A day after U.S. President Donald Trump made a televised address to the nation about the war in Iran, the price of oil took another jump with the American benchmark West Texas Crude (WTI) nearing US$114 per barrel.

And with no end to the Middle East conflict in sight, the price of gasoline also continued its recent increase, selling at many Edmonton stations for about $1.74 per litre on Thursday — even higher in Calgary at $1.75 per litre.

Its a tough pill for many Albertans to swallow in such an oil-rich province.

“A buck 74 — crazy price,” said Paul Marsh as he filled up his vehicle in Calgary on Thursday. “I can’t afford to drive every day. I can’t wait to get back on my motorbike because it burns a lot less gas.”

“I do appreciate the supply chain is such that its affects everything from food prices, Amazon, everybody is going to be paying higher prices,” added Mike Shymka. “It’s regrettable for many people who rely on gas. It’s terrible.”

He agrees with recent suggestions that governments should consider providing some relief by cutting gas taxes.

“Economic policy is, during rough recessionary times, the government is to add more to help people and when things are good then, you know, take a little bit more tax,” said Shymka.

1:40
Alberta government taking its time considering relief options amid oil volatility

Asked if and when the provincial government will be offering any relief to Albertans, Finance Minister Nate Horner, on his way into the legislature on Thursday, offered no promises.

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“There’s a lot of days left in the year. I did table a $9.4 billion deficit. And I will also remind people that even if that situation improves, we’ll update you through the quarters,” said Horner.

“We’re still bound by our spending rules within the fiscal framework.”

Alberta’s fuel tax is 13 cents per litre for regular gas, and four cents per litre for marked gasoline and marked diesel which is only available to authorized use is equipment like tractors and generators instead of personal vehicles.

Under Alberta’s gas tax relief program, quarterly reductions to the provincial fuel tax are introduced when WTI averages at least US$80 per barrel over a review period of 20 trading days.

Between $80 and $89.99 per barrel of oil, the province provides tax relief of between 4.5 cents and 9 cents per litre of gas.

When oil hits $90 per barrel the fuel tax is suspended. But when the price falls again to below $80 per barrel, there is no fuel tax relief.

Despite oil selling Thursday for well over $100 per barrel, the provincial finance minister indicated that Albertans will need to wait up to three months for the province to make a decision on whether it will cut fuel taxes.

“So there’s kind of 20 monitoring days, trading days, business days in the middle of the quarter. So for the next quarter it would be from May 18th to June 15th where it would be monitored and then July 1st would be the trigger,” said Horner.

“I think it makes a ton of sense that you have a longer monitoring period because once it does come off at any level it remains off for the next three months. So imagine a situation where July 1 our tax comes off completely — oil can plummet the next day (and) it will still remain off for next three months. So a little bit of delayed gratification there, but I think the rationale is strong.”

Despite Horner’s insistence that the province needs to wait before deciding on a gas tax cut, he supports the idea of the federal government suspending its fuel taxes until the end of the year, as suggested this week by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Poilievre said Australia cut its excise tax by 26 cents per litre and Spain cut its sales tax by 30 cents per litre, saying he thinks Ottawa should do the same.

0:43
Poilievre calls on Carney to suspend fuel excise tax, clean fuel standard

“Maybe that’s something the feds want to consider,” said Horner.  “The fuel taxes from the feds — I think it’s about 25 cents a liter, about 10 cents in excise, maybe seven in clean fuel and eight in GST. So I think they should look for something that’s long-term as opposed to these ad hoc reactionary changes that everyone’s looking for,” added Horner.

The head of Petroleum Analyis at GasBuddy, Patrick De Haan, expects the price of gas and diesel to continue to increase until the Strait of Hormuz is reopened — through which about 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply flowed before it was shut down during the Iran war.

Diesel, he said, could hit a record-high price within the next few days.

For the supply of oil to be cut off heading into the busy summer driving season is especially problematic, said De Haan, because it could contribute to an even bigger price increase.

And cuts to government gas taxes, he claims, could make it even worse.

“While there have been conversations about gas tax holidays and waivers and temporary temporarily reducing prices, those types of measures, though terrific for the wallet, would likely further imbalance and cause prices to go up, by increasing demand and removing disincentives from Canadians driving,” said De Haan.

