Gun found in French lake is analysed by 2012 Alps killings investigators
British tourists reportedly discovered Luger pistol that is latest in long line of potential leads in mystery of al-Hilli deathsExperts are examining a gun found by tourists to determine whether it might have been used to kill a British family in the French Alps 14 years ago.In what remains an unsolved murder case, Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife, Ikbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were shot dead on a road near Annecy, a remote Alpine village in eastern France in September 2012. Continue reading...
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Why the Indus Treaty Still Matters for Regional Peace
• On Monday, August 31, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled that India cannot unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty. • The five-member tribunal issued a unanimous decision rejecting all arguments presented by New Delhi since April 2025 to justify the suspension.
Read original · countercurrents.org
CountercurrentsGlobal News Roundup: Political Shifts, Regional Events, and International Highlights
• Hilroy issued a formal apology after its notebooks were found to be missing Newfoundland and Cape Breton from their maps of Canada. • In a separate legal matter, a bus driver is facing charges following a severe crash in 2025 that resulted in injuries to 33 passengers.
Read original · ca.headtopics.comThe uncertain new world
• Renewed fighting in West Asia highlights a global trend of instability and imprudent escalation. • Iran is reportedly collaborating with Russian missile specialists to develop a ramjet propulsion system for faster anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles.
Read original · hindustantimes.comPress Conference by Security Council President on Work Programme for September
• France, serving as the President of the Security Council for September, announced a work programme focused on addressing critical issues in Haiti, Iran, and Sudan. • The agenda was detailed by the French representative during a press conference held at the UN Headquarters.
Read original · press.un.orgApple Maps renames Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ for US users after Trump order
Tech company submits to controversial Trump order to rename body of water amid US trade spat with CanadaApple has renamed Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, after an executive order from Donald Trump to change the name of the Great Lake amid his trade spat with Canada.The Apple Maps app now displays the controversial new name for the lake, which sits between the border of New York state and the Canadian province of Ontario, for users in the US. Apple users outside the country will still see the Lake Ontario name. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comPolice chief in Mississippi town where 1-year-old was killed has been fired
Harold Vanderford made national news earlier this year after he shot and killed Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old Black baby, while responding to a shoplifting call at WalmartLate Tuesday, the city of Senatobia, Mississippi fired its police chief, Harold Vanderford, after it was reported that Vanderford regularly used racist slurs against Black people in his text messages. The town, which is about 40% Black, made national news earlier this year after a white officer fatally shot and killed Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old Black baby, while responding to a shoplifting call at Walmart. Officers fired into a vehicle, shooting the driver and killing the toddler, who was being held in his mother’s arms.Though Vanderford submitted a resignation letter earlier on 1 September, the city’s board of aldermen unanimously voted to reject it and to terminate the officer instead. Vanderford’s firing came just under a week after the city wrote in a statement that, despite the messages, he would “continue to serve the City with the confidence that was placed in him at the time that he was appointed as Chief”. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comGreen party members back Zack Polanski to stand in London byelection
Party leader in England and Wales seen as favourite to contest Holborn and St Pancras after Starmer’s resignationZack Polanski moved a step closer in his quest to become an MP on Wednesday, with local Green party members supporting him to become the party’s candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection.The party leader in England and Wales started campaigning alongside his fellow Green, Hannah Spencer, the MP for Gorton and Denton, in the Holborn area on Tuesday, and is seriously considering putting himself forward as the party’s candidate in the seat vacated by Keir Starmer on Monday. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comIsrael ‘seeking Trump’s support for plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza’
Defence minister says he believes US backing could tip regional balance in favour of forced resettlementIsrael’s defence minister has said his country is seeking Donald Trump’s support to approve plans to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in what has widely been condemned as a potential war crime.Israel Katz said there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration” during a conference hosted by the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. He said the Israeli government was “organised and prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way possible”. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comBayeux tapestry loan symbolises ‘entente amicale’ between France and UK, says King Charles
Monarch tells Emmanuel Macron at the British Museum in London that the two nations will share a future ‘woven together’ by history and shared valuesThe loan of the Bayeux tapestry was the “the best possible symbol” of the “entente amicale” between France and the UK, King Charles said as he visited the famous embroidered masterpiece at the British Museum in London.Though the tapestry recounts a conflict, “here it is today, nearly 1,000 years later, as a precious symbol of trust, at a time when trust seems sadly to be in short supply between nations,” he said. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comUS prosecutors refuse to say if they secretly obtained Don Lemon’s phone records
Experts have expressed deep concerns that the practice runs afoul of the fourth amendment’s right to privacyFederal prosecutors have declined to say whether they secretly obtained phone records for the journalist Don Lemon using an unusual administrative summons, his lawyers said in a Monday court filing, highlighting concern about a controversial legal authority the government has claimed to gather information as it charged Lemon and dozens of others it has charged with civil rights crimes in connection to a January protest at a St Paul church.In January, officials served Verizon with an administrative summons for a log of Lemon’s phone records between 19 December and 20 January. The subpoena didn’t come from a grand jury, as is typical in criminal investigation, and also wasn’t a court-approved search warrant. Instead, it was a unilateral request from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said it was requesting the information under 19 USC 1509 – an obscure law that gives the department power to investigate records related to customs issues. Experts say the government is abusing that authority to gather records on journalists, activists, unions, non-profits and online critics, and have expressed deep concerns that the practice runs afoul of the fourth amendment’s right to privacy. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comFemale film-makers still being squeezed out of industry, London film festival director says
Over 40% of films in LFF programme are female-made, but only two of 21 gala films are directed by womenFemale film-makers are still being squeezed out of the industry as they progress beyond their debut films, the director of the London film festival has said, adding that “the dial does not seem to be moving”.Kristy Matheson’s comments came as LFF announced its full programme for this year’s event, which runs from 7 to 19 October. Of the 251 titles, 109 (43%) are made by female film-makers, but only two of the 21 gala films are directed by women. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.com