WASHINGTON (BN24) — President Donald Trump said he would be prepared to order additional military strikes against Iran if necessary, as questions swirl about the extent of damage caused by recent U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities.
Trump insisted the sites targeted last weekend were “obliterated,” dismissing any suggestion that the impact had been overstated. Still, he said he would support the International Atomic Energy Agency or another credible body inspecting the facilities to verify the damage.
“I’d like inspectors to be able to look, whether it’s the IAEA or some other respected source,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t believe Iran wants to keep trying for a nuclear weapon after what we did.”
His comments came as the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, declared that restoring inspections in Iran remained his top priority. No IAEA visits have taken place since Israel launched strikes on June 13.
Iran’s Parliament moved on June 25 to suspend such inspections, escalating the standoff. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi signaled on June 27 that Tehran may refuse any IAEA request to enter its nuclear sites.
While Trump said he believes Iran is still interested in talks about what comes next, the White House confirmed on June 26 that no meeting between U.S. and Iranian representatives has been scheduled.
OSLO, Norway (BN24) — The son of Norway’s crown princess is suspected of committing three rapes and more than 20 other offences, Norwegian authorities announced Friday, marking the latest development in a sprawling investigation that has gripped the Scandinavian nation.
Marius Borg Høiby, 28, who is the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon and does not hold a royal title or official duties, was arrested three times last year — in August, September and November — amid allegations ranging from sexual assault to bodily harm.
After a 10-month inquiry, police in Oslo have turned the case over to prosecutors, who will determine whether to file formal charges, police attorney Andreas Kruszewski said.
Høiby’s lawyer, Petar Sekulic, said his client “takes the accusations very seriously” but denies any wrongdoing in most of the alleged incidents, especially those involving sexual violence.
The police investigation began after Høiby was detained on August 4, 2024, on suspicion of assault. Authorities said the inquiry had involved “a large number of witness interviews, several searches and a review of extensive digital material.” Høiby was questioned multiple times over the autumn of 2024 and the spring of this year and “cooperated with the police,” the Oslo Police District said in a statement.
Among the suspected offences are four counts of sexually offensive behavior, one count of abuse in a close relationship and two counts of bodily harm.
Kruszewski confirmed that some allegations of sexual offenses were dropped because of the statute of limitations and insufficient evidence. He declined to provide the exact number of alleged victims but said it was in the “double digits.”
Høiby, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has largely stayed out of the public eye compared to other members of Norway’s royal family.
The Royal House of Norway acknowledged the case in a brief statement, noting that the matter was moving through the legal system and declining to comment further.
LOME, Togo (BN24) — Soldiers in Togo clashed with demonstrators Thursday, using tear gas and batons to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked major roads in the capital to demand the resignation of Faure Gnassingbe, the West African country’s longtime ruler.
The protests underscored the deepening political tensions in Togo after Gnassingbe assumed a sweeping new role as president of the Council of Ministers, a position created last month that has no term limits. Opposition leaders have condemned the appointment as a “constitutional coup,” warning it effectively allows Gnassingbe to extend his family’s grip on power indefinitely.
Witnesses said demonstrators gathered early Thursday in several neighborhoods of Lome, erecting barricades with burning tires and wooden debris that sent thick plumes of smoke into the air. Security forces responded quickly, charging into the crowds to break up the rallies organized by a coalition of bloggers and activists.
By midday, soldiers in trucks were seen patrolling the city’s main arteries, where storefronts were shuttered and the atmosphere remained tense. Scattered clashes continued into the afternoon as protesters regrouped in the suburbs.
“We’re hungry. Nothing works for Togolese youth any more, that’s why we’re going out to protest this morning,” said Kossi Albert, a 30-year-old unemployed man who joined the demonstration. Albert said he planned to return to the streets on Friday despite the crackdown.
Calls for three days of protests were issued earlier this week, but authorities moved swiftly to quash the gatherings. Togo’s minister of territorial administration, Hodabalo Awate, did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the security response.
The unrest comes weeks after dozens of people were arrested during demonstrations against Gnassingbe’s consolidation of power. Amnesty International said many were quickly released, though rights groups have raised alarms about a broader clampdown on dissent amid soaring living costs.
Gnassingbe, who has already served two decades as president, inherited leadership from his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who seized power in a 1967 coup and ruled Togo until his death in 2005. Together, the father and son have overseen more than half a century of continuous rule.
Last week, Togolese authorities suspended the broadcasts of French international news outlets RFI and France 24 for three months, accusing them of biased reporting. The move was widely criticized by press freedom advocates as part of a wider effort to stifle independent coverage of opposition activity.