“Anything that can push demand up, whether it’s seasonal increases or reduction in taxes are likely problematic that could increase prices even more.”

1:44
Premier Danielle Smith says scrapping the fuel tax wouldn’t fully help with high gas prices

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The Artemis II astronauts have waved goodbye to their families and friends as they prepare to launch on their voyage around the moon.

Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch are about to embark on their 10-day trip to the moon and back for the first time in 53 years.

Glover was seen mouthing ‘I love you’ to each of his family members wearing matching t-shirts before the voyagers boarded a shuttle bus on their way to the launch pad 39B.

The launch now looks likely to go ahead after many setbacks with the crew all in their flight suits and good weather conditions.

Waving to family, colleagues and news photographers, the crew boarded the so-called astrovan for the 9-mile ride to the launch pad and their awaiting SLS rocket.

Before their highly anticipated walkout, commander Reid Wiseman and his crew played a quick card game with NASA’s chief astronaut Scott Tingle. It’s a preflight tradition since the space shuttle era.

Losing is good: It means the astronaut has gotten rid of all bad luck before launching.

The four thanked the suit techs and posed for photos, keeping a safe distance from many of the bystanders to avoid germs.

They then went down the elevator at the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building and walk out to a barrage of cameras and cheers.

What is Artemis?

Artemis, Nasa’s return-to-the-moon programme, has been plagued by delays, technical hiccups and budget cuts for years.

This has all but denied generations of astronauts their chance at walking where Neil Armstrong once did in 1969.

The last time humans were casually strolling – or moonwalking, we suppose – on the moon was for the 1972 Apollo 17 mission.

Donald Trump made bringing American space boots back to the lunar surface a goal during his first administration, signing Artemis in 2017.

Space officials were tasked with working with commercial companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build a lunar-orbiting Gateway outpost.

The project’s first mission, known as Artemis I, involved an uncrewed Orion capsule doing a 1.3 million-mile lap around the moon in 2022.

Unlike the Apollo missions, the second Artemis mission won’t actually land on the moon.

Nevertheless, it will be the first to leave Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in 53 years.

It will also be the first time that astronauts launch on top of NASA’s giant Space Launch System rocket and then swing around the Moon inside the Orion crew capsule.

This equipment was one of the main reasons Artemis II was postponed by more than a year, with NASA citing issues with Orion’s life support system.

This is a breaking news story… more to follow…

MORE: Who are the four Artemis II astronauts who will see the moon up close?

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U.S. President Donald Trump is considering leaving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he told British newspaper the Telegraph on Wednesday.

Trump called the 77-year-old U.S.-led military alliance a “paper tiger” and said Russian President Vladimir Putin “knows that too,” in an interview with the Telegraph.

Trump, who has been frustrated by U.S. allies refusing to get involved in the U.S. war on Iran and the subsequent efforts to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to full international traffic, was asked in the interview if he would reconsider ending U.S. membership in the alliance.

“Oh yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration. I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” Trump said in the interview.

The Strait of Hormuz accounts for one-third of the global oil trade and has been closed for weeks, with Iran blockading the key waterway as it exchanges strikes with the U.S. and Israel.

12:45
NATO ‘should not get involved’ in Iran: former Canadian NATO Ambassador

Trump said he was frustrated with allies “not being there” to help the U.S.

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“Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe. And I didn’t do a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey,’ you know, I didn’t insist too much. I just think it should be automatic,” he said.

Trump’s explanations for why the U.S. launched the attacks on Iran have shifted repeatedly over recent weeks since the war began on Feb. 28.

Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said NATO had not received a formal request from Washington for member countries to formally launch efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

“To our knowledge, a request has not been made to NATO for the type of assistance that is being requested and Canada, as a founding member of NATO, continues to support the principles of collective defence,” she said.

In his Telegraph interview, Trump said the U.S. has “been there” to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

“We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us,” he said.

Trump has long criticized NATO members for not increasing their defence spending. In June 2025, Canada joined other NATO countries in pledging five per cent of its budget on defence spending by 2035.

Last week, NATO confirmed that Canada has hit its target of spending two per cent of its GDP on national defence by March of this year.

