance with the law.”

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45851647/shooter-was-targeting-nfl-headquarters-nyc-mayor-says

The dayslong rainstorms have left 30 dead in the Chinese capital and eight dead in its neighboring province of Hebei, state-run broadcaster CCTV said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/china/flooding-kills-least-38-beijing-region-gets-almost-years-rain-rcna221648

Keterrius Sparks, 3, was pronounced dead after he was found inside a locked, hot car in Birmingham, where temperatures were in the 90s.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-toddler-died-hot-car-was-forgotten-state-contract-worker-polic-rcna221519

Israel is doing little to help starving Gazans by airdropping food, according to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).

The official dismissed the tactic as ineffective and urged Israel to lift its blockade of the densely populated enclave. His remarks came after the UN’s food aid program reported that 90,000 Palestinian women and children are suffering from malnutrition.

“Gaza airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction and screensmoke [sic],” Lazzarini wrote on X on Saturday, adding “a manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.”

He called on Israel to “lift the siege” and guarantee safe access to humanitarian workers. “At UNRWA, we have the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting for the green light to get into Gaza,” he wrote.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has criticized the resumption of larger aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, Ben-Gvir described the move as a slap in the face for Israeli soldiers.

The delivery of humanitarian aid is tantamount to "keeping the enemy alive," Ben-Gvir also wrote.

In the post, he addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly and called for the latest aid deliveries to be stopped.

The Russian parliament's upper house on Friday quickly approved a bill that punishes online searches for information officially branded “extremist,” the latest in a series of moves by authorities to tighten control of the internet.

The legislation makes what it describes as “deliberately searching for and accessing extremist materials” online punishable by a fine of up to the equivalent of $64.

The bill, which was endorsed by the lower house earlier this week, is now set to be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

The official definition of extremist activity is extremely broad and includes opposition groups like the Anti-Corruption Foundation, created by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the “international LGBT movement.”

It’s not clear how authorities will track down violators.

Officials and lawmakers said ordinary internet users won’t be affected and only those who methodically seek outlawed content will be targeted. They didn’t explain how authorities would differentiate between them.

Russians widely use VPN services for access to banned content, but authorities have sought to tighten restrictions and close the loopholes. The state communications watchdog has increasingly used technology to analyze traffic and block specific VPN protocols.

Mourning for an elderly couple who were killed as the gird operator works to restore electricity in affected areas.

https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/25/extent-of-damage-from-cyprus-wildfires-becoming-clear-as-blazes-brought-under-control

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has said Israel should not be concerned about hunger in Gaza, drawing condemnation from across the political spectrum.

The far-right Otzma Yehudit politician dismissed renewed UN warnings of a man-made famine in the besieged enclave, stating that the Israeli government is “racing toward erasing Gaza.”

“Thank God we are erasing this evil. All of Gaza will be Jewish,” Eliyahu told Radio Kol Barama on Thursday, according to Ynet.

“We shouldn’t be dealing with hunger in Gaza –let the world take care of them. No nation feeds its enemies. Have we completely lost our minds? Should we care about their evening meal?” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself from the comments, noting that Eliyahu is not a member of the Security Cabinet, which determines the conduct of the war.

“This government’s policy is clear and united. His statements do not represent it,” Netanyahu said.

Russiagate hysteria led the BI to spy on a panel featuring The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and Anya Parampil. As Blumenthal warned during the discussion, the bogus Trump-Russia collusion narrative was exploited to target a wide range of anti-establishment figures. “Russiagate, one of the principal reasons that I oppose it – and why I called it out from the beginning – is that while it seems to be directed at Trump, it’s going to go beyond Trump and it will be used to suppress the left as classic McCarthyism always did.”

When The Grayzone’s founder, Max Blumenthal, made that statement on June 2, 2018, he had no way of knowing, but he was making it to the FBI.

A newly-uncovered FBI file published by journalist Chip Gibbons shows a pair of FBI special agents was on hand to monitor the panel discussion Blumenthal was participating in that day at the 2018 Left Forum at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. The main target of their investigation appeared to be Randy Credico, a comedian and radio host also appearing on the panel, who was accused of being Roger Stone’s “backchannel” to Wikileaks – a charge Credico strenuously denied when subpoenaed by both the House Intelligence Committee and Robert Mueller.

According to Gibbons, “the revelation that FBI agents surveilled the panel of journalists and activists stem from documents the FBI turned over… under the Freedom of Information Act.” As the journalist noted, “the two-page document is an “FD-302,”” a type of report which FBI agents use to document interviews with their subjects. The document, which can be viewed in its entirety here, specifies that the “investigation” was carried out “in person.”

A 2022 report from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) projects that humans produce about 460 million tons of plastic each year. Without immediate action, that amount is projected to triple by 2060.

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This panel comes weeks before the UN meets again in hopes of finalizing a historic treaty that would address the full lifecycle of plastic, from production and design to collection, disposal and recycling. Talks began three years ago and the last round of talks in December ended in a stalemate without a treaty.

McCauley said the scale of the plastics problem the global community is facing is "immense," which makes the opportunity to solve it with new negotiations "really exciting."

As a marine biologist, he outlined the real negative impacts of plastic pollution. There is a threat to biodiversity and the habitats of marine life, and a human health impact with the rise of microplastics in our food and water supply. In terms of climate change, McCauley said that without a solution, greenhouse gas emissions from continued plastic production will increase by 37 percent.

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While the final draft of the treaty is still in the works, Simon said the 193 countries are aligned on a few measures. This includes getting "problematic" materials out of production, designing more sustainable plastic, financing the transition to a recycling infrastructure and making sure these agreements can be strengthened over time.

"In this next session, it is our hope that we set the glide path for all of those in the right direction," she said. "It is our hope that we find ways to build more bridges than we seem to have burned in the last sessions of negotiations."

At APR, Steve Alexander said the organization has design and testing guides for plastic packaging and recycling that are referenced around the world. While these guidelines, and many others related to sustainability and recycling, are helpful, they are also voluntary. He said the UN treaty needs to have some level of standardization.

Knesset lawmakers vote 71-13 in favor of a non-binding motion for the agenda in favor of annexing the West Bank in the Knesset today.

“The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” declares Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana following the vote, adding that “Jews cannot be the occupiers” of their own ancestral homeland.

“This is our land. This is our home. The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. In 1967, the occupation did not begin; it ended, and our homeland was returned to its rightful owners. We are the original first natives of this piece of land. Jews cannot be the ‘occupier’ of a land that for 3,000 years has been called Judea,” says Ohana.

“These are truths that no false narrative can change. This is the historical truth…and this is also the one and only way to achieve true peace through strength and to destroy the false hopes that throb in the hearts of our enemies that we will disappear, be expelled or withdraw from our homeland. We are here to stay.”

The motion, advanced by Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, Likud MK Dan Illouz and Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer, describes Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley as “an inseparable part of the historical homeland of the Jewish people” and calls for applying Israeli sovereignty to these areas.

“This move would make it clear to the world that Israel will not accept solutions that involve dangerous territorial concessions, and that it is committed to its future as a secure Jewish state,” the proposal states.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-birth-rate-all-time-low-cdc-data/

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/rnc-chair-to-run-for-senate-after-lara-trump-opts-to-stay-at-fox-news-report/

Klain is the 6th former Biden administration aide to appear for Rep. Comer's probe

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ex-biden-chief-staff-ron-klain-faces-grilling-house-gops-cover-probe