President Javier Milei says sovereignty over the islands remains a national objective.It has been dormant for decades, but the row between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands has been revived.It started with a joint British-Israeli oil exploration project off the archipelago’s north coast, to which Buenos Aires vehemently objected.President Javier Milei has now threatened to sanction companies operating there.His push to reclaim the islands was bolstered by United States President Donald Trump’s comment that he may reconsider Washington’s position on the territory.Diego Guelar – Former Argentinian ambassador to the US, European Union and China
Read briefing Manchester United were outspent in transfer window, but boss Michael Carrick says team ready to fire ahead of Everton trip.Who: Everton vs Manchester United What: English Premier League Where: Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, United Kingdom When: Sunday, August 6, at 2pm (13:00 GMT). How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have all the build-up from 10:00 GMT ahead of our live coverage.Manchester United manager Michael Carrick said he is delighted with the additions to his squad despite being outspent by Premier League rivals in the transfer window and short on depth in some areas.United put their efforts into rebuilding Carrick’s midfield, with Casemiro’s exit and a serious injury to Manuel Ugarte offset by the acquisitions of Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba for a combined 155 million pounds ($210m).The Red Devils’ fiercest rivals spent almost that budget on a single player as Manchester City broke the British transfer record for Enzo Fernandez, while Liverpool splashed up to 123 million pounds ($166m) on French winger Bradley Barcola.Despite returning to the Champions League for the first time in three seasons, Carrick hinted at having to work within financial restrictions.“We went into the window wanting to come out stronger from the group that we had last season. We’ve definitely added to that,” Carrick told a pre-match media conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Everton.“I think we’ve done a lot of good work in that respect and the situation is what it is in terms of finances and what we can work with and what we’re trying to get the most of.“Certainly, the players that we’ve brought into the group I’m absolutely delighted with and I think we’ve done some really good business there.”United look particularly short in defence with the injury-prone Luke Shaw their only senior option at left-back.“What squad ever is the perfect squad? You’ve always got to find ways of adapting,” Carrick added.“When you’re building and trying to push to go through a period where we’re trying to get to the top – that’s the ultimate goal – you’ve got to make steps.”Joshua Zirkzee was among those expected to leave Old Trafford to boost the funds available to Carrick.Despite interest from Fiorentina and Juventus and a deadline-day approach from Everton, the Netherlands international remains at United, despite limited game time over the past two seasons.“He wants to play more than he has done and that’s the good competition and healthy competition for places,” said Carrick.“Josh can do some really, really top things. I’ve seen it myself, and I know he can do that and looking forward to him doing that a little bit more often for us.”After a dreadful 2-0 defeat at newly-promoted Hull on the opening weekend of the season, United bounced back to thrash Ipswich 5-2 thanks to a Bruno Fernandes hat-trick last time out.Everton boss David Moyes conceded he is left with a small squad after a disappointing transfer window in which key players departed and a deadline day medical fell through as they tried to sign American striker Folarin Balogun.Moyes expressed frustration at his club’s close-season business, revealing they did not want to lose Senegal forward Iliman Ndiaye but were powerless when bigger teams like Manchester City look to sign their players.“Disappointed we didn’t do more business and disappointed things didn’t go our way in the end. Sometimes in football you have to live with disappointment and we will move on,” Moyes told reporters on Friday.“I know what I needed and I know what it’s like to build a squad for the Premier League, I know the numbers you need. I’ve been around long enough to know that, but some things went against us and some things could have gone better.“Ultimately, we didn’t want to lose a lot of the players, but for different reasons that had to happen.”AS Monaco chief executive Thiago Scuro said Everton raised concerns over Balogun’s medical late on deadline day and that the US international pulled out because he was uncomfortable with the doubts raised by the Merseyside club over his health.“The player had a problem in his medical and that was simply it. There’s no other story behind it.”Everton’s Fans’ Forum also criticised the club’s planning and recruitment after the transfer window closed, saying supporters deserved answers after another window marked by late activity and a failed pursuit of key targets.With a thin squad, Moyes said Everton’s academy players would have to step up but was unsure if they could fill the gaps.“Are they ready to make the step up? I’m not sure about that. We will see how that goes, some of them might be pushed in,” Moyes said.“They’re all going to have to be able to muck in as we’ve got a real small squad now,” he added.“It gives opportunities to some people who have not had them and sometimes in football you need to be given that chance so that you can show what you can do. Let’s see if some of them can do that.”