Trump on Wednesday also claimed that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire ahead of his speech to the American people set for later this evening.

Trump made the claim on his Truth Social website. Iran had no immediate response to Trump’s post.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday, signalled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting.

“You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”

— with files from The Associated Press.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A Russian military plane crash in annexed Crimea has killed six crew and 23 passengers, Russian news agencies reported in the early hours of Wednesday, citing the Defense Ministry.

The An-26 military transport plane was carrying out a scheduled flight over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, the reports said. The military lost contact with the plane around 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

PLANE CRASH IN RUSSIA’S FAR EAST LEAVES 48 DEAD

An An-26 plane is pictured at a base in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on March 9, 2014. On Tuesday, March 31, 2026, a Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed in annexed Crimea, killing 29 people on board. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen, File)

The Soviet-designed military transport turboprop aircraft crashed into a cliff, sources at the scene told state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said a total of seven crew members and 23 passengers were on board. It wasn’t immediately clear from official statements if one crew member had survived.

TRUMP SAYS ‘INFLAMMATORY’ ZELENSKYY STATEMENT ON CRIMEA PROLONGS WAR WITH RUSSIA

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is pictured during a meeting on March 30, 2026. Since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, accidents involving Russian military planes have been frequent. (Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

The Investigative Committee said it has launched a criminal probe in connection with flight regulations and a search is underway in a mountainous forested area in the Bakhchisarai district.

The Interfax news agency cited the Defense Ministry as saying a suspected technical malfunction may have caused the crash and that there was no “damaging interference” with the aircraft.

Accidents involving Russian military planes have been frequent since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine.

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Russian officials inspect a building after an Su-34 bomber military plane crashed into a residential area in Yeysk, Russia, in October 2022, killing 15 people. A military plane carrying crew and passengers crashed into a cliff in annexed Crimea on March 31, 2026, according to Russian officials. (Arkady Budnitsky/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In December, an An-22 military transport plane crashed in Russia’s Ivanovo region, killing seven crew. In October, a MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in the Lipetsk region, while a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Siberian region of Irkutsk in April 2025.

In October 2022, a Su-34 bomber crashed into a residential area of Yeysk, a Russian city on the Azov sea, sparking a massive fire and killing 15 people.

Foreign governments are continuing to harass and intimidate Canadians but proving it in court is a challenge, the RCMP said in a statement clarifying controversial remarks by the commissioner.

“What we can say is that the RCMP is aware of complaints of intimidation and harassment against certain communities across Canada,” the RCMP told Global News in the statement.

“The RCMP, and the broader government of Canada, is also aware that foreign states are engaging in such activities in Canada,” the police force added in response to questions.

The statement was released after Global News asked the RCMP to explain Commissioner Mike Duheme’s comments two weeks ago about Indian transnational repression.

In a May 19 broadcast, Duheme told CTV “We have people that are intimidating people, harassing people, but connecting the dots to a foreign entity, regardless of the country, we don’t have that.”

The remarks, the latest in a series of seemingly contradictory comments from the government about India’s activities in Canada, were condemned by critics.

A Canadian Sikh organization said the commissioner had left the impression the RCMP was walking back its accusations about India’s illicit targeting of Canada’s South Asian community.

But in its follow-up statement, the RCMP said the difficulty has been linking specific incidents against Canadians to a foreign state, with evidence that can be revealed in the criminal courts.

“Investigations are ongoing,” the RCMP said. “However, based on criminal intelligence currently held by the RCMP related to transnational repression, establishing a direct link to a foreign entity with information that can be disclosed in a criminal proceeding is a complex process.”

A former Canadian Security Intelligence Service official said the statement was revealing and pointed to the longstanding difficulties in using intelligence information in criminal prosecutions.

“The commissioner is acknowledging a lack of criminally admissible evidence linking foreign states to transnational repression in Canada. That is not the same as an absence of information,” Dan Stanton said.

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“CSIS may hold relevant intelligence on current activity, but it is not under any statutory obligation to disclose that intelligence to the RCMP,” added Stanton, author of a forthcoming book on foreign interference.

“The Service would share some intelligence if their investigative target crossed the threshold of criminal activity and the RCMP believes it would further their evidence collection.”

