US to allow Iranian leaders to attend UN meeting in New York amid wartime stand-off

South China Morning Post - Sep 18, 2026

The Trump administration has approved visas for top Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, to attend next week’s UN General Assembly high-level meeting in New York even as the two countries are locked in a stalemated war. The State Department said Thursday that it had approved visas for Iran’s “core delegation”, along with essential staffers to participate in the UN meetings. The core delegation includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi,...

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King Charles sounded like 'lottery winner' after Diana's death, her brother writes
Sep 18, 2026

King Charles sounded like 'lottery winner' after Diana's death, her brother writes

LONDON — Britain's King Charles sounded "like a lottery winner" after the death of his late first wife Diana, her brother writes in his forthcoming book, new extracts of which were published on Thursday. Diana's brother Charles Spencer said the then-Prince Charles was "giddily elated" in the immediate aftermath of Diana's death in 1997, possibly because he felt it meant he was freer to marry again, according to passages in the Daily Mail. Charles on Wednesday took the unusual step of responding to criticism after the first extracts of Spencer's book were published in the Daily Mail, saying via a spokesperson that grief could impact reason, judgment and memory. There was no new comment from the king on the latest excerpts, which also stated that Diana went to a site of many suicides on Britain's south coast, but that her love for her sons, William and Harry, "stopped her from going further." "It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all," Spencer wrote. Diana was kil

Trump says progress made toward establishing US Army base in Poland
Sep 18, 2026

Trump says progress made toward establishing US Army base in Poland

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that progress is being made toward establishing a U.S. Army base in Poland, crediting "the bold leadership" of Polish President Karol Nawrocki. "If this happens, the location will be announced very soon. This will be a historic step for our Great U.S./Polish Alliance," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Poland has been pushing for a bigger allied presence on NATO's eastern flank after Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022.

Harry makes first public appearance since return to UK
Sep 18, 2026

Harry makes first public appearance since return to UK

LONDON — Prince Harry on Thursday made his first public appearance since his shock return to Britain from the United States with his family three weeks ago. Harry, who quit Britain for California six years ago with his wife Meghan amid tensions with his family, attended a fundraising evening for his Invictus Games for wounded veterans in London. Dressed in a smoking jacket adorned with his military decorations, the 42-year-old prince took selfies with injured former soldiers at the event. Meghan did not accompany him. Along with their two children, Harry and Meghan landed back in the UK on August 26 and have kept a relatively low profile since. Speculation abounds over the reasons for their return, given that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex left in the middle of a falling-out with his family, which only worsened after Harry published his tell-all memoir "Spare." His appearance at the event comes after the brother of Princess Diana, Harry's mother, unleashed a barrage of stinging criticism against King Charles III's behaviour towards his ex-wife. In a memoir being serialised in the Daily Ma

'In our lane': Fed's Warsh defies Trump but still fighting for credibility
Sep 18, 2026

'In our lane': Fed's Warsh defies Trump but still fighting for credibility

WASHINGTON — U.S. Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh delivered the interest rate hike this week that many economists think surging inflation required, defying President Donald Trump — but questions about the central bank chief's credibility linger. The Fed on Wednesday raised rates in the world's largest economy by 25 basis points to between 3.75 and 4.00 percent, with policymakers signalling at least one more rate hike before year-end. Trump has launched an unprecedented assault on the Fed's independence to set monetary policy since taking office, initiating a criminal probe into Warsh's predecessor and attempting to fire another Fed governor in his quest for lower rates to spur economic activity. He frequently insulted and berated former chair Jerome Powell, but delivered a muted — if still extraordinary — response to Warsh's announcement of the rate hike. Trump told reporters he spoke with Warsh before the Fed's meeting, telling him to "do what you want" and ascribing the decision to raise rates — which the Fed chair voted for and stood by — to a "hostile board." Asked by a

BOJ raises interest rates to 31-year high in widely expected move
Sep 18, 2026

BOJ raises interest rates to 31-year high in widely expected move

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high of 1.25 percent on Friday in a widely expected move to forestall risks of inflation overshooting its 2 percent inflation target. At a two-day policy meeting that ended on Friday, the board decided by a 7-2 vote to raise its policy rate from 1 percent. Board member Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato dissented to the decision. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is expected to hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. (0630 GMT) to explain the decision.