Read briefing Colombian authorities blame ELN rebel group for attack that reportedly included drones dropping explosives on compound.Colombian authorities have said that at least three soldiers have been killed and several more injured after an attack on a military compound by an armed group that included drones used to drop explosives.The Colombian army said on Saturday that the attack had been carried out by the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) the night before in the municipality of Ocana, which is in the area bordering Venezuela. Two soldiers were killed in the clashes, along with a third who died after receiving medical attention. Four were injured.“To the ELN I say with absolute clarity: for every police officer or soldier you kill, I will bring down on you the full weight and legitimate force of the State,” President Abelardo de la Espriella said in a statement on social media condemning the attack.Authorities said that drones dropped explosives onto the compound in the department of Norte de Santander before fighting took place within the facility. The news service AFP reported that at least 20 drones loaded with explosives were utilised in the attack, citing an unnamed security official.De la Espriella won office pledging to return Colombia to militarised confrontation with armed groups and criminal organisations that have jostled for influence across the country, despite concerns that it could lead to surging violence and possible rights abuses.Deadly attacks by armed groups have continued to rattle the country since his inauguration.The attack on Friday took place in the northeastern Catatumbo region, where the ELN is based and where the government has carried out military raids against armed groups.De la Espriella has also promised closer ties with the United States, which has sought to expand its military involvement in the region under the so-called “Shield of the Americas” initiative.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet with de la Espriella, a former lawyer who previously represented leaders of paramilitaries, in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla next week.
Read briefing Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim challenged US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee after he portrayed violent Israeli settlers as a small minority.
Read briefing Niger’s government has widened its blame to unnamed neighbours a week after the assault on a military base.France has dismissed as “pure fantasy” Niger’s claim that Paris helped incite a mutiny in which soldiers stormed a military airbase and the presidential palace in the capital, Niamey.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot made the comment on Saturday, a week after the August 29 assault and a day after Niger’s ruling military council met for the first time since the unrest and repeated its accusations against France.“This operation, with its international ramifications, was instigated and sustained by a vast network of collusion headed by the French regime of Mr [Emmanuel] Macron,” said Soumana Boubacar, Niger’s government spokesperson, in a statement read out on TV on Friday.“Traitorous and renegade elements, to whom promises of great things were made, were tasked with carrying out unfulfilled ambitions of Macron and his cronies in our country,” he claimed, saying such “undermining manoeuvres will always fail”.In response to the accusations, France’s Barrot dismissed the claims and told RFI radio on Saturday: “There never was any intention, nor means that France would have mobilised.”The exchange marks the latest strain in a relationship that has soured sharply since General Abdourahamane Tchiani seized power in a 2023 coup and turned to Russia for military backing instead of France, Niger’s former colonial power.The mutiny last week began at Base 101, a military facility inside Niamey’s international airport, when soldiers turned on their commanders and opened fire at several sites in the city.Fighting spread to the presidential palace and knocked the state broadcaster off air for hours, before Niger’s army, helped by Russian paramilitary fighters known as Africa Corps, retook the base the next day.State media said hundreds of soldiers took part, and dozens were killed or arrested.Niger’s government has since widened its accusations beyond France, saying unnamed “African brothers” served as a bridge for the plot, after state television aired a video of an air force captain naming Benin, Chad, Ivory Coast and the regional bloc ECOWAS as backers of the attack.Benin’s government has rejected the claim, with a spokesman saying “no one in their right mind” believes it.In that same meeting, Niger’s government acknowledged for the first time that civilians had died in the violence.That admission came amid a pattern in which Tchiani, who has not appeared in public since the mutiny, has blamed France and other West African states for unrest without producing evidence, which analysts say is aimed more at shaping opinion at home than any legal case.The pivot to Russia has done little to stop attacks by fighters linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), leaving front-line soldiers who have suffered heavy losses increasingly frustrated, a grievance analysts regard as the true driver of the mutiny.Relations with Paris have soured further still over Niger’s seizure of uranium assets from French nuclear firm Orano.