2:08
Canada and India reset relationship despite claims of continued interference

An especially challenging aspect of foreign interference, transnational repression occurs when overseas governments, or those acting for them, use harassment, threats and violence to silence critics abroad.

The RCMP statement did not name specific countries, but CSIS has identified China, India, Russia and Iran as the main states conducting espionage and foreign interference in Canada.

Asked about the commissioner’s comments, CSIS said that “transnational repression and foreign interference remain persistent threats in Canada.”

“CSIS assessment of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage against Canada remains unchanged.”

National security agencies believe the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been engaged in election meddling, disinformation and foreign interference in Canada.

India has mostly targeted the Khalistan movement that seeks independence for the country’s Sikh-majority Punjab, labelling activists as terrorists and demanding their prosecution or extradition.

In 2023, India allegedly escalated its tactics when it contracted the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to assassinate key members of the Khalistan movement, starting with B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

In October 2024, the RCMP went further, accusing the Indian government of orchestrating an array of violence in Canada. Six Indian diplomats were expelled for their suspected involvement.

“As shared on October 14, 2024, the RCMP observed organized crime elements being used in acts of transnational repression,” the RCMP said in its recent statement.

“A number of investigations related to these findings remain ongoing. For reasons of operational integrity and security, no further details can be provided until charges are laid and the matters become public,” it said.

“The RCMP is committed to combating foreign interference in all its forms and will not tolerate intimidation, harassment, or the targeting of diaspora communities or individuals in Canada.”

2:03
Police warn Canadian Sikh activist of threat to life ahead of Carney’s India visit

India denies the allegations, despite evidence that it also tried to kill one of Nijjar’s associates. The FBI disrupted the plot, which the U.S. says was carried out by India’s Research and Analysis Wing intelligence branch.

Critics have accused Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government of overlooking India’s activities as it seeks a trade deal with the Modi government to offset the impact of a U.S. trade war.

On the eve of Carney’s official visit to India, one of his officials told reporters that India was no longer targeting Canadians, prompting a backlash from within the Liberal ranks.

Following the RCMP commissioner’s remarks to CTV, World Sikh Organization president Danish Singh accused the government of “playing word games to shield the government of India.”

“Sikh Canadians continue to face intimidation, surveillance, and threats linked to Indian state actors and their proxies,” he said.

“We are aware of multiple recent incidents, including cases where Sikh activists have received ‘duty to warn’ notifications from Canadian law enforcement. We are aware of individuals being surveilled and intimidated.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca

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Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday condemned what he called Israel’s “illegal invasion” of southern Lebanon, which he said is a violation of territorial sovereignty.

Carney told reporters in French in Wakefield, Que., that a ceasefire is necessary between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, against which Israeli forces have launched a renewed offensive.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier Tuesday that Israel plans to control a 30-kilometre area between the Israel-Lebanon border and the Litani River — about one-tenth of Lebanon’s territory — even after the fighting with Hezbollah ends.

“It’s an illegal invasion — it’s an invasion of Lebanon,” Carney said in English. “It’s a violation of their territorial sovereignty.

“From a practical perspective, the government of Lebanon has banned Hezbollah, is trying to take action against Hezbollah and their terrorist activities and their threats to Israel. And that is the purported justification for this invasion. So we condemn it.”

Global Affairs Canada posted on X last week that the government “strongly condemns Israel’s plans to occupy territory in southern Lebanon,” while also calling on Hezbollah to disarm and cease its attacks on Israel.

3:20
US-Iran war: Conflict expands as it enters its 2nd month with strikes hitting civilian targets

The Canadian government has declared Hezbollah to be a foreign terrorist entity since 2002. The group takes inspiration from the Iranian revolution and is dedicated to Israel’s destruction, according to the listing.

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The war in the Middle East widened when Hezbollah launched missiles toward Israel on March 2, two days after Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran.

Israel immediately retaliated and declared war on Hezbollah, launching waves of airstrikes and sending ground troops across the border.

More than 1.2 million people have been displaced and another 1,200 have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting began. Ten Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, including four announced Tuesday, and three United Nations peacekeepers were killed earlier this week.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier this month ordered residents to leave swathes of the south, the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, and the group’s political heartlands in eastern Lebanon.