As tensions simmered Thursday, the demonstrations signaled growing frustration among Togolese citizens who say their demands for political reform and economic relief have been ignored.
Washington (BN24) – At a signing ceremony in Washington attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the foreign ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo formally pledged on Friday to carry out a 2024 agreement that will see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days, according to a copy of the initialled deal reviewed by Reuters.
The agreement also commits the two countries to launch a regional economic integration framework over the same period.
“They were going at it for many years—and with machetes. It is one of the worst wars anyone has ever seen,” President Donald Trump said Friday ahead of the signing. “And I just happened to have somebody that was able to get it settled.”
Trump added that as part of the deal, the United States would secure substantial rights to Congolese mineral resources. “They’re so honored to be here. They never thought they’d be coming,” he said, before a planned Oval Office meeting with the visiting foreign ministers.
M23 and the Path to Withdrawal Rwanda has deployed at least 7,000 soldiers into eastern Congo, according to diplomats and analysts, backing the M23 rebels who earlier this year captured Congo’s two largest eastern cities and key mining zones.
M23’s offensive renewed longstanding fears of a broader regional war rooted in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe hailed the agreement as a “turning point,” while Congo’s top diplomat, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, stressed that true progress would require Rwanda to disengage on the ground.
The initialled text calls for the creation of a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days to oversee the withdrawal. A separate plan to monitor and verify Rwanda’s exit is also expected to be implemented within three months.
Congolese military operations against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda—a group that includes remnants of forces responsible for the genocide—are scheduled to wrap up over the same timeline.
Reuters reported earlier this week that Congolese negotiators had dropped a previous demand for an immediate Rwandan pullout, clearing the way for the signing ceremony.
Congo, Western governments, and the United Nations have long accused Rwanda of supporting M23 by providing troops and weapons. Rwanda denies aiding the rebels, saying it is acting in self-defense against Congolese forces and Hutu militias linked to the genocide.
Economic Integration and Critical Minerals The agreement envisions a new economic framework “to expand foreign trade and investment derived from regional critical mineral supply chains,” according to the version seen by Reuters.
Senior White House Africa adviser Massad Boulos previously told Reuters that Washington hoped to finalize the peace and minerals deals together this summer.
Rubio said Friday that heads of state from both countries would return to Washington “in a few weeks” to formalize the broader agreement.
One source familiar with the matter said another signing ceremony is planned at the White House, though no date has been set. Progress in separate Doha talks between M23 and the Congolese government remains a prerequisite before the economic framework can be concluded, the source said.
Analysts said the focus on de-risking and integrating mineral supply chains carried an unmistakable strategic message.
“This is the best chance we have at a peace process for the moment despite all the challenges and flaws,” said Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University who studies the Great Lakes region. “But it will be up to the U.S., as the godfather of this deal, to make sure both sides abide by the terms.”
The agreement commits Rwanda and Congo to building joint value chains for critical minerals “in partnership, as appropriate, with the U.S. and U.S. investors.”
Tresor Kibangula, a political analyst at Congo’s Ebuteli research institute, said the focus on economic incentives underlined the stakes.
“It remains to be seen whether this economic logic will suffice to end the fighting,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a significant victory to President Donald Trump, allowing his administration to advance—at least in part—its plan to end automatic birthright citizenship.
In a 6-3 decision split along ideological lines, the justices ruled that nationwide injunctions issued by lower courts should be narrowed to apply only to the plaintiffs and states that filed the lawsuits. The decision does not address the constitutionality of Trump’s policy itself but clears the way for the administration to begin laying groundwork for its implementation while litigation continues.
“This is a monumental decision,” Trump said at the White House. “It delivers a victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the rule of law by striking down excessive nationwide injunctions.”
The administration argues that the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship to all people born in the U.S. does not apply to the children of non-citizens and undocumented immigrants. Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day in office in January, would confer citizenship only on children with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
For more than a century, courts have held that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are automatically citizens, with narrow exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats. Every court that has considered Trump’s order has so far blocked it.
The Supreme Court’s decision leaves injunctions in place but limits them to the specific plaintiffs involved in the suits in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington state. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, said the broad injunctions were “more sweeping than necessary.” She directed lower courts to re-evaluate how wide the orders should reach.
“Federal courts must not exceed their authority simply because they believe the executive has exceeded his,” Barrett wrote.
Liberal justices strongly dissented. From the bench, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the ruling “a travesty for the rule of law” and warned that it would “hamstring” federal judges who need to prevent harm nationwide. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in a separate dissent described the decision as “an existential threat to the rule of law.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly complained that nationwide injunctions have derailed its agenda on issues including deportations, federal workforce cuts, and regulation of universities. The Justice Department has argued such injunctions are an unconstitutional overreach by the judiciary.
