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Sep 8, 2026 - World

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) issued a fierce threat to the British government as it considered imposing boycotts on goods from illegal Israeli settlements, a threat that could end up wiping out around 70,000 American jobs.On Monday, reports revealed that the United Kingdom was preparing to impose new restrictions on goods produced in Israeli settlements. There are more than 700,000 Israeli settlers illegally living in the West Bank, with instances of Israeli settler violence rising in recent months. Also on Monday, Fine issued the United Kingdom a warning.“As the British government considers forcing British companies to boycott portions of Israel, it should be aware that a Florida law that I passed as a member of the Legislature would ban any British company forced to comply from doing business with any state or local government in Florida,” Fine wrote in a statement published on social media.“It would also end any British business participating in that boycott from doing any business in Florida if it needed any official interaction with state or local government to operate (permits, tax collection). Florida is one of Britain’s largest trading partners. They should understand that their vanity project in support of Muslim terror could cost them billions of dollars.”The United Kingdom is a top investor in Florida, and British companies account for around 70,000 jobs in the Sunshine State. In a follow-up post, Fine asked X's chatbot Grok to explain how Florida's anti-boycott law might affect British companies — and critics said its response backfired on him spectacularly.“LOL. You are going to wreck your own state,” wrote Leilani Dowding, a British model and reality television personality, in a social media post on X Tuesday.“Haha, you asked Grok, and it told you how much your plan would f--- over Florida, not the UK,” wrote Jack Duncan, a British LGBTQ+ rights activist, in a social media post on X Tuesday.“About a dozen” American citizens have died from incidents involving Israeli settlers or soldiers, including the death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an IDF bulldozer in Gaza in 2003. An American was killed by Israeli settlers as recently as July of last year: 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet, who was “beaten to death” by settlers while on his family’s farm near Ramallah in the West Bank.As the British government considers forcing British companies to boycott portions of Israel, it should be aware that a Florida law that I passed as a member of the Legislature would ban any British company forced to comply from doing business with any state or local government in…— Congressman Randy Fine (@RepFine) September 7, 2026

Sep 8, 2026 - World

Israeli opposition leaders demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's removal from office Tuesday over a bombshell report that the United Arab Emirates had warned him of an impending Hamas attack roughly a week and a half before the Oct. 7, 2023, assault.The report, excerpted from a forthcoming book by Haaretz journalists Shlomi Eldarand and Ruth Yuval, said UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had personally warned Netanyahu that Hamas was preparing a major operation.According to the newspaper's mostly anonymous sourcing, the warning originated with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who told a former Palestinian official the group was planning what he called an "earthquake." That message was passed to an Emirati adviser, then to the UAE leader, who relayed it to Netanyahu."The emir hoped that despite his reserved response, Netanyahu would take the message seriously and take action," said an adviser to the UAE leader.However, Haaretz reported that Netanyahu responded calmly to the warning and did not notify the heads of the defense establishment – Shin Bet, Mossad and the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.Netanyahu's office denied the account entirely, calling it "an absolute lie" and disputing that any such call with the Emirati leader took place.The report landed weeks before Israel's Oct. 27 elections and drew immediate condemnation from Netanyahu's rivals.Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief who has become Netanyahu's leading electoral challenger, wrote on social media that Netanyahu "received dozens of warnings for Oct. 7 and ignored them all," calling him "unfit" for office and dismissing his past explanations, including that he was not woken promptly the morning of the attack, as "pathetic."Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, also a candidate in the upcoming vote, went further, saying Netanyahu "bears personal and direct responsibility" for the deaths on Oct. 7 and "cannot continue to serve in his position for even one more minute."The UAE established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, brokered during President Donald Trump's first term, and Netanyahu has long touted the relationship as a signature achievement of his tenure.The Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas fighters crossed into Israel and killed people at a music festival and nearby communities, left 1,221 dead, according to an AFP count based on Israeli figures, and resulted in 251 people being taken hostage into Gaza.Israel's subsequent military campaign has killed 73,658 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose casualty figures the United Nations considers reliable, and left much of the territory destroyed.The competing accounts are likely to intensify scrutiny of Netanyahu's security record as Israelis head toward the polls in seven weeks.

Sep 8, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's social media blitz over the past several days has sparked concern among onlookers, but one post in particular ignited an international episode that led to the summoning of a U.S. ambassador, Reuters reported Tuesday.Among Trump’s countless online posts published over the past few days was one that depicted all of North America — including Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Greenland and Iceland — as being part of the United States. While Trump has actively sought to acquire Greenland for the United States — and joked about acquiring Canada — his inclusion of Iceland in his social media post led Iceland’s foreign minister, Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir, to summon U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Billy Long, Reuters reported, citing a report from Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), Iceland’s national public service broadcaster.“The position was clearly expressed that the post was completely inappropriate,” Gunnarsdottir told RÚV, according to Reuters.It is unclear whether Trump intended to include Iceland in his doctored map of North America. Trump has appeared to confuse Iceland with Greenland in previous remarks. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Trump said that NATO “loved” him until he “told them about Iceland,” claiming that all he was “asking for is a piece of ice.”Trump has posted several dozen times on his social media platform Truth Social this week, including a post ranking himself as “the greatest” president of all time, seven posts in a row promoting the idea of renaming New Mexico to “New America,” and a number of posts that appear to have been generated with artificial intelligence depicting him in hellish landscapes surrounded by menacing robots.

Sep 8, 2026 - World

India’s statistical system once commanded respect, and its data on economic and social indicators was considered rigorous – that appears to have eroded• Don’t get This is India delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThere isn’t much that we Indians agree on these days. GDP numbers are no exception. Last week, India released glowing GDP numbers for the latest quarter – 7.8% growth – higher than the forecast 7%. It sparked a furore.Subhash Garg, a former finance secretary under Narendra Modi’s government and now a critic, reframed what Modi called a “herculean feat” as mere smoke and mirrors. According to Garg, the government revised last year’s current-price GDP downwards to inflate this year’s number – he believes the real growth is only 2.6%. Continue reading...

Sep 8, 2026 - World

US-Israel war on Iran and political instability in Somalia lead to pirates targeting cargo ships off Horn of AfricaThe scourge of Somali piracy targeting cargo ships and smaller dhows off the Horn of Africa has returned to levels not seen in a decade, driven by a convergence of factors including disruptions to the shipping industry caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran and a resurgence of political instability in Somalia.Since late April there have been eight hijackings by Somali pirates, including two within the space of a fortnight in August: one targeting an oil tanker with ties to Iran, the other a Cameroon-flagged vessel, the Lutuf, carrying military equipment for Turkey. Continue reading...