Anthropic says its model Claude is helping to build the next version of itself
Sep 18, 2026

Anthropic says its model Claude is helping to build the next version of itself

Anthropic's Claude is helping the company develop the next, more intelligent version of the model, the artificial intelligence lab said in an announcement Thursday. Claude is leading 26 percent of Anthropic's model research and development, which the company said means it can complete most of a given task “end-to-end from a high-level prompt" while still being under human supervision. The model is not yet working completely autonomously. Still, about 90 percent of the company's research and development is done in “collaboration” with Claude, which Anthropic said means the model can do “large chunks of work under close human direction.” The announcement came as some leading figures in AI, led in large part by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei , are calling for a slowdown in the technology’s development over safety concerns. As leaders consider pacing AI's development, “we should do everything possible to minimize the gap between what frontier labs know and what the public knows,” the company said in a blog post. “This means better measuring the development of AI, reporting on i

Russians begin voting in controlled election as war drags
Sep 18, 2026

Russians begin voting in controlled election as war drags

MOSCOW — Polling stations opened early Friday in Russia's Far East, kicking off a three-day election that President Vladimir Putin's party is all but guaranteed to win in the fifth year of war with Ukraine. It will be Russia's first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has since killed hundreds of thousands. Only parties that support Putin and the Kremlin's dragging military campaign have been registered to run. Moscow has also organized voting in occupied Ukraine. While few in Russia doubt Putin's United Russia party will sail to victory again, the vote is an opportunity for the Kremlin to gauge public support for the Ukraine war, the effects of which have hit home more than ever this year. The vote to renew the 450 seats in the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, will run until 1800 GMT on Sunday. Russia's Kamchatka peninsula and Chukotka — on the Pacific — are the first of Russia's 11 time zones to begin voting. Putin has ruled Russia since New Year's Eve 1999 and his United Russia party has dominated Russian politics sinc

Iran says struck oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz
Sep 18, 2026

Iran says struck oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

TEHRAN — Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday they struck an oil tanker sailing under the Togolese flag in the Strait of Hormuz, state news agency IRNA reported. Tehran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait since the United States and Israel struck Iran in late February. The Islamic republic wants to charge tolls for passage, attacking ships it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route. "The Togo-flagged oil tanker 'Trend' had been targeted and detained after a fire broke out on board," the statement said, referring to an attempted "illegal passage" through the vital waterway. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced Thursday a "security incident in the Strait of Hormuz, 16 nautical miles (29.6 km) northeast of Khasab, Oman." UKMTO did not provide details about the vessel involved, and it is unclear whether it is the same mentioned by the Revolutionary Guards.

WHO sees some progress in Congo's Ebola fight but cases surge in one area
Sep 18, 2026

WHO sees some progress in Congo's Ebola fight but cases surge in one area

GENEVA — The head of the U.N. health agency is hailing “encouraging signs” in the fight against an Ebola outbreak in one part of eastern Congo, while warning that case counts are rising fast in another as officials race to tamp down the virus. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that signs of gaining ground against the Bundibugyo virus, the rare species behind the outbreak, have emerged in Ituri province. But he said that the situation is one of “many outbreaks in many places.” “We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining ground. In the most affected parts of Ituri province, transmission is going down,” Tedros told reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. South Kivu, he said, has reported no new cases since May. “But make no mistake, the epidemic continues to grow and continues to kill,” Tedros said. He said more than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500 deaths have been reported across seven provinces. In North Kivu, “cases are rising fast,” Tedros said. The number of weekly cases has nearly

The king and AI: UK monarch Charles meets artificial intelligence leaders as safety concerns swirl
Sep 18, 2026

The king and AI: UK monarch Charles meets artificial intelligence leaders as safety concerns swirl

LONDON — King Charles III on Thursday urged senior leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Nvidia to make sure that artificial intelligence remains under control and in the service of people and the planet. The gathering in Scotland was convened to discuss how AI can benefit society, and comes at a pivotal moment for the technology as debate swirls around whether rapid advances will soon put it beyond the ability of humans to rein it in. "The development of AI — its substance and its pace — are both intriguing and deeply concerning in equal measure," the king said in his opening remarks. The "existential dangers of such technologies falling into the wrong hands, and being used in potentially catastrophic ways” should be urgently considered, he said. "Surely, then, we need sufficient means of control before it is all too late?" The king asked attendees, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Google DeepMind Chair Demis Hassabis, to consider the "fundamental principles" that should guide AI development. ChatGPT maker OpenAI's Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar was also at

Indian Man Becomes First In UK Charged Under New Illegal Immigration Law
Sep 18, 2026

Indian Man Becomes First In UK Charged Under New Illegal Immigration Law

Hem Raj, 24, who lives in Smethwick in the West Midlands, has been charged with creating online material promoting unlawful immigration to Britain.

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