Read briefing Mexican authorities seized nearly 17 tonnes of methamphetamine from three clandestine laboratories in Sinaloa and dismantled the 5,700-square-metre facility where the drugs were produced. Officials estimated the operation caused criminal groups an economic loss of $347 million.
Read briefing Lori Chavez-DeRemer reportedly used staff for personal tasks, drank at work and violated ethics regulations.A federal watchdog in the United States has published a report detailing allegations of misconduct involving former US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned in April.On Thursday night, the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General released 44 pages detailing incidents where Chavez-DeRemer reportedly blurred the line between her public office and personal life.The report drew from 500 documents and interviews with 53 current and former Labor Department employees, as well as one employee from another federal agency.It said 38 of the interviewees described the secretary’s office as a “toxic, intimidating and humiliating” workplace.It also accuses Chavez-DeRemer of using government employees for private errands, drinking alcohol in her office during working hours and developing an “inappropriate relationship” with a member of her security detail.The rumours of misconduct ultimately forced Chavez-DeRemer to leave her post on April 20.She became the third cabinet secretary to leave the second administration of President Donald Trump, after the departures of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year.Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican Congress member from Oregon, was sworn in on March 11, 2025. Her position lasted just over a year.The final months of her tenure saw the resignations of several high-level staff members. One, Melissa Robey, claimed in media reports that she was fired under pressure from the White House after sitting down with the inspector general’s office.Thursday’s report alleged that Chavez-DeRemer oversaw a hostile workplace, with senior staff having “routinely engaged in threatening, demeaning, and abusive verbal and written communication” towards their colleagues.It cited incidents of Labor Department employees being berated in front of colleagues and threatened with termination.Some of the episodes involved Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff, Rebecca Wright. She allegedly relocated one employee’s desk to avoid having a “fat person” seen in the front office, and she reportedly advised another employee not to cut her hair too short to avoid looking like a “lesbian”.The report alleges that Chavez-DeRemer was aware of such incidents but failed to take action to prevent them from happening.Investigators also found that Chavez-DeRemer herself directed government employees to perform personal tasks during official time.A personal aide and executive assistant were reportedly sent to her residence to organise her closet, hang laundry and arrange her clothing and purses.Investigators said another employee, who was Hispanic, was directed to oversee workers at Chavez-DeRemer’s home, including a moving crew.Employees were also tasked with buying personal items, including gifts, picture frames, holiday decorations and alcohol, according to the report.Chavez-DeRemer, Wright and her deputy chief of staff also regularly drank alcohol in the secretary’s study during duty hours, according to witness reports. Some employees said they felt pressured or ridiculed when they declined to participate.Department of Labor policy requires advance written authorisation for alcohol on federal property. Investigators found no record that the required approval had been obtained.The watchdog also zeroed in on aspects of Chavez-DeRemer’s personal behaviour that violated government ethics standards.Regulations prohibit government employees from using their office “to coerce or induce another person, including a subordinate, to provide” them with “any financial or other benefit”.It also bars officials from requesting subordinates to use government time for activities that fall outside their job’s official duties.But the report determined that Chavez-DeRemer developed an “inappropriately close and unprofessional” relationship with a senior agent on her protective detail.Witnesses reported seeing Chavez-DeRemer massaging the agent’s shoulder, golfing and gambling with him, and leaving an event walking arm-in-arm.The report, however, did not find “sufficient” evidence to conclude the relationship was sexual.Still, investigators documented conduct where the relationship between Chavez-DeRemer and the agent created conflicts of interest or inappropriate work situations.The report describes an April 2025 incident in which Chavez-DeRemer was taking a personal trip to Oregon and asked her security detail to make an off-the-record stop at a club featuring partially nude dancers.The senior agent she was involved with was also on the trip. A limousine driver objected to her requests to drop money onto a performer, but the senior agent reportedly instructed him to comply.The agent occasionally reduced the number of officers covering Chavez-DeRemer or assumed sole responsibility for her protection.Investigators obtained electronic hotel door lock records suggesting the two spent time overnight in each other’s rooms and reviewed video footage that documented his visits to her home.