1:52
Israel intends to seize parts of Lebanon as strikes against Hezbollah intensify, government says

Katz said Tuesday that Israel will destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the border, and that 600,000 people who fled the south will not be allowed home until northern Israel is secure.

“At the end of the operation, the IDF will establish a security zone inside Lebanon — a line of defense against anti-tank missiles — and will maintain security control over the entire area up to the Litani River, including the remaining Litani bridges,” he said in a statement.

He added the destruction of homes near the Lebanese border will be done “in accordance with the model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza, in order to permanently remove the threats near the border to northern residents.”

Israel on Tuesday launched new strikes targeting what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.

Lebanon’s minister of social affairs, Haneen Sayed, told Reuters that Israel’s ground operation, which she described as a “land grab,” was deepening the risk that Lebanese would be stuck in long-term displacement.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that Hezbollah had fired almost 5,000 drones, rockets and missiles at Israel during the conflict.

The war is the second major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah since 2024. Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in the last war, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and thousands of its fighters.

—with files from Reuters

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The U.S. government will allow a Russian tanker full of crude oil to reach Cuba, effectively easing a blockade that has pushed the island into an energy crisis, according to a report.

The Russian-flagged tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, was headed for Cuba on Sunday, carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil, The New York Times reported, citing a U.S. official who had been briefed on the matter.

The tanker Anatoly ⁠Kolodkin was just off the eastern tip of Cuba on Sunday, ship tracking data showed.

“We have a tanker out there. We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload, because they need … they have to survive,” President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday when asked about the report.

CUBA’S ENTIRE ELECTRICAL GRID COLLAPSES, LEAVING WHOLE ISLAND WITHOUT POWER

The U.S. government will allow a Russian tanker full of crude oil to reach Cuba. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

“If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it’s Russia or not,” he added.

Trump had sought to restrict oil shipments to Cuba in an effort to pressure its government.

The U.S. government has temporarily eased some sanctions on Russian oil shipments to help stabilize global energy markets amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran that began last month.

CUBAN OFFICIAL REVEALS MILITARY ‘PREPARING’ FOR CONFLICT AFTER TRUMP CONSIDERS ‘TAKING’ ISLAND

President Donald Trump had sought to restrict oil shipments to Cuba in an effort to pressure its government. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

The Anatoly Kolodkin, which departed from Primorsk, Russia, could soon dock at the Matanzas port in Cuba if it remains on its current path, according to tracking services MarineTraffic and LSEG.

The oil would provide significant relief to Cuba, where President Miguel Díaz-Canel has said fuel shortages have persisted for months, forcing strict gas rationing and deepening the island’s energy crisis.

The U.S. capture of then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January stripped a key Cuban ally who had been providing oil to the island on favorable terms.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has said fuel shortages have persisted for months. (PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Trump administration then blocked all Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and vowed to impose punitive tariffs on any third country that supplied shipments to the island, forcing Mexico to stop its exports to Cuba.

Another ship, the Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse, was also carrying about 200,000 barrels of Russian fuel to Cuba, but was rerouted to Venezuela.

As many as 70 Britons have been locked up in the United Arab Emirates for filming Iranian attacks on the Middle Eastern country.

British tourists, expats and cabin crew are being held in overcrowded police cells and could face ten years in jail for breaching laws around protecting ‘national security and stability’.

Campaign groups say the legal system is swamped with cases and some are being denied sleep, food and medicine in detention, the Mail on Sunday reports.

They are accusing the UAE of trying to protect their ‘carefully constructed brand’ as a glamorous and safe travel spot.

Laws in the Gulf State prohibit publishing or sharing material that could disturb public security, and the British embassy has previously warned expats not to take pictures or share images of Iranian missiles.

Those nearby to an Iranian strike are sent a text message in both Arabic and English saying: ‘Photographing or sharing security or critical sites, or reposting unreliable information, may result in legal action and compromise national security and stability.’

Even passively receiving an image is deemed illegal under the strictest laws, which could carry a ten-year jail term or a fine up to £200,00.

