A view of the FIFA World Cup trophy. Iran’s World Cup participation is uncertain due to ongoing U.S.-Israeli attacks, says the football federation president
| Photo Credit: Reuters

At least six people were killed in clashes with police Sunday after hundreds of protesters stormed the US Consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, authorities said.

The violence came after the United States and Israel attacked Iran and killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Police and officials at a hospital in Karachi said at least eight people were also wounded in the clashes.

Police in Karachi said the protesters were later dispersed and the situation was under control.

Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

A lush Dubai tourist hot spot was set ablaze Saturday as Iran fired missiles on the middle east nation in retaliation for US/Israeli airstrikes.

Fairmont The Palm, at the Palm Jumeirah — the glitzy tree-shaped island renowned for luxury apartment towers and hotels — looked like a war zone on Saturday, video and images circulating on social media showed.

The massive hotel was engulfed in flames after UAE forces intercepted an Iranian missile.

Debris from the destroyed missile were believed to have crashed down near the front of The Palm, setting the facade of the building on fire, photos showed.

Officials have not revealed whether anyone was hurt or killed at the luxury hotel.

The strikes also sparked concerns that the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, may have also been struck.

The UAE military boasted of intercepting three waves of ballistic missiles from Tehran.

Debris from one of the waves intercepted by the UAE Air Defense system fell on several areas in Abu Dhabi, the country’s Ministry of Defense announced on X. 

One person was killed in the failed strikes.

A “worker of Asian nationality” was killed in one of the strikes in residential areas of Abu Dhabi, according to the Ministry of Defense.

The UAE stated it “reserves the right to respond” to the Iranian strikes, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Iran launched strikes into other Gulf nations on Saturday after being hit by Operation Epic Fury, including Israel, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

A retaliatory Iranian attack struck near a US Navy base in Bahrain Saturday morning, sources confirmed to The Post.

A massive explosion could be seen close to the base on the Persian Gulf Island nation associated with the US Fifth Fleet in video obtained by The Post.

The footage is taken from a vehicle passing by the area. A cloud of dark smoke blasts into the sky after the explosion, which then sends shrapnel flying in all directions.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” the passengers can be heard shouting.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Pugapia and her daughters, Aiga and Babawru, lived for years as the only surviving members of the Akuntsu, an Indigenous people decimated by a government-backed push to develop parts of the Amazon rainforest. As they advanced in age without a child to carry on the line, many expected the Akuntsu to vanish when the women died.

That changed in December, when Babawru — the youngest of the three, in her 40s — gave birth to a boy. Akyp’s arrival brought hope not just for the Akuntsu line but also for efforts to protect the equally fragile rainforest.

“This child is not only a symbol of the resistance of the Akuntsu people, but also a source of hope for Indigenous peoples,” said Joenia Wapichana, president of Brazil’s Indigenous protection agency, known as Funai. “He represents how recognition, protection and the management of this land are extremely necessary.”

Protecting Indigenous territories is widely seen as one of the most effective ways to curb deforestation in the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest and a key regulator of global climate.

Researchers warn that continued forest loss could accelerate global warming. A 2022 analysis by MapBiomas, a network of nongovernmental groups tracking land use, found Indigenous territories in Brazil had lost just 1% of native vegetation over three decades, compared with 20% on private land nationwide.

In Rondonia state, where the Akuntsu dwell, about 40% of native forest has been cleared, and what remains untouched is largely within conservation and Indigenous areas. The Akuntsu’s land stands out in satellite images as an island of forest surrounded by cattle pasture as well as soy and corn fields.

In the 1980s, deforestation pushed attacks in Rondonia

Rondonia’s deforestation traces back to a government-backed push to occupy the rainforest during Brazil’s military regime in the 1970s. Around the same time, an infrastructure program financed in part by the World Bank promoted domestic migration to the Amazon, including the paving of a highway across the state.

In the 1980s, Rondonia’s population more than doubled, according to census data. Settlers were promised land titles if they cleared the forest for agriculture and risked losing claims if Indigenous people were present, fueling violent attacks by hired gunmen on Indigenous groups such as the Akuntsu.