Read briefing US President Donald Trump called the war with Iran ‘small potatoes’, saying just 18 Americans had been killed compared with 100,000 in Vietnam. He called US strikes ‘intermittent’ and threatened to attack Pickaxe Mountain, whose tunnels are said to hold Iran’s enriched uranium.
Read briefing Several explosions rocked the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri after Israeli military drones dropped explosives in the area.
Read briefing Israeli attacks against villages and towns across southern Lebanon continue despite truce agreements and diplomacy.An Israeli air strike targeting a motorcycle has killed two people in the Lebanese town of Kfar Reman, the Ministry of Public Health has said, as Israeli forces intensify attacks on southern Lebanon.Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Friday that the strike hit in Nabatieh near the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge, which the Israeli army said it had captured, though Hezbollah did not confirm losing it.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Friday claimed the military had cleared Hezbollah fighters embedded in tunnels under the strategic ridge, which overlooks a wide area that has become one of the most hotly contested.Israeli raids and artillery shelling also targeted seven towns in the Tyre and Nabatieh districts, causing no casualties.NNA said the attacks hit al-Mansouri, Majdal Zoun, Buyout al-Sayyad, Beit Lif and Srebbine in the Tyre district, as well as Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Mayfadoun in Nabatieh.Israeli forces said they intercepted a Hezbollah drone beyond the “Yellow Line”, an area Israel has claimed as a security zone. In a statement, the military said it would strike southern Lebanon in response.The attacks come amid continued Israeli escalation against villages and towns across southern Lebanon despite two truce agreements – on June 4 and 26 – mediated by United States President Donald Trump’s administration.The June 4 ceasefire was contingent on a “complete cessation” of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of its fighters from the area south of the Litani River.The June 26 framework agreement did not specifically call for the withdrawal of the Israeli forces and instead tied it to the disarmament of Hezbollah.Since March 2, when the latest Israeli escalation in its war on Lebanon began, Israeli attacks have killed more than 4,000 people and injured at least 12,000 others, while forcing more than one million people from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.Israel has expanded its military presence across swaths of southern Lebanon since launching its new campaign against Hezbollah, which fired rockets into Israel in retaliation for US-Israeli air strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.On Friday, Israeli authorities separately released four Lebanese people who had been held in Israeli prisons after being detained in southern Lebanon.They were transferred to Lebanese authorities via the International Committee of the Red Cross, a day after one Lebanese man was released as part of an agreement between the two countries.
Read briefing India has rejected a Hague-based arbitration court’s ruling that the Indus Waters Treaty remains in force and that India must continue to observe its obligations. Pakistan welcomed the ruling which comes amid tensions over India’s decision to put the treaty in abeyance after the 2025 Pahalgam attack.