Advocacy groups challenging the birthright citizenship order wasted no time in responding. Within hours, lawyers filed amended lawsuits and new class-action claims, which could potentially block the policy on a national basis again.
William Powell, senior counsel at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, said his group was seeking class certification to protect all affected children and parents nationwide. “Given this ruling, a class action is the fastest and most effective way to secure relief,” he said.
Trump, who has frequently attacked judges that stand in his way, portrayed the ruling as a correction of judicial activism. “This brings back the Constitution,” he said. “This is what it’s all about.”
For now, the policy technically remains blocked in New Hampshire under a separate lawsuit. The Supreme Court’s ruling allows the administration to continue drafting regulations and planning enforcement while further litigation plays out.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, whose state challenged the plan, said he was confident Trump’s order would never take effect. “And in the meantime, our fight continues,” he said.
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is immediately ending trade negotiations with Canada in retaliation for its plan to press ahead with a digital services tax targeting major technology companies.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump called the tax “a direct and blatant attack on our country.”
According to the president, Canadian officials informed Washington this week that they would not back down from implementing the measure, which is set to take effect Monday.
The digital services tax applies a 3% levy on revenue generated from Canadian users by both Canadian and foreign companies. The policy will impact U.S. tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb and is retroactive, leaving American firms facing an estimated $2 billion bill payable by the end of the month.
“Canada has made it clear they intend to continue this unfair tax,” Trump wrote. “Accordingly, I am terminating all trade discussions with them immediately.”
The decision halts months of negotiations aimed at easing steep tariffs Trump imposed on Canadian goods. The talks had been viewed as a possible first step toward normalizing economic relations between the two countries.
Canada first approved the digital services tax in June 2024, arguing it was necessary to ensure that large technology platforms pay their fair share in the markets where they profit.
Pastor Ara Torosian was at home on Tuesday when he received a panicked phone call from two Iranian members of his Farsi-speaking congregation in Los Angeles: U.S. federal immigration officers were at their residence to arrest them, he told Reuters.
It was the second distressing call he had received that week.
A day earlier, another Iranian couple with a 3-year-old child was detained during a routine immigration appointment, Torosian said.
Both families had recently arrived in the United States as asylum-seekers, entering through the U.S.-Mexico border after securing appointments via the CBP One system—a process launched under President Joe Biden to facilitate orderly crossings. President Donald Trump ended the program shortly after taking office as part of his broader crackdown on immigration.
When Torosian arrived at the home on Tuesday, he described seeing “an army” of federal law enforcement officers. He began filming with his cellphone as agents stopped him from approaching his church members.
As officers restrained the woman, Torosian said she suffered a panic attack and began convulsing on the floor.
According to Torosian, the couple had fled religious persecution in Iran.
In a statement posted to X, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that two Iranian nationals were detained in Los Angeles on Tuesday after being flagged for national security concerns. The agency said the woman was transported to a hospital but was later released and both individuals remain in immigration custody.
The arrests followed U.S. military strikes early Sunday on three Iranian nuclear facilities, escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. In a separate release on Tuesday, DHS said it had apprehended 11 Iranians over the weekend who were in the U.S. unlawfully.
Although Iran does not accept deportees from the United States, the Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport migrants to third countries without offering them the chance to present evidence of the dangers they could face there.
Six Americans were taken into custody Friday in South Korea after allegedly trying to send plastic bottles packed with rice, U.S. dollars, and Bibles toward North Korea by tossing them into the sea, police said.
Authorities said the group launched their effort from Gwanghwa Island, near the tense maritime border, aiming for the bottles to drift ashore in North Korea. A police official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Americans are being investigated for potentially violating South Korea’s disaster and safety management laws.
A second police officer confirmed the detentions but provided no additional details, including whether any of the six had been involved in similar actions before.
For years, activists have sent plastic bottles or balloons over the heavily fortified border to deliver food, money, and anti-regime messages into North Korea. These campaigns have repeatedly fueled tensions between the two Koreas. In retaliation, North Korea has launched its own balloons filled with trash, including at least two that landed inside the presidential compound in Seoul last year.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 ban on sending such materials across the border, calling it an excessive infringement on free speech. However, the new liberal administration of President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June, has vowed to crack down on cross-border civilian campaigns using other legal tools, citing safety risks to residents living near the frontier.
Just days before Friday’s detentions, police arrested another activist accused of launching balloons toward North Korea from the same island.
