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Apr 30, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump took another slap at Germany's leader over his criticism earlier this week of the U.S. war against Iran.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faulted the 79-year-old president for launching the war without an apparent exit strategy, saying the U.S. has been "humiliated" by Iranian leadership, and Trump lobbed another social media attack after threatening to reduce American troops stationed in Germany."The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!)," Trump posted on Truth Social, "and fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place! President DJT."Trump has frequently railed against NATO allies for refusing to assist in the Iran war he authorized at the end of February, and he responded to Merz's criticism by threatening to draw down the military forces that have been stationed in Germany since the start of the Cold War.“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump said in a social media post.

Apr 30, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Iran by predicting that the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will soon cause catastrophic damage to Tehran's oil infrastructure, but energy experts and analysts widely dispute these claims as unrealistic.Trump told reporters at the White House last Thursday: "If they don't get their oil moving, their whole oil infrastructure is going to explode." During a Fox News appearance Sunday, he escalated the rhetoric, stating that Iranian oil pipelines "both mechanically and in the earth" would "explode from within" if exports don't resume soon. "They say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never rebuild it the way it was," Trump said.However, energy scholars and industry analysts strongly challenge these predictions, reported the Washington Post. Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at the Defense Priorities think tank, stated flatly: "That is not how it works. Nothing is going to self destruct." Mark Finley, a fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University's Baker Institute, countered that "Iran has proven it knows how to keep its system operating," noting that abundant empty tankers and domestic refining networks provide viable alternatives to strait exports.Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy concluded in a Tuesday analysis that even if Iran exhausts storage capacity, it "will not cause catastrophic, or even very serious, damage" to its oil industry. While shut-in operations — where water and gas contaminate reservoirs — can cause long-term damage, explosions are not a known consequence.Shipping data from TankerTrackers.com shows approximately 45 million barrels of storage capacity exists in empty tankers within the blockade perimeter, equivalent to six weeks of Iran's usual export production. Iran also maintains millions of barrels in inland storage capacity, according to analytics firm Kpler.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed Monday that Iranian production was already slowing, writing on X: "Iran's creaking oil industry is starting to shut in production thanks to the U.S. BLOCKADE." A Treasury Department spokesperson stated that Kharg Island, Iran's primary export hub, was approaching storage capacity at a cost of roughly $170 million daily in lost revenue.Despite expert skepticism, Trump's predictions represent the latest in a series of shifting administration claims about ending the conflict. As gas prices have surged to $4.23 per gallon from under $3 before the February war's onset, Americans face mounting economic pressures from the ongoing Strait of Hormuz closure.

Apr 30, 2026 - World

Jitu Munda says he was refused access to money in case highlighting ‘lack of humanity’ in Indian bureaucracyThe sight of a man bringing the remains of his dead sister to a bank in India after officials had refused to let him withdraw money without proof of her death has caused shock in India.Jitu Munda, 52, from the Indian state of Odisha, was captured on video carrying the remains of his recently deceased sister through the streets of Keonjhar and placing them outside the local bank. Continue reading...

Apr 30, 2026 - World

Media tycoon honoured in absentia as critics decry his 20-year sentence under national security lawThe jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.The German public broadcaster said on Thursday that Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on 23 June at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Continue reading...

Apr 30, 2026 - World

Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslims said poor mental health made him admit to crimesThe Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 has been prevented from appealing against his guilty pleas, after one of New Zealand’s highest courts said his bid was “utterly devoid of merit”.Brenton Tarrant, who is responsible for the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history, asked the court of appeal in February to allow him to appeal against his guilty pleas, claiming harsh prison conditions had affected his mental health and compelled him to admit to the crimes. Continue reading...