Read briefing Separately, one person killed and five injured after Ukrainian drone struck a bus in Russian-controlled part of Horlivka.At least 10 people have been injured in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he expects talks with United States envoys in the coming days.Kyiv’s military administration said on Thursday that 10 people, including a child, had been injured in the evening attack, while Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the injured included six medical personnel.The military administration initially said one person had died in the attack, but later said the report had proved untrue.In a message on Telegram, Klitschko said that the ninth floor of a high-rise residence had been damaged, adding that 15 people had been evacuated from the building in a district just outside the city centre.Video published on unofficial Telegram channels showed a large fireball rising skywards. Unofficial channels said the building had been struck by a jet-powered drone.Local media said new explosions later jolted the city. An air raid alert remained in effect more than two hours after it was imposed.Klitschko said six people had been wounded in earlier strikes on the capital, which has been subject to more than a week of sustained attacks.Ukraine’s state oil and gas company Naftogaz announced that Russia also attacked its production sites. In a statement, it said the attack caused significant damage to equipment, though it did not give a location.Meanwhile, one person was killed and five others injured after a Ukrainian drone struck a bus in Horlivka in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, reported the Interfax news agency.The bus was hit in “a targeted drone attack”, Interfax said, citing Ivan Prikhodko, the city’s Russian-installed mayor.Al Jazeera could not independently verify the assertion. Ukraine and Russia both deny targeting civilians.One person was killed and four others injured in a separate drone attack on a passenger bus in Russia’s Belgorod region, local authorities reported.The attacks came as Zelenskyy said he hoped to host US President Donald Trump’s envoys in Kyiv in the coming days to resume efforts to end the Russian invasion.Diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s four-and-a-half-year war on Ukraine have stalled in recent months as the US has shifted its focus towards its war in the Middle East.“We expect to see the envoys of the president of America here in Kyiv. We have confirmation from them,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.“They will have meetings in Moscow and in Kyiv. We are counting on a meeting in the coming days,” he added.Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, have been involved in shuttle diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine.While they have travelled to Moscow multiple times, they have never been to Kyiv.Zelenskyy said that “tentative dates have been set” for the envoys’ first visit to the Ukrainian capital.In July, Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Witkoff and Kushner “to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer”.Russia’s war on Ukraine has turned into Europe’s worst conflict since World War II, killing thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops since 2022.
Read briefing Israeli drone strike and gunfire kills and injures people across the Gaza Strip despite ‘ceasefire’.Israeli attacks have killed at least three people and injured several others across Gaza, as Israeli officials push a plan calling for the removal of Palestinians from the Strip.An Israeli drone strike on Thursday in the Rimal neighbourhood of western Gaza City killed one person and injured several others, medical sources told Al Jazeera reporters on the ground.The Palestinian Wafa news agency said the Israeli drone had fired at least two missiles at a group of civilians in the neighbourhood.Separately, two Palestinians were killed and others were injured in the northern town of Beit Lahia when Israeli forces opened fire at a group of Palestinians, Wafa reported.Nour Khaled, an Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza, said one of the two victims was a 13-year-old child and the other was an adult who was seriously injured in the attack and passed away after being transferred to a medical point.The Israeli military meanwhile claimed that its forces had identified two “terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line” in northern Gaza, who they then “eliminated in order to remove the threat they posed”. The so-called Yellow Line is a buffer zone within Gaza established as part of the “ceasefire”.The ongoing Israeli attacks come despite a United States-brokered “ceasefire” that came into effect in October.Although major fighting halted in the strip after the agreement, deadly Israeli strikes have continued.While Israeli attacks continue, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir revealed on Thursday a plan for the removal of the roughly two million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip within seven years.According to his office, Ben-Gvir’s plan aims to establish a dedicated ministry, as well as secure agreements with countries to take in people from Gaza.The initiative foresees the departure of 250,000 people in the first year, some 1.1 million within three years and around 1.9 million within seven years, the far-right minister said.Ben-Gvir said the plan is “realistic” and sought to “encourage the emigration of Gaza’s inhabitants” as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz admitted on Wednesday that Israel is still working to remove Palestinians from Gaza.Forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.Israeli attacks have already internally displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s people since the start of the genocidal war in Gaza in October 2023.Israel’s offensive has since claimed at least 73,470 lives in Gaza since then, with more than killed 1,330 since the ceasefire began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Read briefing CCTV footage shows the moment a train collided with a truck at a railway crossing in northern Poland, after the truck stopped on the tracks as the crossing barrier closed. No casualties were reported.