Funai made first contact with the Akuntsu in 1995, finding seven survivors. Experts believe they had numbered about 20 a decade earlier, when they were attacked by ranchers seeking to occupy the area.

Funai agents found evidence of the assault, and when they contacted the Akuntsu, the survivors recounted what happened. Some still bore gunshot wounds.

The last Akuntsu man died in 2017. Since then, Babawru lived with her mother, Pugapia, and Aiga, her sister. The women, whose ages aren’t known for certain, have chosen to remain isolated from the non-Indigenous world, showing little interest in it.

In 2006, Funai granted territorial protection to the Akuntsu, establishing the Rio Omere Indigenous Land, which they have since shared with the Kanoe people. The two groups, once enemies, began maintaining contact, usually mediated by officials. The relationship is complex, with cooperation but also cultural differences and language barriers.

The Associated Press requested a facilitated interview with the women through Funai, but the agency didn’t respond.

Amanda Villa, an anthropologist with the Observatory of Isolated Peoples, said Akuntsu women depend on Kanoe men for tasks considered masculine, such as hunting and clearing fields. The two groups have also exchanged spiritual knowledge — the current Kanoe spiritual leader, for example, learned from the late Akuntsu patriarch.

But the most consequential development for the future of the Akuntsu may have occurred last year, when Babawru became pregnant by a Kanoe man.

Linguist Carolina Aragon is the only outsider able to communicate with the three women after years of studying and documenting their language. She works closely with Funai, translating conversations almost daily through video calls.

Aragon also supported Babawru remotely during her labor and was with her during an ultrasound exam that confirmed the pregnancy.

Aragon said Babawru was stunned by the news. “She said, ‘How can I be pregnant?’” Aragon recalled. Babawru had always taken precautions to avoid becoming pregnant.

Social collapse shaped the Akuntsu’s choices

The surviving Akuntsu women had decided they would not become mothers. The decision was driven not only by the absence of other men in their community, but also by the belief that their world was disorganized — conditions they felt were not suitable for raising a child.

“You can trace this decision directly to the violent context they lived through,” said Villa, the anthropologist. “They have this somewhat catastrophic understanding.”

The Akuntsu believed they could not bring new life into a world without Akuntsu men who could not only perform but also teach tasks the group considers male responsibilities, such as hunting and shamanism.

“A breakdown of social relations that followed the genocide shaped their lives and deepened over the years. That does lead people to think — and rethink — the future,” Aragon said. “But the future can surprise everyone. A baby boy was born.”

Aragon said the women were embarking on a “new chapter,” choosing to welcome the child and adapt their traditions with support from the Kanoe and Funai. Villa said the fact that the newborn is a boy creates the possibility of restoring male roles like hunter.

Researchers and officials who have long worked with the three women understood that protecting the territory depended on the Akuntsu’s survival as a people. They sought to avoid a repeat of what happened to Tanaru, an Indigenous man who was discovered after living alone and without contact for decades.

After the discovery, authorities struggled to protect Tanaru’s territory. After he died in 2022, non-Indigenous groups began disputing the land. Late last year, the federal government finally secured the area, turning it into a protected conservation unit.

Funai’s Wapichana said Babawru’s child “is a hope that this next generation will indeed include an Indigenous person, an Akuntsu, ensuring the continuity of this people.”

Through years of careful work, Funai secured territorial protection for the Akuntsu and helped foster ties with the Kanoe. The agency also arranged spiritual support from an allied shaman, allowing the women to feel safe bringing new life into the world after decades of fear and loss.

The Akuntsu form emotional bonds with the forest and with the birds. Now, they are strengthening those bonds with a new human life in their world.

“What kind of relationship will this boy have with his own territory?” Aragon said. “I hope it will be the best possible, because he has everything he needs there.”

The Swedish military has intercepted a suspected Russian drone off the south of the country as a French aircraft carrier was docked in the port of Malmö, officials say.

