Top World News

Apr 23, 2026 - World

Seven-day-old Poppy Hope Lomas died after complications during home birth encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospitalA mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found.Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital. Continue reading...

Apr 23, 2026 - World

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks following a meeting in the White House, President Trump announced Thursday from the Oval Office.

Apr 23, 2026 - World

The artificial intelligence boom has been wildly profitable for tech billionaires and catastrophically hollow for everyone else, a new Mother Jones report said this week. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman have built fortunes on AI hype while delivering false promises, toxic platforms, and minimal actual job creation.According to Mother Jones columnist Tim Murphy's investigation, "The AI bubble has been a boon to the portfolios and prospects of the tech world's biggest players. Their companies are vying for hegemony and their net worths are trending toward Mount Olympus."Murphy documented a pattern of deception and excess: "Beyond the hype, you can find a litany of false promises, questionable investments, and just plain decadence, complicating both their predictions for the future and claims to come in peace."Bezos's Project Prometheus AI initiative carries a $38 billion valuation and is "focused on physical AI designed to interact with real-world industrial processes, such as manufacturing, aerospace engineering, and semiconductor production."Meanwhile, Bezos has dismantled the Washington Post after acquiring it in 2013 with promises of a "new golden era." After he nixed a Kamala Harris presidential endorsement, the paper suffered a mass exodus of subscribers, a $100 million 2025 loss, and a 40-plus percent purging of its staff. Yet Bezos still had enough leftover cash to purchase a 246-foot yacht for $75 million to join his previously purchased 417-foot yacht, Murphy reported.Zuckerberg burned through $77 billion before pivoting to AI. Mother Jones reports that 10 percent of Meta's profits came from scam ads — funds that also financed his 4,500 square foot underground bunker in Hawaii.Musk's AI platform X has been hit with allegations of 679,584 antisemitic posts over a one-year period between 2024 and 2025. Musk's Grok generated 1.8 million graphic images of women during a nine-day period last winter as his net worth continued to ascend to $850 billion, the report said.Trump lauded OpenAI's Stargate data centers as a job-creation engine that would "create 100,000 jobs 'almost immediately.'" In reality, however, "only 100 employees needed to operate Stargate's Abilene, Texas, campus once construction is completed," according to the report.Despite a promise to invest $1.4 trillion in AI infrastructure over the next eight years, the company's reported revenue in 2025 came in at $20 billion, a 70-to-1 spending-to-revenue ratio for a company promising to reshape the economy.

Apr 23, 2026 - World

Exclusive: Officials warn department will also lose access to database of 26,000 verified incidents due to cutsThe Foreign Office unit tracking potential breaches of international law by Israel in Gaza and more recently Lebanon has been closed because of cuts within the department, the Guardian can reveal.The decision to shut the international humanitarian law cell follows a review by Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office dismissed last week by the prime minister over the Peter Mandelson scandal. Continue reading...

Apr 23, 2026 - World

Battle of the blockades may still have more time to run as the US and Iran try to assert control over the strait of HormuzDonald Trump’s decision to extend the naval blockade of Iran indefinitely may do nothing to reduce world oil prices – but it could amount to a recognition that further US military escalation in breach of the nominal ceasefire comes with greater risk against a regime disinclined to surrender.In theory, Trump’s military options are increasing. A third US carrier strike group, the George HW Bush, is due to arrive in the Middle East within days after rounding South Africa. A second taskforce of 2,500 US marines is sailing from the Pacific and is due to arrive by the end of April. Continue reading...