Read briefing Mourners carried the coffin of a child killed in a US strike on a wedding in Kuhestak, along the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says five people were killed, including two children. The Iranian Red Crescent wants the ICC to investigate a potential war crime.
Read briefing Families in Nepal hold symbolic funerals as rescuers search for survivors and bodies. At least 1,100 people have died and more than 3,900 are missing, including hundreds of workers in hydropower tunnels. Aid is arriving as rebuilding costs could reach $5 billion.
Read briefing Despite renewed fighting with Iran and near daily attacks on ships, Trump says Strait of Hormuz is ‘under USA control’.United States President Donald Trump has suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself, reasserting that the waterway is under Washington’s control despite near-daily Iranian attacks on ships in the area.Trump’s suggestion on Wednesday came less than 24 hours after the US struck several targets in Iran, killing at least four people, including two children, at a wedding in the southern city of Sirik.“Now that we have it under USA control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???” Trump wrote in a social media post.Iran responded to Tuesday’s attack with missile launches against US bases in the region. The fighting pushed oil prices upwards by around 4 percent.Despite repeated claims by US officials that the Strait of Hormuz is now open and millions of barrels of oil are transiting through it daily, oil prices have not fallen in recent weeks.On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of carrying out a strike on an oil tanker that killed two people.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a monitoring agency affiliated with the British Royal Navy, has been reporting attacks on vessels in Hormuz almost every day.In the US, the price of petrol is rising. It reached $4.12 per gallon (3.8 litres) on Wednesday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), up from less than $3 before the war started on February 28.When Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started the conflict by attacking Iran and killing its supreme leader earlier this year, the US president promised that the war would last for six weeks.But the promised quick end to what Trump initially dubbed a “little excursion” never materialised. The conflict entered its seventh month last week.Still, Trump has continued to claim victory and control over Hormuz, repeatedly claiming that Iran has been defeated militarily despite its ability to strike back against US interests in the region.After the US strikes on Tuesday, Trump sternly warned Tehran against retaliating, saying that Iran would be “hit again at a much harder and higher level” if it responds.But within hours, Iran’s military fired missiles and drones at US bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq.The “Trump Strait” suggestion on Wednesday is the latest push by the US president to assert control over a conflict that critics say was a strategic misstep that is turning into a quagmire.Last month, Trump said he views the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory”. Last week, he unilaterally renamed Lake Ontario, which borders both the US and Canada, as “Lake America” due to the ongoing US trade disagreements with Canada.
Read briefing The coin marks the first time in nearly 200 years that a living person has been featured on the country’s currency.United States President Donald Trump’s face has officially found its way onto the country’s currency.On Tuesday at 12pm Eastern Time (16:00 GMT), the US Mint began circulating – and selling – a “once-in-a-generation” $1 coin bearing Trump’s likeness to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.The gold-coloured coins feature Trump’s portrait on one side, alongside inscriptions of “LIBERTY” and “IN GOD WE TRUST”. On the reverse is an illustration of the US presidential seal with “250” inscribed on its shield.The US Mint says the coins “capture the spirit, pride, and legacy of a nation approaching its landmark anniversary”.It’s the first time in nearly 100 years that a living person has been featured on US currency, drawing a heavy dose of criticism, since such honours are largely reserved for long-dead dignitaries.Since Trump returned to the White House last year, the administration has taken steps to put his name or image on an array of buildings and items, including the Kennedy Center, the US Institute of Peace, National Parks passes, a limited-edition passport and a $1m “gold card” visa that was announced last year.The Trump administration has tied some of those efforts to celebrations of the country’s semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.On July 15, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent first announced the coin in a post on social media. Bessent said the coin “celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all”.The Trump administration has also pointed to another anniversary coin as a precedent for the Trump-branded $1 piece.In 1926, for the 150th anniversary of the country, the US Mint struck a coin featuring side-by-side portraits of George Washington and Calvin Coolidge, a president who was in office at the time.But critics have pointed out that the 1926 coin was commemorative and not intended for circulation as currency.In