The armed forces said on Thursday that a Swedish naval ship observed the suspected drone during a patrol in the Öresund, the strait that divides Sweden from Denmark.

They said that unspecified countermeasures were taken to disrupt the drone, and that contact with the drone was then lost.

The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is in the southern Swedish city of Malmö this week as part of regular NATO exercise activities. Malmö is located on the Öresund, opposite the Danish capital of Copenhagen.

French military spokesperson Guillaume Vernet told The Associated Press that the drone was detected on Wednesday and handled by Swedish forces integrated into a security system around the carrier.

He said Friday that the drone was more than 6 miles from the Charles de Gaulle.

“This system showed it is robust, and this event had no impact on the activity of the aircraft carrier battle group,” Vernet said.

Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson told public broadcaster SVT Thursday evening that the suspected violation of Swedish airspace by a drone happened in connection with a Russian military ship being in Swedish territorial waters.

Asked what country he thinks the drone belongs to, he replied: “Probably Russia.”

The Russian ship continued into the Baltic Sea, and Swedish authorities have been in close contact with Denmark about the incident, Jonson said. The armed forces said no further drones were observed.

Western officials say Russia is masterminding a campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe. An Associated Press database has documented well over 100 incidents.

Not all incidents are public and it can sometimes take officials months to establish a link to Moscow. While officials say the campaign — waged since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — aims to deprive Kyiv of support, they believe Moscow is also trying to identify Europe’s weak spots and suck up law enforcement resources.

He literally gambled with other people’s lives.

Horrifying video shows a driver plowing into a line of stationary cars while he gambled on his phone — forcing a pregnant victim into an emergency C-section to save her first child.

The dashcam footage showed Jack Bentley, 30, barreling his Ford Focus down a dual-lane highway in Derby, England — then smashing into a Nissan as it sat at the end of a long line of other cars that he missed stopped in front of him.

Bentley’s cell phone data showed he had been using gambling apps for most of his two-hour trip before the horrific crash, police said, calling it “nothing short of despicable.”

A pregnant woman — expecting her first child — was in the passenger seat of the car that Bentley rammed into. She suffered a fractured pelvis and was forced to undergo an emergency C-section before her newborn was rushed into intensive care.

“No mother or father should have to go through this,” she said in an emotional, anonymous victim statement about the “very traumatic experience.”

Bentley admitted dangerous driving and was sentenced to 28 months in prison.

“This was an appalling display of driving by Bentley, who spent the majority of his journey distracted by being on his phone,” said Constable Richard Morris, who led the investigation.

“From watching the dashcam footage, it was clear that had he been paying attention he would have seen the queue of traffic in front of him and been able to stop in time,” he said.

“The fact his actions caused a woman to give birth prematurely and left a tiny baby spending the first few weeks of their life in intensive care is nothing short of despicable.”

Former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson has been released on bail after being probed by cops over allegations he shared confidential government information with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mandelson, who was fired from the top diplomatic job last year over his links to Epstein, was released from a southwest London police station at 1.15 a.m. Tuesday – around nine hours after plain-clothed officers swooped on his home. 

He was arrested on allegations of suspected misconduct in public office – the same offense Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was hauled into custody over last week. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Mandelson, who wasn’t named by British cops when he was arrested in line with strict crime laws, was led to an unmarked police car and whisked away for questioning.

He would’ve had his rights read, DNA swabs taken, fingerprints and a mugshot — just like any other suspect, according to the Telegraph.

Officers would’ve removed any items from Mandelson that he could use to injure himself.

A former Metropolitan Police officer told the outlet Mandelson would have been allowed regular breaks while in custody, and given the option to reply “no comment” when quizzed by cops.

Cops and prosecutors are still in talks over potential charges, as reported by the BBC.

Mandelson, a ruthless political operator described by some as the “Prince of Darkness,” allegedly leaked market-sensitive data to Epstein in 2009 while serving in the British government, according to damning emails released by the Department of Justice.

He allegedly spoke about ways the UK could raise money following the financial crisis, and told Epstein he would lobby government officials to reduce a bankers bonus tax.