Dubai Watch CEO David Haigh is representing eight arrested Britons and says local lawyers have told him 35 Brits have been detained in Dubai, with similar numbers in Abu Dhabi.

His human rights group says that those arrested are facing months in detention before being charged because the system is so overwhelmed.

Others have been released on bail but have had their passport confiscated so they cannot leave.

Campaigners have claimed that some Britons have been made to sign Arabic statements they do not understand.

Radha Stirling of the Detained In Dubai group told the Mail on Sunday: ‘British citizens are being held in overcrowded conditions, denied medication, and pressured to sign confessions without legal representation. 

‘This is a serious failure of protection. Immediate and robust diplomatic intervention is required to safeguard their welfare and secure their release. 

‘These are not criminals, but ordinary tourists, workers and residents who acted without malicious intent.’

Access to British consular staff is understood to be ‘restricted or outright denied’ for those arrested.

The Foreign Office is not automatically alerted all arrests and some are advised not to contact the Embassy because it could prolong their case.

Officials believe just five British detainees are receiving consular help for taking pictures.

One Brit being detained in the UAE is a London-based air steward for budget airline FlyDubai.

It is understood he took a picture of the damage caused when an Iranian drone struck close to Dubai airport on March 7 and sent it to colleagues, asking if the area was safe.

Police later checked his phone and arrested him.

An expat lawyer living in Dubai is also among those arrested under national security laws.

Detained In Dubai also say they are helping a 60-year-old British tourist who was charged with 20 others after footage of Iranian attacks was found on their phones.

He faces two years in jail and a fine as large as $40,000 despite deleting the footage.

It is said that UAE police will demand to look through the phones of people close to the site of a missile attack and arrest anyone caught with photos of the strikes.

Officers reportedly track down and arrest people who receive photos through apps like WhatsApp.

Mr Haigh, who was tortured in a Dubai jail, said: ‘Dubai is a corporation, a gleaming global brand desperate to keep the facade intact. 

‘So, once tourists and expats take photos of a missile intercept, or a drone strike, they become the enemy. 

‘They are arrested, vanished, threatened, charged, forced to report friends, and face years in jail.’

There were more than 240,000 Britons living in the United Arab Emirates before the start of the war with Iran.

The Emirati embassy in London said people had been warned about taking or sharing photos from ‘incident sites’, adding: ‘Disseminating such materials or inaccurate information can incite public panic and create a false impression of the UAE’s actual situation.’

The Foreign Office said: ‘We are supporting a number of British nationals in the UAE who have been detained or arrested.

‘We expect full consular access to British nationals. The British Ambassador regularly speaks to the authorities about access.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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It seems like Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God,” has done a nice job of moving on from his Olympic heartbreak.

Last month, the 21-year-old Team USA star was the overwhelming favorite to bring home the gold in the men’s free skate. But the unimaginable happened as he fell twice and dropped all the way to eighth place.

However, he has begun to avenge the loss and is now a three-time world champion.

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Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026.  (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Malinin shouted and punched the air with relief after finishing a skate that showed he had achieved his desire to “move on” from the Olympics after days of being tormented by his mistakes.

Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total of 329.40, far ahead of silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan on 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third on 288.54.

Malinin was blunt about his Olympic performance when speaking to NBC afterward, saying simply, “I blew it,” and said it was a clear mental hurdle from start to finish.

“I just had so many thoughts and memories flood right before I got into my starting pose, and almost, I think, it maybe overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences,” Malinin told reporters. 

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin from the United States waves to spectators after the medal ceremony after the men’s free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

LINDSEY VONN KEEPING RETURN TO SKIING ON TABLE DESPITE INJURIES: ‘I DON’T LIKE TO CLOSE THE DOOR ON ANYTHING’

“So, I just feel like it’s the pressure of especially being that Olympic gold medal hopeful. It was just something I can’t control now. The pressure of the Olympics, it’s really something different, and I think not a lot of people understand that. They only understand that from the inside and going into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good,” he added. “But it really just went by so fast I did not have time to process.” 

But with some pressure off, Malinin was able to show who he truly is on the ice.

Gold medalist, Ilia Malinin from the United States waves before the medal ceremony after the men’s free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Malinin becomes the first skater to win three consecutive men’s world titles since fellow American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.  

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