May, Bessent also said preparations were under way to print a new $250 banknote featuring Trump’s face.Bessent added that the Trump administration was seeking congressional approval for the new bill.Despite the coin being valued at $1, consumers can purchase a 25-coin roll for $61 or a 100-coin bag for $154.50 — a significant mark-up.While the coins are being sold at a premium, the US Mint emphasises they are not solely decorative.They are valid currency and can be used to make everyday purchases, just like a $1 bill.US federal law states: “Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”Congress passed that law in 1866 after a Department of the Treasury official, Spencer M Clark, put his own face on a note valued at five cents, angering lawmakers.However, during his first term, Trump signed legislation known as the Circulating Collection Coin Redesign Act of 2020 (CCRA), which gave the Treasury the authority to mint $1 coins “with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial”.That law prohibits the portrait of “any person, living or dead” on the reverse side of those coins. However, Trump’s image on the new $1 coin appears on the obverse — the front of the coin — meaning it likely complies with the law.Late last year, Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Jeff Merkley of Oregon introduced legislation that would block Trump from placing his face on the coin.“While monarchs put their faces on coins, America has never had and never will have a king,” Cortez Masto said. “Our legislation would codify this country’s long-standing tradition of not putting living Presidents on American coins. Congress must pass it without delay.” Their bill did not become law.The Treasury Department and US Mint did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Read briefing Israeli protesters gathered in Jerusalem on Wednesday to condemn violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. Israeli officials say violence has declined in recent months but say it remains a concern because of its impact on Israel’s diplomatic standing.
Read briefing Justice Department had argued Google could not be trusted to run the online advertising exchange.Alphabet’s Google has escaped a breakup of its advertising technology business, marking the third time in recent years that United States antitrust enforcers have tried to force a Big Tech breakup and lost.US Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday declined to make Google sell AdX, where publishers pay Google a 20 percent fee to sell ads in auctions that happen instantly when users load websites.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had argued Google could not be trusted to run the online advertising exchange after Brinkema ruled that Google had illegally quashed competition.Brinkema filed her opinion under seal for 14 days, leaving the details of how Google must change its ad business unknown for now. She gave the two sides 30 days to submit a joint proposed final judgement.The case focused on Google’s ad tech “stack” – the suite of tools that website publishers use to sell ads and advertisers use to buy them.Brinkema ruled last year that Google had willfully monopolised both the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets, and had unlawfully tied the two products together.The government’s case portrayed Google as simultaneously controlling multiple sides of the digital advertising marketplace and owning the platform that publishers use to sell ads as well as the exchange where transactions occur – all while commanding huge advertiser demand. Prosecutors had sought the sale of Google’s ad auction site AdX and the open-sourcing of critical auction technology.Google characterised the proposed remedies as extreme government overreach that would harm publishers, advertisers and consumers. It had also argued that splitting up the service would be technically unfeasible.AdX is a small part of Google’s business. Google’s shares pared gains slightly after the ruling and were up 0.6 percent.The company welcomed the court decision. “We’re very pleased the court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow,” said Google executive Lee-Anne Mulholland.The DOJ is “pleased that the court ordered substantial relief”, it said in a social media post on X.“We are one step closer to restoring competition and bringing relief for the American people in online advertising markets. The Department is evaluating appropriate next steps,” the DOJ said.While Google has been ordered to change some business practices, the ruling is the third time in a row that a judge has rejected a bid by US antitrust enforcers to break up Big Tech.Sacha Haworth, executive director of The Tech Oversight Project, said the rulings “prove that the courts alone will not save us from Big Tech”. The advocacy group has proposed legislation aimed at restoring competition in digital advertising.A federal judge in Washington last year rejected an attempt by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to make Meta Platforms sell off Instagram and WhatsApp, saying the agency failed to prove that Meta holds a monopoly in a social media landscape that has shifted drastically since the case was brought in 2020. The FTC has filed an appeal.Likewise, another judge in Washington, who previously ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in online search, rejected the DOJ’s bid to make the company sell its Chrome browser, citing rising competition from generative artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Read briefing Dutch police have arrested 34 suspects after a drug-related shooting in a small town in the east of the country that left a security guard dead and two police officers injured.Jolanda Aalbers, head of the regional police, told reporters on Tuesday that a “large group” of masked men had opened fire at 4am (02:00GMT) when police arrived at a house in Overasselt, a village near the German border, to investigate reports of suspicious activity.During the shootout, a 51-year-old security guard was killed while two of the officers arriving at the scene sustained injuries that were not life-threatening, Aalbers said.