Mandelson has always denied wrongdoing over his links to Epstein.

Earlier this month, officers searched two homes linked to Mandelson – one property in Wiltshire, southwest England, and the other in Camden, north London.

Calls urging UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign have intensified over his appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.

Rumors have swirled that Starmer could face a leadership challenge in the coming months. Starmer has historically low approval ratings and the Labour party is languishing in election polls.

Some left-wing politicians from within Starmer’s Labour party urged him not to appoint Mandelson in the first place due to his ties with Epstein.

Starmer’s judgement has been heavily scrutinized over the appointment; the British government is set to release the first set of files relating to the appointment.

Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s former chief of staff, quit over the Mandelson fallout.

“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in his resignation statement.

Mandelson served under former UK Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He had to resign twice from the Blair government due to financial or ethical impropriety allegations. Mandelson denied wrongdoing but acknowledged mistakes.

With Post wires

The deadly violence sparked by the military killing of an infamous cartel leader has now spread across at least two-thirds of Mexico’s states, as American citizens near the border were warned to shelter in place.

At least 20 of Mexico’s 31 states have seen violent clashes in the wake of the death of the country’s most wanted man, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Cervantes — better known as “El Mencho” — died in custody Sunday, shortly after being captured by Mexican special forces in Tapalpa, Jalisco state.

The notorious drug kingpin was seriously injured in a firefight between military commandos and his bodyguards, and died from his injuries en route to Mexico City.

Cartel members responded to his death by declaring war on the Mexican government of socialist Claudia Sheinbaum, shutting down the country’s second-largest city, Jalisco’s state capital Guadalajara, as they engaged in running gun battles with authorities.

Violence spread quickly along the west coast, reaching up to the US border with California. At least 30 people have been declared dead, with more feared.

In Puerto Vallarta, just south of the border, US citizens were issued a stay-in-place order, as narco gangs unleashed their bloody rampage on the resort town.

Terrifying footage from across Mexico shows torched buildings and vehicles, while panicked lines of tourists are seen trying to flee the country at multiple airports.

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomats are set to meet Monday with the director of the Board of Peace in Brussels after a shaky and controversial embrace of U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure and rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

Nikolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and U.N. diplomat chosen by Trump to manage the Board of Peace, will meet the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and foreign ministers from across the 27-nation bloc. The EU diplomats are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine and fresh sanctions on Russia.

Just across the Mediterranean Sea from the Middle East, the EU has deep links to Israel and the Palestinians. It now plays a crucial oversight role at the Rafah border crossing, and is the top donor to the Palestinian Authority.

The question of whether to work with the Trump-led board has split national capitals from Nicosia to Copenhagen. The EU is supportive of the United Nations’ mandate in Gaza.

EU members Hungary and Bulgaria are full members of the board, as are EU candidate countries Turkey, Kosovo and Albania.

Twelve other EU nations sent observers to the inaugural meeting in Washington on Thursday: Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The EU flag was displayed at the event alongside EU observer and member nations.

European leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen turned down invitation to join, as did Pope Leo XIV. But von der Leyen did send European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica to the meeting in Washington as an observer.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said sending Šuica without consulting the European Council, the group of the bloc’s leaders, broke EU regulations.

“The European Commission should never have attended the Board of Peace meeting in Washington,” Barrot said in a post on X. “Beyond the legitimate political questions raised by the ‘Board of Peace,’ the Commission must scrupulously respect European law and institutional balance in all circumstances.”

“It is in the remit of the Commission to accept invitations,” von der Leyen spokesperson Paula Pinho said Friday.

While the executive is not joining the board, it is seeking to influence reconstruction and peacekeeping in Gaza beyond being the top donor to the Palestinian Authority, she said.

Trump’s ballooning ambitions for the board extend from governing and rebuilding Gaza as a futuristic metropolis to challenging the U.N. Security Council’s role in solving conflicts. But they could be tempered by the realities of dealing with Gaza, where there has so far been limited progress in achieving the narrower aims of the ceasefire.