President Lee, who campaigned on pledges to revive dialogue with Pyongyang and reduce military tensions, suspended frontline anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts shortly after taking office. Since then, North Korea has not resumed its own broadcasts into South Korea.
Still, it remains unclear if Lee’s gestures will lead to any thaw. North Korea declared last year that it would permanently sever ties with the South and abandon the idea of peaceful reunification. Official inter-Korean talks have been stalled since 2019, after the collapse of U.S.-led negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program.
Brad Pitt’s Los Angeles residence was broken into by a group of burglars late Wednesday night while the actor was out of the country, according to two law enforcement sources who spoke to NBC News, Sky News’ US partner.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that three suspects forced entry through a front window of the home in Los Feliz and “ransacked the location.” Authorities would not identify the owner, but property records confirm the address matches a house Pitt purchased in 2023.
Investigators said the intruders fled with stolen items, though it remains unclear exactly what was taken. The Oscar-winning actor was not home at the time.
Pitt, 60, had traveled to London earlier in the week for the premiere of his new film F1, where he appeared alongside Tom Cruise and seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Police said the burglary occurred around 10:30 p.m. local time Wednesday. They declined to confirm whether Pitt’s representatives had provided an inventory of missing property or to estimate the value of any stolen items. The BBC reported that Pitt’s team had also been contacted for comment.
The secluded three-bedroom property, surrounded by fencing and dense greenery near Griffith Park and the iconic Hollywood Sign, is designed to shield residents from public view.
The break-in is the latest in a string of celebrity home burglaries across Los Angeles. Earlier this year, the homes of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were also targeted by thieves.
Last month, a man was arrested on suspicion of stalking and vandalism after allegedly ramming his car into the gate of the home belonging to Pitt’s ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston.
NEW YORK (BN24) — Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs ran a criminal enterprise built on “violence and fear” that enabled him to traffic women for sex, a federal prosecutor told jurors Thursday in a forceful closing argument at the end of the high-profile trial.
Combs, the 54-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records and once a billionaire at the helm of hip-hop’s commercial rise, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and two counts each of sex trafficking and interstate transportation for prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and could be sentenced to life.
Over the course of six weeks in Manhattan federal court, jurors heard graphic testimony from two women—R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another woman identified only by the pseudonym “Jane”—who described being forced into “Freak Offs,” Combs’ term for drug-fueled sex parties involving male sex workers. Jurors viewed surveillance footage of Combs beating Ventura in a hotel hallway, and heard from his employees who detailed arranging hotel rooms and supplying drugs for the events.
“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the jury. “He thought his fame, his money, and his power placed him above the law.”
Combs, who did not testify in his defense, has remained in federal custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September 2024. Deliberations are expected to begin late Friday or Monday.
Coercion and Consent at the Heart of the Case
Central to the prosecution’s case is whether the women willingly participated in the “Freak Offs” or were coerced through intimidation, manipulation, and threats. Both Ventura and Jane testified that they feared losing financial support or being publicly humiliated if they refused to comply.
Slavik directed jurors to text messages introduced during the trial in which Jane expressed fear that Combs would stop paying her rent if she did not continue performing. “It doesn’t require them to say no,” Slavik said of the coercion standard. “It doesn’t require them to try to run away.”
Combs’ defense team is expected to deliver its closing argument Friday. While his attorneys have conceded that he engaged in some violent behavior in domestic relationships, they argued the sex acts were consensual and not part of any criminal enterprise. They claim the women never expressed non-consent and participated because they loved Combs and wanted to please him.
Defense lawyers also argued that Combs’ employees, whom the prosecution accuses of facilitating and concealing the abuse, were not aware of any illegal activity and only procured drugs for Combs’ personal use—not in furtherance of trafficking.
Jury Will Decide Between Two Starkly Different Narratives
Combs’ legal team has sought to discredit the racketeering charge by portraying his associates not as co-conspirators but as unwitting employees, unaware of any abuse or coercion. The prosecution, however, maintains the mogul’s inner circle enabled a pattern of criminal behavior stretching back years.
“This case is not just about what happened behind closed doors,” Slavik said. “It’s about how he used his resources and entourage to perpetuate and protect that behavior.”
Legal experts say the jury’s decision will hinge on which account they find more credible: the prosecution’s depiction of calculated coercion and abuse, or the defense’s portrayal of flawed but consensual relationships.
“The question is which narrative is going to hold more weight,” said Heather Cucolo, a professor at New York Law School. “Jurors must be unanimous in finding guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and both sides have presented compelling, if competing, versions of events.”