“When the first police unit arrived at the scene, shots were fired immediately,” the police chief said. “That was an incredibly traumatic incident. They had to rescue their colleagues and get them to safety. I have tremendous respect for what they did.”Aalbers added that several weapons, data storage devices, and vehicles were seized at the scene.Among those arrested were suspects from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Algeria, according to regional prosecutors.They said that there were indications the shooting was connected to a “long-running” conflict, as the same house had been shot a dozen times in a single incident last year. Two people were convicted in that incident.Local media linked the incident to the criminal underworld of Dutch drug lord Jos Leijdekkers, also known as “Bolle Jos” (“Fat Jos”). One of the Netherlands’ most wanted criminals, he was previously convicted for his role in international cocaine trafficking.Dutch Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel said that police “acted swiftly in response to the life-threatening situation in Overasselt, which involved an unprecedented number of people”.In a post on X, he noted that 34 arrests had been made and said “the investigation is still ongoing” while condemning the “horrific act of violence”.
Read briefing International aid organisations are struggling for money as the United States has led a sharp cut in Western donations.The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that it is being forced to halve the scope of its assistance in the occupied West Bank due to funding issues.The United Nations agency said on Tuesday that critical financing constraints mean it must pull back on assistance, reducing its support for 400,000 people to 200,000. International aid organisations across the globe have been struggling for money as the United States has led a sharp cut in support, with other Western nations also reducing donations.Starting this month, food assistance provided to families in the West Bank in the form of cash, vouchers, food, livelihood programmes and nutritional services will be cut, the WFP said in a statement. A lack of funding is also affecting the WFP’s operations in Gaza, it added.The UN agency estimates that 900,000 people are food insecure in the West Bank. Its Country Director for Palestine, Shaun Hughes, said the WFP is “prioritising the most vulnerable while cutting assistance to others despite widespread needs”.In Gaza, the WFP supports 1.5 million people, “including one million who receive monthly food assistance,” it noted.The agency’s spokesperson for the Palestinian territories, Claire Nevill, told The Associated Press that the agency has started reducing its cash assistance to around 75,000 families in Gaza.The WFP said the cash value of its assistance for 375,000 people in the Palestinian enclave had been reduced by 40 percent in July.The world’s leading authority on food insecurity, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said in July the situation in Gaza had improved since famine was declared in parts of the Palestinian territory last year, but warned conditions were still at crisis levels.The WFP said it needs additional funding of $386m over the next six months to serve around two million food-insecure people across Gaza and the West Bank.“We urge the international community to act immediately and step up support for Palestinians,” Hughes said.The UN launched its 2026 appeal for aid by asking for just half the amount it said it needed, despite humanitarian needs globally being at an all-time high.UN data showed that the US remained the biggest fund provider in 2025, despite the cuts implemented by US President Donald Trump, but its share shrank from more than one-third of the total to 15.6 percent.
Read briefing Iranian state television has reported numerous strikes on Iranian territory on Tuesday, as the US launched fresh strikes on the country. Iran has vowed to respond to the new wave of attacks, despite US President Donald Trump warning against retaliation.
Read briefing It will see Greece take delivery of a multilayered air defence system to counter what it and Israel say are common threats.The multibillion-dollar agreement comes as tensions increase between Greece and Turkiye.The neighbours have been at odds over a range of territorial issues for more than five decades.With Israel and Greece strengthening their alliance, what are the ramifications for the region?George Tzogopoulos – senior fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy
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